Destined Statecraft

Calls for a strategic paradigm shift which warrants the re-thinking of international relations through the eyes of the small powers. It incorporates the relevance and applicability of the diverse Western and non-Western strategic traditions into the increasingly multi-polarized international security reality Draws on empirically grounded case studies from a range of Asian and European countries to illustrate the international dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region, the Indian Ocean and Europe Lucid, straightforward and accessible writing style for not just the academic audience and students, but also policy-making circles Engaging with the post-2010 global geopolitical context wherein former U.S. President Barack Obama's signing the 'pivot to Asia' policy coincided with the Chinese President Xi Jinping's 'One Belt One Road' initiative, and the incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump's 'America First' statecraft agenda As an empirical attempt to substantiate Pierre Bourdieu's notion of 'habitus' to the field of international relations, it argues for African-Asian critical realism as a plausible theory for guiding small power statecraft Focuses on how selected African, Asian and European small powers have responded to, coped with, survived and thrived in the great power competitions between the U.S., Russia, China and the European Union since World War II Examines the relevance and applicability of diverse Western and non-Western strategic cultures to contemporary geopolitics and statecraft in Europe and Asia by tracing them to their ancient and contemporary historical contexts Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Pak Nung Wong was educated at the City University of Hong Kong, London School of Economics and Political Science, and St. Antony's College of Oxford University. He currently teaches at the University of Bath of the United Kingdom for the following undergraduate and postgraduate units: (1) Foreign Policy Decision-making and Its Analysis, (2) Politics in China, (3) Governance, Security and Development in East and Southeast Asia, (4) Culture and Religion in International Relations. He is the author of several books, including (1) Post-Colonial Statecraft in South East Asia: Sovereignty, State-Building and the Chinese in the Philippines (I. B. Tauris, 2013), and (2) Discerning the Powers in Post-Colonial Africa and Asia: A Treatise on Christian Statecraft (Springer Science+Business Media, 2016). He edits Bandung: Journal of the Global South, a leading Open Access journal published by BioMed Central of Springer Nature.

Zusammenfassung

Inhalt

Introduction: Remaking the Small Powers' Destines.- The Small Powers in World Politics: Outline of a Theory of African- Asian Critical Realism.- U.S.-China Containment and Counter-Containment in Southeast Asia: The 'Battle' for Myanmar (Burma).- Strategic Cultures as 'the Powers': Kautilya's Hindu Statecraft and the 'String of Pearls' in the Indian Ocean.- Chaperoning Thai Populist Democracy: Habitus, Structure and Technique of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Statecraft (1946-2016).- Practicing People's Diplomacy over Disputed Waters: Peaceable Intervention across the South China Sea.- How would China Approach the European Rim-land? The Pivots of Poland and the United Kingdom.- Conclusion: The Small Will Do What They Can!.- References.