Driving liberal change? Global performance indices as a system of normative stratification in liberal international order

2021 ◽  
pp. 001083672110554
Author(s):  
Bahar Rumelili ◽  
Ann E. Towns
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Moral Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Performance Indices ◽  
The Past ◽  
Global Performance ◽  
Status Seeking ◽  
Normative Status

The existing literature on Global Performance Indices (GPIs) is mostly dominated by unit-level analyses focused on specifying the relevant properties of the GPIs and the motivations of state actors in being influenced by GPIs. This article advances a systemic approach, which conceives of GPIs as collectively constituting a system of normative stratification in International Relations (IR). By bringing together the literature on GPIs with the relevant IR literatures on international hierarchies and status-seeking, we identify the structural attributes of the GPI-based system of stratification, how these structural attributes shape the distribution of normative status positions among states, and how this distribution is likely to condition the pursuit of status by states. In particular, we argue that the disaggregated structure and relative ranking of states, respectively, generate status ambiguity and immobility, which both dissuade states from seeking higher moral status through improving their scores in the existing indices. We illustrate the patterns of status ambiguity and immobility present in the GPI-based system of stratification through an empirical analysis of the scores and rank positions of the United States, European Union (EU) members, and “rising powers” in five different indices in the past decade.

scholarly journals Three New Races of the Spinach Downy Mildew Pathogen Identified by a Modified Set of Spinach Differentials

Plant Disease ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 91 (11) ◽  
pp. 1392-1396 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. Irish ◽  
J. C. Correll ◽  
S. T. Koike ◽  
T. E. Morelock
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
Downy Mildew ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
Differential Cultivars ◽  
Spinach Downy Mildew ◽  
New Races ◽  
Important Disease

Spinach downy mildew, caused by Peronospora farinosa f. sp. spinaciae, is the most economically important disease of spinach worldwide. During the past few years, spinach cultivars resistant to the seven previously described races of P. farinosa f. sp. spinaciae were observed to be severely affected by downy mildew in both the United States and the European Union. Four new isolates of P. farinosa f. sp. spinaciae were collected from California and The Netherlands and characterized based on disease reactions on two modified sets of spinach differentials. The results led to the description of three new races of the downy mildew pathogen, designated races 8, 9, and 10. Four differential cultivars with resistance to races 1 to 7 were used to distinguish the three new races. Dolphin was susceptible to races 8 and 10 but resistant to race 9; Lion was susceptible to race 10 but resistant to races 8 and 9; Lazio was resistant to races 1 to 7 as well as races 8, 9, and 10; and Tarpy was susceptible to all three new races. The three new races also were used to evaluate the disease reactions on 43 contemporary commercial spinach cultivars in greenhouse trials. A survey of 58 isolates of P. farinosa f. sp. spinaciae collected in California and Arizona between 2004 and 2006 revealed that race 10 predominated in the areas sampled.

scholarly journals Canada-EU relations in political sphere

2021 ◽  
pp. 140-145
Author(s):  
O. M. Antokhiv-Skolozdra
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
The United States ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Individual Member ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Sphere

The article considers the peculiarities of formation and development of relations between Canada and the European Union in political sphere. It points out that the common essence of approaches to modern international relations serves as a potential basis for building bilateral cooperation on the issues of establishing political cooperation. In the course of research on Canada’s foreign policy it was noted that there is a number of features that are due to both internal context and external factors. In particular, it refers the peculiar nature of Canadian statehood, the existence of two linguistic communities, geographical location, and immediate neighborhood with the United States. It emphasizes the similarity of Canada’s positions with the approaches of European countries to solving a number of problems of modern world development. The importance of maintaining the transatlantic connection is among the significant issues. At the same time, it should be taken into account that there are peculiarities of establishing and maintaining relations between Canada and the European Union. On the one hand these are the relations with a strong multinational association and on the other – with each individual member state. It is noted that, despite the long historical tradition in the relationship, the potential for cooperation between Canada and the EU is only partially used. It highlights the need for Canada to reach a new level in its relations with the European Union, provided that it maintains close relations with the United States of America. Areas of mutual interest, as well as problematic aspects of negotiations on a strategic partnership agreement between Canada and the European Union have been identified. Although Canada–EU relations are bilateral, they are evolving in a broader international context. It is analyzed that Canada can be a valuable partner for the European Union in the field of international relations. This country should strive to be involved in the preparation of important international decisions in order to build common positions and ensure a sufficient level of coordination between the parties.

17. The European Union and the USA

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Smith ◽  
Rebecca Steffenson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Security Questions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Policy Mechanisms ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the evolution of the European Union's relations with the United States. More specifically, it looks at the ways in which EU–US relations enter into the international relations of the EU as well as the implications for key areas of the EU's growing international activity. The chapter begins with an overview of the changing shape and focus of the EU–US relationship as it enters into economic, political, and security questions. It then considers the impact of EU–US relations on the EU's system of international relations, on the EU's role in the processes of international relations, and on the EU's position as a ‘power’ in international relations. It shows that the EU–US relationship has played a key (and contradictory) role in development of the EU's foreign policy mechanisms.

scholarly journals SKYHAWK, SKYSHIELD, AND THE SOVIETS: REVISITING CANADA'S COLD WAR

