Damien Kingsbury – författare

This book proposes and tests a ‘theory of separatism’ to determine if there are key commonalities as to why separatist movements rise and what fuels them.

In the post-Cold War period separatism has been on the rise. Today, there are more than 100 active separatist movements, with around 70 of them engaging in violence. This book focuses on examples from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia to highlight the commonalities found across the case studies. It examines the idea of separatism, to better understand what drives movements to break away from preexisting states; demonstrates the factors which produce both violent separatism and the rise of armed non-state actors; and shows the options for the resolution of such conflict, based on considering claims for separatism from the perspectives of separatist movements.

This book will be applicable for undergraduate and postgraduate students of International Relations and International Politics as well as Conflict/Peace Studies, Anthropology and Post-Colonial Studies.

This book proposes and tests a ‘theory of separatism’ to determine if there are key commonalities as to why separatist movements rise and what fuels them.

In the post-Cold War period separatism has been on the rise. Today, there are more than 100 active separatist movements, with around 70 of them engaging in violence. This book focuses on examples from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia to highlight the commonalities found across the case studies. It examines the idea of separatism, to better understand what drives movements to break away from preexisting states; demonstrates the factors which produce both violent separatism and the rise of armed non-state actors; and shows the options for the resolution of such conflict, based on considering claims for separatism from the perspectives of separatist movements.

This book will be applicable for undergraduate and postgraduate students of International Relations and International Politics as well as Conflict/Peace Studies, Anthropology and Post-Colonial Studies.

This book addresses one of the most important issues in international relations – how wars are ended.

The volume draws on the direct experience of both soldiers and academics, who in each case have also been advisers on fighting and ending wars. Unlike more theoretical works, the book draws on first-hand experiences in the case studies, which include the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Indonesia, among others. The volume is constructed around a series of themes. The first theme is why wars start and how they can be understood, based on the assumption that knowing how, and why, wars start is fundamental to understanding how they might end. The second is what sustains wars and what makes them difficult to end. Again, once wars start, understanding what keeps them going is critical to how to end them. The third focuses on the role of external intervention in ending wars, including as a belligerent partner in war, as a peacemaking or peacekeeping force, and as a mediator between warring parties. The fourth addresses the issue of ‘ripeness’ and the right conditions for ending wars. The fifth addresses the modalities for ending wars and creating peace, with the sixth theme being focused on transitions to peace and what is required to help make those transitions successful.

The book will be of interest to students of military, strategic and security studies, peace studies and International Relations.

This book addresses one of the most important issues in international relations – how wars are ended.

The volume draws on the direct experience of both soldiers and academics, who in each case have also been advisers on fighting and ending wars. Unlike more theoretical works, the book draws on first-hand experiences in the case studies, which include the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Indonesia, among others. The volume is constructed around a series of themes. The first theme is why wars start and how they can be understood, based on the assumption that knowing how, and why, wars start is fundamental to understanding how they might end. The second is what sustains wars and what makes them difficult to end. Again, once wars start, understanding what keeps them going is critical to how to end them. The third focuses on the role of external intervention in ending wars, including as a belligerent partner in war, as a peacemaking or peacekeeping force, and as a mediator between warring parties. The fourth addresses the issue of ‘ripeness’ and the right conditions for ending wars. The fifth addresses the modalities for ending wars and creating peace, with the sixth theme being focused on transitions to peace and what is required to help make those transitions successful.

The book will be of interest to students of military, strategic and security studies, peace studies and International Relations.

The Rise and Decline of Modern Democracy assesses the rise of, subsequent political challenges to, and decline of, contemporary liberal democratic processes, in particular since the ‘third wave’ of democratization from the 1990s.

Democracy is in global decline. Fewer countries are democratic and fewer people, globally, live in substantive democracies. Autocracy is now the dominant political form and the future looks, at best, challenging for the retention of such democracies that remain. As they did a century ago, nationalism and populism have again reared their ugly heads, and more people are claiming that democracy no longer addresses their most compelling needs or interests. This book examines what democracy is and the circumstances that allowed – even encouraged – it to arise. Democracy has been a product of a need to find a political model that mediates between competing interests, building on conducive conditions. However, there have since been fundamental changes to those conditions, imbalances within democratic countries and between countries, that have diminished the strength of the democratic proposition. The question now arises as to whether democracy can continue as a matter of political will. Challengers to democracy, from the radical Right in developed countries to populist autocracy and state-centred authoritarianism in developing countries, have increasingly shown this may not be the case. Democracy may survive, as this book concludes, but is likely to do so only with more substantial and conscious commitment to the democratic project, with recognition of the need to replenish the fertility of the political soil in which democracy grows.

This wide-ranging and empirically and theoretically rich book will be of interest to students, scholars and researchers of political science, international relations, history and democracy.

The Rise and Decline of Modern Democracy assesses the rise of, subsequent political challenges to, and decline of, contemporary liberal democratic processes, in particular since the ‘third wave’ of democratization from the 1990s.

Democracy is in global decline. Fewer countries are democratic and fewer people, globally, live in substantive democracies. Autocracy is now the dominant political form and the future looks, at best, challenging for the retention of such democracies that remain. As they did a century ago, nationalism and populism have again reared their ugly heads, and more people are claiming that democracy no longer addresses their most compelling needs or interests. This book examines what democracy is and the circumstances that allowed – even encouraged – it to arise. Democracy has been a product of a need to find a political model that mediates between competing interests, building on conducive conditions. However, there have since been fundamental changes to those conditions, imbalances within democratic countries and between countries, that have diminished the strength of the democratic proposition. The question now arises as to whether democracy can continue as a matter of political will. Challengers to democracy, from the radical Right in developed countries to populist autocracy and state-centred authoritarianism in developing countries, have increasingly shown this may not be the case. Democracy may survive, as this book concludes, but is likely to do so only with more substantial and conscious commitment to the democratic project, with recognition of the need to replenish the fertility of the political soil in which democracy grows.

This wide-ranging and empirically and theoretically rich book will be of interest to students, scholars and researchers of political science, international relations, history and democracy.

This book fills a growing gap in the literature on international development by addressing the debates about good governance and institution-building within the context of political development.

Political Development returns the key issues of human rights and democratization to the centre of the development debate and offers the reader an alternative to the conventional approach to, and definition of, the idea of ‘development’. Discussing political development in its broadest context, it includes chapters on democracy, institution-building, the state, state failure, nation, human rights and political violence.

Damien Kingsbury, a leading expert on development and Southeast Asia, argues that ‘good governance’, in its common usage, is too narrowly defined and that good governance is not just about ensuring the integrity of a state’s financial arrangements, but that it goes to the core social and political issues of transparency and accountability, implying a range of social structures defined as ‘institutions’.

Providing new insights into political development, this comprehensive text can be used on advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses in international development, comparative politics, political theory and international relations.

This book fills a growing gap in the literature on international development by addressing the debates about good governance and institution-building within the context of political development.

Political Development returns the key issues of human rights and democratization to the centre of the development debate and offers the reader an alternative to the conventional approach to, and definition of, the idea of ‘development’. Discussing political development in its broadest context, it includes chapters on democracy, institution-building, the state, state failure, nation, human rights and political violence.

Damien Kingsbury, a leading expert on development and Southeast Asia, argues that ‘good governance’, in its common usage, is too narrowly defined and that good governance is not just about ensuring the integrity of a state’s financial arrangements, but that it goes to the core social and political issues of transparency and accountability, implying a range of social structures defined as ‘institutions’.

Providing new insights into political development, this comprehensive text can be used on advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses in international development, comparative politics, political theory and international relations.