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Cambridge Studies in International Relations is a joint initiative of Cambridge University Press and the British International Studies Association (BISA). The series aims to publish the best new scholarship in international studies, irrespective of subject matter, methodological approach or theoretical perspective. The series seeks to bring the latest theoretical work in International Relations to bear on the most important problems and issues in global politics.

  • Managing Editors: Evelyn Goh, Christian Reus-Smit, Nicholas J. Wheeler
  • Advisory Boards: Jacqueline Best, University of Ottawa, Karin Fierke, University of St Andrews, William Grimes, Boston University, Yuen Foong Khong, National University of Singapore, Andrew Kydd, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Lily Ling, New School for Social Research, New York, Andrew Linklater, Aberystwyth University, Nicola Phillips, University of Sheffield, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Northwestern University, Illinois, Jacquie TRUE, Monash University, Victoria, Leslie Vinjamuri, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Alexander Wendt, Ohio State University

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150 results in Cambridge Studies in International Relations

Page 3 of 8

The Cartographic State
  • Maps, Territory, and the Origins of Sovereignty
  • Jordan Branch
  • Published online:
    05 December 2013
    Print publication:
    28 November 2013
  • Why is today's world map filled with uniform states separated by linear boundaries? The answer to this question is central to our understanding of international politics, but the question is at the same time much more complex - and more revealing - than we might first think. This book examines the important but overlooked role played by cartography itself in the development of modern states. Drawing upon evidence from the history of cartography, peace treaties and political practices, the book reveals that early modern mapping dramatically altered key ideas and practices among both rulers and subjects, leading to the implementation of linear boundaries between states and centralized territorial rule within them. In his analysis of early modern innovations in the creation, distribution and use of maps, Branch explains how the relationship between mapping and the development of modern territories shapes our understanding of international politics today.

The Persistent Power of Human Rights
  • From Commitment to Compliance
  • Edited by Thomas Risse, Stephen C. Ropp, Kathryn Sikkink
  • Published online:
    05 March 2013
    Print publication:
    07 March 2013
  • The Power of Human Rights (published in 1999) was an innovative and influential contribution to the study of international human rights. At its center was a 'spiral model' of human rights change which described the various socialization processes through which international norms were internalized into the domestic practices of various authoritarian states during the Cold War years. The Persistent Power of Human Rights builds on these insights, extending its reach and analysis. It updates our understanding of the various causal mechanisms and conditions which produce behavioural compliance, and expands the range of rights-violating actors examined to include democratic and authoritarian Great Powers, corporations, guerrilla groups, and private actors. Using a unique blend of quantitative and qualitative research and theory, this book yields not only important new academic insights but also a host of useful lessons for policy-makers and practitioners.

The Great Powers and the International System
  • Systemic Theory in Empirical Perspective
  • Bear F. Braumoeller
  • Published online:
    05 January 2013
    Print publication:
    11 February 2013
  • Do great leaders make history? Or are they compelled to act by historical circumstance? This debate has remained unresolved since Thomas Carlyle and Karl Marx framed it in the mid-nineteenth century, yet implicit answers inform our policies and our views of history. In this book, Professor Bear F. Braumoeller argues persuasively that both perspectives are correct: leaders shape the main material and ideological forces of history that subsequently constrain and compel them. His studies of the Congress of Vienna, the interwar period, and the end of the Cold War illustrate this dynamic, and the data he marshals provide systematic evidence that leaders both shape and are constrained by the structure of the international system.

Political Self-Sacrifice
  • Agency, Body and Emotion in International Relations
  • K. M. Fierke
  • Published online:
    05 December 2012
    Print publication:
    29 November 2012
  • Over the last decade the increasing phenomenon of suicide terrorism has raised questions about how it might be rational for individuals to engage in such acts. This book examines a range of different forms of political self-sacrifice, including hunger strikes, self-burning and non-violent martyrdom, all of which have taken place in resistance to foreign interference. Karin Fierke sets out to study the strategic and emotional dynamics that arise from the image of the suffering body, including political contestation surrounding the identification of the victim as a terrorist or martyr, the meaning of the death as suicide or martyrdom and the extent to which this contributes to the reconstruction of community identity. Political Self-Sacrifice offers a counterpoint to rationalist accounts of international terrorism in terrorist and security studies, and is a novel contribution to the growing literature on the role of emotion and trauma in international politics.

