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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > International relations > General
Martin Wight was perhaps the most profound thinker in international
relations of his generation. In a discipline for too long
mesmerized by the pseudo-science of the historically and
philosophically illiterate, his work stands out like a beacon. Yet
it is only in the decades since his death that his achievement has
attained its true recognition.
Freedom Mazwi examines patterns of agricultural finance in Zimbabwe since the radical Fast Track Land Resettlement Programme (FTLRP) was implemented in 2000-and, especially, the varying impact that the FTLRP reforms have had not only on land use, but also on the well-being of farmers.Focusing on contract farming in the tobacco and sugarcane sectors, Mazwi offers penetrating insights into social contradictions and power relations in Zimbabwe's rural areas. He also assesses the institutional finance mechanisms that have emerged in response to the radical land reforms and reflects on the related political and economic isolation of the country since 2000. Not least, he suggests how agrarian policy could be restructured to better benefit small-scale farmers.
This encompassing study traces the issues of international cartels from the early days of World War II through the occupation of Germany and Japan. It focuses attention on the Justice Department's Economic Warfare Section as it utilized its resources in uncovering economic and strategic information that could be used in the war effort, such as the selection of economic bottlenecks for bombing. Maddox examines how cartels such as I. G. Farben, Carl Zeiss, the Steel Cartel and others worked to harm U.S. strategic interests, and he details how cartel agreements allowed the Japanese to acquire critical technologies and strategic materials. Using newly released Justice Department records, this thorough investigation of decartelization captures the debate over implementation of the policy issues. These exposures by both the Justice Department and the Kilgore Committee ultimately helped stimulate debate over the economic treatment of enemy nations in the postwar period. Despite an Allied decision in Potsdam to apply decartelization and deconcentration policies to Germany and Japan, the decartelization policy ran into difficulty in Germany with blatant attempts by the American Military Government to subvert it. Events in Japan followed a similar path. After first taking on the zaibatsu and other cartel-like business practices, policy would be reversed.
Prophecy may vary between being an intellectual amusement and a serious occupation; serious not only in its intentions, but in its consequences. For it is the lot of prophets who frighten or disappoint to be stoned. But for some of us moderns, who have be
This book seeks to reposition international relations (IR) theory by providing insights into non-Western concepts and theories. By engaging with understandings of power, identity, the state and the individual from a range of states outside of the Western hemisphere, the contributors to this book introduce new methods for understanding aspects of IR in context considerate ways. Engagements with Western theories and cases highlight how we need to reposition traditional understandings to allow non-Western approaches to IR develop alongside and inform their Western counterparts. Moreover, the book reinforces the need to move beyond the traditionally used Western-centric lenses without removing them completely, instead it advocates a harmonisation between them to reduce generalisations across the local, state and regional levels.
Few would dispute that the United States had been the world's most influential nation since Henry Luce first popularized the notion of an American Century in 1941. The significance of the influence, however, remains a subject of hot debate. This collection brings together international scholars who offer differing views on American international dominance in the past century and the prospects for its continuation into this one. These range from positive assessments of the role of the United States in forging a global community and in operating as a relatively benign global hegemon to a scathing critique of Washington policy makers for failing to reverse the ethically corrosive impact of the Cold War on American diplomatic practice. American global influence has not been synonymous with omnipotence. The United States is not impervious to external influences and has itself been transformed by the forces of globalization--a phenomenon viewed by some as synonymous with Americanization. These essays highlight the notion that the phrase American Century implies the diffusion internationally of liberal capitalist principles. This book suggests that the role of the United States in diffusing those principles is at the heart of the debate about the significance of American global influence, whether in retrospect or in prospect. Includes the views of Asian, Antipodean, and American Scholars.
This book examines Turkey's position in the world at the end of the Cold War. An account of Turkey's political history, society, and economy helps determine what degree of credence to attach to the claim that Turkey is an island of stability in a troubled area extending from the borders of the European Union to China. The author describes Turkey's foreign relations with the West, in general, and the European Union, in particular, and also with its Middle Eastern neighbors, Greece and the ex-communist countries, including the Turkic republics of the former Soviet Union. The emphasis is on Turkey's ability to support Western efforts to bring political stability to the region and to enter into partnership with Western economic enterprise.
