We no longer inhabit a world governed by international coordination, a unified NATO bloc, or an American hegemon. Traditionally, the decline of one empire leads to a restoration in the balance of power, via a struggle among rival systems of order. Yet this dynamic is surprisingly absent today; instead, the superpowers have all, at times, sought to promote what Jason Pack terms the 'Enduring Disorder'. He contends that Libya's ongoing conflict--more so than the civil wars in Yemen, Syria, Venezuela or Ukraine--constitutes the ideal microcosm in which to identify the salient features of this new era of geopolitics. The country's post-Qadhafi trajectory has been moulded by the stark absence of coherent international diplomacy; while Libya's incremental implosion has precipitated cross-border contagion, further corroding global institutions and international partnership. Pack draws on over two decades of research in and on Libya and Syria to highlight the Kafkaesque aspects of today's global affairs. He shows how even the threats posed by the Arab Spring, and the Benghazi assassination of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, couldn't occasion a unified Western response. Rather, they have further undercut global collaboration, demonstrating the self-reinforcing nature of the progressively collapsing world order.

How far can the relationship between music and politics be used to promote a more peaceful world? That is the central question which motivates this challenging new work. Combining theory from renowned academics such as Johan Galtung, Cindy Cohen and Karen Abi-Ezzi with compelling stories from musicians like Yair Dalal, the book also includes an exclusive interview with folk legend Pete Seeger. In each instance, practical and theoretical perspectives have been combined in order to explore music's role in conflict transformation.The book is divided into five sections. The first, 'Frameworks', reflects indepth on the connections between music and peace, while the second, 'Music and Politics', discusses the actual impact of music on society. The third section, 'Healing and Education' offers specific examples of the transformative power of music in prisons and other settings of conflict-resolution, while the fourth, 'Stories from the Field', tells true stories about music's impact in the Middle East and elsewhere. Finally, 'Reflections' encourages the reader to consider a personal evaluation of the work with a view to further explorations of the capacity of music to promote peace-building.

This pioneering volume invites scholars from different social science disciplines to contribute their competing perspectives to a far-ranging albeit understudied dimension of globalization. Globalization has been defined as progressively integrated, national product and factor markets, cemented by the revolution in transportation and communications technology. This process has been driven by transnational corporations who have erected intricate, global supply chains. Such commercial advances have, in turn, intensified the interdependence among states and the authors raise a number of questions: Can the multi-variegated, cross-border activities in which such non-state actors engage be analyzed through a single conceptual lens? Can non-state transnational transfers be so clearly distinguished from exchanges in practice? What are the implications of transnational transfers, where material and non-material value is transferred abroad with no assurance, or even expectation of reciprocal compensation, for sovereignty? The case studies range from the impact of worker remittances on failed states to capacity building by global civil society on behalf of nascent NGOs in China to the transfer of security (or insecurity) via peacekeepers, track two diplomats and private security contractors.

Energy security has become a central concern for all the countries in the Asian region and the search for sufficient sources of energy to fuel economic growth has drastically influenced relations among the South Asian countries as well as their respective relations with their neighbours China, Myanmar, Iran, and Afghanistan. The recent nuclear deal between India and the US is also indicative of how energy and power politics are linked and how these new inter-linkages underlie relations between states. This book aims to give a South Asian perspective on the geopolitics of energy, with a central focus on India. The chapters address how India's global and regional foreign policy making has changed in light of India's search for energy and how this is affecting the relationship on a global level between India and the US, as well as on a regional level between India and the other Asian countries. The book also offers views from Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as how this shifting reality is affecting relations between India and Southeast Asia.

Designed to complement the main themes of any introductory course, Snow's bestselling text presents original case studies that survey the state of the international system and look in-depth at issues of current interest. The cases are extremely timely, geopolitically diverse, accessibly written, and of high interest and salience amidst today's headlines. New examples include the pandemic, racial inequality, foreign interference in elections, cyberwar, and global warming.

Economic sanctions have been an increasingly conspicuous feature of world politics since the end of World War 1, owing largely to the decreasing legitimacy of the use of force and the world's growing economic interdependence. Nevertheless, there still exists scepticism regarding their efficacy.;The study is a pioneering effort and investigates the role of economic sanctions in the international community today and their effectiveness and limitations, analyzing more than 30 of the most significant cases since 1918, but focusing primarily on the 1980-81 Iranian Hostages sanctions.

