Political Science and International Studies

This book explores how China's political system responds to crisis. A crisis is an episode whose impact cannot be controlled merely by astute on-the-ground incident management, particularly in cases involving widespread doubt about the legitimacy of established policy paradigms or the political order as a whole. Crisis can create “political windows” for advocacy groups challenging established policies in pluralist democracies. The political battle between competing definitions of an uncertain and ambiguous situation among the various actors provides them with crisis-induced opportunity space for dramatic policy change. However, the process of crisis-induced policy change, mainly by crisis framing, in non-west regimes like China has not been adequately addressed. As China's leadership foregrounds legitimacy in “victory” over COVID-19, and a new era of climate change disasters begins, this dynamic model of crisis and recuperation will offer food for thought for scholars of Chinese andglobal politics.

This book investigates Turkey’s departure from a ‘flawed democracy’ under Kemalist secularism, and its transitioning into Islamist authoritarian Erdoğanism, through the lenses of informal law, legal pluralism, and legal hybridity. In doing so, it examines the attempts of Turkey’s ruling party (AKP) at social engineering and gradual Islamisation of the Turkish state and society, by using informal Islamist laws.

To that end, the book argues that the AKP has paved the way for Islamist legal hybridity where society, state, and law, are being gradually Islamised on an ad hoc basis. Informal law and legal pluralism in Turkey have had a non-state characteristic which have permitted Muslims to solve disputes by seeking the opinions of religio-legal scholars. Yet under the AKP rule, this informal legal system has become increasingly dominated by conservatives, sometimes radical Islamists, which the governing party has taken advantage of by either formalizing some partsof the informal Islamist law, or using it informally to mobilize its supporters against the opposition.

This book focuses on the participation and interaction of the three great powers—i.e., China, Russia, and the United States—in Arctic affairs from an international relations perspective. Global climate change has become a shared problem for all mankind. One of its key elements is the warming of the Arctic, which is affecting every dimension of nature and humanity globally. Climate change in the Arctic will directly affect natural ecosystems, coastal areas, forests, water resources, agricultural production, animal husbandry, tourism, and other economic activities in various countries around the globe. For the Northeast Asian region, however, the opening of the Arctic Passage by melting sea ice presents an opportunity. The current international legal regime for governance in the Arctic is insufficient to cope with the challenges of global warming. This book will be of interest to scholars following the future development of the Arctic and the role of China as a newcomer to Arctic affairs.

This book scrutinizes the frequently ignored agency of Global South sub-national actors in their interactions with China, using a multidisciplinary approach and eleven case studies. Contributors examine China’s presence in the Global South on a country-by-country basis, analyzing how various non-state and sub-state actors are responding to the rise of China and whether they are attracted by the cooperation models that China proposes or deterred by its new assertiveness. Contributions cover diverse and heterogeneous geographies of the Global South, ranging from Papua-New Guinea to Argentina and from Madagascar to the Russian Far East. Examining such diverse cases, contributors focus on two interrelated questions: What is the actual economic, political, and social impact of China’s growing presence in the Global South? And, critically, how do the citizens of the Global South understand and interpret China’s rise?  Taken together, the case studies develop a comprehensive picture of a complex and sometimes problematic process of China’s inclusion into the economic, social, and political realities of the Global South.

This book identifies and fills the gaps in the existing literature on China’s rise by offering a nuanced perspective on China’s relations with the countries of the Global South that captures such variables as social context, intersubjective meanings, and identities. By focusing China’s relations with the Global South, it also provides an important addition to the literature on international politics of development and China’s role in the transformation of the South-South cooperation.

This book is a comparative study of terrorism and counterterrorism in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. It explores the history and contemporary developments of terrorism, especially Islamist terrorism, in these two Sunni Muslim-majority countries. In doing so, it analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of governments’ policies, strategies, and models of counterterrorism, including terrorist rehabilitation and reintegration programs. In addition, the book also documents the opinions of Saudis and Indonesians to find societal voices on effective ways of combating violent extremism and discusses Saudi-Indonesian cooperation on counterterrorism, defense, and security issues.

This book presents a study of how urban residency in China is regulated by state policy in the second decade of the 21st Century. Far from a straightforward divide between natives and newcomers, policy in this period has created delicate cross-classifications of internal migrants and attendant conditions under which they reside in particular urban areas. With reference to some of the most profound social theorists of the present day, such symbolic acts of division are explained as acts of statecraft carried out by different levels of public administration in the face of multiple quandaries. The book will appeal to those with an interest in the governance of population and territory in China, and by extension, in other parts of the contemporary world.

This book theorizes Chinese politics, specifically about China’s “deliberative democracy (xieshang minzhu 协商民主)”. Creating a China-West comparative framework, the author interrogates China's government's claims to give representation to citizens, allowing readers to see how all of these concepts interact within Chinese ideology, democratic discourse, and governance, and their relationship with Chinese authoritarianism. Above all, this book represents a sustained hybridization of political theory, one which is neither a simple democratic-authoritarian dichotomy, nor a reinterpretation of the official propaganda. This study will interest scholars of Chinese politics and statecraft, shedding light on an emergent discourse of the state – Chinese xieshang minzhu. More importantly, this book goes beyond a simple rhetorical and linguistic use of ‘deliberative democracy’ in the Western sense, and rather emphasizes the very consultative nature of Chinese politics, which facilitates and reconsolidates Chinese authoritarianism. 

This book introduces six key influential feminist activists from Japan’s contemporary feminist movement and examines Japanese women’s experience of and contribution to the international #MeToo movement. Set against a backdrop of pervasive sexual inequality in Japanese society—on a scale that makes Japan an outlier in Asia as well as the rest of the advanced democratic world—this book offers a snapshot of Japan’s contemporary feminist movement and the issues it faces, including, primarily, sexual violence and harassment of women and girls. The six feminist activists interviewed to create this snapshot all work toward eradicating sexual violence against women and girls—they are: Kitahara Minori (instigator of the Flower Demo and public commentator), Yamamoto Jun (activist for sex crime law amendments), Nitō Yumeno (advocate for sexually exploited girls), Tsunoda Yukiko (feminist lawyer), Mitsui Mariko (former politician and current activist), and Yang-Ching-Ja (comfort women activist).

The book explains the rise of BRICS as a decisive group in the present world affairs. It emphasizes the significance of Russian and Chinese foreign policies concerning the BRICS group and how these two countries are using the group to promote their national interests. It also examines the causes of close association of Russia and China within the BRICS group. It illuminates the changing political dynamics of the world. This research contains the scope to unravel the strength of BRICS and Russia and China's foreign policy strategies. The study explains the change in global politics in post covid-19 international affairs. It analyses whether BRICS has the potential to play a decisive role in emerging international politics.

