When you see your nation's flag fluttering in the breeze, what do you feel? For thousands of years flags have represented our hopes and dreams. We wave them. Burn them. March under their colours. And still, in the 21st century, we die for them. Flags fly at the UN, on the Arab street, from front porches in Texas. They represent the politics of high power as well as the politics of the mob. From the renewed sense of nationalism in China, to troubled identities in Europe and the USA, to the terrifying rise of Islamic State, the world is a confusing place right now and we need to understand the symbols, old and new, that people are rallying round. In nine chapters (covering the USA, UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America, international flags and flags of terror), Tim Marshall draws on more than twenty-five years of global reporting experience to reveal the histories, the power and the politics of the symbols that unite us - and divide us.

Provides a comprehensive and in-depth examination of the ongoing process of development and societal transformation in a dynamic region of the Third World. Written by a team of specialists from the fields of development studies, sociology and political economy, the book looks at some of the fundamental problems facing South East Asia by addressing the following issues: the social constellations; class, culture and political legitimation; and industrialisation and labour regulation.

The revival of the region of east-central Europe known as 'Mitteleuropa' began in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. For Germany, 'Mitteleuropa' became a renewed geopolitical concept. Since 1990 Mitteleuropa has increasingly become a region of German economic engagement. However, German elites failed however to develop a coherent political approach to that region while simultaneously conducting an eclectic Mitteleuropa policy outside a broader framework of foreign policy. This book traces Germany's Mitteleuropa politics and puts them into an historical context and into a framework for future foreign policy.

Greenland and the International Politics of a Changing Arctic examines the international politics of semi-independent Greenland in a changing and increasingly globalised Arctic. Without sovereign statehood, but with increased geopolitical importance, independent foreign policy ambitions, and a solidified self-image as a trailblazer for Arctic indigenous peoples' rights, Greenland is making its mark on the Arctic and is in turn affected - and empowered - by Arctic developments. The chapters in this collection analyse how a distinct Greenlandic foreign policy identity shapes political ends and means, how relations to its parent state of Denmark is both a burden and a resource, and how Greenlandic actors use and influence regional institutional settings as well as foreign states and commercial actors to produce an increasingly independent - if not sovereign - entity with aims and ambitions for regional change in the Arctic. This is the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of Greenland's international relations and how they are connected to wider Arctic politics. It will be essential reading for students and scholars interested in Arctic governance and security, international relations, sovereignty, geopolitics, paradiplomacy, indigenous affairs and anyone concerned with the political future of the Arctic.

In dictionary form, an almanac of world history taking the place name or territory as its starting point. It links the past to the present by geography, and lists every significant political entity in history. The text is an encyclopaedic guide to the history of nations, and each entry falls into one of the following categories:

extinct states and empires

provinces of extinct and existing states

ancient and modern regions

nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples and nations

modern states

Entries for nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples are also included together with their origins and their effect on established political entities.

A number of maps are included to illustrate politico-geographical change.

This is a detailed text, listing changes in world events up to the current year and gives interesting insight into current areas of conflict like the Balkans.

Difficult questions concerning the internal and external frontiers of the EU have emerged since the changes in the European political landscape after 1989. Dismantling controls at the frontiers between member states envisaged by the Single European Act and 'Europe 1992' has encountered difficulties and complications. An increase in the geographical extent of the Union, with the inclusion of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and the possible location of the external frontier further to the East have added to uncertainties about the future direction of the EU. Managing the external frontier has become increasingly complex.

This volume analyses the cultural, political and legal consequences of dismantling controls at the internal frontiers and of measures to harden the external frontier. Among the central issues considered are the progress towards a European identity and changes in political identities within the EU, the extent to which the internal frontiers have become different in kind from the external frontiers, and the varying ways in which frontier issues are posed in different parts of the Union. These issues will profoundly influence the development of the European polity.

Exploring the development of the European Union, this book examines the ways in which it has been studied over fifty years from the vantage point of four disciplines, each side of the Atlantic, and both academic and practitioner perspectives. Drawing on contributions by some of the world's leading scholars in the field, it maps the past and present of both the EU and EU studies before setting out a provocative agenda for future work in the area.

