Showing papers in "European Journal of International Relations in 2004"

Reconstituting the Global Public Domain — Issues, Actors, and Practices

Abstract: This article draws attention to a fundamental reconstitution of the global public domain — away from one that for more than three centuries equated the ‘public’ in international politics with sovereign states and the interstate realm to one in which the very system of states is becoming embedded in a broader and deepening transnational arena concerned with the production of global public goods. One concrete instance of this transformation is the growing significance of global corporate social responsibility initiatives triggered by the dynamic interplay between civil society actors and multinational corporations. The UN Global Compact and corporate involvement in HIV/AIDS treatment programs are discussed as examples. The analytical parameters of the emerging global public domain are defined and some of its consequences illustrated by the chain of responses to the Bush Administration’s rejection of the Kyoto Protocol by a variety of domestic and transnational social actors.

Arguing, Bargaining and all that: Communicative Action, Rationalist Theory and the Logic of Appropriateness in International Relations

Abstract: Recently, calls for a ‘synthesis’ between rationalist and constructivist approaches have become louder. The question how the different ontological presuppositions of the two paradigms can be reconciled has been neglected. Starting from the ubiquity of ‘arguing’ and ‘bargaining’ in international negotiations, the article explores the various rationalist attempts to give an explanation for the use of these two types of speech acts by negotiatiors. It finds that eventually all these attempts seek resort to social explanations that deviate from the individualist ontology of rationalism. Efforts to specify the conditions under which negotiators follow alternatively a logic of consequentialism and appropriateness tend in fact to privilege either one or the other. Integration appears only possible if one assumes that the change between the two types of speech acts is guided by norms and rules that are shared among negotiators. This proposition suggests that the interest-based negotiation style follows a logic of...

Contested Compliance: Interventions on the Normative Structure of World Politics

Abstract: This article argues that ‘contested compliance’, ie a situation in which compliance conditions are challenged by the expected norm followers, offers an empirical access point for studying changes in the normative structure of world politics It conceptualizes the normative structure as the ‘structure of meaning-in-use’ that works as a reference frame for decision-makers The argument builds on a distinction between type, category and meaning of norms In addition, the article distinguishes between a behaviorist approach to the impact of regulative and constitutive norms on state behavior, and a reflexive perspective on the impact of discursive interventions on the normative structure of world politics The intention of the argument is twofold First, it addresses the puzzle of good norm following despite increasingly contested norms, eg regarding the European Union’s accession criteria, on the one hand, and the United Nations Security Council resolution 1441, on the other Second, it draws on and develops further the input of reflexive sociology on International Relations theory

Cosmopolitan Democracy and its Critics: A Review:

Abstract: The victory of Western liberal states ending the Cold War inspired the hope that international relations could be guided by the ideals of democracy and the rule of law. In the early 1990s, a group of thinkers developed the political project of cosmopolitan democracy with the aim of providing intellectual arguments in favour of an expansion of democracy, both within states and at the global level. While some significant successes have been achieved in terms of democratization within states, much less has been attained in democratizing the global system. The aim of this review article is twofold — on the one hand, to reassert the basic concepts of cosmopolitan democracy; on the other, to address the criticisms coming from Realist, Marxist, Communitarian and Multicultural perspectives.

Institutionalization, Policy Adaptation and European Foreign Policy Cooperation

Abstract: The expansion of European Union (EU) foreign policy cooperation since 1970 presents a number of puzzles for theorists of regional integration and International Relations. It is not directed by supranational organizations, does not involve bargaining over policy alternatives, and is not dominated by the largest EU states. Nor do the EU’s common foreign policy decisions reflect ‘lowest common denominator’ preferences. Instead, cooperation has been achieved through decentralized institutional mechanisms, involving processes associated with both intergovernmental and social constructivist theories. This article first explains how changes in institutional context — in terms of intergovernmental, transgovernmental and supranational procedures — affect the propensity for cooperation. It then links processes of institutionalization to an expansion of foreign policy cooperation among EU member states. Finally, it explores three policy areas (the Middle East, South Africa and nuclear non-proliferation) where EU states have adjusted their national foreign policies in line with EU foreign policy norms.

New Regionalism and Modes of Governance — Comparing US and EU Strategies in Latin America

Abstract: This article explores the extent to which it makes sense to see EU policies towards the developing world as distinctive. It does so through a comparative analysis of EU and US policies for the governance of Latin America, paying particular attention to Mercosur. The conceptual framework is drawn from theories of new regionalism. Despite some similarities in so far as issues of economic governance are concerned, I argue that there are important differences between the EU and the US models of new regionalism, especially in terms of the discursive importance attributed to notions of ‘partnership’, support for subregional integration, and political and social inclusion. I suggest that the EU is using new regionalism as a way to lay down an identity marker of what it perceives as a more humane governance model for Latin America than that of the USA.

