World Politics In Modern Civilization

A highly original and readily accessible examination of the cultural dimension of international politics, this book provides a sophisticated and nuanced account of the relevance of cultural categories for the analysis of world politics. The book’s analytical focus is on plural and pluralist civilizations. Civilizations exist in the plural within one civilization of modernity; and they are internally pluralist rather than unitary. The existence of plural and pluralist civilizations is reflected in transcivilizational engagements, intercivilizational encounters and, only occasionally, in civilizational clashes. Drawing on the work of Eisenstadt, Collins and Elias, Katzenstein’s introduction provides a cogent and detailed alternative to Huntington’s. This perspective is then developed and explored through six outstanding case studies written by leading experts in their fields. Combining contemporary and historical perspectives while addressing the civilizational politics of America, Europe, China, Japan, India and Islam, the book draws these discussions together in Patrick Jackson’s theoretically informed, thematic conclusion. Featuring an exceptional line-up and representing a diversity of theoretical views within one integrative perspective, this work will be of interest to all scholars and students of international relations, sociology and political science.

"This timely and original volume fill the gaps in the existing theoretical and philosophical literature on international relations by problematizing civilization as a new unit of research in global politics. It interrogates to what extent and in what ways civilization is becoming a strategic frame of reference in the current world order. The book complements and advances the existing field of study previously dominated by other approaches - economic, national, class-based, racial, and colonial - and tests its key philosophical suppositions against countries that exhibit civilizational ambitions. The authors are all leading international scholars in the fields of political theory, IR, cultural analysis, and area studies who deal with various aspects of the civilizational arena. Offering key chapters on ideology, multipolarity, modernity, liberal democracy, and capitalism, this book extends the existing methodological, theoretical, and empirical debates for IR and area studies scholars globally. It will be of great interest to politicians, public opinion makers, and all those concerned with the evolution of world affairs"--

From the Chinese Emperors to the Romans and the Byzantines, from British Foreign Office agents in the Great Game to today's hippies, backpackers and aid workers, a long line of "civilized", sedentary, peoples have again and again misunderstood nomads, and nomadism. Caricatured as backward herders, thieving pastoralists, or members of some vast and undifferentiated horde of humanity forever wandering the planet, nomads are usually perceived as anything but modern and almost always as on the verge of obsolescence. The Civilization of Perpetual Movement is the first examination of nomadism as a vital global political practice. Nick McDonell - bestselling novelist and war correspondent - draws upon his years spent with and research into nomads around the world to illuminate what is, and has always been, a most modern practice. In the lucid, evocative prose which earnt him comparisons with Graham Greene and John Le Carré in the New York Times, McDonell uncovers the ways nomads and states influence each other, historically and today - with surprising consequences, from the plains and mountains of Central Asia to the grasslands of the Great Rift Valley. Part literary meditation, part reflection on international relations, part original history, The Civilization of Perpetual Movement is firmly in the tradition of iconoclastic thinkers from Bruce Chatwin to James Scott to T. E. Lawrence.

Civilizations, or rather narratives about civilizations, matter, not only as research subjects in textbooks, literary and scientific essays, but also in politics. This seems to be the case in "civilizational states" such as China, Russia, Turkey and Syria. Also in Western countries, in recent decades, the notion of civilization has often been used in public discourse: political parties and leaders have referred in particular to the need to protect Western civilization, calling in this regard for policies to restrict immigration from Muslim countries. In 2022 the narrative on civilization was used to legitimize the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The studies in this collected volume reconstruct how civilizational paradigms and narratives have been used to explain political relations, to define the global order, to justify attempts to gain hegemony over particular geopolitical areas, and to make predictions on global developments in specific times of crisis. In particular, this book analyzes the concepts of civilization as they have been used in the intellectual and political discourse in periods particularly critical for global relations and for the consolidation or contestation of the West’s dominant role in international, national politics and academic discourse.

The classic study of post-Cold War international relations, more relevant than ever in today’s geopolitical climate—with a foreword by Zbigniew Brzezinski. Since its initial publication in 1996, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order has become one of the most influential books ever written about foreign affairs. Samuel Huntington explains how clashes between civilizations pose the greatest threat to world peace, but also how an international order based on civilizations is the best safeguard against war. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order explains how the population explosion in Muslim countries and the economic rise of East Asia have changed global politics. These developments challenge Western dominance, promote opposition to supposedly “universal” Western ideals, and intensify inter-civilization conflict over such issues as nuclear proliferation, immigration, human rights, and democracy. In his incisive analysis, Huntington offers a strategy for the West to preserve its unique culture and emphasizes the need for people everywhere to learn to coexist in a complex, multipolar, multi-civilizational world.

Global Standards of Market Civilization brings together leading scholars, representing a range of political views, to investigate how global 'standards of market civilization' have emerged, their justification, and their political, economic and social impact. Key chapters show how as the modern state system has evolved such standards have also developed, incorporating the capacity for social cooperation and self-government to which states must conform in order to fully participate as legitimate members in international society. This study analyzes their justification, and their political, economic and social impact. Civilization is a term widely used within modern political discourse its meaning, yet it is poorly understood and misused. part I explores the idea of a ‘standard of civilization’, its implications for governance, and the use of such standards in political theory and economic thought, as well as its historical application part II presents original case studies that demonstrate the emergence of such standards and explore the diffusion of liberal capitalist ideas through the global political economy and the consequences for development and governance; the International Monetary Fund’s capacity to formulate a global standard of civilization in its reform programs; and problems in the development of the global trade, including the issue of intellectual property rights. This book will be of strong interest to students and scholars in wide range of fields relating to the study of globalization including: international political economy; international political theory; international relations theory; comparative political economy; international law; historical sociology; and economic history.