Ian Johnstone – författare

The second volume in an epic fantasy trilogy that will thrill everyone who loves rich stories of wonder and magic.Together, they have unimaginable power. But unless they part, that power may destroy them.As the dark lord Thoth raises a monstrous army, Sylas and Naeo discover that their new-found power could also be their undoing. At the same time, Sylas longs to find his mother, and Naeo her father. So begins a mirrored quest that will bring Naeo into our world of science and take Sylas deep into the magic of the Other. They both hope to find the one the other loves, but also the ultimate truth: of our broken worlds and divided souls, of prophecy and of Sylas and Naeo’s wondrous power.But it’s a race against time. Even as they begin their journey, Thoth’s creatures mass at the gateways between our worlds – at the ancient circles of stone…War is coming and unless Sylas and Naeo can stop it, it may destroy us all.

A glorious epic fantasy in the grand tradition of CS Lewis and Philip Pullman. The Mirror Chronicles will take you into another world, and on the adventure of your lifetime…Half of your soul is missing.The lost part is in the mirror.And unless Sylas Tate can save you, you will never be whole again.Sylas Tate leads a lonely existence since his mother died. But then the tolling of a giant bell draws him into another world known as the Other, where he discovers not only that he has an inborn talent for the nature-influenced magic of the Fourth Way, but also that his mother might just have come from this strange parallel place.Meanwhile, evil forces are stirring, and an astounding revelation awaits Sylas as to the true nature of the Other. As violence looms and the stakes get ever higher, Sylas must seek out a girl called Naeo who might just be the other half of his soul – otherwise the entire universe may fall…

US enthusiasm for peace operations’ has fluctuated markedly in the post-Cold War era. In the early 1990s, the first Bush Administration’s interest in a "new world order" and the Clinton Administration’s policy of "assertive multilateralism" opened the door to direct engagement in Somalia and support to UN operations in the former Yugoslavia. Failures in both places led to a loss of enthusiasm for UN peacekeeping (manifest most tragically in Rwanda), but not NATO operations, which took over from UNPROFOR in Bosnia and later deployed to Kosovo and Afghanistan. Concern about failed states in Africa prompted the US to seek ways of bolstering the capacity of African states and organizations. Meanwhile, the US has actively supported recent operations in Haiti and East Timor, and is taking the lead in pushing for a major new UN operation in Darfur. The post-9/11 environment, combined with difficulties faced in Iraq, has led to a significant policy shift in the Bush Administration, from initial disdain for peace operations, to new understanding of this important strategic instrument.This book was published as a special issue of International Peacekeeping.

Arguing about matters of public policy is ubiquitous in democracies. The ability to resolve conflicts through peaceful contestation is a measure of any well-ordered society. Arguing is almost as ubiquitous in international affairs, yet it is not viewed as an important element of world order. In The Power of Deliberation: International Law, Politics and Organizations, Ian Johnstone challenges the assumption that arguing is mere lip service with no real impact on the behavior of states or the structure of the international system. Johnstone focuses on legal argumentation and asks why, if the rhetoric of law is inconsequential, governments and other international actors bother engaging in it. Johnstone joins the efforts of international relations scholars and democracy theorists who consider why argumentation occurs beyond nation states. He focuses on deliberation in and around international organizations, drawing on various strands of legal, political and international relations theory to identify common features of legal argumentation and deliberative politics. Johnstone's central claim is that international organizations are places where "interpretive communities" coalesce, and the quality of the deliberations these communities provoke is a measure of the legitimacy of the organization.

Examining legal argumentation by states and other actors in the settings where it mostly transpires - outside of courts, Talking International Law challenges the realist assumption that legal argumentation is largely inconsequential. Addressing a gap in scholarship within international law and international relations theory, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of why it occurs, how, where, and to what effect by exploring the phenomenon in a range of issue areas, from security and human rights, to the environment, trade, and intellectual property. Diplomats and other governmental actors are the principal participants in international legal discourse, but intergovernmental officials, non-governmental organizations, academics, corporations, and even non-state armed groups also engage in "law talk." Through close examination of legal arguments in political and other settings, the authors uncover various motives these actors have for making legal claims - including persuasion, strategic calculations, assertions of identity, and the felt need to legitimate one's actions - or to delegitimate those of an adversary. Legal argumentation can have short-term and long-term effects, both intended and unintended, on immediate participants or a wider net of actors. By bringing together distinguished scholars with diverse perspectives and senior practitioners from around the world who engage in such argumentation themselves, the book offers a unique exposure to the multi-faceted practice of legal argumentation and thereby deepens our understanding of how international law actually operates in international affairs.

