Rapprochement, Change, Perception and Shaping the Future

Rapprochement, Change, Perception and Shaping the Future
Author: Alfred Wittstock
Publisher: Frank & Timme GmbH
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2016-03-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3732902234

The relations between the two states and societies have been rather complex during both the previous half-century and beyond. Embedded in changing political landscapes, the ramifications reach back to the early 19th century. Yet the uniqueness of the relationship network only shows in light of the wholesale murder of Jews in Europe, the creation of the State of Israel, the discussions surrounding the initiation of diplomatic relations and their arrangement until the present day. The development and intensity of the relations with regard to civil society and politics are quite astonishing when considering the beginnings. Approaches, changes and the in part greatly-varying perceptions of the other side can be observed over the course of 50 years of history, and these give rise to questions concerning the current state of the relationship and its future design.

Concepts at Work

Concepts at Work
Author: Piki Ish-Shalom
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2021-04-20
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 047212868X

Concepts are socially and linguistically constructed and used for multiple purposes, such as justifying war in the name of democracy; or, using the idea of democracy to resist Western intervention and influence. In this fascinating and novel edited collection, Piki Ish-Shalom and his team of authors interrogate the “conceptions of concepts” in international relations. Using theoretical frameworks from Gramsci and Bourdieu, among others, the authors show that not interrogating the meaning of the language we use to talk about international relations obscures the way we understand (or portray) IR. The authors examine self-determination, winning in war, avoidance of war, military design and reform agenda, vagueness in political discourse, “blue economy,” friendship, and finally, the very idea of the “international community” itself. As the author asserts, Bourdieu’s sociology of field and Gramsci’s political theory combined “offer us a sociopolitical theory of relations of power and domination concealed by doxic knowledge and taken-for-granted rules, in which essential contested concepts and political-serving conceptions can and do play an important role.”

Leaving Zion

Leaving Zion
Author: Ori Yehudai
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2020-05-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108478344

Explores Jewish emigration from Palestine and Israel during the critical period between 1945 and the late 1950s by weaving together the perspectives of governments, aid organizations, Jewish communities and the personal stories of individual migrants.

Germany and Israel

Germany and Israel
Author: Daniel Marwecki
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2020-04-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 0197540007

According to common perception, the Federal Republic of Germany supported the formation of the Israeli state for moral reasons—to atone for its Nazi past—but did not play a significant role in the Arab–Israeli conflict. However, the historical record does not sustain this narrative. Daniel Marwecki’s pathbreaking analysis deconstructs the myths surrounding the odd alliance between Israel and post-war democratic Germany. Thorough archival research shows how German policymakers often had disingenuous, cynical or even partly antisemitic motivations, seeking to whitewash their Nazi past by supporting the new Israeli state. This is the true context of West Germany’s crucial backing of Israel in the 1950s and ’60s. German economic and military support greatly contributed to Israel’s early consolidation and eventual regional hegemony. This initial alliance has affected Germany’s role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to the present day. Marwecki reassesses German foreign policymaking and identity-shaping, and raises difficult questions about German responsibility after the Holocaust, exploring the many ways in which the genocide of European Jews and the dispossession of the Palestinians have become tragically intertwined in the Middle East’s international politics. This long overdue investigation sheds new light on a major episode in the history of the modern Middle East.

Routledge Handbook on Israel's Foreign Relations

Routledge Handbook on Israel's Foreign Relations
Author: Joel Peters
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 494
Release: 2024-02-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1003833438

