This book presents a comprehensive overview of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the long-running dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Armenian-majority region of Azerbaijan. It outlines the historical development of the dispute, explores the political and social aspects of the conflict, examines the wars over the territory including the war of 2020 which resulted in a significant Azerbaijani victory, and discusses the international dimensions.

The Mongolian Empire, which reigned over the Eurasia Continent, was a great empire in the Middle Ages. Now, however, it is a divided nation, with a current population of about 10 million people, all of whom are distributed throughout the region, which makes contact with borders of the east, west, north, and south of (Outer) Mongolia. This book aims to offer a thrilling exploration of Mongolia's past, present, and future in the context of Mongolians in the 20th century. This book details the region's historical development for the first half of the 20th century by tracing Mongolia's history with rare materials. In addition, the relationships between both Inner Mongolia and China, and Outer Mongolia and Russia, are analyzed in-depth. Then, accounting for the second half of the 20th century, the author offers an in-depth analysis of Inner and Outer Mongolia, which have changed greatly since the era of reform and their opening-up. These exciting analyses are based on field surveys conducted by the author every year since 1990. Through synthesizing forty years of studies on Mongolia, including field surveys, the author analyzes the modern relationship between Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia, organized by subject and period. Also, the author argues that a unified Mongolia could become a serious threat to neighboring countries, such as China and Russia, in part because Mongolians are gathering under a spiritual leader named Chinggis Khan. Therefore, the question pursued in this book is: How can modern-day Mongolian achieve cohesion, thereby re-establishing a unified Mongolia? In response, this book argues that unification could be attained by linking Mongolia's economic development, political stability, and maintenance of cultural identity, and to do so based on "Chinggiskhanism" in a post-reform era. In this comprehensive 20th-century history of Mongolia, readers not only can come to understand why Mongolia became divided into two regions, Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia, but also readers will come to understand Mongolia's socio-cultural relationship with China. Truly, this book can serve readers as an opportunity to better understand the "development of relations for former glory between Mongolian peoples" based on the change in relationship between Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia after undergoing significant reforms and opening up.

This book discusses the return of geopolitical ideas and doctrines to the post-Soviet space with special focus on the new phenomenon of digital geopolitics, which is an overarching term for different political practices including dissemination of geopolitical ideas online, using the internet by political figures and diplomats for legitimation and outreach activity, and viral spread of geopolitical memes. Different chapters explore the new possibilities and threats associated with this digitalization of geopolitical knowledge and practice. Our authors consider new spatial sensibilities and new identities of global as well as local Selves, the emergence of which is facilitated by the internet. They explore recent reconfigurations of the traditional imperial conundrum of center versus periphery. Developing Manuel Castells' argument that social activism in the digital era is organized around cultural values, the essays discuss new geopolitical ideologies which aim to reinforce Russia's spiritual sovereignty as a unique civilization, while at the same time seeking to rebrand Russia as a greater soft power by utilizing the Russian-speaking diaspora or employing traditionalist rhetoric. Great Power imagery, enemy-making, and visual mappings of Russia's future territorial expansion are traditional means for the manipulation of imperial pleasures and geopolitical fears. In the age of new media, however, this is being done with greater subtlety by mobilizing the grassroots, contracting private information channels, and de-politicizing geopolitics. Given the political events of recent years, it is logical that the Ukrainian crisis should provide the thematic backdrop for most of the authors.

The North Atlantic continues to be an area of international strategic significance regionally and globally. This study explores the strong processes of sovereignty, as well as new independent states and micro-proto-states that are forming in the region.

Simon Reich presents an interpretation of the relationship between material (hard) and social (soft) power, with implications for the alternative ways these link and the impact of these linkages on the future of American policy. "Global Norms" offers a new way of understanding both theory and policy in the 21st Century.

