bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Race, Vigilant Coping Strategy, and Hypertension in an Integrated Community
Authors: Hines Anika L , Pollack Craig E , LaVeist Thomas A , Thorpe Roland J
Published: September 2017

BACKGROUND

Vigilant coping refers to individuals who, potentially as a result of experiencing discrimination in the past, proactively prepare for the possibility that they will be discriminated against or mistreated because of their race. The extent to which vigilant coping is linked with hypertension, a highly prevalent condition with well-documented racial/ethnic disparities, remains largely unknown.

METHODS

We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities (EHDIC) study—Southwest Baltimore (n = 715). We used a series of multivariate logistic regression models to evaluate vigilance as a potential mediator or moderator of the association between race, discrimination, and hypertension within the context of a racially integrated community.

RESULTS

There was no difference in prevalence of hypertension between African-Americans and Whites in this sample (66.8 vs. 66.2; P = 0.86). A higher proportion of African-Americans reported discrimination (41.1 vs. 22.9; P < 0.0001) and vigilance (67.3 vs. 46.9; P < 0.0001) compared to Whites; however, neither measure was associated with hypertension. In stratified analyses, bothersome discrimination alongside vigilant coping was associated with higher odds of hypertension among African-Americans and lower odds among Whites.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, prevalence of hypertension was high and there were no racial differences in this racially integrated community. Discrimination, vigilance, and hypertension were differently associated among African-Americans and Whites. Studying lived experiences in integrated communities may illuminate how structural inequalities impact the health of African-Americans more broadly. Further, raising awareness of social factors as they relate to hypertension may help to inform clinical management of low-income patients.
LncRNA TUG1 sponges miR-204-5p to promote osteoblast differentiation through upregulating Runx2 in aortic valve calcification
Authors: Yu Cong , Li Lifu , Xie Fei , Guo Shichao , Liu Fayuan , Dong Nianguo , Wang Yongjun
Published: September 2017

Aims

Emerging evidence indicates that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a vital role in cardiovascular physiology and pathology. Although the lncRNA TUG1 is implicated in atherosclerosis, its function in calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) remains unknown.

Methods and results

In this study, we found that TUG1 was highly expressed in human aortic valves and primary valve interstitial cells (VICs). Moreover, TUG1 knockdown induced inhibition of osteoblast differentiation in CAVD both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, silencing of TUG1 increased the expression of miR-204-5p and subsequently inhibited Runx2 expression at the post-transcriptional level. Importantly, TUG1 directly interacted with miR-204-5p and downregulation of miR-204-5p efficiently reversed the suppression of Runx2 induced by TUG1 short hairpin RNA (shRNA). Thus, TUG1 positively regulated the expression of Runx2, through sponging miR-204-5p, and promoted osteogenic differentiation in CAVD.

Conclusion

All together, the evidence generated by our study elucidates the role of lncRNA TUG1 as a miRNA sponge in CAVD, and sheds new light on lncRNA-directed diagnostics and therapeutics in CAVD.
Genome assembly and transcriptome resource for river buffalo, Bubalus bubalis (2n = 50)
Authors: Williams John L , Iamartino Daniela , Pruitt Kim D , Sonstegard Tad , Smith Timothy P L , Low Wai Yee , Biagini Tommaso , Bomba Lorenzo , Capomaccio Stefano , Castiglioni Bianca , Coletta Angelo , Corrado Federica , Ferré Fabrizio , Iannuzzi Leopoldo , Lawley Cynthia , Macciotta Nicolò , McClure Matthew , Mancini Giordano , Matassino Donato , Mazza Raffaele , Milanesi Marco , Moioli Bianca , Morandi Nicola , Ramunno Luigi , Peretti Vincenzo , Pilla Fabio , Ramelli Paola , Schroeder Steven , Strozzi Francesco , Thibaud-Nissen Francoise , Zicarelli Luigi , Ajmone-Marsan Paolo , Valentini Alessio , Chillemi Giovanni , Zimin Aleksey
Published: September 2017

