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.
Kathleen R. Mcnamara
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199247967
- eISBN:
- 9780191601088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924796X.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
An analysis is presented of the creation and development of rules governing the organizational form and the policy content of the European Central Bank (ECB). The establishment of the ECB and the ...
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An analysis is presented of the creation and development of rules governing the organizational form and the policy content of the European Central Bank (ECB). The establishment of the ECB and the launching of the Euro constitute an extraordinary innovation, one that opens and organizes a new institutional space in Europe. The ECB system is assessed in the light of three broad theoretical approaches emphasizing, respectively, power politics, institutions as rational solutions to collective problems, and pre-existing normative (social) structures. Power politics and functional rationality approaches are found to fail to account for important aspects of the ECB’s rules and policy mandates, while, in contrast, a sociological emphasis on institutional context is useful in explaining the continuities linking the ECB to the normative structure that had previously developed – largely within the network of central-bank governors – and diffused throughout the organizational field in which monetary policy-making was embedded. It was the need to legitimize the new ECB in terms of these broader norms that shaped the ECB’s organizational structure and governing rules: in particular, pre-existing norms influenced three key aspects of the ECB – its political independence, its criteria for membership, and its rules for price stability.Less
An analysis is presented of the creation and development of rules governing the organizational form and the policy content of the European Central Bank (ECB). The establishment of the ECB and the launching of the Euro constitute an extraordinary innovation, one that opens and organizes a new institutional space in Europe. The ECB system is assessed in the light of three broad theoretical approaches emphasizing, respectively, power politics, institutions as rational solutions to collective problems, and pre-existing normative (social) structures. Power politics and functional rationality approaches are found to fail to account for important aspects of the ECB’s rules and policy mandates, while, in contrast, a sociological emphasis on institutional context is useful in explaining the continuities linking the ECB to the normative structure that had previously developed – largely within the network of central-bank governors – and diffused throughout the organizational field in which monetary policy-making was embedded. It was the need to legitimize the new ECB in terms of these broader norms that shaped the ECB’s organizational structure and governing rules: in particular, pre-existing norms influenced three key aspects of the ECB – its political independence, its criteria for membership, and its rules for price stability.
Derek Drinkwater
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199273850
- eISBN:
- 9780191602344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199273855.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Sir Harold Nicolson’s international thought, more specifically, his thinking on international order, diplomacy, a united Europe, world government, and global peace, was shaped by his upbringing in a ...
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Sir Harold Nicolson’s international thought, more specifically, his thinking on international order, diplomacy, a united Europe, world government, and global peace, was shaped by his upbringing in a diplomatic household, an Oxford classical education, and two decades as a diplomat in Europe and Asia Minor. Especially significant were his Foreign Office service in London during the First World War and his involvement in peacemaking at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, which culminated in the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Nicolson also made important contributions at the Lausanne Conference (1922–23), en poste in Germany between 1927 and 1929, and as an anti-appeasement MP prior to the Second World War. His fifty-year career, from the time of the Balkan Wars to Suez, represented an attempt to resolve the question of how best to secure international stability: through power politics, idealism, or an amalgam of realist and idealist approaches.Less
Sir Harold Nicolson’s international thought, more specifically, his thinking on international order, diplomacy, a united Europe, world government, and global peace, was shaped by his upbringing in a diplomatic household, an Oxford classical education, and two decades as a diplomat in Europe and Asia Minor. Especially significant were his Foreign Office service in London during the First World War and his involvement in peacemaking at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, which culminated in the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Nicolson also made important contributions at the Lausanne Conference (1922–23), en poste in Germany between 1927 and 1929, and as an anti-appeasement MP prior to the Second World War. His fifty-year career, from the time of the Balkan Wars to Suez, represented an attempt to resolve the question of how best to secure international stability: through power politics, idealism, or an amalgam of realist and idealist approaches.