Law and Practice of the United Nations: Documents and Commentary combines primary materials with expert commentary, exploring the interaction between law, policy, and practice in the United Nations, as well as the challenges and opportunities global multilateral institutions face in a fast-changing global climate.The third edition of this renowned volume, used by teachers, practitioners, and scholars around the world, begins with a section on why the UN remains relevant in an era of geopolitical tension and legal uncertainty, focusing on conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. Following several chapters on the organizations legal and institutional capacities, it then turns to the most challenging issues confronting the UN and the global community, from conflict, weapons of mass destruction, and mass atrocities to poverty, climate change, and artificial intelligence. The book concludes with a section on accountability for wrongs committed by or in the name of the organization, and reform proposals to make it fit for purpose 80 years after its creation. Each chapter includes short essays by the authors that connect the primary documents to the legal, institutional and political issues relevant to the practice of diplomacy and development of international law. Each chapter also includes questions and hypotheticals to guide discussion of the primary materials. This book helps students, scholars and practitioners to understand the central role the United Nations has played in the international legal order since 1945 and suggests avenues to ensure that the organization continues to serve the important purposes for which it was established.

Law and Practice of the United Nations: Documents and Commentary combines primary materials with expert commentary, exploring the interaction between law, policy, and practice in the United Nations, as well as the challenges and opportunities global multilateral institutions face in a fast-changing global climate.The third edition of this renowned volume, used by teachers, practitioners, and scholars around the world, begins with a section on why the UN remains relevant in an era of geopolitical tension and legal uncertainty, focusing on conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. Following several chapters on the organizations legal and institutional capacities, it then turns to the most challenging issues confronting the UN and the global community, from conflict, weapons of mass destruction, and mass atrocities to poverty, climate change, and artificial intelligence. The book concludes with a section on accountability for wrongs committed by or in the name of the organization, and reform proposals to make it fit for purpose 80 years after its creation. Each chapter includes short essays by the authors that connect the primary documents to the legal, institutional and political issues relevant to the practice of diplomacy and development of international law. Each chapter also includes questions and hypotheticals to guide discussion of the primary materials. This book helps students, scholars and practitioners to understand the central role the United Nations has played in the international legal order since 1945 and suggests avenues to ensure that the organization continues to serve the important purposes for which it was established.

Law and Practice of the United Nations: Documents and Commentary combines primary materials with expert commentary demonstrating the interaction between law and practice in the UN organization, as well as the possibilities and limitations of multilateral institutions in general. Each chapter begins with a short introductory essay describing how the documents that ensue illustrate a set of legal, institutional, and political issues relevant to the practice of diplomacy and the development of public international law through the United Nations. Each chapter also includes questions to guide discussion of the primary materials, and a brief bibliography to facilitate further research on the subject.This second edition addresses the most challenging issues confronting the United Nations and the global community today, from terrorism to climate change, from poverty to nuclear proliferation. New features include hypothetical fact scenarios to test the understanding of concepts in each chapter. This edition contains expanded author commentary, while maintaining the focus on primary materials. Such materials enable a realistic presentation of the work of international diplomacy: the negotiation, interpretation and application of such texts are an important part of what actually takes place at the United Nations and other international organizations.This work is ideal for courses on the United Nations or International Organizations, taught in both law and international relations programs.

Law and Practice of the United Nations: Documents and Commentary combines primary materials with expert commentary demonstrating the interaction between law and practice in the UN organization, as well as the possibilities and limitations of multilateral institutions in general. Each chapter begins with a short introductory essay describing how the documents that ensue illustrate a set of legal, institutional, and political issues relevant to the practice of diplomacy and the development of public international law through the United Nations. Each chapter also includes questions to guide discussion of the primary materials, and a brief bibliography to facilitate further research on the subject.This second edition addresses the most challenging issues confronting the United Nations and the global community today, from terrorism to climate change, from poverty to nuclear proliferation. New features include hypothetical fact scenarios to test the understanding of concepts in each chapter. This edition contains expanded author commentary, while maintaining the focus on primary materials. Such materials enable a realistic presentation of the work of international diplomacy: the negotiation, interpretation and application of such texts are an important part of what actually takes place at the United Nations and other international organizations.This work is ideal for courses on the United Nations or International Organizations, taught in both law and international relations programs.

