Review – China’s Search for Security
Comprehensive, persuasive, and empathetic, Nathan and Scobell offer a fresh look at what could easily be a stale litany of threats to China’s rise and a thorough treatment of China’s security policies.
Understanding the Limitations of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy
Due to the presence of the Alliance Security Dilemma, European defence cooperation is likely to remain bilateral and sub-regional, with negative ramifications for Europe’s power in the international system.
Review – Mexican Cartel Essays and Notes
Bunker’s anthology deftly illustrates the diverse economic interests of Mexico’s cartels, and the role these groups continue to play in destabilizing the societies and governments of infiltrated nation-states.
Syria and the Hegemon’s Dilemma: Ontological Insecurity vs. Imperial Overstretch
John Kerry may be right that war fatigue is no excuse for inaction in Syria, but imperial overstretch and hegemonic decline very well may be.
Review – Militarism and International Relations
Stavrianakis and Selby’s collection successfully incorporates many diverse perspectives on militarism which affirm their claim that a return of militarism to central IR debates is indeed needed.
Review – New Public Diplomacy in the 21st Century
Pamment offers a meticulous reassessment of public diplomacy, but he falls short in critically interrogating the broader structural issues that have shaped new public diplomacy.
The Fallacy of the Realist-Constructivist Dichotomy: A Rejoinder to Robert Murray
Realism is not dead, but it is as problematic to treat the theory as IR’s “core set of ideas” as it is a fallacy to treat constructivism as a recognizable, distinct, and competing theory.
Review – The Routledge Handbook of European Security
Despite some problems, this volume systematically captures and delineates the complexity that makes up the structures and outcomes of European security institutions.
The EU’s Democracy-Stability Dilemma Persists in Egypt
Negative assessments of Egypt’s democratic transition contrasted with positive assessments of its foreign policies suggests that the democracy-stability dilemma persists in EU-Egyptian relations.
Review – Feminist Security Studies
Wibben’s advocacy for a more self-reflexive approach in which the researcher actively listens to her subjects constitutes a democratization of research in a field very much in need of it.