Dale C. Copeland
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161587
- eISBN:
- 9781400852703
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161587.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter explores the forty-five-year period after the Crimean War when great powers of all stripes fell into an intense competition for formal political control over third-party territories. The ...
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This chapter explores the forty-five-year period after the Crimean War when great powers of all stripes fell into an intense competition for formal political control over third-party territories. The competition greatly increased the level of tension in the system, even if most of the struggles stopped short of a direct great power war. Most significantly, of course, France, Britain, and Germany dove into a scramble for colonial territory after 1880 that drew most of Africa and large parts of Asia into the European orbit. On two particular occasions—the Austro-Prussian “Seven Weeks' War” of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870—large-scale war between two great powers did break out. The purpose of the chapter is to uncover to what extent and in what manner economic interdependence shaped the struggles and wars of this almost-half-century period.Less
This chapter explores the forty-five-year period after the Crimean War when great powers of all stripes fell into an intense competition for formal political control over third-party territories. The competition greatly increased the level of tension in the system, even if most of the struggles stopped short of a direct great power war. Most significantly, of course, France, Britain, and Germany dove into a scramble for colonial territory after 1880 that drew most of Africa and large parts of Asia into the European orbit. On two particular occasions—the Austro-Prussian “Seven Weeks' War” of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870—large-scale war between two great powers did break out. The purpose of the chapter is to uncover to what extent and in what manner economic interdependence shaped the struggles and wars of this almost-half-century period.
Martha Finnemore and Judith Goldstein
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199970087
- eISBN:
- 9780199333295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199970087.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
No theory gives state power a more central place than realism. Indeed, the term “power politics” is often synonymous with realism and realpolitik foreign policy, but making the concept of power ...
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No theory gives state power a more central place than realism. Indeed, the term “power politics” is often synonymous with realism and realpolitik foreign policy, but making the concept of power tractable has been a challenge even for realists. No scholar better exemplifies the intellectual challenges of making realism a robust social scientific theory than Stephen Krasner. Throughout his career he has wrestled with realism’s promises and limitations. He reinvigorated concepts of relative state power in his analysis of foreign policy and international institutions in the 1970s and 1980s, but in the 1990s came to question realism’s assumptions about unitary states and the fundamentals of state sovereignty. At the turn of the century, he was abandoning his neorealist colleagues and pointing out fundamental contradictions between realism’s ontology of fully sovereign autonomous states and realism’s assumption of anarchy in which states can further their interests by altering the domestic authority structures of other states. Yet, since leaving government, Krasner has returned to his realist roots, exploring new roles for state power. Krasner’s intellectual journey highlights not only the tensions in realist thinking but also the enduring utility and importance of a power-politics approach.Less
No theory gives state power a more central place than realism. Indeed, the term “power politics” is often synonymous with realism and realpolitik foreign policy, but making the concept of power tractable has been a challenge even for realists. No scholar better exemplifies the intellectual challenges of making realism a robust social scientific theory than Stephen Krasner. Throughout his career he has wrestled with realism’s promises and limitations. He reinvigorated concepts of relative state power in his analysis of foreign policy and international institutions in the 1970s and 1980s, but in the 1990s came to question realism’s assumptions about unitary states and the fundamentals of state sovereignty. At the turn of the century, he was abandoning his neorealist colleagues and pointing out fundamental contradictions between realism’s ontology of fully sovereign autonomous states and realism’s assumption of anarchy in which states can further their interests by altering the domestic authority structures of other states. Yet, since leaving government, Krasner has returned to his realist roots, exploring new roles for state power. Krasner’s intellectual journey highlights not only the tensions in realist thinking but also the enduring utility and importance of a power-politics approach.
Hugh Grady
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198130048
- eISBN:
- 9780191671906
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198130048.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Shakespeare Studies
In the 1608 Quarto version of King Lear, there is an image of a rapacious, self-destructive animal, similar to the universal wolf of Troilus and ...
