Suchergebnisse

Scrutinizes the international relations literatures surrounding three principal research movements that study international conflict: game theory, the democratic peace, & offense-defense theory. The development of the microfoundations of conflict, ie, crisis origins & escalation to war, in game theoretic models is examined; focus of this approach is on why actors fight when preferable peaceful settlements exist. The notion of the democratic peace centers on the observation that democracies are far less likely to war with one another than other dyads. Its establishment as stylized fact is considered before critiquing theories proposed to explain this phenomenon. Three additional approaches to explain the democratic peace are delineated, & a call is made for more hypotheses to test against the large-n sets typically analyzed as well as case studies. Offense-defense theory derives comes from the idea that war & conflict are more likely when territory is easily taken; case studies dominate this research field. Measurement of the offense-defense balance has proven problematic, & the two World Wars, key to the theory's development, are seen to pose a puzzle. Following a look at some test cases, a revision to the theory is proffered. It is contended that the democratic peace & offense-defense theory can benefit by employing game theory. J. Zendejas

Questions concerning the United Nations legal authority to promote democratization & its reasons for favoring democratic political systems in the politically variegated international community are addressed. It is demonstrated that the United Nations has regularly influenced the development of political systems in various countries, has strongly advocated self-determination, & has actively promoted democratization in consenting nations. However, the United Nations support for democratization is delineated as coercive, eg, the United Nations Security Council determines the criteria for legitimate military intervention in foreign countries & Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter allows member-states to intercede in regional disputes. After illuminating the coercive nature of the United Nations intervention in Haiti, Sierra Leone, & Somalia, it is maintained that the organization should establish a normative framework for judging the legitimacy of military intercessions; several principles to be included in this model are articulated, eg, representatives of member-states that obtained power through illegitimate means should not be seated in the United Nations. J. W. Parker

The history of international nationality law & the concept of relational nationality are discussed, drawing on relational feminism. Prior to 1997, theory on nationalism took an individualistic perspective, avoided multiple nationality, & assumed the wife's nationality was dependent on the husband's. The 1997 European Convention on Nationality sought to address issues of multiple nationality & gender equality; it was neutral on multiple nationality because a gender equality perspective on nationality suggest accepting it in cases where spouses are of mixed nationalities. This points to a theory of relational nationalism in which marriage & family relations are important, & where family may mediate loyalties in a complex manner. Questions of statelessness & how the nationality laws in jus sanguinis regimes may be applied differentially to the first three generations are discussed. 108 References. M. Pflum

The effects of the US's decision to deploy a national missile defense system on arms escalation & crisis stability within the international community are studied. Analyses are conducted of the impact of the US's installation of a missile defense program on crisis stability & arms escalation in nations without missile defenses; with limited, moderate, & unregulated missile defenses; & among allied nations. For example, it is stated that creating a missile defense system will reduce crisis stability & increase arms stockpiling in nations with unregulated national missile defenses. Although deterring other nations from launching ballistic missile attacks remains a central component of US foreign policy, it is claimed that the deployment of a national missile defense system would ambiguously affect the efficacy of deterrence policy. It is suggested that establishing a national missile defense system would damage the US's strategic position as world superpower over time. J. W. Parker

The question of whether international environmental agreements, particularly the Kyoto Protocol, conflict with established global trade law is addressed. Aspects of the Kyoto Protocol that could obstruct international trade are discussed. It is contended that multilateral environmental agreements could possibly be incompatible with the World Trade Organization's (WTO) rules that govern the placement of constraints on "like products." Various policies & measures of the Kyoto Protocol that could conflict with WTO law are identified; specifically, it is noted that trade-related environmental measures pose particular problems for current WTO law. An analysis of European Union law & North American Free Trade Agreement law revealed fewer incompatibilities with the Kyoto Protocol. Additional attention is dedicated to exploring the failure of the 1969 Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties' capacity to mediate incongruities between the Kyoto Protocol & extant bodies of international law. Multiple recommendations for resolving these incompatibilities are offered. J. W. Parker

