What is the story behind the paradoxical survival of small and weak states in a world of great powers and crude power politics? And what explains the dramatic rise and fall in the number of states overtime, following no consistent trend and not showing an immediately obvious direction or pattern? The answers lie at the system-level: Small states survival is shaped by the international states system. Small state survival and proliferation is determined first and foremost by features of and dynamics created at the states system. As the states system changes and evolves the chances for small states to survive or proliferate change as well. In fact, a quantitive investigation confirms this, showing that over the course of more than 31/2 centuries, the number of small states did fluctuate widely and at times dramatically. -- .

The outcomes of globalization are neither smooth nor unilinear; rather, they are dialectical, multifaceted, uneven, and sometimes chaotic, pointing in several different directions at once. Neoliberalism and Globalization in Africa examines Africa's involvement in neoliberal globalization, and highlights the socioeconomic and cultural costs of the grossly unbalanced structure of global wealth and power between Africa and the rest of the world. The narratives in the book pay special attention to contestations-both discursively and in practice. And with the emphasis on contestation, readers will come to appreciate the tactics and maneuvers deployed by African social resistance movements to interrogate and confront contemporary neoliberal globalization.

This edited volume illuminates the role of women in violence to demonstrate that gender is a key component of discourse on conflict and peace. Through an examination of theory and practice of women's participation in violent conflicts, the book makes the argument that both conflict and post-conflict situations are gender insensitive.

Over the last decade, asymmetric warfare and terrorism have become prevalent threats to the United States. National security, today more than at any other time, demands decision-making under uncertainty. The issues presented in this book demonstrate that the value of planning depends on how well the USA can prepare for a perpetually unpredictable future. Each chapter examines pertinent management, leadership, and accountability issues related to U.S. national security and places readers at the centre of difficult decisions. Although the cases collected in this volume revolve around policy questions, they also illustrate more general policy dilemmas and are designed to stimulate new ideas. Endorsement: A] diverse and rich set of cases that explore many of the new challenges that confront U.S. national security policymakers today. Drawing on a team of established scholars and experienced practitioners, this book provides both an assessment of new threats and challenges and a case-based examination of decision-making processes... a compelling argument for the case-study approach and a fruitful blending of academic and practitioner perspectives and approaches. and decision-making processes as well as to our grasp of the security challenges of the 21st century. - Robert H. Dorff, Ph.D., Professor of National Security Policy and Strategy, and Chairman, Department of National Security and Strategy, U.S. Army War College.

Focused on the role of Central Europe in international politics at the turn of the 20th century, the authors take stock of the knowledge about the discipline of IR, enhance the visibility of scholars from Central Europe, and fill the void which has emerged after several researches on Central Europe were completed in the 1990s.

What limits, if any, should be placed on a government's efforts to spy on its citizens in the name of national security? Spying on foreigners has long been regarded as an unseemly but necessary enterprise. Spying on one's own citizens in a democracy, by contrast, has historically been subject to various forms of legal and political restraint. For most of the twentieth century these regimes were kept distinct. That position is no longer tenable. Modern threats do not respect national borders. Changes in technology make it impractical to distinguish between 'foreign' and 'local' communications. And our culture is progressively reducing the sphere of activity that citizens can reasonably expect to be kept from government eyes. The main casualty of this transformed environment will be privacy. Recent battles over privacy have been dominated by fights over warrantless electronic surveillance and CCTV; the coming years will see debates over DNA databases, data mining, and biometric identification. There will be protests and lawsuits, editorials and elections resisting these attacks on privacy. Those battles are worthy. But the war will be lost. Modern threats increasingly require that governments collect such information, governments are increasingly able to collect it, and citizens increasingly accept that they will collect it. This book proposes a move away from questions of whether governments should collect information and onto more problematic and relevant questions concerning its use. By reframing the relationship between privacy and security in the language of a social contract, mediated by a citizenry who are active participants rather than passive targets, the book offers a framework to defend freedom without sacrificing liberty.

