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.

The South China Sea dispute not only involves the sovereignty and security interests of the countries concerned, but also the stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region. As the South China Sea dispute has evolved, the United States, with its continuous engagement, has played a vital role in contributing to the complexity and internationalization of the dispute. This book summarizes American strategies in the South China Sea, and comprehensively examines the role of the United States in this maritime dispute from both historical and realistic perspectives. It argues that the U.S. policy towards the South China Sea dispute is highly skillful and targeted. The degree of the U.S. involvement in the disputes mainly depends on three factors, namely its Asia-Pacific strategy and interest demand, its strategy towards China, and the speed of China's rise and how the United States perceives it. This book will be of great interest to those who study or focus on international relations, China-U.S. relations, maritime affairs, U.S. foreign policy, and East Asian security studies. University libraries, public libraries, think tanks, institutes for marine affairs, and engaged private individuals who are interested in international relations, China-U.S. relations, maritime disputes, South China Sea issues, etc., will also be interested in this book.

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 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 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.

Recounting the actors and events of U.S. foreign policy, Zoellick identifies five traditions that have emerged from America's encounters with the world: the importance of North America; the special roles trading, transnational, and technological relations play in defining ties with others; changing attitudes toward alliances and ways of ordering connections among states; the need for public support, especially through Congress; and the belief that American policy should serve a larger purpose. These traditions frame a closing review of post-Cold War presidencies, which Zoellick foresees serving as guideposts for the future. Both a sweeping work of history and an insightful guide to U.S. diplomacy past and present, AMERICA IN THE WORLD serves as an informative companion and practical adviser to readers seeking to understand the strategic and immediate challenges of U.S. foreign policy during an era of transformation.

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.

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.

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.

This book delivers an interpretive framework for making sense of today's geopolitical landscape and casts new light on the impact ideology and technology have had on American foreign policy and contemporary security practices. Edwin Daniel Jacob argues that America's security practices in the Global War on Terror have been guided by an anachronistic Cold War logic that has subordinated strategy to tactics. Jacob shows that deep-rooted prejudices and presuppositions regarding American exceptionalism have had a disastrous impact on the policies of the United States, not only in dealing with terrorism, but also in seeking to impose American hegemony in the Middle East. Ineffectual security practices of dubious moral character, from rendition and torture to preemptive strikes and nation building to drones and assassinations, privilege exigency over ethics. Yet the result of this "post-strategic" approach to security, where interchangeable tactics, like these, masquerade as strategy, only increases insecurity. Jacob offers a fresh perspective on American foreign policy that links national security with human security in regional terms. This approach highlights the need for order, predictability, and stability-the cornerstone of political realism. Making use of insights derived from Machiavelli, Hobbes, Marx, Weber, Schmitt, and Morgenthau, this interdisciplinary work provides an overview of American foreign policy in the twenty-first century and speaks to crucial themes in the fields of history, political science, and sociology.

This volume offers insights from political anthropology on how to analyze and how to think about contemporary areas of internationalized political phenomena in a fresh manner. By drawing on a variety of cases like policing, budgeting, the role of monetary politics in everyday life, development agencies, and international organisations it shows the promise of an "extended experience" for the study of international politics, yet without glossing over the limits of such approaches. This book is an essential contribution to the discussion about ethnography in international relations and a bridge between disciplines.

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.

This volume zones in on Russia's relations with the Indo-Pacific region through the lens of theoretical pluralism, presenting alternatives to the mainstream Realist view of Russia as a major power using geopolitical strategies to establish itself. Russia in the Indo-Pacific is an understudied topic that needs a fresh perspective. Contributors to this volume are based across Russia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the USA, drawing on a range of multinational perspectives and theoretical approaches encompassing realism and liberalism, constructivism and the English school of international relations. Reflecting a trend of internationalization in the Russian study of IR, such theoretical pluralism could facilitate Russian contributions to emerging global IR theory. Russia in the Indo-Pacific contributes towards a more intelligible common discourse in the Indo-Pacific, of interest to students and scholars of Sino-Russian relations, Indo-Pacific international relations, and international relations theory. It will also be of interest to policymakers and general readers following foreign policy and economic trends in the Indo-Pacific who want to better understand Russia's role.

