Since the end of World War II, security and defence have played a major role in European politics. With the European Union's increasing role on the global stage and with today's war on terrorism, security and defence issues have dramatically gained weight and importance in international politics. This compelling volume provides an interdisciplinary look at the development and current status of the European security system as well as selected key issues on today's security agenda. As such, it provides an excellent resource for those wishing to make sense of the complexities of defence and security issues in the European Union at a time of global change.

The Routledge Handbook of EU-Russia Relations offers a comprehensive overview of the changing dynamics in relations between the EU and Russia provided by leading experts in the field. Coherently organised into seven parts, the book provides a structure through which EU-Russia relations can be studied in a comprehensive yet manageable fashion. It provides readers with the tools to deliver critical analysis of this sometimes volatile and polarising relationship, so new events and facts can be conceptualised in an objective and critical manner. Informed by high-quality academic research and key bilateral data/statistics, it further brings scope, balance and depth, with chapters contributed by a range of experts from the EU, Russia and beyond. Chapters deal with a wide range of policy areas and issues that are highly topical and fundamental to understanding the continuing development of EU-Russia relations, such as political and security relations, economic relations, social relations and regional and global governance. The Routledge Handbook of EU-Russia Relations aims to promote dialogue between the different research agendas in EU-Russia relations, as well as between Russian and Western scholars and, hopefully, also between civil societies. As such, it will be an essential reference for scholars, students, researchers, policymakers and journalists interested and working in the fields of Russian politics/studies, EU studies/politics, European politics/studies, post-Communist/post-Soviet politics and international relations. The Routledge Handbook of EU-Russia Relations is part of a mini-series Europe in the World Handbooks examining EU-regional relations established by Professor Wei Shen.

Ukraine has emerged as a new factor on the European security scene since 1991, and this book explores the ramifications of that development. It lays out the views of leading North American, West European, and Ukrainian security analysts on European security issues during the next decade and their priority, strategies for approaching these issues, Ukraine's role in European security, and the Atlantic Community and Ukraine's security. Then it compares these views and assesses the implications of the complex pattern of similarities and differences in perspective.

The purpose of this book is to describe and analyse the instrumental role European naval forces might play in developing and sustaining a future foreign and security policy for the community of European states. First, Europe's rapidly changing security environment is analysed with a keen eye for the possible development of a European `grand strategy' (foreign and security policy) for the near and longer term future. Derived from this analysis, the present context and possible future directions are established for a common European maritime strategy. Next, the theoretical challenges and the practical solutions are discussed vis-à-vis the primary tasks and capabilities of European naval forces, the execution of naval operations (including the provision of seapower) in defence of strategic European interests. Then, the issue of good governance at sea is addressed. The requirement for naval involvement in policing the seas and a concept for a European approach to `good governance at sea' are discussed. In conclusion, the relevance of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is scrutinized. Special attention is paid to the potential for a joint European-UNCLOS initiative and its associated instruments. The individual chapters are contributed by leading experts in the field of international and maritime security affairs. This book will be of interest to European policy makers, naval planners, officers- under-training in naval and defence academies and maritime institutes, and students in international relations and maritime law.

The central objective of this edited volume is to help unlock a set of intriguing puzzles relating to changing power dynamics in Eurasia, a region that is critically important in the changing international security landscape.

The concept of human security has emerged in international relations and policy as an idea which not only seeks to relocate the focus of international society on the individual, but also challenges the current priorities of the international community. In particular it places emphasis on promoting and facilitating a nexus between security, development and human rights. It is potentially a paradigm in the making, gaining considerable momentum within the UN, international relations scholarship and regional bodies. And yet by-and-large it continues to be unexplored by the international legal community, despite the success of a number of international treaties being attributed to the discourse. This book seeks to address this gap, and establish the nature of the relationship between human security discourse and international law, determining whether human security can meaningfully contribute to the international legal framework. To determine this, the book analyses the core principles of human security discourse and examines the degree to which they find parallels in the existing normative structure of international law. The book examines the how the broad-narrow debate that dominates human security discourse has played out in international law-making. It goes on to consider the processes for the creation of so called ‘human security’ treaties in order to determine a blueprint for future development of international human security treaty law. In concluding Shireen Daft sets out a structured principled approach through which international legal scholarship can engage with human security, highlighting the ways in which engagement between the two fields can be sustained.

Throughout history, there has been conflict and the clashing of ideas. Although this has assisted in creating political and societal structures, it has also led to civil unrest, cases of severe discord, and war. Political Mediation in Modern Conflict Resolution: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a critical scholarly resource that examines the pursuit of peace in global civil war and conflict through the use of mediation. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics, such as intercultural communication, social psychology, and conflict theory, this publication is geared towards academicians, students, and researchers seeking relevant and current research on governmental approaches to pursuing peace in instances of conflict and strife.

For almost fifteen years, both the EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have claimed to partake in a relationship that is purported to be a ‘Strategic Partnership’, albeit one that is troubled by lasting political blockages. The constraints that affect the formal relationship between the two organizations are well-covered terrain in the academic literature – including by most of the contributors to this volume; however, the popular argument that the EU and NATO simply do not cooperate in any substantive way warrants deeper investigation, both theoretically and thematically. Thus, EU-NATO relations might not at first seem like an under-researched area, but much of the existing literature on the issue re-engages oversimplified and formulaic statements about the nature, quality, and practice of interactions between the EU and NATO. This volume aims to develop the EU-NATO research agenda by pursuing three key objectives: (1) reduce the lacuna of theoretically informed analyses of the relationship, (2) add empirically and analytically rigorous case studies to the relevant body of literature, and (3) point to possible developments and solutions in the 'Strategic Partnership'. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue in European Security.