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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.
During the division of Germany, law became the object of ideological conflicts and the means by which the two national governments conducted their battle over political legitimacy. Legal Entanglements explores how these dynamics produced competing concepts of statehood and sovereignty, all centered on citizens and their rights. Drawing on wide-ranging archival sources, including recently declassified documents, Sebastian Gehrig traces how politicians, diplomats, judges, lawyers, activists and intellectuals navigated the struggle between legal ideologies under the pressures of the Cold War and decolonization. As he shows, in their response to global debates over international law and human rights, their work kept the legal cultures of both German states entangled until 1989.
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 Making extensive use of unpublished primary source German documents, Robert Citino focuses on the activities of the German embassy and consulates within South Africa in order to answer four basic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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
In analyzing the obstacles to democratization in post- independence Africa, Mahmood Mamdani offers a bold, insightful account of colonialism's legacy-a bifurcated power that mediated racial domination through tribally organized local authorities, reproducing racial identity in citizens and ethnic identity in subjects. Many writers have understood colonial rule as either "direct" (French) or "indirect" (British), with a third variant-apartheid-as exceptional. This benign terminology, Mamdani shows, masks the fact that these were actually variants of a despotism. While direct rule denied rights to subjects on racial grounds, indirect rule incorporated them into a "customary" mode of rule, with state-appointed Native Authorities defining custom. By tapping authoritarian possibilities in culture, and by giving culture an authoritarian bent, indirect rule (decentralized despotism) set the pace for Africa; the French followed suit by changing from direct to indirect administration, while apartheid emerged relatively later. Apartheid, Mamdani shows, was actually the generic form of the colonial state in Africa. Through case studies of rural (Uganda) and urban (South Africa) resistance movements, we learn how these institutional features fragment resistance and how states tend to play off reform in one sector against repression in the other. Reforming a power that institutionally enforces tension between town and country, and between ethnicities, is the key challenge for anyone interested in democratic reform in Africa.
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 addresses the three central issues that continue to dominate the U.S.-Mexico relationship today: drugs, immigration, and security. Nowhere is this more palpable than at the 2,000-mile border shared by the two countries. The U.S.-Mexico border remains a hot topic in the news-and a contentious one. This second edition of a popular work brings readers up to date on what is really going on at the U.S.-Mexico border and why. The book offers a detailed, history-based examination of the evolution of current conditions on the border, arguing that they exist due to a steady growth in the security concerns of the United States over almost two centuries. The author shows how the border has gone through four historical stages that, ultimately, have crippled the region, sacrificing its ability to produce prosperity in exchange for greater security. Combining depth and breadth, the book covers the economic relationship between Mexico and the United States, the deployment of technology, the bureaucratic interests that control the border landscape, the democratic deficit, and a detrimental lack of policy coordination. Issues such as drug trafficking and homeland security are considered as well. Demonstrating the internal and contradictory logic of American policy toward the border, the author argues that current conditions could lead to a return of authoritarianism in Mexico and a concurrent rise in anti-American sentiment. Provides a historical perspective that is necessary to understand today's border conflicts Includes new coverage of weapons trafficking, human trafficking, the diversified activities of organized crime, the role of drug consumption in America, the decay of the border infrastructure, the militarization of the border, and the effects of Arizona's immigration policy changes Challenges current views about the border as unsafe, unstable, crime-riddled, and a burden on the nation Portrays the border as a place of hope in need of better management rather than reinforcement of the security regime that has prevailed in the last decades Includes a chapter on the Pena government and its effect on the binational relationship, the war on the Cartels, and escalation of violence Draws on the author's current research and interviews with new government actors Offers penetrating analysis and sound policy recommendations, particularly on how to achieve a truly binational border management system Features a new final chapter that projects the future of the border over the next 25 years
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.
A Mail on Sunday book of the year. In 1940, Europe was on the brink of collapse. Country after country had fallen to the Nazis, and Britain was known as ‘Last Hope Island’, where Europeans from the captive nations gathered to continue the war effort. In this epic, character-driven narrative, acclaimed historian and New York Times–bestselling author Lynne Olson takes us back to those perilous days when the British and their European guests joined forces to combat the mightiest military force in history. From the Polish and French code breakers who helped crack Enigma, to the Czech pilots who protected London during German bombings, Olson tells the stories of the courageous men and women who came together to defeat Hitler and save Europe.