In recent decades, Asia's ascent has been contextualized as the rise of two major neighboring countries in Asia - India and China. Besides voluminous work on the prospects and convergences between the two, currently they stand at an intersection of time where suspicion and mistrust veils the confidence. A degree of uncertainty arises from the more profound paradoxes, and India has been falling short in escaping the tailspin China has created in the bilateral, regional and global economic dynamics. India's China relations is not just about boundaries and boycott of Chinese products. The root of the relationship lies in deficiency of trust, knowledge, and repository of experts on China. To deal with India's China Tailspin effectively, one must know and comprehend China thoroughly. This book brings out several aspects of India's political-economic relations with China on the table. The book underlines the fact that while leveraging China's inherent contradictions, India has to deleverage from China's subtle global aspirational designs of domination. Besides analyses on leadership, state capitalism, and geo-economics, the book describes special cases such as the Trade War, Structural Conflicts in Chinese Political Economy, Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, WTO negotiations, Maritime trade, Belt and Road Initiative, and Taiwan to better elaborate the stakes involved in dealing with China. The recent boundary tension created a long tailspin, which in turn set off a raucous debate over China's economic diplomacy and how India could comprehend it well. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Deniers of climate change sometimes quip that claims about global warming are more about political science than climate science. They are wrong on the science, but may be right with respect to its political implications. A hotter world, writes Andrew Guzman, will bring unprecedented migrations, famine, war, and disease. It will be a social and political disaster of the first order.
In Overheated, Guzman takes climate change out of the realm of scientific abstraction to explore its real-world consequences. He writes not as a scientist, but as an authority on international law and economics. He takes as his starting point a fairly optimistic outcome in the range predicted by scientists: a 2 degree Celsius increase in average global temperatures. Even this modest rise would lead to catastrophic environmental and social problems. Already we can see how it will work: The ten warmest years since 1880 have all occurred since 1998, and one estimate of the annual global death toll caused by climate change is now 300,000. That number might rise to 500,000 by 2030. He shows in vivid detail how climate change is already playing out in the real world. Rising seas will swamp island nations like Maldives; coastal food-producing regions in Bangladesh will be flooded; and millions will be forced to migrate into cities or possibly "climate-refugee camps." Even as seas rise, melting glaciers in the Andes and the Himalayas will deprive millions upon millions of people of fresh water, threatening major cities and further straining food production. Prolonged droughts in the Sahel region of Africa have already helped produce mass violence in Darfur.
Clear, cogent, and compelling, Overheated shifts the discussion on climate change toward its devastating impact on human societies. Two degrees Celsius seems such a minor change. Yet it will change everything.

South Africa's momentous transition to democracy has had enormous implications for its foreign policy. This book examines the country's current and future role, not just within Africa but also within the international community as a whole. The essays also explore broader issues such as human rights, democratization and the pattern of North-South relations in the new millennium.

Intensifying geopolitical rivalries, rising defence spending and the proliferation of the latest military technology across Asia suggest that the region is set for a prolonged period of strategic contestation. None of the three competing visions for the future of Asian order - a US-led 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific', a Chinese-centred order, or the ASEAN-inspired 'Indo-Pacific Outlook' - is likely to prevail in the short to medium term. In the absence of a new framework, the risk of open conflict is heightened, and along with it the need for effective mechanisms to maintain peace and stability. As Asia's leaders seek to rebuild their economies and societies in the wake of COVID-19, they would do well to reflect upon the lessons offered by the pandemic and their applicability in the strategic realm. The societies that have navigated the crisis most effectively have been able to do so by putting in place stringent protective measures. Crisis-management and -avoidance mechanisms - and even, in the longer term, wider arms control - can be seen as the strategic equivalent of such measures, and as such they should be pursued with urgency in Asia to reduce the risks of an even greater calamity.

