International Relations

Practice turn marks an important advancement in International Relations theorizing. In challenging abstract meta-theoretical debates, practice theorizing in International Relations aims to get close to the lifeworld(s) of the actual practitioners of politics. Scholars from different positions such as constructivism, critical theory, and post-structuralism have critically interrogated the analytical framework of practices in international politics. Building upon these works, we are concerned with a question of how to examine the context of international practices that unfolds in multiple ways in practitioners’ performances. Our central thesis is that a distinct pragmatic methodology offers an opportunity to keep with the practice turn and avoid the problematic foundational moves of mainstream practice theorizing. This involves foregrounding three interrelated processes in examining practices: the role of exceptions in the normal stream of performances, normative uptake of the analyst...

O artigo tem como fio condutor a história da cidadania na cidade de Brasília (Distrito Federal, Brasil), a partir do componente cívico que são laços de identidade do habitante das regiões administrativas, e do componente territorial, que é o espaço que o cidadão em suas demandas necessita em uma democracia aberta e inclusiva. Metodologicamente, ao se trabalhar com pesquisa documental, centraliza-se na teoria de Milton Santos acerca do componente cívico-territorial. O trabalho concluiu que o movimento pendular da região central às regiões periféricas — Plano Piloto-Região Administrativa (RA) — gera uma ausência de pertencimento e a sensação de exclusão. Nesse contexto, a população não se apercebe enquanto residente de uma RA, por não ter construído um espírito cidadão na região em que habita.

The ever-changing structure of international relations (IR) and the change of the policies of the actors in the international system cause many deficiencies in the IR literature. This situation leads to the loss of the validity and creates necessities of the IR studies because this is not a static field. Due to this reason, a big gap occurs in time and this discipline requires new analyses of the most current developments in the world. On the other hand, risks and uncertainties associated with the post-Cold War threats have led to the emergence of new concepts in the IR literature. This situation demonstrated the importance of the security policies of both states and international organizations while the international structure was changing. The collapse of the Soviet Union, September 11 terrorist attacks, the protests and political crises in the Middle East and African countries, which started in 2010 and called the Arab Spring dramatically affected the international politics differently than in the Cold War period. Additionally, terrorism's spreading global threat shook the international system in which IR discipline faced a new era. Furthermore, the inability of international organizations to play an effective role in these crises and the increasing number of human rights violations both on regional and global basis led to questioning the structure of international organizations. The regional and global crises have also displayed weaknesses in the IR discipline and led to the requirement for a new study in the literature. Both the abovementioned recent events and the newly emerging threats, risks, and uncertainties need to be clarified and reviewed in detail. The main purpose of this book is to eliminate these deficiencies and to create a new perspective on the literature. This book has been written to complete the missing points in IR literature. We can say that this is an essential source for everyone, especially students, academics and followers of the IR. There is an increasing interest in international events nowadays, both students and other people want to learn something and see all developments from a new perspective. The lack of such information from credible sources motivates students to follow and interpret the agenda from the newspaper. Naturally, this situation prevents their academic and analytical abilities. Additionally, the current problems in international relations are included in the curriculum of almost every university in the International Relations course. Relying on newspaper articles or columns negatively affect the world of science and make all people interpret events like journalists. With the publication of this book, we attempted to prevent this situation and to contribute to the views of people. In this context, we would like to express our sincere thanks to all those who participated in the preparation process of our book.

