Great Powers Foreign Policy

Introduction: the guns of August -- Contours of Russian foreign policy -- Bulldogs fighting under the rug: the making of Russian foreign policy -- Resetting expectations: Russia and the United States -- Europe: between integration and confrontation -- Rising China and Russia's Asian vector -- Playing with home field advantage? Russia and its post-Soviet neighbors -- Conclusion: dealing with Russia's foreign policy reawakening.

Many foreign policy analysts assume that elite policymakers in liberal democracies consistently ignore humanitarian norms when these norms interfere with commercial and strategic interests. Today's endorsement by Western governments of repressive regimes in countries from Kazakhstan to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in the name of fighting terror only reinforces this opinion. In Just Politics, C. William Walldorf Jr. challenges this conventional wisdom, arguing that human rights concerns have often led democratic great powers to sever vital strategic partnerships even when it has not been in their interest to do so.Walldorf sets out his case in detailed studies of British alliance relationships with the Ottoman Empire and Portugal in the nineteenth century and of U.S. partnerships with numerous countries—ranging from South Africa, Turkey, Greece and El Salvador to Nicaragua, Chile, and Argentina—during the Cold War. He finds that illiberal behavior by partner states, varying degrees of pressure by nonstate actors, and legislative activism account for the decisions by democracies to terminate strategic partnerships for human rights reasons.To demonstrate the central influence of humanitarian considerations and domestic politics in the most vital of strategic moments of great-power foreign policy, Walldorf argues that Western governments can and must integrate human rights into their foreign policies. Failure to take humanitarian concerns into account, he contends, will only damage their long-term strategic objectives.

The nature of the US political system, with its overlapping powers, intense partisanship, and continuous scrutiny from the media and public, complicates the conduct of foreign policy. While numerous presidents have struggled under the weight of these conditions, Theodore Roosevelt thrived and is widely lauded for his diplomacy. Roosevelt played a crucial role in the nation's rise to world power, competition with other new Great Powers such as Germany and Japan, and US participation in World War I. He was able to implement the majority of his agenda even though he was confronted by a hostile Democratic Party, suspicious conservatives in the Republican Party, and the social and political ferment of the progressive era. The president, John M. Thompson argues, combined a compelling vision for national greatness, considerable political skill, faith in the people and the US system, and an emphasis on providing leadership. It helped that the public mood was not isolationist, but was willing to support all of his major objectives-though Roosevelt's feel for the national mood was crucial, as was his willingness to compromise when necessary. This book traces the reactions of Americans to the chief foreign policy events of the era and the ways in which Roosevelt responded to and sought to shape his political environment. Offering the first analysis of the politics of foreign policy for the entirety of Roosevelt's career, Great Power Rising sheds new light on the twenty-sixth president and the nation's emergence as a preeminent player in international affairs.

"A superb book.…Mearsheimer has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the behavior of great powers."—Barry R. Posen, The National Interest The updated edition of this classic treatise on the behavior of great powers takes a penetrating look at the question likely to dominate international relations in the twenty-first century: Can China rise peacefully? In clear, eloquent prose, John Mearsheimer explains why the answer is no: a rising China will seek to dominate Asia, while the United States, determined to remain the world's sole regional hegemon, will go to great lengths to prevent that from happening. The tragedy of great power politics is inescapable.

The book analyzes Brazil's Africa engagement as a rising power's strategy to gain global recognition, linking it to Brazil's broader foreign policy objectives and shedding light on the mechanisms of Brazilian status-seeking in Africa.

This book presents the theoretical-historical-comparative political framework needed to fully grasp the truly dynamic nature of 21st century global affairs. The author provides a realistic assessment of the shift from U.S predominance to a new mix of counterbalancing rival middle-tier and assertive regional powers, while highlighting those geopolitical zones of contention most critical for future international stability. The book will appeal to scholars and policy makers interested in understanding the contours of the emerging world order, and in identifying its principal shapers and leading political actors.

Great Powers and Regional Orders explores the manifestations of US power in the Persian Gulf and the limits of American influence. Significantly, this volume explores both the impact of US domestic politics and the role played by the region itself in terms of regional policy, order and stability. Well organized and logically structured, Markus Kaim and contributors have produced a new and unique contribution to the field that is applicable not only to US policy in the Persian Gulf but also to many other regional contexts. This will interest anyone working or researching within foreign policy, US and Middle Eastern politics.

This book provides a timely comparative analysis on the foreign policy of eleven great powers, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s war against the West and the global competition reshaping the world order.

Do great leaders make history? Or are they compelled to act by historical circumstance? This debate has remained unresolved since Thomas Carlyle and Karl Marx framed it in the mid-nineteenth century, yet implicit answers inform our policies and our views of history. In this book, Professor Bear F. Braumoeller argues persuasively that both perspectives are correct: leaders shape the main material and ideological forces of history that subsequently constrain and compel them. His studies of the Congress of Vienna, the interwar period, and the end of the Cold War illustrate this dynamic, and the data he marshals provide systematic evidence that leaders both shape and are constrained by the structure of the international system.