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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > Armed conflict
This work provides an understanding of the wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. These two interdependent wars were the greatest armed conflicts in Europe in the second half of the 20th century. This work provides an analysis of their successes and failures.
The collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991 removed a decades-long system of successful control of potential ethnic and regional conflict . The result was the eruption of numerous conflicts over state-building, some of which degenerated into violence and some of which were resolved or prevented by strategies of accommodation. This volume explores the common trends and differences in the responses of the new post-Soviet states to the problems of state-building in ethnically and regionally divided societies, focusing on the impact of ethnic and regional conflicts on post-communist transition and institutional development. The book will be essential reading for specialists and students alike who are interested in conflict regulation and post-Soviet politics.
This book interrogates the concept of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) as a normative construct and how the construction and promotion of this norm may have contributed to a stagnation in humanitarian action. This interrogation includes a particular focus on the impact of R2P on prevailing attitudes and discourses concerning humanitarian military intervention as well as the (under)provision of same. The study seeks to bridge the proverbial gap between theory and policy, specifically concerning our collective understanding of contemporary dynamics of humanitarian intervention and crisis. This objective is accomplished through the application and critical reformulation of the norm life cycle model and its three component stages (emergence, cascade, and internalization) relative to the presumed norm of R2P. The book advances the argument that R2P has only partially cascaded - stagnating rather than fully diffusing after reaching the ‘tipping point’, and in the process leaving the life cycle of the R2P norm in a state of dynamic equilibrium (e.g., a ‘steady state’). Consequently, the chief implication of the dynamic of stagnation within international society which the book seeks to advance and support is the non-attainment of norm internalization. Through close examination of the genesis and evolution of R2P, the work contends that R2P actually poses a significant if not fundamental challenge to the animating logic of the norm life cycle model. Having reached the requisite tipping point through formal endorsement by the UN over a decade ago, R2P has failed to manifest itself in humanitarian intervention behavior. The key to understanding why resides in deficiencies of the norm life cycle model itself. By failing to provide a sufficient account of the dynamics of norm pre-emergence (whereby ideas are transformed into proto-norms) or to acknowledge the possibility norm stagnation (whereby a norm fails to diffuse and become internalized), the norm life-cycle model provides an underspecified mechanism for understanding how and why an idea may in fact cross the threshold of the ‘tipping point’—attaining the status of a norm in international society in the process—but fail to penetrate and influence policy discourses and processes. The study seeks to bridge the proverbial gap between theory and policy, specifically concerning our collective understanding of contemporary dynamics of humanitarian intervention and crisis. This book will be of much interest to students of the Responsibility to Protect, human rights, conflict studies and international relations in general.
No conflict in the world has lasted as long, generated as many news headlines, or incited as much controversy as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet, despite, or perhaps because of, the degree of international attention it receives, the conflict is still widely misunderstood. While Israelis and Palestinians and their respective supporters trade accusations, many outside observers remain confused by the conflict's complexity and perplexed by the passion it arouses. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know (R) offers an even-handed and judicious guide to the world's most intractable dispute. Rather than presenting a traditional, narrative history, this book employs an accessible question-and-answer format. Writing in an engaging, jargon-free style, Dov Waxman, a leading expert on the Middle East, provides clear and concise answers to common questions, from the most basic to the most contentious. Covering the conflict from its nineteenth-century origins to the latest developments of the twenty-first century, this book explains the key events, examines the core issues, and presents the competing claims and narratives of both sides. Readers will learn what the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is all about, how it has evolved over time, and why it continues to defy diplomatic efforts at a resolution.
This book provides a holistic view of the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours and studies the global implications of their fraught relations. Focusing on the conflict from its beginning in the late 19th Century, the author provides a well-rounded and balanced narrative by examining its religious, ideological, ethnic, political, national, regional and international dimensions. The volume covers a wide range of issues such as the conflicting historical legacy of the city of Jerusalem, Jewish longing for a homeland, the partition of Palestine, various wars and conflicts since 1948, Palestinian resistance, Arab Boycott of Israel and the Abraham Accords. It also tackles the contested national claims and the refugee question and looks at various peace-making efforts, including the role of external stakeholders such as the US, UK, Russia and India. A comprehensive study of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the book is richly supported by a swath of references to materials, documents, maps and video links. It will be an essential reading for students, academics, and teachers of politics and international relations, national security, geopolitics, history, military and strategic studies, Middle East studies, conflict resolution and peace-making.
