Gestures of Conciliation examines the ideas, assumptions and theories that underpin how leaders of parties in intractable conflicts begin and sustain a process of peacemaking by offering to their adversaries 'olive-branches' - in more modern terms symbolic gestures, concessions, tension-reducing moves or confidence-building measures. It discusses means of overcoming political and psychological barriers to accurate communication, trust-building, domestic consensus formation, and 'ripe' conditions for conciliation, suggesting practical guidelines for accommodation.

At a time of great global uncertainty and instability, communities face fracturing from the increasing influence of extremist movements hostile to democratic and multicultural norms. Europe and the West have grown increasingly polarised in recent years, beset with financial crises, political instability, the rise of malicious actors and irregular violence, and new forms of media and social media. These factors have enabled the spread of new forms of extremism and suggest a growing need for a response sensitive to inequalities and divisions in wider society - a task made even more urgent by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Routledge Handbook of Violent Extremism and Resilience brings together research conducted throughout Europe and the world, to analyse various articulations of violent extremism and consider the impact that such groups and networks have had on the wellbeing of communities and societies. It examines different theories, factors and national case studies of extremism, polarisation and societal fragmentation, drilling deep into national examples to map trends across Europe, North America and Australasia, to provide regional and state-level comparative analysis. It also offers a thorough exploration of resilience - a recent addition to counter-extremism policy and practice - to consider how it has come to play this increasingly central role in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE), the limitations and opportunities of such approaches, and how it could be shared, developed, problematised and deployed in response to violence and polarisation. The Handbook details new trends in both violent extremism and counter-extremism response, within this increasingly fractured global context. It critically explores the latest theories of community violence, extremism, polarisation and resilience, mapping them across case study countries. In doing so, it presents new findings for students, researchers, practitioners and policymakers seeking to understand these new patterns of polarisation and extremism and develop community-driven responses.

In the context of gun proliferation and persistent gun violence in the United States, a controversial security strategy has gained public attention: bulletproof fashion. This book examines concerns about security focusing on armored clothing and accessories for civilians. Available for children and adults, such ballistic products include colorful backpacks, elegant suits, sports jackets, feminine dresses, trendy vests, and medical lab coats. These products are paradigmatic of a "fashion of fear"-the practice of outfitting the body with apparel aimed at maximizing personal security. This fashion encourages the emergence of both a fortress body and an armored society. Sutton also explores the wider social factors influencing the bulletproof fashion phenomenon, including the inequalities associated with neoliberalism and the militarization of civilian life. The book sheds light on the role of emotions in relation to discourses and perceptions of security, and encourages feminist and sociological studies to pay attention to the linkages between security, bodies, and dress. It is ideal for students and scholars interested in security and gun violence, culture and politics, neoliberalism and consumption, and bodies and emotions.

This book presents novel theoretical and empirical findings on the issue of unrecognized states and secession. The first part of the book conceptualizes unrecognized states as entities with a national identity and which have achieved political independence, yet are not internationally recognized as independent states. It also addresses topics such as the role of superpowers in secessionist conflicts, ontological security in post-Soviet states, and factors influencing the legitimacy of secession referenda. In turn, the book's second part presents selected case studies on various secessionist regions and territories, including Kurdistan, the Caucasus, Kosovo, and Bougainville.

Whether in international military interventions or routine policing activities the use of force raises a host of questions about appropriateness, necessity and proportionality. Recently attention has focused on the possibility of so-called non-lethal weapons to provide greater legitimacy to the use of force by minimizing injury.

This book makes the case for why cooperation is the key to security within and between states, and for dealing with complex threats and challenges to international peace and security. It argues that cooperation is not altruism or liberal internationalism, rather it is in the self-interest of states. Drawing on both theory and practice, it looks at how cooperation can be promoted within and between states as well as in the global community. It explains the concept of 'cooperative security' and its potential contribution to promoting integration against the current of fragmentation. Furthermore, the book explores the potential impact of technology on cooperation. It makes an urgent call for new ideas and approaches to encourage people and states to work together to deal with complex threats and challenges. This book will be of particular interest to students of diplomacy studies, foreign policy and international relations, and to practitioners dealing with security issues.