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In the 1608 Quarto version of King Lear, there is an image of a rapacious, self-destructive animal, similar to the universal wolf of Troilus and Cressida, which seems to be a metaphor for reification. Both this metaphor and the thematic logic of the play (in each of its closely related versions) describe reification as a social process seeking the ruin of traditional values, human life, and society generally in an amoral, instinctual drive to power with an inevitable Hobbesian outcome. King Lear's thematics locate the play in the terrain not only of Michel Foucault's theories of power, but also, perhaps more tellingly, in that of the recent work of Jürgen Habermas. This play enacts a logic of resistance to power troubling to Foucault's theories of subjection, but consistent with Habermas's treatment of problems of legitimation. Furthermore, it deals with the related but culturally sensitive themes of social inequality, the basis of kingly authority, and the corrosive nature of power politics.Less
In the 1608 Quarto version of King Lear, there is an image of a rapacious, self-destructive animal, similar to the universal wolf of Troilus and Cressida, which seems to be a metaphor for reification. Both this metaphor and the thematic logic of the play (in each of its closely related versions) describe reification as a social process seeking the ruin of traditional values, human life, and society generally in an amoral, instinctual drive to power with an inevitable Hobbesian outcome. King Lear's thematics locate the play in the terrain not only of Michel Foucault's theories of power, but also, perhaps more tellingly, in that of the recent work of Jürgen Habermas. This play enacts a logic of resistance to power troubling to Foucault's theories of subjection, but consistent with Habermas's treatment of problems of legitimation. Furthermore, it deals with the related but culturally sensitive themes of social inequality, the basis of kingly authority, and the corrosive nature of power politics.
Gábor Ágoston
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199608638
- eISBN:
- 9780191731754
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199608638.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
From its rise around 1300, and continuing from the mid‐fifteenth century until its demise during World War I, the Ottoman Empire was a crucial player in European and Asian power politics: first as a ...
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From its rise around 1300, and continuing from the mid‐fifteenth century until its demise during World War I, the Ottoman Empire was a crucial player in European and Asian power politics: first as a major Islamic threat to Christian Europe and later as a weakening military power over whose territories and resources the European Great Powers competed. In Chapter 5, Gábor Ágoston examines the grand strategy of the early Ottomans, focusing on how a small Turkic principality evolved into an empire with the conquest of Byzantine Constantinople (1453). Ágoston suggests that until the late sixteenth century, the Ottoman rulers sought ‘the gradual expansion of earlier Ottoman frontiers into a world empire by defeating Christian and Muslim neighbours and rivals and incorporating their territories’. Changes in the geopolitical setting during the mid‐sixteenth century caused the Ottoman strategy to shift towards defending earlier gains, using fortresses, garrisons, and provisional forces.Less
From its rise around 1300, and continuing from the mid‐fifteenth century until its demise during World War I, the Ottoman Empire was a crucial player in European and Asian power politics: first as a major Islamic threat to Christian Europe and later as a weakening military power over whose territories and resources the European Great Powers competed. In Chapter 5, Gábor Ágoston examines the grand strategy of the early Ottomans, focusing on how a small Turkic principality evolved into an empire with the conquest of Byzantine Constantinople (1453). Ágoston suggests that until the late sixteenth century, the Ottoman rulers sought ‘the gradual expansion of earlier Ottoman frontiers into a world empire by defeating Christian and Muslim neighbours and rivals and incorporating their territories’. Changes in the geopolitical setting during the mid‐sixteenth century caused the Ottoman strategy to shift towards defending earlier gains, using fortresses, garrisons, and provisional forces.
Richard Hoefer
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199735198
- eISBN:
- 9780199918560
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199735198.003.0003
- Subject:
- Social Work, Research and Evaluation
The Politics and Power Approach to understanding social policy creation is described and applied to the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Law. This approach focuses on who wins and ...
