Sun Tzu famously wrote that “If you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.” If we want to fight terrorism, we must understand both state and terrorist; to this end, we should examine how and why terrorism is linked to the state.
The EU is generally not regarded as a ‘global power’: its internal division over the US-led intervenion in Iraq and its lack of a coherence towards the wars in the Balkans are cited as prominent examples of its weak standing in global politics. It is only in recent years that an increasing number of academics have emphasized the unique tools it holds to influence international relations.
Over the past century the U.S. has risen to be the undisputed world power, with its tentacles of influence sprawled across the globe, leaving almost no state untouched. However, does this significant power and influence construct qualify the United States for imperial status? Does its lack of territorial dominions, vassals, or a greater U.S. controlled commonwealth disqualify it from being an imperial power?
This essay will discuss Dershowitz’s arguments as to why the so-called ‘ticking bomb terrorist’ should be tortured, and seek to counter them, concluding that it is too dangerous to legalise the use of torture, even in extreme circumstances.
Due to the time that has elapsed since Huntington wrote his article it is easy to criticise any lack of foresight in terms of technological development. However, it is important to highlight the fundamentally erroneous assumptions of modern day diplomacy made in his article.
The way policy makers define poverty dictates the types of strategies that they use for alleviation, and their success. In Latin America numerous definitions have been employed, the current favourite being the profiling approach. This essay examines the various definitions of poverty on offer to Latin America, and the problems associated with each of them.
This essay will argue that foreign policy is “primarily generated from within”. The influence of the domestic forms the basis of foreign strategy, overshadowing but not discounting remaining elements. The correlation between both policy areas is one of great strength.
To consider the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s role in fostering peace in the post socialist area, this essay will examine the conflicts in Moldova and Chechnya. It will argue that the OSCE has not yet been successful, but that this is largely because there has been no established peace to foster. Any progress is going to take time due to the complexities involved.
This paper will evaluate and analyse the poverty alleviation strategies manifested by the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), explaining how they have converged over time. With the use of case studies it will argue that, whilst it might seem that the convergence has benefited poverty reduction, this is in fact not the case.
The international system, comprised as it is of a society of sovereign states, necessarily stands as a barrier to universal morality. The ideal of cosmopolitanism, envisioning humanity as a singular and unified moral community, is impossible in a world where the primary political unit is the state.
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