Regional leaders in the global security arena: interests, strategies and capabilities ; 11th New Faces Conference 31 March–2 April 2008, Berlin, Germany

Abstract

"Regional Leaders are on the rise. The present volume presents the outcome of DGAP's 11th New Faces Conference, which, through various case studies, has thoroughly examined established and emerging 'regional leaders', their geo-political agendas and security interests, their strategic partnerships with other countries, their role in regional security organizations and the international community, and their capabilities to provide stability and security in their region and beyond. As the following contributions show, we can find a multitude of understandings and conceptualizations of what constitutes 'power' and a 'region.' While there are certainly predominant understandings of the region as a synonym for a geographical unit we normally refer to as 'continent,' the reader will be confronted by rather unconventional conceptualizations of the regional category. The same holds true for most accounts of 'power' which is commonly conceived of as representing a quantifiable dimension of material assets such as military power, economic output and the like. Yet, as we can learn from the writings of Joseph Nye and his concept of 'soft power' - or Hillary Clinton’s more or less identical idea of 'smart power' - power and influence also depend heavily on the attractiveness of ideas and concepts. We therefore hope that the following chapters will provide the reader with some fresh ideas on the different forms of regional power." (excerpt)