John D. Young

In an earlier book, entitled Structural Realism and Geopolitical Thought (ELIVA PRESS), the author developed an argument for bringing together the theoretical and analytical strengths of these two complementary approaches to understanding international politics. The current volume builds on the insights generated by the abstract logic of both of these power-centric systems of thought and applies them to real-world issues and problems. This empiricist emphasis ranges over an extensive survey of practical policy challenges within contemporary international relations. The issues addressed include significant ongoing debates with regard to such fundamental questions as the authentic nature of the national interest, the impact of structural change on alliance relations, collective responses to interstate conflict, the policy arts of leveraging a weak geopolitical hand, the definition of the threat - particularly in the context of nuclear weaponry, international and continental vectors in security and defense policy, and the evolution of nuclear doctrines under conditions of technological and ideological change. A synthetic overview of International Relations as a Social Science concludes these analyses of policies as they have been formulated and implemented in contemporary international politics.

The Kashmir Conflict has, for nearly eighty years now, mirrored both the interstate relations of India and Pakistan as well as the structure of global political power. This account and analysis of the Second Kashmir War provides a thickly textured description of the interactions between South Asia's enduring rivals during this tumultuous and, it can be credibly argued, decisive confrontation of collective wills. It does so by reporting both countries' political leaders' statements of their respective national objectives. Goal articulation is employed here as a means of analyzing the nature and scope of the issues at stake in this high-intensity trial by fire. Juxtaposed with the complex interplay of competing national purposes, the impact of a secondary level of interstate relations, namely those engaging the polarizing powers of the times - the United States, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China, is integrated within the analytical framework so as to provide an accurate stocktaking of the war's trajectory and outcomes. It is at these junctures- the interrelationships between Pakistan and India on the one hand, and their respective interactions with the three principal intervening powers, on the other, that the Second Kashmir War becomes readily intelligible in its significant dimensions. Lessons that can be applied in preventing, short-circuiting, and terminating what have been termed the New Wars of the 21st century form part of this book's contents.

This analysis of the theoretical arts and science of the academic field of International Relations began several years ago as doctoral research that led to a dissertation linking geopolitical thinking, particularly that emanating from the French-speaking world, with mainstream conceptual frameworks developed principally by English-speaking scholars and practitioners operating for the most part from the perspective of political science. This cross-cultural exercise was designed to benefit from the strengths of both knowledge streams as part of an approach to international political theory development. More fundamentally, the exercise sought to explore the natural affinities of structural-realist and geopolitical thought in the theory development enterprise.The study of political power in all its attributes, both manifest and latent, is the core purpose of the discipline of political science. Geopolitical formulations, analyses, and constructs, for their part, serve to assess how political power is both structured by and interacts with geographical and environmental contexts. The Oxford Handbook of International Relations begins its chapter on Realism with the quite accurate observation that "It is only a slight exaggeration to say that the academic study of international relations is a debate about realism." Recognizing the centrality of realist and geopolitical reasoning to the practice and study of International Relations, it is hoped that this record of an exploration in the literatures of both traditions of thought will advance the ongoing collective effort to better comprehend and implement constructive action in international political life. Author: Dr John D. Young has served as Head of the Department of Strategic Studies at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean and Head of the Military and Strategic Studies Program at the Royal Military College of Canada. Within the International Society of Military Sciences, Dr Young served as Chair of that association's War Studies Working Group for several years. His current research focuses on issues related to nuclear deterrence and the conflict management functions of international security institutions.

This true story of the Texas brush range and the first cowboys, as thrilling as any tale of fiction, has become a classic in Western literature. It is the story of the land where cattle by tens of thousands were killed on the prairie and where the "Skinning War" was fought. It is the story of the Chisholm Trail up to Abilene and the Platte and of establishing a ranch on the free grass of the Texas Panhandle, of roping elk in Colorado, of trailing Billy the Kid in New Mexico, of the grim lands of the Pecos. And it is the story of John Young, old-time vaquero who was trail driver, hog chaser, sheriff, ranger, hunter of Mexican bandits, horse thief killer, prairie fire fighter, ranch manager, and other things-a man who was also something of a dreamer, a man of imagination.

This work closely considers the history and political importance of Hong Kong in the period 1842 to 1992.

This work closely considers the history and political importance of Hong Kong in the period 1842 to 1992.