Writing International Relations from the invisible side of the abyssal line

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 602-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeynep Gülşah Çapan
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Moral Progress ◽  
Civilizing Process ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way ◽  
The Invisible

AbstractThe article discusses the manner in which the story of the international system and the relationship between violence and civilisation that Andrew Linklater tells inViolence and Civilization in the Western States-Systemsremains on the visible side of the absyssal line. Absyssal thinking refers to the distinctions created between visible and invisible realms and it is Eurocentrism as a system of knowledge that sustains and reproduces this abyssal line. The article will focus on two instances of reproducing this abyssal line. The first will be with respect to the way in which histories of Europe and colonialism are detached from each other. The second will be on where political and moral ‘progress’ is being located within the development of the ‘global civilizing process’.

The invisible structures of anarchy: Gender, orders, and global politics

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Sjoberg
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political System ◽  
International System ◽  
Salient Feature ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
Multiple Orders ◽  
International Anarchy ◽  
The Invisible

This article argues anarchy is undertheorized in International Relations, and that the undertheorization of the concept of anarchy in International Relations is rooted in Waltz’s original discussion of the concept as equal to the invisibility of structure, where the lack of exogenous authority is not just a feature of the international political system but the salient feature. This article recognizes the international system as anarchical but looks to theorize its contours—to see the invisible structures that are overlaid within international anarchy, and then to consider what those structures mean for theorizing anarchy itself. It uses as an example the various (invisible) ways that gender orders global political relations to suggest that anarchy in the international arena is a place of multiple orders rather than of disorder. It therefore begins by theorizing anarchy with orders in global politics, rather than anarchy as necessarily substantively lacking orders. It then argues that gender orders global politics in various ways. It concludes with a framework for theorizing order within anarchy in global politics.

Rethinking United States–Caribbean relations: towards a new mode of trans-territorial governance

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTHONY PAYNE
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
The United States ◽  
The North ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Different Order

United States–Caribbean relations over the period of the last thirty or forty years have rarely—if ever—been analysed in a thoroughly satisfying way. It is a strange omission in the international relations literature given the proximity of the United States to the Caribbean, and vice versa. But the fact is that most accounts of the relationship have fallen prey to a powerful, but ultimately misleading, mythology by which small, poor, weak, dependent entities in the Caribbean have either created trouble for, or alternatively been confronted by, the ‘colossus to the north’ that is the United States in whose ‘backyard’ they unfortunately have to reside. Virtually all analysts of the US–Caribbean relationship have thus drawn a picture marked at heart by the notion of an inherently unequal struggle between forces of a different order and scale. Within this broad metaphor the only major difference of interpretation has reflected the competing theories of power in the international system developed by the realist and structuralist schools.

Empires, systems and states: great transformations in international politics

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Cox ◽  
Tim Dunne ◽  
Ken Booth
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
The Other ◽  
International History ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

‘History is too important to be left to the historians”.The relationship between history, international history and international relations has never been an easy or a particularly amicable one. To talk of a cold war may be something of an exaggeration, but it does capture something about the way in which the various subjects tended to regard the other for the greater part of the post-war period. Thus practising historians and international historians appeared to have little time for each other, and together had even less for those seeking to establish the new discipline of International Relations.

scholarly journals Local international conflicts in the age of globalization and contemporary Russia

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
Aleksey Gawrilienkov
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The Relationship

The article discusses the relationship between the occurrence of international conflicts and the desire of states to implement their own geopolitical interests. The key factor in the emergence of conflicts is the concept of an inter-civilization clash by Samuel Huntington, where the role of states in the formation of the international system is the trigger for decision-making. The author states that in modern conditions Russia defends its interests, which should not be perceived by other actors of international relations as a threat, but as competition.

scholarly journals Nigeria–China Relations: The Contemporary Challenges

2019 ◽  
pp. 1258-1265
Author(s):  
Dr. Adigbuo Ebere Richard
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Research Method ◽  
International System ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
Balance Of Trade ◽  
The Relationship

