Alex J. Bellamy (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199265206
- eISBN:
- 9780191601866
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199265208.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This book is a major new evaluation of the contribution of the influential English School to international relations theory. It focuses on all the key contemporary and international political issues, ...
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This book is a major new evaluation of the contribution of the influential English School to international relations theory. It focuses on all the key contemporary and international political issues, and contains a mixture of theoretical and empirical issues, presented by leading scholars in the field. In recent years, the English School of International Relations – or international society – approach to international relations has become prominent because its theories and concepts seem to be able to help explain some of the most complex and seemingly paradoxical features of contemporary world politics. In doing this, the approach has attracted a variety of criticisms from both ends of the political spectrum, with some arguing that the claim that states form an international society is premature in an era of terror where power politics and the use of force have returned to the fore, and others insisting that the state‐centrism of international society makes it an inherently conservative approach that is unable to address many of the world's most pressing problems. The book provides the first in‐depth study of the English School approach to international relations from a variety of different theoretical and practical perspectives. Sixteen scholars from three continents critically evaluate the contribution of the School to the study of international theory and world history, consider its relationship with a variety of alternative perspectives, including international political economy, feminism, environmentalism, and critical security studies, and assess how the approach can help to make sense of the big issues of the day such as terrorism, the management of cultural difference, global governance, the ethics of coercion, and the role of international law. The contributors find that whilst the concept of international society helps to shed light on many of the important tensions in world politics, much work still needs to be done. In particular, the approach needs to broaden its empirical scope to incorporate more of the issues and actors that shape global politics, draw upon other theoretical traditions to improve its explanations of change in world politics, and recognize the complex and multi‐layered nature of the contemporary world. After an introduction by the editor, the book is arranged in three parts: One, The English School's Contribution to International Relations (four chapters); Two, Critical Engagements with International Society (six chapters); and Three, International Society After September 11 (five chapters). There is also a Conclusion by the editor.Less
This book is a major new evaluation of the contribution of the influential English School to international relations theory. It focuses on all the key contemporary and international political issues, and contains a mixture of theoretical and empirical issues, presented by leading scholars in the field. In recent years, the English School of International Relations – or international society – approach to international relations has become prominent because its theories and concepts seem to be able to help explain some of the most complex and seemingly paradoxical features of contemporary world politics. In doing this, the approach has attracted a variety of criticisms from both ends of the political spectrum, with some arguing that the claim that states form an international society is premature in an era of terror where power politics and the use of force have returned to the fore, and others insisting that the state‐centrism of international society makes it an inherently conservative approach that is unable to address many of the world's most pressing problems. The book provides the first in‐depth study of the English School approach to international relations from a variety of different theoretical and practical perspectives. Sixteen scholars from three continents critically evaluate the contribution of the School to the study of international theory and world history, consider its relationship with a variety of alternative perspectives, including international political economy, feminism, environmentalism, and critical security studies, and assess how the approach can help to make sense of the big issues of the day such as terrorism, the management of cultural difference, global governance, the ethics of coercion, and the role of international law. The contributors find that whilst the concept of international society helps to shed light on many of the important tensions in world politics, much work still needs to be done. In particular, the approach needs to broaden its empirical scope to incorporate more of the issues and actors that shape global politics, draw upon other theoretical traditions to improve its explanations of change in world politics, and recognize the complex and multi‐layered nature of the contemporary world. After an introduction by the editor, the book is arranged in three parts: One, The English School's Contribution to International Relations (four chapters); Two, Critical Engagements with International Society (six chapters); and Three, International Society After September 11 (five chapters). There is also a Conclusion by the editor.
Matthew Paterson
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199265206
- eISBN:
- 9780191601866
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199265208.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The environment has emerged as a key issue in global politics since the early 1970s, and the issues that comprise the ‘environmental crisis’ are widely regarded to have had significant impacts on ...
