Today, international security issues are slowly being reconsidered through the lens of human security, which refers to a combination of political, economic, social, nutritional, environmental, physical health, and personal safety issues. When first mentioned in 1994, the concept of human security represented a significant first step in understanding that security dilemmas could no longer be seen as purely geopolitical phenomena that revolve around the nation-state. This book explains the progress made toward human security since then and the steps that remain to be taken to achieve it fully. It begins by addressing how the nation-state is both the source and the solution of security problems in the world before demonstrating how the meaning of security itself is being reconsidered and traditional approaches are being challenged. Building on the concept of human security, the book looks at how we are slowly moving toward large-scale political and social change. It argues that it is time for a "security 2.0" approach, different from the traditional models of national security. Thus Security 2.0 addresses new challenges and their political responses, pointing toward alternatives to what is referred to as "permanent war." It highlights such themes as cooperation, the multi-dimensionality of security issues, and the continuing pressures towards democratization, global markets, and multilevel governance and how these contribute today to make a safer world. Further, it shows how environmental threats, global corporations, identity issues, and international regimes such as the EU, are also fostering a fundamental rethinking of the concept of security. Including a variety of perspectives, and written in a jargon-free, accessible manner, the work will provide students with new insights on conflict processes and international security.

This book presents confrontation as the key theme of the post-cold war world. It argues that the world could be changed dramatically for the better if people and governments were to adopt a new way of thinking and dealing with conflict that takes us beyond confrontation. The examples of war, international economics, environmental decay, and racial conflict show that in today's interdependent world, the problems we face are interdependent too. The central tenet is that it is almost always more pragmatic to act cooperatively. Most important, the book shows that cooperative problem solving is not mere pie in the sky idealism.

This book describes Rondine Cittadella della Pace and its unique residential peacebuilding program that works with young activists from some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones. Set in its own Tuscan village, Rondine invites students to its two-year long residential program that provides them with a master’s degree, trauma healing, and training in peacebuilding. While at Rondine, students work in pairs representing “both sides” of a conflict and prepare projects that they will put into place when they return home. Half of the book is devoted to an in-depth description of the Rondine method by its founder, Franco Vaccari, while the remainder consists of essays by Italian and American experts, including the two editors, providing the religious, psychological, and political context for this innovative psycho-social method of conflict resolution.

This book describes Rondine Cittadella della Pace and its unique residential peacebuilding program that works with young activists from some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones. Set in its own Tuscan village, Rondine invites students to its two-year long residential program that provides them with a master's degree, trauma healing, and training in peacebuilding. While at Rondine, students work in pairs representing "both sides" of a conflict and prepare projects that they will put into place when they return home. Half of the book is devoted to an in-depth description of the Rondine method by its founder, Franco Vaccari, while the remainder consists of essays by Italian and American experts, including the two editors, providing the religious, psychological, and political context for this innovative psycho-social method of conflict resolution.

Today, international security issues are slowly being reconsidered through the lens of human security, which refers to a combination of political, economic, social, nutritional, environmental, physical health, and personal safety issues. When first mentioned in 1994, the concept of human security represented a significant first step in understanding that security dilemmas could no longer be seen as purely geopolitical phenomena that revolve around the nation-state. This book explains the progress made toward human security since then and the steps that remain to be taken to achieve it fully. It begins by addressing how the nation-state is both the source and the solution of security problems in the world before demonstrating how the meaning of security itself is being reconsidered and traditional approaches are being challenged. Building on the concept of human security, the book looks at how we are slowly moving toward large-scale political and social change. It argues that it is time for a "security 2.0" approach, different from the traditional models of national security. Thus Security 2.0 addresses new challenges and their political responses, pointing toward alternatives to what is referred to as "permanent war." It highlights such themes as cooperation, the multi-dimensionality of security issues, and the continuing pressures towards democratization, global markets, and multilevel governance and how these contribute today to make a safer world. Further, it shows how environmental threats, global corporations, identity issues, and international regimes such as the EU, are also fostering a fundamental rethinking of the concept of security. Including a variety of perspectives, and written in a jargon-free, accessible manner, the work will provide students with new insights on conflict processes and international security.

In the confrontation between the two main economic systems that has marked the twentieth century, capitalism has been declared the winner-by default- over its adversary, socialism. Today, establishing a market economy has become the primary goal of the formerly socialist countries. The history of economic reform helps explain this remarkable turning point. Attempts to improve the old centralized system by expanding enterprise autonomy (in Poland, the Soviet Union, and East Germany) and more radical reforms that limited the role of central planning (in Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and China) encountered social and political obstacles or had unexpected and undesired effects. During the 1980s, the idea of a socialist market economy, which had been seen as a "third way" between capitalism and centralized socialism, was abandoned as economists gradually came to support a free market rather than the dogma of planning. Through a comparative and historical analysis of change in socialist and post-socialist systems, this timely and original book clarifies the policies and pitfalls in this extraordinary transition. Bernard Chavance provides a succinct introduction and analysis of the politics and economics of Eastern Europe from the creation of the Stalinist system in the Soviet Union through what he argues have been three major waves of reform since the 1950s to the dismantling of most socialist governments in the 1990s. Exploring the link between the one-party regime and the growing rigidity of socialist economic systems, the author analyzes the failure of both incremental and radical reforms to adapt to new economic challenges, thus leading to the ultimate collapse of communist regimes in Europe.

