The Pole of Power and the Pole of Indifference

1951 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnold Wolfers
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Woodrow Wilson ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
New Era ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
The Mind ◽  
First Time

In international relations, two opposing schools of thought have fought each other throughout the modern age. Ever since Machiavelli published the Prince, his “realistic” views have shocked “idealist” thinkers. As a battle of the mind, fought by and large outside the political arena, the dispute between the two schools was of great concern to philosophers and moralists; but not until Woodrow Wilson set out to bring Utopia down to earth did it become a political issue of the first magnitude. For the first time, the responsible head of one of the leading powers acted as though the world were on the verge of crossing the thresh-old from sordid “power politics” to a “new era” in which the admonitions of the idealist philosophers would suddenly become the political order of the day.

Politični položaj na Slovenskem leta 1919

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2020) (2) ◽  
pp. 359-394
Author(s):  
Jurij Perovšek
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Liberal Party ◽  
New Era ◽  
Party Organisation ◽  
Western Border ◽  
Historical Phenomenon ◽  
First Time ◽  
Similar Development

For Slovenes in the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes the year 1919 represented the final step to a new political beginning. With the end of the united all-Slovene liberal party organisation and the formation of separate liberal parties, the political party life faced a new era. Similar development was showing also in the Marxist camp. The Catholic camp was united. For the first time, Slovenes from all political camps took part in the state government politics and parliament work. They faced the diminishing of the independence, which was gained in the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, and the mutual fight for its preservation or abolition. This was the beginning of national-political separations in the later Yugoslav state. The year 1919 was characterized also by the establishment of the Slovene university and early occurrences of social discontent. A declaration about the new historical phenomenon – Bolshevism, had to be made. While the region of Prekmurje was integrated to the new state, the questions of the Western border and the situation with Carinthia were not resolved. For the Slovene history, the year 1919 presents a multi-transitional year.

David Hume’s Balancing Act: The Political Discourses and the Sinews of War

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
DANIELLE CHARETTE
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
David Hume ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
Balance Of Trade

Both champions and critics of “neorealism” in contemporary international relations misinterpret David Hume as an early spokesman for a universal and scientific balance-of-power theory. This article instead treats Hume’s “Of the Balance of Power,” alongside the other essays in his Political Discourses (1752), as conceptual resources for a historically inflected analysis of state balancing. Hume’s defense of the balance of power cannot be divorced from his critique of commercial warfare in “Of the Balance of Trade” and “Of the Jealousy of Trade.” To better appreciate Hume’s historical and economic approach to foreign policy, this article places Hume in conversation with Machiavelli, Guicciardini, Andrew Fletcher, and Montesquieu. International relations scholars suspicious of static paradigms should reconsider Hume’s genealogy of the balance of power, which differs from the standard liberal and neorealist accounts. Well before International Political Economy developed as a formal subdiscipline, Hume was conceptually treating economics and power politics in tandem.

1667 – A Threshold Year? Debating the ‘Breakthrough of the Modern Age’ in Muscovite Russia

2018 ◽  
Vol 139 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 39-59
Author(s):  
Stefan Troebst
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
New Era ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
History Of ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Xviith Century ◽  
German Historian

Abstract In this article of 1995, which had been translated into Russian already in 2013, the German Historian Stefan Troebst studied the question of the « breakthrough of the modern age » in Russia, usually attributed to tsar Peter I « the Great », suspecting that the new Era had in fact begun earlier, in the XVIIth century. After a theoretical reflexion about periodization in history, and its application to the history of Russia, he demonstrates that the « threshold year » takes place in 1667, examining this theory from different points of view: state and institutions, international relations, economical policy, religion, culture and fine arts. But this modernization has also caused violent revolts and oppositions during the reign of tsar Alexis Mikhailovitch.

Marriage, Same-Sex Partnership, and the German Constitution

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 911-940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
Private Interests ◽  
The World ◽  
German Constitution ◽  
German Constitutional Law

Marriage today does not only involve private interests; it is also an important legal and political issue. The question of what marriage means today and whether it should be open to same-sex unions is under debate all over the world. In many countries, for example in Germany and the United States, such questions are not only debated in the political arena, but also in relation to constitutional law. This Article will trace the development of how marriage has been understood in relation to German constitutional law and critically discuss the law's approach to same-sex marriage.

Important Features of the Perception of Russia in the Modern American Elite

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-19
Author(s):  
Dmitry V. Mosyakov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Global Player ◽  
Key Issues

The article examines some of the key issues that most directly affect the prevailing attitude towards Russia in the United States. In particular, it is argued that the sharpness of contradictions in relations with Russia is largely due to the fact that the American elite has proved largely unable to recognize its own assertions about the “final collapse” and weakening of Russia and perceive it not as a “departing nature”, but as a global player who has regained his strength on the political arena. In this, the Americans were far from China, which even in the “darkest” period of the Russian turmoil was convinced that Russia will return and influence the development of international relations in the most decisive way.

Towards International Relations beyond the mind

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-105
Author(s):  
Dirk Nabers
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Final Section ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Ontology ◽  
Large Segment ◽  
The Mind

The analysis focuses on the centrality of the mind and the mental, and their relationship with the notion of discourse in International Relations theorizing. While many forms of discourse theory are linked with anti-materialist idealism, the article develops an alternative argument, that is, that discourse theory should primarily be situated ‘beyond the mind’. The analysis starts with a discussion of prominent International Relations work on ideas and discourse and argues that that a large segment of International Relations work is insufficiently clear on these crucial notions. I therefore contend subsequently that this state of the art is reflected in how the philosophy of science and the philosophy of the mind have been treated in prominent International Relations work by following a particular version of Cartesian rationalism. It is on this basis that the article proposes to transcend the antinomies between mind and world as well as ideas and materiality by advancing a political ontology that stresses a particular concept of discourse in the final section. On that basis, it will become possible in the conclusion to summarize a path towards International Relations beyond the mind that engages in the study of the political more seriously.

