This volume examines the complex international system of the twenty first century from a variety of perspectives. Proceeding from critical theoretical perspectives and incorporating case studies, the chapters focus on broad trends as well as micro-realities of a Post-Westphalian international system. The process of transformation and change of the international system has been an ongoing cumulative process. Many forces including conflict, technological innovation, and communication have contributed to the creation of a transnational world with political, economic, and social implications for all societies. Transnationalism functions both as an integrative factor and one which exposes the existing and the newly emerging divisions between societies and cultures and between nations and states. The chapters in this volume demonstrate that re-thinking fundamental assumptions as well as theoretical and methodological premises is central to understanding the dynamics of interdependence.

With a diverse group of contributors from law, business and the social sciences, this book explores the line not only between order and disorder in global affairs, but also chaos and control, continuity and change, the core and the margins. The key themes include: global crises and the role of international law, norms and institutions; the challenge of pluralism to regulatory clarity; and critical assessments of taken-for-granted systems and values such as capitalism, centralised government, de-militarisation and the separation of powers. The book divides into two key parts. The first part, `Conceptions’, considers the diverse way in which order/disorder can be conceived in global governance and regulation. The second part, `Case Studies’, groups chapters around five topic areas: citizens, capitalism, conflict, crime and courts. The authors here build on the themes presented in the first part by embedding them within specific areas of international regulation, such as international criminal law, maritime law or finance regulation; jurisdictions and regions, such as Australia, Canada, China, Japan and South Asia; and subject-matter, such as water resources, citizenship, statelessness and public interest litigation. This blend of contemporary subject-matter, empirical studies, multi-disciplinary perspectives and academic theories provides a comprehensive analysis to current and emerging debates in the broader global community. In utilizing interdisciplinary studies to draw out common issues and alternative solutions, the book will appeal to a wide readership among academics and policy-makers.

This volume examines the complex international system of the twenty first century from a variety of perspectives. Proceeding from critical theoretical perspectives and incorporating case studies, the chapters focus on broad trends as well as micro-realities of a Post-Westphalian international system. The process of transformation and change of the international system has been an ongoing cumulative process. Many forces including conflict, technological innovation, and communication have contributed to the creation of a transnational world with political, economic, and social implications for all societies. Transnationalism functions both as an integrative factor and one which exposes the existing and the newly emerging divisions between societies and cultures and between nations and states. The chapters in this volume demonstrate that re-thinking fundamental assumptions as well as theoretical and methodological premises is central to understanding the dynamics of interdependence.

This exciting new textbook challenges the implicit notions inherent in most existing International Relations (IR) scholarship and instead presents the subject as seen from different vantage points in the global South. Divided into four sections, (1) the IR discipline, (2) key concepts and categories, (3) global issues and (4) IR futures, it examines the ways in which world politics have been addressed by traditional core approaches and explores the limitations of these treatments for understanding both Southern and Northern experiences of the "international." The book encourages readers to consider how key ideas have been developed in the discipline, and through systematic interventions by contributors from around the globe, aims at both transforming and enriching the dominant terms of scholarly debate. This empowering, critical and reflexive tool for thinking about the diversity of experiences of international relations and for placing them front and center in the classroom will help professors and students in both the global North and the global South envision the world differently. In addition to general, introductory IR courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels it will appeal to courses on sociology and historiography of knowledge, globalization, neoliberalism, security, the state, imperialism and international political economy.

This book provides the reader with a comprehensive study of the future perspectives of the international order after the collapse of the Evil Empire. The first part of the book reviews the likely evolution of the international system in the years to come, covering the global implications of the end of the East--West order (political, economic and strategic impact); the second part studies the specificities of the situation in Europe, the U.S.A., Asia, and the rest of the world, as well as the role of some international organizations. The book addresses the basic questions facing us since the collapse of the socialist system: What has been the impact of the collapse of the East--West order on the international system? How will various regions and actors be affected by these changes? How will they react to them? What will be the most important challenges and threats in the future international system, and how can we prepare for them? Gathered together in this volume are contributions from some of the most eminent experts from the academic community as well as from governmental and international organizations, making it a reference book for students of international affairs as well as policy-makers and corporate managers.

