Showing papers in "European Journal of International Relations in 2020"
TL;DR: In the last few years, an emergent body of International Relations scholarship has taken an interest in the rise of global cities and the challenges they bring to existing geographies of power as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Over the last few years, an emergent body of International Relations scholarship has taken an interest in the rise of global cities and the challenges they bring to existing geographies of power. I...
94 citations
TL;DR: The past few years have seen an emerging discourse on Chinese social media that combines the claims, vocabulary and style of right-wing populisms in Europe and North America with previous forms of...
Abstract: The past few years have seen an emerging discourse on Chinese social media that combines the claims, vocabulary and style of right-wing populisms in Europe and North America with previous forms of ...
64 citations
TL;DR: The ontological security in International Relations (IR) has been studied extensively in recent years as mentioned in this paper.However, this research is marked by conceptual ambiguity concerning the meaning of and r...
Abstract: Research on ontological security in International Relations (IR) has grown significantly in recent years. However, this scholarship is marked by conceptual ambiguity concerning the meaning of and r...
45 citations
TL;DR: The resurgence of victimhood culture, in which groups demonstrate heightened sensitivity to slights a... has inspired political pundits in various contexts to opine on the resurgence of Victimhood culture.
Abstract: Contemporary populist movements have inspired political pundits in various contexts to opine on the resurgence of victimhood culture, in which groups demonstrate heightened sensitivity to slights a...
41 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, international organizations have long relied on a functional narrative that highlights effective problem-solving based on rational-legal expertise and neutrality, but this narrative has been criticised.
Abstract: To justify their authority, international organizations (IOs) have long relied on a functional narrative that highlights effective problem-solving based on rational-legal expertise and neutrality. ...
38 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the idea of structural power in world politics was revived by linking it to modern complex network science, and a theoretical framework was presented for understanding how global structures de...
Abstract: This article resuscitates the idea of structural power in world politics by linking it to modern complex network science, presents a theoretical framework for understanding how global structures de...
36 citations
TL;DR: The authors construct a post-imperial discipline rather than a 'post-western' one, addressing the ways in which colonial empires divided the world into separate real and virtual real worlds.
Abstract: What would it mean to construct a post-imperial discipline rather than a ‘post-Western’ one? ‘Post-imperial’ means addressing the ways in which colonial empires divided the world into separate real...
36 citations
TL;DR: The distinction between the legal categories of refugee and migrant has been made since the 2015 refugee “crisis,” while migration scholars have accounted for the increased blurring of these categories as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Since the 2015 refugee “crisis,” much has been made of the distinction between the legal category of refugee and migrant. While migration scholars have accounted for the increased blurring of these...
35 citations
TL;DR: In the field of international relations, international relations has developed an exciting new research agenda on diplomatic practice, drawing largely on the theories of Pierre Bourdieu as discussed by the authors, but this agenda largely ignores Bourdeau's theory of pa...
Abstract: International Relations has developed an exciting new research agenda on diplomatic practice, drawing largely on the theories of Pierre Bourdieu. However, it largely ignores Bourdieu’s theory of pa...
29 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that rebel groups that profit from natural resources are significantly more likely to forcibly recruit children than groups that do not exploit natural resources, and that groups that extract lootable resources, such as coalitions of coalitions, tend to engage in the forced recruitment of children.
Abstract: Why do some rebel groups forcibly recruit children while others largely refrain from using this strategy? We argue that it depends, in part, on their ability to profit from natural resources. Rebel groups that earn funding from natural resources have less incentive to restrain abusive behavior such as the forced recruitment of children and more incentive to tolerate and even promote this recruitment strategy. To test our expectations, we collected new data on the level of forcible recruitment of children by rebel groups. This is distinct from the broader use of child soldiers, a significant portion of whom volunteer to join armed groups. We combined the information on forced recruitment with a recent data set on rebel groups’ exploitation of natural resources. Our analyses show that rebel groups that profit from natural resources are significantly more likely to forcibly recruit children than groups that do not exploit natural resources. Looking at specific characteristics, rebels that extract lootable resources are more likely to engage in the forced recruitment of children than groups that profit only from non-lootable resources or from no natural resources at all. The findings have important implications for our understanding of the relationship between rebels’ revenue streams and their engagement in human rights violations.
28 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the legal status of de facto states, such as Somaliland (Somalia), which are unrecognized separatist enclaves that display characteristics of statehood but lack an international legal status.