The Return of Geopolitics in Europe?
  • Social Mechanisms and Foreign Policy Identity Crises
  • Edited by Stefano Guzzini
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    25 October 2012
  • The end of the Cold War demonstrated the historical possibility of peaceful change and seemingly showed the superiority of non-realist approaches in International Relations. Yet in the post-Cold War period many European countries have experienced a resurgence of a distinctively realist tradition: geopolitics. Geopolitics is an approach which emphasizes the relationship between politics and power on the one hand; and territory, location and environment on the other. This comparative study shows how the revival of geopolitics came not despite, but because of, the end of the Cold War. Disoriented in their self-understandings and conception of external roles by the events of 1989, many European foreign policy actors used the determinism of geopolitical thought to find their place in world politics quickly. The book develops a constructivist methodology to study causal mechanisms and its comparative approach allows for a broad assessment of some of the fundamental dynamics of European security.

Social Theory of International Politics
  • Alexander Wendt
  • Published online:
    05 September 2012
    Print publication:
    07 October 1999
  • Drawing upon philosophy and social theory, Social Theory of International Politics develops a theory of the international system as a social construction. Alexander Wendt clarifies the central claims of the constructivist approach, presenting a structural and idealist worldview which contrasts with the individualism and materialism which underpins much mainstream international relations theory. He builds a cultural theory of international politics, which takes whether states view each other as enemies, rivals or friends as a fundamental determinant. Wendt characterises these roles as 'cultures of anarchy', described as Hobbesian, Lockean and Kantian respectively. These cultures are shared ideas which help shape state interests and capabilities, and generate tendencies in the international system. The book describes four factors which can drive structural change from one culture to another - interdependence, common fate, homogenization, and self-restraint - and examines the effects of capitalism and democracy in the emergence of a Kantian culture in the West.

The Social in the Global
  • Social Theory, Governmentality and Global Politics
  • Jonathan Joseph
  • Published online:
    05 August 2012
    Print publication:
    12 July 2012
  • How do influential social ideas contribute to global governance? This book takes an original approach to international relations by looking at the way social ideas help to portray the world in a particular way. Jonathan Joseph begins by analysing the role of important concepts such as globalisation, global civil society, social capital, networks and risk; then examines the role these concepts play in the discourse of international organisations. Using the concept of governmentality, he argues that contemporary social theories help justify contemporary forms of governance. By comparing organisations like the EU and the World Bank, Joseph investigates the extent to which these ideas are influential in theory and in practice.

International Practices
  • Edited by Emanuel Adler, Vincent Pouliot
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    25 August 2011
  • It is in and through practices - deeds that embody shared intersubjective knowledge - that social life is organized, that subjectivities are constituted and that history unfolds. One can think of dozens of different practices (from balancing, to banking or networking) which constitute the social fabric of world politics. This book brings together leading scholars in fields from international law and humanitarianism to nuclear deterrence and the UN to provide effective new tools to understand a range of pressing issues of the era of globalization. As an entry point to the study of world politics, the concept of practice accommodates a variety of perspectives in a coherent yet flexible fashion and opens the door to much needed interdisciplinary research in international relations. International Practices crystallizes the authors' past research on international practices into a common effort to turn the study of practice into a novel research program in international relations.

Theory of World Security
  • Ken Booth
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    20 December 2007
  • What is real? What can we know? How might we act? This book sets out to answer these fundamental philosophical questions in a radical and original theory of security for our times. Arguing that the concept of security in world politics has long been imprisoned by conservative thinking, Ken Booth explores security as a precious instrumental value which gives individuals and groups the opportunity to pursue the invention of humanity rather than live determined and diminished lives. Booth suggests that human society globally is facing a set of converging historical crises. He looks to critical social theory and radical international theory to develop a comprehensive framework for understanding the historical challenges facing global business-as-usual and for planning to reconstruct a more cosmopolitan future. Theory of World Security is a challenge both to well-established ways of thinking about security and alternative approaches within critical security studies.

