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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > International relations > General
A provocative contribution to the international relations literature, "Captive Continent" argues that there has been a shift in Western European sympathies in recent years. According to Pilevsky, this shift has taken the form of either nationalistic neutralism or a pro-Soviet position on many significant issues. Further, Pilevsky contends, Western Europe's new distrust of its ally, the U.S., and its seeming trust of its enemy, the USSR, is analogous to hostage behavior as characterized by the Stockholm Syndrome--which posits that the effects of fear on an individual or group will often lead to an identification with that which is feared. Pilevsky's discussion of the Stockholm Syndrome and its relevance to Europe proceeds along two parallel paths. First, he clearly delineates the syndrome and explores its bearing on the current situation in Europe--a situation in which nominal allies of the U.S. often seem more ready to side with the USSR in policy disputes. According to the author, Western Europe is, in a profoundly psychological way, a captive of the Soviet Union. In this relationship, based on fear and dependence, Western Europe comes increasingly to identify with its captor at the expense of the U.S. The second focus of the discussion is the identification of Russia's active participation in a strategy to make Europe hostage. As Pilevsky demonstrates, recent events support his contention that the Soviet Union not only benefits from the Stockholm Syndrome, but continues to take steps to foster the hostage-captor relationship. In his conclusion, Pilevsky suggests ways for the U.S. to more successfully deal with its allies and makes 10 recommendations for NATO.
AIDS, Ebola, SARS and Malaria - the list of deadly infectious diseases that provoke panic and cause devastating losses of life and economic welfare is virtually endless. In recent years the fight against infectious diseases has become a catalyst for cooperation in a world that is truly united by contagion. To an unprecedented degree, governments, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, philanthropic foundations, and private sector businesses are banding together to contain, control and, when possible, cure infectious diseases. This book examines the nature and politics of global cooperation to combat infectious diseases in a world more interconnected than at any point in history.
As world attention focuses on poverty reduction and good governance, "Reclaiming Development Agendas" looks at why such changes in discourse and policy are taking place, what they mean for the challenge of forging development processes that are more socially inclusive and equitable, and what needs to be done to reclaim development agendas.
"This book argues that the new actors in global health constitute a 'private turn' in global health governance, and provides theoretical and practical grounds for viewing global health partnerships and philanthropic foundations as closely aligned in their ideational and material approaches to a range of important issues and crises"--Provided by publisher.
This is the first of four volumes to be published as part of this book series, on the life and work of Richard Ned Lebow. In a career spanning six decades, Richard Ned Lebow has made important contributions to the study of international relations, political and intellectual history, motivational and social psychology, philosophy of science, and classics. He has authored, coauthored or edited 30 books and almost 250 peer-reviewed articles. These four volumes are excerpts from this corpus. The first volume includes an intellectual autobiography, bibliography, and assessments of Lebow's contributions to diverse fields by respected authorities. It shows how a scholar's agenda evolves in response to world events and his efforts to grapple with them theoretically and substantively. It elaborates pathways for addressing these events and their consequences in an interdisciplinary manner, and offers new concepts and methods for doing so. Richard Lebow's research bridges international relations, psychology, history, classics, political theory and philosophy of science. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 34 books and almost 250 peer reviewed articles. Contributors to the book are: Simon Reich - Mervyn Frost - Janice Gross Stein - Stefano Guzzini - Markus Kornprobst - Harald Muller - Christian Wendt - Robert English.
While the trend toward greater transparency will bring many benefits, Kristin M. Lord argues that predictions that it will lead inevitably to peace, understanding, and democracy are wrong. The conventional view is of authoritarian governments losing control over information thanks to technology, the media, and international organizations, but there is a darker side, one in which some of the same forces spread hatred, conflict, and lies. In this book, Lord discusses the complex implications of growing transparency, paying particular attention to the circumstances under which transparency's effects are negative. Case studies of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the government of Singapore's successful control of information are included.
