Understanding Non State Actors

The involvement of non-state actors in world politics can hardly be characterised as novel, but intensifying economic and social exchange and the emergence of new modes of international governance have given them much greater visibility and, many would argue, a more central role. Non-state Actors in World Politics offers analyses of a diverse range of economic, social, legal (and illegal), old and new actors, such as the Catholic Church, trade unions, diasporas, religious movements, transnational corporations and organised crime.

Originally published in 1991, Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations has become an indispensable volume not only for teachers and students in international history and political science, but also for general readers seeking an introduction to American diplomatic history. This collection of essays highlights a variety of newer, innovative, and stimulating conceptual approaches and analytical methods used to study the history of American foreign relations, including bureaucratic, dependency, and world systems theories, corporatist and national security models, psychology, culture, and ideology. Along with substantially revised essays from the first edition, this volume presents entirely new material on postcolonial theory, borderlands history, modernization theory, gender, race, memory, cultural transfer, and critical theory. The book seeks to define the study of American international history, stimulate research in fresh directions, and encourage cross-disciplinary thinking, especially between diplomatic history and other fields of American history, in an increasingly transnational, globalizing world.

This volume investigates the nature and changing roles of the non-state armed groups in the Middle East with a special focus on Kurdish, Shia and Islamic State groups. To understand the nature of transformation in the Middle Eastern geopolitical space, it provides new empirical and analytical insights into the impact of three prominent actors, namely ISIS, YPG and Shia Militias. With its distinctive detailed and multi-faceted analyses, it offers new findings on the changing contours of sovereignty, geopolitics and ideology, particularly after the Arab Uprisings. Overall this volume contributes to the study of violent geopolitics, critical security studies and international relations particularly by exploring the ideologies and strategies of the new non-state armed actors.

With inclusion of theories and causal factors for context, plenty of case studies for real-world application, and pedagogical features to encourage engagement, this book’s coverage also goes far beyond the traditional focus on terrorist groups to provide readers with a stimulating and wide-ranging introduction to the subject

Assessing the influence of non-governmental organizations on international and transnational politics, as well as examining the importance of non-state actors in a world of nation-states, this theoretically rich text also discusses approaches that deal with the interplay between domestic and international politics. Thorough and insightful, this text draws on perspectives and theories from political science, policy studies and international law.Using topical and original case studies which cover the fields of security, trade, social clauses, environment, development aid, civil rights and crime, this volume constitutes one of the first vigorous theoretical analyses of this important contemporary phenomenon.

Given the importance of violent non-state actors (VNSA) and their evolving role in global politics, dynamic frameworks of analysis are needed both to trace historical trajectories in the evolution of violent non-state actorness and to identify emerging patterns by examining modern day cases. This book examines the defining characteristics and evolutionary dynamics of VNSAs, and introduces a framework based on their autonomy, representation and influence providing a comparative analysis of the late 19th and early 20th centuries’ Anarchist movement and the modern-day Jihadist network. It explores the distinct characteristics of the Anarchists and Jihadists as VNSAs with global potential, not just describing them, but also seeking to understand what they are instances of. With a longitudinal analysis, the book also considers the types of changes that have occurred in the past 150 years and the possible role VNSAs may play in current and future power polity shifts away from states toward non-state actors. It concludes with both theoretical implications for the study of non-state actors and transnational relations, and practical implications for government agencies or private groups tasked with finding ways of countering such violent non-state actors. This important book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, political science, and terrorism/security studies. It will also be of interest to practitioners in the security services including think-tank analysts and government security analysts.

Non-State Actors in Conflicts: Conspiracies, Myths, and Practices explores some of the most pressing topics in political science and media studies. The contributions gathered here provide alternative perspectives on various non-state actors and their functions in global politics, in addition to providing case studies and theoretical approaches towards non-state actors, such as armed non-state actors and international non-governmental organizations. The volume also covers the topic of conspiracy theories and conspiracies formed in relation to the functions and existence of these actors.

This book explores the rise and impact of violent non-state actors in contemporary Africa and the implications for the sovereignty and security of African states. Each chapter tackles a unique angle on violent organizations on the continent with the view of highlighting the conditions that lead to the rise and radicalization of these groups. The chapters further examine the ways in which governments have responded to the challenge and the national, regional and international strategies that they have adopted as a result. Chapter contributors to this volume examine the emergence of Islamist terrorists in Nigeria, Mali and Libya; rebels in DR Congo, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Rwanda; and warlords and pirates in Somalia, Uganda and Sierra Leone.