International Relations in Asia, Africa and the Americas – serie

This book discusses the applicability of Western International Relations (IR) theories to Asia and Africa and the rise of non-Western IR theories (especially in Asia), with case studies focused on the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Sub-Saharan African regions. Theoretically grounded studies of Asia and Africa are still in high demand, as International Relations scholarship on and in those regions seems underdeveloped in this regard. This is the case both in the application of Western theories in research on Asia and Africa, but especially IR theory-building by scholars in both regions. The book is driven by the question, whether we need specific Asia and Africa-oriented IR theories to describe, explain and predict developments in regional international relations or can we apply or adapt the so-called Western IR theories.

The volume discusses the recent developments in selected countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Theoretical chapter presents the internal and external factors influencing the development and democratization processes. Based on these factors the authors analyze in depth the recent development in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Turkey and Yemen. The authors demonstrate that the recent development in these countries varied significantly, mostly due to the difference of the historical, political, economic, security or religious conditions in the relevant countries.

The Cold War in Europe and Asia has lastingly affected the postwar reconciliation processes: Korea and Germany remained divided into two countries, Japan evolved into the closest ally of its past enemy, and Poland, which was among the Allies of World War II, was left under the influence of the Soviet Union. In view of their complicated postwar history, these countries can serve as examples for comparison of the postwar reconciliation processes. This book addresses the case of Central Europe and East Asia – regions which suffered from war atrocities and still have to cope with their war experiences. The aim is to identify tools to implement a strategy of rapprochement between past enemies who need to find solutions for their coexistence in the contemporary world.

With 30 years having passed since Central Asia and the South Caucasus emerged on the international stage, a new approach to understanding its contemporary dynamics is required. This volume argues for a multidimensional analysis of international, regional, and domestic cooperation and conflicts in the region. The authors analyze foreign policies of great powers such as Russia, China, U.S., EU, Japan, and Iran toward this part of the world. The work looks at regional issues and regionalism, including the Eurasian Union and the Belt and Road Initiative. A series of chapters study domestic processes ranging from clan politics, identity construction, the media, to non-state actors. The publication applies theoretical pluralism and utilizes realism, liberalism, constructivism, and FPA.

Most social scientists are familiar with the concept of the Silk Road. In recent years, however, it is the New Silk Road that has been on the lips of many. This short guide is addressed to all those eager to learn more about this new road. The New Silk Road resembles the old road in that it represents an ensemble of relationships and connections among several distant places. The author depicts some of them and presents people, institutions and projects connected to the road. Moreover, the various meanings and values attributed to the new road by different people across the world are explored. The book seeks to reveal the implications and meanings the New Silk Road has for the world we inhabit and for its future.«Adam Nobis’s […] is a much-needed, relevant and interesting publication. It is relevant because it addresses processes unfolding before our eyes and impacting our real, socio-cultural world. It is interesting, for it discusses these processes in an original way and competently combines synthesis with analysis. It is much-needed as it offers the readers a wealth of detailed information about the developments it depicts.»Leszek Kopciuch, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin«This modestly-sized book is an outcome of the author’s painstakingly meticulous effort to put together scattered pieces into an imposing mosaic that is the New Silk Road. […] With Nobis’s guide in hand, the reader can feel at ease traversing, both physically and imaginatively, the paths that stretch between China and Europe.»Leszek Koczanowicz, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw

This book addresses new problems and challenges of development in the 21st century, trying to answer questions, how to turn nations that are underdeveloped and torn apart by conflict into good places to live and how to help them develop. Issues connected with globalization, political challenges, constitutional systems as a condition for development are addressed. Problems of entrepreneurship in developing regions, as well as transnational connections between countries, making them vulnerable to economic crises are also touched upon. Finally, issues connected with institutional design, clean energy, health service challenges, as well as gender issues are analyzed. All those issues refer to developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, as well as Central and Eastern Europe.

This book focuses on the problem of regionalism, the crucial phenomenon in international relations at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Regionalism is analyzed both in terms of regional economic and political integration, as well as regional competition and conflict. The book is divided into three parts, based on the functional and geographical criteria. The first part is devoted to the theoretical setting, including brief introduction to regionalism problems and classical theories of integration, as well as new approaches to regionalism, which are followed by the analysis of regions in the context of regional security complexes concept. The second part of the book focuses on Asian and African challenges to regionalism and the third, and final, part is devoted to the most developed subregional order, namely the European region.

