Showing papers in "Cooperation and Conflict in 2015"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the multiple synergies between international practice theory and diplomatic studies and suggest what a practice theory of diplomacy may look like, discussing a variety of existing works through their common objective to explain the constitution of world politics in and through practice.
Abstract: This introductory article explores the multiple synergies between international practice theory and diplomatic studies. The timing for this cross-fertilizing exchange could not be better, as the study of diplomacy enters a phase of theorization while practice scholars look to confront the approach to new empirical and analytical challenges. The article first defines diplomacy as a historically and culturally contingent bundle of practices that are analytically alike in their claim to represent a given polity to the outside world. Then the key analytical wagers that practice theory makes are introduced, and debates currently raging in the discipline are briefly reviewed. Next, it is suggested what a practice theory of diplomacy may look like, discussing a variety of existing works through their common objective to explain the constitution of world politics in and through practice. Finally, a few research avenues to foster the dialogue between diplomatic studies and practice theory are outlined, centered on...
156 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors take stock of the critique of the liberal peace and identify what it has and has not achieved, and where do we go from here? The article surveys an agenda for future research and can also be read as a rebuttal of some recent literature that has attempted to shut down the liberal-peace debate.
Abstract: This article seeks to take stock of the critique of the liberal peace and identify what it has and has not achieved. It also asks ‘where do we go from here?’ The article surveys an agenda for future research and can also be read as a rebuttal of some recent literature that has attempted to shut down the liberal peace debate. The article opens with a quick recap of the bases of the critique of the liberal peace. It then outlines the ‘achievements’ of the debate and examines the failings and oversights of the original critique. Questions are raised about the epistemology and terms of the debate, and of the ability of critical intellectual projects to break through the material power held by mainstream intellectual and policy actors. In its final substantive section, the article asks ‘where next for the critique of the liberal peace?’ We conclude by highlighting avenues of research that might be fruitfully explored.
124 citations
TL;DR: Hybrid forms of peace represent a juxtaposition between international norms and interests and local forms of agency and identity as mentioned in this paper, and a first stage may be tense forms of hybrid politics that maintain s...
Abstract: Hybrid forms of peace represent a juxtaposition between international norms and interests and local forms of agency and identity. A first stage may be tense forms of hybrid politics that maintain s...
119 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of informal social resources rather than formal institutional structures in European Union (EU) diplomatic practice has been investigated at the level of empirical observation, focusing on the intangible and incalculable "feel for the game" that distinguishes a well-informed and relaxed insider from an illinformed and ill-at-ease outsider in EU diplomatic circles in Brussels.
Abstract: This paper investigates the workings of symbolic power in diplomatic practice. At the level of empirical observation, it focuses on the intangible and incalculable ‘feel for the game’ that distinguishes a well-informed and relaxed insider from an ill-informed and ill-at-ease outsider in European Union (EU) diplomatic circles in Brussels. By highlighting the play of social resources, such as reputation, presence, poise, and composure in these circles, I examine EU diplomacy from an angle – symbolic power – that is often overlooked in the existing work on that field. Conceptually, the analysis focuses on the role of informal social resources rather than formal institutional structures in diplomatic practice. It also outlines the potential synergies between the study of diplomacy in international relations (IR) on the one hand and geography, anthropology, and sociology on the other. The paper thereby advances the analytical toolbox of diplomatic studies and practice theory. Such conceptual sharpening is need...
52 citations
TL;DR: In this article, 60 interviews with EU and NATO officials (2010-2013) illustrate how the operational and tactical levels have developed ways of coordinating efforts informally despite the lack of a formal framework.
Abstract: Maritime engagement in the Gulf of Aden is a puzzling case for anyone interested in the political and institutional problems underlying European Union–North Atlantic Treaty Organization (EU–NATO) cooperation. Although the EU’s operation NAVFOR ‘Atalanta’ and NATO’s ‘Ocean Shield’ operate in the same theatre and with similar mandates, there is no formal link between them. No joint planning has been envisaged, and no official task-sharing takes place. As this article aims to show, cooperation and coordination between EU and NATO forces at the operational and tactical levels have nevertheless worked surprisingly well. Two faces of EU–NATO cooperation become apparent: the political level is dominated by a permanent deadlock, while on the ground and at sea staff have developed a modus operandi that allows them to deliver fairly successfully in complementing yet detached operations. Based on 60 interviews with EU and NATO officials (2010–2013), this article illustrates how the operational and tactical levels have developed ways of coordinating efforts informally despite the lack of a formal framework. It aims to show to what extent and how they succeed at bypassing organizational boundaries and at overcoming political limitations. Although these practices are becoming increasingly institutionalized, it remains to be seen whether this will translate into formal changes.
