Product Description: Few scholars have attempted to evaluate critically the role mediators play in managing international conflicts. Thomas Princen examines where mediation fits in the larger realm of diplomatic practice, going beyond the usual state-centric focus to account for the mediating activities of a wide range of actors-from superpowers to small states, from international organizations to nongovernmental groups...read more

Product Description: Energy supplies are tightening. Persistent pollutants are accumulating. Food security is declining. There is no going back to the days of reckless consumption, but there is a possibility--already being realized in communities across North America and around the world--of localizing, of living well as we learn to live well within immutable constraints...read more

Product Description: What if modern society put a priority on the material security of its citizens and the ecological integrity of its resource base? What if it took ecological constraint as a given, not a hindrance but a source of long-term economic security? How would it organize itself, structure its industry, shape its consumption?Across time and across cultures, people actually have adapted to ecological constraint...read more

There has been enormous growth in the size and number of environmental NGOs, (non governmental organizations), in recent years. This has happened, mainly because of a generally slow or in some cases, negative response, by governments towards an escalating global environmental crisis. This book examines how NGOs have grown in importance to a point where they now act as key bargainers and agents within the emerging field of world environmental politics. By linking local and global issues, NGOs are able to highlight ecological issues of importance and promote social learning. The authors use four case studies, including the Great Lakes water negotiations, the ivory trade ban and Antarctic environmental protection, to illustrate the breadth of NGO activity and the diversity of their politics. The case studies also demonstrate how NGOs have to face tough environmental choices and how they often move outside the traditional structures of world politics when governmental action is insufficient in addressing environmental issues.

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