Strategic Asia 2016 17

Strategic Asia 2016-17 examines how the region's major powers view international politics and the use of military force. In each chapter, a leading expert analyzes the ideological and historical sources of a country's strategic culture, how strategic culture informs the thinking of the country's policymakers, and how these understandings lead to decisions about the pursuit of strategic objectives and national power.

The 2013-14 Strategic Asia volume examines the role of nuclear weapons in the grand strategies of key Asian states and assesses the impact of these capabilities—both established and latent—on regional and international stability. In each chapter, a leading expert explores the historical, strategic, and political factors that drive a country's calculations vis-a-vis nuclear weapons and draws implications for American interests.

In this book a multinational and inter-disciplinary group of contributors have written original essays seeking to provide the first profile of the strategic cultures of the states of the Asia-Pacific region. Strategic culture consists of the traditional cultural, historical, political and societal factors that help shape the defence policies and strategic behaviour of countries. As such, it is a necessary element in understanding the security issues of this changing and increasingly significant region in world politics. In addition to contributing to a better understanding of the security problems and prospects of the Asia-Pacific, the book gives additional empirical flesh to the developing concept of strategic culture and also relates it to the prospects for conflict management in the region, as well as military strategy.

How does Australia's unique geographical, cultural and historical position influence its approach to foreign policy? What key challenges does Australia face on the world stage, and how can it overcome them? Reflecting the messy reality of foreign policy decision-making, this book helps you to understand the changes and continuities in Australia's approach. For example, does the US withdrawal from Vietnam in 1973 and collapse of South Vietnam continue to cast a shadow over Australian foreign policy, or is it relevant only in understanding the dynamics of the cold war? Using an Australian Strategic Culture framework, O'Keefe sheds light on the characteristics that make Australia behave in a way different to any other country and equips you with analytic skills to understand the main debates, such as: - In what sense could Australia be seen as a 'good' international citizen? - Have national interests trumped global responsibilities? - How does the intersection between civil society and public opinion interact with foreign policy making? This book is essential reading if you are a student of Australian foreign policy, as well as of broader Australian domestic politics and international relations.

This handbook offers a collection of cutting-edge essays on all aspects of strategic culture by a mix of international scholars, consultants, military officers, and policymakers. The volume explicitly addresses the analytical conundrums faced by scholars who wish to employ or generate strategic cultural insights, with substantive commentary on defining and scoping strategic culture, analytic frameworks and approaches, levels of analysis, sources of strategic culture, and modalities of change in strategic culture. The chapters engage strategic culture at the civilizational, regional, supra-national, national, non-state actor, and organizational levels. The volume is divided into five thematic parts, which will appeal to both students who are new to the subject and scholars who wish to incorporate strategic culture into their toolbox of analytical techniques. Part I assesses the evolving theoretical strengths and weaknesses of the field. Part II lays out elements of the theoretical and methodological foundations of the field, including sources and components of strategic culture. Part III presents a number of national strategic cultural profiles, representing the state of contemporary strategic culture scholarship. Part IV addresses the utility of strategic culture for practitioners and scholars. Part V summarizes the key theoretical and practical insights offered by the volume’s contributors. This handbook will be of much interest to students of strategic studies, defense studies, security studies, and international relations in general, as well as to professional practitioners.

This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of the international relations of South Asia. South Asia as a region is increasingly assuming greater significance in global politics for a host of compelling reasons. This volume offers the most comprehensive collection of perspectives on the international politics of South Asia, and it it covers an extensive range of issues spanning from inter-state wars to migration in the region. Each contribution provides a careful discussion of the four major theoretical approaches to the study of international politics: Realism, Constructivism, Liberalism, and Critical Theory. In turn, the chapters discuss the relevance of each approach to the issue area addressed in the book. The volume offers coverage of the key issues under four thematic sections: - Theoretical Approaches to the Study of the International Relations of South Asia - Traditional and Emerging Security Issues in South Asia - The International Relations of South Asia - Cross-cutting Regional Issues Further, every effort has been made in the chapters to discuss the origins, evolution and future direction of each issue. This book will be of much interest to students of South Asian politics, human security, regional security, and International Relations in general.

In Strategic Asia 2012-13: China’s Military Challenge, leading experts assess and forecast the impact of China’s growing military capabilities. What are China’s strategic aims? What are the challenges and opportunities facing the United States? How is the region responding to China’s military power and to the U.S. policy of “strategic rebalancing”?