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The Politics and Power Approach to understanding social policy creation is described and applied to the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Law. This approach focuses on who wins and who loses based on their relative power resources at different points in the policy process. Introducing a policy process model combined with differential power analysis, this chapter provides readers a way of understanding policy through looking at how influence, persuasion and decision-making are conducted by system insiders and those who want to be on the inside. A discussion of elitist and pluralistic approaches to understanding policy decisions is included as background to the analysis of TANF. These theories are important in that they describe the relative weight of “the people” in the thinking of decision-makers.Less
The Politics and Power Approach to understanding social policy creation is described and applied to the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Law. This approach focuses on who wins and who loses based on their relative power resources at different points in the policy process. Introducing a policy process model combined with differential power analysis, this chapter provides readers a way of understanding policy through looking at how influence, persuasion and decision-making are conducted by system insiders and those who want to be on the inside. A discussion of elitist and pluralistic approaches to understanding policy decisions is included as background to the analysis of TANF. These theories are important in that they describe the relative weight of “the people” in the thinking of decision-makers.
Harsh V. Pant
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198073963
- eISBN:
- 9780199080809
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198073963.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
Negotiating the nuclear pact between India and the United States proved problematic because of the two competing imperatives of the latter's foreign policy: great power politics versus nuclear ...
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Negotiating the nuclear pact between India and the United States proved problematic because of the two competing imperatives of the latter's foreign policy: great power politics versus nuclear weapons non-proliferation. President George W. Bush's administration considered the agreement primarily as an instrument to develop a strategic alliance with India, but many members of Congress would support it only if it contributed to the objectives of non-proliferation. In India, political critics viewed the agreement as a ploy by the US to stifle India's nuclear options. Aside from nuclear technicalities, the US-India civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreement is also about the emergence of a new configuration in global balance of power. This chapter discusses the long-standing debate in the international relations literature about the effectiveness of international institutions in global politics, as well as the civilian nuclear energy pacts signed by India with other nations following that with the US.Less
Negotiating the nuclear pact between India and the United States proved problematic because of the two competing imperatives of the latter's foreign policy: great power politics versus nuclear weapons non-proliferation. President George W. Bush's administration considered the agreement primarily as an instrument to develop a strategic alliance with India, but many members of Congress would support it only if it contributed to the objectives of non-proliferation. In India, political critics viewed the agreement as a ploy by the US to stifle India's nuclear options. Aside from nuclear technicalities, the US-India civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreement is also about the emergence of a new configuration in global balance of power. This chapter discusses the long-standing debate in the international relations literature about the effectiveness of international institutions in global politics, as well as the civilian nuclear energy pacts signed by India with other nations following that with the US.
Stephanie Steinle
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199270583
- eISBN:
- 9780191710230
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199270583.003.0020
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
Georg Schwarzenberger described himself as ‘European; born and bred in Germany, with British nationality and British loyalties’. His life was indeed characterised by the crossing of borders: he ...
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Georg Schwarzenberger described himself as ‘European; born and bred in Germany, with British nationality and British loyalties’. His life was indeed characterised by the crossing of borders: he distanced himself from his Jewish religion and bourgeois family, emigrated from Germany to England, and, finally, changed his scholarly area from international law to international relations. Schwarzenberger was born in Heilbronn, Württemberg, in 1908. For his legal studies, Schwarzenberger chose the University of Heidelberg, considered the most liberal university in Germany. This chapter chronicles the life of Schwarzenberger as an émigré legal scholar in England, his settlement in London, his approach to international law, his promotion of international law, his work on international law and power politics, and his influence on English law.Less
Georg Schwarzenberger described himself as ‘European; born and bred in Germany, with British nationality and British loyalties’. His life was indeed characterised by the crossing of borders: he distanced himself from his Jewish religion and bourgeois family, emigrated from Germany to England, and, finally, changed his scholarly area from international law to international relations. Schwarzenberger was born in Heilbronn, Württemberg, in 1908. For his legal studies, Schwarzenberger chose the University of Heidelberg, considered the most liberal university in Germany. This chapter chronicles the life of Schwarzenberger as an émigré legal scholar in England, his settlement in London, his approach to international law, his promotion of international law, his work on international law and power politics, and his influence on English law.