Growing up during The Troubles, I was determined that I was not going to be forced into Irish unity by terrorist violence or the threat of it. At the time, there was no space to think about a different future. But since then, we have had peace, however imperfect it may be, and we now have the opportunity to freely decide our fate. Why will everyone living on the island of Ireland benefit from Irish unity? How will the referendum be won? Do we need to start preparing now? What will happen when Ireland is reunified? Disillusioned with the state of pro-union politics in Britain and Northern Ireland, scarred by what he and many others see as a detrimental vote for Brexit and determined to heal the wounds inflicted by partition, Ben Collins sets out a multitude of political, social and economic benefits of removing the border on the island of Ireland, once and for all. Written from the viewpoint of an East Belfast-born former UUP campaigner, Irish Unity: Time to Prepare addresses the concerns of unionists in Northern Ireland and sceptics in the Republic and urges everyone on the island of Ireland to escape the crumbling United Kingdom so that we can build a peaceful and prosperous future together, for ourselves and our children.

This book surveys 'thrift' through its moral, religious, ethical, political, spiritual and philosophical expressions, focussing in on key moments such as the early Puritans and Post-war rationing, and key characters such as Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Smiles and Henry Thoreau. The relationships between thrift and frugality, mindfulness, sustainability, and alternative consumption practices are explained, and connections made between myriad conceptions of thrift and contemporary concerns for how consumer cultures impact scarce resources, wealth distribution, and the Anthropocene. Ultimately, the book returns the reader to an understanding of thrift as it was originally used - to 'thrive' - and attempts to re-cast thrift in more collective, economically egalitarian terms, reclaiming it as a genuinely resistant practice. -- .

Geopolitics is not dead, but nor does it involve the same old logic of a world determined by physical geography in a competition between Great Powers. Hidden Geopolitics recaptures the term to explore how the geography of power works both globally and nationally to structure and govern the workings of the global political economy. Globalization, far from its antithesis, is tightly wound up in the assumptions and practices of geopolitics, relating to the scope of regulatory authority, state sponsorship, and the political power of businesses to operate worldwide. Agnew shows how this "hidden" geopolitics and globalization have been vitally connected. He focuses on three moments: the origins of contemporary globalization in the policies pursued by successive US governments and allies after 1945 and its continued relevance even as the US role in the world changes; the close connection between geopolitical history and status of different countries and their relative capacities to exploit the possibilities and limit the costs of globalization; and new regulatory and standard-setting agencies which emerged under the sponsorship of major geopolitical powers but have grown in power and authority as the dominant states have become limited in their ability to manage the explosion of transnational transactions on their own. Agnew argues that it is time to move on from the narrow inter-imperial cast of geopolitics and the foolish policy advice it produces. The old perspective on geopolitics has taken on new life with the rise of national-populist movements in Europe and the United States and the reinvigoration of territorial-authoritarian regimes in Russia and China. Notwithstanding this trend, we must see the contemporary world through the lens of these complex, "hidden" geopolitical underpinnings that Agnew seeks to expose.

This book explores domestic opposition to formal US military bases in Latin America, and provides evidence of a growing network of informal and secretive base-like arrangements that supports US military operations in the Latin American Region.

This collection discusses China's contemporary national and international identity as evidenced in its geopolitical impact on the countries in its direct periphery and its functioning in organizations of global governance. This contemporary identity is assessed against the background of the country's Confucian and nationalist history.

This book addresses the complex origins of the Ukrainian crisis. It places the crisis in a longer-term perspective and shows how the domestic political regime interpreted, balanced and eventually chose between the competing integration offers of Russia and the EU. It also explores the key implications for Ukraine's relations with the EU and Russia.

A unique analysis that assesses how we can determine which country will be the next world leader. Will China surpass the United States as the world's leader? In American Global Pre-eminence, William R. Thompson argues that the answer depends on leads in technological innovation, energy, and global reach. These are the forces that influence the hierarchy of global power-a system which began emerging a thousand years ago and started becoming more evident after the 1490s, especially after Dutch activities in the seventeenth century and British operations in the nineteenth century. The US followed in this fashion after 1945. Yet leads do not last forever. Ironically, as it becomes clearer how technological innovation, military force, and energy power interact, the processes under scrutiny may themselves be fundamentally transforming. Thus, Thompson contends, the real policy question is not whether the US is ahead or behind China but, rather, whether it will remain possible for a single state to lead the global system. As technological innovation, energy consumption, and global reach capability grow less concentrated, the prospects for systemic leadership shrink-even as global problems become more complex and acute. With a sweeping analysis of global power, Thompson provides a foundation for understanding the realities and possibilities of lead states past, present, and future.

This book analyzes the combined consequences of Brexit and of the new US foreign policy under President Trump on the geopolitical situation of Eastern Europe. It perceives the evolution of the East European regional security complex as a struggle between the European Union's Kantian, win-win geopolitical vision and Russia's neoclassical geopolitics, also promoted by President Trump. In the most probable scenario, the latter approach will have the upper hand. The EU's post-Brexit control by the Franco-German axis will likely be followed by the geopolitical irrelevance of the EU due to the renationalization of member states' foreign policy, with Germany becoming the main West European actor. Consequently, Eastern Europe will be turned into the arena of a mainly three-cornered neoclassical geopolitics rivalry opposing Russia, the Franco-German axis and then Germany, and the US in alliance with the post-Brexit UK and certain East European states. The book will appeal to scholars across the fields of International Relations, Geopolitics, European Studies, and Area Studies.