Water buffalo is a globally important species for agriculture and local economies. A de novo assembled, well-annotated reference sequence for the water buffalo is an important prerequisite for studying the biology of this species, and is necessary to manage genetic diversity and to use modern breeding and genomic selection techniques. However, no such genome assembly has been previously reported. There are 2 species of domestic water buffalo, the river (2n = 50) and the swamp (2n = 48) buffalo. Here we describe a draft quality reference sequence for the river buffalo created from Illumina GA and Roche 454 short read sequences using the MaSuRCA assembler. The assembled sequence is 2.83 Gb, consisting of 366 983 scaffolds with a scaffold N50 of 1.41 Mb and contig N50 of 21 398 bp. Annotation of the genome was supported by transcriptome data from 30 tissues and identified 21 711 predicted protein coding genes. Searches for complete mammalian BUSCO gene groups found 98.6% of curated single copy orthologs present among predicted genes, which suggests a high level of completeness of the genome. The annotated sequence is available from NCBI at accession GCA_000471725.1.
3. Objectivity and Values
Authors: Halperin Sandra , Heath Oliver
Published: September 2017

This chapter focuses on a key debate in the philosophy of social science: whether it is possible to separate facts and values in social science research. It first considers normative and empirical theory in political research before discussing the ways in which the values of the researcher influence the research process. It then examines Thomas Kuhn’s arguments concerning paradigms and how they change through scientific ‘revolutions’, along with their implications for the possibility of value-free social inquiry. It looks at an example of how the notion of ‘paradigm’ has been applied to a specific area of inquiry within politics: the study of development. It also compares Kuhn’s paradigms with Imre Lakatos’ concept of ‘scientific research programmes’.
7. What is Data?
Authors: Halperin Sandra , Heath Oliver
Published: September 2017

This chapter considers the main types of data used in Politics and International Relations (IR), as well as the main criteria by which to judge whether the data collected is good or not. It first describes the steps involved in the process of thinking about what data or evidence is relevant to answering a research question before discussing the importance of addressing issues of validity and reliability in research. Some of these issues are illustrated by referring to recent attempts to measure corruption, a major topic of interest in Politics and IR. The chapter also examines the issue of case selection as well as the collection of qualitative and quantitative data using methods such as interviewing and observation. Finally, it analyses the so-called ‘big data’ revolution in data collection and analysis and provides a data quality checklist.
8. Experimental Research
Authors: Halperin Sandra , Heath Oliver
Published: September 2017

This chapter explores the principles of experimental research design as well as the issues and problems associated with different aspects of the approach. In particular, it considers the issue of internal and external validity, the common obstacles associated with experimental research, and what can be done to try and avoid or minimize them. The chapter first describes the five steps involved in the classic version of the experimental design before discussing three types of experimental design: laboratory experiments, field experiments, and natural experiments. It also examines the ethical issues that arise from experimental research and concludes by highlighting some of the advantages of experimental research.
10. Historical Research
Authors: Halperin Sandra , Heath Oliver
Published: September 2017

This chapter focuses on the distinctions between historical research and social scientific research, and how these are being challenged by scholars in pursuit of a genuinely ‘historical social science’. It begins with a discussion of historical approaches in Politics and International Relations, including historical events research, historical process research, and cross-sectional comparative research. It then examines three approaches for addressing temporality as the sequential active unfolding of social action and events: historical institutionalism, process tracing, and event structure analysis. It also explains how to locate essential historical information and evaluate various types of sources, and what special considerations need to be made in using documents, archival sources, and historical writing as data in historical research.
13. Ethnography and Participant Observation
Authors: Halperin Sandra , Heath Oliver
Published: September 2017

This chapter discusses the principles of ethnography and participant observation: what they are, how (if) they became standardized as a research method, what form of evidence they constitute, and what place they occupy in the study of Politics. Participant observation has emerged as a popular research tool across the social sciences. In particular, political ethnographies are now widely carried out in a wide variety of contexts, from the study of political institutions and organizations to the investigation of social movements and informal networks, such as terrorist groups and drugs cartels. Political ethnography is also becoming a research method of choice in the field of International Relations. The chapter examines the strengths of ethnographic fieldwork, focusing on issues relating to sampling, access, key informants, and collecting observational data. It also addresses the weaknesses of ethnography, especially issues of subjectivity, reliability, and generalizability.
1. Politics and the State
Authors: Garner Robert
Published: September 2017

