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The later years of the Cold War were said do be dominated by the `arc of crisis' that stretched from Afghanistan, through Iran and the Middle East to Africa. The current arc stretches from the Caucasus through Afghanistan and the Pakistan to the Gulf, the Middle East and also as far as east and north Africa which is distinguished by the possibility of a complete political meltdown from central Asia to central Africa, which would have wider effects deep into three continents.

An analysis of the political and military strategy behind the possibility of launching a war in Iraq and the respective objectives of the US and the UK if such a war is launched. It is argued that the actual objective for a war in Iraq are still unclear and that possibly the best option for all involved would be to delay taking any action for the time being.

The global war on terror has become a political fact and recognized as popular fiction with the Madrid bomb of March 11. Madrid's 3/11 has taken on the guise of Europe's 9/11 and confirmed in the popular mind that the scourge of international terrorism affects all western countries and their allies.

This article argues, through a case study of the evolving impact of the Xinjiang and Uyghur issue, that the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) ethnic minorities have been a significant factor in Beijing’s foreign relations throughout its history. Since the end of the Cold War in particular, China’s approach to the Xinjiang and Uyghur issue has played an important role in undergirding domestic stability and shaping its relations with Central Asia. More broadly, the case of Xinjiang and the Uyghur suggests that the nature and scale of the challenge posed by any one ethnic minority in the context of the PRC’s foreign policy has largely been a function of the interplay of five major factors: the historical relationship between the ethnic group and the Chinese state; the geographic concentration of an ethnic minority; the degree of acculturation to the dominant Han society; external great power support; and mobilised diasporas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that China's approach to Afghanistan since the end of the Cold War has been shaped by the desire both for security in Xinjiang and for geopolitical advantage in Central Asia. While Beijing's Xinjiang calculus was ascendant from 1991 to 2001, since 2001 a broader geopolitical calculus has emerged. This latter factor has been encapsulated in President Xi Jinping's 'One Belt, One Road' strategy, which, at its core, is an outgrowth of Beijing's decades-long agenda to integrate Xinjiang and utilise this region's unique geopolitical position to facilitate a Chinacentric Eurasian geo-economic system. While China's Xinjiang calculus determines that it shares an interest with the USA in combating radical Islamism in Afghanistan (and Central Asia more broadly), the geopolitical calculus of the 'One Belt, One Road' strategy points to a fundamental incompatibility between US and Chinese interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's Eurasian frontiers have emerged as a major factor in Beijing's foreign policy through President Xi Jinping's “One Belt, One Road” strategy. The article argues that this strategy has been given impetus by the shifting geopolitical landscape in Central Asia resulting from the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia's relative decline, and Beijing's quest for stability in its restive province of Xinjiang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conversation among the editors of ARIEL and Timothy Clark addresses his 2012 essay, "Derangements of Scale," published in Telemorphosis: Theory in the Era of Climate Change. In his essay, Clark suggests that scale effects play an important role in contemporary global politics and climate change, and he proposes a new, larger scale of literary study commensurate with an awareness of these issues. The editors discuss the implications of Clark's essay for postcolonial studies, the merits of his proposed method of literary interpretation, and the ramifications of his discussion of human agency. Clark takes up all of these issues in his response to the editors' conversation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent commentary on China's approach to Afghanistan has argued that it is either driven by opportunistic “free riding” on US-NATO efforts or a fundamental caution determined by security concerns in its restive province of Xinjiang. In contrast, this paper argues that China has three primary goals with respect to Afghanistan that mirror those toward the other states in “Greater Central Asia”: (1) to ensure the security of Xinjiang; (2) to secure the development of greater economic links, including investment in natural resources; and (3) to combat the influence of the United States and India. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the bipartisan nuclear 'grand bargain', namely that Australia would only export uranium to states signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), in framing Australian policy and debate towards India. India has not signed the NPT, and shows no willingness to do so. Since 2006 the domestic political and media debate regarding uranium sales to India shows that this grand bargain is fraying. This article explores the major arguments that have been elucidated by Australian political party leaders either for or against uranium sales to India and concludes with a discussion of the opportunities and challenges presented to Australia if it were to make an exception for India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that Beiijing's handling of the Xinjiang and Uyghur issues at the domestic, regional and international levels is characterised by a number of contradictions. Domestically, the July 2009 unrest suggests that China's longstanding approach to Xinjiang is at risk of failure due to the contradictions inherent in the logic that underpins Beijing's strategy. Regionally, Beijing faces a contradiction between its growing influence on the governments of Central Asia and the ambivalent attitude of Central Asian publics towards China. Internationally, the major implication of the July unrest has been to signal the internationalisation of the Uyghur issue whereby it has become a significant irritant in Beijing's relations with a number of major Western states, including the USA and Australia. It has been Beijing's own approach to Xinjiang domestically and its handling of the Uyghur issue in its diplomacy that has contributed to the internationalisation of the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on Australia's foreign policy from July to December 2007, which coincided with and impacted the results of political campaigns in the country. Prime Minister John Howard and Kevin Rudd's Australian Labor Party (ALP) were the main forces of the campaign. The most prominent foreign policy issues of the campaign were the Iraq war, Afghanistan, the South Pacific, climate change, and the place of the U.S. in Asian-Pacific politics. The case of Mohammed Haneef, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in terrorist attacks in Great Britain, is discussed. Issues such as Australia's position on the Iraq war and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan were also important campaign issues.

This article argues that China's foreign policy since 1991 has been guided by the evolution of a grand strategy of "peaceful rise" that seeks to ensure China's smooth transition to great power status. Moreover, it suggests that a strategic preoccupation with Central Asia has become an important expression of this grand strategy. Framing these arguments is a third overarching one that postulates that China's foreign policy in Central Asia is not only intimately related to the strategy of "peaceful rise" but also to a particular, historically and geopolitically informed narrative of China's "Inner Asian" power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the ongoing international debate concerning the efficacy or otherwise of the NPT and IAEA in preventing or managing nuclear proliferation, Australia's undertaking to enter a nuclear cooperation agreement with the People's Republic of China (PRC), once identified as a “strategic competitor” of Australia's major alliance partner the United States (US), suggests that Australia's approach to proliferation issues is being re-evaluated. This paper argues, utilising an analysis of the relationship between the evolving US approach to nuclear issues and Australian policy, that the Howard government's evolving approach to nuclear issues can be characterised as an attempt to balance the competing imperatives of maintaining Australia's reputation as a nuclear non-proliferation standard bearer, regional strategic and economic considerations and the weight of the Australia-US alliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article takes a look at Great Britain security policy and poses such questions as what actually needs to be secured. The author cites Former Great Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair for having made a significant impact on the security policy of the nation, saying Blair strengthened its image as a bridge across the Atlantic, a feat the author finds harder to sustain in the future. He believes the country should now see itself as a center of developed world diplomacy and as a consensus-builder among the progressive security players in the world.

Examines the role of Great Britain in progressing the security and development agenda. Diplomatic role of the country within the United Nations; Political benefits of Prime Minister Tony Blair's commitment to Africa; Effect of the country's leadership on the security and development agenda on Africa's development future.

Clearly the globalization of finance has provided opportunities for OFCs to emerge. From a sociological perspective it is argued, however, that closer analysis demands respect for their diversity and even idiosyncrasy. Analytical concepts are offered to situate this diversity and to develop a more reflexive understanding of the processes through which the system of OFCs continues to develop. We arrive at a distinctive approach for theorizing OFCs under conditions of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]