The methodology adopted consists of three components: Quantitative method and Qualitative method along with a field trip to Russia to conduct surveys and interviews. The approach has been analytical and descriptive, and both primary and secondary sources havebeen consulted.

The book is a study on planetary realism in a critical analysis of Australia in the age of the Anthropocene. It contextualises Australia in the degradation of the biosphere deeply harmful to humanity’s wellbeing, accelerating the threat of nuclear war and the tensions of a declining democracy. The Anthropocene is a critical period, threatening the viability of the Australian nation-state. It involves the decarbonisation of the economy driven by domestic and foreign corporate power, and the geopolitics of world domination as a close ally of the US. Australia’s militarisation for war against China must be contested in the pursuit for a green and just new deal framed in the foreign policy of reconciliation with Asia, including a fully cooperative entente with China.

This book provides new insights into the development of integrated approaches to peace and sustainability in the era of global change. Since the late 1980s, and in order to regulate the increasingly detrimental impacts of humans on the environment, the transition towards sustainability has been high on the agenda of researchers and policymakers alike. Meanwhile, peace considerations have expanded in recent decades to include the varied types and sources of conflict, from inter-state to intra-state conflicts due to various social, political, economic, and environmental factors. Through providing theoretical and empirical insights, this book demonstrates that sustainability and peace as intrinsically interrelated. The book elaborates on the multi-dimensional and constantly evolving concepts of sustainability and peace. In addition, the book contributes to a better understanding of the complex and dynamic interlinkages between peace and sustainability by presenting examples of pathwayswhere sustainability and peace interact considering the different factors and contexts that are constantly shaping and reshaping the conditions for sustainable and peaceful societies.  

This book mainly introduces the concepts and approaches of global governance from the viewpoints of Chinese and Russian scholars and is divided into four parts. The first one deals with the concept of a new type of global governance, namely “Globalization 2.0”. The second one is dedicated to institutions and multilateralism, including the importance and effectiveness of international institutions. The third part focuses on the important countries and regions in the new era, as well as such issues as the current global status quo, processes in Eurasia, the prospects of the U.S. – China – Russia trilateral relationship. The last part analyzes the future development of global governance and possible solutions of how it might be improved. Climate change, digital era, cyber security, financial and economic regimes, COVID-19 are all involved in this part. In short, this book is a profound and cutting-edge research on global governance.

This book reports on the results of a survey of 38 major Chinese cities’ public service performances and provides an overview of the development of basic public services in the larger cities. The quality of urban public services is examined from 9 different perspectives: basic healthcare and public health, housing, public transportation, public security, employment and social security, compulsory education, urban environment, culture and sports, and government services. Moreover, a series of indices are applied to further study the degree of public satisfaction with basic public services in these cities. These indices include the index of GDP leveraging satisfaction with basic public services, the rising index of satisfaction with basic public services in cities, and the development index of satisfaction with the basic public service elements. On the basis of the survey results, this book also identifies the most important social issues among the surveyed public, including food anddrinking water safety, information security, housing prices, pensions, and air and environment quality.

This book documents Japan's psychological deterioration caused by its defeat in August 1945. Also, Japan’s traumatic transformation from authoritarianism to democracy is detailed.

 The study exposes an ideological war between the Soviet Union and the USA within American-occupied Japan, which triggered violent polarization among the Japanese. Under General MacArthur’s tutorage, the defeated Japanese were expected to become a peace-loving people, but the Cold War derailed Japan’s progress toward freedom and democracy. The “Red Purge,” instituted by MacArthur's Headquarters (GHQ) from 1949 to 1950, triggered the devastating side effects on Japan's academic freedom and freedom of speech.

 Stanford University Professor Dr. Walter C. Eells (1886–1962) served at the GHQ as an influential education adviser and became the most vocal advocate of the Red Purge. Japanese Marxist historians have constructed the popular postwar narrative of the Red Purge, blaming the GHQ for every failure.

 The vast archival materials, including the GHQ papers, Eells papers, and Japanese-language documents, revealed that the Red Purge was a serious propaganda battle between the Americans and the Soviets in a war-torn Japan. This propaganda war engendered the violently polarized political climate, in which the conservative Japanese government behaved according to the dictates of US Cold War policy. By revealing feverish tensions within the GHQ regarding communist influences in Japanese universities, this study sheds bright new light on the Red Purge and its lasting impact on Japan's political future.

This book analyses the diffusion and implementation of Aid Effectiveness Principles in Kenya’s agricultural sector. Although Aid Effectiveness Principles represent a significant step in aid and development discourse, studies on its implementation remain inadequate, especially in the African context. This book combines the perspectives of the Kenyan government, donor representatives and small-scale farmers. The discussion on Kenya brings in comparative perspectives and, therefore, would have broader relevance to the African region, in general. It highlights a disconnect between the government and farmers concerning the ownership concept, where farmers lack a voice in important policy matters. The book shows that donors have exploited the weaknesses in government responses to interpret The Principles in ways that suit their strategic interests. Consequently, the book argues that the diffusion of Aid Effectiveness Principles has taken the form of symbolic imitation – a form of policy diffusion where the policymakers choose policies for their symbolic value rather than their effectiveness.

This handbook offers readers various perspectives on globalization and multilateralism with Chinese characteristics. Its originality is derived from the hybrid approaches the handbook takes, where chapters provide complementary, intertwined, and multi-level analysis on the topic. Based on contributions of scholars and practitioners from a number of countries, the handbook helps readers to comprehend ongoing debates on the Belt and Road Initiative and global governance, within a shifting balance of world power, characterized by competing views between Western and Chinese norms, standards, values, and narratives.

Split into three Parts, and consisting of 46 chapters, the handbook views globalization as comprehensive concept that benefits from the contributions of various disciplines such as geography, geo-economics, political science and international relations. In producing one of the most ambitious and updated outputs on the topic, the handbook as a whole seeks to discusswhat globalization with Chinese characteristics looks like, and the role of the Belt and Road Initiative in this process.

The book provides a comprehensive analysis of the emergence, political economy and foreign relations of Japan’s relations with the Middle East, with an emphasis on its relations with the states in the Gulf Region.

It offers both country specific case studies and thematic chapters, providing comprehensive study on Japan’s relations with the Gulf and the wider Middle East. Japan enjoys a strategic partnership with the Arab Gulf countries in terms of its energy trade, yet this has morphed into a wider trading relationship with the wider Middle East. The book studies Japan’s relations with Israel, Egypt and Turkey, covering security, the oil sector and the LNG sector Middle East. This will allow this book to go beyond its rich analytical and empirical content.