This chapter explains why the state and sovereignty are relevant to the study of politics. It first provides an empirical typology of the state, ranging from the minimalist night-watchman state, approximated to by nineteenth-century capitalist regimes at one end of the spectrum, to the totalitarian state of the twentieth century at the other. It then examines the distribution of power in the state by focusing on three major theories of the state: pluralism, elitism, Marxism, and the New Right theory. It also considers different views about what the role of the state ought to be, from the minimalist state recommended by adherents of classical liberalism, to the pursuit of distinctive social objectives as recommended, in particular, by proponents of communitarianism. Finally, it discusses empirical and normative challenges to the state and asks whether the state's days are numbered.
3. Democracy and Political Obligation
Authors: Garner Robert
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the claim that democracy is the ideal form of political obligation. It first traces the historical evolution of the term ‘democracy’ before discussing the debate between advocates of the protective theory and the participatory theory of democracy, asking whether it is possible to reconcile elitism with democracy and whether participatory democracy is politically realistic. It then describes the new directions that democratic theory has taken in recent years, focusing on four theories: associative democracy, cosmopolitan democracy, deliberative democracy, and ecological democracy. It also explains why democracy is viewed as the major grounding for political obligation, with emphasis on the problem of majority rule and what to do with the minority consequences of majoritarianism.
6. Challenges to the Dominant Ideologies
Authors: Garner Robert
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines a range of contemporary ideologies which challenge the traditional ones. Contemporary ideologies differ from traditional ideologies in a number of ways. First, they are less optimistic about the ability of ideology to construct an overarching explanation of the world. Second, they respect difference and variety, a product of social and economic change that has eroded the ‘Fordist’ economy, gave rise to a number of powerful identity groups based on gender, culture, and ethnicity, and raised question marks over the environmental sustainability of current industrial practices. The chapter starts with a discussion of Francis Fukuyama's ‘end of history’ thesis that declares the triumph of liberalism. It then considers a number of contemporary ideologies such as postmodernism, feminism, environmentalism, multiculturalism, and religious fundamentalism. It argues that these ideologies represent a challenge to the state.
12. Civil Society, Interest Groups, and the Media
Authors: Ferdinand Peter
Published: September 2017

This chapter focuses on the concept of civil society, along with interest groups and the media. It first provides a background on the evolution of civil society and interest groups before discussing corporatism. In particular, it examines the ways in which civil society responds to state actors and tries to manoeuvre them into cooperation. This is politics from below. The chapter proceeds by considering the notion of ‘infrapolitics’ and the emergence of a school of ‘subaltern’ studies. It also explores the role of the media in political life and the impact of new communication technologies such as the Internet and mobile phones on politics. Finally, it evaluates some of the challenges presented by new media to civil society.
17. Security and Insecurity
Authors: Lawson Stephanie
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines traditional concepts of security and insecurity in the realm of international politics. It first considers Thomas Hobbes's account of the state of nature and the emergence of the power politics approach to security as worked out by Hans Morgenthau and his successors. It then discusses the evolution of security thinking through to the end of the Cold War, ideas about collective security as embodied in the United Nations and the nature of security cooperation in Europe through NATO. It also explores some pressing security challenges in the post-Cold War period and the broadening of the security agenda to encompass more recent concerns ranging from environmental security to energy security and the notions of ‘human security’ and ‘responsibility to protect’. Finally, it analyses the ‘global war on terror’ and especially how the 9/11 attacks affected the discourse on security and insecurity.
18. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy
Authors: Lawson Stephanie
Published: September 2017

This chapter discusses diplomacy and the conduct of foreign policy, both of which are fundamental to relations between political communities worldwide. It first considers diplomacy and its related concept, statecraft, in global history, focusing on some important concepts such as raison d'état (reason of state) and machtpolitik (power politics). It then examines diplomatic practice in contemporary global politics, with particular emphasis on track-two diplomacy and third-party mediation, along with developments in diplomacy during the Cold War. It also looks at public diplomacy, which may be understood as an instrument of ‘soft power’ in contrast with the methods of power politics. It concludes with an overview of the European Union's common foreign and security policy.
19. International Organizations in Global Politics
Authors: Lawson Stephanie
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the nature of international organizations and their role in global politics. It first explains what an international organization is before discussing the rise of international organizations from a historical perspective, focusing on developments from the nineteenth century onwards. It then considers the major intergovernmental institutions that emerged in the twentieth century and which have made significant contributions in shaping the global order, including the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations. It also looks at non-governmental organizations and concludes with an analysis of ideas about social movements and global civil society, along with their relationship to the contemporary world of international organizations.
Conclusion: Towards a Globalizing, Post-Western-Dominated World
Authors: Ferdinand Peter
Published: September 2017