Politics and Law as Latourian Modes of Existence

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Harman
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
Politics And Law ◽  
Modes Of Existence ◽  
Circle Drawing

This chapter presents Graham Harman’s assessment of a vital, highly disputed, frequently perplexing contrast, namely that of the trajectories of political and legal enunciation. With an air of clinical detachment, Harman patiently disentangles the mesh of legal obligations and places this strange, non-referential chain into proximity with the political Circle, drawing on the dichotomy of Power Politics and Truth Politics offered in his recent study of Latour’s political philosophy. According to Harman, politics must precede law because it is the charge of politics to collect groups, which may in turn develop a legal order. Similarly, law relies more or less directly on the existence of political authorities – without politics, in other words, law is mere empty, unenforceable, unreliable words. Concluding with an enticing set of questions about the implications of this arrangement for a Latourian international relations theory, Harman’s chapter skilfully demonstrates the promise and the peril of a comprehensive scheme of modes of existence.

scholarly journals O Refúgio em Debate: perspectivas sobre a inserção do tema nas Relações Internacionais | The Refuge in Debate: perspectives on the insertion of the subject in the International Relations

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. e39056
Author(s):  
Rachel Silva da Rocha Coutinho ◽  
Raquel Araújo De Jesus
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
The Political ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Individual

Em todo o mundo, pessoas foram e são forçadas a migrar pelos mais diversos motivos. No entanto, a questão do refúgio adquiriu importância no cenário político internacional apenas com o fim da II Guerra Mundial. No âmbito das Relações Internacionais (RI), os debates que vêm sendo conduzidos sobre a temática, embora apresentem abordagens distintas, possuem como pano de fundo uma mesma pergunta: qual é o lugar do indivíduo na arquitetura do sistema internacional? Argumenta-se que a resposta a esse questionamento implica não apenas nas “soluções” políticas conferidas ao “problema” do refúgio, mas também ao tipo de engajamento teórico empregado em sua discussão. Neste sentido, o texto aborda a inserção do refúgio nas RI por meio de quatro chaves interpretativas: segurança/proteção, emergência, fronteira e mobilidade. Longe de um esgotamento do tema, o objetivo é apresentar um panorama dos debates sobre refúgio nas RI, possibilitando ao leitor perspectivas variadas acerca do tema.Palavras-chave: Refúgio; Relações Internacionais; Debate.ABSTRACTThroughout the world, people have been and are forced to migrate for a variety of reasons. However, the issue of refuge became important in the political arena only in the end of World War II. In the realm of International Relations (IR), The debates that have been conducted on the subject, although presenting different approaches, have the same question in the background: what is the place of the individual in the architecture of the international system? It is argued that the answer to this question implies not only the political “solutions” given to the “problem” of the refuge, but also the type of theoretical engagement employed in its discussion. In this sense, the text addresses the insertion of refuge in IR through four interpretative keys: security / protection, emergency, border and mobility. Far from an exhaustion of the theme, the objective is to present an overview of the debates about refuge in IR, providing the reader varied perspectives on the theme.Keywords: Refuge; International Relations; Debate. Recebido em 10 jan.2019 | Aceito em 17 set.2019

Man-induced Global Change of Climate: The IPCC Findings and Continuing Uncertainty Regarding Preventive Action

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bert Bolin
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
The Political ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Preventive Action ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
Environment And Development ◽  
Brundtland Commission ◽  
First Time

The question of a gradually changing climate due to Man's emissions of ‘greenhouse’ gases has now become a major political issue. Scientific assessments during the early 1980s, and an international conference in Villach in Austria in October 1985, brought this issue firmly onto the political agenda. The World Commission on Environment and Development, popularly referred to as the ‘Brundtland Commission’, presented its final report to the United Nations in 1987, and their General Assembly discussed, on that basis, the matter of a Man-induced global change of climate for the first time in the autumn of 1987.

Preface to Thucydides: Rereading the Corcyrean Conflict (1.24-55)

1999 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
James V. Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Century ◽  
First Episode ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Multiple Perspective ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Greek Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
First Time ◽  
Made In

Thucydides uses the first extended episode in the History, the Corcyrean conflict (1.24-55), to present the world of political discourse, deliberation, and battle. This episode is programmatic for a number of reasons: it is the first episode with a pair of speeches; Thucydides ties this episode directly to the outbreak of the war; certain questions, such as morality's relevance to foreign policy, are introduced here for the first time; and, most importantly, it is here that Thucydides establishes what the reader's role is to be throughout the work. This paper argues that, for all the significance of Thucydides' Archaeology and Statement of Method (1.2-23), the "participatory" dimension of the History begins with the Corcyrean conflict. It is only with the introduction of speeches that the reader must address the ways in which speech and narrative confirm and undermine each other, as the historian's voice now alternates and competes with that of his characters in speech. From an authorial perspective we find that various techniques Thucydides employs-multiple perspective, authorial reticence, and episodic presentation-are used to recreate the political arena of fifth-century Greece. The various facets of the reader's extensive labor may be clustered under the heading of extrapolation and conjecture (best captured by the Greek term eikazein), as the reader must endeavor to see events from the perspective of the participants, evaluate claims made in speeches, experience battle vicariously, and consider events-which are past from the reader's perspective-as future in terms of the subsequent narrative. Analogous to what Plato did for philosophy, Thucydides has produced an interactive, open-ended, and participatory type of literature by appealing to the reader's involvement and by bringing written literature as close as possible to the live, extemporaneous, face-to-face debate of oral Greek culture.

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