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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > International relations > General
By highlighting the scope and limitations of local NGO agencies, this book presents a unique perspective of the relationship between peacebuilding theory and its application in practice, outlining how well-educated, well-connected local decision makers and thinkers navigate the uneven power dynamics of the international aid system.
The New European Security Disorder presents a clear and comprehensive overview of the main actors, institutions and changes in European security since the end of the Cold War. Special emphasis is put on the assessment of threats to Europe's security, the lack of coherent leadershop in Bosnia and elsewhere, and the need for pan-European security institutions.
What role do civic associations play in generating free and fair elections? For over two decades, civic and social movement organizations throughout the Americas have mobilized thousands of individuals to act as civic watchdogs over the actions of state officials and political parties during elections. Although it is widely recognized that democratic consolidation depends on national actors, the existing literature on election monitoring focuses almost exclusively on the work of international observers. Lean's work fills this gap with a detailed analysis of the work of domestic election monitors. This book advances our understanding of when and how civic activism can strengthen election processes and provides new insight into the role of elections in democratic consolidation.
This publication is a detailed study of contemporary economic, political and security relations between Western Europe (now represented by the European Union) and China and the two emerging special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. In a comparative manner, the contributors analyse the policies of seven major European states and the European Commission, counter balanced with the view from China, Hong Kong and Macau. This wide-ranging survey discusses the past record, the present performance and the future prospects of the Sino European relationship.
Germans of various disciplines not only encouraged but actively framed a discourse that gendered India through voyeuristic descriptions of the male and female body. This study challenges the German's claim to an encounter with India projected on a spiritual plane of communion between kindred spirits and shows that such supposedly apolitical encounters are really strategies of domination. German participation in European Expansion can be perceived as collusion with the British imperialist administration inasmuch as it provided the latter with a justification for existing colonial rule and anticipated future colonial activity. Despite the optimism placed in the post of post-colonialism, the continued presence of European Orientalism can be felt in the late 20th century, hidden under the mantel of global capitalism. Although Germany did not colonize India territorially, Germans of various disciplines not only encouraged but actively framed a discourse that gendered India through voyeuristic descriptions of the male and female body. German orientalist experiences of Hindu India have typically been excluded from post-colonial debates concerning European expansion, but this study challenges the German's claim to an encounter with India projected on a spiritual plane of communion between kindred spirits and shows that such supposedly apolitical encounters are really strategies of domination. German participation can be perceived as collusion with the British imperialist administration inasmuch as it provided the latter with a justification for existing colonial rule and anticipated future colonial activity. Murti sheds light on the role that missionaries and women, two groups that have been ignored or glossed over until now, played in authorizing and strengthening the colonial discourse. The intertextual strategies adopted by the various partners in the colonialist dialog clearly show that German involvement in India was not a disinterested, academic venture. These writings also betray a bias against women that has not been regarded, until now, as a key issue in the literature discussing Orientalism. Missionaries often actively fostered the British colonial agenda, while women travelers, even those who traveled as a means of escaping patriarchal structures at home, invariably abetted the colonizer. Despite the optimism placed in the post of post-colonialism, Murti concludes that the continued presence of European Orientalism can be felt in the late 20th century, hidden under the mantel of global capitalism.
This work examines the positions of the Social Democratic and Green parties on the debate within the Federal Republic of Germany concerning security policy, especially as it relates to NATO. Since its founding in 1949, the Atlantic Alliance has provided a framework for relations between the United States and its European allies. The United States is an important NATO member, particularly because of its nuclear commitment to European defense. The Federal Republic of Germany plays a pivotal role in NATO as well, as it is the strongest European member in NATO's integrated command structure, the major contributor of land forces, and, because of its geographic location, NATO's first line of defense. Thus the roles of the United States and West Germany in NATO are both key: the former due to its nuclear capabilities, and the latter because of its conventional force strength and front line position.
