Adopting a constructivist approach, this book argues that China's prospects for achieving 'great power' status peacefully depend more on perceptions of the country's development than on concrete measures of power or economic benefits. Incorporating historical perceptions, survey data and general analysis, the authors explore Chinese foreign policies in international organisations, international trade, security relations and as a model for global governance, as well as the reactions to those policies within the context of China's relations with Asian neighbours (India, Japan and the states of South-east Asia), existing international powers (the European Union, Russia and the United States), and emergent trading partners (Africa). -- .

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.

Throughout the twentieth century, glaciologists and geophysicists from Denmark, Norway and Sweden made important scientific contributions across the Arctic and Antarctic. This research was of acute security and policy interest during the Cold War, as knowledge of the polar regions assumed military importance. But scientists also helped make the polar regions Nordic spaces in a cultural and political sense, with scientists from Norden punching far above their weight in terms of population, geographical size or economic activity. This volume presents an image of Norden that stretches far beyond its conventional limits, covering a vast area in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Sea, as well as parts of Antarctica. Rich in resources, scarce in population, but critically important in global and regional geopolitics, these spaces were contested by major powers such as Russia, the United States, Canada and, in the Antarctic, Argentina, Australia, South Africa and others. The empirical focus on Danish, Norwegian and Swedish influence in the polar regions during the twentieth century embraces a diverse array of themes, from the role of science in policy and diplomacy to the tensions between nationalism and internationalism, with clear relevance to the important role science plays in contemporary discussions about Nordic engagement with the polar regions.

Writing Global Trade Governance operationalises a key post-structuralist methodology in order to expand understanding on the institution at the heart of the global political economy. Despite the WTO's centrality and the growing popularity of methods utilizing discourse theory, no other text has yet demonstrated how these two fields of learning can be productively combined. The book seeks to move beyond existing literatures that assume the WTO to be a structure, institution or normative framework, in order to enquire into the discursive processes of identity formation that make the WTO both possible and contested. The book criticises conventional approaches that treat critical civil society as distinct to the WTO, arguing instead that it is only through including such social practices within the field of relations making the WTO that we can properly understand what makes the WTO work. The book presents an empirical analysis of the discursive character of the present-day WTO (including its formation and operation) and then moves on to evaluate how it is subject to change within a broader social context. The final stage of the book seeks to discuss the impact of the findings on future research, both on the WTO and other institutions. This work is a significant intervention in the literature on the World Trade Organization and the politics of global trade and social movements, and will be of great interest to students and scholars of global governance, discourse theory and international organizations

This book provides a broad and in-depth introduction to the geopolitical, economic and trade changes wrought with the increasing influence of the countries of the Global South in international affairs. The global role of the developing countries came to the forefront in 1974, when the United Nations General Assembly promulgated The New International Economic Order. Since then, the countries of the Global South, particularly China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Qatar, made an indelible impact upon the world's economic architecture. However, their true influence became starkly illustrated during the onset of the 2000s, when several seismic events occurred. The September Eleventh terrorist attacks with the resultant debilitating wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- extreme world commodity price increases and the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 all served to wrench the epicenter of global influence increasingly southward. While the developed countries of the Global North became mired in economic stagnation with problems associated with the global financial crisis, their collective influence waned. Since then, the world has been attempting to accommodate, somewhat unevenly, the rising geopolitical and economic clout of the Global South. This book presents a collection of scholarly articles that, taken together, functions as a primer on the workings of the immense global changes at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

War, Identity and the Liberal State critically examines the significance of gender, race and sexuality to wars waged by liberal states and the soldiers who wage them. Drawing on original fieldwork research with British soldiers, it offers insights into how their lived experiences are shaped by, and shape, a politics of gender, race and sexuality that not only underpin power relations in the military, but a wider geopolitics of war. It explores how shared and collectively mediated knowledge on gender, race and sexuality facilitates certain claims about the nature of governing in liberal states and about why and how such states wage war against 'illiberal' ones in pursuit of global peace and security. In linking the politics of daily life to the international, this book insists that it is vital to explore how geopolitical events and practices are co-constituted, reinforced and contested in everyday experiences, practices and spaces. The book also urges scholars interested in the linguistic construction of geopolitics to consider the ways in which everyday objects, spaces and bodies also reinforce particular ideas about war, identity and statehood and some of their violent consequences. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international studies, security, gender and feminist studies and critical and social theory.

