Conflict After The Cold War

Edited by one of the most renowned scholars in the field, Richard Betts' Conflict After the Cold War assembles classic and contemporary readings on enduring problems of international security. Offering broad historical and philosophical breadth, the carefully chosen and excerpted selections in this popular reader help students engage key debates over the future of war and the new forms that violent conflict will take. Conflict After the Cold War encourages closer scrutiny of the political, economic, social, and military factors that drive war and peace. New to the Fifth Edition: Original introductions to each of 10 major parts as well as to the book as a whole have been updated by the author. An entirely new section (Part IX) on "Threat Assessment and Misjudgment" explores fundamental problems in diagnosing danger, understanding strategic choices, and measuring costs against benefits in wars over limited stakes. 12 new readings have been added or revised: Fred C. Iklé, "The Dark Side of Progress" G. John Ikenberry, "China’s Choice" Kenneth N. Waltz, "Why Nuclear Proliferation May Be Good" Daniel Byman, "Drones: Technology Serves Strategy" Audrey Kurth Cronin, "Drones: Tactics Undermine Strategy" Eyre Crowe and Thomas Sanderson, "The German Threat? 1907" Neville Henderson, "The German Threat? 1938" Vladimir Putin, "The Threat to Ukraine from the West" Eliot A. Cohen, "The Russian Threat" James C. Thomson, Jr., "How Could Vietnam Happen? An Autopsy" Stephen Biddle, "Afghanistan’s Legacy" Martin C. Libicki, "Why Cyberdeterrence is Different"

Edited by one of the most renowned experts in the field, Conlict After the Cold War helps readers understand the causes of wars and examines the question: can we make war obsolete? In the wake of 9/11, new readings on terrorism and unconventional warfare have been added, to introduce readers to the types of political violence that have come back with such horrifying force in the beginning of the 21st Century. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding why political violence terrorism, warfare, unconventional warfare happens and if it can be stopped.

The end of the Cold War has changed the shape of organized violence in the world and the ways in which governments and others try to set its limits. Even the concept of international conflict is broadening to include ethnic conflicts and other kinds of violence within national borders that may affect international peace and security. What is not yet clear is whether or how these changes alter the way actors on the world scene should deal with conflict: Do the old methods still work? Are there new tools that could work better? How do old and new methods relate to each other? International Conflict Resolution After the Cold War critically examines evidence on the effectiveness of a dozen approaches to managing or resolving conflict in the world to develop insights for conflict resolution practitioners. It considers recent applications of familiar conflict management strategies, such as the use of threats of force, economic sanctions, and negotiation. It presents the first systematic assessments of the usefulness of some less familiar approaches to conflict resolution, including truth commissions, "engineered" electoral systems, autonomy arrangements, and regional organizations. It also opens up analysis of emerging issues, such as the dilemmas facing humanitarian organizations in complex emergencies. This book offers numerous practical insights and raises key questions for research on conflict resolution in a transforming world system.

This volume provides answers to the question of how the international community might cope with armed conflict after the Cold War. It identifies key actors--states and international organizations--that have the resources and (potentially) the will to address the problems of continuing violence and enduring conflicts. The book also evaluates the roles and strategies that might be adopted by these actors, unilaterally or cooperatively, to ease or end such armed struggles. The authors review the role of the United States, Russia, Japan, and China, all of which have the potential to play constructive roles in resolving conflicts. They also explore the contributions that the United Nations, the European Community, and other transnational organizations can make to building a more peaceful and secure world. Instead of appealing to grand theory as a guide for coping, the authors conclude, different mixes of actors, resources, roles, and strategies will have to be fashioned to meet the special needs of each conflict. Coping is viewed as an international imperative and not as the responsibility or prerogative of any one actor. The volume will be of interest to anyone concerned with international relations, international organizations, and security issues. Contributors are Arthur J. Alexander, Mohammed Ayoob, Nicole Ball, Paul F. Diehl, Roger E. Kanet, Samuel S. Kim, Edward A. Kolodziej, Edward J. Laurence, David F. Linowes, Patrick M. Morgan, Jack Snyder, Janice Gross Stein, and I. William Zartman.

In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles—micro-robots—has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive. It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour. Every attempt to destroy it has failed. And we are the prey.

This Handbook provides a systematic and analytical approach to the various dimensions of international, ethnic and domestic conflict over the uses of national history in education since the end of the Cold War. With an upsurge in political, social and cultural upheaval, particularly since the fall of state socialism in Europe, the importance of history textbooks and curricula as tools for influencing the outlooks of entire generations is thrown into sharp relief. Using case studies from 58 countries, this book explores how history education has had the potential to shape political allegiances and collective identities. The contributors highlight the key issues over which conflict has emerged – including the legacies of socialism and communism, war, dictatorships and genocide – issues which frequently point to tensions between adhering to and challenging the idea of a cohesive national identity and historical narrative. Global in scope, the Handbook will appeal to a diverse academic audience, including historians, political scientists, educationists, psychologists, sociologists and scholars working in the field of cultural and media studies.

One of The New York Times’ “6 Books to Read for Context on Ukraine” “A short and insightful primer” to the crisis in Ukraine and its implications for both the Crimean Peninsula and Russia’s relations with the West (New York Review of Books) The current conflict in Ukraine has spawned the most serious crisis between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. It has undermined European security, raised questions about NATO's future, and put an end to one of the most ambitious projects of U.S. foreign policy—building a partnership with Russia. It also threatens to undermine U.S. diplomatic efforts on issues ranging from terrorism to nuclear proliferation. And in the absence of direct negotiations, each side is betting that political and economic pressure will force the other to blink first. Caught in this dangerous game of chicken, the West cannot afford to lose sight of the importance of stable relations with Russia. This book puts the conflict in historical perspective by examining the evolution of the crisis and assessing its implications both for the Crimean Peninsula and for Russia’s relations with the West more generally. Experts in the international relations of post-Soviet states, political scientists Rajan Menon and Eugene Rumer clearly show what is at stake in Ukraine, explaining the key economic, political, and security challenges and prospects for overcoming them. They also discuss historical precedents, sketch likely outcomes, and propose policies for safeguarding U.S.-Russia relations in the future. In doing so, they provide a comprehensive and accessible study of a conflict whose consequences will be felt for many years to come.

Leading scholars discuss ideology and hotly contested post-structuralist theory.