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First Published in 1996. In identifying the causes of such a national and international failure in conflict management, The South Slav Conflict becomes a valuable case study in comparative politics and international relations. Edited by Raju G .C . Thomas and H. Richard Frim and, is unique among these by virtue of its thoroughly interdisciplinary approach to the causes and consequences of the war. The book’s great strength begins with its forthright assertion that no serious attempt to explain the current cycle of genocide and revenge among Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians can avoid the inherent complexity of the factors that transform ed Yugoslavia from one of the most pluralist of European communist states into a theater of human misery.
Established in the belief that imperialism as a cultural phenomenon had as significant an effect on the dominant as it did on the subordinate societies, the "Studies in Imperialism" series seeks to develop the new socio-cultural approach which has emerged through cross-disciplinary work on popular culture, media studies, art history, the study of education and religion, sports history and children's literature. The cultural emphasis embraces studies of migration and race, while the older political, and constitutional, economic and military concerns are never far away. It incorporates comparative work on European and American empire-building, with the chronological focus primarily, though not exclusively, on the 19th and 20th centuries, when these cultural exchanges were most powerfully at work. This work explores the sexual attitudes and activities of those who ran the British Empire. The study explains the pervasive importance of sexuality in the Victorian Empire, both for individuals and as a general dynamic in the working of the system. Among the topics included in the book are prostitution, the manners and mores of missionaries and aspects of race in sexual behaviour.
Maja Zehfuss' book offers a fundamental critique of constructivism, focusing on the work of Wendt, Onuf and Kratochwil. Using Germany's shift towards participation in international military operations as an illustration, she demonstrates why each version of constructivism fails in its own project and comes apart on the basis of its own assumptions. Inspired by Derridean thought, this book highlights the political consequences of constructivist representations of reality. Each critique concludes that constructivist notions of key concepts are impossible, and that this is not merely a question of theoretical inconsistency, but of politics. The book is premised on the notion that the 'empirical' and the 'theoretical' are less separate than is acknowledged in international relations, and must be read as intertwined. Zehfuss examines the scholars' role in international relations, worrying that, by looking to constructivism as the future, they will be severely curtailing their ability to act responsibly in this area.
This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. While developments in the 1990s saw Germany move away from its rigidly prohibitive stance towards the use of force, Berlin's policy in the war on terrorism suggested that Germany may be retreating into a new form of self-imposed restraint. In this first major English language study of German security policy after Iraq, Kerry Longhurst considers the evolution of Germany's peculiar approach to the use of force after the Cold War through the conceptual prism of strategic culture. The timeliness of this volume brings with it fresh analysis of the origins and substance of Germany's strategic culture, which the author subsequently explores in a contemporary context against the background of the changing role of the Bundeswehr from 1990-2003. The book also provides unique and in-depth analysis of Germany's troubled efforts at defense sector reform in the 1990s and considers the complex politics surrounding conscription.
The authors detail how the Bush and Clinton administrations relied on catering to allies and building large coalitions to deal with major international security challenges, while other principal powers were either pre-occupied with their domestic problems or deferred to the United States. As a consequence, on the eve of 11 September 2001 the United Nations Security Council remained an older, outmoded power configuration incapable of responding efficiently to the with novel challenges besetting it. Its relevance has been further questioned by the unilateral occupation of Iraq by the United States.
The nature and function of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are uncertain now that the alliance has accomplished its primary objective of defending Western Europe from the perceived Soviet threat. Despite uncertainty about NATO's role in the post-Cold War world, its political and military leaders agree that it can continue to play a vital part in enhancing European security and maintaining international stability. This superb analysis explores the evolving functions and future directions of this unique organization, paying particular attention to the political cultures and goals of its member states. The Promise of Alliance is important reading for students and scholars of international relations, foreign affairs, and political theory.
Within these pages is a veritable banquet for those who savour the politics of international security. The reader is offered factual analysis, insight, new perspectives, revisited concepts, problem spotting and recipes for solutions. Academic observers from a dozen different countries in Eastern and Western Europe and on both sides of the Atlantic subject a large number of questions of topical interest in the security field to one or other of these forms of treatment. Their debate embraces reinforcement of the European pillar of the Alliance; adjustment of the balance of responsibilities between the two sides of the Atlantic; and shoring up the transatlantic partnership and perhaps broadenin...
What will be the future of Germany? Will Germany remain a 'soft power', pursuing a 'bind me, love me'-policy or will we see a new Germany signalling strength and power based on nationalism and German identity? The book, written by well-known German, British, French, Russian, Danish and American scholars, attempts to present contrasting analyses on different levels of the general political dimension and position of the united Germany in Europe.