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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > International relations > Diplomacy
"For the life of a diplomat is often a variation of routine boredom and exhilarating crises."Maurice Baker is an academic and one of Singapore's pioneer diplomats. Growing up in colonial-governed Malaya and Singapore, his profound love for great literature works inspired him to obtain an honors in English from King's college, London in 1948 despite the cruelties faced during and after the Second World War. Baker's humble beginnings and political consciousness earned him the friendship and respect of many diplomats during his missions to India in 1967, Malaysia in 1969, Philippines in 1977 and back to Malaysia in 1980 before retiring from his career as a diplomat in 1988. Between his diplomatic missions, Baker returned to Singapore in 1972 to head the Department of English at the University of Singapore for five years.This is Baker's story of how he came to be The Accidental Diplomat. With occasional poems and a sense of humor, he candidly recounts the colourful romances of his life to his enriching encounters of diplomatic relations. His portrayals of admiration for great leaders and men paint a vivid picture of the qualities that guided his beliefs, proving that he was by no means an "Accidental Diplomat" in the eyes of others.
This book is about the future of nuclear weapons, geopolitics, and strategy. It examines the legacy of nuclear weapons on US thinking about some concepts of strategy and geopolitics, namely deterrence, extended deterrence, alliances, and arms control. The purpose of this is to demonstrate just how fundamentally nuclear weapons have influenced American thinking about these concepts. It argues that, given the extent of nuclear weapons' influence on these concepts and the implications for international security, further reductions beyond current Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) levels, and the more absolute idea of nuclear disarmament, may not necessarily be prudent ideas. Nuclear weapons have contributed to the avoidance of major war between states, made alliances more credible and last longer, and have made arms control relatively easier to conceptualize and manage. As such, the author argues, these concepts may become even more difficult to manage in a world where nuclear weapons are marginalized.
The objectives of this book are twofold. First, it provides an accessible introduction to the vast literature dedicated to the study of public opinion. Examining how its influence on diplomacy has been increasingly acknowledged, the book will show how public opinion has been embraced as a legitimate subject for scrutiny by international historians. Second, the book explores five case studies, looking at the role of public opinion in shaping British policy at the Paris Peace Conference, French policy in the era of 1930s appeasement, the policy choices of the United States during the Vietnam War, global responses to apartheid-era South Africa, and public attitudes across the EU regarding European integration. This closer examination incorporates different methodological approaches - old and new - to the complex task of ascertaining the impact of public opinion on the 'high' politics of diplomacy. The book thus provides students and scholars alike with a 'state of the field' overview, demonstrating both the vibrancy of public opinion research to date and the possibilities for exciting new directions in the future.
Lord Hankey (1877-1963) was a British civil servant and the first Cabinet Secretary, a top aide to Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the War Cabinet that directed Britain in World War One. Mostly derived from the author's diaries, which begin in March 1915, this study describes how Lord Hankey contributed to the development of the British system of Cabinet Government during the war years. First published in 1961, the two-volume collection is a history of the Supreme Command of the War; the conduct of the war, the development of the Supreme Command from Balfour to Lloyd George, and the emergence of the Cabinet Secretariat from the Secretariat of the War Cabinet. It contains intimate glimpses of the statesmen, sailors and soldiers who guided affairs towards 1918. This is a fascinating first-hand examination of the people who influenced the conduct of the war, and will be of particular value to students interested in its diplomatic history.
The Physiology of Industry is a remarkable work which set out to challenge the current theory surrounding the economics of labour, supply and demand. First published in 1889, Hobson's first book outlines some of the key areas of his theory of underconsumption. The precise contribution of Mummery, who died in a mountaineering accident in 1895, is unclear, although Hobson did state that it was heated debates with the businessman that gave him faith in these theories. The chapters analyse the nature of production, the relationship between wealth and consumption, the influence of the supply of gold on the economy and the law of supply and demand. This is an interesting work which marked a shift in economic thought, and will be of value to researchers and student of industrial theory and modern economic history.
