Suchergebnisse

Traditionally, states were widely believed to be the only institutions claiming political authority. More recently, though, a number of authors have argued that we find various instances of political authority on the international level. We discuss three prominent proposals for conceptualizing international authority: Michael Barnett and Martha Finnemore's account of the authority of international bureaucracies, David Lake's extension of 'relational' authority to the international realm, and Michael Zürn's recent proposal for 'reflexive' authority. These authors provide a nuanced and empirically rich picture of hitherto mostly overlooked forms of power in world politics. Yet, we argue that in doing so they lose sight of the distinctly normative character of political authority relations: these relations are built on the explicit normative claim to the right to rule. When such a claim is considered to be justified, authority relations generate content-independent reasons for compliance. Thus understood, authority serves an important function, namely, to facilitate broadly accepted and normatively justified forms of hierarchical coordination. From a normative perspective, therefore, broadening the concept of authority to include various other forms of power deprives us of a critical yardstick against which international organizations should be evaluated. Moreover, it creates a distorted picture of the scope of international authority. Our world is shaped by highly problematic power relations. Yet, in order to meet current challenges of global governance, we need more, not less authority. To illustrate this argument we examine the case of the World Bank, an organization that exercises considerable power while explicitly avoiding any claim to political authority.

Islam and Terrorism For many, making sense of Islam from the media coverage has been nothing less than confusing. Mark Gabriel, an former Muslim and former professor of Islamic history at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, explains why terrorists do what they do. His message is graphic and depicts the ruthless realities behind the teachings of Islam. (Creation House) Full description

"The world is troubled and full of misunderstandings. It seems a new world order of fundamentalist violence and meaningless atrocity is upon us, whilst civilised instruments for cooperation and compromise are becoming increasingly ineffective. In this timely book, Stephen Chan explores the historical and philosophical roots of difference and discord in the international system. He begins with the introduction of the Westphalian system, showing how, throughout the 20th century, new states - from the Middle East, Asia and Africa - entered that system with reservations, preconditions, and great efforts to introduce new forms of concerts and congresses but without seriously challenging the international status-quo. By contrast, the 21st century has brought turmoil and change in the form of militant Islam - be it the Taleban, Al Qaeda, or ISIS - whose varied roots and fluid emergence have so far prevented the West from being able to understand and combat it. Developing Kissinger's suspicion of Saudi Arabia as an Islamic state in Westphalian dress, Chan argues that what is at stake today is not the development of a new Caliphate or an old radicalism - but the effort to supplant and replace the Westphalian system itself. This is the complex and challenging reality to which a truly modern and persuasively relevant plural international relations must now adapt. Whether it can do so remains to be seen"--

The agent-structure problem is not settled by deciding what proportions to put in the blender. Agents and structures do not blend easily in any proportions, and solutions to the problem tend to be unstable. Alexander Wendt's thoughtful review article makes this clear, identifies some of the difficulties, and boldly sketches a possible resolution of them. Since his relections are addressed in part to our recent book Explaining and Understanding International Relations, we welcome the chance to pursue them further. Greatly encouraged by his many friendly comments, we shall concentrate on those suggestive or critical points which have prompted us to think afresh.

"Soccer, football, fútbol, Fussball, or voetbal-regardless of how the sport is known locally, it is the universal language to millions of people across the globe. Diplomacy has a similar, if less visible, universal quality. The ubiquity of both soccer and diplomacy have been closely intertwined for decades as many states have sought to use the sport to demonstrate their position within the international community. Even the first FIFA World Cup host, Uruguay, wanted to portray itself as a modern state to the rest of the world and constructed a 90,000-seat stadium and used the event as part of the country's centennial celebrations. Later hosts have sought to use subsequent iterations of this event to project their own messages to the world. South Africa, the home of the 2010 World Cup, used the event to prove it was no longer burdened by its Apartheid past. Soccer's prominence makes it no surprise that FIFA is typically one of the earliest international federations that newly independent countries seek to join. Ghana's independence in 1954 and the country's subsequent application for FIFA membership began a trend that continues today, with South Sudan and Kosovo following in Ghana's footsteps most recently. Even countries such as the United States, Australia, and South Africa, where soccer competes with other sports domestically, attempt to use the global game to their advantage. Soccer has, therefore, enjoyed a long and close relationship with international affairs. In Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football since 1914, editor Heather L. Dichter brings together an international cadre of experts to examine the relationship between soccer and diplomacy. With chapters spanning both temporal and geographical breadth, this volume demonstrates the extent and variety of ways in which soccer has been, and continues to be, used for diplomatic purposes by numerous individuals, organizations, and governments. Chapters explore the historical interactions of soccer in three dimensions: the use of soccer as a tool of nation-state-based diplomacy, soccer as a non-state actor, and the relationship between soccer and diplomatic actors in subnational, national, and transnational contexts. As such the manuscript explores soccer as conduit for representation, communication, and negotiation"--

The 'emotional turn' within the social sciences and humanities attracts increasing scholarly attention. Political Science, traditionally emphasising the 'rational' public sphere rather than the 'emotional' private sphere, has increasingly questioned this dichotomisation, identifying broader political concepts and practices. The international political process—frequently characterised by widespread distrust, populist campaigns and extreme rhetoric—necessitates addressing and examining its underlying emotions. Informal, affective manifestations of politics are enormously influential, profoundly shaping inter- and intra-national democracy; they accordingly require interdisciplinary study. This thematic issue of Politics and Governance includes disciplines as diverse as education, history, international relations, political theory, psychology, and sociology. In doing so, we illustrate that emotions are cross-disciplinary concerns, relevant beyond the study of politics.