51 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the role of parliaments in providing democratic responsiveness of security policy-making and test the hypothesis that, depending on the extent of their war powers, parliamentarians do effectively limit the scope of executive security policy if and when public opinion strongly opposes military action.
Abstract: Referring to Kant’s ‘Perpetual Peace’, research on the democratic peace is based on the assumption that citizens’ preferences are fully and directly transferred into actual security policy by democratic leaders. However, democratic responsiveness in foreign politics is a more complex issue. Parliaments are usually key institutions with regard to ensuring responsiveness of democratic leaders both by authorizing political decisions and by monitoring executive policy-making and implementation. However, in several democracies military security policy-making is understood as part of an ‘executive prerogative’. This article examines the role of parliaments in providing for democratic responsiveness of security policy-making. We test the hypothesis that, depending on the extent of their ‘war powers’, parliaments do effectively limit the scope of executive security policy if and when public opinion strongly opposes military action. The decision-making of 25 European democracies on military participation in the 20...
48 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that as innovative as some diplomatic practices of the G20 may be, we should not overstate their potential impact, and they show that G20 diplomacy often reproduces many oligarchic tendencies in global governance, while also relaxing club dynamics in some ways.
Abstract: Is the G20 transforming global governance, or does it reinforce the status quo? In this article we argue that as innovative as some diplomatic practices of the G20 may be, we should not overstate their potential impact. More specifically, we show that G20 diplomacy often reproduces many oligarchic tendencies in global governance, while also relaxing club dynamics in some ways. On the one hand, the G20 has more inductees who operate along new rules of the game and under a new multilateral ethos of difference. But, on the other hand, the G20 still comprises self-appointed rulers, with arbitrary rules of membership and many processes of cooption and discipline. In overall terms, approaching G20 diplomacy from a practice perspective not only provides us with the necessary analytical granularity to tell the old from the new, it also sheds different light on the dialectics of stability and change on the world stage. Practices are processes and as such they are always subject to evolutionary change. However, bec...
46 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the simultaneous management of three different social roles (knowledge producer, representative of a government, and bureaucrat) defines the everyday work and practice of a knowledge producer.
Abstract: This article shows that the simultaneous management of three different social roles – knowledge producer, representative of a government, and bureaucrat – defines the everyday work and practice of ...
45 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a conceptual model for the de-composition of national role conceptions in the European Union and apply it to German and Czech European policies in the constitutionalization process.
Abstract: The literature on norm socialization and Europeanization has largely focused on successful norm diffusion, but thus far it has hardly addressed the norm backlash from the respective societies. To more fully grasp the interaction between member states’ roles and their institutional preferences we provide a conceptual model for the de-composition of national role conceptions. This model is applied in case studies on German and Czech European policies in the constitutionalization process of the European Union. The paper illustrates how the composition of Czech and German roles has changed over time and how these national role conceptions shape the countries’ respective institutional preferences. We conclude that historical role experience is considered as a powerful explanatory tool for the policies of today’s European Union member states.
44 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the importance of informal, practice-based change as opposed to formal change at the United Nations is considered, and it is shown how the appointment process for a new Secretary-General has evolved through informal practice.
Abstract: This article considers the importance of informal, practice-based change as opposed to formal change at the UN. I first evaluate UN reform, showing that diplomacy and institutional change within the UN system are better understood as having evolved less from major, formal reform of the UN Charter (‘the Charter’) than from minor changes in routine practices. I then examine what practice theory and diplomatic studies can learn from each other in terms of how each views the role of leading individuals, illustrating specific practice-based change in relation to the Secretary-General’s role. Next, I show how the appointment process for a new Secretary-General has evolved through informal practice, after which I advance an argument that UN diplomatic practices should be considered not only within the narrow context of a formal diplomatic corps of member state diplomats but also as part of an informal, wider diplomatic community of diplomats and non-state actors. Practice theory helps students of diplomacy think...