At this time of considerable political turmoil in the Middle East, there is a pressing need to explore alternative frameworks for regional security. The book discusses the Helsinki Process as one potentially relevant historical model to learn from. The Helsinki Process began in a divided Europe in the early 1970s and, over 40 years, achieved major successes in promoting cooperation between the Warsaw Pact and NATO member states on social, human rights, security, and political issues. In this volume, established Middle East experts, former diplomats, and emerging scholars assess the regional realities from a broad range of perspectives and, with the current momentum for reform across the Middle East, chart a path towards a comprehensive mechanism that could promote long-term regional security. Providing a gamut of views on regional threat perception and suggesting ways forward for regional peace, this book is essential reading for students and scholars with an interest in Politics, the Middle East and Conflict Studies.
Divided Dynamism presents a cogent and comprehensive review of the political and unification policies of separated nations. This book relates a brief historical capsule about each divided nation, illustrates the socio/economic dynamic of the divide, and offers a searing and poignant political synthesis for future unification options. Exploring the unique roads to national unity, John J. Metzler studies each individual state and looks at diplomatic relations in their historical context and economic aid as a foreign policy program. He presents each country's official view of reunification and offers different scenarios for both Korean and Chinese reunification. Divided Dynamism provides an invaluable record of the dynamics of modern politics in the post-Cold War era. The book also explores the lessons learned from Germany's reunification and what this means for both Korea and China.
Kurds and their Struggle of Autonomy: Enduring Identity and Clientelism is a comprehensive study of the roots of Kurdish identity, the processes of identity formation among the Kurds, and the Kurds' seemingly never-ending struggle for self-determination. By relying on a hybrid theoretical model of identity politics, this book offers a thorough treatment of the origins, characteristics, and evolution of Kurdish culture in general, and political culture in particular. It also examines the historical explanations and nuances of Kurdish struggles for some form of autonomy, assesses economic imperatives that shape the potentials and challenges of Kurdish social and political life, and offers a critical review of the contemporary Kurdish institutional and policy dynamics in Iraq and Syria.
The Chinese Hsinhai Revolution explores and explains for the first time the important role of G. E. Morrison in great power diplomacy in China from the end of the Russo-Japanese War to the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty. The work is based on a wide range of multinational scholarly sources and in order to develop the context in which Morrison carried out his personal diplomacy and to delineate the many-sided story into which Morrison has to be placed, Woodhouse has in addition to mining the very rich Morrison collection, drawn upon British, Japanese and American personal and official materials.
Law, Force and Diplomacy at Sea, first published in 1985, is one of the few comprehensive treatments on the subject from a strategic perspective. It offers a detailed strategic analysis of the background and outcome of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, and its naval implications. The interplay between the interest of the naval powers in freedom of navigation and the interest of coastal states in control provides the setting for the strategic problems. The sea is taking on more properties of the land: it is becoming 'territorialised', and this is presenting fresh challenges and opportunities to which navies and their national governments have to respond. This study is designed for students of naval strategy, for international lawyers and for students of international affairs who wish to think about the important security questions in the maritime environment.
At this time of considerable political turmoil in the Middle East, there is a pressing need to explore alternative frameworks for regional security. The book discusses the Helsinki Process as one potentially relevant historical model to learn from. The Helsinki Process began in a divided Europe in the early 1970s and, over 40 years, achieved major successes in promoting cooperation between the Warsaw Pact and NATO member states on social, human rights, security, and political issues. In this volume, established Middle East experts, former diplomats, and emerging scholars assess the regional realities from a broad range of perspectives and, with the current momentum for reform across the Middle East, chart a path towards a comprehensive mechanism that could promote long-term regional security. Providing a gamut of views on regional threat perception and suggesting ways forward for regional peace, this book is essential reading for students and scholars with an interest in Politics, the Middle East and Conflict Studies.
This volume describes and analyses the methods Germany used to reinforce Spain's independence thereby preventing Madrid's entry into the war on the Allied side. While there have been many studies dealing with the wartime economic histories of Holland, Switzerland, Denmark and Iceland, Spain, physically large and strategically situated has been largely ignored, with little American study of Spanish relations with the European belligerents having been done. Particular attention is paid to the forceful personality of Spanish King Alfonso XIII, who shrewdly used his special friendship with Kaiser Wilhelm II for Spanish profit: he remained a Francophile who shrewdly manipulated the Germans into thinking he favoured their side. At the same time Alfonso fended off the embrace of the Entente.