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The environment has emerged as a key issue in global politics since the early 1970s, and the issues that comprise the ‘environmental crisis’ are widely regarded to have had significant impacts on international politics. At the same time, the international society or English School of International Relations tradition has rarely had much explicit to say regarding the implications of environmental degradation for International Relations, although at a first look, it is a surprise that English School authors have not looked to environmental politics for sources of support for their arguments. This chapter attempts to elaborate how such an engagement between international environmental politics and the English School might develop. It begins with an elaboration of Hedley Bull's (1977) passage on the environment in The Anarchical Society, and then proceeds through a discussion of contemporary accounts of ‘global environmental governance’, in terms of programmatic reform, international regimes, multilevel governance, deterritorialization, and corporate governance and governance from below. The conclusion reached is that despite a superficial attraction, discussions of global environmental governance undermine the image of international society in English School accounts in two principal ways: first, they show that thinking about international society (its norms, the tensions and conversation between the three traditions in English School, and so on) is limited by the lack of understanding of the specifically capitalist character of the states‐system; and second, they show that the image given in Bull – that any alternatives to the states‐system tend to founder on the claim that states will not voluntarily cede their authority – is misplaced, for practices of global governance are emerging in the environmental field that operate outside the states‐system but where states have never given permission in the manner envisaged by Bull and others to be necessary.Less
The environment has emerged as a key issue in global politics since the early 1970s, and the issues that comprise the ‘environmental crisis’ are widely regarded to have had significant impacts on international politics. At the same time, the international society or English School of International Relations tradition has rarely had much explicit to say regarding the implications of environmental degradation for International Relations, although at a first look, it is a surprise that English School authors have not looked to environmental politics for sources of support for their arguments. This chapter attempts to elaborate how such an engagement between international environmental politics and the English School might develop. It begins with an elaboration of Hedley Bull's (1977) passage on the environment in The Anarchical Society, and then proceeds through a discussion of contemporary accounts of ‘global environmental governance’, in terms of programmatic reform, international regimes, multilevel governance, deterritorialization, and corporate governance and governance from below. The conclusion reached is that despite a superficial attraction, discussions of global environmental governance undermine the image of international society in English School accounts in two principal ways: first, they show that thinking about international society (its norms, the tensions and conversation between the three traditions in English School, and so on) is limited by the lack of understanding of the specifically capitalist character of the states‐system; and second, they show that the image given in Bull – that any alternatives to the states‐system tend to founder on the claim that states will not voluntarily cede their authority – is misplaced, for practices of global governance are emerging in the environmental field that operate outside the states‐system but where states have never given permission in the manner envisaged by Bull and others to be necessary.
John S. Dryzek
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199250431
- eISBN:
- 9780191717253
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925043X.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Globalization means that political control moves into the international system. Transnational democracy can follow suit, through democratization of the discourses that pervade and coordinate ...
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Globalization means that political control moves into the international system. Transnational democracy can follow suit, through democratization of the discourses that pervade and coordinate international politics. Transnational networks of non‐governmental organizations are important.Less
Globalization means that political control moves into the international system. Transnational democracy can follow suit, through democratization of the discourses that pervade and coordinate international politics. Transnational networks of non‐governmental organizations are important.
Karen J. Alter
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691154749
- eISBN:
- 9781400848683
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691154749.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter explains the book's threefold goal. First, it reveals a paradigm change in creating and using international courts (ICs), leading to the creation of the new international judicial ...
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This chapter explains the book's threefold goal. First, it reveals a paradigm change in creating and using international courts (ICs), leading to the creation of the new international judicial architecture. Second, the book conceptualizes how new-style ICs affect domestic and international politics across countries, courts, cases, and issues. An international court's political influence comes from its authority to say what the law means for the case at hand, its jurisdiction to name violations of international law, and its ability to specify remedies that follow from international legal violations. Finally, the book aims to create nonutopian and thus more realistic expectations for ICs. This research builds on theories developed in the study of domestic courts and uses the presence of similarly designed ICs, of cross-time design changes, and variations in the influence of the same ICs across countries.Less
This chapter explains the book's threefold goal. First, it reveals a paradigm change in creating and using international courts (ICs), leading to the creation of the new international judicial architecture. Second, the book conceptualizes how new-style ICs affect domestic and international politics across countries, courts, cases, and issues. An international court's political influence comes from its authority to say what the law means for the case at hand, its jurisdiction to name violations of international law, and its ability to specify remedies that follow from international legal violations. Finally, the book aims to create nonutopian and thus more realistic expectations for ICs. This research builds on theories developed in the study of domestic courts and uses the presence of similarly designed ICs, of cross-time design changes, and variations in the influence of the same ICs across countries.
Philip G. Cerny
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199733699
- eISBN:
- 9780199776740
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199733699.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter first examines neoliberalism as a contested concept. It then traces how it has come to be embedded within the globalization process; deconstructs the concept into its different ...
