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The present paper aims at tackling the issue of international public relations from a cultural studies perspective, having in mind the cultural specificity, given the variety of forms of public relations in the world. The public relations field has evolved all over the world with increased intensity nowadays, having become a genuine 'global industry', covering countries with extremely varied cultures, political systems and development. With a wide span across the globe, from the US to Asia and lately Africa, from Ireland to Russia and Eastern Europe, this field has evolved fast, based on the creation of institutional structures that define the way in which the public relations work and legitimate themselves. It is an ascertained fact that the public relations have become a significant 'business' at a global level, with an increased development, faster than that of the global economy on the whole. According to the PR data base, in Romania there are around 40 public relations agencies nowadays, compared to only one in 1992[public-relations.ro] The present paper focuses on the fundamental aspects of the public relations activity, in an attempt at showing the way they are practiced around the world, highlighting the importance of culture in any activity of international public relations. From the very wide references in the field, the approach illustrated by Curtin, P. & Gaither,K. was a highly valued source of understanding and reinterpreting phenomena in the field, as well as the articles offered by various international public relations associations in the country and abroad.

The United Nations held a week-long Congress on Public International Law at its headquarters in New York in 1995 - the year of the celebration of the Organization's fiftieth anniversary - under the general theme `Towards the Twenty-first Century: International Law as a Language for International Relations'. The purpose of the Congress was thus to assist the international community, and in particular the legal profession, to meet the challenges and expectations of the present-day world. Views were expressed, and exchanged, on the codification, progressive development and implementation of public international law, both in theory and in practice, as well as on its teaching and dissemination. The Proceedings of the United Nations Congress contain the presentations and lectures of well-known jurists and professors - in the language given (English, French or Spanish) - as well as discussions that took place after the lectures. Subject matter includes: (1) The principles of international law: theoretical and practical aspects of their promotion and implementation; (2) Means of peaceful settlement of disputes between States, including resort to and full respect for the International Court of Justice; (3) Conceptual and practical aspects of the codification and progressive development of international law: new developments and priorities; (4) New approaches to research, education and training in the field of international law and its wider appreciation; and (5) Towards the twenty-first century: new challenges and expectations

Metaphors constitute a fundamental way in which humans understand the world around them. This book offers a comprehensive analysis of metaphors in theories of international relations. Until recently, conscious attention to metaphors in theories of international relations has been haphazard and sporadic. This book examines the metaphors that inform the major paradigms in international relations theory.

Niewiele się zmieniło od czasu, gdy Stanley Hoffman ogłosił, że stosunki międzynarodowe (IR) są amerykańską nauką społeczną, a John Hobson podkreślił "brak bezwartościowych i uniwersalistycznych teorii relacji międzypaństwowych." W szczególności od 1970 r., wraz z końcem zimnej wojny oraz rozwojem technologii informacyjnych i komunikacyjnych (ICT), dyscyplina IR stanęła przed poważnymi wyzwaniami w stosunku do swoich podstawowych ram koncepcyjnych i teoretycznych. Pomimo szeregu zmian systemowych i pojawienia się nowego środowiska w stosunkach międzynarodowych, dziedzina ta nadal jest silnie uzależniona od starych, nieodpowiednich i/lub obciążonych wartością koncepcji z początku XX wieku. Co więcej, dyscyplina została przeciążona przez zestaw eurocentrycznych i etnocentrycznych koncepcji, które prowadzą studentów IR do kwestionowania jej międzynarodowego charakteru. Można dyskutować, czy wynika to z niekompetencji czy niewłaściwego używania języka. Artykuł ten ma na celu konstruktywną dekonstrukcję głównych i hegemonicznych koncepcji w IR. W pracy wykorzystano jakościową metodę analizy dyskursu, aby ponownie zbadać związek między użyciem języka i kontekstu, często uważaną za pewnik, co ogranicza rozumienie pojęć stosowanych w dyscyplinie IR w celu promowania innowacji i postępu w tej dziedzinie.

To the extent that polities interact across linguistic boundaries, international relations are also inter-lingual relations. Since relations and practices are given meaning in language, it has to be possible to give at least a minimum of shared meaning to mutual relations in order for inter-lingual relations to function smoothly. Otherwise, the divergence of meaning and consequently also of social expectations will limit the possible extent and quality of those relations. Nevertheless, International Relations has not theorised inter-lingual relations. This article addresses this deficiency by proposing a theory of 'conceptual entanglement' as an approach to studying how compatibility of meaning comes about and is maintained between linguistic communities and hence also between polities. With the 'expansion of international society' from the 19th century onwards, linguistic divides have gradually narrowed, especially in terms of political vocabularies. Yet, residues remain, making inter-lingual relations qualitatively different for different pairs of languages, and thus also for polities. The article elaborates on how conceptual entanglement is an aspect of 'entry' into international society by using the theory on the case of how the French concept of 'civilisation' was translated into Ottoman and became part of the political vocabulary of the Ottoman Empire and later Turkey.

A review essay on a book edited by Colin Elman & Miriam Fendius Elman, Bridges and Boundaries: Historians, Political Scientists, and the Study of International Relations (London: MIT Press, 2001). Focus is on the volume's expressed task of exploring the disciplinary divide between history & political science. Contributors of the book's first section investigate theoretical, methodological, & stylistic differences between the two fields of inquiry. The second part of the volume focuses on possible areas of commonality between the fields. However, the cases made for "bridges" are less compelling than the elucidations of "boundaries." Nor does the discussion of GB's 20th-century decline impart any new disciplinary insights regarding the historiography vs political science dispute. Despite consistently strong writing, the volume is ultimately hindered by two basic problems: (1) It advocates the reconciliation of history & political science without explicating what this synthesis might actually be or how it might function. (2) It neglects the equally important relationship between scholars of international & domestic politics & history. K. Coddon

"Language connects people to each other in social relationships and allows them to participate in a variety of activities in everyday life. This original study explores the role of language in various domains of our social life, including identity, gender, class, kinship, deference, status, hierarchy, and others. Drawing on materials from over thirty languages and societies, this book shows that language is not simply a tool of social conduct but the effective means by which human beings formulate models of conduct."--Jacket