China's rise to global economic and strategic eminence, with the potential for achieving pre-eminence in the greater-Asian region, is one of the defining characteristics of the post-Cold War period. This work offers a basic understanding of the military-strategic basis and trajectory of a rising China, provides background, and outlines current and future issues concerning China's rise in strategic-military influence.

The next decade may witness China's assertion of military or strategic pressure on Japan, the Korean Peninsula, India, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, Central Asia, or even on behalf of future allies in Africa and Latin America. While conflict is not a foregone conclusion, as indicated by China's increasing participation in many benign international organizations, it is a fact that China's leadership will pursue its interests as it sees them, which may not always coincide with those of the United States, its friends, and allies.

Until now, no single volume has existed that provides an authoritative, comprehensive, and concise description of China's evolving geo-strategy or of how China is transforming its military to carry out this strategy. Fisher examines how China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) remains critical to the existence of the Chinese Communist government and looks at China's political and military actions designed to protect its expanded strategic interests in both the Asia-Pacific and Central to Near-Asian regions. Using open sources, including over a decade of unique interview sources, Fisher documents China's efforts to build a larger nuclear force that may soon be protected by missile defenses, modern high technology systems for space, air, and naval forces, and how China is now beginning to assemble naval, air, and ground forces for future power projection missions. His work also examines how the United States and other governments simultaneously seek greater engagement with China on strategic concerns, while hedging against its rising power. Although China faces both internal and external constraints on its rise to global eminence, it cannot be denied that China's government is pursuing a far-reaching strategic agenda.

The twin categories of the state and nature collectively embody some of the most fundamental reference points around which our lives and thinking are organized. Despite their combined significance, however, the complex relationships that exist between modern states and nature remain under-theorized and are relatively unexplored. Through a detailed study of different sites, moments, and framing strategies The Nature of the State challenges the ways in which geographers and social scientists approach the study of state-nature relations. The authors analyse different instances of state-nature interaction from all over the world, considering the geo-politics of resource conflicts, the operation of natural history museums, the organizational practices of environmental departments and ministries, the regulation of genetic science, and contemporary forms of state intervention within issues of climate change. Introducing original research into the different institutional, spatial, and temporal strategies used by states to frame the natural world this book provides a critical overview of the latest political and ecological theories and addresses a wide range of pressing socio-environmental debates.

This book focuses on the implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure development project intended to connect Asia with Europe, the Middle East and Africa. By introducing a new analytical approach to the study of economic corridors, it gauges the anticipated economic and geopolitical impacts on the region and discusses whether the CPEC will serve as a pioneer project for future regional cooperation between and integration of sub-national regions such as Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and Gilgit-Baltistan. Further, it explores the interests, expectations and policy approaches of both Chinese and Pakistani local and central governments with regard to the CPEC's implementation. Given its scope, the book will appeal to regional and spatial sciences scholars, as well as social scientists interested in the regional impacts of economic corridors. It also offers valuable information for policymakers in countries participating in the Belt-and-Road Initiative or other Chinese-supported development projects.

This book represents a unique endeavor to elucidate the story of Kosovo's unilateral quest for statehood. It is an inquiry into the international legal aspects and processes that shaped and surrounded the creation of the state of Kosovo. Being created outside the post-colonial context, Kosovo offers a unique yet controversial example of state emergence both in the theory and practice of creation of states. Accordingly, the book investigates the legal pathways, strategies, developments and policy positions of international agencies/actors and regional players (in particular the EU) that helped Kosovo to establish its independence and gradually acquire statehood. Although contested, Kosovo, and its quest for statehood, represents a unique example of successful unilateral secession. The book therefore explores and analyses patterns of state formation and nation-building in Kosovo, and its transition to democracy. It presents a three-level assessment. First, seen from a historical perspective, the book examines the validity of the right of Kosovar-Albanians to self-determination and remedial secession. Second, from a legal positivist perspective, it scrutinizes all of the legalist arguments that support Kosovo's right to statehood, and claims that both traditional and legality-based criteria for statehood remain insufficient to determine whether Kosovo has achieved statehood. Third, from a post-factum perspective, the book analyzes the scope and extent to which the internationally blended element was decisive in Kosovo's state-formation and state-building processes. It explains how the EU's involvement as an 'internationally blended element' in Kosovo's efforts to achieve statehood was instrumental and played a crucial role in shaping the emerging state. In particular, the book elaborates on how the EU was able to streamline its mode of intervention in the context of state-building and reform.

