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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Peace studies
This edited volume seeks to contest prevailing assumptions about torture and to consider why, despite its illegality, torture continues to be widely employed and misrepresented. The resurgence of torture and public justifications of it led to the central questions that this inter-disciplinary volume seeks to address: How is it possible for torture to be practiced when it is legally prohibited? What kinds of moves do agents make that render torture palatable? Why do so many ignore the evidence that torture is ineffective as an intelligence-gathering technique? Who are the victims of torture? The various contributors in the book look to history, the practices of interrogators, artistic representations, documentary films, rendition policies, political campaigns, diplomatic discourses, international legal rules, refugee practices, and cultural representations of death and the body to illuminate how torture becomes permissible. Building from the personal to the communal, and from the practical to the conceptual, the volume reflects the multivalence of torture itself. This framework enables readers at all levels better appreciate how and why torture is open to so many interpretations and applications. This book will be of much interest to students of International Relations, Security Studies, Terrorism Studies, Ethics, and International Legal Studies.
This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of the international relations of South Asia. South Asia as a region is increasingly assuming greater significance in global politics for a host of compelling reasons. This volume offers the most comprehensive collection of perspectives on the international politics of South Asia, and it it covers an extensive range of issues spanning from inter-state wars to migration in the region. Each contribution provides a careful discussion of the four major theoretical approaches to the study of international politics: Realism, Constructivism, Liberalism, and Critical Theory. In turn, the chapters discuss the relevance of each approach to the issue area addressed in the book. The volume offers coverage of the key issues under four thematic sections: - Theoretical Approaches to the Study of the International Relations of South Asia - Traditional and Emerging Security Issues in South Asia - The International Relations of South Asia - Cross-cutting Regional Issues Further, every effort has been made in the chapters to discuss the origins, evolution and future direction of each issue. This book will be of much interest to students of South Asian politics, human security, regional security, and International Relations in general.
This book offers a multi-disciplinary and multi-national approach to defining key elements required to define power within the maritime domain. The volume engages with the concept that the maritime domain is a multi-dimensional space embracing oceans, seas, waterways, including all elements of maritime power, related activities, infrastructure, resources and assets. It illustrates the complexity and interconnectivity of the factors that contribute to the appreciation, creation, and application of maritime power. In practical terms, the book highlights that the maritime domain is a continuum that interconnects countries, cultures, politics, economics, trade, environment, knowledge, and technological power globally. Perhaps most importantly, the maritime domain generates power of its own volition, as well as acting as a critical enabler for the creation of other types of nations power: economic, political, military, technological, intelligence and fiscal power, in particular. The book not only brings those various factors to the reader's attention but, in the synthesis, also clarifies the connections between the various elements in creating a greater maritime whole. This book will be of great interest to students of maritime security, strategic studies and International Relations.
An insightful examination of Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka examining how Tamil nationalism has survived the destruction of the Tamil Tigers after May 2009 and continues to thrive. Based on field research, interviews and documentary analysis, the book provides empirical and unique insights on Foucault's thesis that power is multifaceted and can function in the absence of centralized mechanisms. A significant contribution to researchers in the fields of Politics and International Relations, ethnic nationalism, post-armed conflict peacebuilding/conflict resolution, the politics in Sri Lanka, diaspora politics and Foucault.
This book focuses on the regional political ecologies (RPEs) of environmental conflicts in India. It explores broadly, landscape-based analyses of political, economic and social issues, which impact environmental changes, challenges and conflicts at local and micro-local levels. The chapters in this volume examine the intervention of different stakeholders in the management of various regional ecological landscapes in India, including forests, rivers, canals, creeks and wetlands. The volume is an interdisciplinary endeavour, weaving together contextual narratives through a combination of approaches from sociology, anthropology, geography, political studies and environmental history. Using such core approaches, the book studies the place-based dynamisms within the regional environmental conflicts in the selected conservation landscapes. It provides empirical reflections on transboundary issues, rural-urban transitions, middle-class environmentalism, identity conflicts, decentralized natural resource management and the role of political institutions. Regional Political Ecologies and Environmental Conflicts in India will be of great interest to students and scholars of Political Ecology and South Asian Environmental Studies.
