Economic Interdependence and International Conflict: New Perspectives on an Enduring Debate. Edited by Edward D. Mansfield and Brian M. Pollins. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003. 286p. 28.00 paper.International trade is often wrapped up in a package with many good things—wealth, development, democracy, and peace. The proposition that increased trade is related to pacific international relations is one of the most well-known tenets of liberal theory. Despite its long history in political thought, the relationship between trade and peace has not been subject to extensive and systematic analysis until recently. In this edited volume, Edward D. Mansfield and Brian M. Pollins collect some of the most current thinking addressing the theoretical and methodological issues that arise in the quest to conceptualize and test the relationship between economic interdependence and international conflict. Understanding this relationship is important both theoretically and for policy reasons: Many policymakers today assume that increased trade will create a more peaceful world.

Economic Interdependence and International Conflict: New Perspectives on an Enduring Debate

This article examines international relations (IR)'s approach to the Himalaya We argue that the possibility of violent conflict over contested international borders is not the region's primary int

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10357718.2020.1787333

International relations and the Himalaya: connecting ecologies, cultures and geopolitics

Recent literature attributes the relative scarcity of open international markets to the prisoner's dilemma structure of state preferences with respect to trade. We argue that the prisoner's dilemma representation does not reflect the most critical aspect of free trade agreements in an anarchic international system, namely, their security externalities. We consider these external effects explicitly. Doing so leads us to two conclusions: (1) free trade is more likely within, rather than across, political-military alliances; and (2) alliances are more likely to evolve into free-trade coalitions if they are embedded in bipolar systems than in multipolar systems. Using data drawn from an SO-year period beginning in 1905, we test these hypotheses. The results of the analysis make it clear that alliances do have a direct, statistically significant, and large impact on bilateral trade flows and that this relationship is stronger in bipolar, rather than in multipolar, systems…

Power Politics And International Trade

China is the second largest economy in the world. It has experienced tremendous economic growth in the history of development. Recently China is going through a period of slow economic growth. In 2013, it launched a large-scale global project-the Belt and Road Initiative. It is termed as ‘project of the century’. Almost 65 countries are assembled under the Initiative. There have been pertinent questions and much confusions with regard to the aims and structure of the Initiative. This article reviews some high-quality peer-reviewed works to find out the nature and goals of the Belt and Road Initiative. In doing so, we have followed the research methodology of systematic literature review. The institutional dynamics and aspects of the Initiative; such as, the Silk Road Fund, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the economics corridors are explained in the paper. The data reveal that trade and economic activities in the countries along the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative are on the increase. The evidence presented in this study would facilitate to advance further research in the newly emerging field of the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative. Keywords : China, The Belt and Road Initiative, Institutions, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Maritime Silk Road, Silk Road Economic Belt.

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Institutions of the ‘Belt & Road’ Initiative: A Systematic Literature Review

This research was funded under the joint ESRC-DFID funding scheme, contract RES-167-25-0167.

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Fears for the future: the incommensurability of securitisation and in/securities among southern African youth

This paper revisits the intersection of the 19th and 20th century to bring into focus hitherto unused archival and diplomatic correspondence from the attempts to define and delimit a boundary between India and China. The theoretical point of departure for the paper is to discern how perception (knowledge, beliefs, and norms) relating to the boundary evolved over time to alter the meaning and construction of the material reality i.e. the boundary itself. In doing so it establishes how what each country deems today, as its ‘traditional customary boundary’ was not an unambiguous fixed one, but was mutable across different time periods. The political importance of the selection of these boundary lines did not lie in their being ‘true’, or in the claim being ‘real’ but in their being shared by a process of political selection, and then being reified in the respective countries.

India–China Border Dispute: Boundary-Making and Shaping of Material Realities from the Mid-Nineteenth to Mid-Twentieth Century

There has been increasing speculation in recent weeks of a possible military stand-off in the Taiwan Straits in the early part of 2008 in the context of the proposed referendum on the island over Taiwan’s membership to the United Nations (UN)—as ‘Taiwan’ (not ‘Republic of China’). The referendum is to be held at the time of Taiwan’s presidential election in March 2008 and the move comes even as Taiwan’s last twelve attempts to join the UN as the ‘Republic of China (ROC)’ failed. The sources for the recent speculation on heightened cross-strait military tensions emanate from Chinese, Taiwanese and Western sources (both unofficial and official). The speculation is traced to two major developments in the past six months. The reshuffling of the top brass of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the run-up to the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the first cause of worry.1 It has been reported that at least five members of the new Central Military Commission (CMC) line-up have a background in Taiwan-related affairs.2 They are:

The 2008 Referendum: A Test for Cross–Strait Economic Interdependence

This paper discusses the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China. It examines its contents, trade-expectations, and problem areas. Since ”cooperative behavior” (as demonstrated in the signing and implementation of the ECFA) does not have the functional equivalence of ”trust” in cross-Strait ties, the paper identifies some of the pathways that a post-ECFA ecosystem could provide for Taiwan in the coming years, and the risks they present.

Post-ECFA Outlook for the Relationship across the Taiwan Strait

Following the civil war in China in the 1940s which led to the defeat of the KMT, and their retreat to Taiwan, the political divergence between Mainland China and Taiwan has essentially been one of contested sovereignty (Tang 2006). Beijing’s political position on Taiwan is to aim for national “reunification” and adheres to Deng Xiaoping’s “one country, two systems” formula, which has been the cornerstone of its “One-China” principle (albeit with changes in the formulation of what “One China” includes). Taiwan has officially maintained that:

Taiwan’s Political and Economic Ecosystem

The first segment of this study laid out the policy shifts that have occurred in the context of Cross-Strait ties, specifically outlining the economic and political circumstances that the post-ECFAECFA ecosystem could present to Taiwan. As discussed earlier, it is hoped that normalization of relations between Taiwan and Mainland China would set the stage for more trade liberalization agreements with other trading partners—and not be limited to an ECFA-only framework.

Joe Thomas Karackattu

Papers

India–China Border Dispute: Boundary-Making and Shaping of Material Realities from the Mid-Nineteenth to Mid-Twentieth Century

The 2008 Referendum: A Test for Cross–Strait Economic Interdependence

Post-ECFA Outlook for the Relationship across the Taiwan Strait

Taiwan’s Political and Economic Ecosystem

India and Taiwan in a Post-ECFA Ecosystem