This book discusses the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on international relations theories. As a phenomenon, AI is everywhere in the real world and growing. Through its transformative nature, it is simultaneously simplifying and complicating processes. Importantly, it also overlooks and “misunderstands”. Globally, leaders, diplomats and policymakers have had to familiarise themselves and grapple with concepts such as algorithms, automation, machine learning, and neural networks. These and other features of modern AI are redefining our world, and with it, the long-held assumptions scholars of IR have relied on for their theoretical accounts of our universe.

The book takes a historic, contemporary and long-term approach to explain and anticipate AI’s impact on IR – and vice versa – through a systematic treatment of 9 theoretical paradigms and schools of thought including realism, liberalism, feminism, postcolonial theory and green theory. This book draws on original datasets, innovative empirical case studies and in-depth engagement with the core claims of the traditional and critical theoretical lenses to reignite debates on the nature and patterns of power, ethics, conflict, and systems among states and non-state actors.

This volume explores the implications of pluralism for international order. Distinguished contributors from around the world offer insights into the character of a pluralistic world order. They focus especially on the manifestations of international pluralism in great power relations, multilateralism, and regionalism. Contributors examine the myriad challenges a pluralistic world order will face in the years ahead, yet they eschew alarmist conclusions. There is still scope for the great powers to better manage their relations, and equally important, much space for multilateralism and regionalism to play their increasingly important roles in stabilizing world order. Distinctive in bringing the themes of pluralism and world order together in both theoretical exposition and policy discussion, this book offers a stimulating reading for scholars and practitioners of world politics.

This book explores the subcultures, cultural trends and regulations of leisure and subcultures among young people in Beijing from 1949 to the 1980s. It complicates our understanding of the successes of the CCP and the nature of those successes—more a synergy or synthesis than victory over society or defeat. It argues that while the CCP aimed to direct the most private sphere in people’s everyday life (i.e., leisure), it did not achieve this goal by coercive means, but by appealing ways through organized leisure activities. This book suggests that although elements of youth subcultures can be observed throughout the Mao era, we should not treat them as a way of passive resistance. Instead, we must position these subcultures between different layers of the Party’s leisure regulation to examine what the CCP actually achieved. Many people who engaged in subcultures defied the blatant politicization of their leisure, some might have defied the process of collectivization, but few defiedthe process of institutionalization during which people did not find state intervention contradictory to their own way of pleasure-seeking. This book also suggests that instead of regarding the Deng Xiaoping era as a breakaway from Maoist interventionist rule, we need to see the historical continuity as revealed by the Party’s uninterrupted policy of leisure regulation. Thought provoking and at times amusing, this book will interest sinologists, historians, and scholars of China's social form.

Under the contraction of global energy supply brought on by geopolitical situation, this timely book addresses how resource-scarce developing countries respond to challenges in energy security. In particular, for countries underpinning efforts for an autonomous supply of energy, either oil/natural gas, nuclear power or renewable energy, this book revisits the evolution of overseas energy investment of two industrial giants in East Asia, Korea and Japan. It will provide meaningful lessons of how the state sets up policies and navigates political procedures for energy security. While a historical case study, it also offers its readers new insight into the international energy market by taking the stark déjà vu in its repetitive nature and putting it into context.

This open access book consists of essays selected from Joseph S. Nye, Jr.’s last three decades of writing and illustrate a variety of perspectives on the nature of power, the role of the United States in the world and US-China relations. Through this collection, it is hoped that readers will gain a better understanding of today’s global environment and find that while great power competition may be inevitable in a world as centers of power shift, cooperating to address transnational challenges can be a positive sum game.

The contents of this book are divided into four main parts. Part One discusses the origins and political progress of the concept of “Soft Power”. Part Two explores soft power in the American experience, its sources and interaction with US foreign policy, as well as its ebb and flow in the age of Obama, Trump and Biden. Part Three examines the rise of and the opportunities and difficulties for Chinese soft power, focusing on China’s investment in soft power andhow this demonstrates its commitment to a peaceful rise. However, it also addresses the question of how can China get “smart” on how it uses soft power. Part Four provides a bird’s-eye view of power shifts in the 21st century and the interactions between the US as an established power and China as a rising power, while also reassuring readers that Thucydidean fears are unnecessary and a Cold War is avoidable. Both countries have to realize that some forms of power must be exercised with others, not over others, the development of soft power need not be a zero-sum game. Ultimately, the US-China relationship is a “cooperative rivalry” where a successful strategy of “smart competition” is necessary and cooperation on transnational challenges like climate change, pandemics, cyberterrorism and nuclear proliferation, will serve to benefit not only China and the US, but the world as a whole.

This book presents South Asian women’s voices which have been marginalised in the theory and practice of international relations in the region. It highlights critical issues of importance for women which are often neglected in traditional International Relations (IR). Embracing  Feminist epistemology, the book re imagines the theory and practice of IR in South Asia, placing women’s experiences and their diverse voices at the centre. Refusing the temptation to typecast women, the book showcases the varied voices of South Asian women in international relations with contributions from an eclectic set of authors from different nationalities. In doing so, the book expands the ontological and epistemological limits of IR by including caste, conflict, protest perspectives. While some of these are uniquely South Asian, like caste, all of them show how the field of IR in general can become enriched by being more inclusive. This book will be of interest to researchers as it provides a fresh conceptual re-conceptualization of the field of IR from gender as well as global south perspective. The book will also help graduate students seeking to understand the intersection of gender and IR.

This book offers comprehensive review and analysis of official corruption in post-Mao China, arguing that this complex political and social malaise is the consequence of a variety of contributing factors, which include political, social, traditional/cultural, or structural, institutional, governance or policy failures. This study distinguishes itself from the methodologies of other studies by classifying corruption into detailed categories and sub-categories, accompanied by abundant cases and examples of the irregularities and offences. Contents are organized into four categories – bureaucratic corruption, regulatory corruption, corruption in judiciary, and corruption characteristic of socialist reform China, and each category is further divided into detailed subcategories to pin down the patterns, actors, loci, as well as inducements of corruption originated from either political institutions, economic structures, or sociocultural norms. Given its comprehensiveness and in-depth ofinformation and analysis, this book is a useful reference for those interested in political and government corruption in post-Mao China.

This book discusses the phenomenon of regional integration in Africa and the ensuing discourse on the intercontinental free trade agreement within the continent. Long before the move for the facilitation of free trade in Africa, freedom of movement by Africans within Africa backed up by the AU Protocol on free movement of persons has been in existence and in one way or the other both moves are closely related. The book explores the existing relationships between the ECOWAS Protocol on free movement, goods and services and AfCFTA on one hand and the impact of the implementation and non-implementation of these policies on West Africa on the other hand.

