The Case for Comparative Regional Analysis in International Politics

Volgy, Thomas J.; Bezerra, Paul; Cramer, Jacob; Rhamey, J. Patrick

doi:10.1093/isr/vix011

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 65 publications

(67 reference statements)

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“…Third, those who command the apparatus of the central government are politically strong enough to effectuate transfers to foreign activities if such transfers become necessary" (Volgy and Bailin 2003: 42). In a more recent study Volgy et al (2017) substitute "domestic strength" with "domestic political competence," which refers to the ability to develop and implement effective strategies for creating a regional order. 17 The intellectual history of this idea in IR can be probably traced back to the concept of "usable power" defined as the domestic political capacity to translate power assets into international influence (Hoffmann 1978: 474;Trubowitz and Harris 2019), and beyond that, in the literature on state capacity where it can be equated to the idea of "infrastructural power" (Mann 1984: 187).…”

Section: Domestic Constraints: State Mobilization Capacity and Grand Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

To lead or not to lead: regional powers and regional leadership

Nolte

Schenoni

2021

Int Polit

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Recent trends demonstrate that states with sufficient capabilities to be granted regional power status by its peers (primarily other states within their region) can nonetheless renounce regional leadership. This article analyzes the puzzling behavior of these detached or reluctant regional powers. We argue that resorting to an approach grounded in neoclassical realism is helpful to explain why regional powers might not exercise leadership. In this article regional leadership is conceptualized as an auxiliary goal within the grand strategy of a regional power. This goal will be pursued in the absence of certain structural and domestic constraints. Great power competition determines the incentives for regional leadership at the structural level. Capacity to extract and mobilize resources for foreign policy affects the decision to pursue leadership at the domestic level. We apply the analytical framework to analyze Brazil’s detachment from South America after the Cardoso and Lula presidencies.

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Section: Domestic Constraints: State Mobilization Capacity and Grand Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

To lead or not to lead: regional powers and regional leadership

Nolte

Schenoni

2021

Int Polit

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“…France is able to devise and implement strategies to shape the regional economy and security in Central Africa. The government is willing to dedicate the available resources to diplomatic, military, cultural and commercial activities, allowing it to fulfil a regional power status (Milani et al 2017;Volgy et al 2017). French development aid privileges Central Africa despite the relatively small population size (AFD 2018).…”

Section: France's Regional Power Behaviour In Central Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

How to wield regional power from afar: a conceptual discussion illustrated by the case of France in Central Africa

Mattheis

2021

Int Polit

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What does it take to belong to a region and exert power over it? The scholarship on regional powers has elaborated sophisticated indicators to establish nuances of power, but the depiction of the region has remained vague. Most approaches are characterised by a narrow territorial interpretation that does not properly take into account power wielded by geographically distant actors. Using the case of France in Central Africa this article argues that a distant state can a) hold a dominant share of military, economic and soft power, b) use this power for hegemonic behaviour and c) be recognised as a leader in the region by both internal and external actors. The main specificity of distant actors as regional powers is the greater necessity for a legitimising narrative. France tackles this hurdle with the help of regional organisations that reproduce imperial structures. By holding the informal status of a quasi-member in regional governance structures, France participates in region-building processes from the inside rather than the outside.

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“…Herewith we use a greater number of regions as compared with other studies, allowing for a more sensitive study of regional intervention patterns. Regional definitions vary significantly (Thompson, 1973; Volgy et al, 2017). For example, Bellamy and Williams (2015) categorize the post-Soviet space as belonging to Europe, and subsume the Pacific region under Asia.…”

Section: Milinda: Defining Peace Operations and Their Mandatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

MILINDA: A new dataset on United Nations-led and non-united Nations-led peace operations

Jetschke

Schlipphak

2019

Conflict Management and Peace Science

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Is there a trend toward the regionalization of peacekeeping? Does regionalization undermine the United Nations (UN) system of collective security? To answer these questions, we present an innovative dataset of peace operations. Covering the 1947–2016 period, the dataset captures every UN and non-UN peace operation, information on mission type, the existence of target state consent and UN authorization. The unit of analysis is the mission. The first analysis of the dataset yields three findings: (1) There is a significant regionalization of peace operations; (2) regions show distinct intervention patterns; and (3) regionalization does not directly challenge the UN authority.

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The Case for Comparative Regional Analysis in International Politics

Cited by 22 publications

References 65 publications

To lead or not to lead: regional powers and regional leadership

To lead or not to lead: regional powers and regional leadership

How to wield regional power from afar: a conceptual discussion illustrated by the case of France in Central Africa

MILINDA: A new dataset on United Nations-led and non-united Nations-led peace operations

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