Laurie M. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501747809
- eISBN:
- 9781501747823
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501747809.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter examines the difference between Thucydides and Hobbes on the issue of justice. The difference between what should be and what is reverberates in Thucydides' moral dramas. All the ...
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This chapter examines the difference between Thucydides and Hobbes on the issue of justice. The difference between what should be and what is reverberates in Thucydides' moral dramas. All the characters recognize the tension between justice and the demands of power politics. Thucydides equates justice with the avoidance of needless and excessive bloodshed and with adherence to basic war conventions, such as not killing women and children. In his treatment of Plataea, Thucydides recognizes the value of traditional notions of virtue and justice. However, he laments that men are always willing to violate these principles because of envy and need for revenge. Indeed, Thucydides holds out little hope that mankind will at any time recognize the Melian claim that its interests lie in adherence to a common code of justice. Hobbes thinks that a common code of justice is in the common interest of mankind but that the only way it can be consistently upheld is if there is an absolute sovereign to maintain it. This means that at the international level, one cannot expect all laws of nature to be observed consistently. States need only obey these laws if their unilateral obedience will cause them no harm. In this way, Hobbes makes justice and expediency coincide.Less
This chapter examines the difference between Thucydides and Hobbes on the issue of justice. The difference between what should be and what is reverberates in Thucydides' moral dramas. All the characters recognize the tension between justice and the demands of power politics. Thucydides equates justice with the avoidance of needless and excessive bloodshed and with adherence to basic war conventions, such as not killing women and children. In his treatment of Plataea, Thucydides recognizes the value of traditional notions of virtue and justice. However, he laments that men are always willing to violate these principles because of envy and need for revenge. Indeed, Thucydides holds out little hope that mankind will at any time recognize the Melian claim that its interests lie in adherence to a common code of justice. Hobbes thinks that a common code of justice is in the common interest of mankind but that the only way it can be consistently upheld is if there is an absolute sovereign to maintain it. This means that at the international level, one cannot expect all laws of nature to be observed consistently. States need only obey these laws if their unilateral obedience will cause them no harm. In this way, Hobbes makes justice and expediency coincide.
John Lechte and Saul Newman
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780748645725
- eISBN:
- 9780748689163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748645725.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Reference
The task of this chapter is to clarify what we see as Agamben's understanding of politics, a question which is otherwise very opaque in his work. It is argued here that seeing Agamben as a political ...
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The task of this chapter is to clarify what we see as Agamben's understanding of politics, a question which is otherwise very opaque in his work. It is argued here that seeing Agamben as a political thinker – which we do — relies on being able to make a coherent distinction between politics and power. Here this distinction is explored through, first, a critical engagement with Chantal Mouffe's category of the political, and then with Antonio Negri's distinction between constituting and constituted power, neither of which, we argue, adequately accounts for Agamben's understanding of politics. We then turn to Walter Benjamin's ‘Critique of Violence’, in which the project of transcending legal violence through the enigmatic notion of ‘divine violence’ takes us closer to Agamben's messianic and ‘anarchic’ way of thinking about politics beyond the clasps of law and sovereignty.Less
The task of this chapter is to clarify what we see as Agamben's understanding of politics, a question which is otherwise very opaque in his work. It is argued here that seeing Agamben as a political thinker – which we do — relies on being able to make a coherent distinction between politics and power. Here this distinction is explored through, first, a critical engagement with Chantal Mouffe's category of the political, and then with Antonio Negri's distinction between constituting and constituted power, neither of which, we argue, adequately accounts for Agamben's understanding of politics. We then turn to Walter Benjamin's ‘Critique of Violence’, in which the project of transcending legal violence through the enigmatic notion of ‘divine violence’ takes us closer to Agamben's messianic and ‘anarchic’ way of thinking about politics beyond the clasps of law and sovereignty.
