Political Islamism has become mainstreamed to such an extent that no regime in the region can avoid engaging with it.
Following the September 2001 attack on America’s ‘World Trade Centre’, the ‘causes of terrorism’ has been a subject of intense investigation and speculation. Despite the educated and generally wealthy backgrounds of the 9/11 hijackers, poverty has been cited by numerous world leaders and respected academics as a central and direct cause of terrorism in the twenty first century. However, recent studies have suggested that there is little or no direct causal link between poverty and insurgent terrorism.
Since Tiananmen Square 1989, China’s understanding of the significant yet contingent power of human rights discourse has guided much of its foreign policy on the subject.
It is clear to see that from a historical cultural point of view that the two nations were built on very different ideological manifestations; liberal capitalism for Hong Kong and authoritarian communism for China. From these differing ideologies come different viewpoints and in turn, differing laws, which further lay the foundations for the differences the two states have.
Security and identity are two concepts that are deeply intertwined on many different levels, and cannot be separated, demonstrating the flaws in the Neorealist position. While identities are intersubjectively constructed and can emerge or disappear over time, they remain relatively fixed entities, and are thus an essential referent object for security.
In recent years the compatibility of political Islam and democracy has been a high-profile issue for academics, Islamic thinkers and politicians alike. The importance of this theoretical debate has been amplified by the United States’ apparent policy of promoting democracy in the Middle East, using force if necessary.
The European Union faces important energy security challenges and needs a comprehensive external energy policy which includes not only market-based but also geopolitical elements.
Terrorism has existed for centuries as a way of creating disruption and fear. Yet, to declare a war against it has created numerous questions as to how to fight this multifaceted idea. Individual groups do indeed hold ideological stances, just as legitimate political parties do, but to brand all terrorism and terrorists as the same would be incorrect.
The different theories of regional integration have widely different views on regional integration in Europe and offer widely different explanations for it. This essay will deal with three of the main theories of regional integration: intergovernmental institutionalism, neo-functionalism and multi-level governance.
The CFSP’s complicated nature is the dominant problem the EU faces in its attempt to create a stronger European voice and a system of global security governance.
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