Tied by history, politics, and faith to all corners of the globe, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict fascinates and infuriates people across the world. Based on new archive research and original interviews, Headlines from the Holy Land explains why this fiercely contested region exerts such a pull over leading correspondents and diplomats.
This textbook offers an accessible introduction to the historical, technical, and strategic context of global cyber conflict. The second edition has been revised and updated throughout, with three new chapters. Cyber warfare involves issues of doctrine, strategy, policy, international relations (IR) and operational practice associated with computer network attack, computer network exploitation and computer network defense. However, it is conducted within complex sociopolitical settings alongside related forms of digital contestation. This book provides students with a comprehensive perspective on the technical, strategic and policy issues associated with cyber conflict, as well as an introduction to key state and non-state actors. Specifically, the book provides a comprehensive overview of several key issue areas: The historical context of the emergence and evolution of cyber warfare, including the basic characteristics and methods of computer network attack, exploitation and defense An interdisciplinary set of theoretical perspectives on conflict in the digital age from the point of view of the fields of IR, security studies, psychology and science, technology and society (STS) studies Current national perspectives, policies, doctrines and strategies relevant to cyber warfare An examination of key challenges in international law, norm development and deterrence; and The role of emerging information technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing in shaping the dynamics of global cyber conflict This textbook will be essential reading for students of cybersecurity/cyber conflict and information warfare, and highly recommended for students of intelligence studies, security and strategic studies, defense policy, and IR in general.
This book examines the role religion played in the dismantling of Yugoslavia; addressing practical concerns of inter-ethnic fighting, religiously-motivated warfare, and the role religion played within the dissolution of the nation.
Although many scholars and practitioners recognize that development and conflict are intertwined, there is much less understanding of the mechanisms behind these linkages. This book takes a new approach by critically examining how various development strategies provoke or help prevent intrastate violence, based on cases from all developing regions.
This textbook provides a thorough grounding in the vocabulary, concepts, issues and debates associated with modern land warfare. The second edition has been updated and revised, and includes new chapters on non-western perspectives and hybrid warfare.
First book to look at the issue of extreme-right activists returning from fighting in Ukraine Topical issue amid concerns about right-wing violence Important reading for scholars of terrorism, peace and conflict studies, and right-wing extremism
These riveting first-hand accounts of Turkish soldiers who have fought in the nasty internal war against the Kurds speak to universals: the shock of entering military life and the traumas of warfare; the changes in personality and relations with family and friends, the lingering emotional effects of violence, and the difficulties in returning to the 'real world', to borrow a phrase from Vietnam vets. Corruption, disillusionment and despair alternate with the small victories of humanity overcoming hellish conditions. Mater's reportage is in the best tradition of revealing the surreal, illuminating the universal truth of war's devastation. At a time when American troops are again caught in a vicious insurgency, the Kurdish issue has high visibility, and Turkey is a major actor in the Middle East, the experiences of these former soldiers resonate.
This book examines the key dimensions of 21st century war, and shows that orthodox thinking about war, particularly what it is and how it is fought, needs to be updated. Accelerating societal, economic, political and technological change affects how we prepare, equip and organise for war, as well as how we conduct war - both in its low-tech and high-tech forms, and whether it is with high intensity or low intensity. The volume examines changes in warfare by investigating the key features of the conduct of war during the first decades of the 21st century. Conceptually centred around the terms 'kinetic', 'connected' and 'synthetic', the analysis delves into a wide range of topics. The contributions discuss hybrid warfare, cyber and influence activities, machine learning and artificial intelligence, the use of armed drones and air power, the implications of the counterinsurgency experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, as well as the consequences for law(fare) and decision making. This work will be of much interest to students of military and strategic studies, security studies and International Relations. Chapters 1, 2, 5, and 19 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at https://www.routledge.com/The-Conduct-of-War-in-the-21st-Century-Kinetic-Connected-and-Synthetic/Johnson-Kitzen-Sweijs/p/book/9780367515249
This textbook introduces students to the sub-field of critical security studies through a detailed yet accessible survey of emerging theories and practices. This third edition contains two new chapters - on 'Ontological security' and '(In)Security and the everyday' - and has been fully revised and updated. Written in an accessible and clear manner, Critical Security Studies: offers a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to critical security studies locates critical security studies within the broader context of social and political theory evaluates fundamental theoretical positions in critical security studies against a backdrop of new security challenges. The book is divided into two main parts. Part I, 'Approaches', surveys the newly extended and contested theoretical terrain of critical security studies: constructivist theories, Critical Theory, feminist and gender approaches, postcolonial perspectives, poststructuralism and International Political Sociology, Ontological security, and securitisation theory. Part II, 'Issues', examines how these various theoretical approaches have been put to work in critical considerations of environmental and planetary security; health, human security and development; information, technology and warfare; migration and border security; (in)security and the everyday; and terror, risk and resilience. The historical and geographical scope of the book is deliberately broad and each of the chapters in Part II concretely illustrates one or more of the approaches discussed in Part I, with clear internal referencing allowing the text to act as a holistic learning tool for students. This book is essential reading for upper level students of critical security studies, and an important resource for students of international/global security, political theory and international relations.
