Diplomatic Afterlives

Diplomatic Afterlives

Author: Andrew F. Cooper

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-12-11

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 0745687369

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No longer content to fade away into comfortable retirement, agrowing number of former political leaders have pursued diplomaticafterlives. From Nelson Mandela to Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton,to Tony Blair and Mikhail Gorbachev, this set of highly-empoweredindividuals increasingly try to make a difference on the globalstage by capitalizing on their free-lance celebrity status while atthe same time building on their embedded ?club? attributes andconnections. In this fascinating book, Andrew F. Cooper provides the firstin-depth study of the motivations, methods, and contributions madeby these former leaders as they take on new responsibilities beyondservice to their national states. While this growing trend may beopen to accusations of mixing public goods with private materialgain, or personal quests to rehabilitate political image, it must ?he argues ? be taken seriously as a compelling indication of thepolitical climate, in which powerful individuals can operateoutside of established state structures. As Cooper ably shows,there are benefits to be reaped from this new normativeentrepreneurism, but its range and impact nonetheless raiselegitimate concerns about the privileging of unaccountableauthority. Mixing big picture context and illustrative snapshots,Diplomatic Afterlives offers an illuminating analysis of theinfluence and the pitfalls of this highly visible butunder-scrutinized phenomenon in world politics.


Race After Technology

Race After Technology

Author: Ruha Benjamin

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-07-09

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 1509526439

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From everyday apps to complex algorithms, Ruha Benjamin cuts through tech-industry hype to understand how emerging technologies can reinforce White supremacy and deepen social inequity. Benjamin argues that automation, far from being a sinister story of racist programmers scheming on the dark web, has the potential to hide, speed up, and deepen discrimination while appearing neutral and even benevolent when compared to the racism of a previous era. Presenting the concept of the “New Jim Code,” she shows how a range of discriminatory designs encode inequity by explicitly amplifying racial hierarchies; by ignoring but thereby replicating social divisions; or by aiming to fix racial bias but ultimately doing quite the opposite. Moreover, she makes a compelling case for race itself as a kind of technology, designed to stratify and sanctify social injustice in the architecture of everyday life. This illuminating guide provides conceptual tools for decoding tech promises with sociologically informed skepticism. In doing so, it challenges us to question not only the technologies we are sold but also the ones we ourselves manufacture. Visit the book's free Discussion Guide here.


The Geoeconomic Diplomacy of European Sanctions

The Geoeconomic Diplomacy of European Sanctions

Author: Kim B. Olsen

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2022-08-01

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 9004518835

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This book introduces the concept of geoeconomic diplomacy to unearth the diplomatic actors and ‘networked practices’ that shaped the implementation of the European Union’s far-reaching sanctions regimes against Russia and Syria, some of its most significant geoeconomic interventions of the past decade.


Think Tank Diplomacy

Think Tank Diplomacy

Author: Melissa Conley Tyler

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2017-10-02

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13: 9004331212

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Not long ago, the idea of think tank diplomacy would have provoked scepticism. But if a key aspect of diplomacy is how countries are seen abroad, official diplomats are not the only actors. In contexts as diverse as Syria, Myanmar and the South China Sea, think tanks exercise influence and deserve detailed study.


Afghanistan and the Coloniality of Diplomacy

Afghanistan and the Coloniality of Diplomacy

Author: Maximilian Drephal

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-09-25

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 3030239608

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This book offers an institutional history of the British Legation in Kabul, which was established in response to the independence of Afghanistan in 1919. It contextualises this diplomatic mission in the wider remit of Anglo-Afghan relations and diplomacy from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, examining the networks of family and profession that established the institution’s colonial foundations and its connections across South Asia and the Indian Ocean. The study presents the British Legation as a late imperial institution, which materialised colonialism's governmental practices in the age of independence. Ultimately, it demonstrates the continuation of asymmetries forged in the Anglo-Afghan encounter and shows how these were transformed into instances of diplomatic inequality in the realm of international relations. Approaching diplomacy through the themes of performance, the body and architecture, and in the context of knowledge transfers, this work offers new perspectives on international relations through a cultural history of diplomacy.