Despite the development of a consensus foreign policy during the early years of the Cold War that supported containment of the Soviet Union, there were both internationalists and pacifists who opposed the efforts of the Truman administration. These groups felt that American actions, including the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the North Atlantic Treaty, and even the Korean War weakened the UN, threatened the Soviet Union with war, hindered European economic recovery, and promoted colonialism. Often mislabeled as isolationists, both the pacifists, with their traditional opposition to war, and the liberal internationalists, who supported efforts to continue the wartime alliance with the Soviets through the development of a strong UN, felt that the United States should play an active role in world affairs. The "peace movement" forces have been marginalized or dismissed as insignificant by many historians, however, while their impact was minimal in the late 1940s and early 1950s, their ideas would later re-emerge to have a strong impact on American policy, particularly in the "ban the bomb" and the antiwar movements of the Vietnam era. They continued to support efforts to maintain the Soviet alliance through the UN, to assist in the reconstruction of the world economy, to promote disarmament, and to end colonialism. While a commitment to these ideas would probably not have prevented the Cold War, it might have lessened its severity or slowed the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The hero's journey is a process of (re)discovery of the principles that make up the national identity of a country. These principles must then be applied in the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. For the seventh time in its history, America has discovered a grand synthesis of power and morality in projecting its resources and principles into the global arena. This makes possible a more assertive, moral foreign policy course in responding to a range of foreign policy challenges. Of these challenges, Salla asserts, the most profound in terms of the scale of human suffering around the planet is that concerning violations of the rights of ethnic minorities. Ethnic conflicts and the humanitarian crises and massive human rights violations they generate form a foreign policy challenge that will preoccupy the minds of policy makers for much of the 21st century. NATO's intervention in the Kosovo crisis is the high water mark for America's seventh hero's journey. The intervention sends a decisive signal to all governments that the U.S. and its allies will no longer remain inactive in the face of states attempting to militarily repress the aspirations of their ethnic minorities. This moral interventionism can safely be extended well into the 21st century if policy makers wisely combine the moral principles and foreign policy challenges that make up both the Second American Century and America's (Seventh) Hero's journey. This provocative analysis will be of interest to all scholars, students, and researchers involved with the development of American foreign policy.
British attitudes towards Arab unity have frequently been a source of controversy. Younan Labib Rizk here provides a coherent Arab perspective derived from considerable in-depth research into British archives, covering the period 1919 to 1945. His analysis reveals how British government policy was formed in this period and concludes that repeated British administrations were consistent in their concern and hostility towards the notion of Arab unity. While this conforms with traditional Arab views of British policy in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula, the importance of Rizk's work lies in his meticulous research through which he is able to document British attitudes and motivations. As he quotes the internal correspondence between departments and individual officials in the Foreign Office and its Eastern Department, the Colonial Office and several British Cabinets, Rizk shows that divisions within the Arab world -- of which there were plenty -- were nurtured by British officials, only eventually to acquire their own dynamic. This book enhances our understanding of how the international politics of the region evolved during a critical phase in the modern history of the Middle East.
This is the first study to examine Nazi German foreign policy towards the Union of South Africa from 1933-1939. Making extensive use of unpublished primary source German documents, Robert Citino focuses on the activities of the German embassy and consulates within South Africa in order to answer four basic questions: What role did race and racial theory play in German foreign policy towards South Africa? Did Germany attempt to exploit South African yearnings for international respect, and, if so, how? Did the Germans seek to take advantage of deep divisions within South African society between British and Afrikaners? Finally, to what extent was the German Foreign Office Nazified in the 1930s? By concentrating on the policies and views of German diplomatic personnel within a single country--rather than on Hitler's grandiose proclamations and speeches on world affairs--Citino offers a closer look at Nazi German foreign policy operations than is usually available. The study is organized chronologically and begins with an overview of German-South African relations before 1933. Subsequent chapters address early tensions and South African domestic developments in the years leading up to the outbreak of war. Specific topics covered include the role played by the former German colony of Southwest Africa in relations between the two states, the hostile attitude of much of the South African press towards Nazi Germany, the boycott of German firms by the South African Jewish community, the Smuts-Hertzog fusion, the rise of Malan and his Purified nationalist party, the growth of anti-Semitism in South Africa and the concurrent growth in Afrikaner national consciousness, and South African attitudes towards the major European crises of the 1930s. Citino concludes by analyzing Germany's inability to keep South Africa neutral in 1939 and the entry of the Union into the war at England's side. Students of modern German, South African, and twentieth century diplomatic history will find Citino's work an enlightening contribution to the literature of Nazi Germany's foreign relations.
