International Theory

Living in the shadows: lesbians in India

Sweta Madhuri Kannan • Aug 18 2011 • Essays

Lesbians in India are conspicuous by their lack of visibility in mainstream society. If one were to accept the Indian government’s stance concerning sexual minorities, lesbians would simply not exist. This report proposes explore the issue of ’lesbianism’ in contemporary India.

The Realist School of Thought: An Analysis

Dimitrios Mavridis • Aug 17 2011 • Essays

Classical realists explain international politics by focusing on human nature and, apart from Carr, they perceive power as the ultimate goal of states, like Mearsheimer. For classical realists anarchy is not the primary focus when explaining different state policies. Hence, classical realism remains more of a foreign policy guide than a theory like the one Waltz wanted to introduce.

Enduring Rivalry? A Case Study of the Conflict in Kashmir

Anders Knut Brudevoll • Aug 17 2011 • Essays

This case study will start by presenting the origins and causes of the conflict in Kashmir. After presenting an assessment of the relative failure of attempted conflict resolution process, the study will look at the main obstacles of conflict resolution, emphasizing mutual nuclear capability and domestic constraints. In conclusion, it will draw on relevant theory to examine why conflict resolution is still on-going.

Postcolonial Discourses and ‘Sex Tourism’

Ros Williams • Aug 15 2011 • Essays

Sex tourism has become a significant contributor to the income of the tourism industry in recent years. Yet, how have we come to define it? In what ways has postcolonialism assisted in constructing our understanding of it? And, how might we extend the application of postcolonial discourses to assist in developing that comprehension?

India’s Nuclear Restraint and the Peaceful Nuclear Explosion

Tom Thornley • Aug 11 2011 • Essays

India’s nuclear trajectory does not match the realist logic that characterised many of the original nuclear powers. India has followed a uniquely Indian path towards nuclear development. By accepting the constructed-ness of foreign policy, it is possible to find explanations for India’s nuclear policy in the dominant understandings of Indian identity, science and modernity constructed primarily by Nehru.

Contemporary global terrorism and the meaning and practice of ‘national security’

Katy Roberts • Aug 10 2011 • Essays

In light of the War on Terror, conceptions of security are evolving. Focus on national security is, and has been, waning as the sovereign state begins to lose some of its pre-eminence. Many security analysts claim the process of globalisation and it’s associated ‘risks’ are largely outside the control of nation states and that only the development of a global community can deal with this adequately.

Non-Traditional Security Issues: Should HIV/AIDS be Securitized?

Victor Gigleux • Aug 10 2011 • Essays

Realism leaves little place in order to study broader fields such as health security that states may face, and therefore does not take into account HIV/AIDS as a threat to human, national or international security. However, scholars have recently emphasised the growing negative effects of HIV/AIDS on core pillars of states, receiving ever more attention by policy-makers as a potential threat to national security.

Is liberalism a force for peace in the world?

Holly Catling • Aug 5 2011 • Essays

The democratic peace theory supports, obscures and excuses the coercion and violence of a liberal expansion policy through its reliance on narrow definitions. The use and construction of the democratic peace theory has mainly been about preserving the peace and dominance of western powers under the guise of spreading liberty and equality.

State Construction and the Use of National Narratives

Holly Catling • Aug 3 2011 • Essays

National narratives have been and continue to be used and manipulated by political elites in different ways and for different ends, but nationalism remains inherently linked to migration and the migration policy of nation-states. Migration is also part of nation-building, and the exclusion and inclusion of certain groups by the nation-state seems unavoidable and natural because of the manipulation of national narratives.

Neofunctionalism and European Integration: Is it Still a Case of Spillover?

Nisreen Mansour • Aug 3 2011 • Essays

Neo-functionalism has been described as a synthesis of David Mitrany’s theoretical ‘functionalism’ and the pragmatic approach to management taken by Jean Monnet,. This paper will argue that neo-functionalism is widely regarded as an unsatisfactory account of European integration, but that particular efforts to (partially) revive the movement have nonetheless been well received by integration theorists, particularly as result of their analysis of supranational institutions.

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