Following 9/11 the United States faced a situation of exceptional insecurity. In that period the Bush administration argued that certain international norms did not apply to US conduct. Its argument was underpinned by the claim that the United States was in a state of armed conflict or war with a new kind of enemy. The purpose of this book is to examine whether this approach outlasted the moment of insecurity that gave rise to it. More than a decade on from those attacks, and following a change of administration, what influence do these arguments have on American policy? To answer this question it focuses on four areas of policy: the use of force and the prosecution, detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists. It demonstrates how the Bush policy programme was contested by liberals and realists from the outset. Any expectation that the war on terror would end following the election of President Obama has, however, proven unfounded. Obama consolidated the liberal pushback against aspects of the Bush programme but the US has continued to argue a state of armed conflict exists. The scope of the battlefield and the definition of the enemy has been a source of intense debate but the fact that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility remained open long after the President promised to close it is indicative of the underlying continuity. It is argued that this is driven in part by domestic politics and in part by an understanding of how the terrorist threat is evolving.
The ruling communist parties of the postwar Soviet Bloc possessed nearly unprecedented power to shape every level of society; perhaps in part because of this, they have been routinely depicted as monolithic, austere, and even opaque institutions. Communist Parties Revisited takes a markedly different approach, investigating everyday life within basic organizations to illuminate the inner workings of Eastern Bloc parties. Ranging across national and transnational contexts, the contributions assembled here reconstruct the rituals of party meetings, functionaries' informal practices, intra-party power struggles, and the social production of ideology to give a detailed account of state socialist policymaking on a micro-historical scale.
The book explores the global jihad movement and its emergence in
the latter half of the twentieth century. The book investigates the
nature and extent of this threat; traces its religious and
ideological roots; relevant history; the goals of the movement; who
is fighting jihad; how they end up in the movement; how it is being
funded and sponsored; and what nations, particularly the United
States, one of the movement's primary targets, are doing to counter
the threat. The book, intended for the general public, assumes that
the reader has only a minimal background of this compelling
contemporary topic. While the authors tried to avoid using academic
jargon, they have tried to source the book so that it could be used
in political science, international relations, and defense and
security studies courses.
Rethinking familiar frameworks and exploring new perspectives, this book provides a much-needed analysis of European culture, society and politics in a global context. With contributors from across the social sciences and thehumanities, this book highlights key topics and assesses the open ended question of Europe's place in a global age.
Exploring themes critical to understanding the current world order, this book lays bare the reality of the new Russia that emerged under Vladimir Putin. Russia holds the world's largest natural gas reserves, the second largest coal and uranium reserves, and the eighth largest oil reserves. Europe is dependent on Russia for 25 percent of its oil and gas. Russia is also positioning itself to play a similar role with respect to China. The key to this strategy is a network of new oil and natural gas pipelines that Russia is in the process of constructing, which will by-pass the problematic Ukraine, Georgia, Poland and the Baltic States in the West, and lock-in the enormous potential of China in the East. Further, as the Western economies including the USA begin themselves to recover, their growing energy dependence will come back into the forefront, and therefore the need to ensure that Russia does not fail in its opening up of new energy resources in the Arctic and Eastern Siberia. Russia is no longer a superpower, in the Cold War sense of the word, because its military is significantly weaker, and as such is incapable of conducting a regional let alone global war against either the United States or NATO. It is precisely because of its military weakness that Putin has been forced to adopt an asymmetric approach. Thus, the pipeline spigot and the proliferation of missiles and aircraft have become Russia's weapons of choice, along with an ever growing reliance on its strategic nuclear forces to provide it with the necessary deterrent to foreign aggression. In addition, Putin and Medvedev have no interest in an arms race with the United States, it is too costly and detracts from their priority, which is economic reform. From Putin's perspective, America is in the process of imposing "absolute security" or as Joint Vision 2020 put it: "full spectrum dominance" over the world. As the sole remaining superpower, the United States enjoys a massive strategic imbalance in its favor, which it has used first to contain, but now with the intent to control the world. How? NATO expansion lays the groundwork for a U.S. global missile defense system to contain perceived adversaries, such as Russia, which in turn secures the dominance of America through its Prompt Global Strike (PGS) capability - the ability to strike anywhere on the planet with impunity within 90 minutes of the order being given by The President. Thus, PGS will be to the 21st Century, what British Gun Boat Diplomacy was to the 19th Century. In such a context, Russia is forced to respond asymmetrically.
