Much of our contemporary political discourse rests on unquestioned assumptions. This book questions these underlying assumptions and then offers new, unconventional answers.

Disputes over how to use government power assume that the use of government power is morally justified. Arguments over voting and the scope of democratic government assume that democracy is coherent form of government. Disputes over whether certain actions violate the rule of law assume that the rule of law is a genuine political value. Arguments over the scope of discrimination and affirmative action assume that there is an anti-discrimination principle that applies to all parties. And arguments over how to punish corporations assume that corporations can and should be punished.

Each chapter of the book addresses one of these assumptions, and each is designed to serve both an educational and an argumentative purpose. Each begins with the educational aspect by providing the reader with necessary background information and a description of the current state of intellectual debate on the relevant subject. The chapter then proceeds to the argumentative stage by identifying the assumption upon which this debate rests, presenting reasons to believe that it is false, and presenting an alternative resolution to the debate.

This book offers a critical contribution to feminist peace and disaster research by challenging the successful disaster recovery narrative of the Kachchh 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, India.

Engaging in a feminist intersectional analysis of complex cascades of violence, the book uses a theoretical and methodological approach to studying cascades of violence of populist post-disaster recovery, communal violence, and urban development - each with implications for intersectional social divisions, ecology, and thus, everyday peace. The book follows the mundane everyday and life-historical trajectories of the residents of the temporary shelter neighbourhood in Bhuj, drawing attention to an emerging feminist peace from below through silent resistance, care, and solidarity. It demonstrates that the impacts of disaster populism in the name of being "pro-poor" do not impact the marginalised segments of the society and disaster-affected communities, even within the same neighbourhood of the dispossessed, in the same ways. Combining underexplored newspaper and project documentation archives, the speeches of Narendra Modi delivered in Kachchh, and urban life historical ethnography, the book offers a rich analysis of gendered and intersectional experiences of how dispossession and mundane violence are embedded in the earthquake recovery - and how international humanitarian aid and urban disaster recovery are entangled with complex cascades of violence.

This book will be of much interest to students of feminist theory, peace studies, post-disaster recovery, and South Asian politics.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

This handbook provides a comprehensive study of India's maritime heritage. It presents perspectives on India's maritime history, territorial concerns, bilateral and multilateral engagements, traditional and non-traditional threats, maritime management and development, as well as climate change and its implications. The volume brings together accomplished academicians and practitioners who, through multidisciplinary and analytical methodologies, examine the concerns and challenges India faces at present or might face in the immediate future, focusing on crucial actors, policies and new developments. In doing so, the handbook provides an invaluable and pragmatic understanding of and solutions to India's maritime needs.

This volume is an indispensable resource for scholars, teachers and researchers of political science, international relations, South Asian studies, South Asian politics, history, defence and strategic studies, foreign policy, maritime strategy and security.

This book focuses on the naming tradition among the Yoruba, one of Africa's largest ethnic groups, consisting of over 40 million people.

Investigating the sociocultural significance of names in Yoruba society, the book shows how names act as distinctive markers, separating the Yoruba out from over 250 other ethnic groups in Nigeria. These names are not just labels, but affirmations of a shared identity and heritage. Names can serve as symbolic representations of a family's history, ancestral traditions, or significant events, thereby linking the bearers to their lineage. Based on extensive qualitative data from over 100 native speakers, the book shows how names can reflect joy, sorrow, or even political stances. The book goes on to consider how names are also used in non-human contexts, such as for naming places or pets. Overall, the book paints a rich picture of the social and cultural functions of Yoruba names, and how these functions affect the ways in which names are given, received, and perceived.

Unprecedented in its in-depth and nuanced analysis of Yoruba naming practices, this book will be of interest to readers in African studies, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, cultural studies, gender studies and history.

Explains how Ukraine's 2014 turn to the West was intertwined with events in the Baltic states -which influenced, and were affected by, developments in Kyiv.

2024 marked the tenth anniversary of Ukraine's Maidan Revolution-a landmark event in the evolution of the post-Cold War global order. What had started in late 2013 as a diplomatic showdown between Kyiv, Brussels and Moscow over Ukraine's Association Agreement with the EU culminated in Europe's deadliest conflict since the Second World War.

Kyiv's bold shift towards the West in 2014 had been closely connected with the Baltic-both evolving in light of, and contributing to, policy developments in the greater region. Russia's annexation of Crimea and invasion of Donbas triggered a rethink of security policy across this part of the continent, including defence planning, military spending, troop deployment and the region's positioning within the Euro-Atlantic security architecture.

