Essays

The China-ROK Relationship: A Blueprint for China on a Wider Stage?

Scott Adam • Sep 29 2011 • Essays

China’s growing influence in the international system is receiving a lot of attention, both positive and negative. In some quarters, China’s ‘rise’ is complete. This growth is especially felt in North East Asia. Therefore, the Republic of Korea needs to take great interest in China’s future role on the regional and global stage, concerning it’s relations with its northern neighbour as well as their close cooperation with the US.

Maritime Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region

Wang Yinghui • Sep 28 2011 • Essays

Every country must realize that good maritime order is a public good and a common resource, and it is obligatory to make concerted efforts. A country should understand that self-interest and evading multilateral initiatives are “beggar thy neighbor” behaviors, and will not only cause damaging effects by being self-serving, but in the end will damage its own interests as well.

Of Regional Complexes and Global Powers: The Power Capacity of the EU

Paul Pryce • Sep 27 2011 • Essays

The EU is already the hegemon within its geographic region but to be considered a credible actor in international affairs it needs to stabilize regimes in its neighbourhood more rapidly and successfully than competitors like China and India can manage in their own regions.

A critique of the theory and practice of R2P

Nicholas Glover • Sep 27 2011 •

The R2P is heralded by many as making political power more responsible and accountable, both to the domestic citizenry and ‘international community’. It has sought to democratise humanitarian intervention in a way which reconceptualises sovereignty as responsibility and looks to protect the ‘victim other’ from imminent mass death at the hands of irresponsible state power.

European Union Democracy Promotion in the Mediterranean Arena

Robert May • Sep 27 2011 • Essays

The actions of the EU in promoting democracy in third countries need to be examined in greater detail. The tangible support (financial, logistical or otherwise) the EU gives to pro-democracy social movements can help us assess just how much the EU acts, or is limited in acting, to promote democracy abroad. In short, if the EU gives direct, meaningful support to such social movements, it could be said to have stopped ‘philosophizing’ and begun to act.

The Theory of Structure: An Analysis

Elizabeth Pickworth • Sep 26 2011 • Essays

Structure is an anomaly in the field of IR largely because of the nature of its constituent components. Practices of social production and reproduction are not difficult to locate if you relay the relevant evidence, contrary to this idea. The concept continues to be open to wide interpretation, as shown by the respective approaches of Alexander Wendt and Kenneth Waltz.

Does positivism really ‘work’ in the social sciences?

Thomas Houghton • Sep 26 2011 • Essays

Although positivism has evolved over the years, at its core several key aspects have remained constant. It is based on a foundationalist ontology, that is, one in which the world exists independently of our knowledge of it, and at its heart is the promise of unambiguous and accurate knowledge of the world which can be arrived at through sensory experience.

Community Based NGOs in Grassroots Peacebuilding and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland

Peter McFarlane • Sep 24 2011 • Essays

Northern Ireland has a long way to come before it can be labelled peaceful. The fragmented nature of its society indicates that we cannot speak of two monolithic communities at all. They are divided within themselves along attitudinal, class, and educational lines, while different experiences of the Troubles have shaped their needs.

A Comparison between the Indian Navy and the Japanese Navy

Wang Yinghui • Sep 23 2011 • Essays

Both Japan and India are major regional maritime powers in the Asia-Pacific region. Both of their navies are growing in potency and have the ambition to dominate the region, and to become “blue-water” navies which can operate in the high seas. The continued rise of China in naval power introduces a further element into the analysis.

How did international power relations contribute to the Third World debt crisis?

James Newman • Sep 21 2011 • Essays

It’s widely agreed that the Third World Debt crisis began in Mexico in 1982 sparking a chain reaction across Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Domestic factors such as capital flight and corruption played a part but the main cause can be traced to the US and the rise of interest rates in 1979.

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