This book examines the extent to which Russia's strategic behavior is the product of its imperial strategic culture and Putin's own operational code. The work argues that, by conflating personalistic regime survival with national security, Putin ensures that contemporary Russian national interest, as expressed through strategic behavior, is the synthesis of a peculiar troika: a long-standing imperial strategic culture, rooted in a partially imagined past; the operational code of a counter-intelligence president and decision-making elite; and the realities of Russia as a hybrid state. The book first examines the role of structure and agency in shaping contemporary Russian strategic behavior. It then provides a conceptual understanding of strategic culture, and applies this to Tsarist and Soviet historical developments. The book's analysis of the operational code, however, demonstrates that Putinism is more than the sum of the past. At the end, the book assesses Putin's statecraft and stress-tests our assumptions about the exercise of contemporary power in Russia and the structure of Putin's agency. This book will be of interest to students of Russian politics and foreign policy, strategic studies and international relations.

This volume suggests a model of collective memory that distinguishes between two conceptual logics of memory fragmentation: vertical fragmentation and horizontal fragmentation. It offers a series of case studies of conflict and post-conflict collective memory, shedding light on the ways various actors participate in the production, dissemination, and contestation of memory discourses. With attention to the characteristics of both vertical and horizontal memory fragmentation, the book addresses the plurality of diverging, and often conflicting, memory discourses that are produced within the public sphere of a given community. It analyzes the juxtaposition, tensions, and interactions between narratives produced beyond or below the central state, often transcending national boundaries. The book is structured according to the type of actors involved in a memory fragmentation process. It explores how states have been trying to produce and impose memory discourses on civil societies, sometimes even against the experiences of their own citizens, and how such efforts as well as backlash from actors below and beyond the state have led to horizontal and vertical memory fragmentation. Furthermore, it considers the attempts by states’ representatives to reassert control of national memory discourses and the subsequent resistances they face. As such, this volume will appeal to sociology and political science scholars interested in memory studies in post-conflict societies.

Having experienced over 30 years of violent conflict, Northern Ireland acts as an interesting case study in which to examine the causes and consequences of political violence. At the same time this society provides a number of important peace-building lessons for other conflicted societies across the globe. Whilst there are a plethora of books examining the Northern Ireland 'problem', Identity, segregation and peace-building in Northern Ireland stands out from the crowd as being succinct and offering a unique social psychological perspective. It provides an overview of some of the key issues relating to the conflict and its maintenance along with a list of further recommended reading for those interested in delving further. This is an accessible book for anyone interested in understanding more about the conflict in Northern Ireland, or for those who are interested in conflict, identity and peace-building more generally.

This book is about the importance of nuclear disarmament and the work pursued by Alva Myrdal, a pioneering social activist, diplomat, cabinet minister, and disarmament negotiator. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982 together with Alfonso Garcia Robles "for their work for disarmament and nuclear and weapon-free zones". Prominent academics, politicians and practitioners have contributed reflections on Myrdal's achievements and their impact on the world today. Furthermore, a sample of Myrdal's own writings on nuclear disarmament are included, as well as significant speeches and a bibliography of her publications on nuclear matters. Alva Myrdal was born in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1902, graduated from college in Stockholm in 1924, and continued higher education at Uppsala University in the 1930s. She was a prolific author and reformer, specializing in social affairs, women's roles and nuclear disarmament. She was Sweden's Ambassador to India in the 1950s, for Nuclear Disarmament in the 1960s and 1970s, and a member of the Cabinet 1967-1973. Her most well-known works are "The Game of Disarmament" (1976), "Nation and Family" (1941), and "Women's Two Roles" (1956, with Viola Klein). Her book "The Game of Disarmament" (1976) is a key work in disarmament. The Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament was set up at Uppsala University in 2021 to contribute new ideas and concrete measures towards the elimination of nuclear weapons. Both editors are associated with the Centre, Professor Peter Wallensteen as a member of the board and leader of one of its working groups, and Dr. Armend Bekaj as a researcher. - This book is relevant for students of international relations and policy-makers on issues of peace and conflict. - It provides background documentation on the difficulties in achieving disarmament. - It illustrates the significant role women can play to infuse new ideas into a men's world. - It displays the importance of persistence, rationality, ingenuity and knowledge in furthering nuclear disarmament. - It shows that Alva Myrdal's efforts can be an inspiration for new generations.