Maidan also reopened questions of Ukraine's membership in, and Russia's relationship with, NATO. Kyiv's geopolitical reorientation further rekindled historical memory of Ukraine's association with the wider Baltic, and inspired new thinking around a future geopolitical bloc comprising the so-called 'lands in between'.

This volume brings together leading experts of the history, theory and practice of international relations to examine the greater Baltic's role in, and responses to, Maidan and its aftermath- consequential developments that continue to reshape Europe today.

From the Gulf War to Gaza, a compelling critique of how and why Washington ensnared itself so destructively in the Middle East.

After Hamas' shocking 2023 attack on Israel, the United States stood firmly behind Israel's near-genocidal war on Gaza, despite widespread moral outrage and significant damage to Washington's global agenda. But Gaza is only the latest paradox in thirty-five years of Middle East policy. How did this pattern develop, why can't policymakers learn from repeated Middle Eastern calamities, and what does Gaza's destruction mean for America's place in the world?

Marc Lynch charts the United States' disastrously failed approach to the post-Cold War Middle East, where aspirations for US leadership and a calm region have only produced war, instability and humanitarian catastrophe. Lynch exposes the failure of each president's efforts to transform the Middle East in America's image, or pivot away from the region; Washington's refusal to take seriously the views of Middle Easterners; and its fantasy of forging a regional order 'without' the Palestinian issue.

Moving between American politics and Middle Eastern realities, this incisive account explains why US policy has not changed despite its horrifying human costs, from Iraq, Lebanon and Syria to Iran, Yemen and Libya.

A fresh portrait of Greece's forgotten Near Eastern identity, with old cultural, political and economic ties reforming in today's turbulent world.
Caught between wars raging in both Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Greece is an island of relative stability. Popularly considered the cradle of Western civilisation, this is a Christian Orthodox state on the edge of the Islamic world. And, after a half-century of integration into NATO and the EU, Greece is now reabsorbing into the Near East, as the West fractures and new Middle Eastern powers rise. The country's importance as a cultural and geopolitical hybrid is growing.

Travelling through the region, Sean Mathews explores at ground level the tectonic shifts reshaping Europe and the Middle East. He meets the last Greek merchants in Cairo, and hears from Istanbul's remaining Greeks about Turkey's break with the West. In Jerusalem, he discovers a budding alliance between Greece and Israel; and in a faded Ottoman port, he encounters football hooligans loyal to a Russian oligarch.

This bold reappraisal of Greece as a Near Eastern nation uncovers its Byzantine and Ottoman past as a key to survival in today's chaotic, shrinking world.

This revised and updated eleventh edition of the bestselling textbook Politics UK is an indispensable introduction to British politics. It provides a thorough and accessible overview of the institutions and processes of British government, an excellent grounding in British political history and an incisive introduction to the issues and challenges facing Britain today.

This edition welcomes rigorously updated revised chapters. It delivers excellent coverage of contemporary events, with significant new material covering the tumultuous end of the dominant Conservative party era under Johnson; the brief and contrasting Truss and Sunak premierships, followed by the seismic Labour general election victory for Keir Starmer in 2024 and the first stuttering steps of the new administration; the continued cost of living crisis and inflation; continued challenges around the UK's place in a post-Brexit world and position on the invasion of Ukraine, climate change, and much more.

Other features of the new edition include:

• A wide range of illustrative material, boxes and case studies providing illuminating examples alongside the analysis.
• A comprehensive 'who's who' of politics in the form of Profile boxes featuring key political figures.
• Point of View pieces containing short articles on salient and pressing topics, written by distinguished commentators including Sir Anthony Seldon, Claire Ainsley, David Gauke and James O'Brien.
• Online resources including interactive questions per chapter, flashcards of key terms, annotated weblinks, new discussion questions, video interviews with politicians and more.

With chapters written by highly respected scholars in the field and contemporary articles on real-world politics from well-known political commentators, this textbook is an essential guide for all students of British politics.

This handbook provides a methodical, comprehensive, and unifying overview of the vibrant yet disparate scholarship on populism and foreign policy. By mapping the debates and existing findings, as well as presenting the different conceptual and theoretical lenses, the handbook provides new insights as to how, whether, and to what extent, populism influences foreign policy. Carefully selected international contributors connect their own work to others to offer a thorough, theoretically informed, and empirically tested academic treatment of the topic across a number of cases where populist actors are, or have been, in power. Divided into four parts (Concepts and Theories; Factors and Processes; Actors and Structures; Issues and Policy Areas), the diverse and comprehensive insights on the global, cross-regional, and transnational dimensions of populism will be of interest to scholars and students of international relations, political science, public policy, foreign policy, political theory, populism, and area studies. This text will also be of interest to those working from the perspectives of Sociology, Law, and History, as well as to the practitioners of international politics.