This Handbook provides a comprehensive account of contemporary Israeli diplomacy and analyses the changing dynamics of Israel’s bilateral relations with other states and the international community over the past seventy-five years. Research into Israeli foreign policy has been largely sidelined by debates over security, domestic politics and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This Handbook addresses the gap in the literature. Comprising 31 essays written by leading scholars of Israel, the Handbook explicates how domestic, societal and economic interests, together with changing Israeli narratives of identity and location, shape and impact Israeli foreign policy. It illustrates how those factors have influenced foreign policy choices and the instruments – economic cooperation, arms sales, military training, and intelligence sharing – that Israel has utilized in order to promote its interests and build relationships with countries and actors throughout the world. Ultimately, the Handbook refutes Kissinger’s famous dictum that Israel has no foreign policy, and instead follows the whims of its domestic politics. By contrast, this Handbook highlights the rich, diverse and changing tapestry of Israel’s foreign relations. Written in an accessible style, the book is designed for students taking courses in Israel studies and Middle Eastern studies, as well as a general readership interested in Israeli affairs.

New Dynamics in Cross-Taiwan Straits Relations

New Dynamics in Cross-Taiwan Straits Relations
Author: Weixing Hu
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2013
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0415633427

Relations between mainland China and Taiwan have improved markedly in recent years, giving rise to the key question, How far can the current rapprochement go? This book focuses on how mainland China-Taiwan relations are likely to develop in future. It considers economic relations, including the many recent trade agreements, the political sphere, where there has been little progress, the impact of increasing personal, social contacts, and the role of international actors, especially the United States. The book concludes by arguing that the present "circulatory dialogue" is likely to continue, without a transformative breakthrough.

New Dynamics in Cross-Taiwan Strait Relations

New Dynamics in Cross-Taiwan Strait Relations
Author: Weixing Hu
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2013-04-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1135082200

Relations between mainland China and Taiwan have improved markedly in recent years, giving rise to the key question, How far can the current rapprochement go? This book focuses on how mainland China-Taiwan relations are likely to develop in future. It considers economic relations, including the many recent trade agreements, the political sphere, where there has been little progress, the impact of increasing personal, social contacts, and the role of international actors, especially the United States. The book concludes by arguing that the present "circulatory dialogue" is likely to continue, without a transformative breakthrough.

Russia and China

Russia and China
Author: Alekseĭ Dmitrievich Voskresenskiĭ
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN: 0700714952

This study incorporates elements from the disciplines of international relations and history to address key international and domestic elements that have shaped the interactions between Russia and China over time. It demonstrates how changes in the inter-state relationship were, and are, initiated. Controversial issues are examined through previously unobtainable materials from sources including the Archives of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, the Archives of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation and the Russian Centre for the Preservation and Research of the Documents of Modern History.

Modernisation in EU-Russian Relations: Past, Present and Future

Modernisation in EU-Russian Relations: Past, Present and Future
Author: Maxine David
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2017-10-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317267869

Written as EU-Russia relations began their swift decline as a result of the Ukrainian crisis, this book examines the nature of these two actors’ relationship in respect of their Partnership for Modernisation. The contributing authors look at modernisation through different lenses applying varying methodologies, delivering: historical analysis, economic analysis, levels-of-analysis debate, which brings along transnational, transgovernmental and intergovernmental relations and interrelations between the EU and its member states, discourse analysis, new institutionalism as well as policy analysis. The authors each identify the importance of modernisation for Russia, demonstrating why, despite the current state of relations between Moscow and Brussels, modernisation remains relevant for EU-Russian relations. At the same time, the plurality of the chapters shows the complexity of the relationship that will have to be taken into account in order to overcome the current crisis and construct sustainable and mutually beneficial relations.

Germany and China

Germany and China
Author: Andreas Fulda
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2024-05-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1350357030

As Europe finds itself once again caught between two superpowers – the USA and a rising China – little has been written about a relationship that will have a profound influence on the international order: the relationship between the People's Republic of China and Germany. In Germany and China, leading international relations expert Andreas Fulda looks critically at the increasingly interdependent relationship between the two countries. Drawing on examples from politics, industry, development aid and technology sectors and academia, the book explores how successive governments from Helmut Kohl to Angela Merkel have pursued ever-closer ties to China in the interests of short term economic gain. Fulda explores the danger of this increasing entanglement not just for Germany, but for Europe and the international world order.