This book analyses the politics of the humanitarian disarmament community—a loose coalition of activist and advocacy groups, humanitarian agencies and diplomats—who have successfully achieved international treaties banning landmines, cluster munitions and nuclear weapons, as well as restricting the global arms trade. Two campaigns have won Nobel Peace Prizes. Disarmament has long been a dirty word in the international relations lexicon. But the success of the humanitarian disarmament agenda shows that people often choose to prohibit or limit certain violent technologies, for reasons of security, honour, ethics or humanitarianism. This edited volume showcases interdisciplinary research by scholars and practitioners seeking to understand the dynamics and impact of the new global activism on weapons. While some raise concerns that humanitarian disarmament may be piecemeal and depoliticizing, others see opportunities to breathe new life into moribund arms control policymaking. Foreword by 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jody Williams. Provides the first comprehensive academic examination of the humanitarian disarmament sector Shows how advocacy organizations and small states can influence the international political agenda on security issues Offers insight into how certain weapons become banned and stigmatized and others do not

The paper is devoted to the study of traditional energy projects as an instrument of political influence in the foreign affairs. In the contemporary international politics, the importance of natural and mineral resources is actualized. These resources are not only an item of international trade in the world economy, but also it is a bargaining chip in the political bargaining between states. Approaches to the study of political influence are considered, as well as the role of traditional energy in foreign affairs is revealed. Projects of the largest resource-extraction companies in Russia are highlighted. The authors show that these projects are used by the Russian leadership as an instrument of political influence in various macro-regions of the world. Resource-extraction companies are used as geopolitical instrument to consolidate position of Russia and its allies. At the same time, the problem of searching options for "restructuring" the model of extensive extraction an...

This paper examines America‟s global hegemony since the collapse of the Soviet Union and its implications for Africa‟s development. It contends that the disintegration of the Soviet Union which ended the Cold War saw the emergence of the United States of America as a global hegemonic power. The changes in global power equation was accompanied by the rise of neo-liberal ideologies as the standard for the conduct of global governance. Also, Africa‟s relevance in Western strategic calculation which gained currency during the Cold War diminished. These dramatic changes deepened Africa‟s socio-economic malaise and provided the incentives for most of the internal armed conflicts that were fought since the beginning of the 1990s. In spite of these crises, Africa continued to survive as a continent; and developed indigenous capabilities especially in conflict intervention and management as exemplified by the successes of ECOMOG in West Africa.

ABSTRACT After spending seven years in pre-trial detention and still unable to return home pending the appeal of his acquittal, former Ivorian President and strongman Laurent Gbagbo has certainly come to regret accepting the International Criminal Court (ICC)'s jurisdiction back in April 2003. Drawing on in-person interviews carried out during a research trip to Abidjan, this paper conducts a thorough analysis of the situation in Côte d'Ivoire over sixteen years (2003–2019), exploring the motives of Gbagbo’s decision and tracing the evolution of ICC-state relations. Preliminary findings suggest: first, then-President Gbagbo likely opened the door to ICC scrutiny due to the prospect of stigmatizing his enemies as war criminals. Second, the looming threat of ICC indictment likely strengthened Gbagbo’s resolution to hold on to power despite his defeat in the 2010 presidential elections. Third, externally-sponsored regime change ushered in a cooperative phase of ICC-state relations. Finally, since Gbagbo’s transfer to the ICC in November 2011, the Ouattara Administration has had a vested interest in strengthening judicial capacity, thus preventing key figures of the current government from following Gbagbo’s fate.

This paper explores personality and Nigeria’s foreign policy: a comparism of Obasanjo’s foreign policy as military Head of State and civilian President. Utilizing Hermann’s Leadership Trait Analysis (LTA) model, the paper tested the influence of Obasanjo’s personality on Nigeria’s foreign policy during his two different regimes: military (1977-1979) and democracy (1999-2007). The findings shows that Obasanjo’s personality has approximate similarity with Hermann’s personality typology of high level of nationalism, strong belief in one’s ability to control events, strong need for power and low levels of conceptual complexity which had decisive influence on Nigeria’s foreign policy during the two different era. The paper concludes that for Nigeria to operate an objective foreign policy, the process must be institutionalized through the revision of relevant laws, good governance, improving and strengthening legislative oversights and the observance of best practices.

