The Implications of The Rise of China on Australian Foreign Policy
The key implication of the rise of China is how to manage the new regional order, one in which Australia has an advantage in resources, but is disadvantaged as a regional outsider
Why has the demobilisation of combatants proved so difficult? The Colombian paramilitary experience
The demobilisation of combatants during or after conflict is a crucial step towards achieving sustainable peace. This essay draws on the case of Colombia to illustrate the difficulties that this task poses.
Is it Possible to Ethically Evaluate Terrorism by Employing Just War Principles?
The Just War tradition has been seen as a leading perspective on the ethics of war since the writings of St Augustine were rearticulated by Thomas Aquinas. It attempts to provide a framework which validates just conflicts, whilst at the same time applying limits so as to prevent unrestrained warfare. Today, its core principles can be divided into two broad categories: ‘jus ad bellum’ (just resort to war) and ‘jus in bello’ (just conduct in war). For a war to be just, numerous criteria must be satisfied within these categories.
Securitization Theory and Biological Weapons
The United States has not overestimated the biological weapons threat, and its biodefense measures, as expressed through current policy and funding decisions, are warranted.
Economic Development and Democratisation in the Middle East
There is an incompatibility between the purpose and mode of Middle Eastern economic development to date and the fraught efforts towards forms of democracy across the region. Additionally, the importance of certain economic developments to specific actors has successfully outweighed the importance of democracy in the region, and will persist in doing so for the foreseeable future.
Strategic Partnership or Contending Coalitions? An Analysis of EU-NATO Relations
Fundamental problems, both structural and political, continue to characterise the EU-NATO relationship as one of ‘contending coalitions’. Yet, recent shifts in the attitudes of major actors coupled with success in simultaneous operations suggest there is potential for a ‘strategic partnership’ to emerge.
British Diplomacy and Iranian Angst: British Iranian Relations, 1973 -1979
The Iranian pre-disposition to distrust the British has been referred to widely in both primary and secondary sources, yet has not been rigorously analysed in either its manifestations of effects. This essay will examine the effect of this cultural trait on the last six years of the reign of Mohammed Reza Shah, and on the conduct of British foreign policy during that period.
British and French Colonial Attitudes Towards the Arab World
Britain and France were influenced by their own special interests, which, for the British, was principally the maintenance of peace, trade and oil; whilst the French interest was one of maintaining a presence in the area. These would provide the framework towards the mandated territories both respectively administered.
Securitisation of Zika
The securitisation of the Zika virus in Brazil has been considered as an effective method to prevent it – but this may be an unnecessary step.
Neo-rationalism: A Third Way? How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the “Isms”
Neo-rationalism describes a third approach to the teaching of IR that combines the most positive elements of “rationalism” and current paradigmatic approaches.