Who Governs the Globe?
  • Edited by Deborah D. Avant, Martha Finnemore, Susan K. Sell
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    03 June 2010
  • Academics and policymakers frequently discuss global governance but they treat governance as a structure or process, rarely considering who actually does the governing. This volume focuses on the agents of global governance: 'global governors'. The global policy arena is filled with a wide variety of actors such as international organizations, corporations, professional associations, and advocacy groups, all seeking to 'govern' activity surrounding their issues of concern. Who Governs the Globe? lays out a theoretical framework for understanding and investigating governors in world politics. It then applies this framework to various governors and policy arenas, including arms control, human rights, economic development, and global education. Edited by three of the world's leading international relations scholars, this is an important contribution that will be useful for courses, as well as for researchers in international studies and international organizations.

Diplomatic Theory of International Relations
  • Paul Sharp
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    03 September 2009
  • Diplomacy does not take place simply between states but wherever people live in different groups. Paul Sharp argues that the demand for diplomacy, and the need for the insights of diplomatic theory, are on the rise. In contrast to conventional texts which use international relations theories to make sense of what diplomacy and diplomats do, this book explores what diplomacy and diplomats can contribute to the big theoretical and practical debates in international relations today. Sharp identifies a diplomatic tradition of international thought premised on the way people live in groups, the differences between intra- and inter-group relations, and the perspectives which those who handle inter-group relations develop about the sorts of international disputes which occur. He argues that the lessons of diplomacy are that we should be reluctant to judge, ready to appease, and alert to the partial grounds on which most universal claims about human beings are made.

Approaches to World Order
  • Robert W. Cox
  • With Timothy J. Sinclair
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    28 March 1996
  • Robert Cox's writings have had a profound influence on recent developments in thinking in world politics and political economy in many countries. This book brings together for the first time his most important essays, grouped around the theme of world order. The volume is divided into sections dealing respectively with theory; with the application of Cox's approach to recent changes in world political economy; and with multilateralism and the problem of global governance. The book also includes a critical review of Cox's work by Timothy Sinclair, and an essay by Cox tracing his own intellectual journey. This volume will be an essential guide to Robert Cox's critical approach to world politics for students and teachers of international relations, international political economy, and international organisation.

The War Puzzle Revisited
  • John A. Vasquez
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    23 July 2009
  • John A. Vasquez's The War Puzzle provided one of the most important scientific analyses of the causes of war of the last two decades. The War Puzzle Revisited updates and extends his groundbreaking work, reviewing research on the onset and expansion of war and the conditions of peace. Vasquez describes systematically those factors associated with wars to see if there is a pattern that suggests why war occurs, and how it might be avoided, delineating the typical path by which relatively equal states have become embroiled in wars in the modern global system. The book uses the large number of empirical findings generated s the basis of its theorizing, and integrates these research findings so as to advance the scientific knowledge of war and peace.

The Trouble with the Congo
  • Local Violence and the Failure of International Peacebuilding
  • Séverine Autesserre
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    14 June 2010
  • The Trouble with the Congo suggests a new explanation for international peacebuilding failures in civil wars. Drawing from more than 330 interviews and a year and a half of field research, it develops a case study of the international intervention during the Democratic Republic of the Congo's unsuccessful transition from war to peace and democracy (2003–6). Grassroots rivalries over land, resources, and political power motivated widespread violence. However, a dominant peacebuilding culture shaped the intervention strategy in a way that precluded action on local conflicts, ultimately dooming the international efforts to end the deadliest conflict since World War II. Most international actors interpreted continued fighting as the consequence of national and regional tensions alone. UN staff and diplomats viewed intervention at the macro levels as their only legitimate responsibility. The dominant culture constructed local peacebuilding as such an unimportant, unfamiliar, and unmanageable task that neither shocking events nor resistance from select individuals could convince international actors to reevaluate their understanding of violence and intervention.

Trust in International Cooperation
  • International Security Institutions, Domestic Politics and American Multilateralism
  • Brian C. Rathbun
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
  • Trust in International Cooperation challenges conventional wisdoms concerning the part which trust plays in international cooperation and the origins of American multilateralism. Brian C. Rathbun questions rational institutionalist arguments, demonstrating that trust precedes rather than follows the creation of international organizations. Drawing on social psychology, he shows that individuals placed in the same structural circumstances show markedly different propensities to cooperate based on their beliefs about the trustworthiness of others. Linking this finding to political psychology, Rathbun explains why liberals generally pursue a more multilateral foreign policy than conservatives, evident in the Democratic Party's greater support for a genuinely multilateral League of Nations, United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Rathbun argues that the post-World War Two bipartisan consensus on multilateralism is a myth, and differences between the parties are growing continually starker.

