This book examines the principle and practice of the core but under-scrutinised pillar of guarantees of non-recurrence in transitional justice.

Transitional justice's grand ambition is embodied in the slogan: 'Never again' - never again should societies endure the atrocities of war and mass violence. However, as conflicts proliferate in the 21st century, transitional justice has thus far failed to ensure states take the necessary steps to remedy their root causes - that is, those measures framed as guarantees of non-recurrence. One reason is a lack of clarity of the scope of the duty to prevent recurrence. This conceptual gap is particularly acute in South Asia, where countries continue to struggle with violence and autocracy. Yet, scholarly examination of this region remains under-developed. With Sri Lanka as a case study, this book contributes to filling these two critical gaps - conceptual and regional - by examining the scope and application of the duty to guarantee non-recurrence from a key Global South perspective. Through extensive fieldwork, the book explores how guarantees of non-recurrence are interpreted and applied in an emblematic post-conflict context in the Global South. Embedding the empirical research in interdisciplinary scholarship across transitional justice, human rights, peacebuilding, development, political economy and regional studies, the book critically interrogates the extent to which guarantees of non-recurrence can effectively advance socio-political transformation towards a more comprehensive justice. The book argues for a re-prioritising of guarantees of non-recurrence within transitional justice and advances a novel approach based on applied political economy to achieve a more transformative version of guarantees of non-recurrence.

This book is relevant for a wide range of scholars, students, policymakers, advocates and activists working in transitional justice, peacebuilding, conflict transformation, human rights and Sri Lanka and South Asian studies.

Gabriel M. Lentner provides a clear, principled method for deciding when to follow a specific state's law, when a treaty uses a broader shared concept, or when a mix of both is necessary. He bridges domestic and international law by setting out how domestic law concepts enter investment law. The book treats legal concepts as context-dependent inference structures in order to highlight the importance of not simply borrowing domestic meanings in isolation. Lentner critiques a homeward bias in arbitral reasoning, especially when tribunals invoke domestic concepts as general principles of law without meeting the demanding evidentiary threshold under the doctrine of sources of international law.

Scholars and academics of international investment, private international law, and legal theory will benefit from the clear, analytical framework put forward. This book is also an essential resource for investment arbitration practitioners, treaty drafters, and policymakers looking to better understand how domestic law concepts play out in international investment law.

This book explores the evolution and impact of deliberative democracy in East Asia, focusing on Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan through a deliberative systems framework.

Democratization and democratic development in the region are intertwined with social movements, public participation, institutional reform, and deliberative innovation. The book highlights how deliberative democracy can transform politics, inform policymaking, and strengthen democratic governance, while also exploring the integration of deliberation with digital technologies and artificial intelligence to advance democratic innovations. Drawing on practical experiences, it demonstrates how democratic deliberation can shift public attitudes, shape policy, and address complex challenges.

Essential reading for students and scholars of East Asian politics and deliberative democracy, The Transformative Power of Deliberative Democracy in East Asia is also invaluable for political and social scientists interested in comparative democracy, public governance, and public participation in science and technology.

This open access book looks at the increasingly topical question of sanctions in European Union law, and their recent roles in the Union's external relations and the area of EU criminal law.

Sanctions in EU law is a multifaceted topic as it is a cross-cutting area which engrains and influences very distinctive EU law policies and disciplines. This book adopts a very broad definition and approach to sanctions, examining the use of sanctions in distinctive internal EU policy fields and also within the external context. The collection covers EU economic sanctions, the sanctions regime on Russia, their role in criminal law, and how administrative sanctions work within the Union.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Swedish Studies Network.

The book codifies the DRC Research Practice's methodological heuristics for its several research process elements: conceiving cases as endeavors, characterizing them, explaining their system behaviors and process outcomes, and drawing lessons about how endeavors of the kind could possibly work. These heuristics are fully exemplified in three original case studies.

Critically engaging with Herbert Simon's idea of disciplines concerned with artificial phenomena, Michael Barzelay and Alan Love show what it would mean for disciplines like Public Management to take a stand that they are endeavor-centered disciplines. All told, the book makes the affirmative case that Public Management can cumulatively develop knowledge that is original, rigorous, and relevant to practice, while exemplifying endeavor-centered academic disciplines in the academy.

The gothic is far more than a genre preoccupied with ghosts, vampires and the supernatural. It is a phenomenon that has influenced the expression of unease and fear across many cultures.

Comprehending gothic textuality from the 18th century to the present, the Historical Dictionary of Gothic Literature, Second Edition addresses not merely supernatural fiction but also film, television, graphic works and the subtle influence of the genre upon global popular culture. Containing a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography, the dictionary section contains cross-referenced entries on African American gothic, cyberpunk and steampunk, dark academia, folk horror and Japanese gothic. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about gothic literature.