This book analyzes current security challenges in Asia (understood in its broader Indo–Pacific sense) with the aim of capturing the major shifts in the balance of power involving regional actors. Through the lenses of IR theory, this book seeks to provide insights into the consequences of the transition of power from the United States to China. The growing power of China and its impact on both neighboring countries and the international system as a whole, as well as its reception by the United States, have been of key importance to the development of security and international studies. By presenting the case studies of regional security challenges from a multidimensional perspective, this book analyzes both the stages of the maturity of powers and their satisfaction within the existing system.

Canada trying to bring together Indigenous peoples, "two solitudes" of the French and the British, as well as a variety of poly-ethnic immigrants has mastered search for consensus and compromise as the best response to national, regional, political and ethnic tensions. This book examines how the evolution of various ideas, schemes, projects, proposals and objectives influenced the Canadian political and social present. It analyses how far Canada was able to realize its initial visions and to what extent it was forced to rework and reform them. It takes into account both the ideas which have actually been implemented and the ones which never progressed beyond the conceptual sphere, yet are important from historical perspective.

The subject of the study is the spontaneous city spreading process of Juba after the end of the civil war in South Sudan (2005). The book presents the complex dynamics of transformations within the new urban settings of post-war Juba. The viewpoint taken while describing these phenomena is the adaptation of an average migrant to a new urban environment. This was not an easy task. At that time the city was characterised by extremely harsh living conditions, harsh even for post-war South Sudan. Despite the difficulties, the city’s development was visible. The phenomenon of borderlineness – the closeness of the state’s borders – appeared to be helpful in this process. It influenced the effectiveness of human activities, it is an answer to the spontaneous city spreading processes – it brought danger, but most of all, infinite possibilities. The presented material comes from the author's ethnographic research conducted in Juba in 2007 and 2008.

Memories contribute to the construction of the image or interpretation of the past and the present. This book focuses on the topic of memory in the Middle and Far East societies by highlighting non-European cases of practicing collective and historical memory.The Far East cases include the memory of the Japanese occupation of Korea, issues of Japanization policies within the Taiwanese society, the role of museums in Chinese patriotism, the issue of contemporary Japanese nationalists, and public memory evaluation in India.The Middle Eastern contexts concentrate on the impact of the Arab Spring, historical memory in the politics of Muslim movements and interpreting aspects of heritage.

Security relations between Japan and its East Asia neighbors have been complicated for decades. Entering the third decade of the 21st century, Japan will have to face new security challenges posed by COVID-19 and manage its current relations with the United States, China and South Korea. Mitigating local and global security threats will be one of the most critical challenges for the future. This book focuses on internal and external factors that are influencing current Japanese security policy and analyses the security issues from numerous perspectives, including social issues and their effect on security policies, bilateral relations between Japan and its partners in Asia, and the significance of the U.S.-Japan Alliance.

As the center of gravity in international relations pivots to Asia-Pacific, the ASEAN region is emerging as both an important player on the global stage and an arena of international competition that includes a power struggle between the U.S. and China. With ASEAN’s competitiveness on the rise, however, its unity is hardly certain. In a changing world, economic and political protectionism gains a foothold. The book synthesizes our knowledge about ASEAN, with a specific emphasis on hot-button issues ranging from its domestic dynamics to external relations. It also reflects an evolution in ASEAN studies, which have largely shifted from a purely economic approach to understanding the region to a security-oriented one. Collectively, this book conveys an unambiguous and urgent message: ASEAN matters.

The book analyzes the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in cases concerningsurveillance, both domestic and foreign intelligence, focusing onhow judicial activism or judicial restraint has legitimized the almostuncontrolled surveillance of American citizens by government agencies.The purpose of the research is to examine the judiciary’s impacton the scope of government surveillance and, more broadly, on thestate of American democracy and the rule of law. By reviewing themost important SCOTUS opinions on surveillance and applying thefamous “legitimate end” approach from McCulloch v. Maryland, theauthor determines which values have prevailed in the judicial interpretationof the Constitution: security or freedom. Furthermore, the bookevaluates the legal and political arguments used by the Court to justifybroad surveillance measures, including the national security paradigmand secrecy, which have strengthened the executive branch’s positionin the U.S. governmental system.

This book presents a broad international and interdisciplinary perspective on the role of religion in American politics (both domestic and international). It is a result of cooperation between Jagiellonian University scholars and an international group of academics, including renowned American specialists, who study the interactions between religion and American politics. Coming not only from the USA, but also from Israel, Spain, Hungary, Poland, and the Palestinian territories, they provide a unique international perspective on how the USA deals with issues on the intersection of religion and politics. The book covers a variety of topics, including civil religion, legal issues, religious liberty, the public role of Black churches, religious influences on U.S. politics and on public attitudes toward a number of domestic and international policy issues.