This article demonstrates that tax avoidance via controlled foreign companies (CFCs) established in the most favourable tax environments among EU Member States such as Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Cyprus, remains a considerable problem. Not only does it affect taxpaying residents in the Member States but, indirectly, all taxpayers regardless of their EU affiliation, US multinational enterprises (MNEs), for example. Focusing on the use Polish taxpayers make of CFCs, this study undertakes a detailed legal analysis of the problem of tax avoidance under EU law by examining empirical data and EU law on tax avoidance. The choice of this topic is largely justified by the exponential rise in tax avoidance schemes through CFCs involving Polish taxpayers since the country’s accession to the EU. The legal analysis brings to light a series of weaknesses in the current EU law that make it possible for both EU and non-EU taxpayers to avoid taxation. As a solution to this problem, the...

The nuclear age is coming to the Middle East. Understanding the scope and motivations for this development and its implications for global security is essential. The last decade has witnessed an explosion of popular and scholarly attention focussed on nuclear issues around the globe and especially in the Middle East. These studies fall into one of four general categories. They tend to focus either on the security and military aspects of nuclear weapons, or on the sources and mechanisms for proliferation and means of reversing it, or nuclear energy, or the logics driving state policymakers toward adopting the nuclear option. The Nuclear Question in the Middle East is the first book of its kind to combine thematic and theoretical discussions regarding nuclear weapons and nuclear energy with case studies from across the region. What are the key domestic drivers of nuclear behaviour and decision-making in the Middle East? How are the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council seeking to emp...

Engagement between health researchers and local schools, or School Engagement, has become incorporated into the engagement strategies of many health research institutions worldwide. Innovative initiatives have emerged within Wellcome Trust-funded African and Asian Programmes (APPs) and elsewhere, and continued funding from the Wellcome Trust and other funders is likely to catalyse further innovation. Worldwide, engagement between scientists and schools is well-described in the scientific literature (1-4), however, engagement between health researchers and schools is much newer, particularly in Africa, and rarely documented in the academic literature. In November 2018 the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) hosted an international meeting in Kilifi, Kenya, drawing on an emerging community of School Engagement practitioners towards exploring the broad range of goals for School Engagement, learning about the breadth of evaluation approaches and exploring the usefulness of a...

It is "True" to say that water literally and scientifically is composed of some elements (H 2 O). But this is to miss the reality of what water REALLY is. It is also -True‖ to say that the definition very much depends on where you look from. Geopolitical changes, rapid development, water-energyfood-environment nexus, securitisation of water, climate change etc. force us to define its actual meaning especially in terms of international relationship. From this approach, the meaning of this word is gaining a wider and deeper definition not a word but a "concept". Water is a general term to describe the stuff you drink and bathe with, and it, even in the purest and other social, socio-political, economical, socio-economical, international, strategical impurities in what we call -water‖. This bulk -water‖ will play very important role for the future of the world under the of systems, has much else than just hydrogen and oxygen. Therefore there are all sorts of mineral...

It is "True" to say that water literally and scientifically is composed of some elements (H2O). But this is to miss the reality of what water REALLY is. It is also ―True‖ to say that the definition very much depends on where you look from. Geopolitical changes, rapid development, waterenergyfood-environment nexus, securitisation of water, climate change etc. force us to define its actual meaning especially in terms of international relationship. From this approach, the meaning of this word is gaining a wider and deeper definition not a word but a "concept". Water is a general term to describe the stuff you drink and bathe with, and it, even in the purest and other social, socio-political, economical, socio-economical, international, strategical impurities in what we call ―water‖. This bulk ―water‖ will play very important role for the future of the world under the of systems, has much else than just hydrogen and oxygen. Therefore there are all sorts of minerals c...

Abstract When it comes to the impact of institutions such as electoral systems, parliamentary or presidential systems and executive–legislature relations, political science has predominately been preoccupied with their political effects, such as whether they lead to two-party or multi-party systems and whether stable governments result. What has been less discussed and researched are the policy implications of different electoral systems. Do they lead to more economic growth? Does Proportional Representation lead to higher budget ...