Complexity Science and World Affairs


Book Description

Applies complexity science to the study of international politics. Why did some countries transition peacefully from communist rule to political freedom and market economies, while others did not? Why did the United States enjoy a brief moment as the sole remaining superpower, and then lose power and influence across the board? What are the prospects for China, the main challenger to American hegemony? In Complexity Science and World Affairs, Walter C. Clemens Jr. demonstrates how the basic concepts of complexity science can broaden and deepen the insights gained by other approaches to the study of world affairs. He argues that societal fitness—the ability of a social system to cope with complex challenges and opportunities—hinges heavily on the values and way of life of each society, and serves to explain why some societies gain and others lose. Applying theory to several rich case studies, including political developments across post–Soviet Eurasia and the United States, Clemens shows that complexity science offers a powerful set of tools for advancing the study of international relations, comparative government, and, more broadly, the social sciences. “Clemens has written an outstanding book—the culmination of a half?century’s experience in and analysis of world affairs [It is] bound to interest not only political and other social scientists but all thoughtful persons concerned with understanding and perhaps improving the human condition.” — from the Foreword by Stuart A. Kauffman “This breakthrough book provides a new, promising general paradigm exploring and explaining the complexity of world politics. For scholars and analysts pushing the boundaries of our field, this is a must-read volume.” — Jacek Kugler, Claremont Graduate University “Complexity can be overwhelming and complexity science can be daunting, and, yet, in Walter Clemens’s skilled hands both become accessible, understandable, and useful tools for both scholars and practitioners. Once again, Clemens has shown that sophisticated academic theorizing only benefits from clarity, elegance, and wit. The book is ideal for graduate and undergraduate students as a supplementary text in international relations or comparative politics.” — Alexander Motyl, Rutgers University–Newark “Clemens offers a fresh, even startling, paradigm and process for analyzing the seemingly unpredictable relations within and among human societies. With impressive clarity he proposes that ‘the capacity to cope with complexity’ has become a key determinant of success in our intricately interrelated world. Careful study of this capacity in specific contexts can lead to revealing analyses in comparative politics and international relations. A provocative and stimulating treatise!” — S. Frederick Starr, Johns Hopkins University “Walt Clemens’s provocative new book can be appreciated at several levels: as an analytical framework in international relations—complexity science—that offers a compelling alternative to realism and neoliberalism; as an incisive critique of the ‘fitness’ of the supposedly most developed societies to deal with our complex world; and as a humanistic value-set that provides better standards for assessing governments than do GDP, trade levels, or military spending. Clemens skillfully integrates theory and practice to explore US ‘hyperpower,’ the two Koreas, China, and other states from new angles, and with consistent objectivity. IR specialists should find this book exciting, while IR and international studies students will be challenged by the new paradigm it presents.” — Mel Gurtov, Portland State University “Clemens proposes a powerful new way of looking at international relations and politics, and offers a productive method for assessing the fitness of societies in the early twenty-first century.” — Guntis Šmidchens, University of Washington, Seattle “You don’t have to be a political scientist to wonder why some states succeed and others do not, why some societies flourish while others suffer stagnation and conflict. Employing the relatively new tool of complexity science, Walter Clemens evaluates the ‘fitness’ of states and societies, i.e. their ability to cope with complex challenges and opportunities. He does so in a way that is erudite—how many studies quote Walt Whitman and Karl Marx in the same chapter?—yet clear and accessible. Clemens challenges both existing political science paradigms and policy perspectives. This is a stimulating, rich volume that can be read and re-read with profit and appreciation for its breadth and depth and most of all for its insistence that we see the world, and the states in it, in all their complexity.” — Ronald H. Linden, University of Pittsburgh




Science and Diplomacy


Book Description

This book examines in depth science diplomacy, a particular field of international relations, in which the interests of science and those of foreign policy intersect. Building on a wealth of examples drawn from history and contemporary international relations, it analyzes and discusses the links between the world of scientists and that of diplomats. Written by a professor of economics and former Embassy counselor for science and technology, the book sets out to answer the following questions: Can science issues affect diplomatic relations between countries? Is international scientific cooperation a factor for peace? Are researchers good ambassadors for their countries? Is scientific influence a particular form of cultural influence on the world stage? Do diplomats really listen to what experts say when negotiating on the future of the planet? Is the independence of the scientist threatened by science diplomacy? What is a scientific attaché for?




Rethinking Religion and World Affairs


Book Description

In recent years, the role of religion in the study and conduct of international affairs has become increasingly important. The essays in this volume seek to question and remedy the problematic neglect of religion in extant scholarship, grappling with puzzles, issues, and questions concerning religion and world affairs in six major areas. Contributors critically revisit the "secularization thesis," which proclaimed the steady erosion of religion's public presence as an effect of modernization; explore the relationship between religion, democracy, and the juridico-political discourse of human rights; assess the role of religion in fomenting, ameliorating, and redressing violent conflict; and consider the value of religious beliefs, actors, and institutions to the delivery of humanitarian aid and the fostering of socio-economic development. Finally, the volume addresses the representation of religion in the expanding global media landscape, the unique place of religion in American foreign policy, and the dilemmas it presents. Drawing on the work of leading scholars as well as policy makers and analysts, Rethinking Religion and World Affairs is the first comprehensive and authoritative guide to the interconnections of religion and global politics.