"The New Energy Crisis" comes from the recent intrusion of climate change issues into energy economics and geopolitics. Global warming suddenly reveals that the current evolution of the world energy consumption is on an unsustainable path. This book explores economic and geopolitical tensions and reinforces ways to overcome the crisis.

Handbook of Organizational Creativity: Leadership, Interventions, and Macro Level Issues, Second Edition covers creativity from many perspectives in two unique volumes, including artificial Intelligence work, creativity within specific applied domains (e.g., engineering, science, therapy), and coverage of leadership. The book includes individual, team and organizational level factors and includes organizational interventions to facilitate creativity (such as training). Chapters focus on creative abilities and creative problem-solving processes, along with individual differences such as motivation, affect and personality. New chapters include the neuroscience of creativity, creativity and meaning, morality/ethicality and creativity, and creative self-beliefs. Sections on group level phenomena examine team cognition, team social processes, team diversity, social networks, and multi-team systems and creativity. Final coverages includes different types and approaches to leadership, such as transformational leadership, ambidextrous leadership leader-follower relations, and more.

This text analyzes the political and material conditions driving contemporary border control policies and discusses the processes that mediate popular and official understandings of border-related fatalities.

Is the process of state building a unilateral, national venture, or is it something more collaborative, taking place in the interstices between adjoining countries? To answer this question, Asymmetrical Neighbors takes a comparative look at the state building process along China, Myanmar, and Thailand's common borderland area. It shows that the variations in state building among these neighboring countries are the result of an interactive process that occurs across national boundaries. Departing from existing approaches that look at such processes from the angle of singular, bounded territorial states, the book argues that a more fruitful method is to examine how state and nation building in one country can influence, and be influenced by, the same processes across borders. It argues that the success or failure of one country's state building is a process that extends beyond domestic factors such as war preparation, political institutions, and geographic and demographic variables. Rather, it shows that we should conceptualize state building as an interactive process heavily influenced by a "neighborhood effect." Furthermore, the book moves beyond the academic boundaries that divide arbitrarily China studies and Southeast Asian studies by providing an analysis that ties the state and nation building processes in China with those of Southeast Asia.

This book offers a critical reassessment of the "Asian values" debate, which dominated the human rights discourse in the late 1990s, and a reappraisal of the human rights situation in Asia since then. In this book Asian and non-Asian scholars contextualize the "Asian values" debate and examine in what ways the issues raised then continue to trouble Asian societies. Human rights are seen both in the context of political developments in individual Asian countries as well as in relation to global issues such as the Global War on Terror. The book challenges the reader to critically examine human rights rhetoric and practice both in Asia and globally.

In the globalized Arctic there has been a transformation from military security to human security. Climate change, the utilization of Arctic resources and other global challenges have caused the Arctic 'paradox' and a need to redefine security.

Muhammad bin Salman Al-Saud and Muhammad bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the respective princely strongmen of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have torn up the old rules. They have spurred game-changing economic master plans, presided over vast anti-corruption crackdowns, tackled entrenched religious forces, and overseen the mass arrest of critics. In parallel, they also appear to have replaced the old 'sheikhly' consensus systems of their predecessors with something more autocratic, more personalistic, and perhaps even analytically distinct. These are the two wealthiest and most populous Gulf monarchies, and increasingly important global powers--Saudi Arabia is a G20 member, and the UAE will be the host of the World Expo in 2021-2022. Such sweeping changes to their statecraft and authority structures could well end up having a direct impact, for better or worse, on policies, economies and individual lives all around the world. Christopher M. Davidson tests the hypothesis that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are now effectively contemporary or even 'advanced' sultanates, and situates these influential states within an international model of autocratic authoritarianism. Drawing on a range of primary sources, including new interviews and surveys, 'From Sheikhs to Sultanism' puts forward an original, empirically grounded interpretation of the rise of both MBS and MBZ.

The European region - especially given the existence of the European Union (EU) - necessarily encompasses multiple levels of public diplomacy: subnational, national, transnational, and supranational. But do the various aspects of Europe's multi-leveled public diplomacy form a coherent overall image, or do they work against each other to some extent? European Public Diplomacy: Soft Power at Work pushes the literature on public diplomacy forward through a multifaceted exploration of the European case. In so doing, it fills an important gap in the international relations literature on the mechanisms behind soft power.