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This chapter first examines neoliberalism as a contested concept. It then traces how it has come to be embedded within the globalization process; deconstructs the concept into its different subcategories and dimensions; identifies some of the key actors who have co-opted neoliberalism into their own frames of references, strategies and tactics; and concludes by suggesting some of the forms that arguably might be expected to characterize its evolution in the medium term. It shows that the evolution of neoliberalism over the past thirty years has transformed it from a relatively dogmatic, enforced, pseudo-laissez faire doctrine into a kind of common sense for the 21st century. Embedded neoliberalism involves an acceptance that we live in a multi-level, more open, and market-like globalizing world, in which informal and negotiated policy processes do not merely complement relations among nation-states but constitute a complex, fungible, pluralized political game that is drawing in ever more actors.Less
This chapter first examines neoliberalism as a contested concept. It then traces how it has come to be embedded within the globalization process; deconstructs the concept into its different subcategories and dimensions; identifies some of the key actors who have co-opted neoliberalism into their own frames of references, strategies and tactics; and concludes by suggesting some of the forms that arguably might be expected to characterize its evolution in the medium term. It shows that the evolution of neoliberalism over the past thirty years has transformed it from a relatively dogmatic, enforced, pseudo-laissez faire doctrine into a kind of common sense for the 21st century. Embedded neoliberalism involves an acceptance that we live in a multi-level, more open, and market-like globalizing world, in which informal and negotiated policy processes do not merely complement relations among nation-states but constitute a complex, fungible, pluralized political game that is drawing in ever more actors.
Marc Trachtenberg
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691152028
- eISBN:
- 9781400842490
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691152028.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter discusses how the argument about the systemic sources of conflict is far more problematic, even in principle, than many people seem prepared to admit. It further argues that there are ...
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This chapter discusses how the argument about the systemic sources of conflict is far more problematic, even in principle, than many people seem prepared to admit. It further argues that there are ways in which systemic forces can play a stabilizing role. The chapter begins by outlining the kind of thinking that lies behind the view that a system based on power is not inherently unstable—or, more precisely, the basis for the view that realist policies, policies that make sense in terms of the basic logic of the system, actually make for a relatively stable international order. It then examines some key arguments on the other side, especially fundamental arguments about the way an anarchic system is supposed to work. The final section looks at policy arguments, and especially at what they can tell us about the fundamental assumptions that lie at the heart of the realist understanding of international politics.Less
This chapter discusses how the argument about the systemic sources of conflict is far more problematic, even in principle, than many people seem prepared to admit. It further argues that there are ways in which systemic forces can play a stabilizing role. The chapter begins by outlining the kind of thinking that lies behind the view that a system based on power is not inherently unstable—or, more precisely, the basis for the view that realist policies, policies that make sense in terms of the basic logic of the system, actually make for a relatively stable international order. It then examines some key arguments on the other side, especially fundamental arguments about the way an anarchic system is supposed to work. The final section looks at policy arguments, and especially at what they can tell us about the fundamental assumptions that lie at the heart of the realist understanding of international politics.
Harsh Pant (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198073963
- eISBN:
- 9780199080809
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198073963.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
In October 2008, United States President, George W. Bush signed a law allowing civilian nuclear trade with India. The US-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act was a ...
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In October 2008, United States President, George W. Bush signed a law allowing civilian nuclear trade with India. The US-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act was a historic turning point in relations between two countries that used to distrust each other but eventually decided to form a ‘strategic partnership’. Their nuclear energy cooperation agreement has important implications for Indian foreign policy and broader international relations. This book presents a thorough and insightful analysis of the process of negotiations that culminated in the 2008 nuclear pact between India and the United States. It examines the agreement in the broader context of the role played by international institutions in international politics, emphasizing how the nuclear weapons non-proliferation priorities of major powers are often overridden by strategic considerations. In particular, the book discusses the structural as well as domestic determinants of the US-India entente, the determinants of the entente at the individual level, India's ‘two-level’ negotiations, and the nuclear agreement's challenge to the nuclear non-proliferation regime.Less
In October 2008, United States President, George W. Bush signed a law allowing civilian nuclear trade with India. The US-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act was a historic turning point in relations between two countries that used to distrust each other but eventually decided to form a ‘strategic partnership’. Their nuclear energy cooperation agreement has important implications for Indian foreign policy and broader international relations. This book presents a thorough and insightful analysis of the process of negotiations that culminated in the 2008 nuclear pact between India and the United States. It examines the agreement in the broader context of the role played by international institutions in international politics, emphasizing how the nuclear weapons non-proliferation priorities of major powers are often overridden by strategic considerations. In particular, the book discusses the structural as well as domestic determinants of the US-India entente, the determinants of the entente at the individual level, India's ‘two-level’ negotiations, and the nuclear agreement's challenge to the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Marc Trachtenberg
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691152028
- eISBN:
- 9781400842490
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691152028.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter argues that, to get at the issue of international order, one must first deal with the theoretical question of how politics works in the highly stylized world associated with the term ...