Some things seem to go on so long that we take them for granted. Egypt's Mubarak regime has that timeless quality, but in truth it nears the end. Presidential elections are scheduled for 2011, if not sooner, and the aged Mubarak will likely step aside. His son Gamal waits in the wings, seemingly alone. But the regime comes under many pressures, both foreign and domestic, to bring democratic reforms and free and fair elections to Egypt. A hereditary succession would be highly suspect, and in all probability destabilizing and illegitimate. Furthermore, as a key Middle East power and crucial US ally, Egypt's transfer of power has profound implications for the region and must be managed with the utmost care. Meanwhile, the threat of an Islamist regime lurks in the background, as the Muslim Brotherhood has achieved a grudging parity with the weakening Mubarak regime since 2005. The push for democratic reform is thus tempered by the perceived need for stability. Meanwhile, the Egyptian people long for democracy, and the thought of a Gamal Mubarak regime stretching across two more decades is crushing to contemplate.
Over the past 25 years, the United States government has developed, through trial and error, both an understanding of terrorism and the means to deal with it. Using information collected in interviews with key decisionmakers from the Nixon to the Clinton administrations, David Tucker draws both strategic and tactical lessons from the United States' encounters with various terrorist groups. These lessons can be usefully applied to future counterterrorism efforts, as well as to other aspects of national security policy in a post-Cold War world where major conflicts will continue to be played out in numerous small struggles. This study will be must-reading for scholars and professionals in international relations, foreign policy, and military/political affairs.
This book is a comprehensive investigation, discussion, and analysis of the origins and development of the first civil war in the Sudan, which occurred between 1955 and1972. It was the culmination of ethnic, racial, cultural, religious, political, and economic problems that had faced the Sudan since the Turco-Egyptian conquest of the country in 1821. The hostilities between the Northern and Southern regions of the Sudan also involved foreign powers that had their own geopolitical interests in the country. The first Sudanese civil war is a classic example of intra-regional and inter-regional conflicts in Africa in the 20th century.
In the post-Cold War era, we have lost the clarity that once characterized our vision of international conflict. Foreign affairs are no longer defined solely by the ideological battles fought between capitalism and communism or by the competition between two great nuclear superpowers. That oversimplified view has been replaced by an increasing awareness of the moral and political complexity surrounding international relations. To help us deal with this new reality, Thomas Pangle and Peter Ahrensdorf provide a critical introduction to the most important conceptions of international justice, spanning 2,500 years of intellectual history from Thucydides and Plato to Morgenthau and Waltz. Their study shows how older traditions of political philosophy remain relevant to current debates in international relations, and how political thinkers through the centuries can help us deepen our understanding of today's stalemate between realism and idealism. Pangle and Ahrensdorf guide the reader through a sequence of theoretical frameworks for understanding the moral basis of international relations: the cosmopolitan vision of the classical philosophers, the "just war" teachings of medieval theologians, the revolutionary realism of Machiavelli, the Enlightenment idealism of Kant, and the neo-realism of twentieth-century theorists. They clarify the core of each philosopher's conceptions of international relations, examine the appeal of each position, and bring these alternatives into mutually illuminating juxtaposition. The authors clearly show that appreciating the fundamental questions pursued by these philosophers can help us avoid dogmatism, abstraction, or oversimplification when considering the moral character of international relations. "Justice Among Nations" restores the study of the great works of political theory to its natural place within the discipline of international relations as it retrieves the question of international justice as a major theme of political philosophy. It provides our moral compass with new points of orientation and invites serious readers to grapple with some of the most perplexing issues of our time.
Snow on the Pine presents a compelling view of the Japanese foreign policy that runs counter to the common wisdom reducing Japan's post-war efforts to the pursuit of purely commercial interests. This book takes a new approach - the eventual Japanese defeat in the Second World War did not transform Japan into an "exceptional state" seeking only economic interests. Like any other nations, economic issues have always played a crucial role in policy decisions. However, this is but only one amongst the many interweaving threads determining foreign policy decisions.In the authors' eyes, Japan's foreign policy is characterized by the drive to dominate and influence the East Asia region, which has been a consistent motivation since the days of the Meiji restoration. Thus, the post-war period in this analysis provides a continuation rather than a break with the country's previous history. Tactics, and even strategies, may have changed over time to meet the challenges of the ever evolving economic and political environments but the overall objective has essentially remained constant. The snow melts, but the pine endures.
Over the past decade, Africa's center of gravity in world politics has shifted from mere humanitarianism to a strategic view that posits the centrality of the continent as energy and natural resources supplier, in the fight against terrorism and other security threats, and in the globalization of culture. Besides these considerations, this shift is reflective of two defining dynamics. On one hand, political and economic reforms have contributed to the growth of democracy, an improvement in the economic outlook, and the strengthening of regional governance. On the other hand, the ongoing diffusion of global power is setting the stage for a new international order in which Africa will increasingly matter. This book probes the importance and significance of these developments and their implications for Africa's international relations.