This chapter summarizes the text's various arguments. It first considers the relationships between the study of political philosophy, political institutions, and international relations and suggests that the study of politics cannot be divorced from the study of other social sciences such as economics, sociology, psychology, philosophy, law, and history. It also contends that the study of politics should be seen as a genuinely international and comparative enterprise and explains how trends in globalization have further eroded the distinctions between domestic and international politics and between the domestic politics of individual nation-states. Finally, it discusses the rise of the so-called ‘new medievalism’, a scenario in which the world is moving towards greater anarchy; signs that global power is shifting from the West to the East; and developments showing that domestic politics and international relations are mutating.
2. IR as an Academic Subject
Authors: Jackson Robert , Sørensen Georg
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines how thinking about international relations (IR) has evolved since IR became an academic subject around the time of the First World War. The focus is on four established IR traditions: realism, liberalism, International Society, and International Political Economy (IPE). The chapter first considers three major debates that have arisen since IR became an academic subject at the end of the First World War: the first was between utopian liberalism and realism; the second between traditional approaches and behaviouralism; the third between neorealism/neoliberalism and neo-Marxism. There is an emerging fourth debate, that between established traditions and post-positivist alternatives. The chapter concludes with an analysis of alternative approaches that challenge the established traditions of IR.
4. Liberalism
Authors: Jackson Robert , Sørensen Georg
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the liberal tradition in international relations (IR). It first considers the basic liberal assumptions, including a positive view of human nature and the belief that IR can be cooperative rather than conflictual. In their conceptions of international cooperation, liberal theorists emphasize different features of world politics. The chapter explores the ideas associated with four strands of liberal thought, namely: sociological liberalism, interdependence liberalism, institutional liberalism, and republican liberalism. It also discusses the debate between proponents of liberalism and neorealism, the liberal view of world order, and the prospects for the liberal tradition as a research programme in IR.
5. International Society
Authors: Jackson Robert , Sørensen Georg
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the International Society tradition of international relations (IR). International Society, also known as the ‘English School’, is an approach to world politics that places emphasis on international history, ideas, structures, institutions, and values. After providing an overview of International Society's basic assumptions and claims, the chapter considers the three traditions associated with the leading ideas of the most outstanding classical theorists of IR such as Niccolò Machiavelli and Immanuel Kant: realism, rationalism, and revolutionism. It then explores International Society's views regarding order and justice, empire and world society, statecraft and responsibility, and humanitarian responsibility and war. It also discusses several major criticisms against the International Society approach to IR and concludes with an overview of the current research agenda of International Society.
6. International Political Economy: Classical Theories
Authors: Jackson Robert , Sørensen Georg
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the three most important classical theories within the field of International Political Economy (IPE): mercantilism, economic liberalism, and neo-Marxism. It also considers the relationship between politics and economics, and between states and markets in world affairs, that IR has to be able to grasp. It suggests that IPE is about wealth and poverty, about who gets what in the international economic and political system. The outlook of mercantilism has much in common with realism, while economic liberalism is an addition to liberalism. Mercantilism and economic liberalism thus represent views on IPE that are basically realist and liberal. The chapter concludes with discusses the original theoretical position of Marxism.
7. International Political Economy: Contemporary Debates
Authors: Jackson Robert , Sørensen Georg
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines three important debates in International Political Economy (IPE). The first debate concerns power and the relationship between politics and economics, and more specifically whether politics is in charge of economics or whether it is the other way around. The second debate deals with development and underdevelopment in developing countries. The third debate is about the nature and extent of economic globalization, and currently takes places in a context of increasing inequality between and inside countries. This debate is also informed by the serious financial crisis of 2008 and has raised questions regarding the viability of the current model of capitalism in the United States and Western Europe.
8. Social Constructivism
Authors: Jackson Robert , Sørensen Georg
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the social constructivist theory of International Political Economy (IPE). It first discusses the rise of social constructivism and why it has established itself as an important approach in IR. It then considers constructivism as social theory, and more specifically as both a meta-theory about the nature of the social world and a substantial theory of IR. Several examples of constructivist IR theory are presented, followed by reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of the constructivist approach. The chapter proceeds by exploring constructivist theories of international relations, focusing on cultures of anarchy, norms of International Society, the power of international organizations, a constructivist approach to European cooperation, and domestic formation of identity and norms. The chapter concludes with an analysis of some of the major criticisms of constructivism and an overview of the constructivist research programme.
10. Foreign Policy
Authors: Jackson Robert , Sørensen Georg
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines theories and approaches involved in foreign policy analysis. Foreign policy analysis is concerned with the study of the management of external relations and activities of nation-states, as distinguished from their domestic policies. The chapter first explains the concept of foreign policy before discussing various approaches to foreign policy analysis. It then evaluates the arguments of major theories by using a ‘level-of-analysis’ approach that addresses the international system level, the nation-state level, and the level of the individual decision maker. It also presents a case-study on the Gulf War to illustrate how insights from various approaches to foreign policy analysis can be brought together. A note on foreign policy experts and ‘think tanks’ is included to highlight the extent of research on the subject which extends well beyond universities.
1. International Relations and Social Science
Authors: Kurki Milja , Wight Colin
Published: September 2017

