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Begin New Search Topic International Relations Political Geography United States Content Type Journal Article

41. US-Southeast Asia Relations

Author:
Sheldon W. Simon
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Comparative Connections
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
The United States significantly raised its political profile in Southeast Asia this quarter, inserting itself in South China Sea disputes, announcing its plan to join the East Asia Summit, convening the second US-ASEAN summit, and creating an ambitious agenda for participation in a variety of Southeast Asia programs. On the South China Sea issue, Secretary of State Clinton proposed multilateral discussions under ASEAN auspices – an idea that did not appear, however, in the ASEAN-US summit communiqué in late September. The US inaugurated naval exercises with Vietnam in early August, coinciding with the visit of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. Washington is considering new financial sanctions against Burma, recognizing that more engagement with the military regime has not yielded the expected results. The presence of US military trainers in the southern Philippines continues to rile leftist and nationalist legislators. As a sign of growing warmth in US-Malaysian relations, Kuala Lumpur is sending a small contingent of medical personnel to Afghanistan. The Indonesian-US Comprehensive Partnership was launched in Washington in September, signifying Jakarta‟s special importance to the US. Washington also restored military-to-military relations with Kopassus, the Indonesian Special Forces unit that has been accused of egregious human rights violations in Timor, Papua, and Aceh.
Topic:
International Relations and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Washington, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Kuala Lumpur

42. China-Southeast Asia Relations

Author:
Robert Sutter and Chin-Hao Huan
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Comparative Connections
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
China was on the defensive this quarter, reacting to interventions by the US, including a notable statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in Hanoi regarding the South China Sea. The ARF meeting also saw a new US commitment, backed by ASEAN, to participate actively in the East Asian Summit, raising the profile of that regional body over China‟s preference for Asian-only regional groups. Further complicating China‟s regional calculus were prominent advances in US relations with Vietnam shown during celebrations of a US-Vietnam anniversary in August that involved exercises with a US aircraft carrier deployed near disputed regions of the South China Sea. Chinese officials and commentary in Chinese media at first countered that the US actions were self-serving and destabilizing. Those attacks meshed with public Chinese attacks on concurrent US military exercises with South Korean forces in reaction to North Korea‟s sinking of a South Korean warship. Later, some Chinese commentary dissented from the harsh public approach, and by the end of the quarter, the criticism of the US and others over the South China Sea disputes and other issues subsided. For the time being at least, it appeared that China will remain focused on publicly stressing trade and reassuring diplomacy in Southeast Asia, while defending its territorial claims and continuing to build military capabilities.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, China, Vietnam, and Southeast Asia

43. China-Taiwan Relations

Author:
David G. Brown
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Comparative Connections
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
This has been a quiet but constructive quarter in cross-Strait relations. Taipei and Beijing were focused on ratifying and beginning implementation of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). With Beijing‟s agreement, Singapore and Taipei announced that they would consider negotiating a WTO-consistent economic cooperation agreement. This important flexibility by Beijing allows President Ma to show that ECFA has opened the door at least slightly to Taiwan‟s involvement in regional trade liberalization. Despite Washington‟s approval of small commercial arms sales, Beijing indicated a willingness to resume military exchanges with Washington. Nevertheless, arms sales to Taiwan remain a threat to US-China relations.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Government
Political Geography:
United States, China, Taiwan, and Beijing

44. "Women and States: Norms and Hierarchies in International Society" by Ann E. Towns

Author:
Shirin Saeidi
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This new work by Ann Towns is an intelligent and timely addition not only to the field of International Relations but also to interdisciplinary scholarship that is interested in the relationships between the status of women, state behavior, and approaches to global governance. Women and States has two primary objectives. On a theoretical level, it claims that international norms, in addition to creating policy convergence, generate social hierarchies and rankings among states. The study uses empirical data to show that state approaches to global governance and the making of social distinctions explicitly incorporate the political status of women to achieve different national interests. These forms of social and cultural distinction, as the book goes on to demonstrate, affect the making of international order. Firmly situated within and contributing to constructivist studies of international relations, Towns's work relies on extensive and multilingual primary and secondary archival research to substantiate these core claims.
Topic:
International Relations and Governance
Political Geography:
United States