In this provocative new book, Shritha Vasudevan argues that feminist international relations (IR) theory has inadvertently resulted in a biased worldview, the very opposite of what feminist IR set out to try to rectify. This book contests theoretical presumptions of Western feminist IR and attempts to reformulate it in contexts of non-Western cultures. Vasudevan deftly utilizes the theoretical constructs of IR to explore the ramifications for India. This hypothesis argues that the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has predictive validity and is not a top-down norm but derived from the material and contingent experiences of nation states. This book enters the debate between feminist qualitative and quantitative IR through the lens of gender-based violence (GBV) under the CEDAW.

A potential competition exists between India and China, and there is also no doubt that China started the war. Highlighting the mistakes made by India rather than empirically analysing the available data can be regarded as the primary causes for the confusion that exists today. Though complete details and evidence of the developments are available and documented, few of us have attempted to draw up a pragmatic and realist analysis. The consequences of that war have yet to die down entirely and are frequently raked up with issues on recent developments which are not widely dissimilar to those of 1962. China is a complex country. To understand this rapidly progressing nation is even more difficult. There are many perceptions on this country and many of them are formed on account of some international events and China's growing assertiveness. It may be far-fetched to expect for a paradigm change in stance and motive which could give China an uncertain negotiating position. This edited volume provides the reader an excellent blend of the historical run-up to the aberration, the military developments and consequences. It is also provides useful material to understand the geographical boundary issues between India and China and developing Chinese strategies both on the political and military front.

In The Warsaw Pact, 1969-1985, young Czech scholar Mat?j Bily analyzes the internal tensions of the Soviet-led Cold War alliance as its careened toward its end. Starting with the peak of the alliance's power under Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, the book follows its ossification to its increasing haplessness under Brezhnev's successors Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko. Rooted in detailed research in Czech, Polish, and German archives, this book presents much previously unknown information about the alliance's mechanisms as it served as one of the Kremlin's increasingly ineffective tools for managing the Eastern Bloc. Bily's findings prove that the Warsaw Pact never became an initiator of political processes within the Soviet sphere of interest and only reactively addressed military issues. The alliance's framework did not allow it to become an incubator or agent of any independent development in the Soviet sphere of influence. To the contrary, events within the Warsaw Pact reflected the overall dismal situation in the Eastern Bloc and the changing policy of the Kremlin toward its East European satellites. Because of the alliance's lack of flexibility and cumbersome internal mechanisms, it was unable to react to the dynamic challenges of the 1980s and helplessly followed a path to its own end.

In volume, an emerging generation of African scholars examines specific states in Africa where instability is the order of the day. Considerations of African instability are highly relevant in today's world, where one examines the types of regimes that were put in place after the Cold War and their effects on Africa. Multiparty systems introduced in Africa, rather than bringing about inclusive governance, allowed for the emergence of religious strife, ethnic conflict, and cronyism inscribed in the continent's "politicalscapes." The economics of exclusivity fueled by globalization have decisively contributed to the emergence of non-state actors claiming sovereignty in sovereign states. From Libya's implosion to the low-key war in Mozambique to the crisis of climate change, there are many variables that make stability a mirage on the continent. Widespread terrorism implies that for the foreseeable future, the continent may be a theater of crises. Regime change, as seen in Libya, Ivory Coast, and Liberia, not only increases instability in the states concerned, but has and will have spill over effects in adjacent states. Boko Haram's activities in Nigeria, which ought to be an internal matter of the Abuja government, for instance, are having negative effects in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon. The effect on food production, disputed access to farmland, and daily challenges faced by food producers are instances of underdevelopment perpetuated by climate change and other challenges considered in this timely book.