This chapter focuses on the major debates within International Relations theory with regard to the philosophy of social sciences. The philosophy of social science has played a key role in the formation, development, and practice of IR as an academic discipline. Issues concerning the philosophy of social science are frequently described as meta-theoretical debates. Meta-theory primarily deals with the underlying assumptions of all theory and attempts to understand the consequences of such assumptions on the act of theorizing and the practice of empirical research. The chapter first provides an historical overview of the philosophy of social science in IR before discussing both the implicit and explicit roles played by meta-theoretical assumptions in IR. It then considers the contemporary disciplinary debates surrounding the philosophy of social science and concludes by analysing how theoretical approaches to the study of world politics have been shaped by meta-theoretical ideas.
5. Neoliberalism
Authors: Sterling-Folker Jennifer
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the neoliberalist argument that international institutions promote international cooperation. While neoliberalism acknowledges that cooperation can be difficult to achieve in anarchic conditions, it insists that institutions allow states to overcome a variety of collective action impediments. The central concern of neoliberal analysis is how institutions do so, and how they might be redesigned to more efficiently obtain cooperative outcomes. This chapter considers three questions that are relevant for understanding neoliberal contributions: How did neoliberalism emerge? What are the barriers to international cooperation? How does neoliberalism study international institutions. The chapter uses the World Trade Organization as a case study to illustrate the importance of institutional design for international free trade cooperation. Along the way, various concepts such as interdependence, hegemonic stability, hegemon, bargaining, defection, compliance, autonomy, and principal–agent theory are discussed, along with the game known as Prisoner's Dilemma.
6. The English School
Authors: Dunne Tim
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the main assumptions of the English school, the principal alternative to mainstream North American theorizations of International Relations. It first provides an overview of what the English school is and how it emerged before discussing its methodology as well as its master-concept of international society. It then considers three concepts that are the primary theoretical contribution of the English school: the social order established by states and embodied in the activities of practitioners must be understood alongside the dynamics of the international system and world society. The chapter proceeds by exploring the English school's position on issue of human rights and its implications for justice in international relations.
11. Poststructuralism
Authors: Campbell David , Bleiker Roland
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines how and why poststructuralism engaged International Relations (IR) from the 1980s to today. It begins by analysing the interdisciplinary context of social and political theory from which poststructuralism emerged, along with the misconceptions evident in the reception of the poststructuralist approach among mainstream theorists. It then considers what the critical attitude of poststructuralism means for social and political inquiry and draws on the work of Michel Foucault to highlight the importance of discourse, identity, subjectivity, and power to the poststructuralist approach. It also discusses the methodological features employed by poststructuralists in their readings of, and interventions in, international politics. The chapter concludes with a case study of images of famines and other kinds of humanitarian crisis that illustrates the poststructural approach.
12. Postcolonialism
Authors: Biswas Shampa
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines postcolonial approaches to International Relations (IR) and their foregrounding of the history and politics of colonialism in the making of the modern world. It first considers the concerns, issues, and preoccupations highlighted by postcolonial theory, along with some of the central debates that have shaped its intellectual terrain, and the normative and political commitments that distinguish it from other related fields such as Marxism and poststructuralism. It then discusses the relevance of postcolonialism to the study of international relations and proposes three different ways of engaging with the insights of postcolonial theory within IR that open up new questions, alternative methodologies, and a range of possibilities for narrating a postcolonial IR. Finally, it analyses international concerns about Iran's nuclear weapons programme from a postcolonial perspective.
14. Green Theory
Authors: Eckersley Robyn
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines how environmental concerns have influenced International Relations theory. It first provides a brief overview of the ecological crisis and the emergence of green theorizing in the social sciences and humanities in general, along with the status and impact of environmental issues and green thinking in IR theory. It then investigates green theory's transnational turn and how it has become more global, while critical IR theory has become increasingly green. It also considers the different ways in which environmental issues have influenced the evolution of traditional IR theory. It concludes with a case study of climate change to illustrate the diversity of theoretical approaches, including the distinctiveness of green theories. The chapter shows that a preoccupation with environmental justice is what unites the international political economy and normative wings of green IR theory.
2. Realism
Authors: Glaser Charles L.
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines realism as a dominant explanation of why and how states have sought security. It first considers the basic features of realist theory, including its emphasis on the implications of international anarchy and the importance of power, before discussing major divisions within the realist family, along with their implications for states’ security policies and war. The most fundamental division is between structural realism and motivational realism. The chapter proceeds by looking at the debate between Kenneth Waltz’s structural realism, offensive realism, and defensive realism. In contrast to Waltz and offensive realism, defensive realism argues that the risks of competition can make cooperation a state’s best strategy. The chapter illustrates how these different arguments result in divergent predictions for how China’s continuing economic growth is likely to influence international security. It suggests that war is more likely when the offence–defence balance favours offence.
3. Liberalism
Authors: Morgan Patrick
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the liberalist approach to the theory and practice of international politics. It begins with an overview of liberalism’s main characteristics, including its description of international politics as evolving, becoming more imbued with interdependence, cooperation, peace, and security. It then considers the major liberalist schools of thought, namely: commercial or economic liberalism, human rights liberalism, international organization or institutions liberalism, and democratic liberalism. After explaining liberalism’s position on human rights and democracy, the chapter explores democratic peace theory. It concludes with a discussion of the Arab Spring as an example of recent developments that have put the liberalist perspective under great strain.
5. Peace Studies
Authors: Rogers Paul
Published: September 2017

