Description: Dynamics of Regional Politics explores the patterns of international conflict and cooperation in four geographical subsystems: the Horn of Africa, the Persian/Arabian Gulf, the South Asian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. All were theaters of Cold War rivalry, and coping with numerous regional conflicts will be part of any future international order. Wriggins argues that to understand how the end of the Cold War will affect these areas, it is necessary to look closely at their individual dynamics over time in order to differentiate characteristics intrinsic to the regions from those created by the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The book is structured to test hypotheses about international alignment and conflict across a number of Third World cases. It highlights areas where Third World realities--arbitrary colonial borders, weak state structures, civil conflict, ethnic/sectarian/tribal ties across frontiers--produce international outcomes different from those predicted by standard theories generated from European and North American cases. The introductory chapter sets out these hypotheses, which organize the presentation of the subsequent case study chapters. Each case study is written by a distinguished regional specialist, who presents a rich, in-depth analysis of the areas in a format that invites comparison across regions. In his conclusion, Wriggins relates the evidence from the cases back to the original hypotheses, drawing inferences about how Third World states deal with one another and the outside world. Dynamics of Regional Politics is recommended for those interested in or specializing in comparative foreign policy, international politics in theThird World, and international security.

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