Constructivism: An Introduction
As a form of reflectivist critique of the scientific approach to the study of social sciences, constructivism was initially developed as a mostly interpretive metatheory. Its substantial and wide-ranging influence perhaps derives from the fact that what is says seems to be just common sense. Its insights apply to our individual experiences in life; as individuals our identities change over time and so do our interests.
What Will Become of North Sudan?
In the words of one local human rights activist, the new North Sudan is going to be a very nasty country. This matters because of the company president Bashir keeps: he gave shelter to Osama bin Laden for five years in the 1990s, and he considers Iran’s Ahmadinejad, Hamas and Hizbollah to be his closest ideological and political friends, despite claiming to be an ally of America in the war on terror
Will there be war on Iran? A fresh yet divergent look at an old question
In 2002 Iran was added to the neoconservative-designed ‘Axis of Evil’ and thus declared ripe for US military intervention. Wars are often kicked off accidentally. Indeed, that an incident in the heavily militarised Persian Gulf could be utilised as a casus belli by war profiteers who have overcome obstacles on the political scene is certainly not a matter of sheer fantasy. Urgent action is therefore required to lower the temperatures.
The Poisoned Chalice of Foreign Imposed Regime Change
When the USA overthrew the Taliban in 2001 and Saddam Hussein in 2003, many hoped that America could repeat its great foreign policy successes of neutralizing Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Imperial Japan following World War II. Overthrowing the former permanently moved extraordinarily grave threats to international stability.
The Egyptian People Demand the Fall of the Regime
The “Tunisian wind”, stirred by the popular uprising that swept President Ben Ali of Tunisia from power on 15 January 2011, is inspiring the Arab world from Bahrain to Morocco. Ordinary people in their hundreds of thousands have joined activists in street protests. They seek bread, housing, livelihoods, dignity, freedom and justice.
Is Ideological Competition in Europe Necessary?
Western Europe’s alienation from its own Byzantine roots has done much to perpetuate Cold War divisions in people’s minds, long after they have disappeared from the political map. Ideological competition is not only unnecessary, it is a dead end. Envisioning an integral Europe that includes Russia has proved to be no easy task. It can be made somewhat easier, however, by regarding it as process of mutual rediscovery
Are women important in US foreign policy?
Madeleine Bunting wrote a fascinating piece regarding the inclusion of a feminist agenda in US foreign policy (USFP) in the Guardian on January 16, 2011. Fascinating, because it forces me to assess what I think about the success of inculcating a women’s agenda into USFP.
Tick tock: It is 6 minutes to midnight.
On 14 January 2010, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists adjusted the Doomsday Clock from 5 to 6 minutes from midnight in order to encourage progress seen around the globe in two key areas: nuclear weapons and climate change. Their decision was based on the perceived existence of a more hopeful state of world affairs. The clock had been adjusted 18 times since its initial start at seven minutes to midnight
World Trade Politics: Power, principles, and leadership
In World Trade Politics, Deese concludes that leadership demonstrated by individuals/officials (not states) in the form of providing direction, initiating issues, building consensus or awareness around them during multilateral trade negotiations is central to reaching agreements between members and advancing the GATT/WTO trade regime
Profit Pathology
The ‘free marketeers’ continue to take irresponsible risks, plunder the land, poison the seas, sicken whole communities, lay waste to entire regions, and pocket obscene profits.