Sebastian Rosato
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801449352
- eISBN:
- 9780801460982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801449352.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter is structured around four questions: Why did the Europeans not achieve economic integration in the late 1940s and early 1950s? Why did the Federal Republic of Germany welcome the Benelux ...
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This chapter is structured around four questions: Why did the Europeans not achieve economic integration in the late 1940s and early 1950s? Why did the Federal Republic of Germany welcome the Benelux proposal in 1955 and make substantial concessions to France in order to establish the European Economic Community (EEC)? Why did the French agree to create a supranational common market so soon after rejecting the defense community and then carry through on their commitment? And why did the British initially join the discussions, quickly pull out, and then propose a competing European industrial free trade area (FTA) in October 1956, before finally seeking to associate their own economic grouping with the common market? It argues that these events are best understood as the product of balance of power politics. Specifically, the global distribution of power made European cooperation possible, and the major protagonists endorsed or refused integration based on balance of power calculations.Less
This chapter is structured around four questions: Why did the Europeans not achieve economic integration in the late 1940s and early 1950s? Why did the Federal Republic of Germany welcome the Benelux proposal in 1955 and make substantial concessions to France in order to establish the European Economic Community (EEC)? Why did the French agree to create a supranational common market so soon after rejecting the defense community and then carry through on their commitment? And why did the British initially join the discussions, quickly pull out, and then propose a competing European industrial free trade area (FTA) in October 1956, before finally seeking to associate their own economic grouping with the common market? It argues that these events are best understood as the product of balance of power politics. Specifically, the global distribution of power made European cooperation possible, and the major protagonists endorsed or refused integration based on balance of power calculations.
Stefano Guzzini
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781529209839
- eISBN:
- 9781529209860
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529209839.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter argues that, rather than seeing realist constructivisms as a combination of two explanatory theories, they should be viewed as combinations of different types of theorising. They ...
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This chapter argues that, rather than seeing realist constructivisms as a combination of two explanatory theories, they should be viewed as combinations of different types of theorising. They combines a political theory informed by realism (based on power politics) that, in turn, informs a realist foreign policy strategy and morality based on a prudential check on power, with an explanatory theory largely informed by constructivism. In this way, combining realism and constructivism can be seen as an attempt to think the different layers of IR theorising in parallel, and yet to explore new combinations not within but across types of theorising.Less
This chapter argues that, rather than seeing realist constructivisms as a combination of two explanatory theories, they should be viewed as combinations of different types of theorising. They combines a political theory informed by realism (based on power politics) that, in turn, informs a realist foreign policy strategy and morality based on a prudential check on power, with an explanatory theory largely informed by constructivism. In this way, combining realism and constructivism can be seen as an attempt to think the different layers of IR theorising in parallel, and yet to explore new combinations not within but across types of theorising.
Sebastian Rosato
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801449352
- eISBN:
- 9780801460982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801449352.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter addresses the following questions: Why did the French agree to create a military community in 1952? Having signed the European Defense Community (EDC) treaty, why did they subsequently ...
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This chapter addresses the following questions: Why did the French agree to create a military community in 1952? Having signed the European Defense Community (EDC) treaty, why did they subsequently refuse to ratify it and instead seek German membership in the Western European Union (WEU) and NATO in 1954? Why did West Germany welcome the French proposal for a Europe an army and sign and ratify the EDC treaty? And why did Britain refuse to become involved in the EDC negotiations? It argues that these events were the consequence of balance of power politics: the power configuration that made European cooperation in heavy industry possible remained in force, and each state chose to engage in or forego integration based on balance of power calculations.Less
This chapter addresses the following questions: Why did the French agree to create a military community in 1952? Having signed the European Defense Community (EDC) treaty, why did they subsequently refuse to ratify it and instead seek German membership in the Western European Union (WEU) and NATO in 1954? Why did West Germany welcome the French proposal for a Europe an army and sign and ratify the EDC treaty? And why did Britain refuse to become involved in the EDC negotiations? It argues that these events were the consequence of balance of power politics: the power configuration that made European cooperation in heavy industry possible remained in force, and each state chose to engage in or forego integration based on balance of power calculations.
