23rd March 2012

Tragedy and International Relations
Toni Erskine and Richard Ned Lebow

Tragedy is an ancient plot line associated with hubris, value conflicts among actors and the propensity of our considered actions to have consequences very different from those we intend. First applied to international relations by Thucydides, the tragic vision of politics lies at the core of classical realism.

In this volume, noted International Relations scholars and political theorists draw on range of sources, from Renaissance and modern tragedies to their Greek progenitors, and explore the ways in which tragedy has been variously theorized by ancient Greek commentators, modern theorists, notably nineteenth century German philosophers, and postcolonial critics. In discussions that encompass but extend well beyond classical realism, these contributors ask if tragedy is a universal trope, how and whether it can help us to understand contemporary international relations, the extent to which sensitivity to tragedy has the potential to reduce its likelihood, and the degree to which the lens of tragedy can help us to refocus prevalent assumptions within the discipline of International Relations. These challenging questions are addressed in the context of topical issues that range from global poverty, humanitarian intervention and the so-called 'war on terror'.

 

Published 23rd March 2012

 

For more information on this book please visit the Palgrave website

22nd September 2011

The ECPR SGIR is searching for an institution to host the 8th Pan European Conference on International Relations

Timing:
September 2013

The location:
Previous conferences have been in places which have good international travel connections, which are attractive and in which there is a committed and well-connected local institution. Most previous conferences have been held on a University campus but this is not a requirement. What is necessary, since the Conference is self-funding, is a reasonable assurance of space accommodating up to 1100-1200.

Local organization:
This involves finding a suitable location, local hotels, receptions and sponsorship, high profile local speakers, touristic possibilities and the like. We are particularly interested to know of the extent to which the local organizers think they will be able to identify sponsors. The local organizers are members of the Conference Organizing Committee but they are not responsible for the major tasks of academic programme planning (Program Chairperson) or the registration process.

Checklist of items:
Town/Country:
Venue:
Date:
Travel:

• Accessibility
• Visa arrangements
• Currency

Accommodation:

• Hotel capacity for up to 1200
• Local transportation
  

Conference venue:

• 1 plenary room for +/- 500
• App. 30 meeting rooms for panels and roundtables
• Book exhibition space, next to or part of social area
• Internet access for participants
• Cafeteria
• Lunch & snacks
• Social area
  

Organizers:

• Some offices, phone, fax, email..
• Safe for additional fees, etc.
• Local mobile phones for the organizers, to be in touch on a permanent basis
• Local organizer + team + student gofers
  

Side Events:

• Plenary speaker(s)
• Receptions offered
• Suggestions for end-of-conference outings
• Travel agent
  

Facilities:

• Conference and local organizer website
• Printing of programme
• Venue facilities
• Some free hotel rooms??
• Airline sponsorships/concessions
• Other Sponsors
• Info on possible costs to the SGIR

Making application:
The SGIR Steering Committee meets on a half-yearly basis. The next meeting is scheduled for 4th November in Catania. The Committee would like to consider detailed applications then, for which reason proposals should be submitted prior to 21 October 2011. It is desirable but not a precondition that a representative of the host association/institution be present to explain the proposal and answer questions. Prior to that or immediately thereafter the SGIR chairman or a Steering Committee member will make a site visit. The final decision will be made at the above mentioned meeting in Catania. Please send applications to the SGIR chairperson, Knud Erik Jorgensen (kej@ps.au.dk).

29th June 2011

A Whole New World - Reinventing International Studies for the Post-Western World
Pierre P. Lizee

To fully understand the non-Western world and its growing impact on global politics, International Studies as a discipline has to change. The assumption that it speaks to universal realities has left the subject trapped within its current conventions and debates. Pierre P. Lizee argues that the nature of the state in the non-Western world, the nature of the market, and other such realities have to be studied in more detail in order to produce a better account of the way in which the non-Western world will influence global politics. Indeed, democratization, conflict resolution, development and international stability will all move forward within processes and agendas designed to a growing degree by non-Western actors.

 

Published 15th July 2011

 

For more information on this book please visit the Palgrave website

1st June 2011

International Studies
Pami Aalto, Vilho Harle and Sami Moisio

International studies is introduced in this book as a wide, plural and inherently interdisciplinary field of research. The authors take stock of the interdisciplinary origins of the study of international relations during the 1930-50s. At the same time they develop new interdisciplinary approaches by drawing upon other disciplines and fields of research to uncover the various aspects of the 'international' that include 'foreign', 'global', 'transnational' or 'interregional' and even 'inter-human' facets. The traditional focus on 'interstate politics' is widened and key concepts such as power and war are redefined. Several models to organize and make interdisciplinary research coherent are proposed and assessed, including examples of past interdisciplinary scholarship and programmatic methodologies. The authors specifically highlight the linkages between international relations and philosophy, peace research, history, geography, globalization studies, international political economy, political psychology, sociology and social theory, linguistics, strategic or war studies and anthropology.