This book is a searing history of Indo-Afghan relations. It looks at how Afghanistan, once the heartland of India, has now been reduced to a troubled cousin in the contemporary era. Drawing on archival records, as well as ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Persian literature, the book traces the history of Afghanistan from ancient times up to the recent Taliban takeover of the country in 2020. It presents an analytical history of race, culture, and belonging in a world shaken and transformed by colonization. The author provides a new interpretation of the region and discusses South Asia's courteous racial etiquette.

An indispensable read, the book will be useful for students and researchers of history, Middle East and Central Asian studies, international relations, politics, development studies, and Asian studies.

A homage to the late, great scholar of war, exploring his considerable legacy and engaging with questions of conflict and strategy in the same spirit.

From the collapse of the Soviet Union and the 'end of history' to the rise of Islamist terrorism and the onset of the 'war on terror', and now finally a return to great power politics-the last thirty years have been some of the most unsettled in a generation or two. Through it all, Professor Christopher Coker's thinking on war and strategy was among the most original and insightful. His impact on the contemporary understanding of conflict cannot be overstated.

Through his twenty-seven books, Coker's ideas-and his captivating writing-have influenced politicians, generals and generations of scholars. This volume is an extended examination of the man and his oeuvre, written by those who worked with him, learned from him, and were intellectually inspired by him.

Leading scholars will examine the implications of emerging technology in warfare; the challenges of war in an era of terrorism; the humanitarian dimension of war; and notions of war as risk management. In a homage to Coker's engagement with literature and philosophy, additional chapters will explore how we write about war, the role or meaning of human nature in war, and the tragic in war.

This book provides a compelling analysis of proxy warfare and its far-reaching implications for statehood, focusing on the conflict in Afghanistan. Introducing the innovative concept of 'state-wrecking', it bridges theory and practice to unravel how external support for insurgent actors fuels violence, undermines territorial control and sovereignty, intensifies violence, and dismantles political legitimacy. The work shifts the discourse on proxy wars from the strategies of global powers to the procedural and structural impacts within target states.
Grounded in rigorous empirical research, including interviews, archival data, and conflict analysis, the book critically examines the Pakistan-Taliban nexus and the limitations of US-led interventions. By blending a robust theoretical framework with in-depth case studies, it reveals how proxy dynamics shape conflicts, disrupt governance, and challenge international security. This is an essential resource for those seeking to understand the entanglements of modern warfare and the fragility of states under external influence.

Social Network Analysis and Text Mining for Big Data presents cutting-edge methods and tools that bridge the gap between text mining and social network analysis research while also providing new insights for analyzing (big) textual and network data. These tools are designed to cater to the needs of both business analysts and researchers to facilitate the creation of groundbreaking analytics.

Beginning with clear definitions of social network analysis and text mining, this book benefits from a thoughtfully curated selection of methods and tools, drawn from the authors' extensive research in the field. The focus then shifts to demonstrate how the interplay between words and networks can unlock the full potential of big data analytics. A centerpiece of the book is the Semantic Brand Score (SBS), a versatile and powerful metric for assessing brand importance through text analysis. All of the above is corroborated and illustrated with practical applications and case studies showing the value of these analytics in supporting change and improved managerial decisions. It also introduces a specialized software tool which enables users to perform the analyses detailed in the text.

This book is a must-read for business leaders, marketing professionals, policymakers, researchers, and university students. It offers practical insights and actionable advice for achieving increased performance of companies and societal actions. The writing is tailored to make complex concepts accessible to both experienced researchers and readers who are new to the field.

This book presents realistic alternatives to security policies based on nuclear weapons for the Northeast Asian region.

Northeast Asian governments and populations feel less secure than ever, and the governments of the USA, Russia, China, and North Korea are all expending considerable resources on increasing their nuclear arsenals. This book presents realistic alternatives to security policies dependent on threats to use nuclear weapons and demonstrations of the resolve to use them in a war. Those alternatives are grounded in the well-established concept of common security. The long-term goal of these alternatives is the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia. This book demonstrates that lessons learned during the creation of existing nuclear-weapon-free zones can be successfully adapted, using the proposed alternatives to nuclear threats, to the considerably more challenging circumstances that exist in contemporary Northeast Asia. More importantly, it makes the case that the mere process of pursuing this objective, even if the goal is not realized for many decades, would help facilitate regional risk-reduction measures and global nuclear arms control measures that could lead, in the long term, to the general and complete disarmament promised by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) of 2021. This book will be of interest to students of nuclear proliferation, Asian security, foreign policy, and International Relations.