JAMES CRAWFORD
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199228423
- eISBN:
- 9780191714375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199228423.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
The classical criteria for statehood (the so-called Montevideo criteria) were essentially based on the principle of effectiveness. The proposition that statehood is a question of fact derives strong ...
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The classical criteria for statehood (the so-called Montevideo criteria) were essentially based on the principle of effectiveness. The proposition that statehood is a question of fact derives strong support from the equation of effectiveness with statehood. It is necessary to distinguish two possible positions: that there cannot a priori be any criteria for statehood independent of effectiveness, and that no such criteria yet exist as a matter of international law. Fundamentally, the argument that international law cannot regulate or control effective territorial entities is an expression of the view that international law cannot regulate power politics at all; that it is in the end non-peremptory. But on its own terms and with whatever results, international law is in a stage of development towards greater coherence and cogency. An important development here has been the acceptance of the notion of peremptory norms of general international law.Less
The classical criteria for statehood (the so-called Montevideo criteria) were essentially based on the principle of effectiveness. The proposition that statehood is a question of fact derives strong support from the equation of effectiveness with statehood. It is necessary to distinguish two possible positions: that there cannot a priori be any criteria for statehood independent of effectiveness, and that no such criteria yet exist as a matter of international law. Fundamentally, the argument that international law cannot regulate or control effective territorial entities is an expression of the view that international law cannot regulate power politics at all; that it is in the end non-peremptory. But on its own terms and with whatever results, international law is in a stage of development towards greater coherence and cogency. An important development here has been the acceptance of the notion of peremptory norms of general international law.
Charles L. Hughes
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469622439
- eISBN:
- 9781469623245
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469622439.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter explores the role of Memphis Sound as a both a symbol and an instrument of the Black Power Movement. It highlights Stax Records, who, under the leadership of Al Bell, amplified the ...
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This chapter explores the role of Memphis Sound as a both a symbol and an instrument of the Black Power Movement. It highlights Stax Records, who, under the leadership of Al Bell, amplified the musical “blackness” of its recordings. The studio used nationalist rhetoric in its advertisements and public statements, and allied with African American political organizations in order to force the issue of racial disparity. This unfortunately angered some of the label's white staff members and challenged Stax's image as a site of integration. However, the studio never abandoned the integrationist discourse of the Memphis Sound, nor did they stop using white musicians. The chapter mentions the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, an all-white band, whose career serves as an illustration of how the story of Stax records in these years reveals the multifaceted role of Black Power politics in soul music, the country-soul triangle, and the U.S. recording industry.Less
This chapter explores the role of Memphis Sound as a both a symbol and an instrument of the Black Power Movement. It highlights Stax Records, who, under the leadership of Al Bell, amplified the musical “blackness” of its recordings. The studio used nationalist rhetoric in its advertisements and public statements, and allied with African American political organizations in order to force the issue of racial disparity. This unfortunately angered some of the label's white staff members and challenged Stax's image as a site of integration. However, the studio never abandoned the integrationist discourse of the Memphis Sound, nor did they stop using white musicians. The chapter mentions the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, an all-white band, whose career serves as an illustration of how the story of Stax records in these years reveals the multifaceted role of Black Power politics in soul music, the country-soul triangle, and the U.S. recording industry.
Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- March 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190916473
- eISBN:
- 9780190054557
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190916473.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter identifies three drivers of hegemonic unraveling and transformation in international orders: great-power contestation and alternative order building; how the dominant power’s loss of its ...