National Choices and International Processes
  • Zeev Maoz
  • Published online:
    05 February 2012
    Print publication:
    29 June 1990
  • National Choices and International Processes brings together the various conflicting approaches to the study of foreign policy decision-making under a single theoretical framework. Initially examining decision processes within states, Zeev Maoz continues by exploring the relationship between the creation of national choices and their outcomes, the interactions between states and the manner in which international processes evolve over time. This he calls the 'bottom up' approach which is contrasted in his last chapter with the 'top down' approach of systems analysis. Although the focus of this study is on theoretical construction, Maoz provides a thorough analysis of the literature on foreign policy decision-making and international bargaining. His arguments are supported both by separate chapters of mathematical analysis and by numerous historical examples, often from the Middle East - an area where the author has particular expertise. National Choices and International Processes is the culmination of many years work. It will be of interest to students and specialists in foreign policy and international relations theory.

Ideas, Interests and Foreign Aid
  • A. Maurits van der Veen
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    01 September 2011
  • Why do countries give foreign aid? Although many countries have official development assistance programs, this book argues that no two of them see the purpose of these programmes in the same way. Moreover, the way countries frame that purpose has shaped aid policy choices past and present. The author examines how Belgium long gave aid out of a sense of obligation to its former colonies, The Netherlands was more interested in pursuing international influence, Italy has focused on the reputational payoffs of aid flows and Norwegian aid has had strong humanitarian motivations since the beginning. But at no time has a single frame shaped any one country's aid policy exclusively. Instead, analysing half a century of legislative debates on aid in these four countries, this book presents a unique picture both of cross-national and over time patterns in the salience of different aid frames and of varying aid programmes that resulted.

Nationalism and International Society
  • James Mayall
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    26 January 1990
  • What is meant by international society? On what principles is the notion of international society based? How has the notion of nationalism influenced its evolution? In this book James Mayall addresses these questions and sheds important new light upon the issues of nation and international society by bringing together subjects which have hitherto been examined separately. Mayall locates his study within a theoretical discussion of the relationship between the ideas of nationalism and international society, maintaining that it is one of challenge and accommodation. He then explores three central issues. First, the manner in which nationalism has created new states and pushed the boundaries of international society outwards. Second, how the confrontation between nationalist and liberal ideas about international economic relations has impelled state activity downward into the lives of ordinary people and outward into the international political economy. And third, the way Third World nationalism has reacted against the postwar international economic order but has been unable to alter it in its favour. Nationalism and international society will be of interest to specialists and students of international relations with special reference to nationalism and sovereignty, and to modern historians of world order, decolonisation and economic nationalism.

Inside/Outside
  • International Relations as Political Theory
  • R. B. J. Walker
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    27 November 1992
  • In this book Rob Walker offers an original analysis of the relationship between twentieth-century theories of international relations, and the political theory of civil society since the early modern period. He views theories of international relations both as an ideological expression of the modern state, and as a clear indication of the difficulties of thinking about a world politics characterized by profound spatiotemporal accelerations. International relations theories should be seen, the author argues, more as aspects of contemporary world politics than as explanations of contemporary world politics. These theories are examined in the light of recent debates about modernity and post-modernity, sovereignty and political identity, and the limits of modern social and political theory. This book is a major contribution to the field of critical international relations, and will be of interest to social and political theorists and political scientists, as well as students and scholars of international relations.

Promoting Polyarchy
  • Globalization, US Intervention, and Hegemony
  • William I. Robinson
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    22 August 1996
  • Promoting Polyarchy is an exciting, detailed, and controversial work on the apparent change in US foreign policy from supporting dictatorships to an 'open' promotion of 'democratic' regimes. William I. Robinson argues that behind the façade of 'democracy promotion', the policy is designed more to retain the elite-based and undemocratic status quo of Third World countries than to encourage mass aspirations for democratization. He supports this challenging argument with a wealth of information garnered from field work and hitherto unpublished government documents, and assembled in case studies of the Philippines, Chile, Nicaragua, Haiti, South Africa, and the former Soviet Bloc. With its combination of theoretical and historical analysis, empirical argument, and bold claims, Promoting Polyarchy is an essential book for anyone concerned with democracy, globalization and international affairs.

Page 3 of 8