Friends, Foes, and Future Directions


Book Description

"... RAND experts explore the elements of a national strategy for the conduct of U.S. foreign and security policy in this administration and the next. The report evaluates three broad strategies for dealing with U.S. partners and adversaries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East in a time of diminishing defense budgets and an American public preference for a domestic focus. The three strategies are to be more assertive, to be more collaborative, or to retrench from international commitments. All three of these alternative approaches are constrained and a balance will need to be struck among them -- that balance may differ from region to region."--Publisher




Diplomacy and the Future of World Order


Book Description

"Diplomacy in pursuit of peace and security faces severe challenges not seen in decades. Obstacles to diplomacy are coming from the re-emergence of strong states, discord in the UN Security Council, destabilizing transnational non-state actors, closing space for civil society within states, and the weakening of the international liberal order. Diplomacy and the Future of World Order develops three visions of the future in which states and other key actors in the international system respond by deciding to go it alone, return to a liberal order, or collaborate on a case-by-case basis to address common threats and problems. The central focus of this book is peace and conflict diplomacy, defined as the effort to manage others' conflicts, cope with great power competition, or deal with threats to the state system itself. The distinguished international group of experts writing in this volume analyze the different scenarios' impact on peace and conflict diplomacy from the perspective of key actors and regions. It also explores the prospects for discord or collaboration around four major security issues-peacekeeping, nuclear nonproliferation, cyber competition, and terrorism. Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela Aall conclude by identifying emerging types of diplomacy that can provide the foundation for global peacemaking and conflict management in an uncertain future"--




Future of the BRICS and the Role of Russia and China


Book Description

The book explains the rise of BRICS as a decisive group in the present world affairs. It emphasizes the significance of Russian and Chinese foreign policies concerning the BRICS group and how these two countries are using the group to promote their national interests. It also examines the causes of close association of Russia and China within the BRICS group. It illuminates the changing political dynamics of the world. This research contains the scope to unravel the strength of BRICS and Russia and China's foreign policy strategies. The study explains the change in global politics in post covid-19 international affairs. It analyses whether BRICS has the potential to play a decisive role in emerging international politics. The methodology adopted consists of three components: Quantitative method and Qualitative method along with a field trip to Russia to conduct surveys and interviews. The approach has been analytical and descriptive, and both primary and secondary sources have been consulted.




Cybersecurity Governance in Latin America


Book Description

Cybersecurity Governance in Latin America discusses how the massification of the Internet has exposed emerging democracies' high-tech vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks and questions why states have decided to introduce policies and legislation facilitating the militarization of cyberspace. Carlos Solar offers a comparative analysis using the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela to help navigate the changing security landscape and the growing risks found in the digital domain. His analysis includes a review of civilian and military preparedness emphasizing the ongoing alliances with the world's superpowers to finally debate what are the side effects for peace and development in the Americas from the current cybersecurity rivalry between the United States and China. Providing a much-needed account of state-technology affairs in the global south Cybersecurity Governance in Latin America challenges scholars and policymakers to rethink the protection of cyberspace to avoid unnecessarily sacrificing rights and freedoms in the name of national security.




The Politics of Resilience and Transatlantic Order


Book Description

This edited volume bridges the "analytical divide" between studies of transatlantic relations, democratic peace theory, and foreign policy analysis, and improves our theoretical understanding of the logic of crises prevention and resolution. The recent rise of populism and polarization in both the U.S.A and Europe adds to a host of foreign policy crises that have emerged in transatlantic relations over the last two decades. Through examining how democracies can manage to sustain and maintain mechanisms of crisis resilience that are embedded in the democratic peace, and particularly transatlantic relations, this book helps enhance the understanding of inter-democratic crisis resolution across issue areas. In doing so, it addresses some of the most important and prevalent crises of our time, such as anti-terrorism intervention in Afghanistan; Iran’s nuclear program; burden-sharing within North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO; key aspects of the international order, such as binding norms for cyber security and the integration of China into the Western-led international economic order; as well as domestic order shifts, such as the British vote to leave the European Union (EU) and the impact of the Trump administration populist foreign policy on transatlantic crisis resolution. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of International Relations, Transatlantic Studies, Foreign Policy Analysis, and Comparative Politics.




Defence Diplomacy in the Long War


Book Description

One of the most dominant security issues of the twenty-first century has been the US led battle against transnational terrorism – the aptly named Long War. Over the past fifteen years the Long War has been examined using multiple perspectives. However, one central mechanism is missing in current Long War analyses: defence diplomacy. Defence diplomacy enhances the diplomatic and security capacity of a state, providing the only link between executive office and the ministries of foreign affairs and defence, two vital institutions in the Long War. Using a case study of US defence diplomacy in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014, the paper argues simply that the practice of defence diplomacy far outweighs current theories on what it is, how it works and why it matters. The paper aims to generate a more nuanced understanding of defence diplomacy, as well as identify it as a key component of the US CT/COIN strategy to achieve their Long War policy objectives.