This interdisciplinary book explores how terrorism is meant to target a government's legitimacy, and advocates for sounder defensive measures when countering international attacks. The dramatic increase in global cooperation throughout the twentieth century-between international organisations and their state missions of diplomats, foreign officers, international civil servants, intelligence officers, military personnel, police investigators, judges, legislators, and financial regulators-has had a bearing on the shape and content of the domestic political order. The rules that govern all of these interactions, and the diplomats engaged to monitor and advocate for compliance, have undergone a mushrooming development following the conclusion of each world war. This dramatic growth is arguably the most significant change the international structure has experienced since the inception of the state-based system ushered in with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. International Law, New Diplomacy and Counterterrorism explores the impact of this growth on domestic legitimacy through the integration of two disciplines: international law and political philosophy. Focusing particularly on the cross-border counterterrorism actions launched by the United States, the author investigates how civil societies have often turned to the standards of international law to understand and judge the legitimacy of their government's counterterrorism policies reaching across international borders. The book concludes that those who craft counterterrorism policies must be attentive to defending the target of legitimacy by being wholly mindful of the realms of legality, morality and efficacy when exercising force. This book will be of much interest to students of international law, diplomacy, counterterrorism, political philosophy, security studies and IR.
Does size matter in international negotiations? This book examines the interplay between an institutional design that expresses the principle of the equality of states and the real world size differences of states in an innovative, multi-method investigation of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Panke demonstrates that size-related capacities influence states' participation and effectiveness in international negotiations. Based on extensive interviews with diplomats of smaller and bigger states in a variety of geographical regions, this book develops a theoretical framework linking resources and incentives to states' inclination of formulating national positions and acting upon them. It distinguishes between the policy-initiation, negotiation and decision-taking stages in the policy cycle, illustrating the difference in activity between nations, which affect the dynamics and outcomes of negotiations between member states. This book reveals that there are real and politically significant limits to the effects of size and identifies specific conditions under which smaller states can punch above their weight. It will appeal to scholars of political science, international relations, diplomacy, comparative politics and public policy.
Remembering the Cold War examines how, more than two decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cold War legacies continue to play crucial roles in defining national identities and shaping international relations around the globe. Given the Cold War's blurred definition - it has neither a widely accepted commencement date nor unanimous conclusion - what is to be remembered? This book illustrates that there is, in fact, a huge body of 'remembrance,' and that it is more pertinent to ask: what should be included and what can be overlooked? Over five sections, this richly illustrated volume considers case studies of Cold War remembering from different parts of the world, and engages with growing theorisation in the field of memory studies, specifically in relation to war. David Lowe and Tony Joel afford careful consideration to agencies that identify with being 'victims' of the Cold War. In addition, the concept of arenas of articulation, which envelops the myriad spaces in which the remembering, commemorating, memorialising, and even revising of Cold War history takes place, is given prominence.
This book offers a comprehensive review of the Communist Party of China's approach to diplomacy, through an extensive evaluation of the major practices and theories behind the Party's diplomacy, with its main achievements in its 90 years of diplomacy highlighted. It delves into the views held by the Communist Party of China on the changing times, the international system, national interests, and developments in China's diplomacy. Other topics covered at length include China's traditional and non-traditional diplomatic practices as well as basic characteristics of the Party's diplomacy.Few books have touched on the Communist Party of China's diplomatic history in detail. China's Diplomacy: Theory and Practice fills the gap by shedding insights on the Communist Party of China's global strategies and diplomatic planning, contributing to the building an international relations theory with Chinese characteristics. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of China's international relations from the forward-looking analyses on the Party's core role in leading China's diplomacy, and the theoretical explanations behind the practices.
Slovenia is regarded today as a free country and consolidated democracy, with some problems with corruption, independent media, and independent judiciary. Since its independence in 1991, Slovenia has put in place democratic institutions of state organization, undergone major capital rearrangements, and achieved both of the starting objectives of new international involvement by entering the EU and NATO. On January 1st, 2007, Slovenia was the first among former socialist countries to take on the common European currency. Slovenia has been subject to highly varying assessments during the construction of its democratic political system; it has been acknowledged as "a ripe democracy," complete democracy," or, alternatively, "apparent" or "virtual democracy." The move negative assessments of the Slovenian political system are related to the persistence of authoritarian behavior patterns and manipulation of democratic institutions that have found its way into the structures of political parties. This book follows the Slovenian evolution from the second-smallest Yugoslav republic to one of the most successful post-communist countries in Central Europe.