The carceral imaginary explains Americans' stubborn attachment to or at least acceptance of prisons, both in the hyperbolic tough-on-crime practices and in seemingly progressive sectors.

Joining a critical reading of John Locke with theorists of storytelling, the imaginary, decolonial theory, and carceral logic, Shari Stone-Mediatore brings new philosophical resources to bear on the question of how Americans have become so attached to punishment-based social policies despite the failure of our vast network of prisons to protect us from harm. Stone-Mediatore argues that, alongside the political and economic forces driving prison expansion, a carceral imaginary in which we have become deeply invested emotionally has bonded our imaginations to carceral myths and prevented us from thinking meaningfully about safety and justice. Tracing a pattern in the violence-rationalizing myths studied by Frantz Fanon, Enrique Dussel, James Baldwin, and Ida B. Wells, Stone-Mediatore develops a theory of the righteous-violence imaginary. Viewing contemporary U.S. punitiveness-which has led to the incarceration of nearly two million Americans in 6,000 jails and prisons across the country-through this lens, she elucidates the structure of our carceral imaginary and how it embroils us in ever more needs for violence and mythmaking.

Stone-Mediatore explores how stories that take us on journeys with those on the other side of prison walls can help unsettle the masonry of carceralism and build support for safety practices that do not perpetuate trauma and abuse but advance our mutual healing.

This book uncovers the history of emotions surrounding death in colonial and semi-colonial Anglo-China during the 19th century. Engaging with both English and Chinese sources, including obituaries, memoirs, personal correspondence, missionary publications, mourning poetry and travel accounts, Death and Emotions in Anglo-China explores how this common human experience was understood, expressed, and felt across different cultures, where it became not merely a personal matter but a hotly contested issue.

Illustrating how emotions of death solidified communities, buttressed regimes and galvanised political movements, the book pays attention to the dilemma between personal grief and communal commemoration, arguing that the chaotic process of grieving was often pushed aside by collective narratives, which stressed the emotional norm of solemnity. Such collective emotions provided the Western powers, namely the British, a sentimental rhetoric of sacrifice for their imperial cause, and for the Chinese, a powerful impetus to rising Chinese nationalism by the turn of the century.

Focusing on a culturally dynamic context previously overlooked in the field of emotional history, this book contributes to the global dimension of growing interests in historicizing the universal human conditions of emotions and death.

Sir John Chipman KCMG served as Director-General and Chief Executive of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) from 1993 to 2023. Along with his tenure as Executive Chairman since 2023, and the research positions he held from 1983 before being appointed Director, this represents a professional lifetime spent at the IISS. The Institute enjoys its current reputation for excellence in research and convening, as well as its wide international reach and influence, thanks to Sir John's successes over many decades.

This Adelphi book is a tribute to Sir John's work at and contribution to the Institute. It highlights three areas of intellectual leadership through his writings, spanning broadly the decades he worked at the IISS: strategic studies after the end of the Cold War; regionalism and regional security; and corporate foreign policy. Selected writings by Sir John in these three areas are reprinted here in their original form. They are paired with commentaries by a number of notable friends of the IISS, written specially for this book.

This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the European Union's use of soft law in its external relations, focusing on its legal consistency with the EU Treaties principles and within the EU integration process.

As the EU increasingly turns to informal tools to address international crises in sensitive areas- migration, security, and energy-it offers a comprehensive legal and theoretical analysis of soft law's role in shaping the EU's identity as a global actor. Instead of viewing soft law as a minor or secondary issue, this book sees it as essential to the EU's external governance. Drawing on new EU integration theories, such as the neo-neofunctionalist integration theory, and grounded in constitutional principles, this assessment examines how soft law contributes to legal and institutional development during crises. Through detailed case studies-such as New Pact on Migration and Asylum, the Strategic Compass, and REPowerEU-it introduces a taxonomy of "EU external relations soft law," which is different from both international and internal EU soft law.

The book fills an important research gap and is relevant for students and researchers in the fields of EU law and external relations law. It will also be of interest to international and European law scholars, legal practitioners and those working in EU institutions.

Voluntarism and Self-Interest: Psychological Foundations and Panarchist Visions in Libertarian Anarchism investigates a central question in political philosophy: what, if anything, makes political authority legitimate? The book argues that theories of political legitimacy should be evaluated primarily in terms of their practical relevance-whether individuals have instrumental reasons to endorse them. Drawing on findings from experimental psychology about the prevalence of selfish motivations, it develops the claim that the most compelling theory of legitimacy must be one that effectively serves predominantly selfish desires.

