The state is understood to constitute the primary institutions holding sovereign authority. States, however, are no longer standing alone on the hill of sovereignty, which other actors have come to the climb, claiming their own sovereignty vis-à-vis the state.
The close association of population exchange and identity formation has been particularly evident in the case of India. Its independence and partition created two states and peoples, thus redefining the concepts of ‘us’ and ‘them’ in the region. This pivotal event, having ensued more than six decades ago, continues to determine the dynamics of inter-state relations in the subcontinent and impact upon national identities
In the contemporary world, the role of elites is crucially important in every political system and every phase of state development, and forms the deciding factor in settling ethnic conflicts and post-conflict reconstruction. This paper will be based on two recent conflicts, Northern Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina, culminating in the Good Friday Agreement and Dayton Accords, respectively.
This paper is an investigation on the conflict of our generation. From the ashes of the War on Terror arises the need to not only investigate the course of our actions, but also our understanding of those forces and phenomena to which we are committing both blood and treasure.
The economic strength of the US alone was not enough to secure victory, and the US foreign policy was frequently counter-productive. But when the disparity in economic strength was utilised by the US foreign policy it enabled the US to have a clear advantage over its enemy and negotiate from a position of strength
The “responsibility to protect” principle (R2P) has radically transformed the international community’s approach to major cases of humanitarian suffering, shifting its focus from “intervention” to “prevention”. Nevertheless, the tragic case of Darfur has clearly demonstrated its limitations.
If Britain were to break free of Europe it would flounder as the rest of the world passes by, carrying Britain in its current, with Britain having no control over its heading. This would mean that the citizens of Britain, rather than being active entities whose actions and ideas are amplified by the EU, would be reactive to forces outside of their control in a small and powerless, but foolishly proud, nation state.
Pierre Gallois, an advisor to Charles DeGaulle, argued that the mere possession of a nuclear arsenal was enough to deter other nations from waging a war, and as a result he argued that the spread of nuclear weapons would increase international stability. Colin Powell may have been naïve when he said that he wished to see zero nuclear weapons in the world, but hopefully true debate from a practical and realistic perspective will help to make the world a better place
Cluster munitions consist of a ‘container’ that contains a number of smaller sub-munitions or ‘bomblets’ which scatter over a large area and explode on impact. The Convention on Cluster Munitions 2008 is set to come in to force on the 1st of August 2010; hailed as an historic addition to International Humanitarian Law, it seeks to prohibit to use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions.
Carl Schmitt is referred to as the Thomas Hobbes of the 20th century due to his tendencies to base his philosophies of the 18th century realist. In the following essay, it will be explained how the realist philosophies of both, the more modern, and the original Thomas Hobbes hold not only similar views but also contrast on key international relations topics. Although Thomas both are classed together as realist, they are nonetheless completely dissimilar on how they define the international system
Before you download your free e-book, please consider donating to support open access publishing.
E-IR is an independent non-profit publisher run by an all volunteer team. Your donations allow us to invest in new open access titles and pay our bandwidth bills to ensure we keep our existing titles free to view. Any amount, in any currency, is appreciated. Many thanks!
Donations are voluntary and not required to download the e-book - your link to download is below.