By bringing into dialogue modern systems theory and international relations, this text provides theoretically innovative and empirically rich perspectives on conflicts in world society.

This collection contrasts Niklas Luhmann's theory of world society in modern systems theory with more classical approaches to the study of conflicts, offering a fresh perspective on territorial conflicts in international relations. It includes chapters on key issues such as:

• conflicts and human rights
• conflicts in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa
• war and...

This collection of essays records the development of Adam Watson's thinking about international theory from the 1950s to the present, exploring his contribution to, and the development of, the English School.

Adam Watson was one of the members of the British Committee on the Theory of International Politics alongside Herbert Butterfield, Martin Wight and Hedley Bull and a founding member of the English School. The committee developed a theory of international society and the nature of order in world politics, which have had an important impact on the discipline of international...

International relations theory is witnessing a veritable explosion of works within the areas of modernism and postmodernism, yet there has been no attempt to compare these theories and their sources according to a common criterion or logical form. This author argues that while these pioneering, imaginative and exciting theoretical works are disparate, they also share a common thread that seeks to express emancipatory goals for international relations.

This book provides an in-depth critical study of this genre of theorizing that he names Emancipatory International Relations . Spegele...

This book examines the role of culture in contemporary security policies, providing a critical overview of the ways in which culture has been theorized in security studies.

Developing a theoretical framework that stresses the relationship between culture, power, security and strategy, the volume argues that cultural practices have been central to transformations in European and US security policy in the wake of the Cold War - including the evolution of NATO and the expansion of the EU. Michael C. Williams maintains that cultural practices continue to play powerful roles in...

The central assertion of this book is that states pursue social actions to serve self-identity needs, even when these actions compromise their physical existence. Three forms of social action, sometimes referred to as 'motives' of state behaviour (moral, humanitarian, and honour-driven) are analyzed here through an ontological security approach.

Brent J. Steele develops an account of social action which interprets these behaviours as fulfilling a nation-state's drive to secure self-identity through time. The anxiety which consumes all social agents motivates them to secure their...

A well-established community of American scholars has long dominated the discipline of international relations. Recently, however, certain strands of continental theorizing are being introduced into the mainstream.

This is a critical examination of European approaches to international relations theory, suggesting practical ways of challenging manistream thought. Freidrichs presents a detailed sociological analysis of knowledge production in existing European IR communities, namely France, Italy and Scandinavia. He also discusses a selection of European schools and approaches.

This book provides a critical understanding of contemporary world politics by arguing that the neoliberal approach to international relations seduces many of us into investing our lives in projects of power and alienation. These projects offer few options for emancipation; consequently, many feel they have little choice but to retaliate against violence with more violence.

The authors of this pioneering work articulate worldism as an alternative approach to world politics. It intertwines non-Western and Western traditions by drawing on Marxist, postcolonial, feminist and...

Critiques neo-liberalism and provides an alternative understanding of contemporary world politics by arguing that the neo-liberal approach to international relations is deeply flawed, reproducing violence, instability, insecurity and marginalization.

This collection of essays introduces pragmatism to the study of international relations and evaluates its potential for the theory and practice of global politics.

Seeking to reorient the discipline of International Relations (IR) towards practices and problematic situations, the editors of this volume draw on the pragmatist tradition to provide critical inspiration for this task. Their book, organised into four distinct parts, aims to outline the potential of pragmatism to reconstruct IR. Through such an approach this volume seeks to re-invigorate the discipline and bridge...