Rationalist state,revolutionist EU and realist war: Austria in international society

This article examines Austria's position as a small, neutral state in the international society as framed by the English School. This examination is chiefly done in the face of the effects of great power conflicts and their impact on Western Europe's society of states. In doing so, the article provides insights to the fundamental puzzles concerning the ways power is managed between states, great and small alike. The article surveys how war (such as in South Ossetia in 2008) and war-like incidents affected Austria's position in the international society and the understanding of its place in great power conflicts between East and West. I argue that neutrality, despite European integration in the context of a peaceful international society, remains a political option for small states such as Austria. This option is especially lively if there is a domestic sentimental attachment to it and sticking to it does not undermine domestic or European and international foreign policy rationale and interests.     

New Regionalism and Regional Integration: the Role of National Institutions

This article focuses, first, on the under-explored issues of new regionalism: its subnational level and transnational regional cooperation as an initial stage of new regionalism. Second, it analyses the development of new regionalism between a country in regime transition (Russia in the 1990s) and stable democratic actors (in Europe). Third, it addresses the question of whether European integration contributes to new regionalism outside Europe's geographic borders. The regions chosen for this analysis are the 89 constituent units of Russia. Such variables as historical legacies, regime transition as domestic context, and the European integration as an international context all remain stable for the 89 units of analysis. Thus, the research design allows one to distinguish other potential variables that may be significant in the development of new regionalism. Given that Russia is located on both the European and Asian parts of the Eurasian continent, the research design also permits the testing of the hypothesis that regional integration and new regionalism are interconnected across Eurasia.     

Why moral commitments matter: mapping the ethics and politics of responsible and accountable global governance

Much of the scholarly attention on commitments in international relations (IR) has remained narrowly framed, focusing on how states and other actors make strictly strategic calculations to comply with international norms and/or treaties. The trouble with this rationalist approach is that it oversimplifies the moral basis of commitments. This article offers a deeper analysis of this moral basis as well as the positive ethical values that help to direct and shape the content of the moral commitments of agents in IR. The article argues that the ethical values of sincerity, empathy and sacrifice play a dynamic yet under-studied meta-level role in helping one to interpret and explain the transformative dimensions of moral commitments in IR. The article first develops a meta-level theoretical approach to commitment in international theory and then applies this approach to two particular emergent discourses in international politics: the responsibility to protect and moral criminal accountability.     

The evolution of the European Union’s failed approach to Afghanistan

ABSTRACT

This article provides a genealogical account of European actorness in Afghanistan. It argues that European agreement towards facilitating modernisation and development in Afghanistan was initiated with aid and trade, evolving into humanitarianism in the 1990s, and reconstruction and democratisation in the 2000s. The European Union has had a positive impact on Afghanistan, focusing on humanitarianism, but its multilateral and programme level approach to reconstruction and democratisation has failed to meet the EU’s stated objectives. By promoting the flawed “Bonn Model”, the EU is proportionally culpable for failed international attempts to reconstruct Afghanistan; even though the United States has been the primary international actor. Drawing a series of broader lessons, such as tensions between Atlantic solidarity and European integration, and the limitations of the European crisis management, the article demonstrates how European policy has been shaped by crises inside Afghanistan and the larger geopolitical crises these have generated. These have contemporary importance as history suggests that as the US withdraws its commitment to Afghanistan, the EU will have a very significant role in attempting to fill a humanitarian vacuum.     

Are there any theories of international relations in Japan?

This article argues that there are theories of internationalrelations (IR) in Japan and that these theories are mostly ofmiddle range type. I first give a brief survey of IR studiesin Japan and its disciplinary backgrounds. On that basis, thenI focus on the three outstanding cases of fledgling theoriesof IR as developed in the 1920s and 1930s, namely Nishida asan innate constructivist, Tabata as an international law theoristpresupposing the natural freedom of individuals, and Hiranoas an economist placing regional integration higher than statesovereignty, to develop the argument that there are indeed theoriesof IR in a fledgling form already before World War II. Received for publication May 16, 2006. Accepted for publication June 27, 2007.     

Promotion of democracy as a foreign policy instrument of ‘Europe’: Limits to international idealism

The promotion of democracy abroad was a much published issue in ‘European’ foreign policy during the 1990s. Based on five case studies, this article argues that the policy had very clear limitations to it. The limits were mainly imposed by the high priority given to security, and secondly they were the result of the institutional structure and the political‐bureaucratic culture of the European Community. However, it would be wrong to conclude that the policy declarations on democracy were not important to the European Community/European Union and to the member states. The issue was definitely important, but that was because it served other purposes. First, the promotion of democracy abroad was conceived as one among a number of instruments promoting European security in the post‐cold war era. Secondly, promotion of democracy internationally contributed to the higher profile in world affairs that Europe had sought since 1958. And thirdly, this international profile might have pushed the integration process forward within Europe.     