This book explores the causes and implications of the Libyan crisis since the anti-Gaddafi uprisings of 2011 from the perspective of the EU and NATO. It asks the question of why those organizations failed to stabilize the country despite the serious challenges posed by the protracted crisis to European and transatlantic stakes in the region. This book argues that such failure originated in a twofold problem common to both organizations: their prioritization of legitimacy over strategy, and their path dependence - the insufficient degree of adaptation to meet the different needs of the crisis. Through a critical and integrated analysis of official sources and extensive interviews with EU, NATO, UN, and national government officials and militaries, as well as from NGO personnel, Libyan institutions and civil society, and media, the volume brings the perspective of both state and non-state actors to the fore. It reveals how wrong assumptions and centrifugal forces within the EU and NATO hampered initiatives, and how the inability to use hard power judiciously and effectively in an increasingly complex and multifaceted scenario worsened the crisis. This allowed for unprecedented influence of regional and global competitors such as Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey and Russia in the richest African country. This book will be of key interest for scholars and students of Libya and North Africa, NATO, the European Union, security and conflict studies, Middle East studies, migration, terrorism, peacebuilding and, more broadly, international relations.

This foundational Peace and Conflict Studies text is formatted to fit inside a 14 week college/university term. The chapters are designed to provide a succinct overview of research, theory, and practice that can be supplemented with material chosen by the professor. The book introduces students to the core concepts of the field, and provides an up to date alternative to the Peace and Conflict readers. It will move from historical development of the field to the way forward into the future. Each chapter will reflect current trends and research and contain up to date examples, questions for discussion or for potential student research topics, suggested reading, and engaged teaching activities.

Large-Scale Evacuation introduces the reader to the steps involved in evacuation modelling for towns and cities, from understanding the hazards that can require large-scale evacuations, through understanding how local officials decide to issue evacuation advisories and households decide whether to comply, to transportation simulation and traffic management strategies. The author team has been recognized internationally for their research and consulting experience in the field of evacuations. Collectively, they have 125 years of experience in evacuation, including more than 140 projects for federal and state agencies. The text explains how to model evacuations that use the road transportation network by combining perspectives from social scientists and transportation engineers, fields that have commonly approached evacuation modelling from distinctly different perspectives. In doing so, it offers a step-by-step guide through the key questions needed to model an evacuation and its impacts to the evacuation route system as well as evacuation management strategies for influencing demand and expanding capacity. The authors also demonstrate how to simulate the resulting traffic and evacuation management strategies that can be used to facilitate evacuee movement and reduce unnecessary demand. Case studies, which identify key points to analyze in an evacuation plan, discuss evacuation termination and re-entry, and highlight challenges that someone developing an evacuation plan or model should expect, are also included. This textbook will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and advanced students.

