A compelling examination of how secondary states are preserving their strategic autonomy and are resisting spheres of influenceRussia's invasion of Ukraine and the deteriorating United States–China relationship signify the onset of the New Cold War. Unlike the original Cold War, this competition is multipolar and "multiplex," with secondary powers, small states, and even nonstate actors pragmatically selecting which of their interests intersect with those of the gr...

A new framework for analyzing global power dynamics and the neglected role of small statesIn the decades since the Cold War, international relations scholarship has predominantly examined global power dynamics through the lens of great powers—namely, the United States—and rising powers such as China. This narrow focus overlooks small states, which are a critical component of the international system. As global power structures rapidly evolve and traditional alliances become increas...

This book moves scholarly debates beyond the old question of whether or not international institutions matter in order to examine how they matter, even in a world of power politics. Power politics and international institutions are often studied as two separate domains, but this is in need of rethinking because today most states strategically use institutions to further their interests. Anders Wivel, T.V. Paul, and the international group of contributing authors update our understanding of...

This book analyses security strategies in the American world order, systematically comparing Russian, Middle Eastern and European policies.The main finding is that the loss of relative power has decisive importance for the security strategies of states, but that particular strategies can only be explained when relative power is combined with ideology and the probability of military conflict. Research on the unipolar world order has focused largely on the general dynamics of the sys...

The discipline of international relations offers much insight into why violent power transitions occur, yet there have been few substantive examinations of why and how peaceful changes happen in world politics. This work is the first comprehensive treatment of that subject. The Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Change in International Relations provides a thorough examination of research on the problem of change in the international arena and the reasons why change happens peacefully at...

International organizations play an important, if imperfect, role in world politics, solving collective action problems in security, economic, environmental, and global health among others. While many believe that international organisations have formed critical pillars of global governance, sceptics contend that they reflect the power politics of the day and the interests of hegemonic powers. This volume examines whether international organizations contribute to or detract from peaceful c...

The effects of recent institutional change within the European Union on small states have often been overlooked. This book offers an accessible, coherent and informative analysis of contemporary and future foreign policy challenges facing small states in Europe. Leading experts analyze the experiences of a number of small states including the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Iceland, Austria and Switzerland. Each account, written to a common template, explores...

This book brings together a group of leading scholars on international relations to develop and apply the concept of polarity on past and present international relations and discuss its applicability and usefulness in the future. Despite a comprehensive debate on a global power shift, often discussed in terms of the decline of the United States, the crisis in the liberal international order, and the rise of China, IR´s main concept of power, ‘polarity’, remains undertheorized and understud...

The Routledge Handbook of Scandinavian Politics is a comprehensive overview of Scandinavian politics provided by leading experts in the field and covering the polity, the politics and the policy of Scandinavia. Coherently structured with a multi-level thematic approach, it explains and details Scandinavian politics today through a series of cutting-edge chapters. It will be a key reference point both for advanced-level students developing knowledge about the subject, as well as re...

This book offers an accessible, coherent and comprehensive analysis of the recent, contemporary and future challenges and possibilities facing Denmark in the European integration process.The book traces the formal as well as the informal ways of influence and adaptation in Denmark’s relations with the European Union. In doing so, it also offers a contribution to our understanding of Europe as a differentiated political arena. Topics covered include:Identifying the...

This book explains what ‘small’ states are and explores their current security challenges, in general terms and through specific examples. It reflects the shift from traditional security definitions emphasizing defence and armaments, to new security concerns such as economic, societal and environmental security where institutional cooperation looms larger. These complex issues, linked with traditional power relations and new types of actors, need to be tackled with due regard to democracy ...

No set of international relations is as thoroughly analyzed, commented on, taken apart and critiqued as the ties between Europe and the United States. A period of post-Cold War integration has been buffeted by trade disputes, economic strife and differences in prosecuting the fight against global terrorism.Now for the first time there is an accessible and theory-based analysis of European foreign policies in the post-Cold War era. The authors argue that EU- and NATO-mediated geopol...