Showing papers in "European Journal of International Relations in 2005"
TL;DR: It is argued that a speech act view of security does not provide adequate grounding upon which to examine security practices in ‘real situations’, and three basic assumptions are put forward that an effective securitization is audience-centered, context-dependent and power-laden.
Abstract: The prime claim of the theory of securitization is that the articulation of security produces a specific threatening state of affairs. Within this theory, power is derived from the use of ‘appropri...
853 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that hierarchical sub-systems have been common since 1648 and that the international system continues to be characterized by hierarchical (as well as anarchic) relations, and revealed the existence of these multiple hierarchic formations and uncovers the differing social logics connected with identity-formation processes that govern their reproduction.
Abstract: Conventional wisdom maintains that since 1648 the international system has comprised states-as-like units endowed with Westphalian sovereignty under anarchy. And while radical globalization theorists certainly dispute the centrality of the state in modern world politics, nevertheless most assume that the state retains its sovereignty under globalization. In contrast we argue that hierarchical sub-systems (and hence unlike units) have been common since 1648, and that the international system continues to be characterized by hierarchical (as well as anarchic) relations. The article goes on to reveal the existence of these multiple hierarchic formations and uncovers the differing social logics connected with identity-formation processes that govern their reproduction. Successive religious, racial, socialist and democratic social logics not only constitute their reproduction, but the emergence of new norms, social ideas and identities have to an important extent accounted for the rise and decay of successive ...
224 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that national strategic cultures are less resistant to change than commonly thought and that they have been subject to three types of learning pressures since 1989: changing threat perceptions, institutional socialization, and mediatized crisis learning.
Abstract: The article contributes to the debate about the emergence of a European strategic culture to underpin a European Security and Defence Policy. Noting both conceptual and empirical weaknesses in the literature, the article disaggregates the concept of strategic culture and focuses on four types of norms concerning the means and ends for the use of force. The study argues that national strategic cultures are less resistant to change than commonly thought and that they have been subject to three types of learning pressures since 1989: changing threat perceptions, institutional socialization, and mediatized crisis learning. The combined effect of these mechanisms would be a process of convergence with regard to strategic norms prevalent in current EU countries. If the outlined hypotheses can be substantiated by further research the implications for ESDP are positive, especially if the EU acts cautiously in those cases which involve norms that are not yet sufficiently shared across countries.
162 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the socialization of Japan into the normative framework of European International Society (EIS) has been examined in the context of the entry of non-European states into International Society.
Abstract: This article joins the debate on the entry of non-European states into International Society by examining the socialization of Japan into the normative framework of European International Society d...
136 citations
TL;DR: Constructivists attack the social theory of Kenneth Waltz's Theory of International Politics (TIP), arguing its positions on change, agent-structure interaction and culture are irrevocably flawed.
Abstract: Constructivists attack the social theory of Kenneth Waltz’s Theory of International Politics (TIP), arguing its positions on change, agent-structure interaction and culture are irrevocably flawed. ...
127 citations
TL;DR: The authors provide an account of the theoretical foundations of neoconservatism and its distinctive approach to the national interest, and reveal a series of areas in which IR can engage substantively with neoconservative thinking.
Abstract: Despite its controversial influence in American foreign policy and international politics, neoconservatism has received comparatively little attention in IR theory. This article seeks to contribute to a critical engagement between IR theory and neoconservatism by providing an account of the theoretical foundations of neoconservatism and its distinctive approach to the national interest. Examining these foundations reveals a series of areas in which IR can engage substantively with neoconservatism. Perhaps most surprisingly, it also demonstrates the renewed relevance of classical Realists such as Reinhold Niebuhr and Hans Morgenthau, whose thinking not only addressed themes at the heart of contemporary neoconservatism, but who also provided prescient warnings of the dangerous directions in which neoconservative understandings of the national interest could lead.
118 citations
TL;DR: One of the least expected but most significant events of recent years is that which led to a profound crisis in the transatlantic relationship The argument advanced by as mentioned in this paper is that the split between
Abstract: One of the least expected but most significant events of recent years is that which led to a profound crisis in the transatlantic relationship The argument advanced here is that the split between
84 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the relations among nations are inevitably conflictual and argue that states pursue relative self-regarding policies, but debate over whether states pursue such policies is open-ended.
