John F. Stack – författare

The ongoing reconstruction of world politics following the collapse of Soviet and Eastern European variants of communism have seemingly unleashed the power of ethnicity with a vengeance. Stack, Hebron, and their contributors explore the concept of ethnicity in international relations, seeking to address this most destabilizing, yet ubiquitous dimension of the emerging new world order. As a central force in international politics, ethnicity and ethnonational movements raise two fundamental questions about the nature of power and politics in contemporary international relations. First, what is the relationship between ethnicity and conflict within, across, and among states? Second, what role does ethnicity play in exacerbating conflicts which result in the intervention by external forces, both state and nonstate, manifested by increasing levels of violence and spillover instability, as exemplified by the Middle East, the Asian Republics of the former Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia?This book is designed to provide scholars of international relations with a compelling approach to the study of ethnicity. The study of ethnic nationalism is a growing area of scholarly inquiry not fully appreciated. Thus, this collection is designed to fill a void in the literature and, as such, will be of interest to students, scholars, and policy makers involved with issues of ethnicity and world politics.

The editors and contributors to this study examine the future of domestic and foreign relations between Canada, Quebec, and their neighbors in the event of a yes vote on independence. They approach the possible emergence of an independent Quebec nation-state from the perspective of the study of world politics. As they suggest, this is particularly important because ethnic-based secessionist movements throughout the world now challenge our understanding of the supposed stability of the nation state within geographical regions and even the operation of states within global political and economic systems.They examine the implications of a sovereign Quebec with special reference to ethnic-based secession as a dimension of the emerging post cold war international system. In this context, the possible devolution of Canada is an event of enormous significance not only for North America, but also Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Given the evolving literature on minorities at risk, ethnicity, ethnonationalism, and ethnic conflict, the prospect of a sovereign Quebec and the devolution of Canada are possible events that may well define the study of world politics well into the 21st century. This book is an important addition for scholars, researchers, students, and concerned citizens interested in intranational relations and ethnicity and Canadian studies.

Ethnicity plays a vital role in contemporary world politics. This collection of essays documents the international dimensions of ethnic identity by examining the interaction between ethnicity and the actions of modern nation-states in a variety of global, regional, and urban settings throughout the world. The editor, John F. Stack, Jr., provocatively argues that the dynamics of ethnicity in the contemporary world are best examined from the perspective of primordial attachments--those givens of social existence based on family ties, race, custom, language, religion, and region. This perspective is disputed by a number of the contributors who see ethnicity as the result of instrumental forces--state building, socioeconomic class, modernization, political development, and the transformation of the global political economy.