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J. A. Hobson died on April Fools' Day in the first year of the Second World War. This, and a whimsical anecdote from A. J. P. Taylor, might appear to be enough to justify the portrayal of Hobson as an idealist. This paper critically assesses the work of J. A. Hobson and its relation to idealism as a category of international relations thought. An examination of Hobson's writings on international relations shows that there are three distinct strands of thought, three modes of idealism. These modes of idealist thought differ on fundamental propositions about international relations as well as in their prescriptions for a reformed world order. In short, consideration of Hobson's work destabilizes the monolithic category of idealism in international relations. Put another way, idealism blurs important distinctions in Hobson's work.

In this introduction, we situate 'gender and international relations in Britain'. We discuss our understandings of gender, I/international R/relations and GIR. In the second section we discuss the relationship of feminist to gendered IR, arguing that while intimately related, they are nonetheless not synonymous. We turn in the third section to a critical discussion of feminist IR's tendency to see itself as marginal to mainstream IR, a move that contributes to the marginalisation it laments. In the fourth section we compare the development of GIR with gender in Politics, which has been less concerned from the outset with issues of marginality. In the final section we argue that GIR has come into its own, introducing the articles in this issue as instances of self-assured gendered analyses of 'things international'.

What is the impact of international peacekeeping missions for civil-military relations at home? This article unpacks the conditions that produce positive effects of peacekeeping participation on the domestic politics of an authoritarian regime. Drawing on field research, I discuss four mechanisms that link foreign policy making to domestic civil-military relations in Ben Ali's Tunisia. First, the deployment of troops for peacekeeping abroad presents obstacles for the coordination of coup plots at home. Second, incumbents can allocat material resources to meet officers' economic grievances. Moreover,peacekeeping operations serve to enhance corporate institutionalization through specific training programmes. Finally, peacekeeping contributes to a professional ethos and hence the depoliticization of the officer corps. These findings give rise to the notion that contributing to peace can have similar effects for domestic politics as going to war.

International Relations theory does not distinguish enough between prediction and vision, and, as a result, retreats unduly from practice. This article argues for the importance of political vision in the study of international relations by complicating the standard social science distinction between fact and value. Using Nietzschean genealogy, it argues for a dual relationship between the normative and the empirical: the deduction of norms from the constraints of history; and the normative, proactive responses to this history within these constraints. This dual relationship underscores the importance of political vision and political leadership in the study of international politics. The article then analyses present historical challenges and suggests several normative responses to them that can be understood in the terms of 'political vision' in International Relations. It finally takes the example of the present absence of vision and leadership in the European Union and argues for a political Europe, the Union as a political power.

The Australia–China Joint Economic Report is the first major independent joint study of the bilateral relationship and has the blessing of both national governments. The Report is an academic policy study by leading researchers in both Australia and China. It draws policy conclusions to guide the development of bilateral economic relations that include an Australia–China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Change, an Australia–China Commission, and an Australia–China Basic Treaty of Cooperation.