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Ontological security studies (OSS) in International Relations (IR) emphasize the role of identity, anxiety, and a sense of self in world politics. Yet suggesting that states act in certain ways because of 'who they are' also assumes that they are in fact states. In this article, I problematize the presupposition of state subjects in the context of separatist conflicts in which claims to statehood compete and overlap. Where unrecognized de facto states are pitted against their unyielding parent states, the two threaten each other's very state personhood, thereby presenting a more radical challenge to their existence than traditional 'physical' and 'ontological' security threats. Separatist conflicts thus reveal a widely overlooked dimension of fundamental ontological security, provided by the constitution and recognition of states as such. Moreover, because of the exclusiveness of state subjects in the modern international order, any third parties attempting to resolve such conflicts inevitably face a meta-security dilemma whereby reassuring one side by confirming its claim to statehood simultaneously renders the other side radically insecure. Thus, rather than regarding particular state subjects as merely the starting point of quests for ontological security in international relations, they should also be understood as already their result.

This book offers a wide-ranging account of the emerging issues of international politics in the Artic, and the emerging Geopolitical debates that surround the region. In this thorough but accessible book covering environmental issues, the author examines the Geopolitics of emerging land and resource disputes and the rise of both nationalist and pan-Arctic movements in the region. Whereas existing literature on the politics of the Arctic tends to focus either on the environment or on Geopolitical interests, this book considers both of these themes in addition to the politics of.

Globalization and unlimited connectedness to all places in the world give us the impression that our world is growing smaller and smaller. We can get products from all over the world anytime, can easily communicate with people on the other side of the planet with just a mouse click, and travel almost anywhere within a day or two. These developments are very inspiring and open up an array of new experiences and opportunities for us, in our private lives and in international business.

AbstractEver since the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Colombia has shifted from one war to the next, be it the War of Independence, the fierce confrontations between liberal and conservative parties or the countless conflicts among guerrillas, paramilitary groups and the State. These wars have brought along a unique contribution to the development of international humanitarian law (IHL). The purpose of this article is to explore the myriad of ways in which Colombia has implemented (and at times made progress on) IHL rules, and to analyze how different conflicts have led the country to explore issues such as the protection of minors, the meaning of the principle of precaution, the compensation of armed conflict victims and the creation of some rather sophisticated transitional justice mechanisms.