Regions, Power, and Conflict

Regions, Power, and Conflict PDF Author: William R. Thompson
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9811916810
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 295

Book Description
The three main levels of analysis in international relations have been the systemic, the national, and the individual. A fourth level that falls between the systemic and the national is the region. It is woefully underdeveloped in comparison to the attention afforded the other three. Yet regions tend to be distinctive theaters for international politics. Otherwise, we would not recognize that Middle Eastern interstate politics somehow does not resemble Latin American interstate politics or interstate politics in Southern Africa (although once the Middle East and Southern Africa may have seemed more similar in their mutual fixation with opposition to domestic policies in Israel and South Africa, respectively). This book, divided into three parts, first makes a case for studying regional politics even though it must also be appreciated that regional boundaries are also hazy and not always easy to pin down empirically. The second part examines power distributions within regions as an important entry point to studying regional similarities and differences. Two emphases are stressed. One is that regional power assessments need to be conditioned by controlling for weak states which are more common in some regions than they are in others. The other emphasis is on regional power hierarchies. Some regions have strong regional hierarchies while others do not. Regions with strong hierarchies operate much differently from those without them in the sense that the former are more pacific than the latter. The third part of the book focuses on regional differences in terms of conflict behavior, order preferences, rivalries, and rivalry termination.

Regions, Power, and Conflict

Regions, Power, and Conflict PDF Author: William R. Thompson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789811916823
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The three main levels of analysis in international relations have been the systemic, the national, and the individual. A fourth level that falls between the systemic and the national is the region. It is woefully underdeveloped in comparison to the attention afforded the other three. Yet regions tend to be distinctive theaters for international politics. Otherwise, we would not recognize that Middle Eastern interstate politics somehow does not resemble Latin American interstate politics or interstate politics in Southern Africa (although once the Middle East and Southern Africa may have seemed more similar in their mutual fixation with opposition to domestic policies in Israel and South Africa, respectively). This book, divided into three parts, first makes a case for studying regional politics even though it must also be appreciated that regional boundaries are also hazy and not always easy to pin down empirically. The second part examines power distributions within regions as an important entry point to studying regional similarities and differences. Two emphases are stressed. One is that regional power assessments need to be conditioned by controlling for weak states which are more common in some regions than they are in others. The other emphasis is on regional power hierarchies. Some regions have strong regional hierarchies while others do not. Regions with strong hierarchies operate much differently from those without them in the sense that the former are more pacific than the latter. The third part of the book focuses on regional differences in terms of conflict behavior, order preferences, rivalries, and rivalry termination. Co-Authors: William R. Thompson, Thomas J. Volgy, Paul Bezerra, Jacob Cramer, Kelly M. Gordell, Manjeet Pardesi, Karen Rasler, J. Patrick Rhamey, Jr., Kentaro Sakuwa, Rachel D. Van Nostrand, and Leila Zakhirova.

Turmoil and Order in Regional International Politics

Turmoil and Order in Regional International Politics PDF Author: William R. Thompson
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9819905575
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
This edited book complements and follows up on the book, Thompson and Volgy et al, Regions, Power and Conflict: Constrained Capabilities, Hierarchy, and Rivalry. It is predicated in part on the paucity of published material available on comparing regional international politics. Monadic, dyadic, and systemic approaches all have their uses and have been exploited extensively. The same cannot be said about comparative regional analysis. The premise is that a great deal of international politics takes place within regional parameters. Most states simply lack the capability or interest in devoting many resources to extra-regional affairs. Yet each region is distinctive. In some, military coups remain common while they have died out as a form of political practice in others. A few have been highly conflictual and then become more pacific, while others persist in their conflict intensity. Some have powerful neighbors with intervention tendencies, while others are surrounded by relatively weak states. Some are rich; others are poor. The point is that regions, all with proper names, have attributes that can be harnessed through comparison to explain why regional behavior differs greatly across the planet. The aim is to replace the proper names with the leading variables that appear to drive behavior. For instance, to shrug and say “that’s the Middle East for you” does not take us very far. Replacing the Middle East label with conceptualization about how a set of small, weak, autocratic states behave subject to high penetration by major powers might take us farther than shrugging off regional identity. We have good reasons to think that comparative regional analysis can deliver an explanatory value-added product just as much as alternative “levels of analysis” can. Ultimately, we might desire to integrate separate levels of analysis, rather than segregating them. But in the short term, we need to encourage comparative regional analysis because it is the least developed perspective. Why that might be the case can be debated, but it stems in part from our disciplinary tendencies for some analysts to specialize in regional behavior largely in a descriptive vein while others prefer to focus on explaining universal behavior. Comparative regional behavior tends to be squeezed out by regional scholars who suspect generalization about behavior and universal scholars who suspect particular contexts such as regions. Comparative regional analysis requires analysts who are willing to explore generalization but acknowledge regional contexts more explicitly than is customary. At the same time, more general substitutes for those regional labels must be introduced if explanatory headway is to be achieved.