This book sheds light on how global warming has caused the ongoing environmental disaster in the Arctic, namely its melting. This development, if left unabated, will have a major negative environmental impact, not only on the Arctic itself, but on the entire planet, including the worsening of global warming and rising sea levels. The latter is a major threat to all island countries and all countries having coastlines with open seas with major environmental, social, economic, political and military/security implications. The Arctic melting is bringing about challenges while opening doors for certain opportunities. These are the accessibility of the region's large oil, gas and coal reserves and minerals, including rare earth elements. They are in demand both in the Arctic littoral states (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Norway, Russia and USA) and the Greater Arctic countries (Iceland, Finland and Sweden) as well as in other parts of the world. In particular, major oil and gas importers (China, India, Japan and South Korea) are interested in the Arctic energy resources, the main non-regional countries with a capability to engage in the region. The obvious importance of the regional energy and mineral resources makes the division of the region among the regional countries crucial. The melting of the Arctic ice will also lead to the availability for at least a few months a year of a Northern Sea Route and a Northwest Passage connecting Europe to North America and the North-Eastern part of Asia. The importance of these northern routes and the Arctic mineral and energy resources is contributing to a growing military presence of mainly the USA and Russia in this region, which could lead to an arms race. This book offers invaluable insights on the issues that have grave implications for energy security and geopolitics in the arctic.

In this engaging book, David M. McCourt makes the case for New Constructivist approaches to international relations scholarship. The book traces constructivist work on culture, identity, and norms within the historical, geographical, and professional contexts of world politics, and reflects on recent innovations in fields including practice theory, relationalism, and network analysis. Copiously illustrated with real-world examples from the rise of China and US foreign policy, it illuminates the processes by which international politics are built. This is both an accessible tour of Constructivism to date and a persuasive declaration for its continuing application and value.

In this global era, Central Asia must be understood in both geo-economic and geopolitical terms. The region's natural resources compel the attention of rivalrous great powers and ambitious internal factions. The local regimes are caught between the need for international collaborations to valorize these riches and the need to maintain control over them in the interest of state sovereignty. Russia and China dominate the horizon, with other global players close behind; meanwhile, neighboring countries are fractious and unstable with real potential for contagion. This pathbreaking introduction to Central Asia in contemporary international economic and political context answers the needs of both academic and professional audiences and is suitable for course adoption.

In this global era, Central Asia must be understood in both geo-economic and geopolitical terms. The region's natural resources compel the attention of rivalrous great powers and ambitious internal factions. The local regimes are caught between the need for international collaborations to valorize these riches and the need to maintain control over them in the interest of state sovereignty. Russia and China dominate the horizon, with other global players close behind; meanwhile, neighboring countries are fractious and unstable with real potential for contagion. This pathbreaking introduction to Central Asia in contemporary international economic and political context answers the needs of both academic and professional audiences and is suitable for course adoption.

In this enlightening analysis, Julia Gurol unpicks the complex security relations between the European Union (EU) and China. She investigates the principles, rationales and shifting dynamics of collaboration on a range of security issues, and their consequences for China, the EU and other regions. She pays particular attention to EU-China relations in the realm of anti-terrorism, anti-piracy and energy security, and disentangles their cooperation efforts in the context of increasing political and economic tensions. Systematic and accessible, this is an essential guide to the past, present and future of one of the world's most important, yet most complicated, security relationships.

The area between two countries, or at the edges of a civilization, has been called many things--frontier, backcountry, and most recently, the borderland. Even though borderlands are frequently located at the peripheries of empires and nations, they nevertheless shape how centers of national power-cities, national capitols, and so forth-have defined their relation to issues such as territorial expansion, sovereignty, immigration, labor, community formation, difference, and race and ethnicity. And in this global landscape, the borderlands area can teach a lot about how societies interact and how nations came to be as they are. North American Borderlands introduces students to exemplary recent scholarship on borderlands, focusing on borderland relationships--transnational or trans-cultural explorations of the many peoples and perspectives within borderlands regions.

This book examines how the increasing interdependence between trade and foreign policy can be managed within the legal framework of the European Union. In the context of the legally distinct characteristics of the European Community and the Common Foreign and Security Policy,it analyses the problems underpinning the regulation of three areas: sanctions against third countries, armaments, and exports of dual-use goods. The focus is on whether the constitutional order of the European Union may address these problems while performing a variety of functions: ensuring the consistency and coherence of its external relations, preserving the acquis communautaire and respecting the right of the Member States to conduct their foreign policy as fully sovereign subjects of international law. The book concludes that the interactions between trade and foreign policy may be regulated in a legally sensible and realistic way within the current structure of the European Union. The recent developments regarding the defense and security identity of the European Union and the debate over the nature of an enlarged Union make this book all the more topical.

The increasing emergence, re-emergence, and spread of deadly infectious diseases which pose health, economic, security and ethical challenges for states and people around the world, has given rise to an important global debate. The actual or potential burden of infectious diseases is sometimes so great that governments treat them as threats to national security. However, such treatment potentially increases the risk that emergency disease-control measures will be ineffective, counterproductive and/or unjust. Research on ethical issues associated with infectious disease is a relatively new and rapidly growing area of academic inquiry, as is research on infectious diseases within the field of security studies. This volume incorporates ethical and security perspectives, thus furthering research in both fields. Its unique focus on the intersection of ethical and security dimensions will, furthermore, generate fresh insights on how governments should respond to infectious disease challenges. Readers should include professionals and scholars working in infectious disease, epidemiology, public health, health law, health economics, public policy, bioethics, medical humanities, health and human rights, social/political philosophy, security studies, and international politics.

