Contesting Empires: Opposition, Promotion, and Slavery Book

[Disclaimer: This is a snapshot of my thoughts on this book after just reading it. This is not meant to serve as a summary of main/supporting points or a critique - only as some words on how I engaged with this book for the purposes of building a theoretical framework on strategy.]

-- Assigned Parts I-III; (skim chapters 14-15) for School of Advanced Air & Space Studies -

Buzan and Waever present their Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) which counters the argument based on globalization. These authors argue that after the Cold War, states shifted to what might be described as tacit regional power agreements. The international system, therefore, is not so much losing its boundaries due to globalization, but is in fact redefining its boundaries. Additionally, hegemonic power and effectiveness is filtered through regional boundaries, and therefore RSCT must be considered from a security perspective.

This argument seems to run alongside Dicken's ideas on globalization, and are also complementary to Cox's much more cynical perspective on globalization. I find RSCT very intriguing; however, I don't believe that the regions are so easily identified. I tend to believe that regions shift depending on the subject, and that while some states may act together for some issues, they may shift "regions" for other issues. The challenge, therefore, would be for the US to determine how the regions take shape depending on the more important security questions.

This is an important resource for any IR student. I enjoyed the book, and I will likely draw from its ideas as I move forward in my studies.