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This chapter argues that, to get at the issue of international order, one must first deal with the theoretical question of how politics works in the highly stylized world associated with the term anarchy—a world where security and thus power are the only things that matter, a world in which no effective international society can be said to exist. The workings of such an idealized world are worth examining not because the real world necessarily works the same way, but simply because that sort of analysis is a necessary point of departure for thinking about real world problems. Only when one understands how a highly stylized world of this sort works can questions about the role of various factors—international law, for example, or economic interdependence—be posed in any meaningful way. If the goal is to understand what difference those factors make—that is, whether they contribute to order—one needs to start with a certain preexisting frame of reference, one that only theoretical analysis can provide.Less
This chapter argues that, to get at the issue of international order, one must first deal with the theoretical question of how politics works in the highly stylized world associated with the term anarchy—a world where security and thus power are the only things that matter, a world in which no effective international society can be said to exist. The workings of such an idealized world are worth examining not because the real world necessarily works the same way, but simply because that sort of analysis is a necessary point of departure for thinking about real world problems. Only when one understands how a highly stylized world of this sort works can questions about the role of various factors—international law, for example, or economic interdependence—be posed in any meaningful way. If the goal is to understand what difference those factors make—that is, whether they contribute to order—one needs to start with a certain preexisting frame of reference, one that only theoretical analysis can provide.
Ingo Venzke
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199657674
- eISBN:
- 9780191753114
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199657674.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Philosophy of Law
This chapter develops theoretical perspectives on how the practice of interpretation makes international law. It first rejects orthodox legal positivism’s assumption that law can be found in the norm ...
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This chapter develops theoretical perspectives on how the practice of interpretation makes international law. It first rejects orthodox legal positivism’s assumption that law can be found in the norm text and illustrates how semantic change challenges the normative construction according to which subjects can only be bound with their consent. Once they make a commitment, the content of such a commitment is no longer in their hands alone. The chapter identifies shortcomings of theoretical approaches that have shifted their attention towards lawmaking in communicative practices and connects to developments in linguistic theory as well as sociology to introduce a concept of practice that supersedes old divides. The chapter cuts to the core of semantic struggles in law by discussing the exercise of power and authority in legal interpretation and closes by introducing the main actors in international legal discourse.Less
This chapter develops theoretical perspectives on how the practice of interpretation makes international law. It first rejects orthodox legal positivism’s assumption that law can be found in the norm text and illustrates how semantic change challenges the normative construction according to which subjects can only be bound with their consent. Once they make a commitment, the content of such a commitment is no longer in their hands alone. The chapter identifies shortcomings of theoretical approaches that have shifted their attention towards lawmaking in communicative practices and connects to developments in linguistic theory as well as sociology to introduce a concept of practice that supersedes old divides. The chapter cuts to the core of semantic struggles in law by discussing the exercise of power and authority in legal interpretation and closes by introducing the main actors in international legal discourse.
Giles Gunn and Carl Gutierrez-Jones (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520098701
- eISBN:
- 9780520943797
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520098701.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
The attempt by the George W. Bush administration to reshape world order, especially but not exclusively after September 11, 2001, increasingly appears to have resulted in a catastrophic “misshaping” ...
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The attempt by the George W. Bush administration to reshape world order, especially but not exclusively after September 11, 2001, increasingly appears to have resulted in a catastrophic “misshaping” of geopolitics in the wake of bungled campaigns in the Middle East and their many reverberations worldwide. Journalists and scholars are now trying to understand what happened, and this book explores the role of culture and rhetoric in this process of geopolitical transformation. What difference do cultural concepts and values make to the cognitive and emotional weather of which, at various levels, international politics is both consequence and perceived corrective? The scholars in this multidisciplinary book bring the tools of cultural analysis to the profound ongoing debate about how geopolitics is mapped and what determines its governance.Less
The attempt by the George W. Bush administration to reshape world order, especially but not exclusively after September 11, 2001, increasingly appears to have resulted in a catastrophic “misshaping” of geopolitics in the wake of bungled campaigns in the Middle East and their many reverberations worldwide. Journalists and scholars are now trying to understand what happened, and this book explores the role of culture and rhetoric in this process of geopolitical transformation. What difference do cultural concepts and values make to the cognitive and emotional weather of which, at various levels, international politics is both consequence and perceived corrective? The scholars in this multidisciplinary book bring the tools of cultural analysis to the profound ongoing debate about how geopolitics is mapped and what determines its governance.
G. BRUCE DOERN and STEPHEN WILKS
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198280620
- eISBN:
- 9780191684371
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198280620.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This chapter examines two political factors contributing to the greater internationalization of competition policy: the political power of nation-states and business, and the influence of ...