 

Published 15th July 2011

 

For more information on this book please visit the Palgrave website

28th March 2011

Making EU Foreign Policy
Daniel C. Thomas

As the European Union seeks to become a major player in world affairs, sceptics question the EU's ability to overcome differences in the outlooks and policy preferences of its member states. How then, and under what conditions, can the EU agree on strong common foreign policies that rise above the lowest common denominator? This book provides a novel theoretical explanation and fourteen detailed case studies of how EU member states often reach agreement by pursuing their national interests in a manner which takes into account the values and commitments they have already articulated together. The case studies include diplomatic and security issues, enlargement, trade, development and environmental protection. The book concludes with four commentaries on the project's implications for future research on EU foreign policy. Contributors include noted scholars of EU governance, foreign policy and international relations from across Europe and the US.

 

Published 6th May 2011

 

For more information on this book please visit the Palgrave website

4th Jan 2011

EIRSS Summer School 2011 in Barcelona, Spain

International relations are fraught with ethical considerations. Traditional approaches to the study of International Relations, however, failed to acknowledge this reality and conceded ethics little importance. This situation has changed in the last two decades. Global contemporary transformations have led to an intense academic debate over the role and implications of ethical issues in international relations. Two contrasting views have epitomized this debate: cosmopolitanism and communitarianism.

 

The EIRSS 2011 provides a forum for doctoral students interested in analyzing the role of ethics in international relations from the perspective of the cosmopolitanism / communitarianism debate.

 

For more information click here.

22nd October 2010

On Rules, Politics and Knowledge - Friedrich Kratochwil, International Relations, and Domestic Affairs.
Oliver Kessler, Rodney Bruce Hall, Cecelia Lynch and Nicholas Onuf

Friedrich Kratochwil is a leading voice in constructivist International Relations. In this volume, an impressive array of established scholars reflect on the concerns that have animated his work for over four decades, including the ways in which normative phenomena, political choices and knowledge claims are linked in practice. Always sceptical of grand projects and easy generalizations, he has made a career of documenting complexity and ambiguity while making unexpected connections and following suggestive lines of inquiry. This book reflects the same disposition. For Kratochwil, there is nothing neat, deeply ordered or easily predicted about the world that we have constructed for ourselves, and so it is for the book's contributors. Organized in three parts - Thinking with Kratochwil, Arguing with Kratochwil and Building on Kratochwil - to reflect the dynamic nature and current status of scholarly debates in international politics, On Rules, Politics and Knowledge will figure in these debates for years to come.

 

For more information on this book please visit the Palgrave website

22nd October 2010

Theorising International Society - English School Methods
Cornelia Navari

In the process of developing the discipline of international relations, attention has turned to the 'social fact'. This includes the role that cultures play in questions of war and peace and the social structures that have consequences for diplomatic behaviour, such as American 'exceptionalism', or Central Europe's 'weak liberalism'. Interest in the 'social fact' has carried with it renewed interest in the English School, both as a body of theorizing an international society constituted by social practices and as a body of thought that emphasizes the role of ideas and values in diplomatic practices. The English School is particularly known for its attention to ethics and for bringing considerations of right and wrong to bear on questions of human rights, democracy and intervention.
The original English School thinkers were not overly-reflective about their methods, rather assuming they were transparent. This volume seeks to rectify this omission. Its contributors are the major English School theorists writing today, and they have outlined the methods appropriate to an English School understanding of international relations, their analytical referents and their assumptions about how knowledge of the 'social' is gained. They make it clear what is involved in 'an English School approach', specifically at the level of research method, and what such an approach can deliver in the contemporary understanding of international relations.

 

For more information on this book please visit the Palgrave website

4th October 2010

Our steering committee has now been elected.

Our steering committee has now been elected. Please view the new Steering Committee here

4th October 2010

Global Norms, American Sponsorship and the Emerging Patterns of World Politics
Simon Reich

How do traditional and emergent sources of power link with each other in the new millennium? When do they create broadly legitimated values? And what do these new connections imply for America's role in the world? Reich casts aside the conventional formulations that emphasize the alternative importance of material (hard) or social (soft) power, of different kinds of actors, or of theory and practice. Instead, he offers a novel and comprehensive formulation that illustrates the alternative ways in which soft and hard power are systematically connected, how NGOs and states relate in a globalizing world, how emergent transnational challenges have rendered old policy options obsolete, and the considers the implications for American choices - and limits - in the 21st Century. Invoking a rare breadth of empirical material, covering issues from anti-corruption to humanitarian intervention, cyber-security to human trafficking, Reich provides a grand vision of the reshaping of power, how actors interact, and the conditions under which truly global norms are created.

 

For more information on this book please visit the Palgrave website