The North Korean nuclear issue has been one of the most significant challenges to international peace and security in the 21st century. The failure to peacefully resolve the issue could trigger regional instability or even nuclear warfare in the worst scenario. Since its first successful nuclear test in 2006, North Korea has repeatedly defied the international community regarding its nuclear program despite the effort and resources that the international community has focused on the issue. Many consider Pyongyang decision-makers irrational or simply crazy. Nonetheless, since early 2018, North Korea has drastically changed its foreign policy and actively pursued rapprochement. How to understand DPRK foreign policy, its past, and future? How will the nuclear issue develop under a possibly new paradigm of North Korean foreign policy? This book seeks to provide readers with a comprehensive analysis of North Korean foreign relations. As the existing analysis and literature on North Korean foreign relations focus primarily on China, the United States, South Korea, and Japan, but such analysis ignores the DPRK’s relations with many other states and organizations that not only interact with North Korea nevertheless also play important roles in its strategy of surviving in the international systems.

This book analyzes seven Latin American thinkers who have contributed to building bridges for reconciliation and peace: Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Alfonso García Robles, Óscar Arias Sánchez, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Juan Manuel Santos, and Javier Pérez de Cuéllar. Working within an eclectic conceptual approach to systematize the circulation of ideas embraced by each one of the thinkers, the various contributions delve into the current literature of leadership and intellectuals in Politics and Global International Relations (GIR). Overall, the central premises of the analysis are based on three fundamentals of mainstream constructivism: a) change across time and space in the lifetime of each thinker under analysis in this book; b) socialization through changing norms, rules, and language; and c) processes of interaction in which actors make choices in selecting networks and strategies). Coming from different walks of life, the seven thinkers examined in this book have accessed the global public square and discussed ideas to reduce conflicts at different scales. In their respective historical times, they circulated their views and ideas beyond the confines of Latin America to influence global political thought and produce change in favor of peace.  

The Security Governance of Regional Organizations assesses the effectiveness of regional organizations as regional or global security providers, and examines how policy preferences, resources, capabilities, institutional mechanisms and economic and political cohesion link with collective action behaviour in four security policy functions. It investigates how regional organizations meet the new security threats or respond to strategic geopolitical changes and what adaptations they make in the process. Divided into three parts and using a common analytical framework, the book explains the changing security agenda in ten key regional organizations, each organizational chapter:

• identifies the nature of threats within the region
• examines the historical development and the degree of institutionalization
• assesses the level of governance
• explores the context of interaction
• investigates the compliance with the norms of the system of governance.

This collection contributes to the ongoing reconceptualization of security and definition of security governance, and explores whether regional security governance processes are unique or similar and whether some organizational experiences can be seen as models for others to follow. It combines a coherent theoretical framework with strong comparative case studies, making it ideal reading for all students of security studies.

The Security Governance of Regional Organizations assesses the effectiveness of regional organizations as regional or global security providers, and examines how policy preferences, resources, capabilities, institutional mechanisms and economic and political cohesion link with collective action behaviour in four security policy functions. It investigates how regional organizations meet the new security threats or respond to strategic geopolitical changes and what adaptations they make in the process. Divided into three parts and using a common analytical framework, the book explains the changing security agenda in ten key regional organizations, each organizational chapter:

• identifies the nature of threats within the region
• examines the historical development and the degree of institutionalization
• assesses the level of governance
• explores the context of interaction
• investigates the compliance with the norms of the system of governance.

This collection contributes to the ongoing reconceptualization of security and definition of security governance, and explores whether regional security governance processes are unique or similar and whether some organizational experiences can be seen as models for others to follow. It combines a coherent theoretical framework with strong comparative case studies, making it ideal reading for all students of security studies.

This issue of MRI Clinics of North America focuses on Advanced Musculoskeletal MR Imaging, and is edited by Drs. Roberto Domingues and Flavia Martins Costa. Articles will include: Quantitative Whole Body MRI; Multiparametric Bone Marrow Imaging; MET-RADS-P in Practice; Whole Body MRI Beyond Oncology; Whole Body Imaging in Multiple Myeloma; MRI Neurography in Musculoskeletal Disorders; MR Imaging in Rheumatology; Multiparametric MRI of Soft Tissue Tumors and Pseudotumors; Multiparametric MRI of Benign and Malignant Bone Tumors; MR Imaging of Fetal Musculoskeletal Disorders; MRI at Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games: Our Experience using State-of-the-art 3.0 T and 1.5 T Wide-bore MRI Scanners in High Performance Athletes; Ultrasound and Advanced MRI Fusion for Musculoskeletal Tumors Biopsy; and more!