The BRICs Superpower Challenge: Foreign and Security Policy Analysis

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The BRICs Superpower Challenge: Foreign and Security Policy Analysis
Author: Kwang Ho Chun
Publisher: Routledge
Publication Year: 2013

Edition: First Edition

About this Book

The BRICs Superpower Challenge explores whether Brazil, Russia, India, and China possess the capacity to emerge as future global superpowers within a rapidly transforming international system. Drawing from neo-realist international relations theory, Kwang Ho Chun examines how rising powers behave in a unipolar world and assesses whether the BRICs can challenge the existing global hegemon. The book argues that as the economic and political profiles of these states expand, they will increasingly shape regional and global politics; however, limitations in hard power, structural constraints, and internal vulnerabilities may slow or restrict their ascent to superpower status.

The study provides a deep and comparative analysis of each BRIC country’s foreign policy orientation, political institutions, and military capabilities. Chun evaluates how these states interact with one another, their engagement in international security affairs, and their collective efforts to influence global governance structures. The work concludes by assessing scenarios for future global power distribution and the prospects for a BRIC-led transformation of world politics.

This book is highly relevant for scholars and students of international relations, security studies, global governance, and geopolitical strategy. It offers policymakers and analysts a nuanced understanding of the opportunities and constraints facing the BRICs as they navigate an increasingly complex and competitive global arena.

Contents

Part I – Background

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Concept of Superpower

Part II – The BRICs: Political Relations, Foreign Policy and Military Power

Chapter 3: Introduction to Part II
Chapter 4: Brazil
Chapter 5: Russia
Chapter 6: India
Chapter 7: China
Chapter 8: The BRICs and International Security
Chapter 9: Summary of Part II

Part III – Projecting the Future: The BRICs Factor and Future International Power Relations

Chapter 10: Introduction to Part III
Chapter 11: Brazil
Chapter 12: Russia
Chapter 13: India
Chapter 14: China
Chapter 15: The BRICs as a Bloc: Their Collective Role in Shaping Future Geopolitics
Chapter 16: Are There Prospects of the BRICs Being the Next Superpower?