The 1970s were a period of dramatic change in relations between Japan and the People's Republic of China (PRC). The two countries established diplomatic relations for the first time, forged close economic ties and reached political agreements that still guide and constrain relations today. This book delivers a history of this foundational period in Sino-Japanese relations. It presents an up-to-date diplomatic history of the relationship but also goes beyond this to argue that Japan's relations with China must be understood in the context of a larger "China problem" that was inseparable from a domestic contest to define Japanese national identity. "The China Problem in Postwar Japan" challenges some common assertions or assumptions about the role of Japanese national identity in postwar Sino-Japanese relations, showing how the history of Japanese relations with China in the 1970s is shaped by the strength of Japanese national identity, not its weakness.
There are a number of factors that elevate Turkey's status in the international arena and make it an important regional actor. As a longstanding member of the western world, a candidate country to the European Union, a "staunch" ally of the United States, and a frontline state in the fight against terrorism, Turkey plays a key, yet often overlooked role, in world affairs. Proper understanding of how decisions regarding foreign and security issues are being taken within the state apparatus in Turkey is crucially important, especially when "unexpected" developments take place. Mustafa and Aysegul Kibaroglu examine the issues that drive Turkish foreign policy decisions in this crucial region. This reference work chronicles the factors which have shaped the mindsets of the makers of Turkey's foreign and security policies from the foundation of the Republic in 1923. The authors provide not only meaningful explanations of past events, but also useful insights into current issues at the center of Turkish regional and foreign policies. The authors provide not only meaninful explanations of past events, but also useful insigts into the current issues at the center of Turkish regional and foreign policies. The authors provide a concise overview of Turkish foreign policy and assess the position of the nation within the context of the war on terror, globalization, and more. Their narrative is supplemented by biographies of key decision makers, policies, and documents that illustrate the choices that comprise Turkey's past and present.
This book examines the governability crisis faced by Israeli governmental institutions. For a long period of time, observers of Israel's government have reported the same phenomena: instability in most political positions not allowing for proper policy design, enhanced control of the bureaucracy over the policy making process, and complete uncertainty regarding the implementation of policies by the bureaucracy. However, while one expects that with such a toxic combination of all the wrong policy making components Israel would collapse, Israel has been able to achieve quite impressive landmarks in its overall performance. During the first decade of the 21st century, Israel became an OECD member and enjoyed high growth when the world was facing stagnation and economic collapse. Israel's government, which regularly faces quandaries in a variety of policy fields, is able to initiate large scale policies when needed. Yet, this same government refrains from initiating large-scale reforms in institutional structures. Hence, for analysts of political institutions, the Israeli state of affairs is one of choice: while initiating changes to reform and overhaul the Israeli institutional system is possible it is also perilous. To cope with that duality Israeli political leadership on all sides has developed a variety of mechanisms that allow them to provide the policy output needed so as to maintain the status-quo. This book examines these mechanisms as they exist in different facets of government work and explains their output and persistence. Examples include coalitional making and breaking, the ways in which ruling coalitions maneuver in parliament, and policy design and implementation. The book also explores the problem that exists in Israel's governability: the lack of a strategic high-order far sighted decision making. Finally, it offers a method of electoral reform that can address both of these systemic maladies.
