International Relations Theory and Regional Transformation

Regional transformation has emerged as a major topic of research during the past few decades, much of it seeking to understand how a region changes into a zone of conflict or cooperation and how and why some regions remain in perpetual conflict. Although the leading theoretical paradigms of international relations have something to say about regional order, a comprehensive treatment of this subject is missing from the literature. This book suggests that cross-paradigmatic engagement on regional orders can be valuable if it can generate theoretically innovative, testable propositions and policy-relevant ideas. The book brings together scholars from the dominant IR perspectives aiming to explain the regional order issue through multidimensional and multi-causal pathways and seeking meeting points between them. Using insights from IR theory, the contributors offer policy-relevant ideas which may benefit conflict-ridden regions of the world.

T. V. Paul is Director of the McGill/University of Montreal Centre for International Peace and Security Studies (CIPSS) and James McGill Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at McGill University. He specialises in International Relations, especially international security, regional security and South Asia.