Policy Press

Conflict, security and peace

Addressing UN Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, the books and journal articles we publish in this area focus on the impact of vast power differentials and the issues that need to be addressed as a threat to human rights and international security, including conflict based migration and political instability. 

Our aim is to publish innovative research that supports finding ways to protect groups that can be an easy target for violence and discrimination.

Bristol University Press and Policy Press are signed up to the UN SDG Publishers Compact. In Conflict, security and peace, we aim to address the following goal:

SDG Publishers compact logoSDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Showing 49-60 of 132 items.

Ideas and the Use of Force in American Foreign Policy

Presidential Decision-Making in a Post-Cold War World

Examining the post-Cold War period, this book sets out to explain why and when US presidents choose to use force. It develops new explanations for variation in the use of force in US foreign policy by theorizing and demonstrating the effects of the displacement and repression of ideas within and across different US Presidential administrations.

Bristol Uni Press

Fuelling Insecurity

Energy Securitization in Azerbaijan

This book examines the extensive network of security professionals and the wide range of practices that have spread in Azerbaijan’s energy sector. It unpacks the interactions of state, supra‐state, and private security organisations and argues that energy security has enabled and normalised a coercive way of exercising power.

Bristol Uni Press

Security, Strategy, and Military Dynamics in the South China Sea

Cross-National Perspectives

Bringing together international experts, this collection provides fresh perspectives on geopolitical concerns in the South China Sea. It is an accessible, even-handed examination of current and future rivalries and challenges in one of the most strategically important and militarized maritime regions of the world.

Bristol Uni Press

Environmental Anarchy?

Security in the 21st Century

This book explains why insecurity has become such a ubiquitous feature of life in the 21st century and why policymakers, strategic analysts and many scholars are failing to recognise or address its underlying causes.

Bristol Uni Press

Identity in the Shadow of a Giant

How the Rise of China is Changing Taiwan

This co-authored book examines the implications of the global ascent of China on cross-Strait relations and the identity of Taiwan as a democratic state, offering insights into policies for peaceful relations and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait.

Bristol Uni Press

US Foreign Policy

Domestic Roots and International Impact

This textbook provides a valuable introduction to the construction and application of US foreign policy in the modern era, encouraging readers to think about how ideas, institutions and goals have been at work in the foreign policy of recent presidential administrations.

Bristol Uni Press

Grand Strategy in 10 Words

A Guide to Great Power Politics in the 21st Century

This book introduces ten key terms for analysing grand strategy and shows how the world’s great powers – the United States, China, Russia and the European Union (EU) – shape their strategic decisions today and shows how the choices made will determine the course of world politics in the first half of the 21st century.

Bristol Uni Press

Democratic Decay and Authoritarian Resurgence

Drawing on real-world developments, and including international case studies, this book introduces students to the concept and causes of democratic decay in the modern world.

Bristol Uni Press

Rethinking Peace Mediation

Challenges of Contemporary Peacemaking Practice

Written by international practitioners and scholars, this pioneering work offers insights into the peace mediation practice and explains how multifaceted assistance has become an indispensable part of it. With its policy focus and real-world examples, this is a go-to resource for researchers and advisers involved in peace processes.

Bristol Uni Press

Vicarious Warfare

American Strategy and the Illusion of War on the Cheap

This compelling account charts the historical emergence of vicarious warfare and its contemporary prominence. It contrasts its tactical advantages with its hidden costs and potential to cause significant strategic harm.

Bristol Uni Press

Body Count

The War on Terror and Civilian Deaths in Iraq

Lily Hamourtziadou’s important analysis of the scale and causes of civilian deaths in Iraq since the US-led coalition’s 2003 invasion sheds new light on the War on Terror. From early fighting to the departure and return of troops and the rise of ISIS, she tracks the cost of conflict and constructs an insightful human security approach to war.

Bristol Uni Press

Investigating Corruption in the Afghan Police Force

Instability and Insecurity in Post-conflict Societies

Based on unprecedented empirical research, this book assesses how institutional legacy and external intervention have shaped the structural conditions of corruption in the Afghan police force and state. Filling a major gap in the literature, this is an invaluable contribution to the literature and to anti-corruption policy in developing states.

Policy Press