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Prevailing constructivist scholarship argues that the evolution of regional organizations is due to the influence of global norms such as liberal democracy. Alternative rational choice theories suggest there might be efficiency gains that explain the evolution of international organizations. However, these explanations struggle to account for some paradoxical institutional outcomes, for example, the empowerment of inefficient regional parliaments by non-democratic states—an outcome that also threatens state sovereignty. To address such paradoxes, this paper highlights the importance of regionally bound norms in shaping the development of regional organizations. It argues that regional norms can create normative traps that make states converge on a particular institutional outcome. Using the empirical case of the empowerment of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States, which was granted budgetary oversight and mandatory referral powers in 2016, this paper conceives of African international actors as locked in a Pan-African rhetorical trap. The Pan-African rhetorical trap describes a normative environment in which certain outcomes become irresistible for a variety of actors because they accord unambiguously with the norms of the African community. The findings have important implications for the study of international organizations more broadly, scholarship on African international relations, and scholarship on global governance.

Debate has raged over the extent to which New Labour has succeeded in incorporating an ethical dimension in British foreign policy. The assumption has been that New Labour at least changed the context of foreign policy by adopting a more moralistic language. However, there has been no attempt as yet to show this statistically. Using computer-assisted content analysis of Margaret Thatcher's, Robin Cook's and Tony Blair's foreign policy speeches, and assuming that Blair, as opposed to Cook, is the representative voice of New Labour, this research finds that New Labour has indeed changed the context significantly. However, this change did not occur until after the events of 9/11.

Building on the recent initiative to truly globalize the field of international relations, this book provides an innovative interrogation of regionalism. The book applies a globalizing framework to the study of regional worlds in order to move beyond the traditional conception of regionalism, which views regions as competing blocs dominated by great powers. Bringing together a wide range of case studies, the book shows that regions are instead dynamic configurations of social and political identities in which a variety of actors, including the less powerful, interact and partake in regionalization processes and have done so through the centuries

Reconceptualises instability in relation to cyberspace - Assesses the risks of inadvertent escalation in cyberspace - Examines the role of NATO in cyber conflict - Explores the infrastructural aspects of stability and the role of resilience - Case studies include US-China relations, the 2016 Presidential Elections, IoT devices and the African Union. A wide range of actors have publicly identified cyber stability as a key policy goal but the meaning of stability in the context of cyber policy remains vague and contested. Vague because most policymakers and experts do not define cyber stability when they use the concept. Contested because they propose measures that rely - often implicitly - on divergent understandings of cyber stability. This volume is a thorough investigation of instability within cyberspace and of cyberspace itself. Its purpose is to reconceptualise stability and instability for cyberspace, highlight their various dimensions and thereby identify relevant policy measures. This book critically examines both 'classic' notions associated with stability - for example, whether cyber operations can lead to unwanted escalation - as well as topics that have so far not been addressed in the existing cyber literature, such as the application of a decolonial lens to investigate Euro-American conceptualisations of stability in cyberspace.

Reconceptualises instability in relation to cyberspaceAssesses the risks of inadvertent escalation in cyberspaceExamines the role of NATO in cyber conflictExplores the infrastructural aspects of stability and the role of resilienceCase studies include US-China relations, the 2016 Presidential Elections, IoT devices and the African Union A wide range of actors have publicly identified cyber stability as a key policy goal but the meaning of stability in the context of cyber policy remains vague and contested. Vague because most policymakers and experts do not define cyber stability when they use the concept. Contested because they propose measures that rely - often implicitly - on divergent understandings of cyber stability. This volume is a thorough investigation of instability within cyberspace and of cyberspace itself. Its purpose is to reconceptualise stability and instability for cyberspace, highlight their various dimensions and thereby identify relevant policy measures. This book critically examines both 'classic' notions associated with stability - for example, whether cyber operations can lead to unwanted escalation - as well as topics that have so far not been addressed in the existing cyber literature, such as the application of a decolonial lens to investigate Euro-American conceptualisations of stability in cyberspace