This volume provides an in-depth analysis of the attempts of language experts and governments to control language use and development in Eastern Europe, Eurasia and China through planned activities generally known as language planning or language policy. The ten case studies presented here examine language planning in China, Russia, Tatarstan, Central Asia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and focus in particular on developments and disputes that have occurred since the 'fall of communism' and the emergence of a new order in the late 1980s. Its authors highlight the dominant issues with which language planning is invariably intertwined. These include power politics, tensions between 'official language' and 'minority languages', and the effects of a country's particular political, social, cultural and psychological environment. Offering a detailed account of the socio-political and ideological developments that underlie language planning in these regions, this book will provide a valuable resource for students and scholars of linguistics, cultural studies, political science, sociology and history.

Syria as we knew it does not exist anymore. However, all conflicts change countries and their societies. Such an obvious statement needs to be unpacked in specific relation to Syria. What has happened, what does it mean, and what comes next? In order to consider the future of Syria, it is crucial to assess not only what has been destroyed, but also how it was destroyed. It is equally vital to address the structural and possibly enduring results of large-scale destruction and displacement. These dynamics are not only at play in Syrian society, but are tearing at the economic fabric and very territorial integrity of the country. If war is a powerful process of human and material destruction, it is equally a powerful process of spatial, social and economic reconfiguration. Nor does it stop at national borders--the unravelling of Syria, and of the idea of Syria, has affected and will continue to affect the entire Middle East. 'War-Torn' explores these transformations and the processes that fuel them. It is an indispensable account throwing light on neglected aspects of the Syrian war, and a much-needed contribution to our understanding of conflicts in the twenty-first century.

"The Ethics of Territorial Borders" develops a distinctive line of argument, drawing on political theory and geography as well as international relations. It argues that although borders have played a role in ethical discussions about war, about intervention and about identity in international politics, these treat them as possessing derivative significance. Instead, this book critiques such an approach to argue for the ethical significance of borders themselves, pointing to their role in human diversity and the enduring appeal of territorial division.

Crude Domination is an innovative and important book about a critical topic - oil. While there have been numerous works about petroleum from 'experience-far' perspectives, there have been relatively few that have turned the 'experience-near' ethnographic gaze of anthropology on the topic. Crude Domination does just this among more peoples and more places than any other volume. Its chapters investigate nuances of culture, politics and economics in Africa, Latin America, and Eurasia as they pertain to petroleum. They wrestle with the key questions vexing scholars and practitioners alike: problems of the economic blight of the resource curse, underdevelopment, democracy, violence and war. Additionally they address topics that may initially appear insignificant - such as child witches and lionmen, fighting for oil when there is no oil, reindeer nomadism, community TV - but which turn out on closer scrutiny to be vital for explaining conflict and transformation in petro-states. Based upon these rich, new worlds of information, the text formulates a novel, domination approach to the social analysis of oil.

Originally published in 1983, this broad-ranging book provides penetrating insights on the role of geography in both historic and modern-day warfare. Tactically at a local level, strategically at the campaign level and geopolitically at the global level geographical knowledge is crucial. This book analyses geographical solutions to technical questions of logistics and transportation, the impact of climatology on planning for military action and the understanding of spatial geography for urban and guerrilla wars.

Drawing on case-studies from the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, International Migration and Sending Countries demonstrates how sending countries are emerging as complex and significant actors in migration politics. It shows how a more nuanced understanding of sending countries' policies towards their emigrants and diasporas is relevant for both academic and public policy debates on issues of migration control and development.