This book revolves around the altering security roles of three pivotal powers - the US, China, and India. Each of these actors has experienced incremental changes in their external roles and behaviour over the last two decades, which are determined by the range of domestic and international factors. As each country works towards performing its revised security roles, the policymakers are subject to dilemmas and challenges that impact policy implementation and conduct. Using the framework of role theory, the book analyses the role evolution of these countries and elucidates its link with their security policies in the Indo-Pacific and on the global stage. In the process, it also examines the systemic and sub-systemic factors that determine the foreign and security behaviour of these critical Indo-Pacific countries. Accessibly written, this volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of international relations, security and intelligence studies, political science, and foreign policy. It will also be of great interest to policymakers, career bureaucrats, security and intelligence practitioners, and professionals working with think tanks and embassies.
In the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, nonviolent movements for justice have succeeded where violent campaigns have failed. This book examines fourteen cases-eleven movements that succeeded and three that have, until now, failed-and shows why nonviolent strategies work, drawing on the thought of practitioners and theorists. Later chapters examine violent U.S. interventions abroad and at home, as well as citizen movements for nonviolent conflict resolution. As an introduction to nonviolent movements, this text engages students in recent events from the news as well as the history of modern warfare. Bringing in philosophical and religious texts from a diverse set of traditions, author Michael K. Duffey offers a multifaceted argument for embracing nonviolent solutions to conflict.
This book provides guidance for structuring ethical reflection as well as analytical tools to get to the heart of issues quickly. It is designed to help practitioners engage ethically in applied peacebuilding and conflict transformation and to help students aspiring to be peacebuilders think about ethics. It discusses ethics and morality, significant barriers to ethical deliberations in applied work, moral theories, creative problem-solving for situations when moral values conflict, and the need for healthy ethical organizations. Throughout, concrete examples, scenarios, and discussion questions help draw out key issues to improve peacebuilding practices. Detailed case studies include peacebuilding initiatives in East Timor, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, and more. Written by an experienced practitioner, the book will help identify and analyze ethical problems and resolve moral value conflicts to create healthy practices. It will provide valuable guidance for thinking ethically about peacebuilding work and handling the specific dilemmas related to it.
This book offers an East-West comparative analysis of mediatised terrorism. This is the first country-specific analysis of the mediatisation of terrorism, with Pakistan and Australia representing the two worlds, respectively. Caught up in the '9/11 effect', Australia is known for its anti-terror 'hyper-legislation', despite the implausible nature of the threat. In contrast, Pakistan is plagued by terrorism, yet the military establishment favours a duplicitous policy of fighting militant groups selectively. To understand how the two diverse cultural sites, with their very different experiences of terrorism, make sense of this unpredictable threat, the book uses Beck's World Risk Society theory as a conceptual framework to examine the production and construction of news narratives around the risk of terrorism in both countries through textual analysis of local news stories and in-depth interviews with Australian and Pakistani journalists. Narratives about 'global terrorism' are mostly 'Western', with fear of its impact on 'Western' democracy and civilisation. This book aims to fill the gap and present a nuanced understanding of global terrorism by examining the characteristics of the phenomenon in a Western as well as an Eastern location and the ways in which the risk of terrorism is being played out in the two worlds. This book will be of much interest to students of critical terrorism studies, media studies, Asia-Pacific politics, and International Relations.
This book, first published in 1963, is an analysis of modern warfare in the enemy's rear, written by the leading authority on irregular warfare, and stemming from a close examination of real-life examples. Rear warfare on scale poses many problems, such as the exact field of operations; supply line issues; combat or harassment; and coordination with frontline troops. There is also the issue of protecting one's own rear troops.
This book focuses on the ECOWAS Commission, both as an autonomous actor, as well as a policy-making nexus for its member states and external actors. Drawing from a variety of never-before analyzed sources, unpublished internal documents and over 120 interviews with staff from the ECOWAS Commission, its member states, and external actors supporting the organization, this book presents a comprehensive portrait of ECOWAS's institutional capabilities, challenges, and reforms. It utilizes a policy studies approach focusing on the areas of political affairs, peace, and regional security, as well as trade and customs to illustrate concrete cases of policy making. In doing so, the book provides practice-oriented insights into the policy-making agency within the organization, arguing for the significance of the ECOWAS Commission as an actor. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of West Africa and its international relations, comparative regionalism, international organization studies, development studies, policy-making, peace and conflict studies, governance and more broadly to African politics and international relations.
