Suchergebnisse

In this work we identify elements of diplomacy as mechanisms with which to sharpen our understanding of security studies and weigh some claims regarding conflict. Diplomatic considerations have long been out of fashion in the field of global politics, and we seek to re- introduce them. In so doing, we situate ourselves within the general context of Goddard and Nexon's reformulation of security studies. We then identify two controversial questions in the security studies literature and consider them with reference to diplomatic interactions. The first of these is the argument raised by Jack Levy and William R. Thompson suggesting that great sea powers generate different balance of power dynamics than great land powers. We find support for the majority of their suggestions. The second controversy, closely associated with the work of T.V. Paul, concerns 'soft balancing' and arose to help explain the lack of balancing behaviors relative to the unipolar position of the United States after 1989. Soft balancing is controversial in part because identifying it requires us to understand the specific intent of various foreign policy actions. We use diplomatic activities to address the problem of intent, and find support for soft balancing in the diplomatic record.

Multilateral treaty-making is a venerable tool for navigating a sovereignty-constrained world. But that is not all; it is also a taken-for-granted practice of the international system, constitutive of both state actors and the international system itself. Constitutive practices are meaningful social actions that serve to circumscribe thought and action in the social world, delineating and in part generating both agents and the system in which they operate. Multilateral treaty-making is one such practice. While states make treaties, so too does treaty-making make states. Multilateral treaty-making can and does serve the instrumental interests of states, but exploring the constitutive nature of treaty-making is an inquiry into the foundations upon which those instrumental calculations are made—why have states turned to this practice in pursuit of their interests? In this article we provide a mixed-method approach to observing the constitutive dynamics described by practice theory that have thus far proven relatively elusive to capture empirically. In so doing our inquiry provides a fuller understanding of a foundation of competent statehood and of the international system in which states operate.

International political economy is both a discipline and a set of global practices and conditions. This volume explores how the two are related, illustrating the changing character of the global political economy, as well as changing perspectives on that character. The authors first consider how social issues, policy concerns, and philosophical judgments help constitute IPE both as a worldview and as a discipline. A central theme here is the reciprocal creation of the discipline and the social practices said to comprise it. Subsequent chapters illustrate the incongruence between the nature of the social world as alleged in IPE's premises—which often distortedly frame issues—and the alternative characterizations available from other social groups, behaviors, and approaches. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the tensions between "conventional" and "alternative" framings of the international political economy, raising questions about the nature, consequences, and insights of diverse approaches to IPE

Is it accurate to equate "fundamentalism" with antimodernism? What explains the growing importance of religious activists in world politics? Guns, Gods, and Globalization explores the multifaceted phenomenon of religious resurgence, ranging from the Christian right in the U.S. to ethnonationalist movements across North Africa and Asia. The authors' focus on the complex relationship between religious revivalism and globalization results in a nuanced study of religious political movements as they emerge in the context of rapid socioeconomic change