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This chapter examines two political factors contributing to the greater internationalization of competition policy: the political power of nation-states and business, and the influence of international organizations and inter-agency relations within states. The chapter begins with a brief conceptual map of key terms inherent in dealing with the internationalization of competition policy: internationalization;, regimes, and institutions. The notion of ‘internationalizing’ competition policy is intended to evoke a process that is propelled by, but goes beyond, globalization. The definitional gray area ‘regimes versus institutions’ is also central to the analysis. The concept of regimes is also used in the study of domestic public policy and regulation for a related but somewhat different set of reasons. The internationalization of competition policy is affected by the traditional characteristics of international politics where issues and judgements of relative power among states are present.Less
This chapter examines two political factors contributing to the greater internationalization of competition policy: the political power of nation-states and business, and the influence of international organizations and inter-agency relations within states. The chapter begins with a brief conceptual map of key terms inherent in dealing with the internationalization of competition policy: internationalization;, regimes, and institutions. The notion of ‘internationalizing’ competition policy is intended to evoke a process that is propelled by, but goes beyond, globalization. The definitional gray area ‘regimes versus institutions’ is also central to the analysis. The concept of regimes is also used in the study of domestic public policy and regulation for a related but somewhat different set of reasons. The internationalization of competition policy is affected by the traditional characteristics of international politics where issues and judgements of relative power among states are present.
Marc Trachtenberg
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691152028
- eISBN:
- 9781400842490
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691152028.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
What makes for war or for a stable international system? Are there general principles that should govern foreign policy? This book explores how historical work can throw light on these questions. The ...
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What makes for war or for a stable international system? Are there general principles that should govern foreign policy? This book explores how historical work can throw light on these questions. The essays in this book deal with specific problems—with such matters as nuclear strategy and U.S.–European relations. But the book's main goal is to show how in practice a certain type of scholarly work can be done. The book demonstrates how, in studying international politics, the conceptual and empirical sides of the analysis can be made to connect with each other, and how historical, theoretical, and even policy issues can be tied together in an intellectually respectable way. These essays address a wide variety of topics, from theoretical and policy issues, such as the question of preventive war and the problem of international order, to more historical subjects—for example, American policy on Eastern Europe in 1945 and Franco-American relations during the Nixon–Pompidou period. But in each case, the aim is to show how a theoretical perspective can be brought to bear on the analysis of historical issues, and how historical analysis can shed light on basic conceptual problems.Less
What makes for war or for a stable international system? Are there general principles that should govern foreign policy? This book explores how historical work can throw light on these questions. The essays in this book deal with specific problems—with such matters as nuclear strategy and U.S.–European relations. But the book's main goal is to show how in practice a certain type of scholarly work can be done. The book demonstrates how, in studying international politics, the conceptual and empirical sides of the analysis can be made to connect with each other, and how historical, theoretical, and even policy issues can be tied together in an intellectually respectable way. These essays address a wide variety of topics, from theoretical and policy issues, such as the question of preventive war and the problem of international order, to more historical subjects—for example, American policy on Eastern Europe in 1945 and Franco-American relations during the Nixon–Pompidou period. But in each case, the aim is to show how a theoretical perspective can be brought to bear on the analysis of historical issues, and how historical analysis can shed light on basic conceptual problems.
Andreas Osiander
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198278870
- eISBN:
- 9780191684258
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198278870.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This introductory chapter points out various aspects of the problem of stability in international politics. In line with established usage in international relations theory, it will refer to ...
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This introductory chapter points out various aspects of the problem of stability in international politics. In line with established usage in international relations theory, it will refer to autonomous centres of decision-making in international affairs as ‘international actors’. The sphere of international politics is often perceived to be a conspicuously less stable environment than the average domestic political system. Precisely because they are so conspicuous, manifestations of conflict and disorder in international politics have been studied more extensively than the phenomenon of relative system stability. But even the structure of the international system usually displays considerable overall stability over long stretches of time. In analysing international politics, one very important thing has to be remembered. This is that the international system has no physical reality. Ultimately, the international system exists exclusively in the mind. It is what people think it is. It is a mental construct, resting entirely on shared assumptions.Less
This introductory chapter points out various aspects of the problem of stability in international politics. In line with established usage in international relations theory, it will refer to autonomous centres of decision-making in international affairs as ‘international actors’. The sphere of international politics is often perceived to be a conspicuously less stable environment than the average domestic political system. Precisely because they are so conspicuous, manifestations of conflict and disorder in international politics have been studied more extensively than the phenomenon of relative system stability. But even the structure of the international system usually displays considerable overall stability over long stretches of time. In analysing international politics, one very important thing has to be remembered. This is that the international system has no physical reality. Ultimately, the international system exists exclusively in the mind. It is what people think it is. It is a mental construct, resting entirely on shared assumptions.
