This volume examines the ascendancy of France during the period 1648-1688.

What will the current global political order look like when American unipolarity ends? Historically, the power configurations of world political systems have been defined by four structures: multipolarity, tripolarity, bipolarity, and unipolarity. These concepts inform both the formulation and the analysis of short-term policies and long-term, grand strategies of powerful actors in the world political order and may be of profound importance to the future peace and stability of the global system. The concept of nonpolarity, however, has never been addressed as a possible or a potential structural formulation in the nomenclature of global political systems. This book provides a coherent conceptualization of nonpolarity and how diplomacy will operate in a more collective age, and fits into the ongoing discussion about the nature of the political world order as we approach the end of the "American century."

During the Cold War, nationalism fell from favour among theorists as an explanatory factor in history, as Marxists and liberals looked to class and individualism as the driving forces of change. The resurgence of nationalism after the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, called for a reconsideration of the paradigm. Against Orthodoxy uses case studies from around the world to critically evaluate decades of new scholarship. The authors argue that theories of nationalism have ossified into a new set of orthodoxies. These overlook nationalism’s role as a generative force, one that reflects complex historical, political, and cultural arrangements that defy simplistic explanations.

This book is a sweeping historical survey of the origins, development and nature of state power. It demonstrates that Eurasia is home to a dominant tradition of arbitrary rule mediated through military, civil and ecclesiastical servants and a marginal tradition of representative and responsible government through autonomous institutions. The former tradition finds expression in hierarchically organized and ideologically legitimated continental bureaucratic states while the latter manifests itself in the state of laws. In recent times, the marginal tradition has gained in popularity and has led to continental bureaucratic states attempting to introduce democratic and constitutional reforms. These attempts have rarely altered the actual manner in which power is exercised by the state and its elites given the deeper and historically rooted experience of arbitrary rule. Far from being remote, the arbitrary culture of power that emerged in many parts of the world continues to shape the fortunes of states. To ignore this culture of power and the historical circumstances that have shaped it comes at a high price, as indicated by the ongoing democratic recession and erosion of liberal norms within states that are democracies.

This multi-disciplinary anthology explores the topic of violence from a wide variety of perspectives. It looks at state violence, anti-state violence and criminal violence such as armed robbery.

Their mission was humble and simple: to reach the poor country people, who suffered from ignorance of their faith, a debased clergy, and poverty. In response, Vincent De Paul defined the vocation of his “Little Company” as preaching local missions for free, educating the clergy, and working to relieve the people’s poverty. Soon, however, this vocation was complicated by commands to minister to royal families, including Louis xiv of France and the kings and queens of Poland, which would embroil the Vincentians in international and ecclesiastical politics. In addition, they would begin dangerous foreign missions, such as ministering to the Christian captives of the Barbary pirates, the debased colonists and rebellious natives of Madagascar, and the vendetta-prone Corsicans. For the first time, modern readers have a thoroughly researched history based on original documents and the studies of numerous scholars, past and present. It portrays the Vincentians’ daily lives and describes their failings as well as their exalted acts of heroism. It also details the social and political milieus that conditioned their lives and work. It is an important, down-to-earth side of history not often told.

The relationship between established powers and emerging powers is one of the most important topics in world politics. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated how the leading state in the international system responds to rising powers in peripheral regions—actors that are not yet and might never become great powers but that are still increasing their strength, extending their influence, and trying to reorder their corner of the world. In the Hegemon's Shadow fills this gap. Evan Braden Montgomery draws on different strands of realist theory to develop a novel framework that explains why leading states have accommodated some rising regional powers but opposed others. Montgomery examines the interaction between two factors: the type of local order that a leading state prefers and the type of local power shift that appears to be taking place. The first captures a leading state's main interest in a peripheral region and serves as the baseline for its evaluation of any changes in the status quo. Would the leading state like to see a balance of power rather than a preponderance of power, does it favor primacy over parity instead, or is it impartial between these alternatives? The second indicates how a local power shift is likely to unfold. In particular, which regional order is an emerging power trying to create and does a leading state expect it to succeed? Montgomery tests his arguments by analyzing Great Britain’s efforts to manage the rise of Egypt, the Confederacy, and Japan during the nineteenth century and the United States’ efforts to manage the emergence of India and Iraq during the twentieth century.

Some blame the violence and unrest in the Muslim world on Islam itself, arguing that the religion and its history is inherently bloody. Others blame the United States, arguing that American attempts to spread democracy by force have destabilized the region, and that these efforts are somehow radical or unique. Challenging these views, The Clash of Ideas in World Politics reveals how the Muslim world is in the throes of an ideological struggle that extends far beyond the Middle East, and how struggles like it have been a recurring feature of international relations since the dawn of the modern European state. John Owen examines more than two hundred cases of forcible regime promotion over the past five centuries, offering the first systematic study of this common state practice. He looks at conflicts between Catholicism and Protestantism between 1520 and the 1680s; republicanism and monarchy between 1770 and 1850; and communism, fascism, and liberal democracy from 1917 until the late 1980s. He shows how regime promotion can follow regime unrest in the eventual target state or a war involving a great power, and how this can provoke elites across states to polarize according to ideology. Owen traces how conflicts arise and ultimately fade as one ideology wins favor with more elites in more countries, and he demonstrates how the struggle between secularism and Islamism in Muslim countries today reflects broader transnational trends in world history.

Portuguese Brazil

Robert Boyle (1627-1691) was one of the most influential scientific and theological thinkers of his time. This is the first edition of his correspondence, transcribed from the original manuscripts. It is fully annotated, with an introduction and general index. Volume 6 covers the period of 1684–91.