This chapter discusses the origins and development of the field of peace studies after World War II, initially in relation to the East–West confrontation and the nuclear arms race. It examines how peace studies responded to the issues of socio-economic disparities and environmental constraints, such as climate change and poverty, that emerged in the 1970s. It also considers the evolution of peace studies as an interdisciplinary and problem-oriented field of study, often in the midst of controversy. In particular, it looks at a number of developments within peace studies, including a major interest in conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and peacekeeping. Finally, the chapter analyses the state of peace studies now and how it is relevant to the new security challenges facing the world.
11. Gender and Security
Authors: Kennedy Caroline , Dingli Sophia
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the relationship between gender and security, distinguishing between ‘practical’ and ‘discursive’ aspects of such relationship. Practical aspects are exemplified by the concrete role of women in militaries, or as victims, bystanders, or helpers of military conflict or of militarization in general. Discursive aspects are exemplified by the traditional connections made between militarism and masculinity and between nurturing, peace, and femininity. The chapter first explains what gender means and why issues of gender are relevant to understanding security. It shows how understanding and placing notions of gender at the centre of any debate on security can help us comprehend the way men and women relate to insecurity, violence, and war. Theorists have often discussed gender and security by referring to war and peace, but the chapter stresses the need to pay attention to the post-conflict environment.
13. Military Security
Authors: Sheehan Michael
Published: September 2017

This chapter discusses the continuing importance of military security, noting how International Relations has historically seen security almost entirely in terms of the military dimension. It first examines the impact of the broadening of the concept of security on approaches to the study of its military dimension before considering the key aspects of the traditional approach to military security and some of the most common ways in which states have sought to acquire it historically, such as war, alliances, and nuclear deterrence. The chapter then explores some of the difficulties in acquiring military security and how its pursuit can sometimes reduce, rather than increase, security. In particular, it analyses arms control as a means of achieving military security. Finally, it shows that military security remains an important field to study, even within a significantly broadened understanding of security as a multifaceted concept.
14. Regime Security
Authors: Jackson Richard
Published: September 2017

This chapter focuses on regime security, the condition where governing elites are secure from violent challenges to their rule, and the unique security dilemma facing many developing countries. It first considers the security threats facing states with weak institutional and coercive capacity and lack of national cohesion — the so-called weak states — before describing the kinds of security strategies that weak-state elites often adopt to try and manage their predicament. In particular, it examines the weak states’ ‘insecurity dilemma’, a security environment in which the primary threats to security originate from internal rather than external sources. The chapter proceeds with an analysis of several competing theoretical explanations for how the weak state predicament arose and why it persists. It concludes with an assessment of international attempts to build security in weak states, along with the long-term prospects of transforming weak states into strong states.
15. Societal Security
Authors: Roe Paul
Published: September 2017

This chapter focuses on the concept of societal security. It first considers how society came to be conceived as a referent object of security in its own right before discussing the Copenhagen School’s understanding of both society and societal identity. It then examines threats to societal security, which can be categorised into migration, horizontal competition, and vertical competition, by giving examples relating to immigration and the rise of the political right, genocide, ‘culturecide’, and the Yugoslav wars. The chapter also describes a number of those means that can prevent or hinder the reproduction of collective identity, and how societies may react to such perceived threats. Furthermore, it introduces the notion of a societal security dilemma to illustrate how societal security dynamics can give rise to violent conflict. Finally, it evaluates some of the main critiques of the concept of societal security as an analytical tool.
17. Economic Security
Authors: Shiffman Gary M
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the concept of economic security as a framework for analysing and countering organized violence. It first provides a brief historical overview of the economic science of security and applies economic theory to Security Studies. Through various case studies, this approach allows the reader to understand how states leverage traditional economic tools to influence, alter, and deter another actor’s behaviour. The chapter considers three categories of organized violence: warfare, crime, and insurgency. It shows that the various decision makers involved in combating organized violence have different goals and face different constraints. It also describes five vectors of economic incentives: goals, resource constraints, institutional constraints, information, and time. Finally, it discusses four economic tools of security policy: sanctions, trade, finance, and aid.
19. Coercive Diplomacy:
Authors: Jakobsen Peter Viggo
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines how coercive diplomacy has emerged as a strategy for states in dealing with the opponent without resorting to full-scale war. Coercive diplomacy involves the use of military threats and/or limited force (sticks) coupled with inducements and assurances (carrots) in order to influence the opponent to do something it would prefer not to. This chapter first explains what coercive diplomacy is and considers its requirements for success. It then shows how states have employed coercive diplomacy to manage crises and conflicts during the three strategic eras that followed the end of the Cold War. It also discusses the importance of the strategic context in shaping the use of coercive diplomacy by presenting two case studies, one relating to the United States’s conflict with Libya due to the latter’s weapons of mass destruction, and the other relating to Russia’s military involvement in Ukraine.
23. Energy Security
Authors: Raphael Sam , Stokes Doug
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines growing concerns over global energy security due to rising demand for fossil fuels by industrialized economies coupled with increasing uncertainties over future energy reserves. It considers the implications of increasing energy insecurity amongst the world’s major powers for international security by focusing on the politics of oil. After providing an overview of the problem of energy security, the chapter discusses the connection between energy security and International Relations theories such as liberalism, realism, and historical materialism. It then explores the link between energy security and human insecurity, and how the search for energy security by states in the global North affects the human security of communities in the oil-rich global South. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the role played by the United States in underpinning global energy security in the post-war era, and the impact that this has had for oil-rich regions.
24. The Weapons Trade
Authors: Grillot Suzette R.
Published: September 2017

This chapter discusses the international weapons trade. It first provides a historical background on the global arms trade and highlights the ways in which the trade in defence and military equipment has shifted throughout the years until the present day. It then examines contemporary trends in the weapons trade and how weapons are illicitly traded. It also shows how the illicit arms trade is connected to the legal arms market and concludes by describing various attempts that have been made in recent years to control the global arms trade, as well as prospects for its future regulation. Three case studies are presented to highlight the main issues surrounding the international weapons trade: the first relates to the use of man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) in terrorism, the second involves arms broker Victor Bout, and the third deals with the non-governmental organization known as the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
26. Transnational Crime
Authors: Giraldo Jeanne , Trinkunas Harold
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the threats posed by transnational crime to national security. Globalization and other international trends may have the unintended consequence of fostering the development of transnational crime. Initial state and international responses to transnational crime in the 1980s were driven in large part by the U.S. war on drugs. After providing an overview of relevant definitions and key concepts, particularly with respect to international crime and organized crime, the chapter considers both the reasons for and the nature of the increase in transnational crime since the end of the Cold War. It then looks at debates over the strength and nature of the ‘nexus’ between transnational crime and terrorism. It concludes by analysing how the government response to transnational crime has evolved over time, focusing on increased coordination and securitization between nations.
28. After the Return to Theory:
Authors: Wæver Ole , Buzan Barry
Published: September 2017