In this book, ten substantive chapters examine how collisions between technological developments (globalizing forces) and thickening populist pressures (localizing dynamics) constantly keep reinventing the state in unforeseen and unpredictable ways. We learn of how international organizations have fared, and to what extent grass-roots grumbles have impacted big-picture developments in quite diverse parts of the world. Just placing unfolding crises under the microscope cannot but generate policy-solving observations. Treated in corresponding order, these crises revolve around adjusting international institutions; absorbing current populist outbursts; shifting from peacekeeping to peacemaking; spying in the global south; absorbing displaced persons; Rwandan land reform; pandemic and RMG readjustments; Bangladesh’s democratic transition; Rohingyan-Syrian refugees; and Mexico’s 1990s liberalization. Though overarching, observations in the book accent state strength battling with state porosity; the downward spiraling of global order; and the simple lack of any controlling mechanism against globalizing/localizing dynamics in the trenches of everyday life being matched by continued uncertainty on the analytical plane.

This book examines the current phase of world order transition in the Atlantic area, focusing on Europe and Northern America, Asia, and Africa. In particular, it describes four processes of world order transition, namely the decreasing American leadership, the rising power of China, the receding effectiveness of economy and security world policies, and the continued but inadequate operation of the world policy-making institutions. Part one of the book presents perspectives on world order transition developed by political science schools, i.e. the world hegemony and the power transition school, and by the experts of complexity theory, a newcomer in social sciences. These theories are best suited to explain the order transition and to supply consistent, complementary data and insights on the juncture of the four processes pushing for the creation of the new world order. Part two looks into the impact of order transition on the Atlantic area. The authors focus on the existing tensions and the potentials for change that affect the long-time relations between the USA, the European countries, and Canada. At the same time, the interference of China into the politics and economy of Europe is analyzed, in particular through a case study of the relations between China and the Baltic states.

Evolving New World Order/Disorder demonstrates the interrelationship of geography to developments of national power, cultural composition, and international complexities in the Peoples' Republic of China, the new Russia, Western Europe, and the United States. Much of the study is centered on China as the nation of the third millennium, on the new significance of the Caspian Sea region, and requirements for international cooperation in sensitive and serious problems facing the world. It also explains the changing policies of NATO and its emphasis on maintaining peace in Europe and nearby regions and relegating to the background its initial major objective of having to defend Western Europe against attack by the Soviet Union.

International Relations have rarely been considered a synthesis of humanistic and social sciences approaches to understand the complex connections of a global, and globalizing, world. One of the few scholars to have accomplished this creative blend was Hayward R. Alker. Alker and IR presents a set of visionary and original essays from scholars who have been profoundly influenced by Alker's approach to global studies. They build on the foundation he laid, demonstrating the practicality and usefulness of ethically grounded, theoretically informed and interdisciplinary research for producing knowledge. They show how substantive boundaries can be crossed and methodological rules rewritten in the search for a deeper, more contextualized approach to global politics. This book will be of interest to researchers and students of international relations and global politics.

This timely and original volume fills the gaps in the existing theoretical and philosophical literature on international relations by problematizing civilization as a new unit of research in global politics. It interrogates to what extent and in what ways civilization is becoming a strategic frame of reference in the current world order. The book complements and advances the existing field of study previously dominated by other approaches – economic, national, class-based, racial, and colonial – and tests its key philosophical suppositions against countries that exhibit civilizational ambitions. The authors are all leading international scholars in the fields of political theory, IR, cultural analysis, and area studies who deal with various aspects of the civilizational arena. Offering key chapters on ideology, multipolarity, modernity, liberal democracy, and capitalism, this book extends the existing methodological, theoretical, and empirical debates for IR and area studies scholars globally. It will be of great interest to politicians, public opinion makers, and all those concerned with the evolution of world affairs.