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.
In the post-Cold War era, religion and religious extremism has been the cause of most violent conflicts, thereby posing one of the major security challenges confronting the world and, in recent years, the stability and security of the African continent. Unfortunately, some states targeted by terrorist insurgencies, including Nigeria and Kenya, have been reactive, adopting coercive responses rather than proactive long-term measures to address the factors and drivers of religious extremism in a comprehensive and sustained manner. Confronting Islamist Terrorism in Africa: The Cases of Nigeria and Kenya addresses the fragility of state institutions in terms of their ability and capacity to manage diversity, corruption, inequality, human rights violations, environmental degradation, weak security, and judicial problems, as well as the current security challenges in Africa. It also serves as an indispensable comparative study evaluating the similarities and differences in two nations' approaches to the war on terror in Africa.
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.
Based on new and existing research by a world-class scholar, this is the first book in 20 years to examine the entire dynamics of the American-European relationship since 1945. Lundestad examines how the relationship between the United States and Europe is becoming increasingly strained, and offers a topical view of the future of this relationship.
Andrew A. Michta examines the security of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary in the aftermath of the 1989 collapse of communism and the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe. He reviews the old geopolitical dilemmas in the region as well as the new conditions in Europe as it approaches the remainder of the decade, and offers a country-by-country discussion of security policies and military reforms underway in the region. The analysis is set against a background discussion of the region's history as well as a review of the key events leading to the disintegration of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, including the reformulation of Soviet security policy in the late 1980s. Michta concludes with an assessment of security challenges facing the Triangle states of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary as they work to join Western Europe by the end of the decade. He argues that the Triangle will remain in a gray security zone in Europe for the foreseeable future, with an implicit security commitment from NATO, but without explicit formal security guarantees.
Recent bombing campaigns and peacekeeping efforts have achieved a fragile and uncertain peace in Kosovo. However, NATO will need help from both the European Union and the United Nations to create and maintain a lasting peace in the region. An expert in the affairs of the troubled region, Rezun traveled to the crisis zone to interview Kosovar refugees and foreign statesmen. He offers a sharp critique of the conflict, taking NATO and the entire Western Alliance to task and emphasizing the villainous behavior of the Milosevic regime. One cannot consider what happened in Kosovo to be an isolated affair, Rezun contends. Based on the widest possible range of sources, including documentation in nearly every European language, this study will appeal to experts and laymen alike. Rezun refuses to take sides. In addition to his criticisms of foreign intervention, exaggerated statistics, and reverse ethnic cleansing, he is merciless in his condemnation of the Serbs, in particular the corrupt influence of Milosevic and the late Arkan. In writing laced with irony, wit, and satire, he reveals the foibles of limited war and the errors committed by all parties. Yet his primary focus remains on the sufferings of the men, women, and children who filled the refugee camps and the devastated villages to which they have returned.
Cross-border investments and cooperative business ventures are driving the global economy on an unprecedented scale. Business professionals and policy makers must be aware of the potential of trading blocs as a competitive weapon given the rising importance of multinational trade. The coming years promise to be the era of the Trade Pact Wars as Canada's recently announced trade talks with Chile, Germany's push for closer trans-Atlantic ties with the United States, and ASEAN efforts to promote intraregional trade all test the fledgling World Trade Organization in its role as the watchdog of global trade. Delener examines the rationale for international trading blocs and free trade with a focus on the implications for strategic planning of firms and national industry sectors. He looks at the development and conditions of the major existing regional trading blocs and discusses issues that will impact those who do business within them. NAFTA, the European Union, South American trading blocs, and efforts in Asia and Africa are all examined in detail. Strategic planning, anti-dumping issues, and global standards are also considered. The book provides professionals, researchers, and students with a firm grasp of the issues of central importance to strategic planning in global corporations and multinational trading blocs. Those who fail to grasp the significance of multinational trading blocs will face tough times while those who plan for it will see their nations and businesses thrive and prosper.
This is a study that examines United Nations' efforts against terrorism in the 1970s and how West Germany came to influence and lead them. It is also an account of several hostage and hijacking crises as well as a look at German domestic terrorism. |
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