42 citations
TL;DR: Some initiatives at the European level of the EU designed to undermine online radicalisation, embryonic as they are, may have failed already to balance the need for effective action against the obligation to protect Internet users’ privacy rights.
Abstract: The Internet has had a transformative effect in modern societies, becoming an empowering tool for individuals and an increasingly indispensable part of citizens’ lives. Yet, like any technology, the Internet also has negative ramifications. For instance, violent groups and networks can exploit it in a variety of ways including the planning of operations, establishing communications, circulation of propaganda, training and recruiting new members, and raising funds. In light of the above, terrorists’ use of the Internet is an area that has started to attract attention from European institutions. So far, the EU response has concentrated on raising critical communication infrastructure resilience standards to prevent potential cyber-attacks. Yet, these efforts have, in reality, been motivated by security concerns regarding acts of cyber-espionage, cyber-crime, and cyber-sabotage rather than hitherto hypothetical attacks of terrorist origin. On the other hand, other malicious uses of the Internet by terrorist ...
TL;DR: In this paper, a proliferation of works on the new European External Action Service (EEAS) have been published, most of which approach the EEAS through a rationalist framework, assessing how a new institution can solve long...
Abstract: There is a proliferation of works on the new European External Action Service (EEAS). Most of these approach the EEAS through a rationalist framework, assessing how a new institution can solve long...
TL;DR: In Denmark, successive Danish governments have succeeded in maintaining the highest level of public support among the nations contributing to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, while the United States failed to gain any significant support as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Much to their own surprise, successive Danish governments have succeeded in maintaining the highest level of public support among the nations contributing to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, while ...
TL;DR: The literature on international organizations tells us that diverging member states preferences and concerns about the loss of control are major obstacles to institutional reform as discussed by the authors. But what if chan....
Abstract: The literature on international organizations tells us that diverging member states’ preferences and concerns about the loss of control are major obstacles to institutional reform. But what if chan...
TL;DR: This article explores whether and how the concept of security is changing due to this ‘rise of risk’, through a hermeneutically grounded conceptual and discourse analysis of the United Kingdom government’s National Security Strategy from 1998 to 2011.
Abstract: Risk scholars within Security Studies have argued that the concept of security has gone through a fundamental transformation away from a threat-based conceptualisation of defence, urgency and exceptionality to one of preparedness, precautions and prevention of future risks, some of which are calculable, others of which are not. This article explores whether and how the concept of security is changing due to this ‘rise of risk’, through a hermeneutically grounded conceptual and discourse analysis of the United Kingdom government’s National Security Strategy (NSS) from 1998 to 2011. We ask how risk-security language is employed in the NSS; what factors motivate such discursive shifts; and what, if any, consequences of these shifts can be discerned in UK national security practices. Our aim is twofold: to better understand shifts in the security understandings and policies of UK authorities; and to contribute to the conceptual debate on the significance of the rise of risk as a component of the concept of se...
TL;DR: The United States has historically been inconsistent and ambivalent about the responsibility to protect as discussed by the authors, which reveals important convergences and tensions between the international norm and the localised variant that we call "genocide and mass atrocity prevention/protection".
Abstract: The United States has historically been inconsistent and ambivalent about the responsibility to protect. Part 1 of the article sets out a theoretical framework for understanding how the United States aligns itself with the responsibility to protect; it does so by initially using the idea of norm localisation, which reveals important convergences and tensions between the international norm and the localised variant that we call ‘genocide and mass atrocity prevention/protection’. Part 2 looks at the impact of this norm innovation in relation to the position that the United States government adopted on Libya – suggesting that it played a critical leadership role in the crisis and in doing so took risks with its international reputation while knowing that there was little prospect that this action would be warmly greeted by Congress or domestic public opinion.
TL;DR: The Alliance of Civilizations, a UN initiative that seeks to promote intercultural dialogue, is one of the most popular mechanisms for global governance as discussed by the authors. But it is not easy to categorize these mechanisms.
Abstract: Innovative mechanisms of global governance are increasingly common, yet they defy easy categorization. The Alliance of Civilizations, a UN initiative that seeks to promote intercultural dialogue, i...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored patterns of democratization in de facto states and argued that there is a positive relationship between de facto statehood and democratization, but this is the result of internal pressures and elite agency as opposed to normative pressures at the international level.