Asia Meets Europe raises questions about the nature of regions and, in particular, about the role of inter-regionalism in a rapidly changing environment. Julie Gilson considers the correlation between Asia and Europe within the framework of the unique post cold-war inter-regional Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). The author then examines the nature of this new type of interaction and its various economic and political forms by exploring the historical precedents and prevailing ideas of region that shape and distort it. The book also encompasses the challenging roles of private enterprise and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) when faced with state actors who continue to regard regional and inter-regional co-operation with ambivalence. Asia Meets Europe will be of special interest to academics and researchers of Asian studies, Asia-Europe relations and international political economy. Practitioners involved in policy making in East Asia and Europe will also find the book of use.

Since World War II, remarkable progress has been made toward establishing more effective international laws and organizations to reduce opportunities for confrontation and conflict, and to enhance the pursuit of security and well-being. This book offers a detailed record of that progress, as well as its meaning for our times and those ahead. Taking a historical, theoretical, and case-study approach, John Gibson provides the reader with a broad understanding of how international organizations evolved to serve the interests of their member states, how the constitutional charters of organizations provide a coherent statement of goals and means to goals, and how these organizations are assuming increasing authority in the international system.

The work traces the progression of international constitutional and human rights law, with an emphasis on the past 45 years. In the first part, Gibson discusses the historic processes of political relations and mutual reliance; the evolution of these patterns through World War II; the subsequent history of the United Nations; the prime goals of international constitutional law; and the organizations' range of authority--from the high state to the supra-organization level. Part two offers a case study of the progression of international human rights law. Separate chapters trace the history of human rights in religion and philosophy and the role of the state in international law, while the concluding chapter on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights demonstrates how organizations actually function. This book will be a valuable resource for courses in international relations and international law, as well as an important addition to academic and professional libraries.

International Law Studies, Volume 86. Raul A. "Pete" Pedrozo, editor. Provides legal examination of the armed conflict in Iraq during the secondd Gulf War that began in 2003. Discusses legal issues associated with the initial decision to use armed force, the manner in which force was employed, the legal framework and evolution of military activities from invasion to occupation, detention and counterinsurgency operations, as well as policy and legal issues associated with the establishment of the rule of law and return of governance to the people of Iraq.

This book places Eurasia in its entirety within a single explanatory framework and examines, for the first time to that extent, Russia as a Eurasian energy power in its affairs with the two main geopolitical players of the region, the EU and China. Part of this geopolitical space is the Former Soviet Union (FSU) region which shares deep historical-political ties with Russia and constitutes the necessary crossing for the latter's natural gas supplies en route to the EU market. In this way, an energy triangle is established, with Russia at the top angle, the EU in the left angle, China in the right angle and the FSU region the median. Following the scheme, three bipolar relationships emerge, Russia-FSU region, Russia-EU and Russia-China, with each of them representing a different type of bilateral cooperation. In the first case there is an asymmetric relationship with one actor being overly powerful, in terms of energy, to impose its conditions, economic and political, on the other. In the second case there is a symmetric relationship with both actors having equal means of pressure at their disposal. Finally, in the third case there is balanced relationship with both actors trading on an equal basis. Within this framework, one of the dominant theoretical debates in the field of International Relations, that between Neorealism and Neoliberal Institutionalism (the so-called 'Neo-Neo' debate) seeks to shed light on the governing rationale beyond Putin's Russia foreign energy policy vis-a-vis the FSU region, the EU and China.

The New Look sought to formulate a more selective and flexible response to Communist challenges. The New Look was not simply a `bigger bang for a buck' nor merely a device for achieving a balanced budget, nor did it amount solely to a strategy of massive retaliation, as is commonly assumed. Dr Dockrill's incisive revisionist analysis of the subject throws new light on US ambitious global strategy during the Eisenhower years.

Roudometof provides an in-depth sociological analysis of the birth and historical evolution of nationalism in the Balkans. The rise of nationalism in the region is viewed as part of a world-historical process of globalization over the last five centuries. With the growing contacts between the Ottoman Empire and the Western European system, the Eastern Orthodox of the Balkans abandoned the enthoconfessional system of social organization in favor of secular national identities.

Prior to 1820, local nationalism was influenced by the Enlightenment, though later it came to be developed on an ethnonational basis. In the post-1830 Balkans, citizenship rights were subordinated to ethnic nationalism, according to which membership to a nation is accorded on the basis of church affiliation and ethnicity. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the discourse of nationhood was institutionalized by the native intelligentsia of the Balkan states. In the first half of the 20th century, the efforts of Balkan states to achieve national homogenization produced interstate rivalry, forced population exchanges, and discrimination against minority groups. While the Cold War helped contain some of these problems, the post-1989 period has seen a return of these issues to the forefront of the Balkan political agenda.

Combining new thinking in International Relations theory with original historical research, Kleuters explores the struggle between Christian Democrats and Social Democrats on the subject of German reunification, from Westbindung to Ostpolitik. The result is a gripping narrative focussing on theoretical relevance in foreign policy decisions-making.

This book provides a thorough overview of sovereignty and how it operates in the contemporary world. Past patterns of thinking, along with current reformulations are analysed and the concept of sovereignty is discussed with respect to both the domestic and international spheres of activity and in relation to such closely associated notions as self-determination and intervention.

Non-state threats and actors have become key topics in contemporary international security as since the end of the Cold War the notion that the state is the primary unit of interest in international security has increasingly been challenged. Statistics show that today many more people are killed by ethnic conflicts, HIV/AIDS or the proliferation of small arms than by international war. Moreover, non-state actors, such as non-governmental organizations, private military companies and international regimes, are progressively complementing or even replacing states in the provision of security. Suggesting that such developments can be understood as part of a shift from government to governance in international security, this book examines both how private actors have become one of the main sources of insecurity in the contemporary world and how non-state actors play a growing role in combating these threats.

Global politics is a crowded stage of players competing for power and authority. Who is in charge of what? How do they stay in charge and what are the effects? This volume raises these questions in case studies on regimes of torture and surveillance in women's rights, border control, media, global capital and religion. In an era of longing for hegemonic control (e.g. the US "war on terror"), the conclusions focus on the dilemmas of democratic accountability and how new spaces of resistance can be created.

This book seeks to provide the most comprehensive and sustained engagement and critique of neo-Gramscian analyses available in the literature. In examining neo-Gramscian analyses in IR/IPE, the book engages with two fundamental concerns in international relations: (i) the question of historicity and (ii) the analysis of radical transformation.

This book investigates whether international standards of good governance are applied to sub-state actors as well as to states. By examining the international response to self-determination claims, this project demonstrates that the international community does indeed hold sub-state groups accountable to such standards. Claimant groups that have internalized human rights and democratic norms are more likely to receive international support in the form of empowerment (promoting some form of self-governance). To illustrate the causal forces at work, the book presents three qualitative case studies--Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Western Sahara--to demonstrate that predictable changes in the international response occur as international perception of each claimant group's democratic record varies over time.

This book is a compilation of scholarly articles on a wide variety of subjects pertaining to the cultures of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. "Nordic Experiences" discusses music, art, literature, folkore, and the social fabric of past and present to offer the reader a many-faceted image of what the term Scandinavia stands for today.

There are now some 12-13 million people of Nordic descent living in the United States, and their culture has played a part in shaping the American experience. The cultural contacts and exchanges between the United States and the Nordic countries, thanks in large part to immigration, remains strong and varied, adding a significant dimension to the close ties that have existed for many years. This book is a celebration of Nordic culture and its harmonious and enduring relationship with the United States. As such, it will be of considerable interest to scholars and students alike of Scandinavian or European civilization.

In recent years, economic relations between Latin American countries and the People's Republic of China have developed steadily, exhibiting marked tendencies toward greater diversification. Using newly released data from the Chinese Government along with extensive interviews in China and Latin America, Li gives us the first systematic analysis of the economic and political ideas underlying this surge in Sino-Latin American economic relations. His focus on China's relations with six major trading partners--Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Chile, Mexico, and Peru--provides an accurate assessment of trends and prospects for an emerging bilateral economic partnership. The conclusions of this study find that Sino-Latin American ties have become less ideological and present PRC involvement has been largely compatible with Western interests. Since China is expected to develop into a major economic player in Latin America in the years to come, it is important for the United States to understand the implications of these burgeoning relations. This study is a valuable and much-needed contribution to the literature of South-South cooperation and collective self-reliance.

Li examines three main areas of Sino-Latin American economic relations: trade, aid, and investment. Beginning with the Communist Revolution in China, he traces the history of China's relations with the six Latin countries, moving through early developments, the post-Cuban Revolution era, the 1970s normalization period, and China's Open-Door policy. Future prospects are considered in the concluding chapters, with hopes for greater economic interactions depending on the outcomes of China's own economic reforms and Latin America's economic recession. This book will be of interest to those who practice in the sphere of world political-economic relations, as well as academics who study them.

This book explores current and emerging trends in policy, strategy, and practice related to cyber operations conducted by states and non-state actors. The book examines in depth the nature and dynamics of conflicts in the cyberspace, the geopolitics of cyber conflicts, defence strategy and practice, cyber intelligence and information security.

The 1990s saw a sea change in East Asian security concerns. The role of the ocean as a highway for trade and a location of vital resources became critical to the region's economic growth. Protection of territorial waters, the Exclusive Economic Zones established under the UN Law of the Sea, and strategic lines of communication grew in importance. Soon, a significant change in the size and sophistication of many of the region's naval forces began to occur as they acquired modern weapons platforms (ships and aircraft) and weapons systems. This study uses two approaches from quantitative arms race theory, the role of the armaments-tension spiral and that of enduring national rivalries, to examine the hard data on arms races in the region. The changing balance of naval forces has been interpreted in two very different ways. One camp has viewed the development as a largely benign and justifiable "modernization" of naval forces for legitimate defense purposes. A second camp has warned of a "naval arms race" in East Asia that will spawn armed conflict. Both camps have often relied on anecdotal evidence and rhetoric. While the argument was muted by the 1997 economic crisis, many naval projects have continued to move forward. Meconis and Wallace address the meaning of East Asian naval weapons acquisitions in the 1990s in a more formal and serious manner than any previous attempts, and they propose measures that might prevent naval conflict.

According to security elites, revolutions in information, transport, and weapons technologies have shrunk the world, leaving the United States and its allies more vulnerable than ever to violent threats like terrorism or cyberwar. As a result, they practice responses driven by fear: theories of falling dominoes, hysteria in place of sober debate, and an embrace of preemptive war to tame a chaotic world. Patrick Porter challenges these ideas. In The Global Village Myth, he disputes globalism's claims and the outcomes that so often waste blood and treasure in the pursuit of an unattainable "total" security. Porter reexamines the notion of the endangered global village by examining Al-Qaeda's global guerilla movement, military tensions in the Taiwan Strait, and drones and cyberwar, two technologies often used by globalists to support their views. His critique exposes the folly of disastrous wars and the loss of civil liberties resulting from the globalist enterprise. Showing that technology expands rather than shrinks strategic space, Porter offers an alternative outlook to lead policymakers toward more sensible responses - and a wiser, more sustainable grand strategy.

Changing national identities have transformed the China-Taiwan and Korean conflicts. Democratization in Taiwan and South Korea, and liberalization in China, have forced leaders to compete for popular legitimacy by appealing to national identities. Along with the collapse of the Soviet Union, these contested national identities have been the main factors driving change in the conflicts--pushing China and Taiwan inexorably apart and toward a showdown, while helping to prop up what appeared to be a mortally wounded North Korea. This explains why one U.S. ally, Taiwan, becomes more hawkish, while the other, South Korea, becomes more dovish. U.S. foreign policy is struggling to adjust.

As India emerges as a significant global actor, diverse states have sought to engage India with divergent agendas and interests. Some states aspire to improve their relations with New Delhi, while others pursue the transformation of Indian foreign policy -- and even India itself -- to suit their interests. "The Engagement of India" explores the strategies that key states have employed to engage and shape the relationship with a rising and newly vibrant India, their successes and failures, and Indian responses -- positive, ambivalent, and sometimes hostile -- to engagement. A multinational team of contributors examine the ways in which Australia, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States have each sought to engage India for various purposes, explore the ways in which India has responded, and assess India's own strategies to engage with Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Central Asian republics.

This informative analysis of the foreign relations of a key rising power, and first comparative study of engagement strategies, casts light on the changing nature of Indian foreign policy and the processes that shape its future. "The Engagement of India" should be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, diplomacy, and South Asia.