This is the first book-length attempt to provide a political and historical synthesis of the quarter-century (1958-81) the Gaullists were in power in France while putting the Fifth Republic they created into a broader comparative perspective. The author analyzes the reasons for the success of the Gaullists in bringing France its first successful democratic government, showing that Fifth Republic France and similar interventionist states succeeded precisely because the political model on which they based their actions conformed to the needs of the industrialized world from the late 1930s through the early 1970s. He then demonstrates that the difficulties the Gaullists and their Socialist successors have faced may be symptomatic of the kinds of problems the entire advanced industrialized world will encounter as we move into the next century.

Divided into five parts, the book begins by examining the enduring problems faced by the Third and Fourth Republics in France. The second section covers the new constitution, de Gaulle's behavior as president, and the rationalization of the party system. In Part Three, the author explores how the Gaullists and their allies used the levers provided them by the constitution and by political reforms to take consistent, systematic, and long-term steps to deal with problems that had confounded their predecessors for generations. Turning to the regime's failures, the author analyzes the persistent problems of centralization and alienation that continued to plague France despite the successes of the Fifth Republic. The final section addresses the broader implications of the Gaullist experience for industrialized states in general. An ideal supplemental text for courses in French politics and history, this book offers important new insights into a critical period in that country's modern political development.

This book presents confrontation as the key theme of the post-cold war world. It argues that the world could be changed dramatically for the better if people and governments were to adopt a new way of thinking and dealing with conflict that takes us beyond confrontation. The examples of war, international economics, environmental decay, and racial conflict show that in today's interdependent world, the problems we face are interdependent too. The central tenet is that it is almost always more pragmatic to act cooperatively. Most important, the book shows that cooperative problem solving is not mere pie in the sky idealism.

France has shifted toward more "normal" politics since the mid 1960s. That's saying a lot for a country that has had three monarchies, five republics, two empires, and a neo-fascist regime in the years since its revolution in 1789. Hauss's lively and up-to-date new text looks beyond "de Gaulle's revolution," tracing France's historical development up to the present and describing with fresh insight its political culture, parties, interest groups, and institutional system, as well as its place in the EU and the larger global economic order. Hauss offers lively analysis of recent events and issues, including the May 2007 presidential elections; hot-button policy issues like immigration and the assimilation of non-Westerners into the French cultural and political landscape and the impact of the EU on France's economic policies.

Conflict is the heart of international relations and at the end of the 20th century it is occuring in new and vexing forms. This textbook looks at conflict both as an important new subject in its own right and as a powerful lens through which to view international relations more generally. Hauss provides an introduction to theory and practice. He opens by retracing the three stages in most typologies of international conflict: origins, ending the fighting and reconciliation. These are discussed both in terms of traditional theories and new theories, some of the latter from outside the usual boundaries of political science and IR. Jauss argues that such new theories take us further in understanding the kinds of conflicts we have seen since the end of the Cold War and are likely to see in the coming decades. A broad selection of case studies, covering the major conflicts the world has faced since 1990, provide readers with the material they can use to form their own judgement about the theories.

Conflict is at the heart of international relations and as we begin the new millennium it is occurring in new and vexing forms. This new edition looks at conflict both as an important subject in its own right and as a powerful lens through which to view international relations more generally. Charles Hauss provides a lively introduction to both theory and practice. He begins by tracing the three stages in most typologies of international conflict: origins, ending the fighting and reconciliation. A broad selection of case studies, covering many of the major conflicts the world has faced in the last ten years, provides the reader with material they can use to form their own judgements about the theories. Ranging from international political economy to security, migration, human rights and the environment, this series is designed to explore the issues that make international relations such an exciting, controversial and, at times, confusing field in a world undergoing unprecedented change. The books are designed as core texts for advanced undergraduate and specialized graduate courses, and each volume follows a standard format. The first section is devoted to general theories and concepts. The second includes carefully selected case studies which students can use to deepen their understanding of the theoretical issues. The books include, as an integral part of the text, addresses of particularly helpful websites.

Balancing theory with application and featuring an engaging, student-friendly writing style, the tenth edition of COMPARATIVE POLITICS takes an in-depth look at fourteen countries, framed within broader discussions in the part-opening chapters on Industrialized Democracies, Current and Former Communist Regimes, and The Global South. The introduction establishes a comparative structure based on five themes: conflict, democratization, economic liberalization, globalization, and challenges, which are then explored for each country. With this uniquely effective text, students can gain an understanding of important political trends and concepts, an exposure to politics in a number of countries, and a desire to dig more deeply into the fascinating field of comparative politics.