Abstract: Are the relations among nations inevitably conflictual? Neorealism and neoliberalism share the rationalist assumption that states are self-regarding, but debate over whether states pursue relative ...
77 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors establish the game theoretic conditions for the existence of binding international institutions as a solution to preventive war and provide evidence that the model is a good approximation of what political elites had in mind in the wake of World War II.
Abstract: We seek to establish the conditions in which binding international institutions can serve as a solution to preventive war. Scholars of international integration portray institutions as a response to problems of incomplete information, transaction costs and other barriers to welfare improvement for their members. In contrast, we show that international institutions can have binding properties that solve credible commitment problems among member states — even in the case of volatile preventive war dilemmas. Our primary case is post-war Europe. We show that European integration since the early 1950s was conceived as a means of committing a temporarily weakened West Germany not to use its future power to pursue military ends in Europe, thereby obviating a preventive war against it. The various institutions that form part of the European Communities, now the European Union, still bear the mark of this goal. In this article, we establish the game theoretic conditions for the existence of binding international institutions as a solution to preventive war. We also provide evidence that the model is a good approximation of what political elites had in mind in the wake of World War II.
59 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the impact of foreign economic liberalization on the social fabric of sub-Saharan African countries and conclude that economic openness durably pacifies countries once the restructuring of the economy is over.
Abstract: A typical adage of the globalization literature is that foreign economic liberalization undermines the social fabric of developing countries. This article examines this claim for the sub-Saharan African countries and thus the continent that experienced both low economic growth and a high incidence of armed conflict during the 1990s. Our results yield support for the assertion that economic openness durably pacifies countries once the restructuring of the economy is over. We can, however, not reject the possibility that the distributional consequences of foreign economic liberalization increase the risk of civil war during the implementation of the reform measures. We contrast this ‘distributional’ model with alternative explanations such as the role of the International Monetary Fund and the level of democracy. A comparative case study on Guinea and Guinea-Bissau lends some illustrative evidence to the claim that compensating the losers of globalization can pacify intrastate relations.
54 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply the notion of state-influenced non-governmental organizations to the field of transnational diaspora politics with its complex relationships between diasporas and their homeland and host states.
Abstract: Transnational actors are often assumed to be autonomous in their attempts to influence states. But whenever both share common interests, opportunities for mutual influences exist and states can try to use transnational actors to further their own objectives. Whereas the theoretical discussion in IR has largely overlooked this possibility, it is no stranger to scholars of diasporas and nationalism. Informed by this literature, we apply our notion of state-influenced non-governmental organizations to the field of transnational diaspora politics with its complex relationships between diasporas and their homeland and host states. Our historical case study demonstrates how Israel, via its secret office ‘Nativ’, significantly influenced the Jewish diaspora and other transnational actors in the mobilization for Soviet Jewish emigration during the Cold War. States are thus not only targets of transnational actors — they can also influence and even initiate transnational movements. In our conclusion, we discuss wh...
TL;DR: In this article, the concept of deliberative legitimacy is defined as the non-coerced commitment of an actor to obey a norm adopted on the basis of the criteria and rules reached through a process of communicative action.
Abstract: The legal provisions of the United Nations Charter offer imprecise and insufficient criteria for discriminating properly between legitimate vs illegitimate uses of force. The conflation of the concept of the legitimacy of the use of force with what is lawful, as agreed upon by a small number of major international actors, overlooks those situations in which legal standards are rendered instruments of political deception and manipulation in the hands of the most powerful actors. The solution proposed to address this problem draws on Jurgen Habermas’s theory of communicative action, and it is subsumed by the concept of deliberative legitimacy, understood as the non-coerced commitment of an actor to obey a norm adopted on the basis of the criteria and rules reached through a process of communicative action. The analytical value of the concept of deliberative legitimacy is examined empirically in two case studies — the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo, and the 2003 US-led war against Iraq.
TL;DR: In this paper, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is represented as a site for the elaboration of a system of "law" that arises from and provides a framework for self-directed human interaction.
