Regional Leadership in the Global System: Ideas, Interests and Strategies of Regional Powers Book

We assume that ideas, interests and strategies of regional powers are highly significant variables that influence their foreign policies. This volume explains hows ideas, interests and strategies of regional powers shape regional and global politics. While comparative research projects involving OECD-countries are by now faily common, comparative research integrating developing regions is still the exception. This is despite the fact that the countries concerned are seen to be among the key actors of the 21st century. This collection emphasises the role of regional powers in intra-regional, interregional and global contexts. Specific questions concerning the rise of regional powers are analysed from a comparative perspective.

This comprehensive collection of essays takes up the important issue of what it takes to be a regional leader in today's international system. It offers a useful analytical framework for explaining such leadership and solid substantive chapters that examine and characterize bonafide and would-be regional leaders in the contemporary world. Thomas L. Ilgen, Pitzer College, USA