Lyndon Johnson invaded the Dominican Republic. Richard Nixon sponsored a coup attempt in Chile. Ronald Reagan waged covert warfare in Nicaragua. Nearly a dozen times during the Cold War, American presidents turned their attention from standoffs with the Soviet Union to intervene in Latin American affairs. In each instance, it was declared that the security of the United States was at stake--but, as Michael Grow demonstrates, these actions had more to do with flexing presidential muscle than responding to imminent danger.

From Eisenhower's toppling of Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954 to Bush's overthrow of Noriega in Panama in 1989, Grow casts a close eye on eight major cases of U.S. intervention in the Western Hemisphere, offering fresh interpretations of why they occurred and what they signified. The case studies also include the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Reagan's invasion of Grenada in 1983, and JFK's little-known 1963 intervention against the government of Cheddi Jagan in British Guiana.

Grow argues that it was not threats to U.S. national security or endangered economic interests that were decisive in prompting presidents to launch these interventions. Rather, each intervention was part of a symbolic geopolitical chess match in which the White House sought to project an image of overpowering strength to audiences at home and abroad--in order to preserve both national and presidential credibility. As Grow also reveals, that impulse was routinely reinforced by local Latin American elites--such as Chilean businessmen or opposition Panamanian politicians-who actively promoted intervention in their own self-interest.

LBJ's loud lament--"What can we do in Vietnam if we can't clean up the Dominican Republic?"--reflected just how preoccupied our presidents were with proving that the U.S. was no paper tiger and that they themselves were fearless and forceful leaders. Meticulously argued and provocative, Grow's bold reinterpretation of Cold War history shows that this special preoccupation with credibility was at the very core of our presidents' approach to foreign relations, especially those involving our Latin American neighbors.

This book captures Malaysia's foreign policy over the first fifty years and beyond since the date of the country's formal independence in 1957. The author provides "macro-historical" narratives of foreign policy practices and outcomes over distinct time periods under the tenures of the five prime ministers. One chapter delves into relations with immediate neighbouring states and another chapter analyses the political economy of foreign policy. A postscript deals with the transition of foreign policy beyond the fifth decade. The concluding chapter suggests that Malaysian middlepowermanship has been in the making in foreign policy practice being particularly evident since the Mahathir years. Employing a critical-constructivist approach throughout the study, the author posits that foreign policy should be appreciated as outcomes of socio-political-economic processes embedded within a Malaysian political culture. In terms of broad policy orientations, Malaysian foreign policy over five decades has navigated over the terrains of neutralism, regionalism, globalization and Islamism. However, the critical engagement of civil society in foreign policy construction remains a formidable challenge.

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire resulted in the birth of new nation states in the Balkans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. "Conflicting Loyalties in the Balkans" explores the effects of the Ottoman reform era upon Balkan societies in order to shed much-needed light on the history of this region during the early nation-state period. Focusing on developments which go beyond the over-researched dimension of political or elite discourse, this book offers insights into the complex ways in which Balkan societies were transformed from different regional viewpoints -- focusing on the interplay between Great Power politics, state reforms and social dynamics on the ground. A thorough investigation of the conflicting loyalties which has shaped the political framework of the post-Ottoman Balkans, this is an important and fascinating insight into the logic and contradictions of daily life in a crucial period of Balkan and Ottoman history.

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia” – Winston Churchill, 5 March 1946 Following the Allies’ victory in World War II, the European continent was soon divided into two broad zones of influence, with Eastern Europe coming under communist Soviet control, and the west under the oversight of the liberal democracies led by the United States. What developed over the next 40 years was a military and ideological stand-off that defined Europe and much of the world until 1989. In countries such as Germany, the Cold War divided families between the two zones of control. The two opponents competed for global dominance, building up ever greater arsenals of nuclear weapons, funding and fighting costly proxy wars in Southeast Asia, Africa and Central America, deploying espionage and trade embargoes, and even seeking technological advantage in space exploration, which became known as the “Space Race”. The Cold War provides a pictorial examination of this crucial era in 20th century history, offering the reader an instant understanding of the key events and figures in this 40-year period through 150 dramatic photographs.