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 453-475
Author(s):  
ASA MCKERCHER ◽  
TIMOTHY ANDREWS SAYLE
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Full Account ◽  
The Past ◽  
Canadian Foreign Policy ◽  
The Cold War

AbstractFor the past two decades, Canadian international historians have largely missed the Cold War, or at least a significant portion of it. Certainly, there has been no shortage of studies of Canadian foreign policy featuring the bipolar struggle, and yet historians have largely confined their attention to Canada's admittedly crucial relationship with the United States, while Canadian–Soviet relations have been ignored. Indeed, in the historiography of Canada's Cold War international relations, the communist powers are largely missing. Hoping to challenge this limited focus, we frame our article around two Canada–US air defence exercises held in 1959 and 1960. While historians have viewed these exercises within the context of Canada's relationship with the United States, we highlight the wider Cold War framework in which Canadian policy was formed. After all, these exercises occurred during the mini-détente of the late 1950s and the collapse of the Paris summit in May 1960. As we demonstrate, the failure to take full account of the Cold War is a shortcoming of much of the writing on Canadian international relations, and so we offer an example of the need to take seriously Canada's foreign policy toward the communist bloc.

Still critical after all these years? The past, present and future of Critical Theory in International Relations

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICHOLAS RENGGER ◽  
BEN THIRKELL-WHITE
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Rand Corporation ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Theoretical Reflection

Twenty-five years ago, theoretical reflection on International Relations (IR) was dominated by three broad discourses. In the United States the behavioural revolution of the 1950s and 1960s had helped to create a field that was heavily influenced by various assumptions allegedly derived from the natural sciences. Of course, variety existed within the behaviourist camp. Some preferred the heavily quantitative approach that had become especially influential in the 1960s, while others were exploring the burgeoning literature of rational and public choice, derived from the game theoretic approaches pioneered at the RAND corporation. Perhaps the most influential theoretical voice of the late 1970s, Kenneth Waltz, chose neither; instead he developed his Theory of International Politics around an austere conception of parsimony and systems derived from his reading in contemporary philosophy of science.

scholarly journals Relationalism and changes in international relations: An example of the influence of algorithmic power on the structure of everyday life and the emergence of national populism

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-309
Author(s):  
Milos Vukelic
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Internet Presence ◽  
National Populism

The paper points out that there is a way to comprehend the phenomenon of national populism from the perspective of the international relations discipline. Additionally, to provide an interpretation of why national populism occurred in the United States and the European Union after 2014. The emergence of national populism in the United States and the European Union countries has endangered the survival of the liberal-democratic paradox. There are numerous scientific explanations attempting to explain how this phenomenon came about. In this paper, I will reduce these explanations to cultural, economic, and political arguments and arguments about human nature and the long-term logic of modernity. The author argues that these explanations have a research gap since there is no answer to why national populism occurred in 2014 simultaneously in the EU and the United States. As a set of tools in the international relations discipline, the author finds that relationalism provides us with lenses that can open up a space to claim that the simultaneous change, embodied in the emergence of national populism, occurred due to a change in the structure of the everyday. Therefore, the paper consists of an interdisciplinary literature review of relationalism in international relations, everyday nationalism, the influence of algorithmic power and algorithmic politics on the structure of human internet presence, and the existing works that indicate the source of national populism?s emergence. By proving the claims, the author points out the importance of studying processes in order to understand the events and changes in international relations that have occurred since 2014.

Challenges and Possibilities of Empirical International Relations Theory: Evidence From Research in Brazil

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Barasuol ◽  
Andre Reis da Silva
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
General Trend ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Ir Theory ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Theoretical Approaches

Much of the debate in international relations (IR) theory in the past decades has concerned epistemological matters and the possibility of empirical research in the field. Most of this debate happened either within the United States or between Americans and Europeans, translating the general trend of keeping the theoretical core of the discipline centered around its geographical (developed) core. Brazilian international relations provides an additional peripheral view to IR theory (IRT). It is worth analyzing how theory has been used in Brazilian teaching and research, with the aim of understanding how Brazilian academics have used different theoretical approaches to understand their objects of study. With this objective, it is important to look into teaching syllabi, PhD dissertations, and articles published in academic journals in the field of international relations. There are considerable differences between teaching and research in Brazil, with the first following traditional American textbook standards. Research, however, shows considerably different theoretical and methodological bases.

scholarly journals Balkan in the Current European System of International Relationship

2019 ◽  
pp. 101-116
Author(s):  
A. Martynov
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
21St Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
European System

The historical period after the beginning of the global economic crisis has accelerated the transformation of the Balkan subsystem of the European system of international relations. In a strategic sense, the European Union faces a complex dilemma: to Europeanize the Balkans, or to risk the balkanization of Europe. The European Union, together with the United States, has overcome the scenario of European balkanization. Symbols for this were the completion of the process of joining NATO Albania, Montenegro, and Macedonia. It is critically important to overcome the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo. Russia is trying to maintain its influence in Serbia, which remains the last Russian outpost in the Balkans. Serbian society remains divided into a liberal pro-European segment focused on European and Euro-Atlantic integration, and a nationalist segment that hopes to reestablish the "Great Serbia" project on the verge of the 21st century. The peace in the Balkans can only bring the completion of the process of including this region into the system of European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

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