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1642. Lust/Caution in IR: Democratising World Politics from Postcolonial Asia
- Author:
- L.H.M. Ling, Ching-Chane Hwang, and Boyu Chen
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
- Abstract:
- International Relations (IR) needs democratising. Currently, IR theorising remains under the hegemony of a singular worldview ('warre of all against all') with a singular logic ('conversion or discipline') for all actors and activities. This top-down, state-centric, and exclusivist approach is fundamentally anti-democratic for a field of inquiry and practice crowded with multiple worlds. The Humanities, we propose, will help to mitigate these totalitarian tendencies by expressing and examining what hegemonic IR cannot but must: that is, a richness of being in global life. We present Ang Lee's 'Lust/Caution' (2007) as an example. If seen as an allegory for Taiwan-China relations, this film shifts attention from the national security state, a defining concern for hegemonic IR, to the trans-national solidarities that bind peoples and societies despite inter-state conflicts, thereby offering a way out of the statist impasse that incarcerates the region. This approach extends beyond recent calls for a 'linguistic' or 'artistic' turn in IR. Culture, we argue, can serve as a method.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Post Colonialism, International Affairs, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- China, Taiwan, and Asia
1643. Human Rights, International Economic Law and Constitutional Justice: A Reply
- Author:
- Robert Howse
- Publication Date:
- 11-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- Together with developments in international criminal justice and humanitarian law, the human rights revolution in international law has had a profound structural effect on the international legal order as a whole; we are today only beginning to discern and to digest this effect, to say nothing of the broader consequences for global politics. New actors have been empowered in the international legal system (not only individuals but various kinds of non-state collectivities as well); conceptions of responsibility have been altered; classic notions, such as territorial sovereignty and recognition of statehood, have sometimes subtly and sometimes radically been reshaped or adapted; and the balance of institutional actors charged with interpreting and applying inter-national law has shifted towards courts and tribunals (a major theme of Petersmann) and away from diplomats and their ministers.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Sovereignty, and International Affairs
1644. Enhancing Democracy Assistance
- Author:
- Lincoln A. Mitchell and David L. Phillips
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- The Research Project on Enhancing Democracy Assistance is undertaken by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and the Atlantic Council of the United States. This report recognizes that democracy assistance is essential to the promotion of US foreign policy and global interests, and offers political and technical recommendations in order to enhance democracy assistance.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Democratization, Development, Globalization, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- United States
1645. Thinking Strategically About Russia
- Author:
- Dmitri V. Trenin
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- U.S.–Russian relations matter again. To succeed where Bush has failed, Obama needs to approach Russia strategically: enhancing cooperation where possible, mitigating conflict where necessary. To prevent new conflict and receive Moscow's cooperation, Washington needs to deal seriously with Russian concerns. Leave Russia's domestic politics to the Russians. To keep Ukraine whole and free, the EU integration way is the way. NATO has reached the safe limits of eastward expansion. To protect against missile threats, a pan-European TMD system—which includes Russia—is the best option. On Iran and Afghanistan, Russia should be treated as an equal partner
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Russia, United States, Europe, Iran, Washington, Ukraine, and Moscow
1646. The keys to understanding the Israel-Russia
- Author:
- Pierre Razoux
- Publication Date:
- 11-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- The world financial crisis, the Iranian crisis and the Georgian crisis illuminate through different prisms the complex relations between Israel and Russia.The seeming contradictions of this odd couple are a constant source of serious concern and perplexity to theWestern world, and to NATO in particular, all the more so since Russia sent its army into Georgia and is back on the world stage as an essential player.Why is it that only six weeks after the verbal clash over the Georgian crisis in August 2008 (when Russia accused Israel of having armed and trained the Georgian army), Russia and Israel abolished their visa regulations, thus facilitating reciprocal trade? How do we explain the acceleration of capital flows between the two countries, at a time when world trade is clearly slowing down? And why is it that Moscow, after Washington, is still a destination of choice of Israeli prime ministers, while the Israeli authorities continue to insist that Israel has a special relationship with the United States? Are we to infer from this, then, that Israel and Russia are upgrading their strategic ties, as a popular Turkish magazine suggests ? Lastly, why was Israel one of the very few states in the Middle East to maintain regular relations with Russia after the ColdWar, unlike the many Arab states who coldshouldered their former arms supplier just as it was preparing to deliver sophisticated missile systems to Syria and a nuclear power station to Iran? For many observers, trapped in Cold War thinking, it was impossible to imagine Israel and Russia, the USSR's successor, as anything other than irreconcilable adversaries. This perception of Israel as the West's champion against Sovietsupported Arab countries overlooked the fact that the Arab-Israeli conflict arose from a regional conflict that went way beyond the confines of East-West confrontation. It also failed to take into account the deep and longstanding bonds between Israel and Russia, particularly in the area of immigration.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Middle East, Israel, Arabia, and Syria
1647. The forecast for tomorrow: the UK's climate for change
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The forecast for tomorrow is a snapshot of a country deeply torn by good and bad climate policies and actions among business, public and government - with each group inextricably bound by the actions of the others. Whether the UK succeeds in achieving its emissions reduction targets and in becoming a leader in international climate negotiations depends on whether good or bad policies prevail. At stake are the lives and livelihoods of millions of poor people around the world, who will suffer first and worst from climate change despite being the least responsible for it.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Globalization, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom
1648. Globalization and Global Governance in the 21st Century
- Author:
- Jeffrey Hart and Joan Edelman Spero
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Peace and Security Studies
- Abstract:
- An examination of international economic relations in the six decades since World War II reveals many ways in which political factors have shaped economic outcomes. The postwar security system significantly affected the postwar economic system. The creation of a bipolar security system following the outbreak of the Cold War led to the separation of the Eastern and Western economic systems and provided a basis for the dominant role of the United States in the Western system and of the Soviet Union in the Eastern system. The end of the Cold War led in turn to the end of the East-West economic divide and to the integration of the formerly Communist countries and China into the global capitalist economy.
- Topic:
- Cold War, Globalization, Government, International Cooperation, International Political Economy, International Security, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- United States and China
1649. Strengthen the Millennium Challenge Corporation: Better Results are Possible
- Author:
- Lex Rieffel and James W. Fox
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is one of the outstanding innovations of the eight-year presidency of George W. Bush. No other aid agency-foreign or domestic-can match its purposeful mandate, its operational flexibility and its potential muscle.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, Humanitarian Aid, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- United States
1650. Global Governance Breakthrough: The G20 Summit and the Future Agenda
- Author:
- Johannes F. Linn, Colin I. Bradford, and Paul Martin
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- At the invitation of President George W. Bush, the G20 leaders met on November 15, 2008, in Washington, DC, in response to the worldwide financial and economic crisis. With this summit meeting the reality of global governance shifted surprisingly quickly. Previously, major global economic, social and environmental issues were debated in the small, increasingly unrepresentative and often times ineffectual circle of G8 leaders. Now, there is a larger, much more legitimate summit group which can speak for over two-thirds of the world's population and controls 90% of the world's economy.
- Topic:
- Environment, Globalization, Government, International Cooperation, International Political Economy, and International Affairs