After the Apocalypse

After the Apocalypse

Author: Srećko Horvat

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2021-02-11

Total Pages: 107

ISBN-13: 1509540091

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In this post-apocalyptic rollercoaster ride, philosopher Srećko Horvat invites us to explore the Apocalypse in terms of ‘revelation’ (rather than as the ‘end’ itself). He argues that the only way to prevent the end – i.e., extinction – is to engage in a close reading of various interconnected threats, such as climate crisis, the nuclear age and the ongoing pandemic. Drawing on the work of neglected philosopher Günther Anders, this book outlines a philosophical approach to deal with what Horvat, borrowing a term from climate science and giving it a theological twist, calls ‘eschatological tipping points’. These are no longer just the nuclear age or climate crisis, but their collision, conjoined with various other major threats – not only pandemics, but also the viruses of capitalism and fascism. In his investigation of the future of places such as Chernobyl, the Mediterranean and the Marshall Islands, as well as many others affected by COVID-19, Horvat contends that the ‘revelation’ appears simple and unprecedented: the alternatives are no longer socialism or barbarism – our only alternatives today are a radical reinvention of the world, or mass extinction. After the Apocalypse is an urgent call not only to mourn tomorrow’s dead today but to struggle for our future while we can.


Not Saved

Not Saved

Author: Peter Sloterdijk

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2017-05-23

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0745697003

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One can rightly say of Peter Sloterdijk that each of his essays and lectures is also an unwritten book. That is why the texts presented here, which sketch a philosophical physiognomy of Martin Heidegger, should also be characterized as a collected renunciation of exhaustiveness. In order to situate Heidegger's thought in the history of ideas and problems, Peter Sloterdijk approaches Heidegger's work with questions such as: If Western philosophy emerged from the spirit of the polis, what are we to make of the philosophical suitability of a man who never made a secret of his stubborn attachment to rural life? Is there a provincial truth of which the cosmopolitan city knows nothing? Is there a truth in country roads and cabins that would be able to undermine the universities with their standardized languages and globally influential discourses? From where does this odd professor speak, when from his professorial chair in Freiburg he claims to inquire into what lies beyond the history of Western metaphysics? Sloterdijk also considers several other crucial twentieth-century thinkers who provide some needed contrast for the philosophical physiognomy of Martin Heidegger. A consideration of Niklas Luhmann as a kind of contemporary version of the Devil's Advocate, a provocative critical interpretation of Theodor Adorno's philosophy that focuses on its theological underpinnings and which also includes reflections on the philosophical significance of hyperbole, and a short sketch of the pessimistic thought of Emil Cioran all round out and deepen Sloterdijk's attempts to think with, against, and beyond Heidegger. Finally, in essays such as "Domestication of Being" and the "Rules for the Human Park," which incited an international controversy around the time of its publication and has been translated afresh for this volume, Sloterdijk develops some of his most intriguing and important ideas on anthropogenesis, humanism, technology, and genetic engineering.


Debating Public Diplomacy

Debating Public Diplomacy

Author: Jan Melissen

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 9004410821

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This book is a much-needed update on our understanding of public diplomacy. With influential academic voices exploring policy implications for tomorrow, this collection of essays is also forward-looking by examining unfolding trends in public diplomacy strategies and practices.


Kenya's and Zambia's Relations with China 1949-2019

Kenya's and Zambia's Relations with China 1949-2019

Author: Jodie Yuzhou Sun

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2023-01-17

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 1847013392

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Examines the history of post-colonial Kenya's and Zambia's relations with the People's Republic of China from ideological, political, economic and social perspectives. Africa has become a major platform from which to analyse and understand China's growing influence in the global South. Yet, the impact of their historical relationship has been largely overlooked. Through the triangulation of the global Cold War, African history, and Chinese history, this study provides a detailed analysis of China-Africa relations in the second half of the 20th century. Examining the encounters, conflicts, and dynamics of China-Kenya/Zambia relations from the 1950s until the present, as well as the basis on which historical narratives have been constructed, the book presents two contrasting state perspectives underlining the concept of 'African agency'. Driven by a class-based analysis of world revolution, Communist China's foreign policy did not distinguish significantly between Kenya and Zambia. Both countries sought ideological and material support from China in the years after their independence. The Kenya African National Union under both Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi pursued a consistently pragmatic foreign agenda, and despite political tensions and ideological rifts with China since the mid-1960s, Sino-Kenyan trade has continued to grow steadily. In contrast, China-Zambia relations under Kenneth Kaunda were cordial despite their political differences. Zambian leaders maintained a relatively high consensus that any alleged Chinese Communist threat would not be allowed to fuel power struggles within their United National Independence Party. Challenging both the widely accepted role of China-Africa's historical lineage, as well as the tendency to assume uniformity in China's relationships across the continent, the author explains the development of these relationships and sheds light on the historical underpinnings - or lack thereof - on contemporary China-Africa relations.