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Good Fences, Bad Neighbors: Border Fixity and International Conflict Kindle Edition

by Boaz Atzili (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
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Border fixity—the proscription of foreign conquest and the annexation of homeland territory—has, since World War II, become a powerful norm in world politics. This development has been said to increase stability and peace in international relations. Yet, in a world in which it is unacceptable to challenge international borders by force, sociopolitically weak states remain a significant source of widespread conflict, war, and instability.


In this book, Boaz Atzili argues that the process of state building has long been influenced by external territorial pressures and competition, with the absence of border fixity contributing to the evolution of strong states—and its presence to the survival of weak ones. What results from this norm, he argues, are conditions that make internal conflict and the spillover of interstate war more likely. Using a comparison of historical and contemporary case studies, Atzili sheds light on the relationship between state weakness and conflict. His argument that under some circumstances an international norm that was established to preserve the peace may actually create conditions that are ripe for war is sure to generate debate and shed light on the dynamics of continuing conflict in the twenty-first century.

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  1. Print length
    310 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    University of Chicago Press
  5. Publication date
    December 2, 2011
  6. File size
    2029 KB
  7. Page Flip
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Atzili sheds powerful light on the roots of current international and civil conflicts. His arguments are novel and convincing. This book is essential reading for students of international politics and policy.” -- Stephen Van Evera, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Good Fences, Bad Neighbors addresses in a very illuminating and novel way one of the key paradoxes in post–World War II international security: how and why an international norm designed to encourage peace increased, rather than decreased, the level of warfare in at least some parts of the world. Boaz Atzili provides an original and insightful analysis of why in the current international system the weakest states generate the most instances of war.” -- Benjamin Miller, University of Haifa

"The international norm of border fixity (or the idea that the forcible annexation of territory is taboo) is thought to contribute to international stability, but Boaz Atzili argues that in some cases it contributes to the survival of weak states, thus creating conditions that make war more likely."
― Survival Published On: 2013-05-07

“Boaz Atzili presents a very interesting, well-researched, and counterintuitive argument that carries important policy implications and should be emphasized in the literature about international security.” -- Idean Salehyan, University of North Texas

About the Author

Boaz Atzili is assistant professor in the School of International Service, American University.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007VDUSH4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press (December 2, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 2, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2029 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 310 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0226031365

About the author

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Boaz Atzili

Boaz Atzili

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Boaz Atzili is an Associate Professor at the School of International Service (SIS) of American University in Washington DC, and the Director of Doctoral Studies at the school.

He was born and raised in Kibbutz Zikim in the south of Israel, and is now living in Rockville, Maryland.

He holds a 2006 PhD in Political Science from MIT and a 1997 BA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After earning his PhD Atzili was a postdoctoral fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, (2006-8).

Prof. Atzili teaches courses on international security and Middle Eastern politics at SIS. Before coming to American University he also taught at Boston University, Tufts University, and Bentley College.

Prof. Atzili's research interests are in the general area of international security, with emphasis on territorial conflicts and the politics of borders, deterrence and coercion, and the international aspects of state weakness and state failure. Prof. Atzili has published three books, "Good Fences Bad Neighbors," Territorial Designs and International Politics" (Edited with Burak Kadercan), and "Triadic Coercion" (with Wendy Pearlman). He has published articles in journals such as International Security, Security Studies, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, International Studies Review, and Territory, Governance, Politics.

His first book, Good Fences, Bad Neighbors: Border Fixity and International Conflict (University of Chicago Press, 2012) has won the Edger E. Furniss Award for the best first book in international security, by the Mershon Center for International Security, 2014.

The book is based on his dissertation that has won the American Political Science Association’s Kenneth N. Waltz prize for the best 2006 dissertation in the area of security studies.

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