Abstract: De facto states, such as Somaliland (Somalia), are unrecognized separatist enclaves that display characteristics of statehood but lack an international legal status. To acquire domestic and externa...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the nature and significance of the vital but neglected "company-states" in helping to facilitate the move from contained regional international systems to the first genuinely global international system, and argue that company-states succeeded in an era of weak sovereign states because of their relative efficiency in managing the transaction costs and principal-agent challenges of intercontinental trade and rule.
Abstract: We investigate the nature and significance of the vital but neglected “company-states” in helping to facilitate the move from contained regional international systems to the first genuinely global international system. Historically, actors like the Dutch and English East India Companies were crucial in spearheading the first wave of European expansion in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Conceptually, company-states broaden our understanding of international actors. At a time when intra-European politics favored gradual institutional convergence on the sovereign state, the demands of extra-European expansion meanwhile gave rise to diverse competing institutions. Company-states succeeded in an era of weak sovereign states because of their relative efficiency in managing the transaction costs and principal-agent challenges of intercontinental trade and rule. Conversely, company-states later declined as they succumbed to the effects of sharpening worldwide geopolitical competition, and were displaced by increasingly powerful new European empire-building projects. This argument advances earlier work on the creation of the international system by eschewing Eurocentrism and state-centrism, and foregrounding diversity and hybridization.
TL;DR: The Belligerents in Battle dataset as mentioned in this paper contains 178 of the 480 major land battles during the American Civil War between 1900 and 20 years (1919-1961) and shows that states often fight side by side on the battlefield.
Abstract: States often fight side-by-side on the battlefield. As detailed in our new dataset, Belligerents in Battle, 178 of the 480 major land battles fought during interstate wars waged between 1900 and 20...
TL;DR: In fact, the very object of war has been regarded as the "telos" or "very object" of war as mentioned in this paper, and it is baffling to note, then, that contemporary ju...
Abstract: Victory has historically been regarded as the ‘telos’ or ‘very object’ of war. As one well-placed commentator has noted, war is all about winning. It is baffling to note, then, that contemporary ju...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the extent to which Russia is a revisionist power challenging the "liberal world order" and there is little agreement on the primary motives explaining this.
Abstract: Many policy and academic debates focus on the extent to which Russia is a revisionist power challenging the ‘liberal world order’. However, there is little agreement on the primary motives explaini...
TL;DR: This paper study the foreign policy preferences of European populist radical right leaders and find that they tend to favor intervention in the Middle East, not necessarily in Europe, rather than intervention in Europe.
Abstract: Despite the significance of the subject, studies on the foreign policy preferences of European populist radical right leaders are scarce except for a handful of examples. Are European populist radi...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address the question of how we should understand the normative grounds of legitimacy in global governance institutions, given the social and organizational pluralism of the contemporaneous world.
Abstract: This article addresses the question of how we should understand the normative grounds of legitimacy in global governance institutions, given the social and organizational pluralism of the contempor...
TL;DR: A wealth of research in comparative politics and international relations examines how the military intervenes in politics via coups as discussed by the authors, and they shift attention to broader forms of military involvement in p...
Abstract: A wealth of research in comparative politics and international relations examines how the military intervenes in politics via coups. We shift attention to broader forms of military involvement in p ...
TL;DR: Realism can contribute to a more global understanding of international relations through its most recent variant: neoclassical realism (NCR), which allows for contextualization and historicization of drivers of state behavior as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Realism has long been criticized by global IR, but the former can contribute to the latter and thereby improve explanations of international relations. Global IR criticizes that realism supposedly applies universally, sidelines non-Western perspectives, and misunderstands much of foreign policy, grand strategy, and international affairs. Reviewing global IR’s case against realism, however, exposes avenues for realism to complement global IR. Realism can contribute to a more global understanding of international relations through its most recent variant: neoclassical realism (NCR). This newest realism allows for contextualization and historicization of drivers of state behavior. It can embrace and has already been engaging global questions and cases; global thought and concepts; and global perspectives and scholarship. Mapping 149 NCR publications produced by 96 scholars reveals a slow shift in knowledge production away from North America toward Europe and to a lesser extent Asia and Africa. Creative research designs and scholarly collaboration can put realism in fruitful conversation with global IR. This has implications for theory building and inclusive knowledge production in realism, global IR, and the wider discipline. Only when we discover new avenues for realists to travel can they contribute to a more global IR. In turn, when global IR scholars engage realism, they may be better able to address the Western versus non-Western dichotomies they challenge.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that after civil wars, the situation is more stable with peacekeepers present and that violence persists in many postwar contexts, and although postwar violence is often strategic and c...
