Towards A Westphalia for the Middle East

Towards A Westphalia for the Middle East PDF Author: Patrick Milton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190058005
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
It was the original forever war, which went on interminably, fuelled by religious fanaticism, personal ambition, fear of hegemony, and communal suspicion. It dragged in all the neighbouring powers. It was punctuated by repeated failed ceasefires. It inflicted suffering beyond belief and generated waves of refugees. No, this is not Syria today, but the Thirty Years' War (1618-48), which turned Germany and much of central Europe into a disaster zone. The Thirty Years' War is often cited as a parallel in discussions of the Middle East. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the conflict in 1648, has featured strongly in such discussions, usually with the observation that recent events in some parts of the region have seen the collapse of ideas of state sovereignty--ideas that supposedly originated with the 1648 settlement. Axworthy, Milton and Simms argue that the Westphalian treaties, far from enshrining state sovereignty, in fact reconfigured and strengthened a structure for legal resolution of disputes, and provided for intervention by outside guarantor powers to uphold the peace settlement. This book argues that the history of Westphalia may hold the key to resolving the new long wars in the Middle East today.

Towards A Westphalia for the Middle East

Towards A Westphalia for the Middle East PDF Author: Patrick Milton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190058005
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233

Get Book Here

Book Description
It was the original forever war, which went on interminably, fuelled by religious fanaticism, personal ambition, fear of hegemony, and communal suspicion. It dragged in all the neighbouring powers. It was punctuated by repeated failed ceasefires. It inflicted suffering beyond belief and generated waves of refugees. No, this is not Syria today, but the Thirty Years' War (1618-48), which turned Germany and much of central Europe into a disaster zone. The Thirty Years' War is often cited as a parallel in discussions of the Middle East. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the conflict in 1648, has featured strongly in such discussions, usually with the observation that recent events in some parts of the region have seen the collapse of ideas of state sovereignty--ideas that supposedly originated with the 1648 settlement. Axworthy, Milton and Simms argue that the Westphalian treaties, far from enshrining state sovereignty, in fact reconfigured and strengthened a structure for legal resolution of disputes, and provided for intervention by outside guarantor powers to uphold the peace settlement. This book argues that the history of Westphalia may hold the key to resolving the new long wars in the Middle East today.

Towards A Westphalia for the Middle East

Towards A Westphalia for the Middle East PDF Author: Patrick Milton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190057955
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
It was the original forever war, which went on interminably, fuelled by religious fanaticism, personal ambition, fear of hegemony, and communal suspicion. It dragged in all the neighbouring powers. It was punctuated by repeated failed ceasefires. It inflicted suffering beyond belief and generated waves of refugees. No, this is not Syria today, but the Thirty Years' War (1618-48), which turned Germany and much of central Europe into a disaster zone. The Thirty Years' War is often cited as a parallel in discussions of the Middle East. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the conflict in 1648, has featured strongly in such discussions, usually with the observation that recent events in some parts of the region have seen the collapse of ideas of state sovereignty--ideas that supposedly originated with the 1648 settlement. Axworthy, Milton and Simms argue that the Westphalian treaties, far from enshrining state sovereignty, in fact reconfigured and strengthened a structure for legal resolution of disputes, and provided for intervention by outside guarantor powers to uphold the peace settlement. This book argues that the history of Westphalia may hold the key to resolving the new long wars in the Middle East today.

Doves Among Hawks

Doves Among Hawks PDF Author: Samy Cohen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190077743
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
What has become of Israel's peace movement? In the early 1980s, it was a major political force, bringing hundreds of thousands onto the streets; but since then, its importance has declined amid spiraling violence. Now, and especially since the second Intifada of 2000-5, the 'doves' of the Israel/Palestine conflict struggle to be heard over its 'hawks', and the days of mass mobilization are over. Doves Among Hawks charts the successes and failures of a beleaguered peace movement, from its formation after the Six-Day War to the current security-obsessed climate, where Israel's 'doves' seem to be fighting a lost and outdated battle. Samy Cohen's history of a peace process that once took on the Israeli settler movements exposes how that cause has been derailed and demoralized by suicide attacks. But the peace movement isn't dead--it has simply transformed. From human rights monitors to lobbies of the bereaved, Cohen reveals a multitude of smaller, grassroots organizations that have emerged with unexpected energy. These lawyers, doctors, army reservists, former diplomats and senior security personnel are the unsung heroes of his story.