This volume provides materials for active learning about peacebuilding and conflict management in the context of complex stability operations. Today, America faces security challenges unlike any it has faced before, many of which requiring lengthy U.S. involvement in stability operations. These challenges are exceedingly dynamic and complex because of the ever changing mix and number of actors involved, the pace with which the strategic and operational environments change, and the constraints placed on response options. This volume presents a series of case studies to inspire active learning about peacebuilding and conflict management in the context of complex stability operations. The case studies highlight dilemmas pertaining to the story of the case (case dilemma) and to its larger policy implications (policy dilemma). The cases stimulate readers to "get inside the heads" of case protagonists with widely differing cultural backgrounds, professional experiences, and individual and organisational interests. Overall, Understanding Complex Military Operations challenges the reader to recognize the importance of specific national security related issues and their inherent dilemmas, deduce policy implications, and discern lessons that might apply to other - perhaps even non-security related - areas of public policy, administration, and management. This volume will be of much interest to students of conflict prevention, transitional justice, peacebuilding, security studies and professionals conducting field-based operations in potentially hazardous environments.
Proscribing peace offers a systematic examination of the impact of proscription on peace negotiations. By introducing the concept of 'linguistic ceasefire', Haspeslagh adds to our understanding of the timing and sequencing of peace processes in the context of proscription. With relevance for more than half of the conflicts around the world in which an armed group is listed as a terrorist organisation, 'linguistic ceasefire' helps to explain why certain conflicts remain stuck in the 'terrorist' framing, while others emerge from it. International proscription regimes criminalise both the actor and the act of terrorism. Proscribing peace calls for an end to the amalgamation between acts and actors. By focussing on the acts instead, Haspeslagh argues, international policy would be better able to consider the violent actions both of armed groups and those of the state. By separating the act and the actor, change - and thus peace - become possible. -- .
This book contains articles on the theory of conflict. Conflict appears in many forms, from a dictator terrorizing his country to organized crime demanding protection money. Among the questions addressed are the conditions which make conflict severe (for example, is class conflict worse than ethnic conflict?), whether voluntary agreements can avoid future conflict, how the outcome of one war will affect the incentives of countries to wage war in the future, how dictators hold power, and why revolutions appear. The book provides an overview of existing literature, applies the theory of conflict to new situations, and gives foundations for future work. It should interest both researchers and students studying political economy, public choice, international relations, and comparative politics.
"Peace interventions can promote violence, while conflict may be a crucial means for constraining and preventing it. This book explores these statements, re-thinking the relationships between peace, conflict and violence. From this perspective it reinterprets several phenomena that challenge the "peace process" in Northern Ireland"--
This book uses an historical body of knowledge, Just War Theory, as the basis for analyzing modern conflicts involving Armed Non-State Actors who employ force against states. As the global community faces the challenges of globalization, terrorism, 24-hour international news coverage, super power collapse, weapons of mass destruction, and failed states, the author explores whether the historic bodies of knowledge governing decision makers during conflict remain relevant. Tracing the evolution of Just War Theory, he analyzes circumstances involving Armed Non-State Actor (ANSA) groups possessing powerful and destructive capabilities and a desire to use them, and pursues answers to the central research question: how does Just War Theory apply in modern scenarios involving ANSA groups who challenge the state and international institution's monopoly on use of force? The study finds that Just War Theory still has the capacity to accommodate modern day statecraft and application in scenarios involving Armed Non-State Actors. This book will be of great interest to those researching and studying in the fields of political theory, security studies, international relations, war and conflict studies, and public ethics.
