post-Cold War Research Articles

Disjointing state and war: defence policy as hauntology

ABSTRACT This paper examines the relationship between state and war in defence policy. To do so it develops a hauntological vocabulary of spectrality, conjuring, and the messianic in close conversation with Derrida’s Specters of Marx. This allows for paying attention to the tensions of statehood and state–war relations, and to how they are determined. Specifically, the paper identifies three aporias signalled in Max Weber’s definition of the state—legitimate violence, community, and territory—and traces how they are addressed in two post-Cold War defence policy paradigms—expeditionary force and territorial deterrence—through two Swedish Defence Bills (2009 and 2020). The main claim concerns how these paradigms, despite their differences, disjointed the state from war by transposing questions of force and violence to the limits of the international order and by subordinating defence to instrumentalism. Traditional spectres of society, state, and the international were dislocated to domains outside statist conceptions of politics. Thus, the paper complements conventional understandings of security and defence as central to statehood by indicating a different function of defence policy and what is at stake in inheriting received political imaginations.

Legacies of States and Social Revolutions

Forty years after its publication, Theda Skocpol’s States and Social Revolutions confronts us with a series of questions: Are social revolutions different today compared with 50 years ago, and if yes in what ways and why? What is the state of the study of Revolutions in political science and sociology? More generally, how do we understand and relate to social revolutions in the post-Cold War world? Why do we pay more attention to civil wars now compared with then – and vice versa? If the 40th anniversary of Theda Skocpol’s path-breaking book forces these questions on us, answering them opens up fundamental concerns about how we approach the study of social phenomena and the way we are embedded, as social scientists, into the politics of our world.

Postmodern International Relations: Postmodernism beyond Social Constructivism

This paper examines the concept of postmodernism in International Relations (IR), exploring its dual meaning as both a historical period and a theoretical approach. It traces the emergence of postmodernity as a description of the post-Cold War global order characterized by complex interdependence and transnational challenges. The paper then delves into postmodernism as a theoretical stance in IR, emphasizing its focus on social construction, discourse analysis, and critique of power structures. Special attention is given to social constructivism, particularly Alexander Wendt’s work, as a “mainstream” adaptation of postmodernist insights within IR. The paper argues that constructivism represents a “postmodernism with mainstream characteristics” for the IR discipline, maintaining a state-centric ontology while incorporating ideational factors in explaining international politics. Finally, the paper posits that postmodernism in IR can be understood as a historical consciousness of postmodernity, reflecting on and responding to material changes in the global order. This perspective highlights the interplay between theoretical innovations and historical context, suggesting that postmodernist approaches in IR are both timeless theoretical contributions and products of specific historical circumstances.

Nigeria and Russian Economic Relations: The Post-Cold War Experience

Nigeria and Russian Economic Relations: The Post-Cold War Experience

Sino-Russian energy cooperation in the post-Cold War (2000-2021)

This article aims to analyze Sino-Russian energy cooperation. Energy cooperation is the cornerstone in the relations between Russia and China. The Russian interest in this cooperation is to assure demand for the country’s energy exports, to acquire investment capital, and to benefit from Chinese labour. On the Chinese side, the aim has been to obtain access to Russian natural resources and to invest surplus capital. Despite the overlap in supply and demand, as well as the geographical proximity, the Russian energy market is directed towards Europe, while Chinese energy demand primarily is covered by the Middle East and Central Asia. The need for energy diversification has changed this situation and spurred Sino-Russian cooperation. The article is structured in three parts: it first presents Sino-Russian energy trade, secondly, it treats the agreements signed between both countries, and finally, it analyses energy cooperation. We concluded that this cooperation tends to endure due to the energy-related ties formed as part of the long-term agreements and construction of infrastructure. Also, that this cooperation is of a strategic nature for both countries, as it offers an alternative to other energy relations and provides the necessary room of maneuver to defend central political and security-related interests.

Modern Diplomacy and the Changing Nature of International Politics in the 21st Century

International politics have become more complex since the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s, and consequently, it confuses traditional diplomats.[i] This intricacy is because the post-Cold War international era requires diplomacy to move from being foremost about high politics such as security, military and geopolitical issues to incorporating a wider and growing scope of issues outside of a state’s national borders like migration, gender, global warming, desertification and diseases. Not only are these novel policy themes an indication of how diplomacy’s agenda is growing, but they also indicate that an increasing number of participating stakeholders must be included in contemporary diplomatic practice.[ii] To further scrutinise the phenomena driving change and influencing modern diplomacy, the research utilises specific and relevant international political issues such as post-Cold War international politics, the hegemonic decline of the US, the rise of China, the problems in the Middle East, nuclear disarmament, climate change, Globalisation, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the COVID-19 pandemic and diplomatic inflation. 1) Haynes 2011, 5-6, 8; Stern 2015; Spies 2019a, 42-43. [ii]) Haynes 2011, 8; Sharp 1999, 33; Spies 2019a, 42-43.

