Politically, the EU is far off from being a cosmopolitan polity. This comes down to the fact that political participation does not cross borders. State sovereignty still plays a crucial part in the make up of the EU. Yet, there is a fundamental issue here. Increased democratic functions would need to occur before ever the mildest of David Held’s proposals could become reality.
The application of sudden non-state actor violence to achieve political goals can be traced far back in history, but terrorism as a transnational and organized activity was first witnessed in Europe by the end of the 19th century. A long-term process of change usually precedes terrorism. Thus terrorism does not occur in stable times or systems, and its effectiveness is dependent on the instability of the framework or society it is practiced in.
NATO’s lack of success to date in Afghanistan can be attributed to four factors: the reluctance to make difficult choices in state-building, the failure to confront Islam, the failure to confront Kabul, and the influence of China. While NATO may still eventually win, it will have been at tremendous cost and time, and Afghanistan will have posed a great opportunity cost for other NATO objectives.
Drenched in controversy, very few topics inspire such heated historical debate as to why the Palestinian people find themselves displaced and in a state of constant limbo. A failure to address the right of return has provided some groups with a motive to derail the peace plan at all costs.
In January 2011 the South Sudanese voted overwhelmingly for independence from Sudan. Over 98% of registered voters chose separation over unity. Much of the Western media has portrayed this vote as an indicator of a successful end to decades of conflict in the South. When South Sudan celebrates its independence, expected to take place in July 2011, the mood will indeed be jovial. But South Sudan is setting up to be a failed state.
The current campaign in Afghanistan has lasted for over nine years and the Taliban has grown into a formidable insurgency. This paper explains why a lack of cultural awareness condemns counterinsurgency operations to almost certain defeat, and explores the implications for the campaign in Afghanistan.
The enduring mismatch between the US and Chinese fleets is no guarantee of an equally lasting US naval supremacy in the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Beijing is pursuing imaginative antiship missile technology. If rocketeers stationed ashore can keep the US Navy out of important waters, the Chinese Navy can accomplish its goals, even with an inferior fleet.
Turkish-Russian rapprochement should not be viewed by the West as a menace or even irritant, but rather the platform upon which regional knots of contention might find resolution. The regional political landscape of western Eurasia has shifted dramatically in the past decade; we in the West would do well to adjust our perceptions accordingly.
Despite being a state-centrist scholar of international politics, Wendt criticizes neorealists and neoliberals for reifying the structure of states system and taking for granted its ontological and ideational properties, which precludes us from considering and assessing the potentials for structural and institutional change.
This research seeks to explore whether, and to what extent the intelligence sharing has increased between the US and the EU member states post 9/11, and to offer predictions on future trends. Different potential scenarios in future intelligence cooperation are presented, based on the threat of Islamic terrorism to the US and EU.
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