Isaiah Berlin's liberalism seems both dated and essential in an era of ideological extremes. Berlin's vision of liberalism rejected metaphysics, philosophies of history, and particular conceptions of the good, setting a pattern for Anglo-American political thought that is still influential and may offer resources for understanding the resurgence of ideology in the twenty-first century, but one that also seems to be firmly embedded in the Cold War opposition of liberalism against Marxism. In this volume, ten political theorists reconsider Berlin's thought-especially his famous essay, "Two Concepts of Liberty"-in the light of contemporary political developments such as populism. Several contributors focus on Berlin's neglected idea of political "maturity" as holding a key to his thought, making it an important site of contestation over his legacy. Others analyse Berlin's notoriously fraught definition of liberty and his understanding of value pluralism; situate him as a Cold War liberal; and relate his work to that of contemporaries such as Raymond Aron and Leo Strauss. This book was originally published as a special issue of Critical Review.
This book addresses the issues raised by Chinese and North Korean maritime 'gray zone' activities in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. For years, China has been harassing its neighbors in South China Sea and East China Sea, employing both coast guard and maritime militia forces, in the name of safeguarding Chinese sovereignty. This behavior is frequently characterized as constituting 'gray zone' activity. As the term suggests, this refers to a state of conflict that falls between peace and war. Interestingly, the Yellow Sea, which is geographically much closer to China than South China Sea or East China Sea, has been comparatively quiet. However, there is a danger that the PRC has the capability to replicate its gray zone activities in this area. Worse, North Korea has also been engaging in carefully-calibrated provocations there. This book addresses pressing questions about these activities and offers: (1) a conceptual framework to understand maritime gray zone operations and Beijing and Pyongyang's approach, with an unprecedented focus on the Yellow Sea; (2) a comprehensive, fully updated fleet force structure for the PRC's Coast Guard, together with projections regarding how the Coast Guard is likely to develop in the future; (3) an extensive organizational analysis of the PRC's Maritime Militia that surveys the many units relevant to Yellow Sea operations, some revealed publicly for the first time; and (4) a detailed assessment of North Korean maritime 'gray zone' activities. This book will be of great interest to students of naval strategy, maritime security, Asian politics, and international security.
The Power Paradox: A Toolkit for Analyzing Conflict and Extremism reveals how mainstream views of power restrict the conceptual insights needed to resolve conflict. Anna Bennett insightfully explores Michel Foucault's work on power and discourse in order to advance conceptual and contextual tools for understanding power dynamics. Through an examination of a range of extremist, terrorist, and counter-terrorist rhetoric, as well as various theories of power, Bennett analyzes the widespread problems associated with assuming that power is only repressive and competitive. This limited view reinforces - often unwittingly - divisive dynamics and stubborn polemics, which serve to continue conflict. By offering a comprehensive and constructive view of power struggles, The Power Paradox argues that power is a relational dynamic. Bennett identifies fascinating contradictions within discourses of power and relational dynamics, acknowledging the enduring quandary of power struggles: we are all implicated within them.
The SIPRI Yearbook 1991 continues SIPRI's review of the latest developments in nuclear weapons, nuclear explosions, world military expenditure, the international arms trade and arms production, chemical and biological weapons, the military use of outer space, the proliferation of ballistic missile technology, armed conflicts in 1990, US-Soviet nuclear arms control, and conventional arms control in Europe. In addition, it presents the situation in the changing Europe of 1990 and considers the new security structures for Europe which will be defined in the early years of the decade. The 1991 Yearbook also analyses the results of the fourth NPT Review Conference and the strengthened role of the United Nations in conflict situations as exhibited in the current conflict in the Gulf region.
This is a sequel to Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention by Confidence-Building Measures edited by E. Geissler (OUP/SIPRI 1989). During work on that book, it was felt that there was a need for more concrete discussion of how to provide the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) with useful verification measures. Since the verification aspects of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) will complement the BWC, and vice versa, it is often argued that the CWC must be finalized before concrete verification measures for the BWC can be addressed. However, it is already rather clear what measures will be in effect under the CWC, and this information can be utilized to provide input to the preliminary technical work on verification measures for the BWC. This publication will identify and develop suggestions for verification measures for the BWC, and their possible dual function for verification and confidence-building will also be explored in contributions by ten leading experts in the field.