The Political Authority of Secularism in International Relations

Abstract: Secularism is an important source of political authority in International Relations theory and practice. Secularists identify something called ‘religion’ and separate it from the domains of the state, the economy and science. This separation facilitates a consensus which is sustained by a powerful yet historically contingent set of beliefs, including secularism as the realization of God’s will, secularism as the natural evolution toward universal morality and secularism as a normal consequence of economic modernization. Despite these aspirations, secularism is unequipped to serve as a universal model of public life, either domestically or internationally. The creation of the category of religion and its demarcation from politics is a highly politicized decision that is not subject to a final settlement, and the pretense of a final settlement exacerbates international conflict rather than diminishing it. The religion/politics negotiation is a fluid site of authority with complex relations to the state syst...

Explaining the International Criminal Court: A ‘Practice Test’ for Rationalist and Constructivist Approaches

Abstract: Unlike other articles on the International Criminal Court (ICC) that focus on the question of the court’s future effectiveness, this article seeks to explain the creation of the court and its institutional design as established in its statute. It applies theoretical arguments from the rationalist and constructivist literature on international institutions to the ICC case; and demonstrates how both theoretical perspectives can be combined in different ways. The ICC’s establishment can be explained with rationalist arguments focusing on cooperation problems and transaction cost, yet a constructivist view can ‘deepen’ the argument by explaining the perception of problems, and provide an alternative argument focusing on legitimacy concerns. Regarding institutional design, rationalist theory helps identify a tradeoff between a weak court backed by the US and a strong court without US support; a complementary constructivist approach can explain why states opted for the latter.

The Enduring Dilemmas of Realism in International Relations

Abstract: The present article argues that the discipline of international relations is bound to repeat its rounds of debates about realism as long as the underlying dynamic intrinsic to the realist tradition...

The Changing Color of Money: European Currency Iconography and Collective Identity

Abstract: This article investigates currency iconography as an indicator of the content of collective identities in Europe. Using an original database of the human figures on European paper money since the 19th century, the article finds a combination of iconographic similarity across space and iconographic difference across time. This finding suggests that rather than using the currency to indoctrinate the public with a set of specifically national values, European state elites have traditionally tried to use the currency to enhance their public legitimacy by embracing the values currently fashionable in pan-European society. The article then draws out the implications of this argument for understanding the iconography of the euro and the prospects for a European ‘demos’.

International Governance as New Raison d’État? the Case of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy

Abstract: Various scholars have suggested that at times national governments use international cooperation to gain influence in the domestic political arena and to overcome internal opposition to their preferred policies. Klaus Dieter Wolf has argued that this practice represents the latest embodiment of a longstanding raison d’etat and has provided theoretical foundations for its systematic study. This article assesses the usefulness of this ‘new raison d’etat’ thesis as a source of empirical hypotheses about the origins and persistence of international institutions. On the basis of the general logic of the argument, I develop one crucial implication that may be corroborated by cross-national research. In the light of this, the preferences of European governments regarding the institutional depth of the European Union’s common foreign and security policy are examined. Overall, the findings presented in this article confirm that ‘collusive delegation’ can be a significant factor in the creation of international gov...

Dynamics of Conflict and System Change: the Great Transformation Revisited

Abstract: Karl Polanyi’s analysis in The Great Transformation has played a prominent role in shaping our understanding of the nature and outcome of both globalization and the movements that have emerged to resist it. However, this article argues that Polanyi’s account of the rise and demise of Europe’s 19th-century market system is, in important respects, incomplete and misleading. Its central concern is Polanyi’s neglect of class structures and processes and how this leads him to mischaracterize both the international and domestic institutions of Europe’s 19th-century market system, and the central dynamic driving its development and ultimate collapse. The article critically reviews key features of Polanyi’s analysis. Based on this review, it then presents a re-reading of the history of Europe’s unregulated market system. Finally, it considers the implications of this alternative account for how we view the context and conditions for globalization and the ways it can best be resisted or shaped in less destructive ways.