The Kurdish territory of Rojava in Syria has become a watchword for radical democracy, communalism and gender equality. But while Western radicals continue to project their own values onto the revolution, the complexities of the situation are often overlooked or misunderstood. Based on over 17 years of research and fieldwork, Thomas Schmidinger provides a detailed introduction to the history and political situation in Rojava. Outlining the history of the Kurds in Syria from the late Ottoman Empire until the Syrian civil war, he describes the developments in Rojava since 2011: the protests against the regime, the establishment of a Kurdish para-state, the conflicts between the parties about the administration of the Kurdish territory and how the PYD and its People's Councils rule the territory. The book draws on interviews with political leaders of different parties, civil society activists, artists, fighters and religious leaders in order to paint an complex picture of the historical conflict and the contemporary situation.

Europe has to come to terms with its increasing cultural diversity. In current debate migration is typically presented merely as a social burden. This book envisions a future in which 'native' Europeans and those with a migrant background - together the New Europeans - come to the conclusion that they should build a new society jointly. An inclusive European society can be generated by launching a common project as an alternative to neoliberalism, developing an economy that is at the service of society. For this, democratic ownership should be the lever. In that process, migrants will be important and resilient catalysts. The book sets out a roadmap for what the future could look like, presenting a vision of Europe at the end of the 21st century as a 'real Utopia'. This book bucks the trend of depressing accounts on migration from outside Europe. It offers a promissory narrative for the continent's long-term future. Drawing on political, sociological, economic and philosophical insights, the author sticks his neck out, provokes perhaps, but always with the invitation for a constructive dialogue.

For decades, Hong Kong has maintained precarious freedom at the edge of competing world powers. In City on the Edge, Ho-fung Hung offers a timely and engaging account of Hong Kong's development from precolonial times to the present, with particular focus on the post 1997 handover period. Through careful analysis of vast economic data, a myriad of political events, and intricate networks of actors and ideas, Hung offers readers insight into the fraught economic, political, and social forces that led to the 2019 uprising, while situating the protests in the context of global finance and the geopolitics of the US-China rivalry. A provocative contribution to the discussion on Hong Kong's position in today's world, City on the Edge demonstrates that the resistance and repression of 2019-2020 does not spell the end of Hong Kong but the beginning of a long conflict with global repercussions.

The high voting threshold in the Council together with conflicting national preferences should frustrate effective European problem-solving. This famous prediction of the "joint-decision trap" (JDT) is at odds with Europe's dynamic environmental policy. Yet there is scarce research on the limited impact of the JDT in this realm. We know little, therefore, about the conditions of effective environmental policy-change in the EU. By comparing cases of stability and change, including CO2-limits for passenger cars and the phase-out of inscandescent lamps, the book examines the ways in and out of the JDT in environmental policy. It shows how both the highly politicized summit level and the bureaucratic "comitology" facilitate change by acting as informal bypasses to the Council. The book contributes to a better understanding of the JDT. It speaks to the recent debate about Europe's "new intergovernmentalism" and the reliance on "informal politics," especially in the wake of the Euro crisis.

This book provides a detailed, multi-level analysis of international security in the South Caucasus and considers whether this region of the former Soviet Union, with several as yet unresolved, 'frozen' separatist conflicts, can move towards a more peaceable future.Using three concepts from Regional Security Complex Theory, amity/enmity, state incoherence and great power penetration, Oskanian forms a unique conceptual expansion of the theory, providing a comprehensive examination of both material conditions and discourses of insecurity. Applying this expanded framework onto a region of considerable complexity and conflict, the book considers the hostility between the South Caucasian states, the fissures underlying their secessionist conflicts, and the regional involvement of great powers, outlining the broader narratives that pervade societies in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.The book also assesses the emergence of a security regime in the Southern Caucasus and offers a critical-prescriptive assessment of policy implications for both regional and extra-regional actors concerned with improved regional stability.