Sarah E. Kreps
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199753796
- eISBN:
- 9780199827152
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199753796.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This research turns on concepts that are central to international politics—polarity, intervention, cooperation—but ones that remain loosely defined in the literature. This chapter addresses the ...
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This research turns on concepts that are central to international politics—polarity, intervention, cooperation—but ones that remain loosely defined in the literature. This chapter addresses the following questions: What does unipolarity mean, and why does the distribution of power matter? What is an intervention? When does a particular use of force constitute an intervention? How do we know whether a particular coalition is multilateral or whether it is stacked with states that provide more window dressing than any real decision-making influence?Less
This research turns on concepts that are central to international politics—polarity, intervention, cooperation—but ones that remain loosely defined in the literature. This chapter addresses the following questions: What does unipolarity mean, and why does the distribution of power matter? What is an intervention? When does a particular use of force constitute an intervention? How do we know whether a particular coalition is multilateral or whether it is stacked with states that provide more window dressing than any real decision-making influence?
Peter J. Katzenstein
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199970087
- eISBN:
- 9780199333295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199970087.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter inquires first into the domestic foundations of power. For Krasner the Hartzian view of liberalism is coherent and unitary. This is at odds with much of Louis Hartz’s own writings, which ...
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This chapter inquires first into the domestic foundations of power. For Krasner the Hartzian view of liberalism is coherent and unitary. This is at odds with much of Louis Hartz’s own writings, which historicized the liberal tradition of the United States through a careful examination of its manifestations in subnational, international-comparative, and global contexts. Krasner’s coherence perspective overlooks the creativity of productive power that exploits the structural, racial, and institutional political divisions of America. The chapter also engages Krasner’s argument that rulers, not states, are the basic unit of international politics. For Krasner, actor preferences are uniform at all times and in all places, and rulers are intent on maximizing their individual power. Rather than stipulating the existence of a Homo politicus in a world of rational and autonomous rulers, we should stretch our conceptual categories to conceive of a world of rulers constituted by structures, embedded in institutions and seeking to exercise productive power. The chapter’s final section draws out the implications of these two arguments about contested and multiple traditions and constituted and embedded rulers. We are better served by capacious rather than sparse concepts. Intellectual capaciousness gives us purchase to formulate interesting and novel questions that encompass both actor-centric and relational perspectives. Capacious concepts allow us to escape the strong clutches of paradigmatic thinking and the comfortable cocoon of the like-minded. Working at the interstices of paradigms, with luck and hard work, we can reimagine the world in novel ways.Less
This chapter inquires first into the domestic foundations of power. For Krasner the Hartzian view of liberalism is coherent and unitary. This is at odds with much of Louis Hartz’s own writings, which historicized the liberal tradition of the United States through a careful examination of its manifestations in subnational, international-comparative, and global contexts. Krasner’s coherence perspective overlooks the creativity of productive power that exploits the structural, racial, and institutional political divisions of America. The chapter also engages Krasner’s argument that rulers, not states, are the basic unit of international politics. For Krasner, actor preferences are uniform at all times and in all places, and rulers are intent on maximizing their individual power. Rather than stipulating the existence of a Homo politicus in a world of rational and autonomous rulers, we should stretch our conceptual categories to conceive of a world of rulers constituted by structures, embedded in institutions and seeking to exercise productive power. The chapter’s final section draws out the implications of these two arguments about contested and multiple traditions and constituted and embedded rulers. We are better served by capacious rather than sparse concepts. Intellectual capaciousness gives us purchase to formulate interesting and novel questions that encompass both actor-centric and relational perspectives. Capacious concepts allow us to escape the strong clutches of paradigmatic thinking and the comfortable cocoon of the like-minded. Working at the interstices of paradigms, with luck and hard work, we can reimagine the world in novel ways.
Toni Erskine
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264379
- eISBN:
- 9780191734410
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264379.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This introductory chapter discusses the question of qualifying cosmopolitanism. It discusses concepts such as cosmopolitanism, ethical cosmopolitanism, and contemporary international politics. It ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the question of qualifying cosmopolitanism. It discusses concepts such as cosmopolitanism, ethical cosmopolitanism, and contemporary international politics. It also presents a new term, ‘embedded cosmopolitanism’, which is examined throughout the book. An overview of the following chapters is provided as well.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the question of qualifying cosmopolitanism. It discusses concepts such as cosmopolitanism, ethical cosmopolitanism, and contemporary international politics. It also presents a new term, ‘embedded cosmopolitanism’, which is examined throughout the book. An overview of the following chapters is provided as well.