Publius Before Kant: Federal-Republican Security and Democratic Peace

Abstract: Reflecting American and allied ascent, Liberal IR theorists have revived earlier theorists, notably Kant and democratic peace, constructing neoclassical liberalism to challenge Realism. Republican security theory (RST) begins in antiquity and reaches a conceptual watershed in the Enlightenment, not in Kant, but in Publius = Federalist. Pessimistic, RST assumed republics were small and expansion would fatally deform, a conclusion derived from Roman history. In a pivotal advance, Publius advanced federal union, suggesting the federal-republican security hypothesis — federal union enables republican viability in competitive interstate systems. Kant does not address the logically and historically prior question of how democracies come to populate competitive state systems sufficiently to make pacific unions. The historical record of the global industrial state system suggests federal-republican security is more important than democratic peace.

Why IR Needs Legitimacy: A Rejoinder

Abstract: Currently there is hardly an essay on international or global governance that does not at least mention the issue of legitimacy. The frequent appeal to such an elusive and contested concept calls for critical reflection. In fact I considered my recent article in EJIR as an attempt at such conceptual reflection and clarification — apart from presenting my personal approach to the topic. Shane Mulligan’s critical questions and remarks show that there is a continuing need for debate about the concept of legitimacy and the way we use this term. In his critical approach, Mulligan seems to go further than I did. While in my article I only asked what we mean when we speak of legitimacy beyond the state, Mulligan goes further to discuss the consequences that our discursive practice might have in the real world of international relations. I share his view that social science is not just a passive observer of international relations but also part of the reality that it seeks to describe — in particular when it comes to its role as a source of critical or affirmative argument about the legitimacy of governance. Yet although I am sympathetic to many questions Mulligan raises I disagree with most of the answers he proposes. In this rejoinder I wish to address the following points — first, I will discuss some specific objections against my theory of discursive legitimation in international governance that Mulligan raises. In particular I will refute his claim that an empirical approach to the study of legitimacy beliefs is not feasible. I will then take issue with him over his insinuation that the ‘migration’ of legitimacy discourse into IR scholarship will lead to a rather uncritical justification of existing structures of global governance. I share his concern that at least some of the ‘legitimacy talk’ in IR tends to simply reproduce the self-legitimating arguments that international organizations

Remembering the Future — Utopia, Empire, and Harmony in 21st-Century International Theory

Abstract: Using a comparative approach to international relations theory, this article examines how ancient ideas are being recycled to describe world order in the 21st century. In particular, it provides a ...

Questioning (the Question of) Legitimacy in IR: A Reply to Jens Steffek

Abstract: The ‘question of legitimacy’ has lately become somewhat fashionable for students of International Relations, and we now see frequent inquiries into the legitimacy of various institutions including sovereignty, international law and an array of regimes and organizations (Hurd, 1999; Coicaud and Heiskanen, 2001; Finnemore and Toope, 2001). Jens Steffek’s recent contribution to this genre argues that the ‘fragmented’ or issue-specific nature of international institutions demands a specific form of legitimation (Steffek, 2003). His argument builds on Max Weber’s notion of legalrational legitimacy, which rests on the impersonal observance of abstract laws that apply to all parties equally, laws that should be grounded in rationally debatable reasons. Steffek invokes Jürgen Habermas as the foremost theorist on rational deliberation, and while not treating Habermas’s theory in depth, finds the consensual requirements of most international agreements, along with increased dialogue between institutions and their critics, indicative of a ‘discursive justification’ at work in the processes of international rule formation. From this, Steffek suggests that ‘“[r]easoning” or “giving reasons” is the communicative process that legitimates [international] governance’ (2003: 263).1 The legitimacy that results is, in Weber’s words, ‘the phenomenon that a social order enjoys “the prestige of being considered binding”’ (2003: 254). I suspect Steffek’s thesis will appeal to theorists of global governance, in part because (for many) what it says needs to be said. His argument goes some way to (theoretically) satisfying an increasingly evident legitimation demand among international institutions. In the interests of forestalling unwarranted exuberance, however, this response highlights three serious

Reversing Globalization: Trade Policy Consequences of World War I

Abstract: How did World War I reverse decades of apparently irresistible economic globalization? Why, in particular, did World War I produce a worldwide surge in international trade protection? Three mechanisms are investigated: (1) The War diverted production and international trade in a way that strengthened protectionist coalitions of industries relative to free-trading coalitions. (2) The War reduced financial interdependence and altered exchange rates in a manner that advantaged protectionist coalitions. (3) The War altered military alliances and rivalries such that stronger national interests in trade protection developed. These mechanisms are examined for the five largest trading economies — Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States. There is evidence of all three mechanisms operating. The first — involving war-induced diversion of production and international trade — appears to have had the largest and most consistent impact.

Adjustment or Voice? Corporate Responses to International Tax Competition

Abstract: International tax competition may result in uneven tax burdens among firms competing in the same market. Disadvantaged firms can respond with market-based strategies (adjustment) or with lobbying f...