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The recent global crisis has highlighted that the United States' position as the premier global power is in decline, calling into question the future of the world political order. The Obama administration has shown its intention to employ strong diplomacy in defense of American interests, relying more than ever on complex cooperative relationships with powers that are central to the resolution of specific issues. The economic crisis has greatly diminished the leverage that the US can wield through financial power, so that the Obama administration will need to focus on domestic reforms in order to stabilize its position. Thus, while the US promises to take on the multitude of international problems around the world, it is likely that in practice many regions will receive only rhetorical, rather than practical assistance. Adapted from the source document.

The following three articles discuss Philip H. Gordon's scholarship "Winning the right war". Peter Wehner and Kishore Mahbubani analyze the work in their essays "A triumph of ideology over evidence" and "Strategy ad common sense" accordingly. Wehner concentrates on some of Gordon's comments that touch upon the lack of evidence, extreme accusation of Bush's administration and their neglected diplomacy actions, Gordon's statement that the U.S. does not have sufficient allies and is "almost alone", etc. Mahbubani's essay contains examinations of such objectives as U.S. intellectual laziness, Islamic reasons of the direct hatred towards America, the country's invincibility or invulnerability, Guantanamo issues in the world arena, etc. The third and the final article is the actual Gordon's response to the comments published by the scholars mentioned above. Adapted from the source document.

The author describes her personal experience, along with the proceedings, of an International Conference on Environmental Politics held at Shandong U in Jinan, China (just south of Beijing), in mid-May 2008. Speakers came from all over the world, including herself from the U of Sydney, Australia. The three themes of the forum were "Eco-socialism & Environmental Political Theories; International Comparison on Red-Green Movement & Practice; & Eco-socialism & Constructing Socialist Ecological Civilization in China. The international relations focus highlighted work on environmental diplomacy, UN governance mechanisms, & the role of the Global Environment Facility; the national/regional focus was on consumerism, growth economy, environmental rights, disaster management, & other issues. The author experienced the busy daily life in Beijing, home to 16 million people; driving through nearby agricultural areas to Qufu, birthplace of Confucius; & enjoying the friendly people & interesting foods. S. Stanton

This article focuses on the potential applications of conflict prevention in cases of relatively 'new' or 'latent' disputes. It discusses existing obstacles to conflict prevention and describes lessons governments could learn from past attempts to preclude violence. An overview of lessons learned from preventive diplomacy is presented, including: (1) act at an early stage; (2) be swift and decisive; (3) use talented, influential international diplomats who command local respect; (4) build local networks that address the various drivers of the conflict, but avoid obvious favouritism and imbalances; (5) use credible threat of the use of force or other penalties, such as sanctions, if necessary to deter actors from using violence; and (6) neutralize potential external supporters of one side or the other, such as neighbouring countries with kin groups in a conflict.

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The relationships between German intellectuals and politics at the turn of the nineteenth century have been much debated, with the nature of the German liberal tradition at the core of controversy, and with questions about the interconnections between liberalism, nationalism, and neohumanistBildungcircling not far beyond that core. Prominent in such discussions stands the figure of the Prussian scholar and statesman Wilhelm von Humboldt. Best known today variously for his part in overhauling the Prussian educational system during the "reform era" of Chancellors Stein and Hardenberg, or for helping to establish the disciplines of classical philology and comparative linguistics, Humboldt also authored one of the seminal texts in the European liberal tradition and was actively involved in the diplomacy, constitutional planning, and nationalist upheaval surrounding Napoleon's expulsion from Germany and the subsequent construction of the German Confederation.

In late 2005 the African Union convened peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Darfur. In May 2006 the Darfur Peace Agreement was signed by the Sudanese Government and one rebel faction, but rejected by the other rebel groups. It did not achieve peace and in certain respects it heightened the conflict, partly because it was the product of a deeply flawed process: the Sudanese parties were unwilling to engage in negotiations and failed to forge agreements; the African Union and its international partners, desperate for a quick accord, pursued a counter-productive strategy of deadline diplomacy; and the mediators were consequently unable to undertake effective mediation. The talks demonstrated that the acceptability and legitimacy of a peace agreement depend not only on its content but also on the process by which it is prepared and concluded. (Ethnopolitics)

For John King Fairbank the establishment of the foreign inspectorate of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service was a key symbolic moment in modern Chinese history. His landmark 1953 volume Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast culminates with the 1854 Inspectorate agreement, which, he argued, 'foreshadowed the eventual compromise between China and the West—a joint Chinese and Western administration of the modern centers of Chinese life and trade in the treaty ports'. Without the CMCS, he implied, there could be no modern China. It was the 'the institution most thoroughly representative of the whole period' after the opening of the treaty ports down to 1943, he wrote. By 1986 he was arguing that it was the 'central core' of the system. 'Modernity, however defined, was a Western, not a Chinese, invention', he claimed, and Sir Robert Hart's Customs Service was its mediator.

The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who seized power in Beijing in 1949 viewed Tibet as Chinese territory. In this respect, they were no different from previous rulers of China. The chairman of the CCP, Mao Zedong, carefully devised a plan to re-annex Tibet, which had been effectively independent of China since 1911. The CCP's recent victory in the Chinese civil war gave Mao high confidence that he could reclaim Tibet without provoking outside intervention. Such a move not only would bring international political benefits but would also carry a symbolic meaning at home and thereby legitimize the rule of the CCP. Although Mao sent troops to Tibet, he also planned to rely on negotiations and coercive diplomacy. This article highlights the complicated relationships that emerged on the international scene as a result of China's actions in the early 1950s.

The mainstreaming of human rights into all political, development, and other initiatives by the United Nations has led to a welcome attempt to coordinate related UN activities. However, there remains a degree of mistrust or misunderstanding that negatively affects the prospects for a more effective working relationship between those UN officials whose primary focus is politics and diplomacy and those whose primary concern is human rights. To successfully integrate human rights into their work, political and human rights officials must become more aware and respectful of the other's perspectives and values. In addition, as holistic approaches to peacemaking, peacebuilding, and peacekeeping become more common, it is important to achieve a better division of labor between negotiators and human rights advocates, so that each can contribute meaningfully to the work of the other.