Study Of International Relations Research Articles

Drömmen som kraschade. Könade känslor och kroppar i medierapporteringen om Jas 39 Gripens krasch på Långholmen 1993

On the 8th of August 1993, JAS 39 Gripen, the pride of the Swedish air force, crashed during an air show in downtown Stockholm. The pilot miraculously survived this accident, witnessed by half a million specta- tors, and no serious injuries were reported among the audience. This article draws on feminist theory in studies of international relations and a discourse analytical framework to reveal how gendered representations of emotions and bodies featured in, and contributed to, making meaning about collective identity and possible futures in the aftermath of the event. The empirical focus lies on the four major Swedish newspapers during the early 1990s, Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen and Svenska Dagbladet. The analysis shows that the crash triggered intense criticism of JAS, a costly state-industrial military project at the core of the Swedish welfare state project, and the historical policy of armed neutrality which relied on notions of defensive masculine protection. By doing so, the crash contributed to destabilize notions of defensive masculinist protection practiced through the armed neutrality policy during the Cold War period. These findings are not only relevant for our understanding of the past. By shedding light on how logics related to masculinist protection were de-stabilized in a period when Sweden’s first steps towards increased military cooperation with NATO were taken, the findings also provide important clues to our understanding of contemporary security developments.

Leader age and international conflict: A regression discontinuity analysis

Does leader age matter for the likelihood of interstate conflict? Many studies in biology, psychology, and physiology have found that aggression tends to decline with age throughout the adult lifespan, particularly in males. Moreover, a number of major international conflicts have been attributed to young leaders, including the conquests of Alexander the Great and the ambitious military campaigns of Napoleon. However, the exact nature of the relationship between leader age and international conflict has been difficult to study because of the endogeneity problem. Leaders do not come to power randomly. Rather, many domestic and international factors influence who becomes the leader of a country, and some of these factors could correlate with the chances of interstate conflict. For instance, wary democratic publics might favor older leaders when future international conflict seems likely, inducing a relationship between older leaders and interstate conflict. This article overcomes such confounding by using a regression discontinuity design. Specifically, it looks at close elections of national leaders who had large differences in age. It finds that when older candidates barely defeated younger ones, countries were much less likely to engage in military conflict. Its sample is also fairly representative of democracies more broadly, meaning that the findings likely hold true for cases outside the sample. The results demonstrate the important role that individuals play in shaping world politics. They also illustrate the value of design-based inference for learning about important questions in the study of international relations and peace science.

The Republic of Korea Between China and the United States in the Face of Confrontation Over Taiwan

The article gives a tentative analysis of factors impacting the domestic and foreign policy of the Republic of Korea amid the growing confrontation between the “global West” spearheaded by the U.S. and the “global East” led by Russia and China. While the conflict between Washington and Beijing is being escalated, the South Korean leadership is likely to find itself in a precarious situation where it has to make a choice between its main economic partner and theideological overlord in terms of value orientation and security . Understanding the upcoming political course of Seoul, especially in light of the conflict over Taiwan, is of great scientific value and is important for applied international relations studies. Based on the analysis of the main trends of global turbulence and regional security, the authors propose a scenario prognosis developed on the basis of situational analysis and author’s modeling techniques , which would include both the general trends of the country’s foreign policy and the level of potential involvement of South Korea into a probable conflict between the U.S. and China in the Taiwan Strait. It is also worth noting that the most evident outcome will be the preserved alliance with Washington which is closer to South Korea when it comes to its social and political values and a gradual deterioration in relations with China, the speed of which may vary. However, the authors conclude by saying that Seoul will go to great lengths to postpone this uneasy choice and will try to distance itself from direct participation in a military conflict.

The challenge of the global ecological crisis for world politics

The ecological crisis is one of the greatest challenges humanity faces in this century. Climate change and ecosystem degradation pose real threats to the future of life on the planet. However, despite global security and survival being key themes in the study of international relations, environmental issues have remained on the sidelines of the discipline in recent decades. This reality seems to be changing with the publication of an increasing number of works that seek to rethink the discipline and the practice of world politics through the lens of ecology. These works call for a political transformation to address the crisis and challenge the traditional institutionalist approach dominant in the literature, which focuses on the analysis of intergovernmental cooperation and the effectiveness of international environmental institutions, such as the United Nations (UN) climate and biodiversity regimes.