In The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of International Migration, leading migration experts Marc Rosenblum and Daniel Tichenor gather together 29 field specialists in an authoritative volume on the issue. Integrating the perspectives of the wide variety of fields that hold a stake in the study of migration-political science, sociology, economics, anthropology-this book presents an unprecedented interdisciplinary look at an issue that defines the modern era: the large-scale movement of people across international borders. The volume begins with three chapters analyzing the origins and causes of migration, including both source and destination states. The second section then asks: what are the consequences of migration at both ends of the migration chain? Chapters in this section consider economics, the effects of migration on parties and political participation, and social and cultural effects. A third group of chapters focuses on immigration policy. These include primers on the history and dimensions of migration policy, as well as examinations of the effects of public opinion, interest groups, and international relations on policymaking. The volume then considers aspects of the immigrant experience: segmented assimilation among Asian Americans, histories of U.S. immigrant incorporation and of race and migration, transnationalism, and gendered aspects of migration. Finally, five chapters examine contemporary issues, including transborder crime and terrorism, migration and organized labor, international regionalism, normative debates about citizenship and immigration, and the recent history of U.S. immigration policymaking. Covering the major questions and challenges related to the issue, The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of International Migration is a comprehensive resource for students, scholars, and policy experts alike.

"The New Energy Crisis" comes from the recent intrusion of climate change issues into energy economics and geopolitics. Global warming suddenly reveals that the current evolution of the world energy consumption is on an unsustainable path. This book explores economic and geopolitical tensions and reinforces ways to overcome the crisis.

Contemporary international migration makes border controls, bounded citizenship, and sovereign jurisdictions appear increasingly outdated. These policy tools are poor responses to a world characterized by cross-border mobility, transnational interconnections and global diaspora. Are there viable alternatives to this system of territorial and exclusive states?This book takes a historical trajectory, exploring governments' use of different territorial strategies to manage migration at specific moments during the evolution of the international system, from centralization in Renaissance Italy and expansion under the British Empire to the integration of the European Union. Vigneswaran shows how under each of these regimes, political thinkers and rulers draw upon a 'mental map' - a specific way of imagining political space - to devise their systems of jurisdiction, belonging and immigration control. Using evidence of territorial variation and reform, this book looks to the future of migration regimes beyond the territorially exclusive state.

The last decade has seen Geography transformed by an astonishing range of cultural and philosophical concepts and approaches. Thinking Geographically is designed for students as an accessible and enjoyable introduction to this new landscape of geographical ideas. The book takes the reader through the history of geographic thought up to a survey of the present. Contemporary theory is then used to explore real world issues drawn from across the discipline of social, cultural, political and economic geography.Entertainingly written and packed with examples and with profiles of key theorists, the book is an ideal introduction for any student who wants to discover the potential of thinking geographically.

Crude Domination is an innovative and important book about a critical topic - oil. While there have been numerous works about petroleum from 'experience-far' perspectives, there have been relatively few that have turned the 'experience-near' ethnographic gaze of anthropology on the topic. Crude Domination does just this among more peoples and more places than any other volume. Its chapters investigate nuances of culture, politics and economics in Africa, Latin America, and Eurasia as they pertain to petroleum. They wrestle with the key questions vexing scholars and practitioners alike: problems of the economic blight of the resource curse, underdevelopment, democracy, violence and war. Additionally they address topics that may initially appear insignificant - such as child witches and lionmen, fighting for oil when there is no oil, reindeer nomadism, community TV - but which turn out on closer scrutiny to be vital for explaining conflict and transformation in petro-states. Based upon these rich, new worlds of information, the text formulates a novel, domination approach to the social analysis of oil.

This book investigates the alarming of fatalities among migrant workers. The authors argue that migrant workers are often powerless and unprotected by national laws, unearthing new truths on migrant workers as significant economic players.

Though geographically far apart, Turkey and Australia are much closer than many would think. This collection provides a relevant, comparative and comprehensive study of two countries seeking to reconcile their history with their geography.

This work covers the uncertain geopolitical situation of some countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including some of those which are hoping to enter the European Union in the near future, some for which entry is far off, and some which may never seek or be eligible for membership. Attention is given to the problems arising out of economic restructuring and problems of defence. Yet, all the issues are ultimately founded in those geographic essentials that have dogged so much of Europe's modern history: the tension arising from marked differences in the standard of living between the north-west of the continent and the south and east; the way in which past migration has created significant ethnic minorities in many countries; and by the manner in which larger countries have bullied or courted their smaller neighbours.

