The purpose of this volume is to explore the medieval inheritance of modern international relations. Recent years have seen a flourishing of work on the history of international political thought, but the bulk of this has focused on the early modern and modern periods, leaving continuities with the medieval world largely ignored. The medieval is often used as a synonym for the barbaric and obsolete, yet this picture does not match that found in relevant work in the history of political thought. The book thus offers a chance to correct this misconception of the evolution of Western international thought, highlighting that the history of international thought should be regarded as an important dimension of thinking about the international and one that should not be consigned to history departments. Questions addressed include: what is the medieval influence on modern conception of rights, law, and community? how have medieval ideas shaped modern conceptions of self-determination, consent, and legitimacy? are there 'medieval' answers to 'modern' questions? is the modern world still working its way through the Middle Ages? to what extent is the 'modern outlook' genuinely secular? is there a 'theology' of international relations? what are the implications of continuity for predominant historical narrative of the emergence and expansion of international society? Medieval and modern are certainly different; however, this collection of essays proceeds from the conviction that the modern world was not built on a new plot with new building materials. Instead, it was constructed out of the rubble, that is, the raw materials, of the Middle Ages.This will be of great interest to students and scholars of IR, IR theory and political theory. .

This new volume explores the meaning of security in relation to, and in the context of, ideas that are fundamental to both international and domestic political order.
William Bain argues that the word "security" is devoid of substantive content when divorced from ideas such as sovereignty, war, diplomacy, self-determination, globalization, cultural diversity, intervention, and trusteeship. In other words, "security" cannot be made to yield a real core or an intrinsic content because it discloses no essence that awaits discovery. This clear and accessible book draws on an impressive range of history, philosophy, and law to investigate these and other questions:
- What is the relationship between the ethics of security and the legal institution of state sovereignty? Does security necessarily follow from the mutual recognition of identity?
- Are all states, great and small, of equal moral weight?
- Does the enjoyment of security require cultural homogeneity?
- Is the body of international law that addresses question of intervention still relevant in the new circumstances of a post September 11 world?
- How might security be understood in light of wars that are fought in order to kill rather than to achieve known political aims?
This book will be of particular interest to those conducting empirical and normative research on questions of security. This is also an excellent resource for students to develop an understanding of security in contemporary world affairs.

The purpose of this volume is to explore the medieval inheritance of modern international relations. Recent years have seen a flourishing of work on the history of international political thought, but the bulk of this has focused on the early modern and modern periods, leaving continuities with the medieval world largely ignored. The medieval is often used as a synonym for the barbaric and obsolete, yet this picture does not match that found in relevant work in the history of political thought. The book thus offers a chance to correct this misconception of the evolution of Western international thought, highlighting that the history of international thought should be regarded as an important dimension of thinking about the international and one that should not be consigned to history departments.

Questions addressed include:

• what is the medieval influence on modern conception of rights, law, and community?
• how have medieval ideas shaped modern conceptions of self-determination, consent, and legitimacy?
• are there medieval answers to modern questions?
• is the modern world still working its way through the Middle Ages?
• to what extent is the modern outlook genuinely secular?
• is there a theology of international relations?
• what are the implications of continuity for predominant historical narrative of the emergence and expansion of international society?

Medieval and modern are certainly different; however, this collection of essays proceeds from the conviction that the modern world was not built on a new plot with new building materials. Instead, it was constructed out of the rubble, that is, the raw materials, of the Middle Ages.This will be of great interest to students and scholars of IR, IR theory and political theory.

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This is an accessible new examination of what security means today, contextualizing the term amongst other key ideas, such as the nation state, diplomacy, war and autonomy.

By exploring the many differing conceptions of security, this study clearly explains how the idea of security in world affairs can be understood in relation to other ideas and points of view. It shows how, when standing alone, the word security is meaningless, or just an empty term, when divorced from other ideas distinctive to international life. This essential new volume tackles the key questions in the debate:

• what norms of sovereignty relate to security?
• does security necessarily follow from the recognition of identity?
• what sort of obligations in respect of security attach to power?
• how far can a political arrangement of empire remedy human insecurity?
• can trusteeship provide security in a world of legally equal sovereign states?
• is security the guarantor of freedom?

This book is an excellent resource for students and scholars of security studies and politics and international relations.

Are humans a galactic oddity, or will complex life with human abilities develop on planets with environments that remain habitable for long enough? In a clear, jargon-free style, two leading researchers in the burgeoning field of astrobiology critically examine the major evolutionary steps that led us from the distant origins of life to the technologically advanced species we are today. Are the key events that took life from simple cells to astronauts unique occurrences that would be unlikely to occur on other planets? By focusing on what life does - it's functional abilities - rather than specific biochemistry or anatomy, the authors provide plausible answers to this question. Systematically exploring the various pathways that led to the complex biosphere we experience on planet Earth, they show that most of the steps along that path are likely to occur on any world hosting life, with only two exceptions: One is the origin of life itself - if this is a highly improbable event, then we live in a rather "empty universe". However, if this isn't the case, we inevitably live in a universe containing a myriad of planets hosting complex as well as microbial life - a "cosmic zoo". The other unknown is the rise of technologically advanced beings, as exemplified on Earth by humans. Only one technological species has emerged in the roughly 4 billion years life has existed on Earth, and we don't know of any other technological species elsewhere. If technological intelligence is a rare, almost unique feature of Earth's history, then there can be no visitors to the cosmic zoo other than ourselves. Schulze-Makuch and Bains take the reader through the history of life on Earth, laying out a consistent and straightforward framework for understanding why we should think that advanced, complex life exists on planets other than Earth. They provide a unique perspective on the question that puzzled the human species for centuries: are we alone?

This book is split into four distinct sections to provide a complete account of investment performance measurement. The first section examines the development of the concept of performance measurement with the evolution of benchmarks and the increasing sophistication of performance analysis. The practical implications of performance measurement are tackled in the second section, with particular emphasis on the calculations that can be used to derive a rate of return for a fund and risk is also examined in detail. The third section covers the performance measurement of pension funds over the last 25 years and the lessons that can be learned about the investment performance and measurement process. The final section considers the future prospects for performance measurement and proposes potential future directions for the measurement of investment performance.