Survival Nexus


Book Description

"The impact of science and technology on world affairs is shaped by politics, economics, business, ethics, law, psychology, and culture. This nexus is a neglected aspect of international affairs. It cuts across and unites diverse issues critical to human survival: climate change, global health, nuclear weapons, Internet governance, cybersecurity, jobs, competitiveness, poverty, hunger, and the management of new technologies like autonomous weapons, hypersonic missiles, geoengineering, and gene drivers. Advances in science and technology promise both great benefits and critical threats. Appropriate policies can stimulate and guide scientific and technological advance to create new ways to achieve a healthy environment, sustainable energy systems, equitable growth, full employment, and reduced poverty. But we are allowing technology to push ourselves into uncharted and dangerous territory. Long-standing modes of international cooperation are under increasing pressure, and we are making too little effort to strengthen and update them. Nor are we building the strong global norms that we need to manage new technologies. Underlying all of the global problems discussed in this book are considerations of basic ethics: our willingness to respect scientific facts, to act today to forestall long-run dangers, and to ensure equitable sharing of the benefits, costs, and risks from advances in science and technology"--




Science, (Anti-)Communism and Diplomacy


Book Description

From 1957 onwards, the "Pugwash Conferences" brought together elite scientists from across ideological and political divides to work towards disarmament. Through a series of national case studies - Austria, China, Czechoslovakia, East and West Germany, the US and USSR – this volume offers a critical reassessment of the development and work of “Pugwash” nationally, internationally, and as a transnational forum for Track II diplomacy. This major new collection reveals the difficulties that Pugwash scientists encountered as they sought to reach across the blocs, create a channel for East-West dialogue and realize the project’s founding aim of influencing state actors. Uniquely, the book affords a sense of the contingent and contested process by which the network-like organization took shape around the conferences. Contributors are Gordon Barrett, Matthew Evangelista, Silke Fengler, Alison Kraft, Fabian Lüscher, Doubravka Olšáková, Geoffrey Roberts, Paul Rubinson, and Carola Sachse.




Science and World Affairs


Book Description




World Affairs: An Analytical Overview


Book Description

This book provides a systematic and comprehensive overview of a subject that every thoughtful person wants to understand: world affairs. Though many attempts have been made to summarise this subject, all have so far resulted in no more than accounts of current events, issue-areas, and lists of ideologies or perspectives. For the first time it has proven possible, in the light of the assumptions that analysts and practitioners make with regard to human nature, human nurturing practices, and the cultural context of Enlightenment rationalism, to provide a clear and coherent account of the entire discipline. With this account it is evident at once not only what particular analysts or practitioners are saying but also what they are not saying. World Affairs represents, therefore, a superior textbook for graduate or undergraduate students, as well as a unique introduction for academics and general readers who want to know how analytical languages are used to articulate every relevant description, explanation and foreign policy prescription. Examples are drawn from the literature on the subject to exemplify each such language and attention is drawn throughout to their weaknesses and strengths.




China's Cold War Science Diplomacy


Book Description

During the early decades of the Cold War, the People's Republic of China remained outside much of mainstream international science. Nevertheless, Chinese scientists found alternative channels through which to communicate and interact with counterparts across the world, beyond simple East/West divides. By examining the international activities of elite Chinese scientists, Gordon Barrett demonstrates that these activities were deeply embedded in the Chinese Communist Party's wider efforts to win hearts and minds from the 1940s to the 1970s. Using a wide range of archival material, including declassified documents from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archive, Barrett provides fresh insights into the relationship between science and foreign relations in the People's Republic of China.




Global Power Knowledge


Book Description

Osiris annualy examines a particular topic in the history of science, bringing together experts in the field to consider multiple aspects of the time period, episode, or theme. Volume 21, Historical Perspectives on Science, Technology, and International Affairs, explores the ways in which scientists and issues in science and technology have played significant roles in foreign policy and international relations, especially since the Second World War.




Africa in World Affairs


Book Description

Africa finds itself at the centre stage of world politics in the twenty-first century. To truly determine its rising influence and role in world affairs would mean unravelling the politics of imperialism, the Cold War and globalisation. Going beyond Euro-American perspectives, this book presents a comprehensive study of Africa and its role in world politics. Africa in World Affairs: • Closely examines the transition of Africa in its colonial and post-colonial phases; • Explores the intellectual history of modern Africa through liberation struggles, social movements, leaders and thinkers; • Investigates the continent’s relationships with former colonial powers such as Britain, France and Portugal; untangles complexities of French neo-colonialism and sheds light on the role of the superpower, such as the USA and major and rising powers like China and India; • Highlights complex and wide-ranging diversities of the region, and the ways in which it continues to negotiate with issues of modernity, racism and globalisation. A core text on Africa and the world, this book will be indispensable for students of African studies, politics and international relations, and history. It will also be a must-read for policymakers, diplomats and government think tanks.