This work is a unique single source for information on the foreign policy-wars, treaties, initiatives, and doctrines-of all 43 presidents of the United States. From George Washington's isolationism to the Monroe Doctrine of hemispheric right to domination to Teddy Roosevelt's imperialism through George W. Bush's global war against terror, U.S. foreign policy has charted a varied course. As the area where the president has the most freedom of action, foreign policy can, and often does, change precipitously, according to the incumbent's view of the world. No other branch of government rivals the president's role in America's rise from liberal republic to global superpower. This work brings together the scholarship of leading historians and political scientists to present in-depth examination of the foreign policy of each president of the United States. This thorough presentation covers all aspects of international relations; although the work is not primarily interpretive, it does not shy from pointing out both notable successes and failures. The book's 43 essays present quick access to the whole of the history of American foreign policy. 42 essays-one per president-from leading historians and political scientists Primary source documents such as Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address, John L. O'Sullivan on manifest destiny, and James K. Polk's war message A detailed chronology provides a convenient overview of the whole history of American foreign policy A bibliography following each section gives access to additional resources for more extensive research

Two decades ago, the idea that a "radical right" could capture and drive Israeli politics seemed highly improbable. While it was a boisterous faction and received heavy media coverage, it constituted a fringe element. Yet by 2009, Israel's radical right had not only entrenched itself in mainstream Israeli politics, it was dictating policy in a wide range of areas. The government has essentially caved to the settlers on the West Bank, and restrictions on non-Jews in Israel have increased in the past few years. Members of the radical right have assumed prominent positions in Israel's elite security forces. The possibility of a two state solution seems more remote than ever, and the emergence of ethnonationalist politician Avigdor Lieberman suggests that its power is increasing. Quite simply, if we want to understand the seemingly intractable situation in Israel today, we need a comprehensive account of the radical right. In The Triumph of Israel's Radical Right, acclaimed scholar Ami Pedahzur provides an invaluable and authoritative analysis of its ascendance to the heights of Israeli politics. After analyzing what, exactly, they believe in, he explains how mainstream Israeli policies like "the right of return" have served as unexpected foundations for their nativism and authoritarian tendencies. He then traces the right's steady rise, from the first intifada to the "Greater Israel" movement that is so prominent today. Throughout, he focuses on the radical right's institutional networks and how the movement has been able to expand its constituency. His closing chapter is grim yet realistic: he contends that a two state solution is no longer viable and that the vision of the radical rabbi Meir Kahane, who was a fringe figure while alive, has triumphed.

Written by an international team of leading political and legal theory scholars whose writings have contributed to shaping the field, Migration in Political Theory presents seminal new work on the ethics of movement and membership. The volume addresses challenging and under-researched themes on the subject of migration. It debates the question of whether we ought to recognize a human right to immigrate, and whether it might be legitimate to restrict emigration. The authors critically examine criteria for selecting would-be migrants, and for acquiring citizenship. They discuss tensions between the claims of immigrants and existing residents, and tackle questions of migrant worker exploitation and responsibility for refugees. The book illustrates the importance of drawing on the tools of political theory to clarify, criticize, and challenge the current terms of the migration debate.

This book offers broad-gauged analyses of the causes, nature, and changing patterns of armed conflict in Africa as well as the reasons for these patterns. It also situates conflicts that have been haunting the African continent since the time of decolonization within the various theoretical schools such as "new war," "economic war," "neo-patrimonial," and "globalization." It begins with the premise that conflict constitutes one of the major impediments to Africa's socio-economic development and has made the continent's future looks relatively bleak. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the international community has, once again, treated Africa as a hopeless continent. This is due, in part, to a number of political, military, and socio-economic problems, which have made the continent miss the path towards sustainable development. From the period of political independence in the 1960s to the immediate post-Cold War period, the African political landscape was dotted with many conflicts of different natures and intensity (low-intensity conflicts, civil wars, mass killings, and large-scale political violence). During the first four decades of political independence, there were about 80 forceful changes of government in Sub-Saharan Africa, while a large number of countries in that region witnessed various forms of conflicts. This collection assembles the work of distinguished African scholars who offer valuable new insights into the problem of political instability.

