Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Institution
Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Sell Unipolarity? The Future Of An Overvalued Concept, Jeffrey W. Legro
Sell Unipolarity? The Future Of An Overvalued Concept, Jeffrey W. Legro
Political Science Faculty Publications
For at least the past thirty years, scholarship on international relations has been bewitched by a simple proposition: the polarity of the international system is a central cause of great power strategies and politics. The number of "poles" (dominant countries) in the system is like an invisible fence that shapes states as if they were dogs with electronic collars or a Skinner box that conditions national "rats." States can choose to ignore the fence or box, but if they do, they must pay the consequences. The polarity of the international system as defined by the number of great powers - …
Building An Asia-Pacific Security Community: A Role For Australia?, Jonathan K. Chen
Building An Asia-Pacific Security Community: A Role For Australia?, Jonathan K. Chen
Political Science Honors Projects
Australia’s foreign policy has recently shifted from great-power dependency towards self-reliance in the Asia-Pacific. In light of this shift, there have been calls for the creation of a regional security community. This project looks at two existing security communities, the OSCE and ASEAN, to ascertain the necessary conditions for building a security community. From there, I examine whether or not these conditions exist in the Asia-Pacific, and investigate Australia’s ability to produce the remaining conditions. I conclude that Australia does not have the diplomatic power to overcome regional competition, and that rivalries amongst regional powers mitigate against the community’s creation.
Booms And Busts: Russia And Its Oil, 1970 To 2011 And Beyond, Cliff Gaddy
Booms And Busts: Russia And Its Oil, 1970 To 2011 And Beyond, Cliff Gaddy
Brookings Scholar Lecture Series
For 40 years Russia’s domestic economic and political development and its foreign policy ambitions have been driven by the varying fortunes of its oil and gas wealth. The story continues to play out today, with crucial global consequences. Russia remains the world’s largest producer of oil and gas. It holds the third largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. Understanding the role of Russia’s energy wealth is key to understanding what role the country may play in world energy security and geopolitics in the years ahead.
Introduction: Navigating The Unknown, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro
Introduction: Navigating The Unknown, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro
Political Science Faculty Publications
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. Hardly anyone had foreseen this event. When President Ronald Reagan had challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in June 1987 “to tear down this wall,” he never anticipated that Berliners themselves would have the opportunity and courage to bring about such dramatic change. We now know that the Wall came down as a result of accidental circumstances, a series of mistaken statements and understandings among officials of the German Democratic Republic. No one had planned for this to happen, and no one had plans to deal with a new landscape that might …
Conclusion: Strategy In A Murky World, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro
Conclusion: Strategy In A Murky World, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro
Political Science Faculty Publications
Making national strategy is a byzantine business in the best of times. When dramatic events happen, when the international arena is complex and changing, when threats and opportunities are uncertain, leaders struggle to understand and react effectively. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the attacks of 9/11 opened vistas that were unfamiliar and complicated. How did U.S. leaders manage those transitions?
Rising Asian Powers And Changing Global Governance, Ann Florini
Rising Asian Powers And Changing Global Governance, Ann Florini
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
International Relations (IR) scholarship is directly in the path of two simultaneous tidal waves. The first is the rise of China and India in the traditional IR terms of military and economic power. The second is the expanding nature of what IR scholarship needs to address, as global integration transforms the nature of the issues to be addressed and numerous trends expand the number and types of relevant actors. Neither theory nor practice is yet coping well with the profound implications of these fundamental changes. Investigating what kind of a world order might emerge from these two simultaneous tsunamis will …