Ian Hurd
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691196503
- eISBN:
- 9781400888078
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691196503.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter looks at the domestic rule of law and its uneasy translation to international politics. The central claim is this: the domestic rule of law is in effect when there exists a set of stable ...
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This chapter looks at the domestic rule of law and its uneasy translation to international politics. The central claim is this: the domestic rule of law is in effect when there exists a set of stable public laws binding in theory and practice on both citizens and the state. There are two main lines of debate in existing literature on the domestic rule of law. The first asks whether individual human rights and collective social welfare are effects of the rule of law or constitutive of it. The second debate involves how the rule of law can be distinguished from rule by law, in which the state uses the framework of law instrumentally to legitimate and reinforce its domination. Three claims about the rule of law are constant across these debates: that rules should be public and stable, that rules should apply to the government as well as the citizens, and that the rules should be applied equally across cases. None of these translates easily to the realm of international law. Thus, domestic rule of law provides an unsuitable model for an international equivalent.Less
This chapter looks at the domestic rule of law and its uneasy translation to international politics. The central claim is this: the domestic rule of law is in effect when there exists a set of stable public laws binding in theory and practice on both citizens and the state. There are two main lines of debate in existing literature on the domestic rule of law. The first asks whether individual human rights and collective social welfare are effects of the rule of law or constitutive of it. The second debate involves how the rule of law can be distinguished from rule by law, in which the state uses the framework of law instrumentally to legitimate and reinforce its domination. Three claims about the rule of law are constant across these debates: that rules should be public and stable, that rules should apply to the government as well as the citizens, and that the rules should be applied equally across cases. None of these translates easily to the realm of international law. Thus, domestic rule of law provides an unsuitable model for an international equivalent.
Judith G. Kelley
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691152776
- eISBN:
- 9781400842520
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691152776.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
In recent decades, governments and NGOs—in an effort to promote democracy, freedom, fairness, and stability throughout the world—have organized teams of observers to monitor elections in a variety of ...
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In recent decades, governments and NGOs—in an effort to promote democracy, freedom, fairness, and stability throughout the world—have organized teams of observers to monitor elections in a variety of countries. But when more organizations join the practice without uniform standards, are assessments reliable? When politicians nonetheless cheat and monitors must return to countries even after two decades of engagement, what is accomplished? This book argues that the practice of international election monitoring is broken, but still worth fixing. By analyzing the evolving interaction between domestic and international politics, the book refutes prevailing arguments that international efforts cannot curb government behavior and that democratization is entirely a domestic process. Yet, the book also shows that democracy promotion efforts are deficient and that outside actors often have no power and sometimes even do harm. Analyzing original data on over 600 monitoring missions and 1,300 elections, the book grounds its investigation in solid historical context as well as studies of long-term developments over several elections in fifteen countries. It pinpoints the weaknesses of international election monitoring and looks at how practitioners and policymakers might help to improve them.Less
In recent decades, governments and NGOs—in an effort to promote democracy, freedom, fairness, and stability throughout the world—have organized teams of observers to monitor elections in a variety of countries. But when more organizations join the practice without uniform standards, are assessments reliable? When politicians nonetheless cheat and monitors must return to countries even after two decades of engagement, what is accomplished? This book argues that the practice of international election monitoring is broken, but still worth fixing. By analyzing the evolving interaction between domestic and international politics, the book refutes prevailing arguments that international efforts cannot curb government behavior and that democratization is entirely a domestic process. Yet, the book also shows that democracy promotion efforts are deficient and that outside actors often have no power and sometimes even do harm. Analyzing original data on over 600 monitoring missions and 1,300 elections, the book grounds its investigation in solid historical context as well as studies of long-term developments over several elections in fifteen countries. It pinpoints the weaknesses of international election monitoring and looks at how practitioners and policymakers might help to improve them.
Deborah Lavin
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198126164
- eISBN:
- 9780191671623
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198126164.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
Lionel Curtis C. H. once counted among the great and the good, working behind the scenes of international politics and honoured as the ‘pioneer of a great idea’ — international federation as the ...
