Rapid systemic change within and across nations is disrupting traditional processes of identity formation and the ways groups manage their differences. The result is fragmentation: multiple identity groups making maximalist claims on governments and on one another. Internationally, a new tripolar imperialism is emerging, globalisation is weakening under US protectionism, and the United Nations’ capacity to fulfil its mission has been eroded. Within states, democracy has been in retreat for...

This book offers a unique approach to reconciliation as a matter for negotiation, bringing together two bodies of theory in order to offer insights into resolving conflicts and achieving lasting peace. It argues that reconciliation should not be simply accepted as an ‘agreed-upon norm’ within peacemaking processes, but should receive serious attention from belligerents and peace-brokers seeking to end violent conflicts through negotiation.The book explores different meanings the te...

Beginning in January 2011, the Arab world exploded in a vibrant demand for dignity, liberty, and achievable purpose in life, rising up against an image and tradition of arrogant, corrupt, unresponsive authoritarian rule. These previously unpublished, country-specific case studies of the uprisings and their still unfolding political aftermaths identify patterns and courses of negotiation and explain why and how they occur.The contributors argue that in uprisings like the Arab Spring...

A passionate argument for Canada's reassertion of its place on the world stage, from a former prime minister and one of Canada's most respected political figures.In the world that is taking shape, the unique combination of Canada's success at home as a diverse society and its reputation internationally as a sympathetic and respected partner consititute national assets that are at least as valuable as its natural resource wealth. As the world becomes more competitiv...

**From the pre-eminent scholar of foreign policy, the classic work that defined soft power“As brilliant as it is timely, Professor Nye’s book is must reading for anyone who cares about the success of America and the world.” —Madeleine K. Albright**Joseph S. Nye, Jr., coined the term “soft power” to describe a nation’s ability to attract and persuade. Whereas hard power—the ability to coerce—grows out of a country’s military or economic might, soft power arises from the attr...

Has Canada lost its place in the world? Are we destined for a future as a middle power, denied a seat at the "grown-ups table"? Some would argue yes, that decades of neglect and inattention have rendered Canadian foreign policy ineffective at best and non-existent at worst.Paul Heinbecker disagrees. The golden days of Lester B. Pearson may be long gone, he contends (and perhaps they weren't quite as "golden" as we'd all like to remember), but Canada still has a part to play.

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2016A bold call for a Canadian foreign policy that advances the basic freedoms that enable peace, stability, development, and security.What ends should a democratic country’s foreign policy serve? Avoiding diplomatic disputes? Keeping allies happy? Promoting national and global security? While a qualified yes is the logical answer to all of these secondary questions, Two Freedoms argues for something more, som...

"We are living through the endtimes of the civilizing mission. The ineffectual International Criminal Court and its disastrous first prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, along with the failure in Syria of the Responsibility to Protect are the latest pieces of evidence not of transient misfortunes but of fatal structural defects in international humanism. Whether it is the increase in deadly attacks on aid workers, the torture and 'disappearing' of al-Qaeda suspects by American officials, the fl...

International affairs expert and award-winning author of Special Providence Walter Russell Mead here offers a remarkably clear-eyed account of American foreign policy and the challenges it faces post—September 11.Starting with what America represents to the world community, Mead argues that throughout its history it has been guided by a coherent set of foreign policy objectives. He places the record of the Bush administration in the context of America’s historical relation...

The subject of international security is never out of the headlines. The subjects of war and peace, military strategy, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and revisionist states remain central to the discussion, but burgeoning concerns such as climate change, migration, poverty, health, and international terrorism have complicated the field. So what really matters? The traditional prioritization of state security or the security needs of individuals, humanity, and the biosphere? And where...

The internationally renowned theorist contends that the sun is setting on the American empire in this "lucid, informed, and insightful" account ( The New York Times).The United States currently finds itself [a] superpower that lacks true power, a world leader nobody follows and few respect, and a nation drifting dangerously amidst a global chaos it cannot control.The United States in decline? Its admirers and detractors alike claim the opp...

Recent acts of terrorism and the current unrest in the Middle East remind us how important it is to understand the relationship between violence, peace and democracy. In a challenging and insightful essay, Amartya Sen explores ideas around 'organised violence' (such as war, genocide and terrorism) and violence against the individual. Highlighting the inadequacies of some of the widely accepted explanations for violence—including the idea that the world is experiencing a 'clash of civilisat...