Impact of Nigeria-China relations on development in Nigeria, 2010-2020

Nigeria-China relations had a considerable influence on Nigeria's development, and the Peoples Republic of China emerged as one of Nigeria's primary commercial partners and a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent decades. To this, the relationship between the two nations has influenced Nigeria's growth in various ways, especially in the area of infrastructure development obtained through loans, investments, skills and technology transfer. China has contributed to the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure, thus, fostering economic growth in addition to influencing regional integration. Furthermore, in the energy and power sectors, Chinese firms have been involved in the construction of power plants, transmission lines, and renewable energy projects in Nigeria aimed at addressing power deficits and improving access to electricity, which is essential for industrial development and improving Nigerians' quality of life. China is one of Nigeria's top commercial partners and a substantial source of foreign direct investment (FDI). Chinese enterprises working in Nigeria have provided technology, skills, and knowledge transfer that has benefited Nigerian industries. Chinese investments in industries like telecommunications, manufacturing and agriculture have eased the transfer of technical skills while also increasing efficiency in production methods. This paper aims to illustrate the importance of bilateral trade relations as a means of change and development especially when the nations involved are in need of each other. The paper adopts qualitative approach to the study of international relations. The paper adopts dependency theory to analyze bilateral trade relation between Nigeria and China. The theory believes that trade should only be done to enhance prosperity and also argued that the principle of comparative advantage ensures everyone would profit from the interaction. The paper reveals and concludes that Nigeria-China relations have made a substantial impact on Nigeria's economic development notwithstanding some notable deficiencies that have arisen in areas of unfair labour practices amongst others

PROMOTING URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH COLLABORATIVE TRAINING OF TRAINERS PROGRAM PHASE 1 BETWEEN KARANG TARUNA UNIT 04 ULUJAMI AND UNIVERSITAS BUDI LUHUR

This paper discusses the conduct of community service held by the International Relations Study Program, Universitas Budi Luhur (UBL), in collaboration with the Communication Science Study Program UBL, Karang Taruna Unit (RW) 04 Ulujami, and journalist from March to July 2023. This program continues previous activities under a planned program developed in 2022 to be implemented in 2 years. Within the current period, the program was conducted through training for trainers (ToT) for the management and members of Karang Taruna Unit 4 Ulujami. The workshop covered serial presentations and simulations about digital literacy and peace education. As the final activities, the program not only involved 22 members of Karang Taruna, but also around 60 UBL students from various academic backgrounds and a national mass media journalist. The program results show a considerably high comprehension and determination of Karang Taruna members, not only to know about the issues discussed and shared but also to hone their skills. This achievement has become good news in setting the foundation for the continuation of the sustainable development program that would cover widened themes and be conducted through the implementation of a penta-helix bottom-up approach.

Coping with international politics: A case study of Hong Kong

AbstractThe way that leaders and citizens cope with stress is under-theorised in the study of International Relations (IR). This article anchors psychological studies on coping to the literature theorising emotions in IR to clarify two unaddressed questions: (1) how do political actors – individuals and collectives – cope with both sudden crises and long-term change?; and (2) in the context of international politics, whose coping matters, and under what conditions? Our coping framework demonstrates that intersubjective appraisal of urgency from everyday stressors triggers a process that elevates individual coping to the collective level. Circulation of coping responses, a key but neglected process of scaling up, binds individuals to affective communities. Our theoretical contribution is an innovative coping framework to explore how individual pursuit of well-being is transformed into collective agency. The methodological novelty is the triangulation of emotional representation with survey data and in-depth interviews to capture the circulation of coping responses. We illustrate our conceptual framework with the overlooked case of Hong Kong. Our findings suggest coping constitutes conditions of political possibilities, in that individual Hong Kongers’ efforts to sustain emotional well-being are aggregated to create momentum for a state-building project unexpected by the former British colonisers or the Chinese Communist Party.