This chapter reflects on the past and present of Security Studies, with a particular focus on the changing periods of theory production and practical problem solving. It begins by tracing the origins and institutional structure of Security Studies, noting that it started out as an American, think-tank based, interdisciplinary field and then became institutionalized as a part of a single discipline, International Relations (IR). Since the 1990s, the field has enjoyed a new period of high theory productivity, but largely in two separate clusters with the United States and Europe as centres of each. Among important developments during the so-called Golden Age of Security Studies were game theory and deterrence theory. The chapter proceeds by examining the stagnation of Security Studies before concluding with an assessment of future prospects and challenges facing the field, citing debates over issues such as human security and Islamic approaches to IR.
Introduction: The Middle East and International Relations
Authors: Fawcett Louise
Published: September 2017

This volume offers an account of the international relations of the modern Middle East. It examines the international politics of the region by providing further scholarly engagement between the two major disciplines of international relations (IR) and Middle East Studies. The text focuses on important contemporary themes in Middle East international relations such as political economy, democratization and political reform, the management of regional relations, and patterns of war and security. It looks at key regional case studies incorporating historical, contemporary, and theoretical perspectives. Topics include the foreign policy practices of different states, the Arab–Israeli conflict, and the Arab Spring and its consequences. This introduction considers some of the particular problems that arise in studying the international relations of the Middle East and how they are addressed in this volume. It also provides an overview of the chapters that follow.
1. International Relations Theory and the Middle East
Authors: Lawson Fred H.
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the different theories and approaches that characterize the study of international relations, along with their application to the Middle East. International relations theory takes many forms and presents a variety of challenges that can be addressed using Middle Eastern cases. The field of international relations is dominated by structural realist theory. The chapter considers the assumptions of structural realism, neoliberal institutionalism, the English School, historical sociology, international society, constructivism, and relational contracting, along with post-structuralism and post-modernism. It also discusses political culture and statistical studies of world politics. In particular, it analyses some key findings from quantitative research in international relations. The chapter concludes with an assessment of power transition theory and power cycle theory, along with conceptual contributions from regional specialists.
13. The Rise and Fall of the Oslo Peace Process
Authors: Shlaim Avi
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the landmark series of negotiations between Arabs and Israelis in the early 1990s, culminating in the Oslo accords of 1993. The U.S.-sponsored peace process between Israel and the Arabs was one of the salient strands in the international relations of the Middle East in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. On the Arab side, the principal participants were Syria, Jordan, and Palestine. This chapter analyses the emergence, development, and breakdown of the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the two principal parties to the Arab–Israeli conflict, from 1991 to 2001. It considers the conclusion of the Oslo accord, the implementation of the accord, Oslo II, the Camp David summit, and the return to violence. The chapter argues that the Oslo peace process failed because Israel, under the leadership of the Likud Party, reneged on its side of the deal.
15. The Arab Spring: The ‘People’ in International Relations
Authors: Sadiki Larbi
Published: September 2017

This chapter examines the Arab Spring and its outcomes from an international relations (IR) perspective by offering a revisionist interpretation that emphasizes the importance of the interactions of civic (peaceful/ruly) and non-civic (violent/unruly), top-down and bottom-up, state and non-state, local and global manifestations of political behaviour. The Arab Spring is generally regarded as a local phenomenon of ‘street politics’ with no connection to global trends. The chapter challenges this notion and throws the Arab ‘revolution’ into sharper relief, first by tracing its origin and second by analysing its ‘itinerary’ through the region in the context of globalization. It also explores the problem posed by the Arab Spring for Orientalism, and more specifically to Arab ‘exceptionalism’, as well as the centre–periphery dyad. Finally, it discusses the impact of the Arab Spring on democratization and the international relations of the uprisings.
2. Feminist and Activist Approaches to Human Rights
Authors: Brooke Ackerly
Published: September 2017

This chapter explores the theoretical and political history of human rights that emerges out of the struggles that have been waged by feminists and other non-elites. It first considers the bases for the moral legitimacy of human rights and challenges to those arguments before discussing three aspects of feminist approaches to human rights: their criticism of some aspects of the theory and practice of human rights, their rights claims, and their conceptual contributions to a theory of human rights. It then examines the ways in which feminists and other activists for marginalized groups have used human rights in their struggles and how such struggles have in turn shaped human rights theory. It also analyses theoretical and historical objections to the universality of human rights based on cultural relativism. Finally, it shows that women’s rights advocates want rights enjoyment and not merely entitlements.