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Grundig, Frank, Jon Hovi, Arild Underdal, and Stine Aakre. (2012) Self-Enforcing Peace and Environmental Agreements: Toward Scholarly Cross-Fertilization? International Studies Review, doi: 10.1111/misr.12003 Enforcement of agreements can be a major challenge in international politics. However, the interest in mechanisms of self-enforcement seems significantly lower among scholars studying international peace agreements (IPAs) than among scholars studying international environmental agreements (IEAs). Moreover, practically no exchange of ideas and findings about enforcement can be found between these two fields of research. We argue that a combination of similarities and differences between the two issue-areas provides fertile ground for mutual learning. To facilitate communication we develop a unifying but differentiated definition of self-enforcing agreements (SEAs). We then use this conceptual framework to explore lessons about IEA design that might be learned by studying IPAs and lessons about IPA design that might be learned by studying IEAs. We submit that this kind of compare-and-contrast analysis may provide important input for the development of a more refined and general theory of SEAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bauhr, Monika and Naghmeh Nasiritousi. (2012) How Do International Organizations Promote Quality of Government? Contestation, Integration, and the Limits of IO Power. International Studies Review, doi: 10.1111/misr.12009 © 2012 International Studies Association How do international organizations (IOs) promote quality of government (QoG) and reduce corruption? IOs play a central role in most accounts of power in international relations. However, our understanding of how IOs exercise power seldom moves beyond the traditional material-normative dimensions of power. We suggest that an important dimension to understand IO power is the contestation-integration dimension, where IOs can exercise power either by integrating countries into networks of cultural exchange or by contesting existing orders. By analyzing multilateral aid data and building on recent advances in our understanding of the effectiveness of IO anti-corruption work, we apply this framework to show how the contestation-integration dimension helps us understand the success or failure of anti-corruption strategies. We show that when IOs contest existing orders using governance rankings and aid conditionality, they suffer from ideational shortcomings, including lack of objective data and contested policy advice. In contrast, measures based on integration, such as the membership process of IOs or interaction with IOs, are more likely to suffer from internal procedural shortcomings, such as IOs failing to internalize and mainstream the norms that they seek to promote. Our findings have implications for both understanding conditions that limit the diffusion of the international anti-corruption agenda and advancing our knowledge of IO power and its limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glasius, Marlies. (2012) Gramsci for the Twenty-first Century: Dialectics and Translatability. International Studies Review, doi: 10.1111/misr.12011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harknett, Richard J. and Hasan B. Yalcin. (2012) The Struggle for Autonomy: A Realist Structural Theory of International Relations. International Studies Review, doi: 10.1111/misr.12010 Structural theories have advanced our understanding of International Relations (IR). This article contends that the two leading structural realist frameworks, however, rely too heavily on an ascribed unit motivation and core dynamic that are not derived from structure. This ultimately weakens both theories' explanatory potential. This article offers a refinement called structural autonomy that explains IR through a focus on a self-reliant pursuit of autonomy and the particular distribution of capabilities found across the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Das, Runa. (2012) Issues from South Asian Politics: Some Postcolonial Reflections. International Studies Review, doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2486.2012.01132.x [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent publication of State of denial, by veteran Washington journalist Bob Woodward, created firestorm of controversy over its central claim that the Bush administration is in denial over the severity of the unfolding crisis in Iraq. But one of the most revealing aspects of the book is its portrayal of the American policymaking process as dysfunctional, incompetent and beset by personal rivalries and ambitions. Woodward's account of the Bush administration's handling of Iraq reveals that bureaucratic necrosis, cronyism and internecine warfare between the Pentagon and the State Department are now the signature features of the American government. Thus an alternative reading of Woodward's book suggests that American people are no longer in denial about Iraq, but have yet to reckon with the deeper problem: the deterioration of their foreign policy establishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Lamberton Harper. Alexander Hamilton and the Origins of U.S. Foreign Policy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. xii + 347 pp. Preface, illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $35.00 (cloth). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a list and several short reviews of books received regarding the common market. "L'Europe Économique," by Visine; "International Organization and Integration--a Collection of Texts of Documents relating to the United Nations, its Related Agencies and Regional International Organizations--with annotations," by Panhuys, Brinkhorst and Maas.