This book brings together a range of studies that aim at illustrating the ideas, institutions, historical patterns, and contemporary relevance of the social-political system that existed in the main part of East Asia during the premodern era. This is most often known as the Confucian literati-bureaucratic state, the imperial Chinese bureaucratic state, or the Confucian-Legalist state, that was established and endured most notably in China, but also in several East Asian societies such as Korea, Vietnam, Japan. That state and sociopolitical system also greatly shaped state making in several kingdoms in the region – such as Ryukyu and Dali – which were later merged into larger polities. Illuminating the significance of these historical patterns for today, this book will interest political scientists, historians, philosophers, and the general public.

This book focuses on the dialogues to improve the communication among Asian countries, which is contributed by world-wide experts from think-tanks, academia and governments. In this book, it involves the topics of Connotation and Evolution of Asian Civilization, Exchanges and Mutual Learning of Asian Civilization, Asian Civilization and Asian Development, Opportunities and Challenges Faced with Asian Civilization, etc.

This book explores the legacy of the Japanese empire in Korea, asking how colonialism arose as a legal idea. What was the legal process behind the establishment of colonialism as Japan's prime strategy towards Korea since the late 19th century? By addressing such questions, it is not only possible to address how Japanese colonialism in Korea was born, but also address how the process behind the making of colonialism as a judicial and legal project was illegal from its origination. As East Asia grapples with a new generation of power politics, these sober reflects lend an important historical context to the struggles of the present.

This book began as a year-long ethnography of a school in Taiwan in 1991 then evolved more into a historical sociology of national formation and its cultural mindset.  Cultural nationalism is a widely debated but poorly understood process.  Contrary to prevailing perceptions, the Cold War may have given way to a more progressive open society, but the politicization of ethnicity hardened a more deeply entrenched cultural frame of mind.  Instead of liberating an indigenous reality, Taiwanese consciousness has ironically polarized the political dead ends of reunification and independence.  In the final analysis, the ethnography can serve as a paradigmatic case study for critical cultural studies. There are clear ramifications also for a comparative study of the cultural politics of other Chinese speaking or Asian societies and their histories.

This book explores the developmental direction of the modernization of China's basic public services in the context of national governance modernization. Describing the blueprint for the modernization of China's basic public services in 2030, including basic public education, basic medical and health services, basic old-age services, and basic public cultural services, this book reflects Chinese public management scholars' strategies for the modernization of China’s public services in the next 10 years and the path to get there. This book will interest scholars of Chinese governance, as well as readers who want to understand the current status, challenges and development strategies of China's public service and social policy fields.

This book provides an analysis of the latest research findings in the field of world history, and includes terse articulations of modernity vis-à-vis empire. In doing so, the author brings together insights from both the disciplines of history and international relations into world systems, emphasising economic aspects, and offering a road map for the evolution of the field of world history.

The book achieves this by critically analysing the works of Peter Fibiger Bang, Christopher Alan Bayly, Walter Scheidel, Krishnan Kumar, Xin Fan, Christopher A. Ford and Diego Olstein. The author includes discussions such as how the Roman empire impacted all subsequent Western empires, both early and modern, and current debates in world history and politics such as China’s rise.

This book explores how AI and mechanism design can provide a new framework for international politics. The international political system is all manners in which countries, governments and people relate. Mechanism design in international politics relates to identifying rules that define relationships between people and countries that achieve a particular outcome, e.g., peace or more trade or democracy or economic development. Artificial intelligence is technique of making machines intelligent. This book explores mechanism design and artificial intelligence in international politics and applies these technologies to politics, economy and society. This book will be of interest to scholars of international relations, politics, sustainable development, and artificial intelligence.

This volume brings together contributions from the academic community, policymakers, and practitioners to delve into the profound challenges facing the international system in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a focus on the Global South, it offers a comprehensive analysis of the political economy of development in this region, considering the economic, social, and geopolitical factors at play. The book addresses the multifaceted challenges that developing countries encounter in terms of economic growth, poverty reduction, and social development in a post-pandemic world. It examines the impact of the pandemic on these countries and explores innovative strategies for promoting economic recovery and sustainable development.

It is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in understanding the political economy of development in the Global South post covid-19 pandemic. It provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges facing developing countries and offers valuable insights into the potential solutions that can be implemented to foster economic recovery and development. Its interdisciplinary approach and diverse perspectives make it a valuable resource for anyone interested in the dynamics of development in the Global South.

This book explores how digital authoritarianism operates in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and how religion can be used to legitimize digital authoritarianism within democracies. In doing so, it explains how digital authoritarianism operates at various technological levels including sub-network level, proxy level, and user level, and elaborates on how governments seek to control cyberspace and social media.

An understanding of these aspects would help scholars and the public understand both the technical and social aspects of digital authoritarianism in these five countries.

This book examines the modes by which the grand theories of International Relations can be restructured at the level of meta-theory. It emphasizes the inability of grand theories to make sense of international relations in postcolonial societies and argues to engage in such restructuring in the domain of ontology. This is done by making a historical sociological defence toward adopting mid-level theories in IR. It is a critique of the meta-theoretical foundations of Kenneth Waltz's grand theory of neorealism, by pivoting itself upon the framework of postcolonial ontology. Dwelling upon Mohammed Ayoob’s mid-level theory of subaltern realism,  it argues for undertaking the task of restructuring International Relations at the level of meta-theory, largely in the sphere of ontology. It explains how the thrust of grand theories such as neorealism, on ontological singularity can be circumvented. Owing to this, International Relations can experience a meta-theoretical transformation that may manifest in the broader engagement of the discipline itself, with the very conception of ontological multiplicity.

China’s Social Credit System has fundamentally re-shaped global notions of surveillance, making it into European Union legislation and hundreds of media headlines. Drawing on a rich body of empirical evidence, this book offers one of the first comprehensive assessments of this infamous system, from its fragmented implementation to its implications for both human rights and the market order. Surprisingly, it illustrates even China's government is confused about this messy initiative. Separating fact from fiction, Social Credit is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in technology, governance, and surveillance in China and beyond.  

The book is presented in an accessible Q&A format and draws on interviews, articles, and reports, as well as dialogues between Professor Allisonand Dr. Huiyao Wang from the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a non-governmental think tank based in Beijing. The book also includes an introduction and afterword by Dr. Huiyao Wang, CCG president and editor of this volume.