45. Introduction

Author:
Victor D. Cha
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
George Orwell, in a famous essay in 1945, described sport as “"war minus the shooting." Exaggerated as this description may sound, Orwell observed a seemingly obvious relationship between sport and politics that has not systematically been studied. Given all our theories about how nation-states interact in international relations, this gap in the literature is somewhat astounding, especially since sport is an activity engaged in by all of the world's population-across territorial, cultural, religious, and ethnic boundaries. Keeping in mind the many purposes of sport in the international arena, this issue's Forum brings together authors who advance our knowledge of the relationship between sport and politics. The authors of this Forum hold different opinions of the utility and role of sport in international affairs, but they do agree on one thing: the potential influence of sport on the nation-state. Sport, as Orwell opined, may lack the shooting of a full-blown war. But sport, like war, may be just as intense and just as defining for the character of a country and for relations among states.
Topic:
International Relations and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

46. Dora Bakoyannis, Foreign Minister of Greece Greece: Piloting OSCE through Doldrums

Author:
Dora Bakoyannis
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
Bakoyannis argues that the OSCE needs to recover its international stature: it is the only security body involving the U.S. and Russia, plus Europe. The pressing challenge is Georgia: Can the OSCE mission in Georgia be redefined so it can continue its technical work without getting caught in the political impasse over the breakaway enclaves between Russia and Georgia?
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

47. Canada-United States: A Strong Partnership President Obama Visits Canada

Author:
Michael Wilson
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
President Obama made his first foreign trip to Canada on February 19, 2009. This should not have been that big a surprise. Tradition maybe, as many have talked about the “traditional” first visit of a US President always being to Canada. But more important than that, the visit underscored the extraordinarily deep, close and unparalleled relationship that Canada and the United States share. We are each other's neighbors, have the world's largest trading relationship, and we are friends and allies sharing the world's largest secure border that stretches across our continent.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
United States and Canada

48. Setting the Stage for the Next 175 Years: United States and Thai Relations Renewed

Author:
Eric G. John
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
While everyone in the world now knows the name Obama, perhaps only about 65 million people are familiar with “Obamark.” Like many Thais, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has a nickname, Mark, given to him by his parents. After Barack Obama won the democratic nomination, Abhisit's supporters in Thailand began calling their man Obamark to draw attention to the perceived similarities between the two men: both are young, highly educated, well-spoken politicians who each promised their countries change. And as fate would have it, both men have assumed the mantle of leadership at the same time: Abhisit was endorsed by the King of Thailand and became Prime Minister on December 17, 2008, only a few weeks after Barack Obama won the election to become President of the United States.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
United States and Thailand

49. Teaching international relations in Vietnam: chances and challenges

Author:
Pham Quang Minh
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
This paper traces the evolution of the teaching of international relations (IR) in Vietnam, from the establishment of the first Institute of International Relations in 1959 to the proliferation of departments of IR or international studies from the 1990s. It notes the limitations facing teachers of IR and efforts to develop and standardize the curriculum in recent years. It also examines the way national history is portrayed in the teaching of Vietnam\'s foreign policy and regional relations in Southeast Asia, with increasing attention paid to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from the 1990s. On July 27, 1995 the ceremony to admit Vietnam into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) took place in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. This event had multiple meanings for both Vietnam and ASEAN. It marked a new page in the history of Vietnam–ASEAN relations, transforming suspicion and distrust to cooperation (Vu, 2007, p. 316). For Vietnam, this ended a long confrontation with ASEAN that had started in 1978, as Vietnam was involved in the Cambodian conflict. Looking back to these years, a senior Vietnamese diplomat asked whether Vietnam had been vigilant enough during that time, and he continued his survey of Vietnam\'s regional relations through the lens of its three decades-long struggle and the Cold war between two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the US (Trinh, 2007, p. 19). For ASEAN, this ended an obsession about the \'Vietnamese threat\'. In this context of regional and international relations (IR) of Vietnam, the teaching of IR, in general, and the IR of Southeast Asia, in particular, was much influenced by the environment of the Cold war.
Topic:
International Relations and Cold War
Political Geography:
United States, Asia, and Vietnam

50. What Do They Really Want?: Obama's North Korea

Author:
Victor D. Cha
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Washington Quarterly
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Negotiating with North Korea is all about contradictions. What can be important one day can become unimportant the next. A position they hold stubbornly for weeks and months can suddenly disappear. But these contradictions tell us a lot about core goals that may lie beneath Pyongyang's rhetoric and the provocative actions which culminated in a second nuclear test on May 25, 2009. Understanding these core goals, moreover, offers insights into how spectacularly unsuccessful North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has been as he prepares to step down. What do the North Koreans ultimately want with their recent spate of provocative behavior? What is often stated through the mouths of their foreign ministry officials is only a part of the Pyongyang leadership's broader goals. The judgments that follow are also informed by the experiences and ‘‘gut instincts’’ of those who have negotiated with the regime over the past sixteen years.
Topic:
International Relations and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, Washington, and North Korea