International Theory

Evaluating the Potential of Public-Private Partnerships in Global Governance

Fedor Meerts • May 29 2008 • Essays

This essay deals with a central question regarding the value of Public-Private Partnerships: what governance functions can they accomplish that neither public nor private authority can accomplish independently? The question boils down to two subsidiary questions, which will be dealt with in turn: (1) What governance functions cannot be accomplished unilaterally by public actors on the one hand and private actors on the other? (2) How can PPPs overcome these governance problems?

Considering Cognitivism’s Contribution: Possibilities for Constructive Cooperation between Rationalist and Cognitivist Theorists of International Regimes

Fedor Meerts • Apr 26 2008 • Essays

All but the staunchest realist would agree that international regimes form an important part of the emerging mechanisms of global governance. In tandem with the study of international relations, the study of international regimes has long been dominated by interest-based or neo-liberal theories – both rationalist schools of thought. However, not rightfully so.

Morals of Intelligence

Buryl Chadwick Cooper • Apr 19 2008 • Essays

This essay argues that, due to the potential loss of human life and domestic and international implications and values, morals, as defined by the public, must continue as a guiding force in planning and conducting intelligence operations.

International Knowledge Institutions and the Generation of an Epistemic Function in Global Governance

anon • Apr 17 2008 • Essays

Understanding the processes by which global knowledge institutions generate epistemic functions and impact governance requires inquiring into the construction of global problems, the legitimation of new institutions, and the complex dynamics of disseminating cooperative solutions.

Does Marxism Offer a Viable Basis for Analysing the Causes of War?

James Whitcomb Riley • Mar 16 2008 • Essays

Marxism grants social and political theorists a most realistic, dynamic, and comprehensive framework that allows the study of the causes of war in its ‘totality’. Marxist theory applied in conjunction with the ‘three levels’ of analysis, which are, the individual, the state, and the international system, is relevant and significant to the study of international relations.

In What Sense do Liberal Internationalists Believe in International Progress?

Maciej Osowski • Mar 15 2008 • Essays

Ever since the beginning of International Politics as a social science, there has been a perpetual discourse between “realists” and “liberals” about the nature of interstate relations. The two sides cannot agree on whether there is a possibility of progress in the relations between states. In the present essay, the liberal internationalists’ belief that international progress is indeed possible will be critically approached. It will be argued that “liberals” understand progress as a process of spreading a Western model of democracy.

Neo-liberal Policies and IGOs: Undermining National Government?

Michal Parizek • Mar 3 2008 • Essays

This essay addresses how the power of national governments is undermined by neo-liberal policies. It argues that power is undermined in all states, although not in all equally. It will show how this fact can explain why strong states promote neoliberal policies even though their domestic power is diminished by it.

Evil Human Nature as a Necessary Assumption of the Neorealist View on International Politics

Michal Parizek • Mar 3 2008 • Essays

This essay attempts to show how Waltz’s abandonment of the assumption of wicked human nature has led to the collapse of the Realist approach to international relations. In order to reveal this, a new concept of considerate/inconsiderate struggle for power is developed which enables us to understand the nature of power and relations of power in the theories of both Morgenthau and Waltz.

How Realistic is Realism?

James Whitcomb Riley • Mar 2 2008 • Essays

Realism’s central theme of ‘the balance of power’ has been undermined in the post-Cold War, and more importantly, in the post 9/11 eras. However, Realism remains a realistic theoretical analysis of the contemporary international system. States will continue to bolster their power in terms of military capabilities to secure the survival of the state. Realism allows theorists to anticipate the incidence of war and foreign policy embraced by state actors pursuing relative power advantages.

Economic Growth and Development: Is High GDP Enough?

Katarzyna Karpowicz • Feb 23 2008 • Essays

In the very first sentence of the book entitled ‘Whose Development? An Ethnography of Aid’, Emma Crewe and Elizabeth Harrison pose the following question: “Is development a failure?” (1998: 1). It might seem rhetorical at first, but by no means is it so.

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