scholarly journals Conceptualizing Soft Balancing Beyond Cold War. What’s Changed, What Remains the Same?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-91
Author(s):  
Mila Larionova
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Empirical Potential ◽  
Soft Balancing

This article is a systematic inquiry into the nature and role of soft balancing in the contemporary theory and practice of international relations. By wading into the contentious debate concerning the place and legitimacy of soft balancing, the article explores the theoretical prominence of the concept and adds methodological content to the study. Thus, the research produces a quantitative corpus-based and thematic analysis of the existing soft balancing literature to demarcate the boundary of the concept. This approach enables the author to enhance conventional theorization and not only identify the main gaps within the existing studies but go beyond the popular post-Cold War era discussion. Additionally, this article addresses the question of how soft balancing is distinguished from other concepts in the balance of power theory. Ultimately, the study reveals that despite its theoretical and empirical potential, the soft balancing research agenda remains underdeveloped, largely due to the limitation in the empirical content. Precisely, the empirical studies are limited to balance of power rhetoric akin to hard vs. soft and its implications for the United States’ hegemonic power.

scholarly journals BALANCING IN UNIPOLARITY

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 494-515
Author(s):  
Augusto César Dall'Agnol
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Power Theory ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Soft Balancing ◽  
Cold War Era ◽  
Do So

This article aims to analyze, through a critical bias, the implications of unipolarity to balancing behavior. In order to do so, it discusses the dynamics of balance of power theory, assumed to be inoperative in the post-Cold War period by the main academic debates over unipolarity: i) unipolar stability; ii) balance of threats; iii) soft balancing; iv) liberal institutionalism. What is argued is that, including the unipolar illusion view, tied to the balance of power theory, these approaches overestimated the effects of the unipolarity to the balancing behavior of other states. In this sense, it is assumed here that the issues related to the unipolar moment are directly connected to the hegemonic interregnum discussions. By concluding that the dynamics of balance of power, especially those of hard balancing, are still observed in the post-Cold War era, the two main ponderations of the literature become inverted: i) that balancing became inoperative and; ii) that the only available strategies to other states would be soft balancing and bandwagoning. In sum, this conclusion has directly implication to the available strategies both to the United States and its main peer competitors.         Recebido em: Agosto/2018. Aprovado: Setembro/2018.

scholarly journals The Role of Nuclear Weapons in NATO’s Early Cold War Strategies (1949–1957)

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-120
Author(s):  
Petra Kiss
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
The United States ◽  
Strategic Thinking ◽  
Atomic Weapons ◽  
The North ◽  
Significant Factors

Since August 1945 atomic weapons have become significant factors in international relations, every state with great ambitions has aspired to get atomic secrets. The primary goal of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) created in 1949 was – possessing the United States’, a nuclear power’s, security guarantee – to deter the Soviet agression. The first strategic documents of the Alliance were written with this very purpose. However, in the 1950s there was a shift in the allied nations’ policies, which influenced NATO’s strategic thinking as well, so in 1957 a real different strategic concept was adopted. Gaining technological superiority became the most important goal, which led to development and intense production of nuclear weapons. This article examines the emerging role of nuclear weapons and the changing strategy of the Alliance between 1949 and 1957.

The Study of Peaceful Change in World Politics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.V. Paul
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Different Dimensions

This introductory chapter offers an overview of the core themes addressed in The Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Change in International Relations. It begins with a discussion of the neglect of peaceful change and the overemphasis on war as the source of change in the discipline of international relations. Definitions of peaceful change in their different dimensions, in particular the maximalist and minimalist varieties, are offered. Systemic, regional, and domestic level changes are explored. This is followed by a discussion of the study and understanding of peaceful change during the interwar, Cold War, and post–Cold War eras. The chapter offers a brief summary of different theoretical perspectives in IR—realism, liberalism, constructivism, and critical as well as eclectic approaches—and how they explore peaceful change, its key mechanisms, and its feasibility. The chapter considers the role of great powers and key regional states as agents of change. The economic, social, ideational, ecological, and technological sources of change are also briefly discussed.

scholarly journals The Realist and Liberal Positions on the Role of International Organizations in Maintaining World Order

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ersan Ozkan ◽  
Hakan Cem Cetin
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
World Order ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Behavioral Dynamics ◽  
Interstate System ◽  
Peace And War

In the international relations (IR)’ theoretical and empirical studies, international regime studies emerged as a reaction to inadequacies of the concepts of authority, international order and organization. Over more than half a century, realism has been skeptical of international law. In both classical and neorealist approaches, states are depicted as seeking to maximize power and producing a balance of power. This study examines two paradigms, realism and liberalism, in an attempt to take a closer look at what each of these schools has to offer to the international relations. To be able to carry out such an evaluation each of these paradigms will be analyzed with respect to their positions on the following principles: unit of analysis, key concepts, behavioral dynamics, interstate system, peace and war, and last but not least explanatory power. Discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each of these paradigms will help in determining which of these approaches is the most persuasive.