Transformations in Central Europe between 1989 and 2012: Geopolitical, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Shifts by Tomas Kavaliauskas, is an in-depth study of the transformations in Central Europe in the years since the fall of Communism. Using a comparative analysis of geopolitical, ethical, cultural, and socioeconomic shifts, this essential text investigates postcommunist countries including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. Next to transitological interpretations, this study ventures upon negative and positive freedom (Isaiah Berlin) in Central Europe after two decades of post-communist transition. Kavaliauskas questions the meaning of completeness of postcommunist transition, both geopolitical and socioeconomic, when there are many transformations that do not necessarily mean unequivocal progress. The author also analyses why Central Europe in 1989, armed with civil disobedience, could not maintain its moral politics. But the book touches sensitive issues of memory as well: an examination of May 9th is provided from the Russian and the Baltic perspectives, revealing two opposing world views regarding this date of liberation or occupation. Finally, Kavaliauskas analyzes the tragedy at Smolensk airport, which became an inseparable part of Central European identity. Transformations in Central Europe between 1989 and 2012 is an essential contribution to the literature on Central Europe and the lasting effects of Communism and its aftermath.

Over the past decade, democratization and civil society promotion became key variables in preserving global security and the liberal economic market. This book examines the prevalence of democratization policies as a hegemonic geopolitical tool; these policies represent a concerted political effort in which civil society organizations are manipulated through funding strategies. Denise Horn offers a fresh, innovative feminist-constructivist perspective by arguing that Western gender norms-i.e. those norms that determine degrees of participation within civil society-inform the policies of hegemonic powers and transform the foundations of civil society in transitional states. This powerful volume will be of interest to students and scholars in Gender and Women's Studies, Political Science, and International Relations.

The Russians are invading. But the locals have a plan.

It's March 2022 and Russian tanks are roaring across the vast, snow-dusted fields of Ukraine. Their destination: Voznesensk, a town with a small bridge that could change the course of the war. The heavily-armed Russians are expecting an easy fight - or no fight at all. After all, Voznesensk is a quiet farming town, full of pensioners. But the locals appear to have other ideas.

Svetlana, a grandmother with arthritis, reacts in fury when Russian troops turn her cottage into their blood-soaked headquarters. Valentin, a quick-talking lawyer, joins the town's 'Dads Army' defenders, crouching in a trench with an AK47. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Sergei grabs a Molotov cocktail and lies in wait for Russian tanks as they push towards Dead Water Bridge.

The odds are terrible. But a plan is emerging, and there's a chance it could save not just Voznesensk, but the rest of southern Ukraine. Meanwhile, inside the tanks, an inner battle rages. As Russian officer Igor Rudenko prepares to invade, he has a secret. He is Ukrainian himself.

A gripping work of reportage that tells the story of a pivotal moment in Ukraine's war, this is a real-life thriller about ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with resilience, humour and ingenuity

The world turned upside down? interrogates the widespread claim that contemporary globalization has ended the centrality of the state in world affairs and is effectively irreversible. It offers discriminating definitions of globalization, internationalization and international interdependence and demonstrates the analytical and empirical difficulties generated by these concepts. Developments at the end of the twentieth century are compared with those of earlier eras, particularly the end of the nineteenth and start of the twentieth centuries. The book also surveys the historical role of the state and its enduring importance for human well-being. A central focus of the book is the challenge posed by contemporary developments to the role and capacity of the modern state and the consequences should such challenges prove to be overwhelming.

Geopolitics is a crucial element in understanding international relations in East Asia, with major and medium powers competing for influence. This book examines geopolitics in East Asia, focusing in particular on its major, contentious maritime territorial disputes. It looks in particular detail at the overlapping claims between Japan, China and Taiwan over the Senkaku/Diao yu Islands in the East China Sea as well as the Paracel Islands claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam and the Spratly Islands involving Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam in the South China Sea. The book offers a comparative study of the East and South China Seas by arguing that their respective circumstances are influenced by similar geopolitical considerations; factors such as territory, natural resources and power competition all impact on disputes and broader regional relations. It is precisely the interplay of these geopolitical forces that can lead to the rapid escalation of a maritime territorial dispute or reversely to a diffusion of tensions. The book considers how such disputes might be managed and resolved peacefully, despite the geopolitical conditions that can make co-operation on these issues difficult to achieve. Ralf Emmers examines the prospect for conflict management and resolution by identifying catalysts which may contribute to improving the climate of relations.

