Power in context
Realigning regional and global power research
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6452906 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anita Faust (0000-0002-1196-7001, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 299-317 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-13 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Society and Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1588-970X • E-ISSN: 1588-9726 |
| Publisher | Akadémiai Kiadó (PUBLISHER • HU) |
| DOI | 10.1556/204.2025.00003 |
| OpenAlex | W4410318399 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 24 |
The study of sub-systems tends to be a disadvantaged endeavour within the discipline of International Relations. While the global level of analysis attracts more attention, contradictions in assumptions embraced by IR surface most readily on the sub-systemic level. This was the case with ‘Regional Power Research’ (RPR), a systematic study of post-Cold War emerging powers. RPR conceptualised emerging powers as autonomous regional powers and hypothesised that they would provide security as a public good within their regions. None of RPR's hypotheses could be confirmed empirically. The paper first provides a historically contextualised insight into the assumption of anarchy underlying RPR's hypotheses, and deconstructs the concept of public goods. It then presents findings from a longitudinal qualitative content analysis of the 1990–2021 national security strategies issued by the United States. Findings show that the world order that prevailed when emerging powers rose was markedly hierarchic, precluding autonomous security provision, an inherently hierarchic endeavour, by sub-global powers. Emerging powers embraced adaptive strategies and the global distribution of capabilities shifted. Findings confirm the need to ground hypotheses in empiricism, realigning regional and global level power research to reflect the changing degrees and spatio-temporal distributions of anarchy and hierarchy in the international system
Context (archaeology · Geography · Physics · Power (physics · Regional science · Sociology · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Peacebuilding and International Security · Political Conflict and Governance
A world restored
The Rise of the Western World
Political Geography
Introduction to Geopolitics
War and Change in World Politics
International Organization
Hegemony, Domination, Detachment: Differences in Regional Powerhood
The Logic of Collective Action
The National Security Strategy
The regional powers’ research programme in international relations
The assumption of anarchy in international relations theory
Redistribution and recognition
How to compare regional powers
Regional hierarchy
Journal of Peace Research
Empire by Invitation? The United States and Western Europe, 1945-1952
Regions and powers
Theory of international politics
Taking Preferences Seriously
Gilpinian Realism and International Relations
New patterns of global security in the twenty-first century
| Highly cited | No |
|---|