Abstract: When officials from different countries disagree about trade policy, some say ‘see you in Geneva!’ meaning ‘see you in court!’ In offering a pluralist alternative to this centralism of analysts and practitioners, I represent the World Trade Organization (WTO) not as a coercive court used for enforcement but as a site for the elaboration of a system of ‘law’ that arises from and provides a framework for self-directed human interaction. Trade law is shaped in the shadow of bargaining. I contrast this legal representation with ‘legalization’ to show the contribution it makes to constructivist international theory. An empirical probe in the contentious domain of the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) asks about the relative importance of the few formal SPS ‘disputes’ compared with other ways that WTO law affects global food safety. A discussion of how the trading system responded to ‘mad cow disease’ (BSE) provides empirical confirmation of pluralist insights. Far from being only in Geneva, trade law is everywhere.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate how a relational concept of power can benefit Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) by drawing attention to the fact that Japan's foreign policy has bee...
Abstract: The aim of this article is to demonstrate how a relational concept of power can benefit Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). It begins by drawing attention to the fact that Japan’s foreign policy has bee...
TL;DR: In this paper, the use of computational simulations that focus on emergence and complex adaptive systems to model international politics is reviewed and criticised, highlighting inconsistencies in simulations' modeling of political behavior.
Abstract: This article reviews the use of computational simulations that focus on emergence and complex adaptive systems to model international politics. Computer simulations offer the advantages of focusing on nonlinear interactive dynamics and enabling researchers to explore alternative specifications of a global system. However, current world politics simulations ignore the epistemological and ontological implications that simulation raises. This criticism of current simulations is explored alongside current theories and approaches to international relations in order to highlight inconsistencies in simulations’ modeling of political behavior. The article concludes with suggestions for the future development of simulation as a research agenda in world politics.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that Wendt's argument suffers from irreconcilable neglect and reliance on agency, and they focus on three points related to the need to retain agency.
Abstract: There is a saying in the US that ‘In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.’ The certitude of death remains something beyond the power of human free will and social construction, but very little else does. But Alexander Wendt would add a third inevitability of life — the coming world state. Wendt’s article, ‘Why a World State is Inevitable’ in EJIR 9(4), argues for a teleological theory that the ‘logic of anarchy’ and the ‘struggle for recognition’ push humanity inexorably toward a single global state with a monopoly on legitimate force. I contend that Wendt’s argument suffers from irreconcilable neglect and reliance on agency. Below, I am not addressing the philosophy of teleology per se, nor am I taking on Hegel’s writings about the ‘struggle for recognition’. My focus is on three points related to the need to retain agency in Wendt’s, or any, theorizing:
TL;DR: The authors examines the role of states in Kantian cosmopolitanism and seeks to clarify the relationship between the rights of states and the concept of cosmopolitan law, arguing that states play an important role within Kantian theory, but that the notion of absolute sovereignty is also ultimately rejected.
Abstract: This article examines the role of states in Kantian cosmopolitanism and seeks to clarify the relationship between the rights of states and the concept of cosmopolitan law. The argument is made that states play an important role within Kantian theory, but that the concept of absolute sovereignty is also ultimately rejected. The article examines the Kantian argument for domestic right, international right and cosmopolitan right, and provides an alternative view of these conceptions against the argument that Kantianism involves the removal of states and the creation of an overarching global government. It establishes that Kantian cosmopolitanism provides a normative ethical global order without the existence of a world government. From this discussion, the relevance of Kantian cosmopolitanism is also examined in relation to contemporary International Relations theory.
TL;DR: In 1971, the United States and India almost went to war in a ‘near-miss’ at odds with the hypothesis that democracies do not fight one another.
Abstract: In 1971, the United States and India — the world’s two largest democracies — almost went to war in a ‘near-miss’ at odds with the hypothesis that democracies do not fight one another. In this artic...
TL;DR: The authors argued that there is no conflict between agency and teleology and pointed out that the concept of agency is fuzzy and under-theorized in International Relations scholarship more generally, including my own work.
Abstract: Vaughn Shannon thinks that teleology ‘conceptually denies’ agency and undermines it in practice. I take his challenge to be important, in the sense that if he is right then that would be a serious problem in my argument. While usefully raising the issue of agency, however, in conceptualizing it Shannon conflates important distinctions that obscure its relationship to teleology. In this he mirrors International Relations scholarship more generally, including my own work, where the concept of agency remains fuzzy and under-theorized (though see Wight, 1999, and Bleiker, 2000). I can’t do much more than parse the literature here, but doing so suggests that there is no conflict between agency and teleology.