This book is the first to analyse the practice of governance to resolve conflict in the case of Aceh in Indonesia. Combining theoretical discourse on conflict, democracy, and governance, it draws from original field research on the separatist conflict, utilizing a social constructivist approach in collating observations and interviews with political elites from both the Government of Indonesia and the Aceh Independent Movement (GAM). The conflict was an intractable one in which thousand civilians were killed between 1976 and 2006. The author zooms into the 2003 and 2007 period, against the broader context of the political landscape of Indonesia under the Suharto regime. In doing so, the book tackles the challenges presented by intrastate conflicts relating to ethno-religiosity, land use, and separatism. It unpacks the Indonesian political system’s shift from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one, and demarcates the prevalence of state violence in managing conflicts, as exemplified in the Aceh separatism conflict. Relevent to political scientists and scholars in peace, conflict and development studies, this co-published book presents novel sociological insights into Indonesia’s historical, and contemporary, political landscape.

This book uses the cases of Syrian factions in rebel-held areas, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Houthi in Yemen, rebels in Libya, Taliban in Afghanistan, In Iraq, and Somalia to explain the importance of examining genealogies tribalism, common local knowledge and social networks in understanding the institutionalisation of armed group governance systems. The book provides a series of studies employing  heterogenous methodological approaches to address the issue using qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. The proposed project also attempts to move away from the central debate on the national political crisis trend by examining the sub-national level patterns and assessing various factors and questions that bring about clear answers regarding how de-facto rulers use tribes and tribal informal institutions to sustain their presence and create a safe social incubator.

The emergence of China as a great power is perhaps the most consequential development for the world in the 21st century. Yet, what the Western world sees in this development is largely through the prism of misinterpreted ideological dichotomy and misguided geopolitical rivalry. This book offers a deep look at the Chinese Communist Party and the nation it leads at conceptual, historic, and operational levels. If Thomas Kuhn’s concept of paradigm shift can be used in the social sciences, then China would represent the most significant anomaly to the dominant liberal exemplar. For students of China and of politics in general, and for the Western political and commercial elites, if they were to read one book about China to grasp the nature and weight of the Chinese phenomenon, Party Life would be it.

This book provides a comprehensive study of Indonesia's contemporary foreign policy engagement with Africa, highlighting the archipelago’s recent reawakening to the continent. It explores thoughts on Afro-Asian relations in general and their future in the changing geopolitical context. It provides a vision of Indonesia’s foreign policy and political situation at the highest level of leadership. It places Indonesia in a multi-comparison context, which helps us reconsider Indonesia today and widens our views on Indonesia’s needs to be better known through new perspectives and voices able to better convey the realities of its polity, aspirations, and complexities. It proposes, through the study of Indonesia’s African endeavour, to better grasp the contemporary Indonesian Zeitgeist and Weltanschauung. It also analyses the political power alliance formed by President Jokowi and former General Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, leading a state-led developmentthrough state capitalism, mobilising State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The Bandung Conference host aspires to project its domestic development achievements towards Africa, focusing on Africa for Africa and not merely as part of a sometimes-abstract Afro-Asian discourse. Nonetheless, Afro-Asianism continues to be mobilised to facilitate market penetration and serve domestic interests.

The book shows how Indonesia’s foreign policy toward Africa relates to domestic political contestation and consolidation, political legacy and commodity-based industrial policy, and Chinese and “China in Africa” networks and ideational influence, foremost among other networks of influence in the Jokowi era. The book also underlines how Indonesia’s knowledge production and academic deficiencies negatively impact its foreign policy capabilities, notably as a potential robust alternative partner for Africa. It will be beneficial for students, academicians, researchers, and diplomats. 

This book explores the intricate web of economic diplomacy, Asia Pacific strategies, and Mega Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that shape the region's dynamics. It also examines the European Union's perspective, considering its shared interests with East Asia and the USA. Avoiding military conflicts in sensitive regions such as the Taiwan Straits and the Korean Peninsula is crucial, as the economic ramifications of any such conflicts could be catastrophic on a global scale, fundamentally altering the course of the New Cold War.

As the world teeters on the precipice of a new era defined by global power struggles and geopolitical realignments, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of the pressing issues facing East Asia and the EU. It challenges readers to reflect on history's lessons and find wise solutions through theoretical and practical approaches.

This book tackles global economic and social issues from a perspective that may seem obvious but which no author has yet taken: that we humans are living beings. In today’s artificially globalized world, we have increasingly lost sight of our original humanity. Despite the serious environmental, social, and political problems we are facing, we cannot stop focusing on economic growth, efficiency, and liberalization. In doing so, we continue to make the world “slicker” and more unstable. This book identifies these conventional values and ways of thinking as the root cause underlying many of today’s challenges, and it offers the perspective of a “bumpier” and more organic human existence that provides a greater sense of traction and stability.

The book begins with a discussion of global systems and structures, proposing a “world with two systems” to limit the effects of artificially constructed globalization. The second part examines the modern welfare state, outlining a process to revive democracy and social capital by making social issues the business of everyday citizens. The third and final part focuses on human well-being, emphasizing physicality and the Japanese concept of kata as keys to restoring our humanity.

Rather than searching for specific solutions through specialized knowledge, this book makes use of the author’s broad perspective acquired through many years of public policy research and reform. It asserts that knowledge should be acquired through hands-on experience and in studies based on real-world situations, involving people at the forefront of society’s challenges, whether politicians, businesspeople, scientists, craftspeople, or farmers.

In both its analysis of humanity’s problems and the solutions it offers, this book takes an entirely new yet utterly natural approach to steering humanity off the global economic superhighway.

This book focuses on the triangular relations between China, the United States and the European Union from the perspective of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) via the methodology of international political economy. China, the US and the EU are the three most important players in international politics and the global economy, and their relations are accordingly among the most influential in the global arena. This book will argue that the interactions between China, the US and the EU are highly dynamic given their close connections in trade, finance and many other economic fields. In the context of US–China competition, the decisions of the EU, which has sought to remain independent in its foreign policy for decades, crucially shape the landscape of international politics, and lucidly articulates how international relations look from China to scholars of geopolitics.

This book explores the emerging politics of Eurasia from the vantage point of Kazakhstan. Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022 has led to the end of the post-Cold War paradigm of liberal convergence and has triggered a geopolitical shift that will lead to the establishment of a renewed bipolar world order. However, if Russia is responsible for that shift, it will most likely not be the power that will be the leading force of the anti-Western bloc. The leading force of this emerging bloc will rather be China to which Russia is inevitably destined to be relegated as a junior partner in Beijing’s geopolitical orbit. This book, analyzing the geopolitics of a changing region, will interest scholars of international relations, Eurasia, and the economics of energy.

This book is based on intense research work and consultation conducted over a long period, presents circumstances under which certain tribes in Andhra Pradesh are placed to keep on living through criminal activities. It explains why particular tribes become crime-prone and why and how they have been branded and notified as criminal tribes. It deals with the structure of the village criminal-tribe settlements and approaches the problem of tribal criminology from a structural perspective. It studies the criminal behaviour that could be related to social situations that prevail in the two ex-criminal settlements in Andhra Pradesh and examines the structure and organization of this group as well as changes that have been taking place as far as their criminal activities are concerned. The analysis in this book focuses on the sociological and anthropological circumstances under which the criminal tribes become criminals and continued to be called as criminals although most of them as a group have since stopped criminal activities.