Covering 1816-2016, this book deals extensively with the international system as well as the territorial outcomes of several key wars that were waged during that time period, providing an instructive lesson in diplomatic history and international relations among global powers. Based on an in-depth review of the leading theories in the field of international relations, International Relations Theory of War explains an innovative theory on the international system, developed by the author, that he applies comprehensively to a large number of case studies. The book argues that there is a unipolar system that represents a kind of innovation relative to other systemic theories. It further posits that unipolar systems will be less stable than bipolar systems and more stable than multipolar systems, providing new insights relative to other theories that argue that unipolar systems are the most stable ones. The first chapter is devoted to explaining the manner of action of the two dependent variables-systemic international outcome and intra-systemic international outcome. The second chapter presents the international relations theory of war and its key assumptions. The third chapter precisely defines the distribution of power in the system. The fourth chapter examines the theory's two key phenomena. The fifth and last chapter presents the book's conclusions by examining the theoretical assumptions of the international relations theory of war. Presents an innovative theory of war that covers the major superpower conflicts of the past 200 years Provides the tools necessary to understanding current events and shows how they are relevant to the future of international relations Emphasizes the competitive aspects and conflicts of international politics Answers the key question of why certain time periods are more prone to war than others Explains why certain superpower wars end with territorial expansion whereas others end in the contraction or maintaining of territorial status
Most historical writing on the relations between the United States
and its European allies in the post-war period has concentrated on
the development of the Cold War and the beginnings of European
integration. An equally significant question is how relations
between an increasingly self-confident Europe and a United States
used to its leadership role developed after this period. This book
investigates the successes and failures, as well as the diversity,
that constituted both the strength and weakness of the
transatlantic alliance. It looks at crucial areas of conflict, such
as economics and trade, nuclear weapons, the language of power, and
key personalities, as well as the very concept of a special
relationship. How did Europe and the United States respond to
economic emergencies such as the 1973-4 oil crisis and how were
issues of power and control reflected in the language used by
officials to describe foreign nations and statesmen? Who controlled
the nuclear button and how did fears and feelings of inferiority
influence European-American nuclear interdependence in NATO? How
did American officials attempt to walk successfully in European
corridors of power and how did Europeans network in Washington?
What are the qualities that make relationships such as the
Anglo-American or the German-American one special and what strains
do they place on other members of the alliance?
The harsh reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that it has been traumatic for the Israelis as well. But before we can evaluate the possibility of peace in the Middle East, we must understand the facts. Author Alan B. Katz defends the Israeli cause by revealing its side of the story. Beyond the headlines and talking heads lies a complex reality that the media studiously avoid. The Israelis are not the monsters that journalists have made them out to be. Indeed, "more sinned against than sinning," they are a compassionate, fair, and law-abiding nation who have faced far more pain and desolation than the world has been led to believe. With no wish to seek a public relations victory, the Israelis let nature take its course. In Fighting Back: Letters from the Diaspora, Mr. Katz humanizes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to show the sacrifices, pain, and courage of the Israelis, and exposes the hypocrisy of the media and the true nature of the Palestinians. Through a series of letters to the editor and personal essays, Katz delves into the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and brings a deeply human element to the images the world views on television. Fighting Back: Letters from the Diaspora is a timely contribution to the events happening in the Middle East today and brings a perspective sorely lacking in the current debate.
This book provides a succinct and accessible interpretation of the major event and ideas that have shaped U.S. foreign relations since the American Revolution-historical factors that now affect our current debates and commitments in the Middle East as well as Europe and Asia. American Foreign Relations since Independence explores the relationship of American policies to national interest and the limits of the nation's power, reinterpreting the nature and history of American foreign relations. The book brings together the collective knowledge of three generations of diplomatic historians to create a readily accessible introduction to the subject. The authors explicitly challenge and reject the perennial debates about isolationism versus internationalism, instead asserting that American foreign relations have been characterized by the permanent tension inherent in America's desire to engage with the world and its equally powerful determination to avoid "entanglement" in the world's troubles. This work is ideally suited as a resource for students of politics, international affairs, and history, and it will provide compelling insights for informed general readers.
This uniquely interdisciplinary volume analyzes the challenges posed by the heterogeneity of the world where radically different players are crammed into increasingly limited political, commercial, social, and ecological space. The rapid rise of Communist Party-ruled China is posing serious challenges to the postwar politico-economic architecture dominated by the United States. Russia, once expected to become a partner of the liberal Western international order, has started behaving in an increasingly unilateral fashion. The developing world is more characterized by failed governance rather than convergence to liberal democracies as was hoped by many Western authors. Given links provided by low-cost carriers, the Internet, and trade and investment, we simply cannot shield ourselves from influences, whether benign or malign, from neighbors on this planet.The authors, including political scientists, economists, social physicists, and experts on complexity theory and informatics, examine how interactions among actors with different properties can cause problems, and they analyze risks resulting from the interactions. While employing a variety of approaches to address topics such as economic interdependence among democracies and authoritarian states, the development assistance regimes, internal conflicts in developing countries, and cyber security, the whole volume presents a clear overview of challenges and risks the world is facing. This work makes a valuable contribution to students of social sciences as well as to practitioners interested in the emerging global order.