Dealing with a Juggernaut: Analyzing Poland's Policy towards Russia, 1989 2009, by Joanna A. Gorska, is the first substantial study of Poland's foreign policy interaction with its more powerful eastern neighbor, Russia. This study is essential to understanding the prospects for order and peace in Central and Eastern Europe towards Russia during the past twenty years. Gorska challenges widely established interpretations of Poland's post-1989 foreign policy by arguing that consecutive Polish governments pursued a largely cooperative policy towards Russia and did so because of material power considerations, namely Poland's strengthened power position after the Cold War and moderate security pressures from Russia. In analyzing Polish foreign policy, Dealing with a Juggernaut draws on leading theories in the field of International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis and develops a comprehensive theoretical framework to guide empirical research. Representing a cross-section of politically important areas in Poland's most recent Russia policy, the analysis is delineated along four case studies: the Soviet military withdrawal from Poland in the early 1990s, the NATO issue in Polish policy towards Russia, Polish energy policy towards Moscow, and the Katyn question in Polish foreign policy. This book uses previously unpublished archival material, interviews with leading Polish officials, and a wealth of Polish publications to provide an insight into Warsaw's foreign policy behavior. Gorska points to a departure from hostility and imposition a significant change in Poland's policy towards Russia after 1989. As such, Dealing with a Juggernaut, by Joanna A. Gorska, uncovers important mechanisms of regional cooperation between states with a checkered past."
This book identifies and addresses subtle but important questions and issues associated with the configuration of International Relations as a discipline. Starting with a much-needed discussion of manifold implications and issues associated with pluralism, the book raises important questions, such as where does the field of IR stand in terms of epistemological, theoretical, and methodological diversity. The book also carries out a comparative analysis of the present status of post-positivist IR scholarship in the United States and China.Eun discusses these questions through a close reading of the key texts in the field and by undertaking a critical survey of publishing and teaching practices in IR communities. IR scholars will gravitate to this text that fills many gaps in international political theory.
In the first edition (2010), Zhiqun Zhu examined the rationale and strategies of China's new multi-directional diplomacy since the early 1990s and assessed its impact on international political economy as well as responses from the international community. This fully revised second edition is still based on extensive research addressing these and other important policy issues whilst incorporating the latest major Chinese diplomatic activities since the last edition was published. This book continues to cover Chinese initiatives in the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific and studies China's current efforts to secure energy and other resources, to expand trade and investment, and to enhance 'soft power' around the world. The author further evaluates how China's activities affect these regions' political economy and how the international community, especially the United States, has reacted to China's new diplomacy. Whilst continuing to answer some lingering questions about Chinese foreign policy and its implications for both China and the international community as they become increasingly interdependent, this paperback edition is adapted for classroom use and provides questions for discussion to help readers review the key empirical and theoretical points of each chapter.
Although cultural diplomacy has become an increasingly fashionable term embraced by academics, foreign-service personnel, and private sector commercial and cultural interests, the very practice of this idea remains conspicuously challenging to define. This book takes on this problem, advancing a new understanding of cultural diplomacy that results from a historical investigation of a single area of government and private sector partnership, and what became in the mid-twentieth century the most prominent manifestation of this alliance-the cultural exhibitions sent abroad to "tell America's story" with the goal of "winning hearts and minds." To illustrate this point, selected exhibitions and the intentions of the policymakers who proposed them are interrogated for the first time beside archival documentation, writings from the history of design, advertising, science, as well as art historical and museum studies theories that address various aspects of the history of collecting and display, all of which explore the reality of how these exhibitions were conceived and prepared for foreign audiences. Most importantly, personal interviews with the designers and government representatives responsible for the ultimate appearance of these events upturn preconceived notions of how these events came to be. Seventy-five photographs from the exhibits make this history come alive. Through this discussion these questions are answered: What was America showing of itself through these exhibitions? And, more urgently, what do these exhibitions tell us about U.S. interest in verisimilitude? This investigation spans the crucial years of American exhibitions abroad (1955-1975), beginning with the formation of an official system of exhibiting American commercial wares and political ideas at trade fairs, through official exchanges with the U.S.S.R., to pavilions at world's fairs, and finally to museum exhibitions that signaled a return to the display of founding American values. They are thus complex ideological symbols in which concepts of national identity, globalization, technology, consumerism, design, and image management both coincided and clashed. The investigation of these exhibitions enhances the understanding of a significant chapter of U.S. cultural diplomacy at the height of the Cold War and how America constantly reimagined itself.
