How Can Realism be Utilised in an Understanding of the United States/New Zealand Relationship over Nuclear Policy?

<p>This thesis examines the decision making process of the United States and New Zealand on the nuclear policy issue through the lens of realism and analyses the effect of realism on the ANZUS alliance. Broader questions associated with alliances, national interest, changing priorities and limits on the use of power are also treated. A single case study of the United States/New Zealand security relationship as embodied in the ANZUS treaty will be used to evaluate the utility of realism in understanding the decision making process that led to the declaration by the United States that the treaty was in abeyance. Five significant findings emerged: firstly both New Zealand and the United States used realism in the decision making process based on national interest, Secondly; diverging national interests over the nuclear issue made the ANZUS treaty untenable. Thirdly, ethical and cultural aspects of the relationship between the two states limited the application of classical realism to understanding the bond. Fourthly, normative theory accommodates realist theory on the behaviour of states in the international environment. Finally, continued engagement between the United States and New Zealand and evolved circumstances provided the means to revitalise a changed security relationship.</p>

How Can Realism be Utilised in an Understanding of the United States/New Zealand Relationship over Nuclear Policy?

<p>This thesis examines the decision making process of the United States and New Zealand on the nuclear policy issue through the lens of realism and analyses the effect of realism on the ANZUS alliance. Broader questions associated with alliances, national interest, changing priorities and limits on the use of power are also treated. A single case study of the United States/New Zealand security relationship as embodied in the ANZUS treaty will be used to evaluate the utility of realism in understanding the decision making process that led to the declaration by the United States that the treaty was in abeyance. Five significant findings emerged: firstly both New Zealand and the United States used realism in the decision making process based on national interest, Secondly; diverging national interests over the nuclear issue made the ANZUS treaty untenable. Thirdly, ethical and cultural aspects of the relationship between the two states limited the application of classical realism to understanding the bond. Fourthly, normative theory accommodates realist theory on the behaviour of states in the international environment. Finally, continued engagement between the United States and New Zealand and evolved circumstances provided the means to revitalise a changed security relationship.</p>

Ecological Security

Climate change is increasingly recognised as a security issue. Yet this recognition belies contestation over what security means and whose security is viewed as threatened. Different accounts – here defined as discourses – of security range from those focused on national sovereignty to those emphasising the vulnerability of human populations. This book examines the ethical assumptions and implications of these 'climate security' discourses, ultimately making a case for moving beyond the protection of human institutions and collectives. Drawing on insights from political ecology, feminism and critical theory, Matt McDonald suggests the need to focus on the resilience of ecosystems themselves when approaching the climate-security relationship, orienting towards the most vulnerable across time, space and species. The book outlines the ethical assumptions and contours of ecological security before exploring how it might find purchase in contemporary political contexts. A shift in this direction could not be more urgent, given the current climate crisis.

US Security Assistance to Pakistan in Post 9/11 Period

This paper attempts to understand the dynamics of United States aid assistance to Pakistan in the light of post 9/11 security developments in the world. The analysis of US foreign policy aid instruments generally indicates three broad objectives: strategic/politico-security benefits, economic interests and humanitarian concerns. Although one consistently recurring theme in US foreign policy aid provision, both in the Cold War period and the newer post 2001 ‘War on Terror’ period has been security. This theme has also defined US-Pakistan aid relationship in different times, with the exception of Bush administration, who unlike the Cold War period made an alteration byspecifying funds forpurpose-basedusage in sub-fields. This paper argues that Bush administration sought to achieve US foreign policy objectives by providing strategic aid to Pakistan much at the expense of domestic public opinion. It further stresses that change in administration in the US brought obstacles in aid flows to Pakistan as President Obama not only reduced the amount of aid under specific heads, but also openly accused Pakistan of fomenting the militants (the good Taliban), which in turn hurt the US broader strategic goals in the region and raised irreconcilable issues of trust between the two countries. The new administration of Trump went a step ahead by suspending many of the aid programmes to Pakistan, bringing the all-time trust-deficit between the two countries to an all-time low. This paper primarily applies the realist and neo-realist theoretical framework to understand the aid and security relationship paradigm between the US and Pakistan.