In this collection of refreshing and provocative essays, the contributors to Theorizing Foreign Policy in a Globalized World reflect on the game-changing political impact of globalization, outlining the situation as it currently stands and suggesting strategies for analyzing foreign policy and global governance.
The lines of armed conflict, and the catastrophic perils they portended, were shaped with shocking clarity in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Less clear is the role religious ideology played in the conflicts that defined the Cold War era. All too often, beliefs held sacred by some became tools to motivate action or create friction. In Religion and the Cold War, Philip Muehlenbeck assembles an international team of specialists to explore how religion informed the ideological and military clashes across the globe in the second half of the twentieth century. Students and scholars will find in this volume a level of comprehensiveness rarely achieved in Cold War studies. Each chapter reveals that the power and influence of ideas are just as important as military might in the struggles between superpowers and that few ideas, then as now, carry as much force as religious ideology. As Muehlenbeck and his contributors demonstrate, no area of the world, and no religious tenet, was safe from the manipulations of a powerful set of players focused solely on their own sphere of influence.
One of the most prevalent and dangerous American misperceptions is the image of Japan as a faceless, impersonal, corporate entity. In "The Human Face of Japan's LeadershiP," Weinstein gives a human face to the leaders who will lead that nation into the next century. In doing so, he gives the reader a better idea of what makes these men tick, of the experiences which have shaped their values, and their views of Japan and the world. Weinstein conducted approximately 100 hours of taped interviews with 12 internationalized Japanese leaders in their 40s and 50s, including four members of the Diet, four bureaucrats, and four businessmen. These interviews form the core of the book: 12 biographical portraits, presented as oral histories and largely in the participant's words. These are individual, personal accounts which begin with family and regional background and include childhood and youth in World War II and the Occupation: educational experiences and views of Japan's future. These accounts also shed light on how the system of educational meritocracy and family interact to produce Japanese leaders. Japan's leadership includes a relatively high proportion of people, who while insiders and members of their Establishment, are at the same time knowledgeable and at ease in foreign languages and cultures. These internationalized leaders are committed to successful interaction with the outside world. Weinstein's book will help Americans gain a more accurate, balanced view of their most important overseas trading partner and ally in the Pacific. It could easily serve as a supplementary text in many courses on Japan, ranging from history and politics to business and management.
This volume presents the critical perspectives of feminists, critical race theorists, and queer and postcolonial theorists who question the adoption of European norms in the postcolonial world and whether such norms are enabling for disenfranchised communities or if they simply reinforce relations of domination and exploitation. It examines how postcolonial interventions alter the study of politics and society both in the postcolony and in Euro-America, as well as of the power relations between them. Challenging conventional understandings of international politics, this volume pushes the boundaries of the social sciences by engaging with alternative critical approaches and innovatively and provocatively addressing previously disregarded aspects of international politics. The fourteen contributions in this volume focus on the silencing and exclusion of vulnerable groups from claims of freedom, equality and rights, while highlighting postcolonial-queer-feminist struggles for transnational justice, radical democracy and decolonization, drawing on in-depth empirically-informed analyses of processes and struggles in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. They address political and social topics including global governance and development politics; neo-colonialism, international aid and empire; resistance, decolonization and the Arab Spring; civil society and social movement struggles; international law, democratization and subalternity; body politics and green imperialism. By drawing on other disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, this book both enriches and expands the discipline of political science and international relations. Primary readership for this volume will be academics and students concerned with globalization studies, postcolonial theory, gender studies, and international relations, as well as political activists and policy-makers concerned with social and transnational justice, human rights, democracy, gender justice and women's rights.
Now the second largest oil-consuming country after the US, China's growing need for resources will affect its development as well as that of its neighbors and other developing countries. "China's Energy Relations with the Developing World" examines China's access to the energy resources of the developing world and its impact on Chinese foreign relations. Contributed by experts in international relations and Chinese politics, the essays look at China's expanding relations with the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Latin America, India; the security implications of China's quest for energy resources; and, its impact on relations with world powers such as the US. The book also asks whether China's competition for energy resources will foster cooperation or conflict with other energy-consuming great powers. "China's Energy Relations with the Developing World" provides is an accessible text that will appeal to students, faculty, and policy makers seeking to understand Chinese politics, energy policy, and the factors that may lie beneath key future geopolitical and security issues. |
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