The Routledge Handbook of Arctic Security offers a comprehensive examination of security in the region, encompassing both state-based and militarized notions of security, as well as broader security perspectives reflecting debates about changes in climate, environment, economies, and societies. Since the turn of the century, the Arctic has increasingly been in the global spotlight, resulting in the often invoked idea of "Arctic exceptionalism" being questioned. At the same time, the unconventional political power which the Arctic's Indigenous peoples hold calls into question conventional ideas about geopolitics and security. This handbook examines security in this region, revealing contestations and complementarities between narrower, state-based and/or militarized notions of security and broader security perspectives reflecting concerns and debates about changes in climate, environment, economies, and societies. The volume is split into five thematic parts: * Theorizing Arctic Security * The Arctic Powers * Security in the Arctic through Governance * Non-Arctic States, Regional and International Organizations * People, States, and Security. This book will be of great interest to students of Arctic politics, global governance, geography, security studies, and International Relations.
This edited volume offers an in-depth study of heritage and warfare from the perspective of defence studies. The book focuses on how, in different contexts, heritage can be a catalyst and target of conflict, an obstacle to stabilisation, and a driver of peace-building. It documents the changing role of heritage - in terms of both exploitation and protection - in various military capabilities, theatres, and operations. With particular concern for the areas of subthreshold and hybrid warfare, stabilisation, cultural relationships, human security, and disaster response, the volume reviews the historical relationship between heritage and armed conflict, including the roles of embedded archaeologists, safeguarding of ethics, and dislodgement and destruction of material culture. Various chapters in the book also demonstrate the value of understanding how state and non-state actors exploit cultural heritage across different defence postures and within both subthreshold and proxy warfare in order to achieve military, political, economic, and diplomatic advantages. This book will be of interest to students of defence studies, heritage studies, anthropology and security studies in general, as well as military practitioners.
The first book to examine in detail the impact of the Northern Irish Troubles on southern Irish society. This study vividly illustrates how life in the Irish Republic was affected by the conflict north of the border and how people responded to the events there. It documents popular mobilization in support of northern nationalists, the reaction to Bloody Sunday, the experience of refugees and the popular cultural debates the conflict provoked. For the first time the human cost of violence is outlined, as are the battles waged by successive governments against the IRA. Focusing on debates at popular level rather than among elites, the book illustrates how the Troubles divided southern opinion and produced long-lasting fissures. -- .
Mary Kaldor's New and Old Wars has fundamentally changed the way both scholars and policy-makers understand contemporary war and conflict. In the context of globalization, this path-breaking book has shown that what we think of as war - that is to say, war between states in which the aim is to inflict maximum violence - is becoming an anachronism. In its place is a new type of organized violence or 'new wars', which could be described as a mixture of war, organized crime and massive violations of human rights. The actors are both global and local, public and private. The wars are fought for particularistic political goals using tactics of terror and destabilization that are theoretically outlawed by the rules of modern warfare. Kaldor's analysis offers a basis for a cosmopolitan political response to these wars, in which the monopoly of legitimate organized violence is reconstructed on a transnational basis and international peacekeeping is reconceptualized as cosmopolitan law enforcement. This approach also has implications for the reconstruction of civil society, political institutions, and economic and social relations. This third edition has been fully revised and updated. Kaldor has added an afterword answering the critics of the New Wars argument and, in a new chapter, Kaldor shows how old war thinking in Afghanistan and Iraq greatly exacerbated what turned out to be, in many ways, archetypal new wars - characterised by identity politics, a criminalised war economy and civilians as the main victims. Like its predecessors, the third edition of New and Old Wars will be essential reading for students of international relations, politics and conflict studies as well as to all those interested in the changing nature and prospect of warfare.
This book examines the intersection between national and international counter-terrorism policies and civil society in numerous national and regional contexts. The 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States in 2001 led to new waves of scholarship on the proliferation of terrorism and efforts to combat international terrorist groups, organizations, and networks. Civil society organisations have been accused of serving as ideological grounds for the recruitment of potential terrorists and a channel for terrorist financing. Consequently, states around the world have established new ranges of counter-terrorism measures that target the operations of civil society organisations exclusively. Security practices by states have become a common trend and have assisted in the establishment of 'best practices' among non-liberal democratic or authoritarian states, and are deeply entrenched in their security infrastructures. In developing or newly democratized states - those deemed democratically weak or fragile - these exceptional securities measures are used as a cover for repressing opposition groups, considered by these states as threats to their national security and political power apparatuses. This timely volume provides a detailed examination of the interplay of counter-terrorism and civil society, offering a critical discussion of the enforcement of global security measures by governments around the world. -- . |
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