Assessing Japan’s Taiwan Policy: Systemic Clarity, Political Survival and Bureaucratic Prudence

ABSTRACT What are the patterns of Japan’s foreign policy behavior toward Taiwan in the post-Cold War era? It is generally taken for granted that the origin of Japan’s foreign policy to Taiwan has been derived from a unitary strategic calculation related to East Asian international politics and its maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region. This conventional interpretation is insufficient. While external pressure and states’ relative material capabilities within the structure of the international system are crucial in explaining Japan’s policy toward Taiwan, interpretations based solely on the system level of analysis fail to provide a persuasive explanation of Japan’s foreign policy behavior. By conducting three case studies in 2006, 2019 and 2021 through the theoretical lens of neoclassical realism and empirical investigation based on primary and secondary Japanese-language sources, this article argues that Japan’s Taiwan policy has been shaped by the combination of three factors: the degree of systemic clarity at the international level, the Japanese prime minister’s political survival and bureaucratic prudence over the Taiwan issue at the domestic level. Since 2021, Japan has adopted a subtle approach to Taiwan, driven more by a defensive and precautionary response to the heightened sense of crisis across the Taiwan Strait.

The Transformation of NATO-Russia Relations under the Context of NATO Expansion: From Post-Cold War to the 2014 Crimea Crisis

This paper will examine the transformation of NATO-Russia relations from the post-Cold War stage to the 2014 Crimea crisis. It will specify how NATO's several eastward expansions contributed to the shift of Russia's foreign policy and their bilateral relationship. The analysis will begin with the optimism the Russian side held after the Cold War and the establishment of bilateral cooperation acts such as the Basic Act and the Partnership for Peace. The paper will also analyze the color revolutions that occurred in Ukraine and Georgia, as well as the subsequent 2008 Russo-Georgian War, to examine how Russia's foreign policy has shifted during the 2000s. The paper will then shed light on the Ukrainian crisis in 2014, which ultimately ended the cooperation between Russia and NATO. Through case studies, this paper will examine the shift of Russias foreign policy in the context of NATO's eastward expansion, which has reshaped the geopolitical landscape of Eastern Europe in the past decades.

Navigating East: Exploring Northeast India’s Perspective on the Look (Act) East Policy

The early 1990s witnessed a strategic shift in India’s foreign policy with the introduction of the Look (Act) East Policy. The policy was conceptualised originally to meet the challenges of the post-Cold War world politics. The idea that Northeast India can develop in the process of the implementation of the policy and can be a gateway to South East Asia was realised rather late in the early part of the twenty-first century. Since then, the expectations around the Look (Act) East Policy have been remarkable. The change in nomenclature as ‘Act East’ in 2014 has further strengthened the hope about the potential impact of the policy in Northeast India. However, without addressing the issues of concern within Northeast India and cultivating sufficient local resources, it remains impossible for the states in the Northeast to abruptly hope for redemption across the mountains from Southeast Asia. Against this backdrop, the present study aims to comprehend the implications of the policy for Northeast India, evaluates the prospect of participation of the North-Eastern states and examines the perspective of the locals on the basis of primary data collected for the study.

Profile of human rights defenders in the Maghreb: the case of the Tunisian human rights league

ABSTRACT Since the 1980s, human rights activists have constituted political agenda-setting groups in the Maghreb countries, mainly following the international turn towards human rights in the post-Cold War decades. Despite this fact, only scarce attention has been paid to their social and professional background. The article explores this topic and provides hitherto unpublished data about the first generation of human rights activists in Tunisia, in particular the members of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH). Its members were a product of post-colonial Tunisia’s investment in (higher) education, teachers and professors, white-collar public servants, lawyers, doctors and journalists. They formed a committed, intellectual elite concerned with relationship between the state and citizens, seeking to influence public policies, carve out public, independent political spaces and get a share in the management of state affairs. Factual evidence surrounding human rights activists in Morocco and Algeria suggests they shared the same characteristics as LTDH members. Given the human rights situation in the Maghreb countries, the article suggests more research should be done about how human rights activists could more effectively link-up up with moral activism of social–professional groups that are absent from the human rights organisations.