Bilateral economic diplomacy is an increasingly popular method of ensuring both commercial and broader economic interests. In this Handbook over 30 leading experts from developed and developing countries, industrial nations and emerging economies have come together to form a global view of economic diplomacy. Representing a move away from Euro-centric books on the topic, this Handbook uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative research to explore how state visits, embassies and economic sanctions are being increasingly used as forms of diplomacy. Editors Peter van Bergeijk and Selwyn Moons have ensured that the entire research process is covered, from data collection to evidence-based policy advice. As such, the Handbook reveals how and under which conditions economic diplomacy can be most effective, proving an invaluable tool for future research. The Research Handbook for Economic Diplomacy is a key resource for academics and researchers at policy institutions who wish to understand the field in greater depth. Policy makers and other actors at domestic and international levels would also greatly benefit from this extensive international view of economy diplomacy.

The importance of the Himalayan state of Nepal has been obscured by the international campaign to free Tibet and the vicissitudes of the Sino-Indian rivalry. This book presents the history of Nepal's domestic politics and foreign relations from ancient to modern times. Analysing newly declassified reports from the United States and Britain, published memoirs, oral recollections and interviews, the book presents the historical interactions between Nepal, China, Tibet and India. It discusses how the ageing and inevitable death of the 14th Dalai Lama, the radicalization of Tibetan diaspora and the ascendancy of the international campaign to free Tibet are of increasing importance to Nepal. With its position between China and India, the book notes how the focus could shift to Nepal, with it being home to some 20,000 Tibetan refugees and its chronic political turmoil, deepened by the Asian giants' rivalry. Using a chronological approach, the past and present of the rivalry between China and India are studied, and attempts to chart the future are made. The book contributes to a new understanding of the intricate relationship of Nepal with these neighbouring countries, and is of interest to students and scholars of South Asian studies, politics and international relations.

Dating from its inception in the late nineteenth century, political geography as a field has been heavily influenced by global events of the time. Thus, rather than trying to impose a single "fashionable" theory, leading geographers John Agnew and Luca Muscara consider the underlying role of changing geopolitical context as their framework for understanding the evolution of the discipline. The authors trace the development of key thinkers and theories during three distinct periods-1875-1945, the Cold War, and the post-Cold War-emphasizing the ongoing struggle between theoretical "monism" and "pluralism," or one path to knowledge versus many. The world has undergone dramatic shifts since the book's first publication in 2002, and this thoroughly revised and updated second edition focuses especially on reinterpretations of the post-Cold War period. Agnew and Muscara explore the renewed questioning of international borders, the emergence of the Middle East and displacement of Europe as the center of global geopolitics, the rise of China and other new powers, the reappearance of environmental issues, and the development of critical geopolitics. With its deeply knowledgeable and balanced history and overview of the field, this concise work will be a valuable and flexible text for all courses in political geography.

As the North Pole is transformed from a sea-ice cap to an ice-free sea, the Arctic Ocean is becoming an environmentally insecure area. This volume proposes environmental security as providing a holistic framework to assess security risks and then identify the appropriate adaptation and mitigation responses.

The globalizing world is increasingly confronting a new category of security issues related to resource availability. The resource environment contains both traditional categories, such as energy, foodstuffs, and water, as well as new technologically related resources, such as rare earth minerals. The essays in this volume emphasize both the uniqueness and the magnitude of these new challenges, while simultaneously acknowledging that cooperation and competition in response to these security concerns occur within the context of both the historical and contemporary international power configurations. Moreover, these challenges are of a global nature and will require global perspectives, global thinking, and innovative global solutions. Krishna-Hensel brings together a wide range of topics focusing on critical resource availability impacting upon global security and the geopolitical ramifications of resource competition. The volume addresses the development of strategic thinking on these issues and underscores the increasing awareness that this is a critical area of concern in the twenty-first century global landscape.

Dating from its inception in the late nineteenth century, political geography as a field has been heavily influenced by global events of the time. Thus, rather than trying to impose a single "fashionable" theory, leading geographers John Agnew and Luca Muscara consider the underlying role of changing geopolitical context as their framework for understanding the evolution of the discipline. The authors trace the development of key thinkers and theories during three distinct periods-1875-1945, the Cold War, and the post-Cold War-emphasizing the ongoing struggle between theoretical "monism" and "pluralism," or one path to knowledge versus many. The world has undergone dramatic shifts since the book's first publication in 2002, and this thoroughly revised and updated second edition focuses especially on reinterpretations of the post-Cold War period. Agnew and Muscara explore the renewed questioning of international borders, the emergence of the Middle East and displacement of Europe as the center of global geopolitics, the rise of China and other new powers, the reappearance of environmental issues, and the development of critical geopolitics. With its deeply knowledgeable and balanced history and overview of the field, this concise work will be a valuable and flexible text for all courses in political geography.