The final result of the growth of the PRC’s military capacity is, perhaps, that China’s nuclear perspective will be exported abroad. Countries in the region that are concerned for their security should realize this truth and take steps to avoid a nuclear escalation that would do little to deter the doctrinally-different military culture of the People’s Republic of China.
Terrorist organizations have become more effective in delivering fear to global populations. It is not only globalization that has helped terrorist groups operate more efficiently, but also their inherited nature of a constant process of adaptation, ingenuity, and incrementalism when faced with new grand strategies.
Interestingly, Hong Kong already has institutions that underlie democracy but it is still yet to be legitimate. This poses the key question; if Hong Kong has institutions that do to some extent, simulate a democracy, what has prevented full transition for Hong Kong to become a legitimate democracy?
America’s great power and wealth tempts some to advocate its intervention when civil wars in weakly or ungoverned lands threaten to become humanitarian disasters or when tyrants refuse to surrender their thrones. Our aid for victims should be readily offered in these cases, but very rarely should our troops. America must avoid becoming the global policeman, self-designated or not
A case can be made that a negotiated settlement has been possible in Northern Ireland due to an inclusive political strategy and acceptance of compromise, whereas the Basque situation has not been conductive to a settlement due to the government pursuing an exclusionary position towards ETA and radical nationalist political groups.
Both the enormous diversity within Sudan in combination with the lack of a substantial “Sudanese” identity accounts for the prevalence of conflict. This absence of a widely accepted and omnipresent state identity also explains how identity is formed in relation to hegemony.
Almost a century after its birth, IR is still in the process of defining itself. The Great Debates stimulated discussion about the essential characteristics of the discipline, and through these IR theory has undoubtedly advanced in complexity and nuance since its founding, and doubtless will continue to do so.
There is an urgent sense that something massive happened on 5 May, Scotland came close to becoming a one-party state. Independence has in my mind been a practical option for nearly 40 years. Now suddenly, independence is a likelihood. There is a new political landscape.
The World Bank rose out of political and security necessity in the US sphere of influence to stabilize Europe. It has grown to adapt through time, both to the new challenges of the late 20th century, as well as to the politically correct speech the growing global civil society has been promoting in the ever globalizing public space.
As a whole the situation in the Central Asian region is fraught with future social disturbances. They are inevitable in all countries, but the degree of violence will be different according to the achieved level of development. The bloodiest events are possible in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. In the latter country, a variant of the Libyan example is quite probable.