In this pioneering volume, leading scholars from a diversity of backgrounds in the humanities, social sciences, and different area studies argue for a more differentiated and self-reflected role of area-based science in global knowledge production. Considering that the mobility of people, goods, and ideas make the world more complex and geographically fixed categories increasingly obsolete, the authors call for a reflection of this new dynamism in research, teaching, and theorizing. The book thus moves beyond the constructed divide between area studies and systematic disciplines and instead proposes methodological and conceptual ways for encouraging the integration of marginalized and often overseen epistemologies. Essays on the ontological, theoretical, and pedagogical dimension of area studies highlight how people's everyday practices of mobility challenge scholars, students, and practitioners of inter- and transdisciplinary area studies to transcend the cognitive boundaries that scholarly minds currently operate in.

As the world undergoes rapid technological and economic change, so too the role and functions of the State are being challenged. There are those who argue that that the nation state has come to an end and that we are entering a new phase in the territorial ordering of the world system. Others hold that boundaries have disappeared and that a globalized world has no need or use for artificial, man-made, territorial barriers.
The contributions here seek to determine the extent to which states and boundaries have, in fact, disappeared, or are simply changing their functions as we move from an era of fixed territories into a post-Westphalian territorial system. A group of international political geographers and political scientists examine the changing nature of the state, pointing to significant changes on the one hand, but equally noting the continued importance of territory and boundaries in determining the political ordering of the post-modern world.

This study explores the roots of the Sino-Indian border dispute and proposes a settlement that might be acceptable to both China and India. Lu provides the historical perspective necessary for a complete understanding of the problem, beginning with the seventh century, when China and Tibet first made contact. He argues that a settlement of the dispute is necessary not only for the peace of the Indian subcontinent but for other parts of the world as well. He explains why and how Great Britain came to be involved in Sino-Tibetan relations and pays particular attention to the failure of the Simla Conference of 1913-1914 between Britain, China, and Tibet to define a common boundary between China and India. The author explores Indian involvement in Sino-Tibetan relations and why India intervened against China's reoccupation of Tibet. He traces the border incidents and military clashes between China and India and the failure of the two powers to negotiate a settlement of their differences. Finally, he discusses the Sino-Indian border dispute from the perspectives of international law, effective occupation, and watershed. In conclusion, he offers some reasonable, practical measures based on international law and political reality that could be taken to settle the border dispute.

The Green Light ('Le Feu Vert') offers an original and profound exploration of the roots of environmental philosophy and the Anthropocene. Bernard Charbonneau situates the wellspring of the ecological movement in the dialectics of Nature and Freedom, and their needful but uneasy joining against the totalizing system of technological society that threatens them both. Using this paradoxical tension as a yardstick, he probes the ways in which concepts of Nature have developed as industrialization became second nature and jeopardized the original, taken for granted until its advent. This allows Charbonneau to explain how movements and policies claiming to deal with this issue have gone wrong. A spirited critique of how the environmental movement has taken shape in relation to philosophy, politics, theology and contemporary culture, this book written in 1980 is representative of an oft-overlooked strand of French environmentalist thought, as a look back on its first decade in the public eye by a man who had originated political ecology half a century earlier. Charbonneau can be said to have prepared the way for many current concerns within environmental thought: the tension between liberalism and ecologism in green political theory; the wider question of the compatibility of ecological imperatives with supposedly foundational freedoms under capitalism; the discussions over how to balance existing democratic structures with environmental goals; the tensions between radical and reformist strategies within green movements; the controversy over the core values of ecological politics in a world transformed by climate change and peak everything; and the proper attitude of environmental movements to institutional science. This ground-breaking work should be front and centre of the debates that he anticipated, while giving a timely perspective on the interconnected questions of nature and human freedom. This first English translation of a work by Bernard Charbonneau provides not only a vivid account of environmental philosophy, but an introduction to this important author's thought.