scholarly journals The Truth of Cultural Diplomacy

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Riski Muhamad Baskoro
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
United States Information Agency ◽  
Specific Activities

<p><em>Since the United States Information Agency (USIA) is no longer active to operate cultural diplomacy in the post-cold war, the concept of cultural diplomacy has experienced a time of crisis in the context of International Relations studies. For a decade, cultural diplomacy was marginalized and considered obsolete until finally in the early 2000s, cultural diplomacy was revived and activated both in practice and theory. Since then, cultural diplomacy has returned to its path. The discourse of cultural diplomacy in International Relations studies has developed to gain more specific activities. This is a qualitative research, with the aim of understanding cultural diplomacy in a more holistic way. The results of this study indicate a debate and a lack of consensus on several aspects of cultural diplomacy and bringing much unclear explanation.  This study also shows a dichotomy between cultural diplomacy and other approaches.</em></p>

scholarly journals The role of theory of international relations in explicating global political events

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Mr.Sc. Bardhok Bashota
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Specific Form ◽  
Temporal Context ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Narrow Context

It is rather obvious that different developments in the international relations scene are so dynamic that a theory of international relations cannot elaborate alone the ways they begin, develop and eventually end. Therefore, one must underline that using a theoretical framework of wi-der extent becomes almost indispensable. In this sense, one must underli-ne that IR theories are paths or means used by scholars to provide expla-nation on these developments. Among numerous IR theories, those app-lied the most are the three key ones: liberalism, realism and rationalism.These three theories, depending on the manner and logic of approach and effort in trying to elaborate an IR event, they gain labels in a specific form, for instance – positivist theories. They are called positivist, because they aim to pursue the example of natural science to be more accurate in their work, at least in a metaphorical sense. Therefore, the contents of this paper provide an example of physics, to adapt to the nature of theory elaborated herein.The reason and objective of this paper is to argue our thesis that “li-beral theory alone cannot elaborate on all IR developments, and more theories are required”. The two other theories, realism and ratio-nalism help build a more wholesome understanding of IR developments. Also, the two other theories are used to support or counter the arguments of liberals and liberalism in relation to interpretation, explication and forecast of IR developments, which are tasks of an IR theory.This research is realized in a temporal context of post Cold War. This period is more suitable for study, and has attracted our interest. Otherwise, the three theoretical traditions had existed even before, and any effort to elaborate in details would be historical. Also, the focus in only three main IR theories, Liberalism, Realism and Rationalism, narrow down the field of study and make it more tangible. Nevertheless, to have an easier job in reaching a scientific and statistically measurable scientific conclusion, we have analysed only the views of authors consi-dered to be the key representatives of the three main theories. Hence, only in a narrow context of time, theory and author, can we reach more accurate con-clusions. For the purposes of this paper, Fukuyama is the “Liberalist”, Huntington is “Realist” and Brzezinski is a “Rationalist”. 

scholarly journals The Future of World Order: Building a Community of Common Destiny

2017 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 159-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Yakunin
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
World Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Order ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Common Destiny

This article briefly examines the political and ideological aspects of Western countries’ post-Cold War approach to the world order. The Western triumph in the Cold War is generally attributed to reasons that are largely erroneous. The ongoing crises in international relations reveal structural inconsistencies, which have been present in the United States’ foreign strategy since the collapse of the Soviet Union and have contributed to the subsequent erosion of the global order. The article analyzes the new trends of globalization resulting from the unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It concludes that Russia and China have now largely recognized Washington’s failure to establish a unipolar world system and to legitimize it through various political and media mechanisms and techniques. It suggests that it is only through the solidary development that both China and Russia are currently championing with their recent grand integration initiatives that a more successful and sustainable multipolar world benefiting every nation on the planet can be built and maintained.

La sécurité collective : chimère, éphémère ou mutante ?

Res Publica ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-84
Author(s):  
Huri Türsan
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
Collective Security ◽  
The Cold War

The joint international action against Iraq and the search for a new security doctrine following the end of the Cold War, led, in the early '90s, to a revival of the notion of collective security embodied in several international agreements. This notion is based on the assumption of responding collectively to international aggression. However, the international guagmires of recent years and especially the case of former Yugoslavia where international organizations have played the role of alibi to agression, has once more, dealt a major blow to the illusion of the implementation of the principles of collective security. In a way similar to the 1930s and the bipolar balance of power of the Cold War, collective security seems ephemeral today. We can therefore safelypredict that in the foreseeable future, international relations wilt continue to be shaped by the balance of specific state interests and not by universally applied principles of collective security.

‘Crisis is What a State Makes of it’

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-43
Author(s):  
Bhubhindar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Construction Process ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Key Features

This chapter analyses the role of crisis in explaining security policy change. The discussion is divided into the following parts: how crisis is understood in international relations, including the definition and key features of military crises; what is the analytical framework that connects military crises to Japanese security policy expansion, known as the threat construction process; and what are the cases to show the effects of various crises on Japanese post-Cold War security

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