International relations theory and regional transformation / edited by T.V. Paul.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Regional transformation in international relations / T.V. Paul -- How regions were made, and the legacies for world politics: an English school reconnaissance / Barry Buzan -- Realism and neorealism in the study of regional conflict / Dale C. Copeland -- Neoclassical realism and the study of regional order / Jeffrey W. Taliaferro -- Economic interdependence and regional peace / John M. Owen IV -- Regional organizations à la carte: the effects of institutional elasticity / Stephanie C. Hofmann and Frédéric Mérand -- Transforming regional security through liberal reforms / John R. Oneal -- Ideas, norms, and regional orders / Amitav Acharya -- Regional security practices and Russian-Atlantic relations / Vincent Pouliot -- The transformation of modern Europe: banalities of success / John A. Hall -- Top-down peacemaking: why peace begins with states and not societies / Norrin M. Ripsman -- Strategies and mechanisms of regional change / Stéfanie von Hlatky.

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.