The three main levels of analysis in international relations have been the systemic, the national, and the individual. A fourth level that falls between the systemic and the national is the region. It is woefully underdeveloped in comparison to the attention afforded the other three. Yet regions tend to be distinctive theaters for international politics. Otherwise, we would not recognize that Middle Eastern interstate politics somehow does not resemble Latin American interstate politics or interstate politics in Southern Africa (although once the Middle East and Southern Africa may have seemed more similar in their mutual fixation with opposition to domestic policies in Israel and South Africa, respectively).
This book, divided into three parts, first makes a case for studying regional politics even though it must also be appreciated that regional boundaries are also hazy and not always easy to pin down empirically. The second part examines power distributions within regions as an important entry point to studying regional similarities and differences. Two emphases are stressed. One is that regional power assessments need to be conditioned by controlling for weak states which are more common in some regions than they are in others. The other emphasis is on regional power hierarchies. Some regions have strong regional hierarchies while others do not. Regions with strong hierarchies operate much differently from those without them in the sense that the former are more pacific than the latter. The third part of the book focuses on regional differences in terms of conflict behavior, order preferences, rivalries, and rivalry termination.
Author(s): William R. Thompson, Thomas J. Volgy, Paul Bezerra, Jacob Cramer, Kelly Marie Gordell, Manjeet Pardesi, Karen Rasler, J. Patrick Rhamey Jr., Kentaro Sakuwa, Rachel Van Nostrand, Leila Zakhirova
Series: Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies, 6
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 294
City: Singapore
Contents
1 The Significance of Regional Analyses
References
2 The Case for Comparative Regional Analysis in International Politics
2.1 A Brief Look at the Literature
2.1.1 Where to From Here?
2.2 Delineating Regions
2.3 A Theoretical Framework
2.4 A Theoretical Bet
2.4.1 A Short Propositional Inventory
2.4.2 How Competitive is the Power Environment?
2.4.3 How Extensive are the Fault Lines to be Managed?
2.4.4 When are Regional Powers Capable and Willing to Create Regional Order?
2.5 Conclusion
Appendix 1: List of Regional Categories Used in Quantitative Studies of Conflict and Cooperation
Appendix 2: States, Regions, and Border States, 2001–2010
Appendix 3: Changes in European Regions, Shown by Decades, 1950–1980
References
3 Borders, Rivalry, Democracy, and Conflict in the European Region, 1816–1994
3.1 The Gibler Argument
3.2 Threat, Democracy, and Conflict
3.3 Methodology
3.4 Results
3.5 Conclusion
References
4 In Search of Super Asia
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Whither Super Asia?
4.3 British India, Qing China, and Strategic Asia
4.4 Rise of Japan and World War II
4.5 Evaluating Region-ness in the Post-World War II Era
4.6 The Early Cold War
4.7 Regional Fragmentation and the Cold War
4.8 Re-emergence of Super Asia Following the Cold War
4.9 Conclusions: Looking Forward
References
5 Is There a Central Asia and Does It Matter?
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Background on Regional Subsystems
5.3 Structural Approaches
5.4 Research Design and State Visits Data
5.4.1 Data Restrictions
5.5 Empirical Findings and Analysis
5.5.1 Highly Interactive Subsystem (Model I)
5.5.2 Fragmented Regional Subsystem (Model II)
5.5.3 Russia-centered Subsystem (Model III)
5.6 Concluding Thoughts
References
6 The Strength of Nations: Constrained Indicators and the Salience of Asymmetry in Conflict Relationships
6.1 Introduction
6.2 State Capabilities and State Strength
6.3 Comparing Indicators
6.4 In Search of a Proxy for Government Effectiveness and Control of Corruption
6.5 Do These Modifications Matter? Does Quality of Governance Matter?
6.6 Conclusion
Appendix A: Comparison of Unmodified and Two Modified Indicators of State Strength, Saudi-Iranian Dyad
Appendix B: Comparison of Unconstrained and Constrained Military Expenditure Variables for Predicting MID initiation, Logit Regressions, Using SIPRI as Military Expenditure Source
References
7 Differences in Strength Across Regions
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Measuring Regional Strength
7.2.1 Economic Strength
7.2.2 Military Strength
7.3 Regional Strength Implications
7.3.1 Regional Order Construction
7.3.2 Regional Strength And Regional Penetration
7.3.3 Rising Powers and Regional Strength
7.4 Conclusion
References
8 Conflict, Regions, and Regional Hierarchies
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Theoretical Framework
8.3 Research Design Considerations
8.3.1 Delineating Regions and State Regional Membership
8.3.2 Delineating Regional and Major Powers, and Regions with and without Hierarchy
8.3.3 Dependent Variables: MID Frequency and State MID Involvement
8.3.4 Independent and Control Variables
8.4 Empirical Analysis
8.5 Discussion
Appendix 1: List of ROW Regions, by Decade and Type of Hierarchy
Appendix 2: Patterns of Conflict Across Regions
Appendix 3: List of Variables, Sources, and Manipulations
Appendix 4: Summary Statistics for Dependent and Independent Variables
References
9 Sources of Regional Conflict and Peace in the Empirical International Relations Literature: States, Dyads, and Beyond
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Conflict and Peace Are Spatially Clustered
9.3 Explanations by Aggregating Local States and Dyads
9.4 Conditions Outside Dyads
9.4.1 Diffusion of Conflict
9.4.2 Dyad-to-Dyad Interdependence
9.4.3 Unsettled Borders
9.4.4 Rivalry Dynamics
9.4.5 Mode of Economy and Trade
9.4.6 Local Leadership
9.5 Conclusion
References
10 Bad Neighborhoods in World Politics: Ethnic Political Exclusion, Weak States, and Interstate Territorial Disputes
10.1 Societal Heterogeneity/Weak State Approaches
10.2 Previous Findings
10.3 Research Design
10.3.1 Independent Variable Measures
10.3.2 Dependent Variable: A Binary Measure of Boundary Disputes
10.3.3 Control Variable Measures
10.3.4 The Case for a Monadic (Country-Year) Level of Analysis
10.4 Findings
10.5 Conclusion
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
References
11 Regions and World Order Preferences
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Assessing Global Status Quo Dissatisfaction
11.3 Patterns of Support and Opposition to the Liberal World Order
11.4 Regional Variation in Support for the LWO
11.4.1 Regions Supporting the LWO
11.4.2 Regions Opposing the LWO
11.4.3 Regions that Changed Their Status Quo Evaluations
11.5 Discussion
11.6 Conclusion
Appendix 1: Regions in World Politics
Appendix 2: Patterns of Opposition to the LWO by Consistent Opponents of the Global Order
References
Index
