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One frequent observation about the contemporary world is that the pace of change appears to be accelerating. Turkey is a case in point, and the same is true of Turkey’s relationships with the Middle East, the European Union, and the wider world. All have continued to evolve at such an astonishing rate that almost the only constant has been change itself. Early in the millennium Turkey appeared to have managed the difficult transition from a long era of military control to a relatively stable elected government and liberal democratic values. That expectation eroded in subsequent years under the rule of Prime Minister (now President) Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP), with an unmistakable drift towards a decidedly illiberal democracy – if not outright authoritarianism – and increased violence at home and abroad. At the time of writing (late-July 2016), Turkey has recently experienced a major military coup, a formal state of emergency has been declared, and a sweeping crackdown is occurring that affects virtually every sector of society.

Written by two leading scholars of global politics, Globalization: the return of borders to a borderless world? is a major new book for students of globalization. It describes and explains globalization and its origins, and examines its future in light of key recent political and global trends and events. The text: identifies the different political, economic, technological, and cultural meanings of globalization examines its historical origins from the ancient past through the Cold War and into the twenty-first century describes the multiple attributes and consequences of globalization including its effect on the sovereignty of the nation state discusses recent trends such as the increased use of social media and events like the Arab Spring assesses the normative implications of globalization analyzes the challenges to globalization posed by contemporary events such as the global financial crisis. This book will be essential reading for all students of globalization, and will be of great interest to students of global politics and global governance.

Rather than dead or even moribund, International Relations (IR) theory is most certainly \"alive,\" although of course exactly how \"well\" remains a matter for debate. This article explains that each of the traditional and more recent \"schools\" of theory has its important strengths and serious weaknesses. Some theories are more appropriately applied to particular problems than to others. Analysts need to be conversant with a wide range of theories so they can recognize them when they are being employed (even only implicitly) and also use them as a toolkit when developing a research subject or explanations for patterns observed. Viewing some subjects simultaneously from more than one theoretical perspective often enhances understanding.

One obvious characteristic of world affairs today is rapid – possibly accelerating-- change. When I wrote about ‘Turkey and the EU’ for the Academia Europaea meeting in Vienna October 2012, my subtitle was ‘A Changed Context’. In 2012 the EU was still in the grip of the crisis over the euro, which had teetered on the brink of collapse and was only just beginning to look a little more secure. In contrast, Turkey had experienced an amazing economic boom and appeared to have successfully transitioned from an era of secular military rule to a relatively stable elected government (despite some human rights concerns) led by the moderately Islamist Justice and Development (AK) party and its broadly popular Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and President Abdullah Gul. The Middle East was in the throes of the ‘Arab Spring’. The developed world was still largely focused on the task of recovery from the 2008–2009 financial crisis and pondering how to respond to the looming failure of Doha trade talks at the global level. Now, only two years later, the context has changed yet again. The EU, Turkey, the Middle East, and even global trends – all are substantially different. Therefore an ‘Update’ now follows my original text.

In 2005 the European Union (EU) began formally to negotiate Turkey's application to become a full member. Today, the EU is a very different organization, Turkey has also experienced major changes, and the Arab Spring has dramatically impacted the Middle East. In sum, there is a changed context for the evolving relationship between Turkey and the EU. This article explains that context and concludes that, for the foreseeable future, Turkey is unlikely to become a full EU member, although close ties with respect to economic matters and immigration will persist.

The militant unilateralism of the George W. Bush administration has revived interest in such closely related and contested terms as \"superpower,\" \"hegemon,\" \"empire,\" and \"imperialism.\" This article identifies four different but somewhat overlapping approaches to defining \"empire\": ideal type, self-consciously empirical, constructivist, and overtly normative. The author's personal view is that any notion of American Empire or indeed U.S. hegemony or even superpower is profoundly misleading. Although the United States still ranks high on the scale of most traditional realist power factors, United States capabilities appear to be gravely waning today and its exercise of both hard and soft power has recently been so inept as to limit its current influence and possibly future role in global politics.

This collection brings together an unusually distinguished and diverse group of theorists of global politics, political geography, and international political economy who reflect on the concept of political space. Already familiar to political geographers, the concept of political space has lately received increased attention, arising out of the need for new ways of thinking about and describing the actors, structures, and processes that shape politics and patterns of governance in today’s complex, post-Cold War world. The essays explore the frontiers of the field of global politics, and each deals imaginatively with some aspect of political space. Although the participants may be loosely classified as realists, neo-realists, constructivists, and postinternationalists, the essays are not fitted to the usual theoretical pigeonholes. What they do share is a continued faith in empirical research, and a collective sense of discovery.

One obvious characteristic of world affairs today is rapid - possibly accelerating - change. When I wrote about \"Turkey and the EU\" for the Academia Europaea meeting in Vienna October 2012, my subtitle was \"A Changed Context.\" IN 2012 the EU was still in the grip of the crisis over the euro, which had teetered on the brink of collapse and was only just beginning to look a little more secure. In contrast, Turkey had experienced an amazing economic boom and appeared to have successfully transitioned from an era of secular military rule to a relatively stable electec government (despite some human rights concerns) led by the moderately Islamist Justice and Development (AK) party and its broadly popular Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and President Abdullah Gul. The Middle East was in the throes of the \"Arab Spring.\" The developed world was still largely focused on the task of recovery from the 2008-2009 financial crisis and pondering how to respond to the looming failure of Doha trade talks at the global level. Now, only two years later, the context has changed yet again. The EU, Turkey, the Middle East, and even global trends - all are substantially different. Therefore, an \"Update\" now follows my original text. OA

For many years, political leaders and analysts have debated the impacts of China's rise on the stability of the existing international system. International observers have also debated whether China would be a status quo power or a revisionist power, and whether China would observe the rules and regulations of international institutions and regimes. China Joins Global Governance: Cooperation and Contentions, edited by Mingjiang Li, provides an insightful contribution to our understanding of these issues through a specific angle: China's role in global governance. The contributors to this volume address such questions as, how has China dealt with major global institutions and regimes? How has China helped address various global challenges? How is China's rise changing the international approach to global governance? The contributors cover a broad range of issues, including China's vision and strategy in global multilateralism, China's role in global economic/financial/trade governance, China's policy towards the global environment and international development, and China's approaches to various global security issues such as nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. China Joins Global Governance is an essential text in understanding the future trajectory of China's international policy.