Abstract: Existing research shows that peace after civil wars is more stable with peacekeepers present. Yet, violence persists in many postwar contexts, and although postwar violence is often strategic and c...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the complex relationship between atrocity prevention and other related norms of the R2P norm cluster and find that the grafting of prevention onto related yet distinct norms contributed to an underestimation of the threat of genocide and a misplaced faith in the ability of democratic transition to prevent atrocity.
Abstract: This article investigates the complex relationship between atrocity prevention and other related – yet distinct – norms of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) norm cluster. It analyses how this cluster operates to help states, and other actors, properly discharge their responsibility. Central to the analysis is the realisation that abstractly aligned norms can clash in practice. Based on an extensive analysis of the 67 European Union (EU) documents and statements referring to R2P, and drawing on elite interviews with EU diplomats, we find that atrocity prevention has been ‘grafted’ onto the EU’s other normative commitments – including conflict resolution and democracy promotion – without sufficient acknowledgement of the cluster’s complexity and the need to prioritise atrocity prevention vis-a-vis these other linked norms. We ask whether this framing not only filtered but also diluted the normative power of atrocity prevention, leading to policies that manifestly failed to prevent the genocide that occurred in Myanmar from 2017. We find that the grafting of atrocity prevention onto related yet distinct norms contributed to an underestimation of the threat of genocide and a misplaced faith in the ability of democratic transition to prevent atrocity. However, we also find that factors unrelated to the normative framing of R2P influenced the EU’s willingness and ability to respond to atrocity crimes that occurred in the lead up to the genocide that began in 2017. The article contributes to our understanding of the as yet unstated normative implication of clustering norms and the EU’s implementation of R2P.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the reasons why some states enter unpropitious alliances and why all states want to survive, but some of them enter unprofitable alliances.
Abstract: If all states want to survive, why do some of them enter unpropitious alliances? International Relations (IR) theory’s conventional answer is that imperfect information and systemic complexity resu...
TL;DR: The study of leadership in international relations has followed two different paths: work on hegemony and work on different leadership types in international negotiations as mentioned in this paper. Yet there is little overlap between the two paths.
Abstract: The study of leadership in International Relations has followed two different paths: work on hegemony and work on different leadership types in international negotiations. Yet there is little overl...
TL;DR: It is argued that interactionist role theory holds much potential for complementing the ontological security literature in the field of International Relations and how reflective intelligence enables an international actor to address destabilizing disconnects between its ‘self’-image and societal role-play.
Abstract: This article argues that interactionist role theory holds much potential for complementing the ontological security literature in the field of International Relations. Concretely, the article argue...
TL;DR: The protection of civilians from the dangers of warfare constitutes an imperative in contemporary global politics as mentioned in this paper, drawing on original multi-archival research, this article explains the codification of this imperative.
Abstract: The protection of civilians from the dangers of warfare constitutes an imperative in contemporary global politics. Drawing on original multiarchival research, this article explains the codification...
TL;DR: The case of the first genocide of the 20th century, committed by German colonial troops against Ovaherero and Nama peoples in what is today Namibia, poses a significant ethical and political challe...
Abstract: The case of the first genocide of the 20th century, committed by German colonial troops against Ovaherero and Nama peoples in what is today Namibia, poses a significant ethical and political challe...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that international relations scholarship disconnects the history of the so-called expansion of international society from the presence of hierarchies within it, and argue that the...
Abstract: International Relations scholarship disconnects the history of the so-called expansion of international society from the presence of hierarchies within it. In contrast, this article argues that the...
TL;DR: The intersection between the relational turn in International Relations (IR) and the quantum turn in the social sciences (and more recently in IR as well) has been discussed in this paper.
Abstract: This article stands at the intersection between the relational turn in International Relations (IR) and the quantum turn in the social sciences (and more recently in IR as well). The relational tur...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the need for great powers to take on special responsibilities to address major concerns in global affairs, and often gain special rights for doing so, such as peace and security.
Abstract: Great powers routinely face demands to take on special responsibilities to address major concerns in global affairs, and often gain special rights for doing so. These areas include peace and securi...
TL;DR: In this paper, the relationship between law and international order is revisited, and it is argued that domestic courts are endogenous sites of intern... and that transnational law can be viewed as an endogenous site of transnational order.
Abstract: This article revisits the relationship between law and international order. Building on legal research concerned with transnational law, we argue that domestic courts are endogenous sites of intern...