The second volume in a new series, the Contemporary Archive of the Islamic World (CAIW), this title draws on the resources of World of Information, a Cambridge-based British publisher that since 1975 has published analyses of the politics and economics of all the Middle East countries. The United Arab Emirates is a young country. This title covers the first four decades or so of the country's existence looking at the individual emirates, their rulers and their tribes. Rivalries occasionally became conflicts, but year by year differences have diminished and unity prevailed. In this title each annual overview gives a comprehensive picture.
A critical analysis of Australia's neoliberal state and role in the American imperial project in Asia. In exposing the causal mechanisms for violence and prospects for more wars it argues for emancipatory alternatives to the existing dominant and anti-democratic neoliberal governmentality.
Assimilation Blues contributes to an expanding body of comparative family studies. . . . a springboard for the development of more directly comparative analysis. Family research involving issues of race and class should flow naturally from insights suggested by this work. As a significant contribution to the way we think about families, black-white relations, and social change, the book is well worth serious examination by scholars, as well as individals who find themselves in similar circumstances. Contemporary Sociology This incisive study uses a phenomenological approach in its examination of black families in a white community. It goes beyond the probability statistics of attitude and behavior surveys to let the families speak for themselves about their experiences. Assimilation Blues provides an in-depth look at the realities of being a middle-class black parent, living, working, and raising children in a predominantly white community, through first-hand interviews. The candid responses of both parents and children about their lives and experiences raise many important issues that have immediate relevance for black families regardless of where they live.
This book provides the results of a qualitative research study conducted with members of the Israeli-Palestinian peace movement, Combatants for Peace (CFP). CFP is a grass roots organization that was formed in 2005 by Palestinians who were involved in violence on behalf of Palestinian freedom but have now renounced violent means and Israelis who served as combat soldiers in the IDF but now refuse to serve in the occupied territories. In-depth interviews with members of CFP suggest that the decisions to commit to nonviolent action and to join CFP involved a mutually transformative process that influenced understanding and development of both self and Other.
Despite the fact that the globalization process tends to reinforce existing inequality structures and generate new areas of inequality on multiple levels, systematic analyses on this very important field remain scarce. Hence, this book approaches the complex question of inequality not only from different regional perspectives, covering Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin and Northern America, but also from different disciplinary perspectives, namely cultural anthropology, economics, ethnology, geography, international relations, sociology, and political sciences. The contributions are subdivided into three essential fields of research: Part I analyzes the socio-economic dimension of global exclusion, highlighting in particular the impacts of internationalization and globalization processes on national social structures against the background of theoretical concepts of social inequality. Part II addresses the political dimension of global inequalities. Since the decline of the Soviet Union new regional powers like Brazil, China, India and South Africa have emerged, creating power shifts in international relations that are the primary focus of the second part. Lastly, Part III examines the structural and transnational dimension of inequality patterns, which can be concretized in the rise of globalized national elites and the emergence of multinational networks that transcend the geographical and imaginative borders of nation states.
This book unpacks the politics of climate change in Australia in the context of successive conservative Coalition governments resisting any moves to mitigate emissions and as local communities and transnational corporations struggle with each other to control the transition to a sustainable energy future. As Australia has abundant clean energy resources in terms of solar and wind, the book offers a test case for study of the energy policy transition in the 21st century. It does so by using tools from political economy and sociology, teasing out public attitudes to renewable energy technologies and innovative infrastructure investments, unpacking the complex parameters of this historical debate, tracing the rise of household 'prosumers' and arguing the case for grassroots ownership of renewable infrastructure or 'energy sovereignty' - already pioneered by some isolated communities in Australia. The cultural and emancipatory benefits of cooperative ventures are well known. However, capitalism is not readily defeated by democracy. The promotion of individual households as 'virtual power stations', of 'smart technologies' and even of cryptocurrency into the energy transition innovative mix opens up ever new horizons for corporate control.
This book critically analyses the ways in which Africa has shifted from the periphery of global trade, international relations and politics to the centre of the world stage because of its existing and potential economic prowess and purchasing power that the continent has to offer.