This book brings together a collection of works by scholars who have produced some of the most innovative and influential work on the topic of First World War nursing in the last ten years. The contributors employ an interdisciplinary collaborative approach that takes into account multiple facets of Allied wartime nursing: historical contexts (history of the profession, recruitment, teaching, different national socio-political contexts), popular cultural stereotypes (in propaganda, popular culture) and longstanding gender norms (woman-as-nurturer). They draw on a wide range of hitherto neglected historical sources, including diaries, novels, letters and material culture. The result is a fully-rounded new study of nurses' unique and compelling perspectives on the unprecedented experiences of the First World War.
Professor Tommy Koh is Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rector of Tembusu College, Special Adviser of the Institute of Policy Studies, and Chairman of the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore. In his distinguished career, Prof Koh has served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, as Ambassador to the United States of America, as President of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea and Chairman of the Preparatory Committee and the Main Committee of the UN Conference on Environment and Development. He was the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. He chaired two dispute panels for the WTO. He was also Singapore's Chief Negotiator for the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. He was also the chairman of the group which drafted the Asean Charter. He chairs three committees for the National University of Singapore relating to law, Asia research and environmental management. An active patron of the arts, Prof Koh has served as Chairman of the National Heritage Board, National Arts Council and many other cultural groups. In recognition of his meritorious public service and achievements, he was conferred many honours, both locally and internationally. He has been named as 'Champion of the Earth' in 2006 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Prof Koh has been selected to receive Harvard's 2014 Great Negotiator Award sponsored by the Program on Negotiation based at Harvard Law School (an interuniversity consortium of Harvard, MIT, and Tufts) as well as Harvard's Program on the Future of Diplomacy. This collection of Prof Koh's favourite essays and lectures gives the reader an insight into his illustrious academic and diplomatic career. The volume also includes his articles on diplomacy and international law, art, culture, heritage, nature and environmental issues.
Professor Tommy Koh is Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rector of Tembusu College, Special Adviser of the Institute of Policy Studies, and Chairman of the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore. In his distinguished career, Prof Koh has served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, as Ambassador to the United States of America, as President of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea and Chairman of the Preparatory Committee and the Main Committee of the UN Conference on Environment and Development. He was the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. He chaired two dispute panels for the WTO. He was also Singapore's Chief Negotiator for the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. He was also the chairman of the group which drafted the Asean Charter. He chairs three committees for the National University of Singapore relating to law, Asia research and environmental management. An active patron of the arts, Prof Koh has served as Chairman of the National Heritage Board, National Arts Council and many other cultural groups. In recognition of his meritorious public service and achievements, he was conferred many honours, both locally and internationally. He has been named as 'Champion of the Earth' in 2006 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Prof Koh has been selected to receive Harvard's 2014 Great Negotiator Award sponsored by the Program on Negotiation based at Harvard Law School (an interuniversity consortium of Harvard, MIT, and Tufts) as well as Harvard's Program on the Future of Diplomacy. This collection of Prof Koh's favourite essays and lectures gives the reader an insight into his illustrious academic and diplomatic career. The volume also includes his articles on diplomacy and international law, art, culture, heritage, nature and environmental issues.
In the first edition (2010), Zhiqun Zhu examined the rationale and strategies of China's new multi-directional diplomacy since the early 1990s and assessed its impact on international political economy as well as responses from the international community. This fully revised second edition is still based on extensive research addressing these and other important policy issues whilst incorporating the latest major Chinese diplomatic activities since the last edition was published. This book continues to cover Chinese initiatives in the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific and studies China's current efforts to secure energy and other resources, to expand trade and investment, and to enhance 'soft power' around the world. The author further evaluates how China's activities affect these regions' political economy and how the international community, especially the United States, has reacted to China's new diplomacy. Whilst continuing to answer some lingering questions about Chinese foreign policy and its implications for both China and the international community as they become increasingly interdependent, this paperback edition is adapted for classroom use and provides questions for discussion to help readers review the key empirical and theoretical points of each chapter. |
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