143 143 Linking Status with Soft Power: Call for a Joint Research Agenda Review article of: T. V. Paul, Deborah Welch Larson, and William C. Wohlforth, eds., Status in World Politics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014, 324 pp., USD 29.33, paperback). 1. Introduction The importance of non-Western regions for international politics and economy has been growing steadily in the last few decades. In particular, countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – popularly known as BRICS – and other so-called “middle powers” such as Turkey have been forming increasingly relevant poles of power, in a way that seems to suggest that the “unipolar moment” and US hegemony are, at this point, largely gone. 1 What is the nature of these processes and their consequences for global governance and International Relations (IR)? More specifcally, in what ways do rising powers’ claims challenge – or even destabilise – the current world order? And is their rise necessarily a turbulent process? The authors and editors of Status in World Politics believe that a focus on the concept of status can help answer these complex questions. They are not alone in considering status concerns as a stepping stone in explaining the behaviour of emerging powers. Status has been historically important and noted as an explanatory factor in several instances; the struggle of Mussolini’s fascist regime to establish overseas colonies is a case in point. Italy, which achieved unity only in 1861, strived hard to obtain the status of a colonial empire, considered a conditio sine qua non, to be on a par with other European great powers. In IR theory, the concept of status pervades the writings of English School scholars such as Hedley Bull and Adam Watson, who conceptualised the international system in terms of social order and status hierarchies. 2 English School scholars also acknowledge the intersubjective and social nature of status, which does not solely result from a state’s material capabilities but is rather conferred by the recognition of others. The editors of the book note that “the past decade has witnessed an outpouring of new multidisciplinary research on status in international politics.” 3 Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti, Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher,* METU, Ankara. Email: eleonora.tafuro@gmail.com. *This research has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607133. 1 ...if US hegemony ever existed. For an interesting and fresh take on the (in)existence and unnecessity of US hegemony, see Simon Reich and Richard Ned Lebow, “Infuence and Hegemony: Shifting Patterns of Material and Social Power in World Politics,” All Azimuth 6, no. 1 (2017):17-47. 2 Hedley Bull and Adam Watson, The Expansion of International Society (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984). 3 T.V. Paul, Deborah Welch Larson, and William C Wohlforth, “Introduction,” in Status in World Politics (New York: Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti Middle East Technical University All Azimuth V7, N1, 2018, 143-152 http://dx.doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.326981