Awkward Powers Escaping Traditional Great And Middle Power Theory

This book introduces the editors’ new concept of “Awkward Powers”. By undertaking a critical re-examination of the state of International Relations theorising on the changing nature of the global power hierarchy, it draws attention to a number of countries that fit awkwardly into existing but outdated categories such as “great power” and “middle power”. It argues that conceptual categories pertaining to the apex of the international hierarchy have become increasingly unsatisfactory, and that new approaches focusing on such “Awkward Powers” can both rectify shortcomings on power theorising whilst shining a much-needed theoretical spotlight on significant but understudied states. The book’s contributors examine a broad range of empirical case studies, including both established and rising powers across a global scale to illustrate our conceptual claims. Through such a novel process, we argue that a better appreciation of the de facto international power hierarchy in the 21st century can be achieved.

This book offers a novel and comprehensive reappraisal of current relations between Italy and Australia. For the first time, it expands the scope of analysis by encompassing and critically reviewing research avenues that have been understudied so far. In order to pursue this objective, it provides innovative analyses on bilateral history, reciprocal migration, socio-cultural ties, international relations and trade, comparative politics, and scientific cooperation. By adopting a multidisciplinary approach, this book makes a significant contribution to multiple disciplinary literatures, benefitting social science scholars, policymakers, and professionals working in a number of fields. Mindful of the wide scope and multidisciplinary nature of this innovative research, the editors oversee a careful balance of different theories, methodologies, sources, and data, in accordance with the conventions of each discipline employed in this volume. As a result, this book encourages a broader and more nuanced understanding of Italian-Australian relations in the 21st century.

Drawing on insights from differentiation theory, this book examines the participation of middle powers in multilateralism. Taking Australia, Indonesia and South Korea as examples, the book examines these countries' roles in regional organizations, and particularly during the creation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and East Asia Summit. Through its analysis, the book argues that middle powers pursue dilution of major power stratificatory forces, as well as functionally differentiated roles for themselves in multilateral diplomacy. The book sets out a valuable new framework to explain and understand the behaviour of middle powers in multilateralism.

In Brazil’s International Activism Monika Sawicka questions how Brazil’s deep-rooted craving for greatness has led to the quest for status in the twenty-first century and contends that the categorization of Brazil as an “emerging middle power” enriches the understanding of modern Brazilian foreign policy. Drawing on the rich vocabulary of role theory, Sawicka sets out to establish an original theoretical framework that comprises the structural (status), the behavioral (role), and the cognitive-ideational (identity) to assess whether Brazil has performed roles distinguishing a middle power and how the state has reconceptualized them. The model is applied to scrutinize how ideational and material drivers impacted Brazil’s engagement as an integrator in Latin America, donor in Africa, mediator in the Middle East, and coalition-builder of developing states in global fora. Despite recent criticism of the concept of “emerging middle powers”, Sawicka argues that Brazil’s international activism stands as a precise embodiment of such a power. With an aim of theory development and contributing to the debate on Brazil’s international standing, Brazil’s International Activism provides a much-required reinterpretation of Brazilian foreign policy which will be of interest to scholars and students of Foreign Policy Analysis, International Relations and Latin-American Studies.

Cooperation between Iran and Russia has expanded to unprecedented levels. Following the Russian offensive in Ukraine, their partnership has undergone a significant transformation, altering power dynamics and elevating Iran from a junior partner to an equal counterpart. Russia's dependence on Iran in unexpected areas has caught observers by surprise. In her book, Ghoncheh Tazmini presents a fresh analysis of the complex relationship between Russia and Iran. She argues for a Russia-Iran 'alignment' based on their shared narratives of the international order. The two states are bound by connective tissue that is coded by ontological security preoccupations and mutual threat perceptions. Despite historical animosities and ongoing suspicions, the relationship has demonstrated resilience, fluctuating between conflict and convergence. The Iran-Russia relationship holds decisive implications for the Middle East's future, where their interests both overlap and diverge, notably in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and with the GCC. Tazmini delves into Russian and Iranian geopolitical aspirations in the Middle Eastern theatre and addresses how evolving international realities impact their regional policies. Through a blend of sophisticated theoretical analysis and empirical insights, Tazmini explains why Moscow-Tehran relations are more durable than many in the Western world and the Middle East may perceive. Russia and Iran's close alignment is expected to persist – undeterred by criticism and sanctions, the 'Power Couple' remains determined to establish a foothold in the international system through their collaborative efforts.

This edited volume explores the past, present, and future of the Korean Peninsula, with special focus on South Korea, by connecting developments in politics with those in international relations and diplomacy. The book focuses on how South Korea’s politics and international relations have evolved since the founding of the First Republic in 1948, with particular attention to the period surrounding the 2022 presidential election. The authors provide new insights into Korean politics, including South Korean electoral reform and relations with China and Japan, North Korea’s nuclear capacity, and North–South diplomacy. Beginning with a commentary by Colin Crooks, Britain’s current Ambassador to South Korea and former Ambassador to North Korea, on recent British foreign policy changes and UK–Korea relations, this book will appeal to scholars and students of politics, international relations, diplomacy, and Korean Studies.

This book explores norm diffusion in non-Western contexts. It analyzes how norms transfer and what mechanisms or sources of leverage facilitate their diffusion. The individual chapters follow an interdisciplinary framework that analyzes social norms beyond the theoretical tradition of international relations, and focus on particular cases of diffusion—both successful and unsuccessful—across the non-Western world. In this way, the book challenges existing perspectives and advances critical norm research that diversifies the agency of norm entrepreneurs beyond processes of norm localization. It makes a twofold contribution—by deepening our theoretical understanding of norms and their dynamics and by broadening the geographical scope of norms research.

Are pandemics the end of cities? Or, do they present an opportunity for us to reshape cities in ways making us even more innovative, successful and sustainable? Pandemics such as COVID-19 (and comparable disruptions) have caused intense debates over the future of cities. Through a series of investigative studies, Designing Smart and Resilient Cities for a Post-Pandemic World: Metropandemic Revolution seeks to critically discuss and compare different cases, innovations and approaches as to how cities can utilise nascent and future digital technology and/or new strategies in order to build stronger resilience to better tackle comparable large-scale pandemics and/or disruptions in the future. The authors identify ten separate societal areas where future digital technology can impact resilience. These are discussed in individual chapters. Each chapter concludes with a set of proposed "action points" based on the conclusions of each respective study. These serve as solid policy recommendations of what courses of action to take, to help increase the resilience in smart cities for each designated area. Securing resilience and cohesion between each area will bring about the metropandemic revolution. This book features a foreword by Nobel laureate Peter C. Doherty and an afterword by Professor of Urban Technologies, Carlo Ratti. It provides fresh and unique insights on smart cities and futures studies in a pandemic context, offers profound reflections on contemporary societal functions and the needs to build resilience and combines lessons learned from historical pandemics with possibilities offered by future technology.