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This chapter identifies three drivers of hegemonic unraveling and transformation in international orders: great-power contestation and alternative order building; how the dominant power’s loss of its “patronage monopoly” enhances the bargaining leverage of weaker states; and the rise of counter-order movements, especially transnational ones, that weaken support for existing international arrangements—sometimes within the leading power itself. Because analysts tend to focus their attention on the relationship between power transitions and great-power wars, they have only recently begun to appreciate the significance of these three processes. This chapter shows that these challenges—from above, below, and within—played a key role in past power transitions and transformations in international order, including the decline of Spanish hegemony, challenges to British hegemony before World War I, the rise of fascism and Bolshevism during the interwar period, decolonization, and the collapse of the Soviet system.Less
This chapter identifies three drivers of hegemonic unraveling and transformation in international orders: great-power contestation and alternative order building; how the dominant power’s loss of its “patronage monopoly” enhances the bargaining leverage of weaker states; and the rise of counter-order movements, especially transnational ones, that weaken support for existing international arrangements—sometimes within the leading power itself. Because analysts tend to focus their attention on the relationship between power transitions and great-power wars, they have only recently begun to appreciate the significance of these three processes. This chapter shows that these challenges—from above, below, and within—played a key role in past power transitions and transformations in international order, including the decline of Spanish hegemony, challenges to British hegemony before World War I, the rise of fascism and Bolshevism during the interwar period, decolonization, and the collapse of the Soviet system.
David M. Edelstein
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501707568
- eISBN:
- 9781501709449
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501707568.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Security Studies
The concluding chapter of the book begins by reviewing the argument and the evidence presented throughout the book. It then turns to a discussion of the theoretical and policy implications of the ...
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The concluding chapter of the book begins by reviewing the argument and the evidence presented throughout the book. It then turns to a discussion of the theoretical and policy implications of the argument. Theoretically, the book draws new attention to the importance of temporality in international politics while also reframing how the effect of uncertainty in international politics is understood. In terms of policy implications, the conclusion examines the likely direction of Sino-American relations in the coming years, including those factors that might lead to a further deterioration of that relationship. The book concludes with a discussion of avenues for future research on time horizons, uncertainty, and beliefs about state intentions.Less
The concluding chapter of the book begins by reviewing the argument and the evidence presented throughout the book. It then turns to a discussion of the theoretical and policy implications of the argument. Theoretically, the book draws new attention to the importance of temporality in international politics while also reframing how the effect of uncertainty in international politics is understood. In terms of policy implications, the conclusion examines the likely direction of Sino-American relations in the coming years, including those factors that might lead to a further deterioration of that relationship. The book concludes with a discussion of avenues for future research on time horizons, uncertainty, and beliefs about state intentions.
Karl Kraus
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780300236002
- eISBN:
- 9780300252804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300236002.003.0018
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter investigates the extent to which the struggle against the anti-German Spirit is German in origin. Kraus's “Prayer to the Sun of Gibeon,” misinterpreted when it appeared in 1916, ...
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This chapter investigates the extent to which the struggle against the anti-German Spirit is German in origin. Kraus's “Prayer to the Sun of Gibeon,” misinterpreted when it appeared in 1916, highlights the absurdity of a world of power politics in which the pan-German present uncannily converged with an Old Testament narrative fraught with atrocities. The reflection “On the Sinai Front” of 1917 pointed to the concurrence of two ethnicities. This was expressed by Schopenhauer's definition of a nation that “worships a God who promises it the lands of its neighbours.” During the World War, the Old Testament and modern German ideologies of being “chosen peoples” had already reached a point of convergence—of alignment before the event.Less
This chapter investigates the extent to which the struggle against the anti-German Spirit is German in origin. Kraus's “Prayer to the Sun of Gibeon,” misinterpreted when it appeared in 1916, highlights the absurdity of a world of power politics in which the pan-German present uncannily converged with an Old Testament narrative fraught with atrocities. The reflection “On the Sinai Front” of 1917 pointed to the concurrence of two ethnicities. This was expressed by Schopenhauer's definition of a nation that “worships a God who promises it the lands of its neighbours.” During the World War, the Old Testament and modern German ideologies of being “chosen peoples” had already reached a point of convergence—of alignment before the event.