MISSION OF FOLLY is a candid report on Canada's participation in America's 'War onTerror' in Afghanistan. Laxer explores the policy vacuum that resulted in Canadian troopsbeing sent to fight a war that would last longer than any previous Canadian allied engagement.With passion and perspicacity he details the motives underlying the invasion and occupationof Afghanistan, outlines the recent history of that troubled nation, and challenges the assumptionthat infringement of human rights is sufficient justification for Canada's involvement.Laxer's familiarity with U.S. and Canadian global policy provides the backdrop for a concisestudy that will be of interest to a broad readership. JAMES LAXER is a Professor of Political Science at York University in Toronto. An award-winning author and a former Toronto Star columnist, Laxer is the author of twenty-one books, including "Perils of Empire" and "Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism." Click the 'Review Quote' link below to read reviews and endorsements of "Mission of Folly"

This book is about religion, pacifism, and the nonviolence that informs pacifism in its most coherent form. Pacifism is one religious approach to war and violence. Another is embodied in just war theories, and both pacifism and just war thinking are critically examined. Although moral support for pacifism is presented, a main focus of the book is on religious support for pacifism, found in various religious traditions. A crucial distinction for pacifism is that between force and violence. Pacifism informed by nonviolence excludes violence, but, the book argues, allows forms of force. Peacekeeping is an activity that on the face of it seems compatible with pacifism, and several different forms of peacekeeping are examined. The implications of nonviolence for the treatment of nonhuman animals are also examined. Two models for attaining the conditions required for a world without war have been proposed. Both are treated and one, the model of a biological human family, is developed. The book concludes with reflections on the role of pacifism in each of five possible futurescapes.

"Peace Education: "
* presents views on the nature of peace education, its history, and relationships to neighboring fields;
* examines relevant psychological and pedagogical principles, such as the contact experience, conciliation through personal story telling, reckoning with traumatic memories, body-work, and the socio-emotional aspects of reconciliation; and
* introduces an array of international examples from countries, such as Croatia, Northern Ireland, Israel, South Africa, Rwanda, and the United States in order to generalize lessons learned.
A "must have" for all those thinking, planning, conducting, and studying peace education programs, it is intended for scholars, students, and researchers interested in peace and conflict resolution in higher education and volunteer and public organizations. Its cross disciplinary approach will appeal to those in social and political psychology, communication, education, religion, political science, sociology, and philosophy.

Presented here are the views of experts and intellectuals from South-East Europe regarding the need for regional reconstruction and development in order to foster regional stability. The cardinal issue addressed by each of the contributors is how the region can avoid political isolation and enhance its chances of attaining economic stability and social cohesion. If achieved, this could pave the way for gradual political and economic integration with the European Union in the future.

This book examines the radical changes in social and political landscape of the Upper Guinea Coast region over the past 30 years as a result of civil wars, post-war interventions by international, humanitarian agencies and peacekeeping missions, as well as a regional public health crisis (Ebola epidemic). The emphasis on 'crises' in this book draws attention to the intense socio-transformations in the region over the last three decades. Contemporary crises and changes in the region provoke a challenge to accepted ways of understanding and imagining socio-political life in the region - whether at the level of subnational and national communities, or international and regional structures of interest, such as refugees, weapon trafficking, cross-border military incursions, regional security, and transnational epidemics. This book explores and transcends the central explanatory tropes that have oriented research on the region and re-evaluates them in the light of the contemporary structural dynamics of crises, changes and continuities.

This book examines the role of new media and digital technologies in public diplomacy and political communication. Exploring political communication in India, as well as in the US and China, it highlights the fundamental changes that new technology has brought about in public diplomacy. While facilitating direct engagement with constituents, and tapping into territories and audiences which were harder to reach before, the new media's power to influence perceptions has revolutionised public diplomacy and engagement like never before. The book analyses the role of social media in not only defining and shaping political attitudes of citizens but their ability to empower citizens as well. The author, through examples from India, the US and China, also examines the challenges of using digital tools in diplomacy and its effects on democracies across the world. Lucid and engaging, this book will be an essential read for students and scholars of communication studies, political studies, diplomacy and foreign policy, defence and strategic analysis, media and culture studies and international relations.