A rare insight into how industry practices like regional restrictions have shaped global media culture in the digital era "This content is not available in your country." At some point, most media consumers around the world have run into a message like this. Whether trying to watch a DVD purchased during a vacation abroad, play an imported Japanese video game, or listen to a Spotify library while traveling, we are constantly reminded of geography's imprint on digital culture. We are locked out. Despite utopian hopes of a borderless digital society, DVDs, video games, and streaming platforms include digital rights management mechanisms that block media access within certain territories. These technologies of "regional lockout" are meant first and foremost to keep the entertainment industries' global markets distinct. But they also frustrate consumers and place territories on a hierarchy of global media access. Drawing on extensive research of media-industry strategies, consumer and retailer practices, and media regulation, Locked Out explores regional lockout's consequences for media around the globe. Power and capital are at play when it comes to who can consume what content and who can be a cultural influence. Looking across digital technologies, industries, and national contexts, Locked Out argues that the practice of regional lockout has shaped and reinforced global hierarchies of geography and culture.

Choreographies of Resistance examines bodies and their capacity for obstructive and resistant action in places and spaces where we do not expect to see it. Drawing on empirical research that considers cases on asylum seekers, beggars, undocumented migrants and migrant nurses, the book attests to the scope and diversity of corporeal resistance in the realm of politics. It is shown that bodies that are not assumed to have political agency can obstruct and resist the smooth functioning of disciplinary practices that nowadays form the core of migration policies. It is argued that the body is more than a mere target of politics. In so doing, the book contributes to the study of the political significance of movement, mobility and the nonverbal. The body opens up a space of political resistance and action. The resistant body poses a challenge that is both praxical and philosophical: it ultimately invites us to reconsider the meanings and content of political space, community and belonging..

This book explores the geopolitics of the global cyber space to analyse India's cyber security landscape. As conflicts go more online, nation-states are manipulating the cyber space to exploit each other's dependence on information, communication and digital technologies. All the major powers have dedicated cyber units to breach computer networks, harvest sensitive data and proprietary information, and disrupt critical national infrastructure operations. This volume reviews threats to Indian computer networks, analyses the country's policy responses to these threats, and suggests comprehensive measures to build resilience in the system. India constitutes the second largest internet user base in the world, and this expansion of the user base also saw an accompanying rise in cyber crimes. The book discusses how the country can protect this user base, the data-dependent critical infrastructure, build resilient digital payment systems, and answer the challenges of the dark net. It also explores India's cyber diplomacy, as an emerging economy with a large IT industry and a well-established technological base. Topical and lucid, this book as part of The Gateway House Guide to India in the 2020s series, will be of interest to scholars and researchers of cyber security, digital diplomacy, foreign policy, international relations, geopolitics, strategic affairs, defence studies, South Asian politics and international politics.

Two years after the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2009, the Asan Institute for Policy Studies invited a group of distinguished policymakers and scholars to a conference in Seoul to discuss the politics of the G20. Entitled 'Middle Powers and Caucusing in Global Governance: Do Middle Powers Need Their Own Summit?, ' the conference was an attempt to better understand the internal politics and dynamics of the G20 so as to articulate a path for its future development. This volume reflects the diverse perspectives presented on each of the major governance groups that contribute directly and indirectly to the G20 political process. It examines how the various groups interact and what the outcomes have been of such interactions. A fresh conceptualization of a G20 system composed of groups of nations that can both balance against, as well as support, one another is presented. Of particular importance is the role of middle-power nations such as South Korea, Canada, and Australia as bridge-builders between the North and the South, the G7/8, and the BRICS.The Asan Institute for Policy Studies is an independent think tank located in Seoul, South Korea, that provides innovative policy solutions and spearheads public discourse on many of the core issues that Korea, East Asia, and the global community face. The goal of the institute is not only to offer policy solutions but also to train experts in public diplomacy and related fields in order to strengthen Korea's capacity to better tackle some of the most pressing problems affecting the country, the region and the world today.