The twenty-first century's great geopolitical contest has begun. A major trade war has broken out. American and Chinese naval vessels are having close encounters in the South China Sea. American congressmen and businessmen are cheering their government's public attacks on China. China is standing firm and resolute. Who will win this contest? What is at stake? And who will judge the winner? In this book, Kishore Mahbubani evaluates the two sides, and shows how China has been thinking on a global scale, launching ambitious initiatives under some of the world's most pragmatic and competent leaders. Most critically, the Chinese people have regained their cultural confidence. Chinese society is now infused with innovation and dynamism. Meanwhile, America has seen the power of its economic model badly damaged by the 2008 financial crisis. To many it is no longer the indispensable nation but an awkward interloper. The global rise of China and the relative strategic decline of the US presents a political challenge that the US has never faced before. American policymakers must shake off their complacency and launch a major strategic reboot of both domestic and foreign policies that have weakened the nation's social foundations and global standing. Otherwise, the start-up nation, barely two hundred and fifty years old, with only a quarter of China's population, cannot expect to defeat the world's oldest continuous civilization. With his trademark candor, Mahbubani delivers impartial and incisive insights on the strategic stakes and mistakes in this new great game.

Die Corona-Pandemie hat insbesondere die Europaischen Grenzregionen vor grosse Herausforderungen gestellt. Grenzschliessungen haben etablierte Muster der grenzuberschreitenden Zusammenarbeit kurzfristig zum Erliegen gebracht. Zugleich lasst sich ein neuer Motivationsschub erkennen, bisherige rechtlich-administrative Hindernisse der Kooperation zukunftig zu uberwinden. Die Beitrage des vorliegenden Sammelbands untersuchen am Beispiel des deutsch-franzoesischen Grenzraums die Frage, welche innovativen Gestaltungsoptionen der Aachener Vertrag fur eine postpandemische Perspektive der grenzuberschreitenden Zusammenarbeit in Europa bietet. La pandemie de Corona a pose des defis majeurs aux regions frontalieres europeennes. La fermeture des frontieres a paralyse les modeles etablis de cooperation transfrontaliere. En meme temps, cela permet de donner un nouvel elan de motivation pour surmonter les anciens obstacles juridico-administratifs a la cooperation a l'avenir. A l'exemple de la region frontaliere franco-allemande, les contributions a cette anthologie examinent les options de conception innovantes que peut offrir le traite d'Aix-la-Chapelle dans une perspective post-pandemique de la cooperation transfrontaliere en Europe.

Renewing Destruction examines how wind energy projects impact people and their environments. Wind energy development, in Mexico and most countries, fall into a 'roll out' neoliberal strategy that is justified by climate change mitigation programs that are continuing a process of land and wind resources grabbing for profit. The result has been an exaggeration of pre-existing problems in communities around land, income-inequality, local politics and, contrary to public relations stories, is devastating traditional livelihoods and socio-ecological relationships. Exacerbating pre-existing social and material problems in surrounding towns, wind energy development is placing greater stress on semi-subsistence communities, marginalizing Indigenous traditions and indirectly resulting in the displacement and migration of people into urban centers. Based on intensive fieldwork with local groups in Oaxaca Mexico in 2015, the book provides an in-depth study, demonstrating the complications and problems that emerge with the current regime of 'sustainable development' and wind energy projects in Mexico, which has wider lessons to be drawn for other regions and countries. Put simply, the book reveals a tragic reality that calls into question the marketed hopes of the green economy and the current method of climate change mitigation. It shows the variegated impacts and issues associated with building wind energy parks, which extends to recognizing the destructive effects on Indigenous cultures and practices in the region. The book, however, highlights what to consider or, more importantly, what to avoid if one is working with industrial-scale wind energy systems.