Abstract: De facto states are an anomalous, but well-discussed feature of international politics. The questions they raise for understandings of sovereignty and statehood are well advanced, but less understood are the internal dynamics of these entities particularly in relation to the development of democratic, participatory political institutions. Through an examination of the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq from 1992 to 2014 this article will explore patterns of democratization in de facto states. Unpacking a dilemma around trends toward both exclusionary and inclusionary politics in de facto states, it is argued here that there is a positive relationship between de facto statehood and democratization. However, contrary to current views, this is the result of internal pressures and elite agency as opposed to normative pressures at the international level.
TL;DR: In this paper, the implications of contemporary peacebuilding for technocratic, bureaucratic organizational forms are unpacked, and the authors argue that if the contemporary peace-building literature is taken...
Abstract: This article seeks to unpack the implications of contemporary peacebuilding for technocratic, bureaucratic organizational forms. It argues that if the contemporary peacebuilding literature is taken...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine ways in which discourse analysis and foreign policy analysis can be brought together, and examine theoretical approaches and critically discuss their promises and limitations, focusing on the option of applying constructivist discursive theories that might (or might not) have been developed with a view to analyzing foreign policy, including European foreign policy.
Abstract: This article is about European foreign policy, specifically an examination of ways in which discourse analysis and foreign policy analysis can be brought together. The first aim of this article is to explicate the explanandum in some detail. Before we know what we are looking for, it gives limited meaning to consider procedures for methodological procedures. Once the explanandum has been identified, the article examines theoretical approaches and critically discusses their promises and limitations. Priority is given to the option of applying constructivist discursive theories that might (or might not) have been developed with a view to analysing foreign policy, including European foreign policy. In doing so, the article aims at bridging several sometimes very different fields of study: discourse theory, which is sometimes utterly unaware of or uninterested in foreign affairs; and foreign policy analysis, which is frequently descriptive in orientation and at times characterized by less-than-benign neglect ...
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative analytical framework of state-centred vs multistakeholder diplomacies is used to explore EU energy diplomacy towards the emerging powers of Brazil, India, China and South Africa (BICS).
Abstract: This paper examines a supranational actor, the European Union (EU), as a producer of energy diplomacy. This study uses a comparative analytical framework of state-centred vs. multistakeholder diplomacies to explore EU energy diplomacy towards the ‘emerging’ powers of Brazil, India, China and South Africa (BICS). It also elaborates the multistakeholder model by advocating the inclusion of a new element – a consumer of diplomatic actions – into its conceptualization. In this way the paper suggests a new synthesis of the concepts of multistakeholder and public diplomacies. Advancing the notion of energy diplomacy, our analysis suggests that this type of diplomacy goes beyond state actors as producers of diplomatic outcomes, and is no longer confined to the norms of security of supply and competitiveness; EU energy diplomacy is a complex blend of multistakeholder and state-centred diplomacies, participants (producers and consumers) and communication modes. This comprehensive approach to diplomacy – led in the...
TL;DR: This article explored whether the United States has been able to exert transatlantic leadership since its head-on diplomatic collision with several European capitals over the 2003 Iraq war and concluded that it has not.
Abstract: This article explores whether the United States has been able to exert transatlantic leadership since its head-on diplomatic collision with several European capitals over the 2003 Iraq war. Conside...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the development and inclusion of gender-specific indicators, particularly economic, social and political discriminatory practices against women, has the potential to improve the capacity of early warning frameworks to forecast future mass atrocities.
Abstract: Women, Peace and Security (WPS) scholars and practitioners have expressed reservations about the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle because of its popular use as a synonym for armed humanitarian intervention. On the other hand, R2P’s early failure to engage with and advance WPS efforts such as United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 1325 (2000) has seen the perpetuation of limited roles ascribed to women in implementing the R2P principle. As a result, there has been a knowledge and practice gap between the R2P and WPS agendas, despite the fact that their advocates share common goals in relation to the prevention of atrocities and protection of populations. In this article we propose to examine just one of the potential avenues for aligning the WPS agenda and R2P principle in a way that is beneficial to both and strengthens the pursuit of a shared goal – prevention. We argue that the development and inclusion of gender-specific indicators – particularly economic, social and political discriminatory practices against women – has the potential to improve the capacity of early warning frameworks to forecast future mass atrocities.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored how national officials perceive their role when participating in European Union (EU) foreign policy committees and found that they systematically assume not only intergovernmental but also supranational role conceptions.