The presidency of Tsai Ing-wen coincided with momentous shifts in Taiwan's domestic and international affairs. On the back of a growing popular mandate, President Tsai sought to assert the autonomy and independence of Taiwan. These moves were mirrored by an increasing nationalization under the grip of Xi Jinping who asserted China’s right to “unify” the island by force if necessary. These dynamics have propelled Taiwan to the limelight of international attention. This book offers a timely, detailed, and much needed analysis of the multitude of internal and external factors that have impacted the domestic and international affairs of Taiwan. The thoughtful and convincing analyses would be appreciated by policy-makers, think-tankers, and scholars alike.Professor Emilian Kavalski

This book examines US-Swiss relations in the context of Swiss banking secrecy and Holocaust related claims from World War II until the end of the 1990s. During World War II, Switzerland had been purchasing Reichsbank’s gold and safeguarded the assets of the victims of Nazi Germany. This deeply impacted US-Swiss relations in the 1990s, and fueled a major conflict over dormant accounts and heirless assets of Holocaust victims. The US pressured Switzerland for Holocaust restitution using economic sanctions and a negative PR campaign. This culminated in a billion-dollar settlement, a reevaluation of wartime history by the Swiss, and a blow to Switzerland’s international image. This book analyzes US policy towards Switzerland as a case of projection of US economic, as opposed to military power.

The book is a collection of studies on the war in Ukraine. The considerations focus on different contexts of the first phase of the armed conflict. The authors try to answer questions about the motives and results of Russian disinformation and blaming Ukraine, the US and NATO for the invasion, as well as of the position of third countries towards the Russian aggression. One of the issues addressed is sexual violence in wartime and the image of women in armed conflict. The authors also analyze the aid provided by certain nations and Ukrainian national minorities in selected countries. Some chapters also examined public opinions on various war-related issues. Such a broad approach provides multidimensional view of the war while complementing earlier images of the conflict in Ukraine.

In Africa, the emergence of the first unrecognised/de facto states isintricately linked to colonial legacy and subsequent decolonisation.This legacy maintained the newly formed African states within theartificial boundaries established on the continent by European colonisers. Paradoxically, both currently existing unrecognised states on theAfrican continent, Western Sahara and Somaliland, aspire to functionas independent entities within these colonial boundaries.This volume delves into the issue of de facto states in Africa and theirimpact on international relations on the continent. The book explorestheoretical and legal issues, such as international subjectivity, as wellas the origins of de facto statehood in Africa. It offers an in-depthanalysis of historical and contemporary examples of de facto stateson the continent.The authors conduct a thorough examination of the Western Saharaand Somaliland cases, highlighting their significance for internationalrelations regionally and continentally. Additionally, they draw comparisons with de facto state cases in other parts of the world, such asTaiwan (Republic of China) or West Papua.

China’s new domestic reality marks a departure from the previous four decades of reform and transformation. Deng Xiaoping’s formula of “hiding your strength and biding your time” has been replaced with assertiveness and displays of power. In line with Chinese tradition, all major aims, visions, proposals, and decisions are once again statedefinedand state-focused. The personal rule of Xi Jinping, often referred to as the “Chairman of Everything,” dominates, creating a “Party of One.” At the same time, personal connections—China’s famous guanxi—have regained importance in institutions. This study, written by a former diplomat in Asia and a seasoned Polish sinologist and political scientist, focuses on three major issues: the current political system and governance in the PRC, so-called Xi-nomics, and China’s new global role following the pandemic andthe Russian aggression in Ukraine.

This book provides an extensive analysis of the narratives showcased in history museums related to victimhood nationalism in Poland and South Korea. As victimhood nationalism in these countries is often stimulated by certain memory exhibitions with historical context, the author focuses on exploring how museums, through their memory exhibitions of cultural memory, trigger nationalism and stimulate a sense of victimhood in Poland and Korea. This book utilizes Cultural Studies' interdisciplinary tools, combining textual and contextual analysis, while also providing historical background to enhance the reader's understanding. Based on this analysis, the author introduces the concept of a memory factory, emphasizing the role of museums not only as spaces for displaying chronological history but as factories that generate cultural memories in large quantities. Through this, the author claims that victimhood nationalism is a consequence but also an inheritance of cultural memory.