The United States and the international community intervened in a number of internal conflicts throughout the 1990s, generally justifying their actions on humanitarian grounds. In most cases, the external military intervention largely halted the fighting and allowed humanitarian assistance to be distributed. However, as Hawk makes clear, simply halting the fighting has not allowed these countries to create stable governments and harmonious societies. This study is based on the premise that if external actors--foreign governments, international organizations, and private groups--can not figure out how to lay a foundation for a stable, longer-term peace, there will be decreasing support for international intervention and peacekeeping/peacebuilding missions in the future. Although external actors have undertaken many activities in the aftermath of a military intervention in an attempt to consolidate peace, sufficient attention has not been paid to (re)constructing the state as a capable, effective, and legitimate entity. While (re)constructing the state is only a portion of what needs to be done to bring about a stable, long-term peace, it provides a necessary foundation upon which to structure the other activities. Through her examination of external actions in Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo, Hawk draws 23 lessons, nine of which are applicable to interventions in general and the remaining 14 specific to statebuilding efforts. This study will be of particular interest to scholars, students, and policymakers involved with conflict resolution and international relations.
Organized around the office of the president, this study focuses on American behavior at home and abroad from the Great Depression to the onset of the end of the Cold War, two key points during which America sought a re-definition of its proper relationship to the world. Domestically, American society continued the process of industrialization and urbanization that had begun in the 19th century. Urban growth accompanied industrialism, and more and more Americans lived in cities. Because of industrial growth and the consequent interest in foreign markets, the United States became a major world power. American actions as a nation, whether as positive attempts to mold events abroad or as negative efforts to enjoy material abundance in relative political isolation, could not help but affect the course of world history. Under President Hoover, the federal government was still a comparatively small enterprise; challenges of the next six decades would transform it almost beyond belief, touching in one way or another almost every facet of American life. Before the New Deal, few Americans expected the government to do anything for them. By the end of the Second World War and in the aftermath of the Great Depression, however, Americans had turned to Washington for help. Even the popular Reagan presidency of the 1980s, the most conservative since Hoover, would fail to undo the basic New Deal commitment to assist struggling Americans. There would be no turning back the clock, at home or abroad.
The U.S.-Japan security alliance, which initially focused on Japan's territorial defense and then started to merge with broader U.S. global strategy, now must deal with the rise of Japan's neighbors. This edited volume puts forth an empirically rigorous analysis of the ongoing transformation of the U.S.-Japan alliance. As the Obama administration shifts U.S. foreign policy into a multilateral mode, Japan's neighbors today are more likely to voice their issues concerning the U.S.-Japan alliance. Rigorous analysis of third-party perspectives of the U.S.-Japan alliance are key to helping us understand what external challenges lie ahead in terms of managing this crucial partnership.
At the end of World War II, the international community deemed genocide a crime against humanity. Yet, at the dawn of the twenty-first century it has occurred repeatedly. This book explains why genocide began to occur in the twenty-first century and why the United States has been ineffective at preventing it and stopping it once it occurs.
Global crises not only deeply impact the economy and people's livelihoods, they also unsettle basic ideas and assumptions about the meaning and drivers of development. This collection of theoretical and empirical studies explores the substance and politics of policy change following the 2007/8 crisis from the perspective of developing countries.
Underpinning contemporary political debates and organizational restructuring is a serious rethinking of rights and responsibilities in the roles of governments, communities, companies, and individuals in a civil society. "International Rights and Responsibilities for the Future" provides a foundation for these debates by focusing on the need to reintegrate rights and responsibilities with contributions by authorities engaged in the process. A wide range of notable figures weigh in on the subject: Audrey R. Chapman argues for a revisioning of human rights as an instrument through which interrelated persons shape and reshape a social covenant defining reciprocal rights and responsibilities. Philippa Strum contends that the idea of individual responsibility to the community is central to rights and contract theory, as articulated in the Western tradition. Amitai Etzioni presents the communitarian view of too many rights, too few responsibilities. And David Boaz gives the libertarian view that one fundamental right is the right to live your life as you choose so long as you don't infringe on the equal rights of others. Particular attention is given to the arguments for a new international bill of rights and the issues of peace and security, information and knowledge technologies, the Global Society and knowledge-based development, criminal justice, human rights education, and sustainable development. |
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