International Relations Theory and Regional Transformation

A comprehensive treatment of regional transformation, offering insights from different theoretical perspectives and generating a range of policy-relevant ideas.

T. V. Paul (Edited by)

9781107604551, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 February 2012

320 pages, 3 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.51 kg

'Much of the most interesting work on international integration is now concerned with regional networks of organizations and commerce. This book gives a great window on what's happening in scholarship and in the world.' Bruce Russett, Dean Acheson Research Professor of International Relations, Yale University

Regional transformation has emerged as a major topic of research during the past few decades, much of it seeking to understand how a region changes into a zone of conflict or cooperation and how and why some regions remain in perpetual conflict. Although the leading theoretical paradigms of international relations have something to say about regional order, a comprehensive treatment of this subject is missing from the literature. This book suggests that cross-paradigmatic engagement on regional orders can be valuable if it can generate theoretically innovative, testable propositions and policy-relevant ideas. The book brings together scholars from the dominant IR perspectives aiming to explain the regional order issue through multidimensional and multi-causal pathways and seeking meeting points between them. Using insights from IR theory, the contributors offer policy-relevant ideas which may benefit conflict-ridden regions of the world.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Regional transformation in international relations T. V. Paul
2. How regions were made, and the legacies for world politics: an English school reconnaissance Barry Buzan
Part II. Realist Perspectives: 3. Realism and neorealism in the study of regional conflict Dale C. Copeland
4. Neoclassical realism and the study of regional order Jeffrey W. Taliaferro
Part III. Liberal Perspectives: 5. Economic interdependence and regional peace John M. Owen, IV
6. Regional organizations à la carte: the effects of institutional elasticity Stephanie C. Hofmann and Frédéric Mérand
7. Transforming regional security through liberal reforms John R. Oneal
Part IV. Constructivist Perspectives: 8. Ideas, norms, and regional orders Amitav Acharya
9. Regional security practices and Russian–Atlantic relations Vincent Pouliot
Part V. Eclectic Perspectives: 10. The transformation of modern Europe: banalities of success John A. Hall
11. Top-down peacemaking: why peace begins with states and not societies Norrin M. Ripsman
Part VI. Conclusions: 12. Strategies and mechanisms of regional change Stéfanie von Hlatky.

Subject Areas: Security services [KNSS], International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB]