Essays

What was Roosevelt’s ‘Vision of Europe’?

Tatiana McArthur • Nov 30 2009 • Essays

Roosevelt had a wide reaching and aggressive plan for planning post-war Europe. The formation of a strong Anglo-American alliance was critical for both parties during and after the war. For the United States, Britain was necessary in promoting democratic ideals and policing the states of Europe, something it was in a better geographical position to do. The signing of the Atlantic Charter in the early 1940’s cemented the partnership that has continued up to present times.

Clausewitz: War, Peace and Politics

Jordan Lindell • Nov 26 2009 • Essays

With tactics from Vom Kriege used widely as military doctrine and foreign policy around the world based on Clausewitzian theories such as the paradoxical trinity and the center of gravity, it is apparent that Clausewitz’s lessons live on. Because of this continued application to the modern world, even over 150 years later, it is difficult to disagree with Clausewitz and the concepts of war, peace, and politics set forth in his work.

When and Why did Opinion Shift Decisively from Favoring the Bretton Woods System to Floating Exchange Rates?

Joe Simone • Nov 15 2009 • Essays

Shifts in opinion from favoring the fixed regime to favoring the floating regime illustrated that something fundamental changed in the 1960s and early 1970s. The fundamental change was that the international post-war economic system was on the verge of collapse.

Sustainability and Water Resources in the Middle East

Caroline Smith • Nov 9 2009 • Essays

The Middle East is one of the most water-short regions in the world: almost all countries in the region (with the arguable exceptions of Iran and Turkey) have less (in most cases, significantly less) water available – through rainfall and other sources – than the 1,000 cubic metres per person, per year, which is traditionally taken to be a minimum human requirement.

A Critical Analysis of the ‘Great Debates’ That Structured Traditional International Relations Theory

Niall McCarthy • Oct 26 2009 • Essays

The disciple of international relations, like all the social sciences, needs theories to make sense of the world it is trying to examine. The merits and faults of each school of thought have been contested in what are known as the ‘great debates’.

According to Hobbes, the Laws of Nature “Dictate Peace” and are Simple Enough for Anyone to Understand. Yet “Peace without Subjection” is Supposed to be an Impossibility. Why?

Tan Wei Kee • Oct 15 2009 •

The impossibility of peace without subjection, even though men understand the laws of nature which dictate peace, is due to both the conditions in the absence of a common power and the passions of men. A Commonwealth is vital to provide restraint and security, in order for men to willingly lay down their natural right in favour of the natural laws.

Only Trees have Roots; But Men have Legs: Nationalism’s ‘Exclusionary’ Effects and the Overcoming of Common Misconceptions

Felix Christoph Ohnmacht • Oct 12 2009 • Essays

The question of what nationalism is, is as essential as what it is not. Nationalism is a multisided phenomenon, not an ideology which is always dangerously exclusionary.

Does the ILO Problematize the Governance-Resistance Dichotomy?

Paul McGee • Oct 9 2009 • Essays

Within the study of world politics, one of the ways in which theorists have transcended state-centric analysis has been to couch it in terms of the ‘politics of Governance’ and the ‘politics of Resistance’. The logic of politics within this context is the competition and conflict between these two ‘blocs’. However, the case of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) challenges this dichotomy.

Nuclear Disarmament: The Case Against

Aura Sabadus • Oct 5 2009 • Essays

As US President Barack Obama outlined his ambitious vision of a world without nuclear weapons, this essay proposes to analyse whether nuclear disarmament is indeed a more serious policy option today than at the dawn of the atomic age in 1945 or at the height of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

Private Military & Security Companies and the Pursuit of Legitimacy

Junio Valerio Palomba • Oct 2 2009 • Essays

Junio Valerio Palomba provides an alternative insight on the nature of private military and security companies and their activities. Specifically, he demonstrates how recent changes in the organization and structure of the market for force – such as the disappearance of combat operations – can be interpreted and explained through the theoretical lens of legitimacy.

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