Abstract: Using an original database of 138 questionnaires, the article explores how national officials perceive their role when participating in European Union (EU) foreign policy committees. It first shows that they systematically assume not only intergovernmental but also supranational role conceptions: a good number of diplomats understand EU foreign policy as a collective political project with the objective to craft a common European policy. The article then investigates some scope conditions. If the overall picture is complex and heterogeneous, it reveals that socializing activities occur in this policy field. More specifically, the number of years spent in Brussels is a relatively strong predictor of a supranational attitude. At the same time, diplomats’ conceptions are formed also outside EU contexts: the structure and the pro-European opinions of the national polity affect the formation of a diplomat’s orientation. Remarkably, member states’ military power is a weak and non-significant variable in all the models tested.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that different market structures explain the variance in the level of performance of private military and security companies in three crucial cases (Sierra Leone, Iraq, and Afghanistan).
Abstract: Over the past two decades, governments have increasingly contracted private military and security companies (PMSCs) to support military operations in conflicts. However, many observers have argued that such companies are ‘greedy market actors’ or ‘reckless mercenaries’ and their level of performance very poor. A minority has defended them as security professionals. If market competition is present, the level of performance is high and positive contributions to the client’s military operation can be expected. However, neither PMSC opponents nor proponents can account for the variance in the level of performance in three crucial cases – Sierra Leone, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This article argues that different market structures explain this variance. At least three ideal configurations exist: collaborative, competitive, and rival structures. These structures influence the level of performance. PMSC performance levels are expected to decrease from the first configuration, being positive, to the last, being nega...
TL;DR: In this paper, the vulnerability of critical energy infrastructures (CEIs) to attacks by terrorists and criminals in places like Nigeria, Colombia, Iraq and Russia has been highlighted.
Abstract: Attacks on oil and gas infrastructures by terrorists and criminals in places like Nigeria, Colombia, Iraq and Russia have amplified the vulnerability of critical energy infrastructures (CEIs) to de...
TL;DR: The relationship between EU foreign policy and national foreign policies of the member states is changing due to various factors: the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 and subsequent subsequent cr....
Abstract: The relationship between EU foreign policy and national foreign policies of the member states is changing due to various factors: the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 and subsequent cr...
TL;DR: The End Times of Human Rights as discussed by the authors is a collection of three books about the history of human rights in the 21st century, focusing on the social construction of the concept of humanitarian emergency and the use of this imaginary to advance or legitimize a certain types of politics.
Abstract: These are worrying times for those who believe that progress has been made in advancing the theory and practice of human protection in the past few decades. That is one of the central messages of these three new books. But although the prognoses offered might, at first glance, appear similar they are each, in fact, quite different. Hehir and Murray believe that for all the exalted talk about Responsibility to Protect (R2P), nothing very much has actually changed and that morality-talk exerts little influence on the real world of global politics. Hopgood, meanwhile, acknowledges that something profound did change in the alliance between traditional humanitarianism and liberal power in the late 1970s, giving rise to a new muscular vision of ‘Human Rights’, but that the global transfer of material power from the West to a range of ‘emerging powers’ (among other things) has brought about the ‘endtimes’ of this vision of rights. There is no such talk of endings in Fassin and Pandolfi’s collection, focused as it is on the social construction of the concept of ‘humanitarian emergency’ and the use of this imaginary to advance or legitimize a certain types of politics: one prefaced on the ‘state of exception’ which facilitates the suspension of ‘normal’ politics and permits the interference of the powerful in the affairs of the weak. Of the three books, the most thoughtful, challenging and provocative account comes from Stephen Hopgood, whose Endtimes of Human Rights is aptly described as a ‘barnstomer’ of a book that will undoubtedly shape our thinking – and debates – on these issues for some time to come. Hopgood’s tightly woven thesis is that the contemporary human rights movement evolved out of nineteenth century humanitarianism, which rested on the ‘secular religiosity’ of humanism. By ‘secular religiosity’, Hopgood means that, as a replacement for the Christian god invented by middle-class Europeans, humanism evolved into a set of social practices and institution manifested, most obviously, in the birth and growth of the International Committee of the Red Cross. This ‘secular religiosity’ derived moral authority from the obvious absence of self-interest in its work, 545693 CAC0010.1177/0010836714545693Cooperation and ConflictReview essay research-article2014