US Foreign Policy in a Challenging World


Book Description

This book examines how the US is dealing with the challenge of reconciling its global interests with regional dynamics and how it is able to produce and sustain order at the system level and within regional subsystems. The book comprises four parts, the first of which addresses global issues such as nonproliferation, trade, and freedom of the seas. US policies in these areas are carefully analyzed, considering whether and how they have been differently implemented at the regional level. The remaining parts of the book focus on the US posture toward specific regions: Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. The policies adopted by the US to confront the most relevant challenges in each region are identified, and the ways in which policies in a specific region influence or are influenced by challenges in another region are explored. The book is a rich source of knowledge on the nature of the balance that the US has pursued between global and regional interests. It will be of much interest to scholars, to practitioners, to postgraduate/PhD students of international relations theory and American foreign policy, and to all with an interest in the ability of the US to produce international order.




Building Special Operations Relationships with Fragile Partners:


Book Description

Relationships empower Special Operations Forces (SOF) to perform as a highly skilled and reliable cadre in collaboration with local partner forces to prevent and solve shared problem sets, often accomplishing more with less. Since 9/11, however, relationships between SOF and their partners have not always been properly built and maintained. The authors trace the causal effects of constraints, trainings, and incentives and their impact on the current North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) SOF approach of building enduring relationships. Motivated by numerous deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, with recurring problem sets, we chose to conduct a struc-tured-focused comparison between U.S. and Danish SOF supporting Operation Inherent Resolve in Al Anbar, Iraq (2015-2018) and German SOF during the shift of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force to Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan (2013-2015). The analysis of these cases finds that specific interactions of the studied factors not only cause variations in relationships between SOF and partner forces, but ultimately influence operations and objectives determining mission success or failure. With further testing of our analysis and recommendations, this research can help to identify inherently flexible and nested strategic options for SOF senior leaders, allowing them to deploy SOF elements efficiently during times of asymmetric, diffuse, and episodic conflicts. Gojowsky and Koegler have written a fascinating and important manuscript concerning the use and lessons-learned of SOF in recent asymmetrical conflicts. In doing so, the authors systematically assess modern SOF tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) and relationships between NATO SOF and their local partners. This is a must-read for those interested in the future of SOF as well as counter-insurgencies' future TTPs, constraints and incentives. Gojowsky and Koegler recommendations should be carefully considered by NATO and its member countries. Professor Thomas H. Johnson, Author of "Taliban Narratives: The Use and Power of Stories in the Afghanistan Conflict", Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.




The Routledge Handbook of Diplomacy and Statecraft


Book Description

Reflecting the profound changes in international society in the past decade and the challenges that all Powers’ diplomacy and statecraft face, whether opposing or encouraging these changes, this fully revised and updated edition provides a unique multifaceted assessment by experts of the new international order. Built around the thesis that Great Power rivalry dominated after the end of the Cold War, it examines how this multi-polarity has become more extreme. The Handbook assesses the diplomacy and statecraft of individual powers in seven key sections: • The Context of Diplomacy • The Great Powers • Middle Powers • Developing Powers • International Organisations and Military Alliances • The International Economy • Issues of Conflict and Co-operation It shows how diplomacy and statecraft have transformed on issues such as the evolving "America First" strategy; the strengthening of the People’s Republic of China; the growth of non-state actors in foreign policy; the unravelling of international arms control agreements; the aggressive nature of Russian foreign policy; and the emergence of major armed conflicts and the rise of terrorism and armed insurgencies around the world. It will be of interest to government and non-governmental actors, established scholars and students in the fields of international relations, history, and military studies.




NATO 2030


Book Description

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is the world’s largest, most powerful military alliance. The Alliance has navigated and survived the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the post-9/11 era. Since the release of the 2010 Strategic Concept, NATO’s strategic environment has again undergone significant change. The need to adapt is clear. An opportunity to assess the Alliance’s achievements and future goals has now emerged with the Secretary General’s drive to create a new Strategic Concept for the next decade—an initiative dubbed NATO 2030. A necessary step for formulating a new strategic outlook will thus be understanding the future that faces NATO. To remain relevant and adjust to new circumstances, the Alliance must identify its main challenges and opportunities in the next ten years and beyond. This book contributes to critical conversations on NATO’s future vitality by examining the Alliance’s most salient issues and by offering recommendations to ensure its effectiveness moving forward. Written by a diverse, multigenerational group of policymakers and academics from across Europe and the United States, this book provides new insights about NATO’s changing threat landscape, its shifting internal dynamics, and the evolution of warfare. The volume’s authors tackle a wide range of issues, including the challenges of Russia and China, democratic backsliding, burden sharing, the extension of warfare to space and cyberspace, partnerships, and public opinion. With rigorous assessments of NATO’s challenges and opportunities, each chapter provides concrete recommendations for the Alliance to chart a path for the future. As such, this book is an indispensable resource for NATO’s strategic planners and security and defense experts more broadly.