This book offers a novel and comprehensive reappraisal of current relations between Italy and Australia. For the first time, it expands the scope of analysis by encompassing and critically reviewing research avenues that have been understudied so far. In order to pursue this objective, it provides innovative analyses on bilateral history, reciprocal migration, socio-cultural ties, international relations and trade, comparative politics, and scientific cooperation.

This open access book is intended as an original contribution to the conversation on the role and challenges of education in Central Asia to promote social cohesion by looking at Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Examining education challenges within the countries’ wider historical, social, political, and cultural context, the contributions explore existing discourses concerning national identity, religion, language, gender, inclusion, internationalisation of education, and non-state actors through a Political Economy Analysis (PEA) lens. With the understanding that education is both a powerful mechanism of social reproduction in societies and a driver of social change, the book attempts to promote political economy analysis of education as a helpful analytical tool for educational debates and reform agendas in the region and thus will be a valuable resource for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars in this region and beyond.

This book investigates India-ASEAN partnership and their overlapping perspective on the Indo-Pacific region and big powers' contestation and competition in this region providing specific nuances and newer insights. It is policy-oriented and examines the confluence of ASEAN’s Outlook for Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI). It brings out various contemporary geopolitical drivers that highlight the hidden complementarities and gaps in India-ASEAN multi-sectoral connectivity and its future. The book provides a balanced assessment of evolving trends, undergirded by theoretical debates and empirical analyses with diverse sub-regional and country perspectives of the intersection between the potential for regional convergence, domestic capacity issues, and security interests. It is thus of immense use for thinktanks and media commentators, policy makers, and researchers of Indo-Pacific & Asian affairs, international relations, and China-US relations, interested in evolving contours of Indo-Pacific geopolitics.

This book critically analyses important social issues experienced in Australia, such as economic inequality, precarious work, unequal access to quality education and health care, housing insecurity, colonisation, racism and discrimination, activism and social change. In doing so, it contributes to urgent discussions in key areas of Australian society. At a moment in time where a more progressive, caring, inclusive and optimistic public discourse is required, this book takes up the challenge of thinking constructively and creatively about the possibilities for change. While the book focuses on Australian-specific experiences, connections to international examples are made to ensure this work has relevance to people beyond an Australian context.

This book offers a meticulous empirical examination of Chinese democracy and its myriad discourses. Delving into the intricate workings of Chinese democracy, the author explores how the Chinese Communist Party employs democratic principles, how intellectuals grapple with the concept, and how the populace perceives and engages with democracy. In transcending mere methodological nationalism, this narrative extends to the global stage, offering insights into democratic evolution beyond Western paradigms by exploring resonates particularly with developing and post-colonial countries, offering a fresh perspective on the delicate balance between state capacity, social order, and the democratization process. While the trajectory of democracy in China remains uncertain, these empirically grounded analyses provide a pragmatic lens through which to contemplate the future of Chinese political dynamics.

This edited book aims to analyze the domestic politics and foreign relations of the country after the Taliban regained power in August 2021. It touched upon the key issues affecting the Taliban regime, such as peace talks, terrorism threats, BRI cooperation, and the policies of the great powers and neighboring countries toward the new regime in Afghanistan. It makes a significant contribution by incorporating various viewpoints from government officials, university scholars, and think tank experts from China, Japan, and South Asian states. The broad approach and extensive coverage of all relevant countries make this book a valuable resource for more than just a specific academic community. It appeals to a diverse readership, including academics, policymakers, journalists, and general readers.

The main content of the book is divided into ten chapters, in which the first chapter briefly introduces the aims and scope of this book. The following 3 chapters look into the domestic politics in Afghanistan. These mainly include the Afghan peace negotiations, the challenge of the Taliban regime, and the security threats and regional response under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The next 6 chapters examine US's Afghan policy, China-Afghanistan relations, and Russia, India, Pakistan, Japan’s engagement with Afghanistan.

This book describes the battle between major Middle Eastern and Asian Muslim-majority states to control the definition of Islam in the 21st century. Focusing on United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia, the book explores how the outcome of this battle will significantly empower the winner, or winners, to wield religious soft power, secure leadership of the Islamic world, and project strategic influence worldwide.

The result of the rivalry will determine which notions of a ‘moderate Islam’ will prevail including the degree to which these notions embrace religious and political pluralism, tolerance, gender equality, secularism, and human rights as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or remain vague, as in current Saudi and Emirate usage of the term moderation, which is designed to mask these states’ failure to systematically integrate these values into their domestic and foreign policy agendas.

Ultimately, the battle for the soul of Islam will significantly impact how Muslims worldwide understand and practice their faith. Waged in diverse arenas across the globe, this complex religious and geopolitical struggle will play a significant role in determining the prospects for peace and security not only in the vast region extending from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the Philippines but also in the United States and Europe.

This book presents a framework for designing and implementing technologies to reduce risks in parliamentary decision-making, leading to the emergence of e-politics. It emphasizes adaptable virtual systems and problem-solving over predefined solutions, fostering multi-helix engagement among cross-functional teams. These teams collaborate to develop strategic, tactical, and operational solutions for citizens, elected parliamentarians, and organizations such as the UN. The book underscores the importance of risk identification, mitigation, and communication for e-political system safety.

The framework leverages technology to create an e-democracy, enhancing the productivity of parliamentarians and promoting democratic sustainability. It builds on the theoretical framework of system engineering, aiming to avoid the pitfalls of previous generations' promises and instead focusing on continuous improvement through a people-centric system. The book introduces the PI App as a purposive technology that aids in implementing these ideas.

By promoting an ever-improving parliament and parliamentarians, the framework aims to achieve higher productivity in decision-making roles and evolve practical e-democracy. It highlights the need for a Virtuous Cycle for continuous improvement in strategic decisions for national investment, ultimately leading to a people-centric system. The book envisions a future where technology plays a crucial role in ensuring democratic sustainability and enhancing the effectiveness of parliamentary decision-making.

China abruptly became the second largest economy and, at the same time, the second largest R&D spender in the world, aiming openly to become an innovation powerhouse that holds the edge in critical technologies. The significant consequences on global trade flows, international security, governance and economy are increasingly drawing the attention of policymakers, academics, and industry leaders worldwide. The study highlights the main characteristics and trends of the national innovation system in China, as well as its strengths, challenges, and prospects. It examines in detail public policies, funding mechanisms for innovation, inbound and outbound FDI, IPR mechanisms, public perception towards technology, priority industries, and other factors. It thus identifies the main innovative actors of the system, including government, industry and research institutions, highlighting the patterns of interaction among them. The findings are showcased in a focused case study on the AI industry and further serve to advance policy recommendations for the EU. 

Traditionally, China has made more effort and has achieved better results in understanding and learning from ‘the West’. It is now vital for other countries to better understand China.

In China, heritage projects are sprouting across the countryside carrying the promise of Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream” as a call for the great revival and rejuvenation of the nation. This book unravels the workings behind these promises through the story of remaking Meili, a Dong ethnic minority village nestled along the margins of China, into a “Traditional Village” heritage site. In a past riven by deep political and societal disruptions, Meili becomes a medium for contesting, mediating and continuously inventing representations of tradition that aligns with the Chinese Communist Party’s mission towards continuity and stability. The outcome is an original depiction of the compromises that shape heritage-making in a rural ethnic corner of China. Filled with rich, fine-grained narrative and analysis, Suvi Rautio offers a unique lens to the politics of inventing tradition and its far-reaching consequences in steering China's national identity under Xi Jinping rule.

By exploring the trajectories of Islamist parties in six diverse countries (Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia), this book provides a comparative analysis of the strategies employed by Islamist groups to confront established political structures through electoral processes and their subsequent governance practices if and when they assume power. The latter aspect is less explored than the predominant focus on Islamist opposition movements.

The book analyses how these Islamist political parties navigate and negotiate with oppositional forces and establishments, concisely discussing the complex dynamics at play within each country.

The book also bridges the gap between North Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Asia Minor, providing a comparative analysis across regions.

Primarily serving as an introductory text to the subject of Islamist parties, the book functions as a comprehensive reader and handbook. Each chapter covers a range of key issues and themes relevant to the governance and political activities of the Islamist party of the country studied in the chapter, offering a general overview of Islamist party experiences across various themes and different historical periods.

This book delves into the intricate interplay between climate change and the dynamic shifts in global power structures, focusing on the expanded BRICS. Offering a distinctive vantage point by encapsulating the evolving dynamics of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the book through this unique perspective, sheds light on the nuanced relationship between environmental challenges and the geopolitical landscape. It has an interdisciplinary approach, seamlessly weaving insights from political science, economics, development studies, and the natural sciences. This holistic integration of diverse disciplines enhances the reader's understanding, presenting a comprehensive analysis of the multifaceted issues at the nexus of climate change and global politics. It not only maps out the current climate crisis confronting humanity in the twenty-first century, but also extends a helping hand to policymakers. The inclusion of pragmatic policy recommendations adds a pragmatic dimension, providing valuable insights that policymakers may find instrumental in addressing the challenges posed by climate change.

This book examines human capital development in the Middle East. It focuses on the investment in human capabilities, namely education and health, the two most critical components of growth and development. The book assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare sector, with particular attention paid to effectiveness of public health policies and services, health expenditure, mortality rates, and psychological effects of the pandemic on the wider society. It also evaluates the pandemic effects on the education sector, more specifically medical education, physical education, emotional effects on students and teachers, method of communications, learning and teaching, and the extent to which digital readiness has minimized these effects. The book reveals the severity of the pandemic on human capabilities in terms of loss of lives, illness, vaccinations, knowledge acquisitions, skills development, and productivity, while providing new insights for governments to deal with similar crises in the future. It uses a variety of research methods and quantitative and qualitative techniques, country case studies, and primary data collected through survey questionnaires, interviews, and official reports to analyse the impact of the pandemic on health and education. The analyses are supported by statistical data and illustrated by tables and figures. Readers, students, researchers, industry practitioners and policy makers will benefit from the new insights offered by a diverse group of 40 professors, researchers, and industry experts from across the Middle East and beyond.

This book provides a theoretically grounded and empirically fine-grained analysis of uneven state development in Afghanistan beginning in the early 20th Century. Based on archival research, the book shows that after Amanullah Shah’s abortive modernist authoritarian experiment and Habibullah Kalakani’s brief rule, a newly empowered Musahiban dynasty charted a patrimonial absolutist course. The new regime delegated considerable authority to traditional tribal areas in the southeastern and eastern part of the country, while pursuing a coercive strategy in other parts of the country that usurped traditional leadership at the regional and local levels. Previous explanations of the weakness of the Afghan state tend to emphasize structural determinants such as difficult geography, acephalous tribal organization, ethnic heterogeneity, as well as colonial interventions. Others have focused only on events after the Soviet or NATO interventions, pointing out faulty external decision-making, corrupt government officials and warlords, neighboring insurgent safe havens, or the international aid-fueled rentier economy. This book proposes an intermediate explanation for the patchwork nature of the Afghan state rooted in institutional choices made by a new ruling elite that took over in 1929. The year represents one critical juncture in Afghan history, where individual agency based on certain ideological preferences set in motion a path-dependent process that shaped its politics well into the latter half of the century.

This book focuses on the increasing contest and limited cooperation between India and China in Southeast Asia, which is beyond their shared border. This sort of engagement shows how their bilateral tensions are also playing out in the extraterritorial region where the two countries are involved because of history, economics, and security reasons. Chapters in this book look at the various facets of their engagements in the Southeast Asia. It contains both thematic and bilateral issues. Some of the chapters such as on infrastructure, defence etc takes stock of India-China engagements in Southeast Asia, while others mainly deal with how the two Asian powers interact with the individual countries of the region. The readers will benefit from this comprehensive volume in following ways: (a) They will come to know how and why Southeast Asia is an important region for India and China; (b) They will get an idea of how India and China are trying to engage with the Southeast Asia as a regionand at the bilateral level; (c) The readers will understand the role of the Diasporas in linking their respective country of origin with the States they live in ; and ( d) the readers will get aware of how the Asian powers are contesting against each other in the Southeast Asia region for their benefits

Hong Kong Identity: A Scholarly Record is an empirical analysis of the city’s territorial identity politics. Placing the discussion firmly within comparative politics literature, this book endeavours to present the case study of Hong Kong’s territorial identity politics to both the local and international community.

The book empirically traces the historical-political development of the “Hongkongers” identity from 1841 to 2020, with a focus on its evolution into a “collective action frame” since the mid-2010s. Through a number of original data collection—telephone surveys, extended interviews, macro-organisational analysis, organisational surveys, and protest event analysis—this book empirically addresses the research questions of who, why, and how people protested. It guides readers to understand and interpret Hong Kong’s territorial identity politics in a comparative and theoretical way.

This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of comparative politics. Experienced political researchers in Hong Kong will find this book illuminating; while comparative political scholars worldwide would also find it a handy introductory text to the critical case of Hong Kong. This book is also an excellent resource for instructors and students of Asian Studies, China Studies, and Hong Kong Studies.

