This chapter examines postcolonial approaches to International Relations (IR) and their foregrounding of the history and politics of colonialism in the making of the modern world. It first considers the concerns, issues, and preoccupations highlighted by postcolonial theory, along with some of the central debates that have shaped its intellectual terrain, and the normative and political commitments that distinguish it from other related fields such as Marxism and poststructuralism. It then discusses the relevance of postcolonialism to the study of international relations and proposes three different ways of engaging with the insights of postcolonial theory within IR that open up new questions, alternative methodologies, and a range of possibilities for narrating a postcolonial IR. Finally, it analyses international concerns about Iran’s nuclear weapons programme from a postcolonial perspective.
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12. Postcolonialism
Shampa Biswas
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14. Postcolonialism
Shampa Biswas
This chapter examines postcolonial approaches to International Relations (IR) and their foregrounding of the history and politics of colonialism in the making of the modern world. It first considers the concerns, issues, and preoccupations highlighted by postcolonial theory, along with some of the central debates that have shaped its intellectual terrain, and the normative and political commitments that distinguish it from other related fields such as Marxism and poststructuralism. It then discusses the relevance of postcolonialism to the study of international relations and proposes three different ways of engaging with the insights of postcolonial theory within IR that open up new questions, alternative methodologies, and a range of possibilities for narrating a postcolonial IR. Finally, it analyses international concerns about Iran’s nuclear weapons programme from a postcolonial perspective.
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15. The Cuban Missile Crisis
Graham Allison
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 remains the defining event of the nuclear age and the most dangerous moment in recorded history. It has become the textbook case not just for nuclear diplomacy but for statecraft in relations between nuclear-weapon states. In the ongoing confrontation with Russia’s President Putin, American leaders have reviewed what President John F. Kennedy did in this crisis for lessons and clues that can be applied to the challenge of the day. For students of international affairs, the Missile Crisis offers the best-documented crisis in history, thanks in particular to tape recordings of most of the White House meetings. This makes it possible to vicariously experience the deliberations of those who considered choices they knew could lead to nuclear war. It also allows us to reconstruct the calculations of both nations as they made choices. Three decision-making models provide lenses for students of foreign policy seeking to understand the behaviour of governments as rational, organizational, and governmental actors.
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11. International humanitarian law
This chapter investigates whether and how the laws that govern armed conflict achieve their objective of minimizing the suffering of combatants and non-combatants alike. International humanitarian law (IHL) reflects the tensions of an international legal order that oscillates between the apologist tendency to reflect state practice and state self-interest and the utopian desire to reflect higher values of justice and human dignity. The chapter begins with a brief overview of the evolution of this body of law, the codification of which dates from the second half of the nineteenth century. It then turns to the question of terminology, analysing the political origins and legal implications of the relatively recent term ‘international humanitarian law’. The chapter focuses on two key questions. Firstly, who or what is a legitimate target during an armed conflict? Secondly, what are legitimate means of conducting armed conflict? The chapter also considers the status of nuclear weapons under international law, a topic that captures well both the possibilities and limits of IHL.
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8. Constructivism And International Relations
This chapter focuses on constructivism relates it to international relations (IR). The core argument of the constructivist perspective revolves around the idea that the world people find themselves in is socially constructed rather than simply given. Moreover, constructivism underscores the ideational aspects of international politics. The chapter compares this to the predominantly materialist explanations offered by mainstream IR theory. The chapter examines the application of constructivism to the analysis of international politics. It then highlights the importance of identity and norms, which are emphasized within constructivism and international politics, before considering the nuclear weapons debate as related to the perspective of constructivism.
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30. Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
Sheena Chestnut Greitens
This chapter focuses on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It examines the patterns that can be observed in the spread and use/non-use of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons since 1945, how nuclear weapons have changed world politics, and whether non-proliferation efforts have been successful. The chapter first provides an overview of WMD technology and its spread before discussing biological and chemical weapons. It then considers theoretical debates about nuclear proliferation and the evolution of non-proliferation efforts. Two case studies are presented, one dealing with the nuclear programme of North Korea and the other looking at the nuclear programme in Iran.
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29. Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
Sheena Chestnut Greitens
This chapter focuses on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It examines the patterns that can be observed in the spread and use/non-use of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons since 1945, how nuclear weapons have changed world politics, and whether non-proliferation efforts have been successful. The chapter first provides an overview of WMD technology and its spread before discussing biological and chemical weapons. It then considers theoretical debates about nuclear proliferation and the evolution of non-proliferation efforts. Two case studies are presented, one dealing with the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the other with the nuclear programmes of North Korea and Iran. There is also an Opposing Opinions box that asks whether the use of chemical weapons in 2013 should have been a red line triggering international intervention in Syria.