Argues for a reconceptualisation of global--particularly East Asian--security, to recognise its new forms and dimensions as global power is itself being redefined.

The world is at an inflection point. In an era marked by intense geopolitical competition and rapid technological advancements, understanding and navigating the complex interplay of business, politics, security and technology has never been more essential.

Global in scope and evidence-based, Tech-Gemony illuminates how national security has been redefined in the digital age. Unique in approach, the authors combine deep policy expertise with extensive business experience to introduce a transformative concept: the 'new national security economy'. Within this framework, the economic battlefield is the central arena of competition, in which mastery of emerging technologies will shape the future of world diplomacy and power dynamics--and, ultimately, our collective future.

Companies are unprepared for this new world, despite being increasingly vital participants in geopolitics. There is a need to recognise and adapt to new risks; to develop expertise, and rethink traditional approaches to risk management. This book provides practical, actionable strategies for leaders and organisations struggling with this emerging reality.

The new national security economy is a defining feature of our evolving world. Tech-Gemony provides essential guidance for individuals, businesses and governments to help them navigate this perilous moment.

Charts Qatar's key role in shaping and determining diplomatic initiatives in Afghanistan, Gaza and elsewhere.

This timely monograph chronicles how Qatar transformed itself into a broker of peace in some of the world's most intractable conflicts. In the early 2000s, Qatar made its mark by mediating an array of disputes in the Middle East. By the 2020s, it was again on the global radar for its role in high-profile ceasefires and landmark peace agreements, notably the U.S.-Taliban deal and negotiations during the 2023-5 Gaza war.

Milton and Elkahlout offer a wide-ranging conceptual and on-the-ground analysis of Qatar's emergence, retreat and reemergence in the international arena, tracing its evolving mediation strategies in conflicts across Lebanon, Darfur, Afghanistan and the Gaza Strip. Drawing on a unique qualitative dataset assembled through a major documentation project, the study illuminates how Qatar leveraged its diplomatic, political and economic resources to position itself as an influential third-party mediator. In doing so, it reveals both the motivations behind Qatar's peacemaking initiatives and the broader implications of its rising profile for the changing global landscape of conflict mediation.

How can anti-colonial research methodologies be transformative and achieve knowledge justice? This book brings together leading scholars from around the world to share methodological knowledge grounded in First Nations and majority-world expertise and wisdom. The authors challenge western-centric and colonial approaches to knowledge production, redefining the possibilities of what we can achieve through social research.

The First Nations and majority-world perspectives highlighted here share a common aim of disrupting established beliefs about research methodologies and unquestioned norms in the academy. Authors in this edited collection describe how they draw on Indigenous knowledge systems, feminist frameworks and creative methodologies as forms of anti-colonial research praxis. Spanning development studies, geography, education, sexual and reproductive health, humanitarian studies and social work, the authors reflexively discuss the specific factors shaping how they engage in research ethically. The book reimagines social research through an anti-colonial lens, concluding with a set of provocations for anti-colonial research praxis that situate this important work in the context of ongoing colonial violence and institutional constraints.

This book is an essential guide for researchers and scholars within and beyond the academy on how anti-colonial research praxis can produce meaningful outcomes, especially in violent and troubled times.
Cover art courtesy of Tawny Chatmon

With more than half of the world's population living in cities, informal settlements, or slums, continue to expand. This book explores the informality-urban design nexus, and asks why formal urban designers and planners have remained largely reluctant to address these challenges facing our cities.

What distinguishes the formal vs. informal urban design paradigm? While urban designers are able to identify and address specific problems like walkability, gentrification, or sense of place, informal settlement problems prove inexorably complex, and harder to fathom to begin with.

Therefore, seeking to demystify these epistemological ambiguities - while difficult - makes sense. The use of abductive reasoning, regulations, aesthetics, and design epitomise the formal, while informal urban planning and design is characterized by information, assets and adaptation. In support of these thematic differentiations, this book uses case studies to better contextualize and unpack the metaphorical distinctions of the two theoretical entities.

Conceptualizing these two schools of thought this way, the book engages urban designers with these debates, and explores how informal settlement residents see themselves, act collectively, care about their settlements, and leverage opportunities.