This book examines the development of Timor-Leste’s foreign policy since achieving political independence in 2002. It considers the influence of Timor-Leste’s historical experiences with foreign intervention on how the small, new state has pursued security. The book argues that efforts to secure the Timorese state have been motivated by a desire to reduce foreign intervention and dependence upon other actors within the international community. Timor-Leste’s desire for ‘real’ independence — characterized by the absence of foreign interference — permeates all spheres of its international political, cultural and economic relations and foreign policy discourse. Securing the state entails projecting a legitimate identity in the international community to protect and guarantee political recognition of sovereign status, an imperative that gives rise to Timor-Leste’s aspirational foreign policy. The book examines Timor-Leste’s key bilateral and multilateral diplomatic relations, its engagement with the global normative order, and its place within the changing Asia-Pacific region.

This volume studies the links among the concepts of globalization, security, and the authority of the nation state, drawing attention to why and how these three concepts are interrelated and why they should be studied together. Contributors explore the connections between security and global transformations, and the corresponding or resulting changes in state structures that emerge. Probing and extending existing paradigms, the book offers three regional cases studies: the periphery states of the Middle East and North Africa, the second world states of the Russian Federation, and the core states of the European Union. It concludes with three chapters that synthesize the above themes to identify corresponding changes in the patterns of international politics.

This comprehensive study of State failure upholds that the collapse of States in sub-Saharan Africa is a self-inflicted problem caused by the abandonment of the principle of effectiveness during decolonization. On the one hand, the abandonment of effectiveness may have facilitated the recognition of the new African States, but on the other it did lead to the creation of States that were essentially powerless: some of which became utter failures. Written in a style both provocative and unorthodox and using convincing arguments, this study casts doubt on some of the most sacred principles of the modern doctrine of international law. It establishes that the declaratory theory of recognition cannot satisfactorily explain the continuing existence of failed States. It also demonstrates that the principled assertion of the right to self-determination as the basis for independence in Africa has turned the notion of sovereignty into a formal-legal figment without substance. This book is a plea for more realism in international law. Pensive pessimists in the tradition of Hobbes will probably love it. Idealists in the tradition of Grotius may hate it, but they will find it very difficult to reject its conclusions.

The Arabian Gulf region is a vulnerable flashpoint. Small states in this region try to leverage their core interests against big power domination. This book narrates the problematique of Kuwait, whose geostrategic weakness was exposed in 1990, forcing her to trade resource strength for security guarantees. In recent years, challenged by regional rivalries, environmental impacts, falling oil prices and the dangers of terrorist insurgency, Kuwait faces an escalating security dilemma. With the imminent disengagement of the U.S. from Middle Eastern entanglements, should Kuwait resort to hedging partnerships with emerging multipolar giants like China, Russia or India? Can Kuwait survive domestic challenges of a youth bulge, a huge expatriate population, budgetary deficits, increasing public welfare and costs of desalination? What would be the main security options for Kuwait in a world that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous?

This study of international relations is often cut off from the study of domestic affairs, but this insulation of the international from the domestic is wrong. International forces profoundly influence the core structures of sovereign statehood, including their political military, economic and normative substance. Conversely, the very nature of international relations is determined by the internal structure of states. In an important contribution to the debate, Georg Sørensen puts forward an original analysis of this critical interplay between internal and external forces. He explores the development and change of the sovereign state and offers a new agenda for the study of international relations. Changes in Statehood will be essential reading for students and researchers in international relations, political science and security.

How do security communities transform into security regimes? This book compares the construction of cross-border security regimes across five regions of the world to illustrate how trust emerges from the day-to-day relations of coordination, cooperation, or collaboration. Patterns in Border Security: Regional Comparisons studies the way borderland communities develop, implement, and align border policy to enhance their sense of security. Borders have been evolving rapidly in direct response to the multifaceted challenges brought on by globalization, which has had a nuanced impact on the way borders are governed and border security is managed. Taking a methodical comparative regional approach, this book identifies and contrasts determinants of nascent, ascendant, and mature border security regimes, which the book documents in seven regional case studies from across the globe. The findings identify conditions that give rise to cross-border and trans-governmental coordination, cooperation, or collaboration. Specifically, pluralistic forms of communication and interactions, sometimes far from the actual borderline, emerge as key determinants of friendly and trustful relations among both contiguous and non-contiguous regions. This is a significant innovation in the study of borders, in particular in the way borders mediate security. For six decades international security studies had posited culture as the bedrock of security communities. By contrast, the book identifies conditions, a method, and a model for adequate and effective cross-border relations, but whose outcome is not contingent on culture. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics with a Foreword by the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization. The Open Access chapters of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781003216926, have been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

The security relationship between India and Pakistan is generally viewed through a neo-realist lens. This book explains the rivalry of these countries by looking at the socio-cultural norms at two levels, and discusses a hypothetical security community that could result in peace in the region.

This handbook presents an authoritative overview of South Asia through the lens of geopolitics, political dynamics, economics, human security, and sustainable development. It brings together key insights from various disciplines to provide an in-depth understanding of the genesis, course, and future potential of South Asia as a region. The handbook: Explores the post-colonial political landscape of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan and analyses the challenges to political stability and governance in South Asia Studies the opportunities and challenges produced by globalization and recommends solutions towards greater connectivity and trade in South Asia Delves into the issues of climate change, water and land resource dependency, and energy security and singles out policy challenges as well as positive actions to promote sustainable development and implement the blue economy Discusses the political dynamics of regional cooperation between countries and the role of China in South Asian regional affairs An invaluable addition to the study of South Asia, this volume will be an indispensable resource for scholars, teachers and researchers of political science, international relations, South Asia studies, South Asian politics, history, defence and strategic studies, political economy, developmental studies, public policy and sustainability studies.

Unpacking the major debates, this Oxford Handbook brings together leading authors of the field to provide a state-of-the-art guide to governance in areas of limited statehood where state authorities lack the capacity to implement and enforce central decision and/or to uphold the monopoly over the means of violence. While areas of limited statehood can be found everywhere - not just in the global South -, they are neither ungoverned nor ungovernable. Rather, a variety of actors maintain public order and safety, as well as provide public goods and services. While external state 'governors' and their interventions in the global South have received special scholarly attention, various non-state actors - from NGOs to business to violent armed groups - have emerged that also engage in governance. This evidence holds for diverse policy fields and historical cases. The Handbook gives a comprehensive picture of the varieties of governance in areas of limited statehood from interdisciplinary perspectives including political science, geography, history, law, and economics. 29 chapters review the academic scholarship and explore the conditions of effective and legitimate governance in areas of limited statehood, as well as its implications for world politics in the twenty-first century. The authors examine theoretical and methodological approaches as well as historical and spatial dimensions of areas of limited statehood, and deal with the various governors as well as their modes of governance. They cover a variety of issue areas and explore the implications for the international legal order, for normative theory, and for policies toward areas of limited statehood.