2018 marks the 47th anniversary of Nigeria-China diplomatic relations. Nigeria’s relation with china is decisively important for the future of both countries and to an ever evolving international system. It is appropriate to understand the contemporary challenges facing this relationship. Thus, this article examines Sino-Nigeria relation with a view to providing a balance sheet of cost and benefits. To do this, the study rests on qualitative research method that examines and synthesizes extant literature on international relations and in particular relevant literature on Sino-Nigeria relations. It is thus discovered that in the bilateral relations between the two countries, China has gained more than Nigeria in terms of balance of trade and the unwillingness of China to transfer technology to Nigeria. Since the relationship is asymmetrical, the article concludes that China cannot solve Nigeria’s problem and that the latter must learn from China bitter and hard way to greatness.

Tourism, tourists, humility and the humble in E. M. Forster’s ‘The Story of the Siren’ (1920)

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Vernadakis
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Theory Of Ideas ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way ◽  
The Invisible

In E. M. Forster’s ‘The Story of the Siren’ (1920), humility and the humble are highlighted by the empowering status bestowed on an embedded story told by an illiterate Sicilian boatman to a sophisticated English tourist and prospective Cambridge Fellow. The latter, who is also the narrator of the embedding narrative, proves to be transformed by the qualities (philosophic, ethical and literary) promoted by the humble status of the embedded one. As the existence of the Siren of the title is problematic – she never shows up – and the story offers a case of structuring a full intrigue on the invisible, there may be a connection between the humble and the invisible. In order to investigate this assumption, I propose to explore the way in which the myth of the siren, a myth that relates to desire, is brought into dialogue with Frazer’s evolutionary theory and Plato’s theory of ideas. The interplay between philosophy, anthropology and desire provides a critique of Edwardian society and a self-criticism based on Socratic irony, itself an irony of humility. I shall eventually suggest that the humble but desirable Sicilian storyteller functions like an avatar of the Siren. Instead of writing a dissertation on the Deist Controversy and becoming an academic, the homodiegetic narrator allows himself to be seduced by the ‘Siren’s song’ – the young Sicilian’s story – and (ironically) become a writer. For, as I will attempt to demonstrate, the relationship between this short story and the life of E. M. Forster is highlighted by the figure of metalepsis, a device that reveals the author, rather than the narrator, at work.

scholarly journals Mission, Reunion and the Anglican Communion: The ‘Appeal to All Christian People’ and approaches to ecclesial unity at the 1920 Lambeth Conference

Ecclesiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-205
Author(s):  
Charlotte Methuen
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
Organic Unity ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

This article explores the understanding of unity articulated in the ‘Appeal to all Christian People’ issued by the 1920 Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops. It first examines the expression of the Appeal’s vision in terms of organic unity and mutual recognition, the way that this developed through the drafting process and how this vision related to later Anglican approaches to unity. It then explores the relationship of the Appeal to the Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888, particularly with respect to the episcopate, arguing that the Appeal took an ambiguous approach to episcopacy which was in tension with the language of mutual recognition. Finally, acknowledging that the overarching theme of the 1920 Lambeth Conference was ‘fellowship’, the article considers the Appeal’s vision of unity in the context of the approach to unity taken by the 1920 Lambeth Conference more widely, including the Conference’s other ecumenical resolutions, and its resolutions on mission and the Anglican Communion and the bishops’ Encyclical Letter, particularly its approach to international relations. The article concludes that, while the vision of organic unity that was articulated in the Appeal was reflected in the conference’s resolutions on mission, in other aspects of its work the 1920 Lambeth Conference tended to take a federal approach to unity and fellowship and was thus not fully consistent.