"War presidents" are hardly exceptional in modern American history. To a greater or lesser extent, every president since Wilson has been a War President. Each has committed our country to the pursuit of peace, yet involved us in a seemingly endless series of wars--conflicts that the American foreign policy establishment has generally made worse. The chief reason, argues Angelo Codevilla in "Advice to War Presidents," is that America's leaders have habitually imagined the world as they wished it to be rather than as it is: They acted under the assumptions that war is not a normal tool of statecraft but a curable disease, and that all the world's peoples wish to live as Americans do. As a result, our leaders have committed America to the grandest of ends while constantly subverting their own goals.

Employing many negative examples from the Bush II administration but also ranging widely over the last century, "Advice to War Presidents" offers a primer on the unchanging principles of foreign policy. Codevilla explains the essentials--focusing on realities such as diplomacy, alliances, war, economic statecraft, intelligence, and prestige, rather than on meaningless phrases like "international community," "peacekeeping" and "collective security." Not a realist, neoconservative, or a liberal internationalist, Codevilla follows an older tradition: that of historians like Thucydides, Herodotus, and Winston Churchill--writers who analyzed international affairs without imposing false categories.

"Advice to War Presidents" is an effort to talk our future presidents down from their rhetorical highs and get them to practice statecraft rather than wishful thinking, lest they give us further violence.

While the president is the commander in chief, the US Congress plays a critical and underappreciated role in civil-military relations - the relationship between the armed forces and the civilian leadership that commands it. This unique book edited by Colton C. Campbell and David P. Auerswald will help readers better understand the role of Congress in military affairs and national and international security policy. Contributors include the most experienced scholars in the field as well as practitioners and innovative new voices, all delving into the ways Congress attempts to direct the military. This book explores four tools in particular that play a key role in congressional action: the selection of military officers, delegation of authority to the military, oversight of the military branches, and the establishment of incentives - both positive and negative - to encourage appropriate military behavior. The contributors explore the obstacles and pressures faced by legislators including the necessity of balancing national concerns and local interests, partisan and intraparty differences, budgetary constraints, the military's traditional resistance to change, and an ongoing lack of foreign policy consensus at the national level. Yet, despite the considerable barriers, Congress influences policy on everything from closing bases to drone warfare to acquisitions. A groundbreaking study, Congress and Civil-Military Relations points the way forward in analyzing an overlooked yet fundamental government relationship.

A critical tool for the study of U.S. history, this volume offers an analysis of important documents and decisions in U.S. foreign policy from George Washington to Barack Obama. The study of historical primary documents provides a uniquely beneficial and insightful view into history. To that end, U.S. Foreign Policy: A Documentary and Reference Guide presents and interprets important documents from throughout U.S. history, from the administration of George Washington to that of Barack Obama. Examining U.S. foreign policy through this lens identifies the ideals of the United States during different periods, illuminates the intent behind its military actions, and reveals how each American president interpreted his moral responsibilities as leader of one of the most powerful nations in the world. Organized to allow readers to examine the historical evolution of U.S. foreign policy, the book includes treaties, speeches, and other documents that illustrate important doctrines and decisions over the more than two centuries of American history, covering all presidential doctrines to the current administration. It also highlights various phases of foreign policy, from regionalism to westward expansion, from the Cold War to a New World Order. In addition to the documents themselves, the authors provide invaluable analysis and commentary that will help students understand what the documents mean-both in the context of their time, and in terms of their broader historical significance. A comprehensive list of U.S. foreign policy documents Primary documents such as treaties and speeches with each chapter Sidebars detailing events during the period under discussion References, including Internet sites, for each chapter Indexes of major documents organized under various themes, such as "alliances" and "arms reduction treaties" A comprehensive list of web-based resources