Book Review: Trihartono, A., Patriadi, H. B., & Hara, A. E. (2023). Gastrodiplomasi Indonesia. Pandiva. 300 pp.

In the study of international relations, Gastrodiplomacy emerges as a new and refreshing sub-study of diplomacy. Gastrodiplomacy explores the power and influence potencies of using food as a tool of culinary diplomacy (Chapple-Sokol, 2013). The term gastrodiplomacy was first mentioned by The Economist, a British weekly newspaper, on February 21, 2002. Gastrodiplomacy was first used to describe the efforts of the Thai government and diaspora to popularize its cuisine around the world (The Economist, 2002). Rockower (2014) suggests that gastrodiplomacy calls for the integration of diplomatic relationships and culture. Integration aims to shape the national image or perception of a country on the global stage. Suntikul (2019) explains that gastrodiplomacy shows the collective efforts of the government and non-state actors to enhance the country’s reputation overseas by exposing foreign tourists and visitors to their traditional cuisine. In substance, gastrodiplomacy tries to promote a country’s cuisines and culinary traditions to enhance trans-cultural understanding, boost their global image, and develop the country’s tourism and trade.Keywords: gastrodiplomacy; public diplomacy; Indonesia

Power vacuums in international politics: a conceptual framework

Policymakers and academics alike frequently invoke power vacuums as important phenomena in international politics, referring to them in a diverse array of contexts ranging from civil war to the decline and retrenchment of great powers. However, students of international relations (IR) have largely neglected to seriously engage ‘power vacuum’ as a social scientific concept. This renders it virtually impossible to undergird current policy debates on power vacuums with social scientific analysis, and more generally raises doubts about the concept’s analytic utility. In this piece, I argue that ‘power vacuum’ is not merely a popular buzzword but a concept with considerable theoretical promise. I develop a conceptualisation of power vacuums as spaces that experience authority collapse. Since, in the context of international politics, organisations can claim authority on several political levels, I posit the existence of several types of power vacuums of which two appear particularly relevant to the study of IR: national and international vacuums. My conceptualisation is able to reflect the diverse ways in which the term is currently utilised, paves the way for novel research on a subject of great concern to policymakers, and uncovers the potential for closer collaboration across traditionally rigid thematic boundaries within IR.

IInd MEDITERREG GRADUATE CONFERENCE FOR MASTER’S STUDENTS AND EARLY STAGE RESEARCHERS

The scientific conference for master’s students and young researchers studying in the specialty 291 International Relations, Public Communications and Regional Studies was held within the framework of the project 101047919 – MEDITERreg “THE RING OF MEDITERRANEAN: REGIONAL STUDIES”. The Jean Monnet Module (Grant type ERASMUS-JMO-2021 MODULE) is implemented by the Department of International Relations and headed by the chief of the Department Olga Brusylovska. The conference was held online on May 31, 2023. Among the issues discussed at the conference, the analysis of the theory and practice of regionalism in the Mediterranean, with focus on the Greater Middle East, occupied a prominent place.

Theoretical Foundations of the Foreign Policy of Latin American Nations

Autonomy has always been the focus of theoretical research in the field of international relations and foreign policy of Latin American countries. At the same time, deepening and strengthening cooperation with neighbors in the region has traditionally been an unshakable priority for all Latin American states, around which their entire foreign policy was built. The article considers the crucial stages of development that the concept of autonomy has gone through in the framework of international relations theories developed by Latin American scholars. Simultaneously, the changing role and essential characteristics of integration are studied as a process that modifies its direction under the pressure of various external and internal forces. The author analyzes the key theoretical approaches of Latin American countries to the study of international relations and foreign policy in the period from the middle of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century. The research also considers the determining factors influencing the evolution of the intra­regional and extra­regional directions as regards the foreign policy of the states in the region. Identifying the system of elements that form the core of modern Latin American foreign policy and combining global and national components allow us to determine the substantial changes in the paradigmatic nature of international relations, which is the key to understanding the modern activities of Latin American countries in the international arena, substantiating the relevance and novelty of this study. The author examines five main stages in the evolution of the concept of autonomy, which have become a reflection of real historical events. Each of them is interconnected with the concept of integration in its own way: the first stage was characterized by the prevalence of a realistic approach; the second stage was marked by the strategy of "development coming from within"; during the third stage, the concept of relative autonomy dominated; the fourth stage was characterized by the dominance of two approaches: separatist and relative; the fifth stage takes place under the slogan of the concept of «liquid autonomy».