Forum on Social Theory of International Politics

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-124 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Scientific Realism ◽  
International Politics ◽  
International System ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Social Kinds ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Way

It is fitting that one of the last major statements of International Relations theory in the 1990s should be a response to Kenneth Waltz's path-breaking book, Theory of International Politics. Unlike many other critically inclined scholars, Wendt believes that Waltz asked the right questions but supplied the wrong answers. Putting it simply, Waltz incorrectly conceptualized the structure of the international system. The first half of Wendt's book sets out to offer an alternative social theory of international politics to the ‘materialism’ and ‘individualism’ found in Waltz's work (specifically, chapters on ‘Scientific realism and social kinds’, ‘Ideas all the way down? On the constitution of power and interest’, and ‘Structure, agency, and culture’).

scholarly journals Beyond Territory: Revisiting the Normative Justification of Self-Government in Theory and Practice

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janique Dubois
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Political Autonomy ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
Normative Justification ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

The association of sovereignty with control over territory is being challenged both internally and externally in modern societies. Demands for political autonomy from sub-state minorities undermine the natural link between nation, state and territory from within, while the movement of capital, goods and information across borders contests the relationship between these concepts from without. Scholars of international relations, law, philosophy and political science have already suggested that the sovereignty of nation-states is under attack; however, scant attention has been paid to the way in which changes in the relation between nation, state, and territory affect the normative weight associated with each of these concepts in discussions about sovereignty and self-government. The objectives of this article is to examine the way in which nation, state, sovereignty, and territory are addressed in normative justifications of indigenous self-government and to better understand how these notions are being treated in its implementation.

scholarly journals Abordajes teóricos sobre la relación entre seguridad ciudadana y violencia urbana en Colombia: una lectura crítica/ Theoretical approaches on the relationship between Citizen Security and Urban Violence in Colombia: a critical reading

2018 ◽  
pp. 86-100
Author(s):  
Andrés Rincón Morera
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Change ◽  
International System ◽  
National Level ◽  
Security Policies ◽  
Urban Violence ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Citizen Security ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

En el presente texto se procuran sintetizar las principales corrientes analíticas que han estudiado la política pública de seguridad ciudadana en Colombia. Se demuestra cómo ha sido interpretado el cambio estratégico respecto del objeto, objetivos y dinámicas de estas iniciativas estatales. En este sentido, se busca analizar la manera en que se ha pensado la relación entre urbe-violencia y políticas públicas; a partir de allí, se procura evidenciar la forma en que se ha abordado la transición en el tratamiento del enemigo interno a la diversificación en el tratamiento de múltiples violencias. En segunda instancia, se evidencia la manera en que tales modificaciones acontecen tanto en el seno de los profundos cambios en el sistema internacional de estados, como en el marco de una serie de dinámicas a nivel nacional que proveen un nuevo marco constitucional a partir de 1991. Finalmente, se contextualiza la producción académica sobre la relación entre seguridad y constitución del monopolio estatal de la fuerza, sus alcances y limitaciones. Por tanto, se propone que es necesario entender este conjunto de perspectivas, como aporte a los procesos de construcción de políticas de seguridad en el marco del posconflicto colombiano. Abstract This text presents a synthesis of the main analytical trends that have addressed the analysis of the dynamics of citizen security in Colombia. It seeks to demonstrate how the strategic change regarding the object, objectives and dynamics of public security policies in the country has been analyzed. In this sense, it seeks to analyze the way in which the relationship between urban violence and public policies has been thought; from there, it seeks to demonstrate the way in which the transition has been addressed in the treatment of the internal enemy to the diversification in the treatment of multiple violence. In the second instance, it is sought to demonstrate the way in which such modifications occur within the profound changes in the international system of states, as in the framework of a series of dynamics at the national level that provide a new constitutional framework from 1991 onwards. Finally, we try to contextualize the way in which academic production in this regard problematizes the relationship between security and constitution of the state monopoly of force, its scope and limitations. Set of perspectives considered necessary to contemplate as a contribution to the processes of construction of security policies in the framework of the Colombian post-conflict.

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