Thirty Years' Crisis: The Decline of U.S. Hegemony and the Rise of China

This article examines the current global landscape, characterized by the decline of US hegemony and the rise of China, and draws parallels to Carr's "Twenty Years' Crisis." The implications of these shifts are explored, including the resurgence of realism, China's ascent as a global power, challenges to US leadership, and the potential risks of a global military conflict. The resurgence of power politics challenges the prevailing belief that it had diminished in the post-Cold War era. Territorial disputes and the pursuit of national interests by major powers such as Russia and China highlight the enduring relevance of realism. China's rapid rise as a global power echoes the emergence of the United States as a superpower in the past. Meanwhile, the United States faces challenges as its economic and technological superiority wanes, with China posing a significant threat to its leadership. In conclusion, the current global landscape, similar to Carr's "Twenty Years' Crisis," demands a holistic approach to understanding and addressing the complexities of our time.

On Wor(l)ds and Pandemics.

The spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has stimulated eschatological speculation. To the environmentalist and liberal diagnostician that had already been warning about the Anthropocene and the breakdown of post-Cold War global harmony, an alarm has now been added that in its worst prognosis estimates that, in 2020, we only started witnessing the beginning of a staggered health debacle. The idea of the world, as conceptual support for an imaginary community with global reach, has become a crisis. The world, an object often invoked by theoretical speculation over the last 30years, has been now decreed finished. However, infectious diseases, in their epidemic and pandemic form, have devastated different societies at different times. This paper parallels two historical scenarios and a series of texts dealing with contagious diseases to shed light on the idea of (the end of) the world. The analysis centres on documents that bear witness to the importation of smallpox and other diseases into America and its spread during the European invasion and colonization. By recovering the concept of Pachakuti, a radical turnaround that can be understood as "end of one world", this paper shows that the chronicles reporting on the outbreaks of smallpox in America document a material end of the world for subjects who were not protagonists of history. The current end of the world is, on the contrary, that which would correspond to the protagonist of our phase of globalization and, eventually, to his world-which makes it more resonant and absolute.

Dynamic clustering of Asian regionalisms: Empirical testing of United Nations multilateral treaty participation by social network analysis

This paper investigates the evolving clustering and historical progression of “Asian regionalisms” concerning their involvement in multilateral treaties deposited in the United Nations system. We employ criteria such as geographic proximity, historical connections, cultural affinities, and economic interdependencies to identify twenty-eight candidate countries from East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia for this empirical testing. Using a social network analysis approach, we model the network of these twenty-eight Asian state actors alongside 600 major treaties from the United Nations system, identifying clusters among Asian states by assessing similarities in their treaty participation behavior. Specifically, we observe dynamic changes in these clusters across three key historical eras: Post-war reconstruction and transformation (1945–1968), Cold War tensions and global transformations (1969–1989), and post-Cold War era and globalization (1990–present). Employing the Louvain cluster detection algorithm, the results reveal the evolution in cluster numbers and changes in membership status throughout the world timeline. The results also identify the current situation of six distinct Asian clusters based on states’ inclinations to engage or abstain from multilateral treaties across six policy domains. These findings provide a foundation for further research on the trajectories of Asian regionalisms amidst evolving global dynamics and offer insights into potential alliances, cooperation, or conflicts within the region.

Changing role of security alliances in the post-Cold War era

Changing role of security alliances in the post-Cold War era

The Transition of Bulgarian Military Intelligence in the Post–Cold War Era: From Warsaw Pact to NATO (1989–2004)

The reconstruction of the history of the Bulgarian military intelligence services in the first fifteen years of post–Cold War democratic transition until the accession of the country to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been rarely discussed in contemporary historiography so far. The proposed publication was based on various newly declassified archival sources, as well as on some personal recollections. The transformation of the Bulgarian military intelligence services in those years could be separated into three basic stages, in parallel with the transformation of the Armed Forces and the society as a whole.

NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE TOOLS OF CYBER POWER: A REVIEW ON THE AREAS OF STATE HEGEMONIA

In the post-Cold War era, in terms of international relations, 'cyber security' emerges as a significant security issue for the spheres of state sovereignty beyond the personal sphere. In addition to the harmful effects of cyber threats on the functioning of public institutions and organizations, İt also raises a problem for states, such as managing perception operations by creating a society more open to manipulative influences. In our globalizing world, as the most important actor of the system, the States' dependence on each other has increased, and at the same time, there has been a period in which the fundamental security issues are intertwined for the States. In such a situation where it is not possible for the States to define themselves outside the system, classical realist approaches are insufficient to explain the changing -and increasingly abstracted-security areas. Nation-states must develop more complex skills and prioritize cooperation to deal with these new security threats. In our study, which focuses on the national cyber security perceptions of states, the measures taken by the States in the cyber world on priority issues, such as institutional functioning and survival problems, are analyzed in terms of national security strategies. On the theme of 'new security', the main focus is the necessity for actors to develop new defense capabilities within the framework of the 'quick response and easy adaptation' in the face of increasing and diversifying cyber threats. In our study, which deals with the efforts of digital Nation-states to increase their effectiveness in cyberspace in determining the 21st-century sovereignty areas and the increase in their tendency towards cyber warfare tools, the active/passive defense methods followed by the States in the perspective of cyber security strategies have been evaluated. In this context, it is the most acceptable method for the States to prefer the 'active defense model' in order to avoid cyber attacks against vital institutions such as education and health.

Settling Softly: Ending War and Making Peace in Divided Societies

This paper investigates possible sociopolitical reconciliatory mechanisms to garner support for peacemaking in conflict-torn societies. Building on the Kurdish question in Turkey, associated with a four-decade-long armed conflict that has spilled over into neighboring Syria and Iraq, we identify policies and framing that can attract support for a political solution to the conflict. We highlight the need for a sociopolitical reconciliatory approach that addresses both the hopes of the warring minority and the fears of the majority. The results from an original nationwide survey indicate that minority demands can initially be addressed through a ‘soft settlement,’ lying between individual and collective rights. Our results point to the need to relax the concept of negotiated settlement, which has become the most frequent approach to ending internal armed conflicts in the post-Cold War era.

The arsenal of democracy? An examination of political regime types’ success in the global sporting arms race following the collapse of the iron curtain

ABSTRACT Over the years, international elite sport has developed into an ‘arms race’ with the success of national elite sport systems becoming a symbol of regime superiority. During the Cold War, the Eastern and Western Blocs battled for success in various sports disciplines. The former nations were dominating in terms of medals, symbolising the force of the socialist autocratic system. However, because of the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Western liberal democracies had the opportunity to gain more strength. In this paper, we aim to test whether this has happened by analysing the association between political regime type and international sporting success at the Winter and Summer Olympic Games in the post-Cold War Period. We do this by deploying data on the political regime types to a set of regression models, finding that democratic nations have taken over the international sporting arms race at the Summer Olympic Games. For the Winter Games, our results indicate that less democratic countries (anocracies) are in the lead. Our results add to existing research by suggesting that political regime type still matters to international sporting success. Implications for stakeholders, sports managers, and politicians are that they must decide to what extent they want to be part of this game in the coming years.

The New World Order: Geopolitical Shifts in the Post-Cold War Era

The end of the Cold War marked a pivotal moment in global history, widely seen as the commencement of the "New World Order." The new world order in the post-cold war witnesses the decrease in the powers of classical states and their inter-states matters for restoring international peace, and emerging of other threats like religious militancy, ethnic conflicts, unfair economic competition, north-south conflict, terrorism, etc. This research presents a comprehensive analysis of the challenges, dynamics and potential of the post-Cold War era. This research aims to explore the complexities of “New World Order” in post-Cold War era in international relations through an examination of global political, economic, and socio-cultural transformations, to analyze the geopolitical landscape by focusing on the increasing involvement of non-state players during the post-Cold War era in reshaping economies, society, and conflict dynamics. The study utilizes qualitative research approach to conduct this study.

탈냉전 초기 미국의 외교안보 정책: 파나마 침략을 중심으로

The chief legacy derived from the Panama invasion was how it altered the American public’s perceptions of the military after the frustrating war in Vietnam. The ease of Panama helped pave the way for the Iraq War. One intervention elided into another in the post-Cold War period. Operation Just Cause was a catalyst for Washington’s new role not only as worldwide policeman, but as global armed social worker. The United States encountered sinister new authoritarian regimes in Pyongyang, Tehran, and other capitals, for which the Cold War really ended. But before that return of great-power rivalry, the United States entered into a string of military actions in the world’s far corner: Panama. There, the Department of Defense found itself in wars, regine change, and forever counterterrorism campaigns. The Panama military operation went almost flawlessly. The overwhelming success of JUST CAUSE must be attributed to the fact that the PDF(Panamanian Defense Force) did not put up serious or sustained resistance.