SOCIALIZATION THROUGH INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS? DECODING CHINA’S VIEWS ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS SINCE ITS WTO ACCESSION

Constructivism in the studies of international relations (IR) posits that international institutions have the power to induce a state’s socialization into the norms and rules enshrined in these institutions. The study puts this hypothesis to an empirical test by analyzing China’s views on intellectual property rights (IPR) since its WTO (World Trade Organization) accession in 2001. The article examines relevant People’s Daily commentary articles published from 2001 to 2022 using Structural Topic Model (STM) and domestic scholarly debates. The study identifies four prevalent themes, including IPRs and international competition, strengthening IPR protection, developing indigenous IPRs, and achievements and barriers in IPR development. It finds that although China has increasingly realized the importance of IPRs, China’s views on IPRs are predominantly oriented toward a realpolitik discourse on leveraging IPRs to enhance China’s overall national power in international competition. While socialization is at best subordinate to China’s domestic interests in shaping China’s views on IPRs, as the country’s worldview acts as a strong mediating force between international ideas and China’s views on IPRs.

Peranan Polisi Republik Indonesia dalam Pemberantasan Praktik Illegal Fishing di Wilayah Perairan Indonesia

Coral reefs owned by the State of Indonesia are approximately 7000 km2 with 480 species of coral that have been successfully described and have a diversity of fish around 1,650 species of fish. Foreign fishermen who often enter Indonesian territorial waters, among others, come from Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Natuna waters, North Sulawesi waters are the most vulnerable area to illegal fishing activities. The vulnerability of Indonesian waters from illegal fishing activities, in addition to the fact that the water area contains the potential for large fishery resources, also because the geographical position of the Indonesian territorial waters is in international waters so that it is very open to the possibility of foreign fishermen entering Indonesian waters and fishing illegally. Illegal fishing activities still occur in Indonesian waters, despite various efforts to overcome them by the Indonesian government. This cross-border illegal activity is not only a problem for Indonesia, but also an interstate problem considering that the perpetrators and activities are transnational, and therefore, the handling must also be carried out cross-country, especially through bilateral cooperation with neighboring countries in the region where fishermen often enter Indonesian territorial waters illegally. Illegal fishing has become a global concern because this illegal activity has taken place in various regions and is considered to threaten the existence and sustainability of global marine fisheries resources if not handled seriously by the international community. In the study of international relations, illegal fishing can be categorized as a form of transnational crime, because in these illegal activities contained several aspects as included in the definition of transnational crime.

History of the Great Silk Road: modern stage

This article discusses the issues and problems of interpreting the history of the Great Silk Road at the present stage. The general geopolitical tension between East and West became overt, which directly affected the development of the ancient transcontinental corridor. The functioning of the Great Silk Road is under threat, since the natural transport corridor today cannot operate fully, but its socio-cultural and humanitarian component does not cease to serve as an exchange of ideas and opinions. The materials in the article may be useful as part of preparation in the areas of International Relations and Foreign Regional Studies.

Religious Discrimination against Minorities: Theories and Findings

One of the established trends in religion and international relations (IR) scholarship is the awareness of a rising level of religious discrimination against minorities. Although there is variation in rates, religious restrictions are widely observed across the globe, including in Western democracies. Scholarship on the restrictions on religious practices has advanced through seeking answers to the following questions: Who discriminates? Who is discriminated against more? What are the causes of restrictions on religious freedom? What are the forms of discrimination? The purpose of this article is to connect the theories and findings of two religious discrimination studies of IR via the graphic method of systemism. Featured works engage with religious discrimination in a sub-group of states—Western democracies and those with a Christian majority. While one study focused on government-based restrictions, the other one engaged with societal ones. Collectively, these works revealed the fragility of freedom and the importance of understanding the mechanisms that protect it.