Regions of War and Peace

Regions of War and Peace PDF Author: Douglas Lemke
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521007726
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
In this contribution to the literature on the causes of war, Douglas Lemke asks whether the same factors affect minor powers as affect major ones. He investigates whether power parity and dissatisfaction with the status quo have an impact within Africa, the Far East, the Middle East and South America. Lemke argues that there are similarities across these regions and levels of power, and that parity and dissatisfaction are correlates of war around the world. The extent to which they increase the risk of war varies across regions, however, and the book looks at the possible sources of this cross-regional variation, concluding that differential progress toward development is the likely cause. This book will interest students and scholars of international relations and peace studies, as well as comparative politics and area studies.

The Rise of Regions

The Rise of Regions PDF Author: Ronald L. Tammen
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 9781538131879
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
This timely book presents fresh, forward-looking analyses of key regions across the globe. Tracking politico-economic trajectories, the contributors chart the resulting power dynamics likely to shape relationships within each region, offering a crucial guide to patterns of cooperation, conflict, and domination over the coming decades.

Regional Orders and Regional Powers

Regional Orders and Regional Powers PDF Author: Nadine Godehardt
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136718915
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
Annotation Regional Powers and Regional Orders presents a re-examination and re-conceptualization of the concept of 'region' and its function within power and order systems. Utilising a comparative and case study approach, the volume examines 'new' regional powers such as Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. These territories as regional powers are novel phenomenon in the field of international politics and even more so in the field of international relations. The book focuses on the emerging role of these new regional powers within their respective region, and asks how other members of these regions cope with and react to that role. Regional Powers and Regional Orderswill be of interest to students and scholars of international and regional politics and power, and international relations.

Modern Weapons And Third World Powers

Modern Weapons And Third World Powers PDF Author: Rodney W Jones
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429716656
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 97

Book Description
The possession of high-technology weapons, some capable of mass destruction, is no longer the exclusive prerogative of superpowers. This volume explores the international and security issues raised by the acquisition of modern weapons among emerging Third World powers and its implications for U.S. policy. Based on the findings of a year-long resear

Understanding Conflict Resolution

Understanding Conflict Resolution PDF Author: Peter Wallensteen
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9781412928595
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
This thoroughly revised edition of Peter Wallensteen?'s text provides a comprehensive guide to understanding conflict resolution in the contemporary global environment. Understanding Conflict Resolution draws on recent and classic research from around the world, linking the theory of conflict resolution to in-depth case studies throughout. The first part reviews the development of conflict resolution since the Cold War and demonstrates the various approaches to conflict analysis. The core of the book explores the settlement of three major types of international conflict: inter-state, internal and those arising from state formation. In the final part, regional and international approaches are examined, and questions posed regarding the future of conflict resolution. This new edition has been brought fully up to date with coverage of the ongoing ?war on terror?, as well as events in Sudan, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Part Three considers the developments in UN reform and the increasing importance of civil society organizations. Understanding Conflict Resolution remains an essential text for all students, lecturers and researchers of peace and conflict resolution in international relations, global politics and political science.

Understanding Ethnic Conflict

Understanding Ethnic Conflict PDF Author: Raymond Taras
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317342836
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
Understanding Ethnic Conflict provides all the key concepts needed to understand conflict among ethnic groups. Including approaches from both comparative politics and international relations, this text offers a model of ethnic conflict's internationalization by showing how domestic and international actors influence a country's ethnic and sectarian divisions. Illustrating this model in five original case studies, the unique combination of theory and application in Understanding Ethnic Conflict facilitates more critical analysis of contemporary ethnic conflicts and the world's response to them.

Regional Security Structures in Asia

Regional Security Structures in Asia PDF Author: Ashok Kapor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136870091
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Book Description
Kapor argues that explanations of international relations in Asia in the post-Second World War period have relied too much on the Cold War as a key explanatory factor, and have not given enough emphasis to the useful concepts of 'regional power formation', 'conflict formation' and 'conflict resolution'. The author outlines these concepts and goes on to elaborate on them, and to apply them to three key Asian regions - northeast, southeast, and south Asia - discussing practical strategic issues in an historical perspective and arguing that these concepts, and other concepts which he discusses, are extremely helpful in making sense of the complex pattern of international relations in Asia.