India–Vietnam Defence and Security Cooperation

Defence and security cooperation between India and Vietnam is an increasingly important area of the India–Vietnam ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’. This wide-ranging cooperation includes government-to-government dialogues, bilateral agreements, defence lines of credit, prospective defence procurements, maritime cooperation and multilateral cooperation. Cooperation has been formalised and expanded through a series of bilateral defence and security agreements to provide a basis for enhancing relations, which have been further developed through regular government-to-government dialogues. The defence and security dialogues and agreements have provided a framework for practical cooperation between the two countries’ militaries, which includes a focus on defence training, military exercises and discussions for the sale of different Indian arms equipment to Vietnam. Maritime cooperation between India and Vietnam has been the most significant element of bilateral defence and security cooperation, and both sides have found mutual convergences on cooperation in the South China Sea and the wider Indo-Pacific region. Relations between the two countries have also strengthened multilaterally on defence and security issues, including through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. There are opportunities to further strengthen the India–Vietnam defence and security relationship, both bilaterally and with third countries.

Postcolonial Security

In light of the discrepancy between Britain’s and France’s postcolonial security roles in Africa, which seemed already determined half a decade after independence, this book studies the making of the postcolonial security relationship during the transfer of power and the early years of independence (1958–1966). The focus is on West Africa and, more specifically, on Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire. While it was in this subregion that the decolonization wave emerged and the Cold War made its debut in Africa, the newly independent states of Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire rapidly evolved into key players in the postcolonial struggle for Africa. Based on research in fourteen archives in Africa, Europe, and the United States, the book comparatively investigates the establishment of formal defence relations, the disintegration of the Anglo-Nigerian ‘special relationship’ and Franco-Ivorian ‘neocolonial collusion’, the provision of British and French military assistance to their former colonies and the competition they faced from West Germany and Israel respectively, and the Anglo-American partnership in Nigeria and the Franco-American rivalry in Côte d’Ivoire. Through this investigation it becomes evident that, whereas Britain was rapidly and increasingly pushed out of and replaced in the Nigerian security sector by Western competitors, France succeeded in retaining its military foothold and pre-eminence in Côte d’Ivoire. Informed by postcolonial approaches, this book argues that while London’s Cold War blinkers and Paris’s neo-imperial agenda were part of the equation, the postcolonial security relationship was ultimately determined by the Nigerian and Ivorian elites, which in turn responded to their local and regional circumstances against the background of the Cold War in Africa.

Mechanisms of Civil Rights Protection

A comprehensive approach to the protection of civil rights allows us to consider this legal activity as a set of judicial and non-judicial private and public legal mechanisms. Based on the provisions of article 11 of the civil code, the basis of civil rights protection mechanisms is a continuing security relationship with the prospect of development (resolution) in the civil and (or) administrative-legal order. The General features of protection mechanisms are conflict management with the help of consistently implemented means and methods, filling the shortcomings of legal regulation, minimizing the risks of negative consequences, focus on the real (actual) restoration of the violated (disputed) rights. Differing officially established order (procedure) mechanisms of protection of civil rights, implemented regardless of the applicant’s chosen form of conflict resolution.

The association between romantic competence and couple support behaviors in emerging adult couples

This study examined the association between romantic competence and observed couple social support behaviors in a sample of 89 emerging adult mixed-gender couples ( M age = 20.65 for men, 20.16 for women). Across analyses, findings generally indicated that higher romantic competence was associated with both seeking and providing support in a more positive and less negative manner, even when controlling for attachment security, relationship satisfaction, and relationship length. The findings extend our understanding of how romantic competence affects dyadic processes, and identifies romantic competence as a novel target underlying the ability to effectively seek and provide support. Clinical implications for relationship education programs as well as psychotherapy that may be focused on improving relationship functioning is discussed.