Correction to: Reassembling the Social in the Study of Religion and International Relations

Correction to: Reassembling the Social in the Study of Religion and International Relations

Moscow-Havana Relations. Continuities of the Past in an Asymmetric Triangle

This article examines Moscow-Havana relations from the Russian Revolution in November 1917 to the present to inform debates on (1) continuities from history impacting contemporary Russian foreign policy; (2) the assumption that before the Cuban Revolution of 1959 Moscow suffered from ‘geographical fatalism’ concerning Latin America; (3) contemporary Moscow-Havana relations; and (4) asymmetrical triangles in international relations. A rigorous historical qualitative analysis of primary and secondary sources is used to examine the periods November 1917–January 1959, 1959–1991, and 1992 onwards. Both realism and constructivism are utilised throughout. Acting as a bridge between historical research and the study of international relations this article posits that in each period Moscow and Havana’s individual relationships with Washington were key to Moscow-Havana relations. Continuities from history for the contemporary relationship are to both the November 1917–January 1959 era and the 1959–1991 period. Consequently, since 1917 an asymmetrical triangle comprising Moscow, Havana, and Washington has principally existed. Aiding its originality this article postulates that a ‘stable marriage’ with the most powerful member of an asymmetrical triangle (Washington) being the ‘pariah’ can become the norm. This finding has resonance for global politics and the behaviour of regional superpowers within their respective region.

A Systematic Review: Revisiting Neoliberal Institutionalism in the Modern Context with Political Philosophy Considerations

This paper contributes to the modern neoliberal institutionalist line of thinking and international relations studies by revisiting and discussing neoliberal arguments under todays socio-economic and political background. The goal is to defend neoliberal institutionalism through a brief and yet systematic review of classical neoliberal works. An interdisciplinary approach is taken through paralleling neoliberalism with theories in philosophy (utilitarianism and pragmatism) and politics. Criticisms from neorealists and worrying issues like state-contestation and counter-institutionalization are discussed and defended. Afghanistans accession to becoming a WTO member has been used as an example to show the positive influence that international organizations and institutions can exert in the 21st century.

Theorizing Infrastructures in Global Politics

Abstract A growing wave of studies in international relations is interested in “infrastructure.” Pipelines, ports, financial transaction arrangements, and other large technical systems increasingly occupy the minds of international theorists. This theory note provides direction to the debate by offering an important clarification of the concept of infrastructure and how it is theorized. Scholars have very different understandings of what infrastructures are, why they matter, and how to theorize and study them empirically. By outlining three distinct “styles of theorizing infrastructure,” we provide new directions for future research and how it can contribute to broader debates in international theory. The three styles allow to capture the disagreement over whether infrastructure is a theoretical concept at all, or if it solely refers to empirical phenomena. For some scholars, infrastructures are an object of politics, while others see them as developing political force or even agency on their own. Others see broader potential and note that “infrastructuralism” could provide a major new theoretical vocabulary. Each style provides major new avenues for international theory.

Political Theology and International Relations: From History to Emancipation

Abstract This article elaborates an account of political theology that is both historical and critical in orientation. Whereas the historical dimension excavates theological antecedents that inform the vocabulary of international relations, the critical dimension illuminates incoherence in accepted ways of thinking and speaking about the subject. The article develops these distinct, though complementary, modes of argument to illustrate what political theology contributes to the study of international relations. Part one situates the historical mode within the broader discourse of political theology, followed in part two by a consideration of the marginal place of political theology in international relations scholarship. Part three re-reads the exception—extraordinary action that contravenes established legal or moral order—to illustrate what is at stake when analogies between divine and human deviate from the theological original. This, in turn, unlocks in part four a critical project that subverts the ubiquitous contrast between irrational (religious) belief and rational (secular) unbelief and the privilege it asserts. Political theology conceived along these lines breaks free of the parochialism of the present by denaturalizing a matrix of international relations knowledge that is anything but natural.