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Lionel Curtis C. H. once counted among the great and the good, working behind the scenes of international politics and honoured as the ‘pioneer of a great idea’ — international federation as the natural successor to empire. He advocated federation as the way to create a new South Africa after the Boer War; he called for self-government in India in 1912; in 1921 he was instrumental in attempting to pacify the Irish Troubles by treating Eire as if it were a self-governing Commonwealth Dominion. He went on to preach the conversion of the Empire-Commonwealth into a multinational federation, which, in association with the United States, would serve as a model for a united Europe, and even for world government. He founded the Round Table think-tank, the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, and the Oxford Society. He lobbied indefatigably for his vision of the Commonwealth as a new world order, to be more effective that the League of Nations in making wars obsolete. In the process, he exasperated nationalists and imperialists alike as a prophet of apparently lost causes. He deserves to be remembered not only for what he achieved but for what he was: the bore who never lost a friend; the optimist who stuck to his belief when all was lost, the third-class scholar who became a Fellow of All Souls; the visionary riding his hobby-horse into the drawing rooms of high political society and yet invited affectionately to return. The remarkable character of the man and the influence he exerted on the history of the Empire and Commonwealth are explored in this biography.Less
Lionel Curtis C. H. once counted among the great and the good, working behind the scenes of international politics and honoured as the ‘pioneer of a great idea’ — international federation as the natural successor to empire. He advocated federation as the way to create a new South Africa after the Boer War; he called for self-government in India in 1912; in 1921 he was instrumental in attempting to pacify the Irish Troubles by treating Eire as if it were a self-governing Commonwealth Dominion. He went on to preach the conversion of the Empire-Commonwealth into a multinational federation, which, in association with the United States, would serve as a model for a united Europe, and even for world government. He founded the Round Table think-tank, the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, and the Oxford Society. He lobbied indefatigably for his vision of the Commonwealth as a new world order, to be more effective that the League of Nations in making wars obsolete. In the process, he exasperated nationalists and imperialists alike as a prophet of apparently lost causes. He deserves to be remembered not only for what he achieved but for what he was: the bore who never lost a friend; the optimist who stuck to his belief when all was lost, the third-class scholar who became a Fellow of All Souls; the visionary riding his hobby-horse into the drawing rooms of high political society and yet invited affectionately to return. The remarkable character of the man and the influence he exerted on the history of the Empire and Commonwealth are explored in this biography.
Ingo Venzke
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199657674
- eISBN:
- 9780191753114
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199657674.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Philosophy of Law
The texts of international law cannot talk — they are talked about. They passively submit to the need for interpretation and gain meaning in their use. Contrary to classic and still pervasive ...
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The texts of international law cannot talk — they are talked about. They passively submit to the need for interpretation and gain meaning in their use. Contrary to classic and still pervasive narrative suggesting that sovereign states make the law that constraints them, the book shows that in many and most constellations the contents of legal commitments is the product interpretation which shifts meanings and makes law. In the practice of interpretation actors compete over what the law really says and contribute to its making. What then matters in such discourse is an actor’s semantic authority — the capacity to find acceptance for interpretative claims and the ability to establish new reference points for legal discourse. The book identifies the practice of interpretation as a significant space of international lawmaking and draws specific attention to the increasing weight of international institutions in the struggle for the law. Past theoretical approaches come down with significant shortcomings in understanding interpretation as a bounded practice that has both the capacity to create as well as the faculty to control. The book leans on developments in linguistics and builds on semantic pragmatism to overcome old divides and to offer a fresh account of how the practice of interpretation makes international law. Its analytical ambition is paralleled by a discussion of the strong normative implications that immediately arise once received understandings of interpretation and sources doctrine are debunked as myopic and powerless in relation to semantic changes. The book thus closes with a discussion of the bittersweet taste of justice in legal argument, tests the potential of international law and its doctrine to respond to semantic change, and ultimately ponders the possibilities of democratic justification of semantic authority in a normative pluriverse.Less
The texts of international law cannot talk — they are talked about. They passively submit to the need for interpretation and gain meaning in their use. Contrary to classic and still pervasive narrative suggesting that sovereign states make the law that constraints them, the book shows that in many and most constellations the contents of legal commitments is the product interpretation which shifts meanings and makes law. In the practice of interpretation actors compete over what the law really says and contribute to its making. What then matters in such discourse is an actor’s semantic authority — the capacity to find acceptance for interpretative claims and the ability to establish new reference points for legal discourse. The book identifies the practice of interpretation as a significant space of international lawmaking and draws specific attention to the increasing weight of international institutions in the struggle for the law. Past theoretical approaches come down with significant shortcomings in understanding interpretation as a bounded practice that has both the capacity to create as well as the faculty to control. The book leans on developments in linguistics and builds on semantic pragmatism to overcome old divides and to offer a fresh account of how the practice of interpretation makes international law. Its analytical ambition is paralleled by a discussion of the strong normative implications that immediately arise once received understandings of interpretation and sources doctrine are debunked as myopic and powerless in relation to semantic changes. The book thus closes with a discussion of the bittersweet taste of justice in legal argument, tests the potential of international law and its doctrine to respond to semantic change, and ultimately ponders the possibilities of democratic justification of semantic authority in a normative pluriverse.