This collection seeks to illustrate the state of the art in territoriological research, both empirical and theoretical. The volume gathers together a series of original, previously unpublished essays exploring the newly emerging territorial formations in culture, politics and society. While the globalisation debate of the 1990s largely pivoted around a 'general deterritorialisation' hypothesis, since the 2000s it has become apparent that, rather than effacing territories, global connections are added to them, and represent a further factor in the increase of territorial complexity. Key questions follow, such as: How can we further the knowledge around territorial complexities and the ways in which different processes of territorialisation co-exist and interact, integrating scientific advances from a plurality of disciplines? Where and what forms does territorial complexity assume, and how do complex territories operate in specific instances? Which technological, political and cultural facets of territories should be tackled to make sense of the life of territories? How and by what different or combined methods can we describe territories, and do justice to their articulations and meanings? How can the territoriological vocabulary relate to contemporary social theory advancements such as ANT, the ontological turn, the mobilities paradigm, sensory urbanism, and atmospheres research? How can territorial phenomena be studied across disciplinary boundaries? Territories, Environments, Politics casts a fresh perspective onto a number of key contemporary socio-spatial phenomena. Refraining from the attempt to ossify territoriology into some disciplinary straightjacket, the collection aims to illustrate the scope of current territoriological research, its domain, its promises, its theoretical advancements, and its methodological reflection in the making. Scholars interested in social research will find in this collection a rich and imaginative theoretical-methodological toolkit. Students in human geography, anthropology and sociology, socio-legal studies, architecture and urban planning will find Territories, Environments, Politics of interest.

As the voting public continues to diversify across the United States, political candidates, and particularly white candidates, increasingly recognize the importance of making appeals to voters who do not look like themselves. As history has shown, this has been accomplished with varying degrees of success. During the 2016 election, for example, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigned vociferously among Latino voters in Nevada's early primary, where nineteen percent of the Democratic caucus consisted of Latinos. Clinton released a campaign message to these voters stating that she was just like their abuela (or grandmother). The message, widely panned, came across as insincere, and Clinton, who otherwise performed well among Latinos nationally, lost by a wide margin to Sanders. On the other hand, in 2013, Bill de Blasio, campaigning for mayor of New York City, appeared with his black son in a commercial aimed against stop and frisk policies. His appeal came across as authentic, and he received a high level of support among black voters. In Campaigning in a Racially Diversifying America, Loren Collingwood develops a theory of Cross-Racial Electoral Mobilization (CRM) to explain why, when, and how candidates of one race or ethnicity act to mobilize voters of another race or ethnicity. Specifically, Collingwood examines how and when white candidates mobilize Latino voters, and why some candidates are more succesful than others. He argues that candidates strategize by weighing the potential costs and benefits of conducting CRM based on the size of the minority electorate (the benefit) and the overall level of white racial hostility (the cost). Extensive cross-racial mobilization is most likely to occur when elections are competitive, institutional barriers to the vote are low, candidates have previously developed a welcoming racial reputation with target voters, whites' attitudes are racially liberal, and the Latino electorate is large and growing. Moreover, candidates who can demonstrate cultural competence and do so repeatedly are much more likely to be successful at making such appeals. The book looks at CRM trends and case studies over the past seventy years to gauge how politics in various places have changed as the American electorate has diversified. It draws on the author's research in over thirty archives in nine states, candidate and survey data, and experimental approaches to assess causality in voter responses to candidate behavior.

Towards Puerto Rico's Decolonial Futures draws from apparently disparate materials and disciplines-history, political platforms, alternative political arrangements, live arts, and literature-in an effort, first, to analyze how decolonization and Caribbean regionalism have been envisioned in Puerto Rico and, second, to present the contexts and perspectives needed for imagining possible decolonial futures for twenty-first century Puerto Rico. Taking its most immediate cue from Puerto Rico's summer 2019 rebellion, the book argues that Puerto Rico needs a non-hierarchical form of decolonizing politics that includes collective leadership and a participatory democracy model for deliberation and decision-making, following the example of communitarian, autonomous sovereignty currently being deployed in the archipelago. It further contends that decolonizing Puerto Rico demands envisioning it as the archipelago that it is, situating at the forefront of our imagination and our political will Puerto Rico's maritime identity within the shared geopolitical and historical condition of the Caribbean.

This book explores the concept of nation branding - what it is and how it works - through an instructive case of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, where 190 countries showcased their national cultures to a predominantly Chinese audience. The comparative analysis of national pavilions (including Brazil, India, Israel, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and the United States) demonstrates how a place-branding activity, such as the World Expo, facilitates communication to build a nation's image, thereby enhancing its soft power. As nation-branding efforts will only increase in the coming years, this study forms an important basis for future inquiry.

