Weak States, Strong Societies: Power and Authority in the New World Order

ISBN-13: 9781784534806 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 272 str.

Amin Saikal

Opis

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the previously well-established organisation of world politics has been thrown into disarray. While during the Cold War, the bipolarity of the world gave other powers a defined structure within which to vie for power, influence and material wealth, the current global political landscape has been transformed by a diffusion of power. As a result, the world has seen the rise of sub-national or quasi-/non-state actors, such as Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and the movement that calls itself Islamic State, or ISIS. These dramatic geopolitical shifts have heavily impacted state-society relationships, power and authority in the international system. Weak States, Strong Societies analyses the effect of these developments on the new world order, arguing that the framework of weak state, strong society appears even more applicable to the contemporary global landscape than it did during the Cold War. Focusing on a range of regional contexts, the book explores what constitutes a weak or strong state. It will be essential reading for specialists in politics and international relations, whether students or academic researchers."

Spis treści

Contents Preface iv Contributors vii Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 Amin Saikal and Stephanie Wright 1 Defining the Issues of State-Society Relations 12 Richard Falk 2 From nation-states to member states: State–society relations and state transformation in contemporary Europe 29 Christopher Bickerton 3 The dynamics of federalism: Belgium and Switzerland 50 Jan Wouters, Sven van Kerckhoven and Maarten Vidal 4 State–society relationships in Eastern Europe and world politics 79 Vesselin Popovski 5 State–civil society dynamics in Morocco and Algeria: A case of divide and rule? 114 Karima Laachir 6 Afghanistan and Iraq: State-building in countries with strong societies 144 Amin Saikal 7 State–society dynamics and authoritarian stability in Central Asia 165 Kirill Nourzhanov 8 Weak states and strong societies in Southeast Asia 202 Carlyle A. Thayer 9 The crisis of the state in Africa and the unending search for the reinvention of the state in Somalia 230 Jide Martyns Okeke 10 Strong states, strong societies, weak democracies? Assessing state–society relationships in Latin America 256 Pia Riggirozzi Conclusion 290 Amin Saikal Bibliography 297 Index