Through a systematic analysis of competing accounts of legitimacy, the book argues that express consent theory offers the strongest fit with this motivational structure. It then explores the institutional implications of this conclusion by examining panarchist proposals for voluntary, non-territorial systems of governance that follow from a consistent application of consent theory.

Bringing together analytic political philosophy, conceptual analysis, experimental psychology, and the history of libertarian thought, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of political theory, political philosophy, anarchist studies, and libertarianism, as well as readers concerned with the foundations and future of political authority.

This book challenges traditional epistemological frameworks by developing a de-idealized account of epistemic systems that centers on knowledge practices rather than abstract principles alone. It develops an epistemic agent-based account of epistemic systems that incorporates the social, political, and ontological dimensions of knowledge production.

The book addresses critical gaps in current epistemological theory by examining how real-world knowledge practices unfold across different communities. Through a detailed case study of knowledge about testosterone across medical practitioners, trans masculine and non-binary users, and bodybuilding/entertainment sports communities, the book reveals how social organization, power dynamics, and ontological commitments shape epistemic systems. By integrating insights from the sociology of scientific knowledge, feminist political epistemology, and political ontology, the book offers fresh perspectives on fundamental epistemic questions, including: How do we understand disagreement between different knowledge communities? When should knowledge producers outside institutionalized science be recognized as experts? And what are the implications for science in a "post-truth" environment?

Epistemic Systems in Action will appeal to researchers and graduate students interested in epistemology, feminist philosophy, philosophy of science, social and political philosophy, gender studies, and the sociology of knowledge.

This book examines the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and its aftermath, analysing the conflict through the lenses of war, sovereignty, power politics, international law, and unpeace, demonstrating how coercive diplomacy, conflict-persistence, and institutional failure reshaped the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and the regional order.

Combining international relations, security studies, legal analysis, and a wide range of empirically grounded analytical models, the book provides a rigorous framework for understanding the 2020 war, the geopolitical factors leading to it, the shifts in the region's structure and security architecture, the humanitarian crisis, forced displacement, and the collapse of Nagorno-Karabakh. It meticulously explores not only the events that transpired, but also the underlying reasons behind them, the responses of international actors, regional players, and institutions, and the insights these reveal about the limitations of structural dependence, weak deterrence, ineffective mediation, lack of recognition, and accountability gaps in contemporary conflict.
The book is intended for scholars, students, and practitioners in international relations, conflict and security studies, post-Soviet politics, international law, peace and conflict studies, human rights, and Eurasian studies. It is also relevant for journalists, policymakers, and those working on conflict prevention, mediation, and regional security.

The book delves into China's strategic extension of its influence over global digital standards and governance.

The author introduces the concept of normative power adapted for the digital domain, and constructs a multi-level theory of normative diffusion, disaggregating mechanisms operating at bilateral, regional, and international levels. The book examines bilateral dynamics through eight cases: Vietnam, Chile, Malaysia, Zambia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, and Laos. At the regional level, it analyses how China navigates and shapes regional digital orders through the SCO, RCEP, BRICS, and ASEAN. Regarding the international arena, the book traces China's strategies across two decades of engagement with the UN system and the ITU. In addition, it outlines its implications for digital governance and the future of global internet ordering. The book argues that Chinese normative power in cyberspace is real but bounded, and it operates not as unilateral export but as a relational push-and-pull between Beijing and recipient states that actively seek, filter, adapt, and resist what China offers.

This book will appeal to academics and students studying international law, comparative politics, cybersecurity, and China studies.

Sports Diplomacy examines how nations and sporting actors-large and small-use medals, mega-events, elite athletes, global leagues, corporations, and even fans to influence international perceptions and advance strategic interests.

Introducing core concepts, issues and debates in the emerging discipline of sports diplomacy, the book moves beyond state-centric models of soft power to define sports diplomacy as a multi-actor and multi-level phenomenon, shaped by governments, international organisations, athletes, corporations, civil society, and grassroots communities. Drawing on a wide range of contemporary and historical case studies, the book explores sports diplomacy among major global powers such as the United States, China, and Russia; leading European states including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain; resource-rich Gulf states; and small states seeking global visibility. It also examines distinctive regional modalities, including South America's football-driven diplomacy, Africa's accelerating global repositioning through sport, and emerging arenas such as digital diplomacy, eSports, sustainability, and grassroots fan engagement.

Conceptually rigorous, empirically grounded, and with useful features in every chapter to assist teaching and learning, Sports Diplomacy is an essential textbook for any course on sports diplomacy or international relations and sport, as well as a useful reference for diplomats, policymakers, sport executives, and practitioners seeking to understand the power of sport in global affairs.

This book aims to unpack how different actors- notably ascendant powers like China and India, established actors like the European Union (EU) and the U.S., or historically overlooked regions such as Latin America-navigate, contest, and reconfigure multilateralism in response to shifting global power constellations.

It examines the impact of the fragmentation of multilateralism on Informal International Governmental Organisations (IIGOs) and Formal International Governmental Organisations (FIGOs) through the lens of Global North-Global South relations. The first part presents a short literature review on multilateralism and its crisis. In the second part of the cluster, focusing on 'Multilateralism and International Institutions', contributors explore how China and India contest the current form and meaning of multilateralism, and how US policies towards institutions like the United Nations (UN) shift with presidential politics, as well as the roles of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). The third part, on 'Multilateralism, Informality and IOs', addresses the intersection of informal governance, multilateralism and the Global South. It includes studies on the European Union's (EU's) informal engagement with IIGOs, states' use of ad hoc coalitions, hybrid practices in The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Quad, and the China-Japan-Korea Trilateral Summit. The fourth and final part, on 'Geopolitics, Multilateralism and International organisations (IOs)', explores the interplay among geopolitics, multilateralism and IOs and engages with key themes such as the EU's challenges in FIGOs led by authoritarian regimes favouring instrumental over normative cooperation, and the early emergence of Latin American IIGOs in the nineteenth century, predating formal IOs.

This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of Geopolitics, International Relations, and Global Policy. The chapters were first published in a special issue of the Third World Quarterly.

Elites and the People in Global Power Relations challenges the conventional boundaries of International Relations by introducing the Differential Accumulation of Power (DAP) approach. At a time of systemic crisis and eroding democratic legitimacy, this book transcends traditional state-centric and economic paradigms to reveal how the strategic interplay between elite competition and populace mobilisation defines the contemporary global order and its persistent hierarchical structures.

Departing from 'problem-solving' theory, the work uniquely integrates the sociology of power and political economy to overcome the artificial separation between domestic and international spheres. It examines the scalar tensions between global and domestic elites as they compete for critical resources, including the state, capital, or the control of information, and reveals how governance often functions to safeguard elite accumulation rather than collective well-being. By analyzing the institutional and ideological 'trenches' that protect elite dominance, the book highlights the social function of theory as a catalyst for systemic transformation and a tool to reclaim democratic agency.

This book is essential reading for scholars, researchers, and advanced students in International Relations, Political Science, and Sociology. It offers a radical, critical lens for those seeking to understand the rise of global authoritarianism and the persistent hierarchies that structure our world today.

Why Leaders and Nations Choose War: Emotions and Decision Making analyses the decisive role that emotions play in one of the most consequential arenas of human life-war. Challenging the assumption that leaders act purely on rational calculation, this demonstrates how fear, wishful thinking, and regret have repeatedly shaped fateful decisions in modern history. Drawing on psychological theory, international relations, and historical case studies, Gadi Heimann explains how emotions can both enhance and distort judgment, tipping the scales between peace and conflict.
Through vivid accounts of twentieth-century wars, Why Leaders and Nations Choose War reveals how fear drove Germany into World War I and Israel into preemptive strikes throughout its history; how wishful thinking fueled Germany's submarine offensive and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor; and how regret shaped U.S. isolationism and later the Cold War. By weaving together theory and narrative, the book provides a new lens for understanding the complex interplay between emotion and statecraft.

This textbook helps students analyse the causes of violent extremism using different disciplinary approaches, and suggests concrete solutions from those perspectives.

Why do individuals join violent extremist movements? This book approaches that question through seven disciplinary lenses: security, ideology, sociology, socio-economics, psychology, gender, and youth. Rather than privileging one explanation, it shows how these perspectives complement each other and why effective responses depend on combining them. The book is built on a simple premise: you cannot respond to violent extremism without first understanding what drives it. Each chapter maps the push and pull factors behind radicalisation and traces their implications for prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation. To show the frameworks at work on real lives, the book includes profiles of six individuals who became involved in extremist movements. Each chapter is structured to guide students through the material step by step, combining conceptual frameworks with case studies, real-world profiles, and discussion questions that push beyond comprehension into genuine debate. Written for students who want to think seriously about one of the most pressing security challenges of our time, this book offers both analytical depth and practical tools.

The book will be of great interest to students of political violence, sociology, psychology, criminology, International Relations and public policy, as well as to practitioners working in counter-terrorism, preventing violent extremism, and the security sector.