This book offers an in-depth analysis of political life in France and Europe at the beginning of the 21st century at a time of change and crisis. Encompassing questions about values, political actors and electoral choices, it is dedicated particularly to scholars and students enrolled in comparative politics programs. Readers will find scientific answers to the highly debated question both in Europe and elsewhere: in what way are the French different from other Europeans? Using comparative surveys, the authors carry out an empirical examination on the very specific nature of French politics...

This book is devoted to Israel's asymmetric wars, those conducted against irregular armed groups that have attacked it. It seeks to understand the Israeli strategy in the fight against terrorists acting under the guise of civilians or using the population as human shields. The army has implemented a loosely devised, if not simplistic, doctrine of "disproportionate response" since Israel's founding. The results have been mediocre, nearly always leading to the death of innocent Arab civilians and exacerbating anti-Israeli sentiment. Each time it has led to an escalation that is difficult to...

Based on a case study of the RAND Corporation, this shows how the uncertainties of US defense policies since the fall of the USSR can be understood and illustrated through an analysis of the evolution of the think tank community, and more particularly through a sociological study of the so-called defense intellectuals such as the RAND Corporation.

The end of the cold war has paved the way for a series of moral claims that force institutions such as States, International Organizations of Multinationals to justify themselves. What is the effect of this phenomenon on the international relations of the 1990s and beyond.

Can Europe defend its social model in a globalized world when the US, China, India and Russia are enhancing their national sovereignties and playing power politics? This original and informative book addresses such questions and considers if Europe, although it is not a 'super state', would be able to impose norms over force.

"This work was originally published in French by Karthala under the title Milieux criminels et pouvoir politique. Les ressorts illicites de l'Etat"--T.p. verso.

This book analyzes the justification of preventive war in contemporary asymmetrical international relations. It focuses on the most crucial aspect of prevention: uncertainty. It builds a new framework where the role of luck--whether military, political, moral, or normative--is a corrective to the traditional approaches of the just war tradition.

This book looks at the role of multiculturalism in the complex construction of the European Union, acknowledging the tension of creating a new political space for identities that are simultaneously national, regional, linguistic, and religious, and yet strive to encompass a political and geographic whole.

Do international institutions really contribute to building a lasting peace? As diplomats, practitioners with these institutions, and experts on their processes, the authors underline the strengths and weaknesses that international actors have created and won't abandon.

The status quo of the modern world order, a diplomatic entente best characterized as "connivance diplomacy," is limited in its performances, defensive of its privileges, midway between competition and cooperation. It is examined here through its history, its functions, and its failures.