Though scholars of political science and moral philosophy have long analyzed the justifications for and against waging war as well as the ethics of warfare itself, the problem of "ending" wars has received less attention. In the first book to apply just war theory to this phase of conflict, Eric Patterson presents a three-part view of justice in end-of-war settings involving order, justice, and reconciliation. Patterson's case studies range from successful applications of "jus post bellum, " such as the U.S. Civil War or Kosovo, to challenges such as present-day Iraq.

This edited book analyzes Kosovo’s foreign policy and bilateral relations with the United States and several European countries. After the 1999 liberation from Serbia, Kosovo built close relations with various countries that supported it in the process of reconstruction, economic stabilization, institution-building, and state-building. From 1999 to 2008, many of these states were politically and operationally engaged in Kosovo under the leadership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Since its independence in 2008, the Republic of Kosovo has adopted a foreign policy in accordance with its values and strategic interests, a foreign policy that aims to strengthen Kosovo’s security and foster its socio-economic prosperity in collaboration with primarily Western countries. In this volume, each chapter is dedicated to Kosovo’s bilateral relations with a selected state with which it has established diplomatic relations. The book shows that Kosovo has been able to develop and achieve strong bilateral relations with major allies and partners. It argues that Kosovo’s foreign policy aims to develop, maintain, and enhance the position of the young state on the international stage. The volume bridges various methodological and disciplinary approaches in order to present Kosovo’s foreign policy objectives and the trajectory of its relations with some of its most important international partners. This book will be of interest to students of Balkan politics, state-building, foreign policy, and International Relations.

Available for the first time in many years, Commonsense and Nuclear Warfare presents Russell's keen insights into the threat of nuclear conflict, and his argument that the only way to end this threat is to end war itself.
Written at the height of the Cold War, this volume is crucial for understanding Russell's involvement in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and his passionate campaigning for peace. It remains an extremely important book in today's uncertain nuclear world, and is essential reading for all those interested in Russell and postwar history.
Includes a new introduction by Ken Coates, Chairman of The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation.

Taking a global and interdisciplinary approach, the Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories provides a comprehensive overview of conspiracy theories as an important social, cultural and political phenomenon in contemporary life. This handbook provides the most complete analysis of the phenomenon to date. It analyses conspiracy theories from a variety of perspectives, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. It maps out the key debates, and includes chapters on the historical origins of conspiracy theories, as well as their political significance in a broad range of countries and regions. Other chapters consider the psychology and the sociology of conspiracy beliefs, in addition to their changing cultural forms, functions and modes of transmission. This handbook examines where conspiracy theories come from, who believes in them and what their consequences are. This book presents an important resource for students and scholars from a range of disciplines interested in the societal and political impact of conspiracy theories, including Area Studies, Anthropology, History, Media and Cultural Studies, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology.

This book shows how small countries use "big" diplomacy to advance national interests and global agendas - from issues of peace and security (the South China Sea and nuclearization in Korea) and human rights (decolonization) to development (landlocked and least developed countries) and environment (hydropower development). Using the case of Laos, it explores how a small landlocked developing state maneuvered among the big players and championed causes of international concern at three of the world's important global institutions - the United Nations (UN), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Mekong River Commission (MRC). Recounting the geographical and historical origins behind Laos' diplomacy, this book traces the journey of the country, surrounded by its five larger neighbors China, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia, and influenced by superpower rivalries, from the Cold War to the post-Cold War eras. The book is written from an integrated perspective of a French-educated Lao diplomat with over 40 years of experience in various senior roles in the Lao government, leading major groups and committees at the UN and ASEAN; and the theoretical knowledge and experience of an American-trained Lao political scientist and international civil servant who has worked for the Lao government and the international secretariats of the UN and MRC. These different perspectives bridge not only the theory-practice divide but also the government insider-outsider schism. The book concludes with "seven rules for small state diplomacy" that should prove useful for diplomats, statespersons, policymakers and international civil servants alike. It will also be of interest to scholars and experts in the fields of international relations and foreign policies of Laos, the Mekong and Asia in general.