This book critically examines the influence of International Society on East Asia, and how its attempts to introduce 'civilization' to 'barbarous' polities contributed to conflict between China and Japan.

Challenging existing works that have presented the expansion of (European) International Society as a progressive, linear process, this book contends that imperialism - along with an ideology premised on 'civilising' 'barbarous' peoples - played a central role in its historic development. Considering how these elements of International Society affected China and Japan's...

This book weaves together perspectives drawn from critical international relations, anthropology and social theory in order to understand the Polish and Baltic post-Cold War politics of becoming European.

Approaching the study of Europe's eastern enlargement through a post-colonial critique, author Maria Malksoo makes a convincing case for a rethinking of European identity. Drawing on the theorist Edward Said, she contends that studies of the European Union are marked by a prevailing Orientalism, rarely asking who has traditionally been able to define European identity, and...

Social power, defined as "the ability to set standards, create norms and values that are deemed legitimate and desirable, without resorting to coercion or payment," is a central part of contemporary international politics.

This text introduces and defines the concept of social power and considers how it works in international politics. It demonstrates how social power is a complex phenomenon that manifests itself in a wide variety of ways and circumstances, particularly in culture, institutions, law, and the media. Providing a global perspective on the role of social power from the...

International Relations and Identity examines the issue of collective political identity formation and expands the concept of the international beyond the notion of states.

Providing a dialogical approach to questions of identity and alterity in International Relations, the author considers how identity is formed, maintained and transformed in continuous processes with alterity. This innovative book seeks to broaden understanding of identity and difference by developing a process-based perspective. It shifts the attention from a dichotomising view of the...

This is a collection of Friedrich Kratochwil's key essays to explain his approach to international relations and how his thinking has developed over the last 30 years. The text addresses topical themes and issues, including sovereignty, law, epistemology, boundaries, global governance and world society.

Friedrich Kratochwil is the author of the classic book: Rules, Norms and Decisions (1989), which introduced constructivism to international relations and has had a profound and significant impact on the discipline.

The Puzzle of Politics brings together for the first time a collection of his key essays to explain his approach to international relations and how his thinking has developed over the last 30 years. It addresses topical themes and issues central to his work including sovereignty, law, epistemology, boundaries, global governance and world society.

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This title offers compelling answers to the question of how global governance can and ought to effectively address serious global problems such as financial instability, military conflicts and severe acts of distributive injustice through argumentation research.

This book provides is a critical investigation into the discursive processes through which the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) reproduced a geopolitical order after the end of the Cold War and the demise of its constitutive enemy, the Soviet Union. Offering ontological as well as the epistemological perspective, this book explains what new security relevant identities and spaces were defined in NATO's discourse, as well as from what epistemic vantage point this new security political order was mapped and inscribed. Contributing to theoretical development within Critical Security...

Constructing Global Enemies asks how and why specific interpretations of international terrorism and drug abuse have become hegemonic at the global level. The book analyses the international discourses on terrorism and drug prohibition and compares efforts to counter both, not only from a contemporary but also from a historical perspective. Utilising poststructuralist theory of the relationship between hegemony and identity, Herschinger argues that hegemony is much more than just the dominance of a single country in international life; rather it is the emergence of a hegemonic order that can...

This book explores the interplay between sovereignty, politics and law through different conceptualizations of sovereignty. Despite developments such as European integration, globalization, and state failure, sovereignty proves to be a resilient institution in contemporary international politics.

This book investigates both the continuity and change of sovereignty through an examination of the different ways it is understood; sovereignty as an institution, as identity; as a (language) game; and as subjectivity. In this illuminating book, Aalberts examines sovereign...