World political processes, such as wars and globalisation, are engendered by complex sets of causes and conditions. Although the idea of causation is fundamental to the field of International Relations, what the concept of cause means or entails has remained an unresolved and contested matter. In recent decades ferocious debates have surrounded the idea of causal analysis, some scholars even questioning the legitimacy of applying the notion of cause in the study of International Relations. This book suggests that underlying the debates on causation in the field of International Relations is a...

National Choices and International Processes brings together, for the first time, the various conflicting approaches to the study of foreign policy decision making under a single theoretical framework. Initially examining decision processes within states, Maoz continues by exploring the interactions among states and the manner in which international processes evolve over time. This he calls the "bottom up" approach which is contrasted in his last chapter with the "top down" approach of systems analysis. Although the focus of this study is on theoretical construction, Zeev Maoz provides a...

An original analysis of central banking as global governance, developing the social relations of money, credit, and debt.

In this book Russell Leng examines the behavior of nations in forty militarized crises occurring between 1816 and 1980. He employs a mass of empirical data to consider the conditions under which crises escalate to war or are resolved peacefully, and suggests that the most effective bargaining strategy is one that takes into account both the dictates of power politics, and other, less rational, political and psychological factors. The epilogue presents a provocative critical account of the bargaining strategies pursued by the United States and Iraq during the Gulf Crisis of 1990-1991.

Diplomacy does not take place simply between states but wherever people live in different groups. Paul Sharp argues that the demand for diplomacy, and the need for the insights of diplomatic theory, are on the rise. In contrast to conventional texts which use international relations theories to make sense of what diplomacy and diplomats do, this book explores what diplomacy and diplomats can contribute to the big theoretical and practical debates in international relations today. Sharp identifies a diplomatic tradition of international thought premised on the way people live in groups, the...

Technology is championed as the solution to modern security problems, but also blamed as their cause. This book assesses the way in which these two views collide in the debate over ballistic missile defense: a complex, costly and controversial system intended to defend the United States from nuclear missile attacks. Columba Peoples shows how, in the face of strong scientific and strategic critique, advocates of missile defense seek to justify its development by reference to broader culturally embedded perceptions of the promises and perils of technological development. Unpacking the...

This study of the development of Soviet policy towards Japan during the 1970s and 1980s inaugurated the major series Cambridge Studies in International Relations. Dr Robertson provides a comprehensive analysis of a vital but often neglected contemporary relationship, and suggests that portrayals of basic Soviet-Japanese antipathy may be overplayed, largely as a result of excessive concentration upon a few specific past episodes. The work is divided into four parts, dealing in turn with ideological issues, economic and trading relations, the military and strategic situation, and finally the...

The integration of West Germany into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) became one of the most important and contentious problems of post-war security. Increasing Cold War tensions during and after 1949 had led Britain to consider the need to rearm West Germany. Yet fears of a resurgent Germany existed both in Britain and on the continent. The timing and manner of German incorporation was crucial and became the subject of lengthy negotiations. Using extensive archival material, Saki Dockrill stresses how the government was forced to react to the constantly changing positions...

An exceptionally thorough study of South African foreign policy and the factors influencing its formation.

This book examines a largely neglected phenomenon in the field of international relations--the concept of the isolated state. Deon Geldenhuys begins by discussing how he measures both voluntary and enforced international isolation by, among other things, membership of international organizations, official visits and international censure. He then presents a number of case studies of self-isolation. The remainder of the study is devoted to an analysis of the enforced isolation of Taiwan, Israel, Chile and South Africa. Using a wealth of statistical material, he demonstrates their varying...