The Middle East and Globalization discusses past and contemporary political, societal, economic, and cultural trends in the Middle East against the background of comprehensive theories of globalization. The chapters draw on a shared methodological approach, looking at the fractures and horizons of globalization that are shaping the Middle East.

The autonomous province of Vojvodina in Serbia is little-known in the English-speaking world, even though it is a territory of high significance for the development of Serbian national identity. Vojvodina's multi-ethnic composition and historical experience has also encouraged the formation of a distinct regional identity. This book analyses the evolution of Vojvodina's identity over time and the unique pattern of ethnic relations in the province. Although approximately 25 ethnic communities live in Vojvodina, it is by no means a divided society. Intercultural cohabitation has been a living reality in the province for centuries and this largely accounts for the lack of ethnic conflict. Vassilis Petsinis explores Vojvodina's intercultural society and shows how this has facilitated the introduction of flexible and regionalized legal models for the management of ethnic relations in Serbia since the 2000s. He also discusses recent developments in the region, most notably the arrival of refugees from Syria and Iraq, and measures the impact that these changes have had on social stability and inter-group relations in the province.

What does liberal order actually amount to outside the West, where it has been most institutionalised? Contrary to the Atlantic or Pacific, liberal hegemony is thin in the Indian Ocean World; there are no equivalents of NATO, the EU or the US-Japan defence relationship. Yet what this book calls the 'Global Indian Ocean' was the beating heart of earlier epochs of globalisation, where experiments in international order, market integration and cosmopolitanisms were pioneered. Moreover, it is in this macro-region that today's challenges will face their defining hour: climate change, pandemics, and the geopolitical contest pitting China and Pakistan against the USA and India. The Global Indian Ocean states represent the greatest range of political systems and ideologies in any region, from Hindu-nationalist India and nascent democracy in Indonesia and South Africa, to the Gulf's mixture of tribal monarchy and high modernism. These essays by leading scholars examine key aspects of political order, and their roots in the colonial and pre-colonial past, through the lenses of state-building, nationalism, international security, religious identity and economic development. The emergent lessons are of great importance for the world, as the 'global' liberal order fades and new alternatives struggle to be born.

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.

The worlds' oceans have been extremely important in the development and interaction of societies throughout history. This unique book uses the tools of political geography and international relations to examine the ways in which nations and peoples have viewed and used the oceans. Most social scientists have looked on the seas as a resource, but Steinberg sees them as a space defined by society, arguing that political and economic forces have shaped the governance and representation of the sea as much as they have the land.

This book examines the unfolding new relationship between Vietnam and the United States (US) since the end of the Cold War, discussing how the relationship has emerged as one of the most intriguing facets of the regional geopolitical landscape and how the two countries turned from staunch adversaries to partners within the span of four decades after the end of the Vietnam War. It explains in particular the interplay between international relations factors, such as the US' rivalry with China, and domestic factors in both countries, which, the book argues, are crucial to understanding the changing relationship. Overall, the book provides many insights into Vietnamese foreign policy and a rich context for those seeking to understand the prospects of closer Vietnam-US ties or actually trying to broaden the vistas of bilateral cooperation between Hanoi and Washington.

This book explores the growing interests of China in the Arctic and examines the nature of its interests and motivations in maintaining its involvement and presence in the region. The new geopolitical landscape of the Arctic today is a significant departure from the great power politics that existed in the region during the Cold War era. Apart from traditional Arctic states, more and more international organizations and non-Arctic states are showing an increased interest in this region, not least China. Many have attempted to interpret China's intention in moving to the high north and this book aims to add to the existing literature from three approaches: China's participation in the international institutions, China's relationships with the Arctic stakeholders and China's sectoral engagement in the Arctic. In taking a three-dimensional approach to the analysis, the author builds a comprehensive picture of China's interests and activities in the Arctic, not only from the perspective of China but also from the viewpoint of other Arctic states (Russia, Canada, the U.S., Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland). One of the first books in English to cover the subject since the release of China's Arctic policy white paper in January 2018, this analysis will be of interest to academics, students of Arctic studies, maritime law and international law, as well as policy makers in Arctic and non-Arctic states.