This volume draws together leading experts from academia, think-tanks and donor agencies to examine the impact of transnational knowledge networks in the formulation of local, national and global policy in the field of international development and transition studies. These leading contributors pay particular attention to the global reach of research and the manner in which knowledge is incorporated into, and shapes, transnational policy domains. They show how the 'knowledge agenda' has become a central part of the discourse of both developing societies and advanced economies. Governments and international organizations devote considerable financial resources to both in-house and contracted research. Global Knowledge Networks and International Development will be of great interest to students, researchers and policy makers concerned with global policy, global governance and development.
What does modern warfare, as fought by liberal societies, have in common with our human evolution? This study posits an important relationship between the two we have evolved to fight, and traditional hunter-gatherer societies were often violent places. But we also evolved to cooperate, to feel empathy and to behave altruistically towards others.
Although much has been written about the Arab-Israeli conflict and about general theories of negotiation, this analysis and history is unique in linking major issues and peace plans to negotiation theory and strategy. Feste studies the basic structures of conflict and negotiation, offering no suggestions for radical solution but arguing for changes in approach that may bring about steps forward. This overview of all major peace efforts since 1947 and of negotiating strategies is intended for undergraduate and graduate courses in conflict resolution, Middle Eastern politics, and international relations; and for the use of political scientists, sociologists, students, and teachers concerned with ethnoconflict. The text analyzes the framework of the Arab-Israeli conflict, how it has built up, and how it has been maintained. The structure of the negotiation process is then viewed in the same way. Key elements in the Arab-Israeli conflict are considered historically and related directly to the process of negotiation and to theories about positional and principled bargaining and tactics needed in a pre-negotiation period and during negotiation to produce more successful results.
This book highlights various challenges and opportunities for regional cooperation and development in South Asia. In light of the ongoing globalization process, the contributors investigate how socio-economic developments are changing the spatial organization of production as well as the profile of cities and landscapes, are stimulating the creation of maritime, terrestrial and aerial channels, and are putting increasing pressures on natural and environmental resources. The book is divided into four parts: The first part analyses the increasing intensity of regional trade, migration and investment flows; the second focuses on channels and adapted spaces. The third part addresses sustainability and natural resources, while the fourth highlights institutional issues.
This study explores how Soviet leaders shaped the image their state cast since the death of Stalin. The fact that the leadership's legitimacy rested upon values and aims that were fundamentally at odds with the international system imposed a cumbersome task of image management. Each leader approached this task with a different strategy, and each strategy had direct consequences for Soviet behavior abroad and for the coherence of the Soviet state at home. The dynamics of foreign policy and image management, from Khrushchev and Brezhnev through Gorbachev and Yeltsin, are analyzed here in a revealing look at a superpower on the world stage.
This edited book fills a gap in the literature on EU-Asia
relations. The European Union and Asia are two regions undergoing
significant changes internally while at the same time developing
stronger relations with each other. In the context of an emerging
multi-polar world, Europe and Asia are seen
This book discusses the most pressing global challenges, and suggests ways for the Obama Administration to tackle them in a holistic manner. In particular, the book proposes effective measures for various problems like the war on terror, resolution of the Arab-Israeli dispute, forging of better relations with the Muslim World, resetting of relations with Russia, prevention of nuclear proliferation particularly with regards to Iran and North Korea, improvement of the effectiveness of the United Nations, and finding ways for international cooperation to repair and arrest the damage to the environment due to global warming and climate change.
The first major comparative study of the causes and consequences of violent conflict that integrates and addresses the issue of self-determination. The authors show that with violent conflict in the developing world as the critical issue for the twenty-first century, and conflict prevention a central security problem for both the developed and developing world, self-determination movements can only be understood, and conflict prevented, in the context of global economic and cultural forces, and of local responses to them.
The book analyzes Brazil's Africa engagement as a rising power's strategy to gain global recognition, linking it to Brazil's broader foreign policy objectives and shedding light on the mechanisms of Brazilian status-seeking in Africa.
The post-cold war years have witnessed an unprecedented involvement
by the United Nations in the domestic affairs of states, to end
conflicts and rebuild political and administrative institutions.
International administrations established by the UN or Western
states have exercised extensive executive, legislative, and
judicial authority over post-conflict territories to facilitate
institution building and provide for interim governance. |
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