Virtually every important question of public policy today involves an international organization. From trade to intellectual property to health policy and beyond, governments interact with international organizations in almost everything they do. Increasingly, individual citizens are directly affected by the work of international organizations.Aimed at academics, students, practitioners, and lawyers, this book gives a comprehensive overview of the world of international organizations today. It emphasizes both the practical aspects of their organization and operation, and the conceptual issues that arise at the junctures between nation-states and international authority, and between law and politics. While the focus is on inter-governmental organizations, the book also encompasses non-governmental organizations and public policy networks.With essays by the leading scholars and practitioners, the book first considers the main international organizations and the kinds of problems they address. This includes chapters on the organizations that relate to trade, humanitarian aid, peace operations, and more, as well as chapters on the history of international organizations. The book then looks at the constituent parts and internal functioning of international organizations. This addresses the internal management of the organization, and includes chapters on the distribution of decision-making power within the organizations, the structure of their assemblies, the role of Secretaries-General and other heads, budgets and finance, and other elements of complex bureaucracies at the international level. This book is essential reading for scholars, practitioners, and students alike.

Keeping the Peace explores the new multidimensional role that the United Nations has played in peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding over the last few years. By examining the paradigm-setting cases of Cambodia and El Salvador, and drawing lessons from these UN 'success stories', the book seeks to point the way toward more effective ways for the international community to address conflict in the post-Cold War era. This book is especially timely given its focus on the heretofore amorphous middle ground between traditional peacekeeping and peace. It provides the first comparative, in-depth treatment of substantial UN activities in everything from the demobilization and reintegration of forces, the return of refugees, the monitoring of human rights, and the design and supervision of constitutional, judicial, and electoral reforms, to the observation and even organization and conduct of elections, and the coordination of support for economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of countries torn by war.

Keeping the Peace explores the new multidimensional role that the United Nations has played in peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding over the last few years. By examining the paradigm-setting cases of Cambodia and El Salvador, and drawing lessons from these UN 'success stories', the book seeks to point the way toward more effective ways for the international community to address conflict in the post-Cold War era. This book is especially timely given its focus on the heretofore amorphous middle ground between traditional peacekeeping and peace. It provides the first comparative, in-depth treatment of substantial UN activities in everything from the demobilization and reintegration of forces, the return of refugees, the monitoring of human rights, and the design and supervision of constitutional, judicial, and electoral reforms, to the observation and even organization and conduct of elections, and the coordination of support for economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of countries torn by war.

Providing a much-needed study on cybersecurity regime building, this comprehensive book is a detailed analysis of cybersecurity norm-making processes and country positions, through the lens of multi-stakeholder diplomacy. Multidisciplinary and multinational scholars and practitioners use insights drawn from high-level discussion groups to provide a rigorous analysis of how major cyber powers view multi-stakeholder diplomacy.Looking at how past cybersecurity initiatives and multi-stakeholder negotiations in other fields illuminate its dynamics, this book will help put states' approaches towards multi-stakeholder cyber diplomacy into perspective, and frame the role of private actors in cybersecurity regime building. Evaluating the most promising institutional arrangements and mechanisms for implementing cybersecurity, this book combines top-down analyses relevant to the design of international cybersecurity regimes with bottom-up case studies, tracing the approaches of important states towards multi-stakeholder participation in cyber diplomacy.With a wealth of policy-relevant findings, this book will be welcomed by practitioners and scholars of international law, international organization and international cybersecurity as well as multi-stakeholder governance and multilateral regimes. Policymakers and diplomats involved in international cybersecurity processes will also benefit from its cutting-edge comparative analysis of the approaches of key cyber powers.

US enthusiasm for peace operations’ has fluctuated markedly in the post-Cold War era. In the early 1990s, the first Bush Administration’s interest in a "new world order" and the Clinton Administration’s policy of "assertive multilateralism" opened the door to direct engagement in Somalia and support to UN operations in the former Yugoslavia. Failures in both places led to a loss of enthusiasm for UN peacekeeping (manifest most tragically in Rwanda), but not NATO operations, which took over from UNPROFOR in Bosnia and later deployed to Kosovo and Afghanistan. Concern about failed states in Africa prompted the US to seek ways of bolstering the capacity of African states and organizations. Meanwhile, the US has actively supported recent operations in Haiti and East Timor, and is taking the lead in pushing for a major new UN operation in Darfur. The post-9/11 environment, combined with difficulties faced in Iraq, has led to a significant policy shift in the Bush Administration, from initial disdain for peace operations, to new understanding of this important strategic instrument.This book was published as a special issue of International Peacekeeping.