1. Intentionally written for a multidisciplinary readership, this book will be suitable for advanced courses in the UK, North America and Australia on Global Justice, across Criminology, Sociology, Political Science, Philosophy and to a lesser extent Law. 2. The focus of the book throughout is to link theory and concepts with practice. Aimed at advance undergraduate and postgraduate level, pedagogical features include lists of further reading and discussion questions. 3. This book is unique in linking theory with practice, while other books are either entirely theoretical or all about practice. Criminological books in the area focus exclusively on crime types and miss multidisciplinary discussion of broader issues.
Proponents of arms control and disarmament are often confronted with the argument that reductions in defense expenditure lead to cutbacks in military industries and thus to economic hardship. While a reduction in defense production would cause some economic dislocation, this would be mitigated by the ability of the economy to adapt to changing patterns of production. This book, first published in 1983, assesses the likely effects of reductions in defense industries by an examination of the roles these industries play in national economies. Each chapter discusses industry employment, output, research and development, capital value, profitability, concentration and competition, internal organization and regional employment concentration. Other questions considered include the economic importance of weapons exports, the defense industry as a 'leading edge' in maintaining national technological capabilities, and the reliance of individual firms on defense contracting.
Which event better characterises British military interventions: the trauma of Suez or the triumph of the Falklands? This book, first published in 1984, examines these engagements and those of the intervening period to provide a sober and considered response to this question. The issues raised are central to the debate concerning Britain's defence capabilities and its role in world politics. The author argues that it is only under severely restricted conditions that Britain could reasonably expect a successful outcome from long-range military intervention. The constraints are not merely those of military capacity: public opinion also has its role to play. By analysing these conditions and the way they have influenced the outcomes of past interventions the author points the way to framing a practical and reasonable defence and foreign policy in the Third World.
This book, first published in 1944, assesses the prospects of peace following the Allied victory in the Second World War. It examines the tasks that victory would impose on the victors; the development during the war of US policies, military and political; the errors that caused the war; and the viewpoints and needs of the Allied powers. Concluding that the future peace could be only achieved through the power and influence of the United States, it argues that the process of uniting the Allies in peace would need greater statesmanship than united them in war against a common enemy.
Air power has been one of the key elements in modern warfare. This book, first published in 1986, analyses the likely changes to this key role as military technology and strategic thinking evolve. It begins with the history and present status of air power and assesses technical developments, and then discusses the character of future warfare, and its implications for planes and helicopters in land and sea campaigns. It also analyses issues like tactical air mobility, the vulnerability of airfields, aerial mass destruction, electronic warfare, and developments in NATO and Warsaw Pact. It concludes with an overview of the likely role of airpower in future warfare.
This book, first published in 1988, represents a unique attempt to combine a discussion of an alternative British defence policy in terms of military strategy and new technology, with a consideration of how this policy might be secure in political terms. Written against a background of a possible future Labour government in the late 1980s with a radically different defence policy to the Conservative Government of the day, it considers questions such as: Would conventional deterrence really be effective? Just what is the Labour Party's defence policy? How precisely might Britain be transformed into a non-aligned, non-militarist state?
This book, first published in 1990, evaluates what future policy adjustments the US will have to make in order to successfully navigate through a national security environment radically altered from that of the past and one determined more than at any point in the post-war period by the economic performance of both superpowers. The structure of the book centres around two issues that will determine the future national security environment facing the US. Discussed are stakes of the threat, the response of the Soviet Union to the challenge of economic and related social/political decline and its implications for the Soviet national defence effort. Also studied are the resources available to the US to meet the threat, the status of the US economic performance and the magnitude of resource stress it is likely to face in the future and its probable impact on the US national defence effort.
This book, first published in 1977, presents a comprehensive survey of the upheavals experienced in warfare from 1793 to the end of the twentieth century, a period that saw many fundamental changes - from the Napoleonic wars to the advent of total war, guerrilla and nuclear warfare. It discusses in detail the main aspects of warfare - battles, weapons, and people. It concentrates equally on all three, not emphasising one aspect at the expense of the others, and allowing cross-references between them so as to fit them into the general pattern of development. Also included are other factors essential to an understanding of modern warfare, such as technological items, and conceptual entries such as basic strategy and tactics, and various military theories and principles.
This book, first published in 1985, provides a comprehensive treatment of the role of the military within civil society. With analysis from a policing and military viewpoint (both rarely available in public), and legal and historical perspectives, this book sheds valuable light both on the role of the law in democratic societies, and on the way the balance between the state and civil liberties has been struck. |
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