This handbook comprehensively covers topics in international relations, with a specific focus on China-Europe-Africa relations. This triangular relationship brings substantial contribution for the formation of an emergent new international order. With China being the second largest economy, and a growing power in military, technology, trade and cultural relations, the book provides decisive research on the key aspects that ground the country's external relations with Europe and Africa.

The first three parts of the book covers issues related to strategy, economy, and security, with specific case studies. In addition, the fourth part, not only focuses on China-Europe-Africa, but also extends to chapters on multilateralism and relations with other countries, regions, and economic communities. In doing so, the book also addresses topics on the Ukraine war, Covid-19, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Gateway, and the balance of major powers.

This open access book discusses conditions of conflict resolution over the Russo-Ukrainian War and analyzes requirements for long-term durable peace for Ukraine. What are the impacts of the Russo-Ukrainian War? Do we really know them? The authors examine this question from various perspective including conflict resolution theories, international relations theories, geopolitical theories, domestic and regional politics, regional security system, public opinion and national identity of Ukraine, etc. In so doing, the authors identify the war as a complex crux of many theoretical and practical issues like the merger of the Donbas War from 2014 with the full-scale invasion by Russia in Ukraine as a typical example of “internationalized internal-wars”. The authors also seek to develop their findings to ask a question, what are the agendas for durable peace for Ukraine? The authors argue that the agendas should include ripeness theory, security guarantees, deterrence mechanisms, geopolitical arrangements, domestic national identity formation, etc. The authors do not necessarily address the question about the way the war can be terminated, while the mode of the termination is within the scope of their investigation. In any case, however, the authors seek to highlight the basic framework for durable peace in Ukraine.

This book explains the dynamics of revenue generation and allocation reality of city corporations in Bangladesh. It explores the state of five consecutive years of revenue generation and expenditure allocations of Dhaka North City Corporation and Gazipur City Corporation along with a discussion of to what extent the City Corporation is allowed to enjoy fiscal autonomy through the Local Government (City Corporation) Act of 2009 to generate and manage its local resources. It also finds out the institutional blocks/challenges that the city corporation faces in the process of revenue generation and mobilization, even with the existence of a solid legislative foundation. Central to the book's focus is the resource mobilizing scenario (generation and allocation of revenue) of City Corporation over the past five consecutive years. It suggests some approaches that will serve as valuable resources for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to take steps for strengthening the finance base of urban local government through revisiting and redefining revenue generation and allocation strategies.

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of China’s evolving security engagement in Africa, a dimension often overshadowed by earlier studies focusing on economic and political aspects. As China’s global ambitions expand, its involvement in African security—across bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels has intensified, challenging its longstanding principle of non-interference. The book explores why China is shifting from a policy of non-interference to one of ‘non-indifference’ and details the actions supporting this change. Employing neoclassical realist theory, it examines systemic factors, domestic influences, and the role of President Xi Jinping in shaping China’s security strategy. By adopting a three-dimensional approach to Sino-Africa relations and categorizing the reasons for China’s policy shift into strategic culture, superpower ambitions, operational motives, and reputational concerns, the book offers fresh insights into China’s security diplomacy. It contributes to the broader discourse on China’s changing stance and its implications for international relations, highlighting the need for attention in both academic and policy circles.

This book offers a thorough examination and analysis of key developments in the Indo-Pacific region, providing valuable insights for foreign policy professionals, academics, and researchers in geopolitics and international relations. The editor, a long-time observer of Indo-Pacific affairs, has curated contributions from leading Indian scholars, each writing within their area of expertise. This volume is a carefully coordinated effort to present an Indian perspective on the rapid and complex changes in the Indo-Pacific. It offers a comprehensive look at major regional stakeholders, critical strategic challenges to peace and stability, and ongoing non-traditional security issues impacting the area.

This book attempts to highlight the vital role water has played in creating, consolidating, protecting, and preserving ancient and medieval global civilizations. It explains how the modern world has been addressing the issue of water insecurity and learning lessons from its acts of commission and omission. Water is a resource that nations have fought over, both domestically and internationally. The book lists selected water conflicts that have become severe and further exacerbated with populations growing rapidly and water demand rising exponentially while human beings continue to remain oblivious to the inevitable impending dangers of water insecurity.

It critically examines the disputes and conflicts over water resources in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia along with domestic disputes that have occurred in India. It also examines the methods our forefathers used to meet their water requirements. Ancient water harvesting methods and structures are explored, and their efficacy is evaluated.

This book serves as a reminder of the irrefutable fact that water is the world's most important resource and lists useful tips for investors and policymakers on water preservation. It can also serve as a guide to anyone interested in this subject and hoping to learn more about the past, present, and future scenarios of the world’s most important resource.

The volume delves into the provocative terrain of escape as a mode of resistance. Through a diverse array of studies encompassing political theology and artificial intelligence, the author navigates the philosophical landscape of exiting established forms of knowledge and practices.

Drawing from a rich tapestry of Western thought—from Carl Schmitt and St. Augustine to Bernard Stiegler and Antonio Negri—the volume engages deeply with the notion of forging new pathways beyond existing political paradigms. The chapters present a fresh perspective on the dynamics of political transformation, urging readers to reconsider conventional boundaries and embrace innovative approaches to social change. By examining the intersections of philosophy, politics, and technology, it invites readers to contemplate profound questions about liberation, creativity, and the potential for radical societal renewal.

It is an essential reading for scholars, activists, and anyone intrigued by the philosophical underpinnings of resistance and the quest for new horizons in political theory and practice.

This edited book complements and follows up on the book, Thompson and Volgy et al, Regions, Power and Conflict: Constrained Capabilities, Hierarchy, and Rivalry.  It is predicated in part on the paucity of published material available on comparing regional international politics. Monadic, dyadic, and systemic approaches all have their uses and have been exploited extensively. The same cannot be said about comparative regional analysis.  The premise is that a great deal of international politics takes place within regional parameters.  Most states simply lack the capability or interest in devoting many resources to extra-regional affairs. Yet each region is distinctive.  In some, military coups remain common while they have died out as a form of political practice in others.  A few have been highly conflictual and then become more pacific, while others persist in their conflict intensity.  Some have powerful neighbors with intervention tendencies, while others are surrounded by relatively weak states. Some are rich; others are poor. The point is that regions, all with proper names, have attributes that can be harnessed through comparison to explain why regional behavior differs greatly across the planet. The aim is to replace the proper names with the leading variables that appear to drive behavior. For instance, to shrug and say “that’s the Middle East for you” does not take us very far.  Replacing the Middle East label with conceptualization about how a set of small, weak, autocratic states behave subject to high penetration by major powers might take us farther than shrugging off regional identity.