It is argued that public support of a country's defense-industrial base is needed to compensate for the failure of the market to develop new technologies, to exploit market imperfections & preempt competition from other countries, & to avoid dependence on external or concentrated suppliers. The offensive & defensive tasks deriving from these objectives were relatively easy for the US to fulfill in the 1980s, but since then, an increasing portion of defense technology comes from the private commercial sector. Evidence from the 1990s & early 2000s shows that the private sector has no difficulty keeping pace with defense demands, but there are still issues related to defense industry strategy, especially in the offensive strategy of building up a large US defense conglomerate to compete against those in Europe, Japan, the People's Republic of China, & Russia. A defensive strategy of intervening to prevent foreign takeovers is also problematic. The future defense industry may be increasingly interpenetrated & integrated across industrial states. M. Pflum

In this chapter the author explores the impact of pre-emptive strategies that have emerged since 9/11 on human rights. A discussion on the history of international law & human rights is provided before the author turns to an analysis of both US & UK actions that call into question their devotion to human rights issues. Concludes by arguing that the Bush Doctrine's focus on national security & responding to threats, limited an opportunity to increase human rights around the world. D. Miller

Changes in the qualities promoted by those taking out advertisements in the personal columns of newspapers at the turn of the 19th & the 21st centuries are noted as evidence of a shift in presentations of the self as a manifestation of larger changes in societal values. It is shown that earlier advertisements emphasized an individual's social position or role, while contemporary ones place greater weight on individual traits & personality characteristics. It is argued that this tendency reflects a larger change in the market society as it became increasingly industrialized & urbanized. Ever-rising standards of performance & achievement propelled the creation of the "market being," continually seeking new products or methods by which to achieve perfection; it also created a new dependence on machines that could enhance human capabilities. The development of the "business of presenting a self-other-than-self" is described, along with factors contributing to the modern individual's sense of "separation" from his or her self. Three "pillars" on which a sense of self rests are identified, & their undermining by the "death of subjectivity" & deterioration of social attachment in modern life is described. Consequences in terms of personal psychological ill health (mental illness, alienation, loneliness) are outlined, along with their larger social costs, eg, increased crime borne out of a sense of dissociation, destruction of social ties, drug taking, productivity losses due to worker absenteeism, & health care costs for medications & hospitalization. K. Hyatt Stewart

The American conception of normative self-justification is traced to the long period of colonial existence under British domination to argue that disentangling the dual American legacy that is blind to its own faults & acts so mercilessly is necessary to understanding state terrorism. The pathological dualism of America's global role is asserted to be weakening the emergent framework of global cooperative arrangements, & eroding the framework of international law. The pattern of subordinating moral & legal guidelines in pursuit of strategic goals is asserted to represent a fundamental breakdown of rule-governed relationships among states, & is related to cases of nonreciprocity of American conduct in the atomic attacks on Hiroshima & Nagasaki, the geopolitical frustrations of the Korean & Vietnamese War. The patterns of the self serving US & Japanese discourse are concluded require further study & challenge to the moralizing war myth that is coupled with dehumanization of the enemy. J. Harwell

Previous research & theory on the human drive toward self-verification is reviewed, focusing on self-verification processes in people with negative self-views who seek forms of social interaction that will reinforce these. The ironic quest for negative appraisal as a way of attaining positive approval in a round-about manner is also considered, as are self-handicapping strategies. Linking self-verification to social identities, it is suggested that social movement participation may be motivated, in part, by the desire for self-verification; similarly, people may leave social movements when the self-verification they seek is not forthcoming. The nature of the changes in self-concept & social identity engendered by social movement participation is explored. The association between negative self-view & social movement participation is demonstrated with the example of women joining movements for mothers with postpartum depression. 1 Table, 67 References. K. Hyatt Stewart