Despite being theorised during the Cold War, deterrence continues to play a central role in informing the state’s military and judicial responses. Nevertheless, while denial and punishment strategies may yield short-term benefits, such policies have proven unable to remedy the issue of terrorism in the longer term. Only by engaging with the socio-political contexts from which terrorism emerges and draws its support can counter-terrorism effectively seek to prevent terrorism.
Ethno-nationalism has become a potent force in international and domestic politics. Gradually, norms have developed favouring a right of self determination for national groups seeking self-government.
Several scholars have emphasised the apparent ‘Eurocentricity’ of modern international law and have hence argued that its development has been “a European story”. Is the realm of international law like a play that is being performed, in which the Western or European states are the actors on stage and their colonies, the Third World states, are only the spectators who are affected by what is happening on stage but do not have any real possibility of participating?
This paper will focus on the question whether the emergence of democracy in Colombia can be explained based on the assumptions of the ‘sequentialist’ or ‘preconditionist’ theories as suggested, amongst many others, by Fareed Zakaria or Edward Mansfield and Jack Snyder, or if, by contrast, the views of ‘gradualists’ or ‘universalists’ such as Sheri Berman or Thomas Carothers are more indicated to explain and analyze Colombia’s democratic past, present and future.
This essay suggests that ‘Europe’ cannot be primarily identified in terms of shared histories, cultures, or even geographies. Consequently, attempts to define the EU supranational paradigm as a teleological institution have failed, no European grand narrative of ‘unity in history’ (or culture, or religion) exists, nor can it exist.
The Realist school of thought in International Relations has claimed both Thucydides and Hobbes as two of their intellectual forefathers and in doing so has suggested that the core beliefs and views of these two political thinkers can be classified as Realism. Although the key realist ideas can be found in both authors, there are significant differences that need to be addressed.
Terrorism did not begin in 2001, nor is it confined to extremists in the Middle East. Often, those who wish to point out the difficulty in defining terrorism like to refer to an old, now-famous quotation: “One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter.” Within the complex international system, the line drawn between the two can regularly become blurred or difficult to see: nonetheless, this line still exists.
Chinese nuclear policy serves their grand strategy aimed at maintaining a calm international strategic environment. China’s nuclear policy is inherently defensive and, excluding proliferation concerns, practically benign. However, one should remember that this does not mean it isn’t based on self-interest.
The theory of hegemonic stability does not explain the failure of the interwar and the success of the post-1945 international economic orders. Domestic influences upon international monetary cooperation in major states were a crucial determining factor in the global economic stability or lack thereof in the interwar and post-WWII periods.
Thucydides’ and Mearsheimer’s views on political Realism resemble a mirror’s reflection; Displaying the same, yet a closer look reveals their inverse nature. In the course of the following essay, the modern, theoretical image of John Mearsheimer’s Aggressive Realism and its ancient reflection as found in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War will be extracted, compared and contrasted
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