The Peace of Westphalia

The Peace of Westphalia PDF Author: Derek Croxton
Publisher: Greenwood
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
The peace of Westphalia constituted a watershed in early modern history. It guided a number of political, territorial, and legal decisions that determined the internal politics of the Holy Roman Empire and the international landscape. This work provides an insight into the Peace of Westphalia.

America in Retreat

America in Retreat PDF Author: Bret Stephens
Publisher: Sentinel
ISBN: 1595231218
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
"Americans are weary of acting as the world's policeman, especially in the face of our unending economic troubles at home. President Obama stands for cutting defense budgets, leaving Afghanistan, abandoning Iraq, appeasing Russia, and offering premature declarations of victory over al Qaeda. Meanwhile, some Republicans now also argue for a far smaller and less expensive American footprint abroad. Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens rejects this view. As he sees it, retreating from our global responsibilities will ultimately exact a devastating price to our security and prosperity. In the 1930s, it was the weakness and vacillation of the democracies that led to war and genocide. Today the regimes in Tehran, Damascus, Beijing, and Moscow continue to test America's will. Americans have often been tempted to turn our backs on a world that fails to live up to our idealism and doesn't easily bend. But succumbing to that temptation always leads to tragedy. The mantle of global leadership is a responsibility we must shoulder for the sake of our freedom, our prosperity, and our safety"--

Guardians of the Arab State

Guardians of the Arab State PDF Author: Florence Gaub
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781849046480
Category : Arab countries
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This trenchant history of praetorianism in the Arab world recounts the baleful influence of the armed forces in shaping the region's political landscape over the last three decades.

Iranian Ways of War

Iranian Ways of War PDF Author: Ahmed S. Hashim
Publisher: Hurst & Company
ISBN: 9781787380349
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
This book traces the long history of Iran's wars, and the evolution of the Islamic Republic's military trajectory since 1979. Ahmed Hashim draws on Farsi, Arabic and European sources to explore Iran's efforts to create modern armed forces, the devastating Iran-Iraq War (1980-8), and Tehran's evolving fighting capabilities in Syria and Iraq. This analysis offers clues as to how Iran may fare--directly or by proxy--in future confrontations with its enemies, including the US and Israel. Above all, Iranian Ways of War addresses how Iran fights, and why. It offers a corrective to prevailing narratives about its bellicose character and alleged mischief-making throughout the Middle East and beyond. Hashim unpacks with nuance Iran's milestone agreement to curb its nuclear weapons development, within the context of an unstable regional environment that is full of myriad enemies and complicating historical factors affecting Iranian decision-makers' psyches. A long history of confrontation with America, and the feeling of perceived victimhood as a Shia entity in an overwhelmingly Sunni Middle East, have primed Iran for war.

The Frailty of Authority

The Frailty of Authority PDF Author: Lorenzo Kamel
Publisher: Edizioni Nuova Cultura
ISBN: 8868128284
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
Governance failures, combined with 21st-century social, economic, environmental and demographic conditions, have all contributed to paving the way for the rise of highly heterogeneous non-state and quasi-state actors in the Middle East. Has the state, then, been irremediably undermined, or will the current transition lead to the emergence of new state entities? How can the crumbling of states and the redrawing of borders be reconciled with the exacerbation of traditional inter-state competition, including through proxy wars? How can a new potential regional order be framed and imagined? This volume provides a historical background and policy answers to these and a number of other related questions, analysing developments in the region from the standpoint of the interplay between disintegration and polarization.

Secret Societies of the Middle Ages

Secret Societies of the Middle Ages PDF Author: Thomas Keightley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Assassins (Ismailites)
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description


Re-envisioning Sovereignty

Re-envisioning Sovereignty PDF Author: Trudy Jacobsen
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 1409496082
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 406

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Book Description
Sovereignty, as a concept, is in a state of flux. In the course of the last century, traditional meanings have been worn away while the limitations of sovereignty have been altered as transnational issues compete with domestic concerns for precedence. This volume presents an interdisciplinary analysis of conceptions of sovereignty. Divided into six overarching elements, it explores a wide range of issues that have altered the theory and practice of state sovereignty, such as: human rights and the use of force for human protection purposes, norms relating to governance, the war on terror, economic globalization, the natural environment and changes in strategic thinking. The authors are acknowledged experts in their respective areas, and discuss the contemporary meaning and relevance of sovereignty and how it relates to the constitution of international order.