Parting the Black Sea (Region): Geopolitics,Institutionalisation and the Reconfiguration of European Security

Abstract

This article examines critically one of the most active regional dynamics of European security, centred on the Black Sea. Recently, the Black Sea region has received increased attention from a variety of political actors, who seek to increase the profile of the region in order to develop a common regional identity and an integrated approach to the security problems of the Black Sea region. This resurgence of the Black Sea region can be understood as the combined product of local interests, European integration and the ‘global war on terror’. The main argument of the article is that Black Sea security integration is characterised by a fundamental contradiction between two different logics of security—geopolitical and institutional. Three other problems—transposition, fragmentation, and duplication—are also discussed. In the conclusion, the article examines the significance of the efforts to build the Black Sea region for the future of regional integration in European security.     

Towards a new European Taiwan policy? Some preliminary reflexions

  The so-called `Taiwan question' remains to be one of the most serious security issues in international politics. Although economic integration and cultural–scientific exchange between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland are intensifying, a future military conflict between the two sides can't be ruled out. The main obstacle for cross-Strait détente is the problem of Taiwanese sovereignty. This article argues that bilateral negotiations can't be brought back on track if they are not based on a conceptual framework that tackles Taiwanese sovereignty instead of avoiding it. By discussing some paradigmatic proposals made in recent years, it is held that the European experience of voluntary integration might serve as a suitable blueprint for a peaceful solution of the `Taiwan question'. The article pleads for a new EU Taiwan policy that is based on the promotion of integration between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. This policy should be actively pursued in all relevant international fora, especially in the context of ASEM and the EU-China summits.     

Moving towards a European Defence Industry? The Political Discourse on a Changing Reality and its Implications for the Future of the European Union

Since the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 the European Union has been an increasingly important actor in the field of security and defence. However, the defence industries sector has largely been kept away from Brussels. This has usually been justified by the role that national defence industries have traditionally played as fundamental pillars for the survival of the European nation-states, thus making them reluctant to share this “sovereign tool” with the European Union. Nonetheless, recent steps in both the economic (large number of mergers and acquisitions within the European defence industry sector) and the political (security and defence integration measures within the European Union) arenas have contributed to changes in the political discourse on defence industries within the European space. This article aims to explore how the national discourse on defence industries has become interrelated with a European discourse on the topic—a European discourse that mixes some of the old national arguments with particular aspects related to the constant evolution of the European Union towards an ever more coherent regional polity and international actorness. Also analysed is the extent to which this political move puts at risk the European Union's ambitions to promote a better world, based on an alternative understanding of international politics.     

Norm shifting from EMP to ENP: the EU as a norm entrepreneur in the south?

This article focuses on the normative dimensions of European Union (EU) policy on the Mediterranean which, it is argued, give rise to a number of dilemmas and challenges. First, it scrutinizes the core raison d'être behind the EU's regionalist strategy within the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) context. Second, since it purportedly supplements the EMP, the article examines the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and its associated normative bilateral basis. In doing so, the article attempts to raise a number of broad questions about the nature, purpose and underlying logic of regional integration, the role of norms in international relations, and the changing nature of foreign policy. It is argued that EU endeavours at enhanced relations with southern partners point to the pursuit of a dual strategy: the identification of the EU as a ‘normative power’, on the one hand, and the attainment of political and economic interests, on the other. The challenges of this pursuit may in turn explain some of the main dilemmas facing EU–Mediterranean relations.     

Toward a Global Theory of Mind: The Potential Benefits of Presenting a Range of IR Theories through Active Learning

Active learning is particularly well-suited to teaching across the range of perspectives inherent in the practice and study of international politics for two key reasons: (1) because of its capacity to highlight how subjective, intersubjective, and contested understandings play an important role in determining outcomes in the ivory tower as well as in the real world and (2) because of the compatibility between underlying theories of knowledge that inform active learning and the newer generation of IR theories including subaltern realism, social constructivism, constitutive theory, and postmodernism. This article explores the potential benefits of presenting these and other norm-oriented theories through active learning. It also discusses ways to overcome barriers to the integration of active learning techniques.     

“Contingent power extension” and regional (dis)integration: China’s Belt and Road Initiative and its consequences for the EU

In this article, we explore the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a case of “Contingent Power Extension” (CPE) towards the European Union (EU), assessing its implications for regional (dis)integration in the latter. CPE is a conceptual prism that interprets the BRI as a polymorphous, dynamic, and context-specific mechanism through which Chinese foreign policy elites intend to convey, amplify, and legitimize the regime’s power-reach into other regions, including the EU. Along two examples—the 14 + 1 Cooperation Forum and the Port of Genoa in Italy—we examine the power dynamics of the BRI by tracing (a) the processual impact of power extension towards the EU and (b) the (un)intended consequences for the EU in terms of (dis)integration. The findings of our analysis provide an insight into the multicausal relations between the BRI and European (dis)integration not as a static outcome but rather as a contested process of struggle. The article concludes by discussing whether and how the EU can strengthen its own institutional foundations and use its systemic leverage to respond to the BRI while enhancing regional integration in the process.

     

European experience for East Asian integration: ideas, national interests, and the international circumstance

This paper traces the possibility of East Asian integration through comparison with the early stage of European integration on three different levels: ideas, national interests, and international circumstance. Judging from the European experience, ideas always come first, then national interest contests, and eventually the international circumstance conditions the context. I compare the multilateral approach in Europe with the imperial hegemony competition in East Asia, Adenauer’s regionalization policy in Europe with the Yoshida line of Westernization detouring from Asia, and the US and Russia’s different roles in the two regions as external forces constraining the international order. My conclusion for the future of East Asia is located somewhere between views of procedural divergence and fundamental skepticism. I worry about integration for the sake of integration in which regional integration is presupposed as inherently good. Such discourse will easily be deteriorated and such a blind community simply collapses when circumstances change. For these reasons, there needs to be an adequate discussion regarding for what, by whom, and through which method integration is achieved.     

How can perception help us to understand the dynamic between EU member states? The state of the art

The paper reviews literature on perception within the international relations and the European Union (EU) studies in order to find out whether and how this concept can help us shed some light on the mutual relations between the EU member states. It examines the utilisation of perception as an analytical tool within the international relations where it was predominantly included into the foreign policy analysis approaches (image and role theory). Moreover, it was used for examining the views of the EU by other actors at not only bilateral but also multilateral level. Most studies analysed the perception of Asian countries, however, other areas, including Africa, were studied. Perception was utilised also at the EU level, when it was used for scrutinising different EU policies (foreign and security policies, enlargement), examining preference formation and influence of member states or investigating elite and public support for the European integration. The results show that perception is a valuable concept that can help us to analyse mutual relations between the EU member states in the enlarged and changed EU in several ways.     

Early American Views Regarding European Unification

This article examines the origins of US foreign economic policy in the post-1945 period and the major challenges posed to US policy by European economic integration and the establishment of a multilateral trade regime. US post-war economic planning began in the early stages of World War II. The US promoted bilateral trade agreements based on reciprocity and most-favoured-nation principles. During the war, US policy makers debated the merits of various plans to provide economic and financial assistance to Europe based on the assumption that Nazi Germany would be defeated. The plans for economic reconstruction of Europe were made under the premise that US economy would benefit from the creation of export markets in Europe. However, US policy makers were also concerned that the creation of a unified European market could potentially constitute a challenge to US economic hegemony and perhaps a political threat should Europe fall under another tyrannical regime. US policy therefore pursued twin tracks: it promoted economic reconstruction and integration in Europe; at the same time, it facilitated the establishment of an international trading regime that would promote principles of liberalised trade, support US economic growth and contribute to the development of a free enterprise capitalist trading system. This article illustrates that US economic planners in the 1940s were aware of the benefits and risks of European economic integration, seeking to balance European economic reconstruction with the establishment of a robust multilateral trading system.     

Do All Roads Lead to Brussels? Analysis of the Different Trajectories of Croatia,Serbia-Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina

The article examines the main factors that have affected the prospects of Euro-Atlantic integration for Croatia, Serbia-Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). For each of the three countries, the internal and external factors affecting progress are examined separately in both the domestic and international spheres, allowing for a comparative assessment of the role of the international community and for analysis of different ways of addressing key regional issues in the individual states. The central argument is that the difference in the pace of Euro-Atlantic integration among these three states has been a result of both EU policies and specific internal political issues within each of those countries. The article concludes with two possible scenarios for the region—one of rapid integration, the other of delayed progress resulting in a dangerous ‘ghettoisation’ of the Western Balkans—and emphasises the role of the international community's policies as a strong determinant of the outcome.     

How the European Community Entered the United Nations, 1969–1976, and What It Meant for European Political Integration

During the first half of the 1970s, the European Community became a recognisable actor at the United Nations [UN]: The Community itself became a permanent observer, and it was customary for Community member-states to express common positions on most of the issues discussed within the organisation. It was a remarkable development for the Western European states—yet one not satisfactorily accounted for by the existing literature. The perspective adopted in this analysis highlights the connexions between the growing activity of the Community at the UN and the increasing co-ordination of its member-states even on matters falling outside the Community’s purview, as well as the connexions between the affirmation of the European Community at the UN and other major contemporary developments in European political integration. In this way, this analysis sheds light on some fundamental motives, features, and limits of Western European co-ordination on the international stage.     

Supranational or Intergovernmental?—the Present Situation and Future Prospects for European Integration

Supranationalism and Intergovernmentalism are two methods of decision-making for multi-state institutions, and ever since the founding of the European Economic Community （now the European Union） a debate has raged about which of these paths it should follow. This essay will be divided into two parts： the first is about how the EU is perceived on the international stage - is it seen as an intergovernmental organization or a supranational entity？ The second focuses on the factors influencing the level of European integration, examines the present state of European integration, and predicts the likely development of this integration in the future.     

The Sovereignty of Nature? Environmental Protection in a Postmodern Age

Recent postmodern international relations (IR) scholarship threatens to undermine global environmental protection efforts. Global environmental protection is fundamentally about conserving and preserving nature. It involves safeguarding the quality of the earth's air, water, soil, and other species. Postmodern critics have shown, however, that "nature" is not simply a given, physical object but a social construction—an entity that assumes meaning within various cultural contexts and is fundamentally unknowable outside of human categories of understanding. This criticism raises significant challenges for global environmental politics. How can societies protect the nonhuman world if the very identity of that enterprise is cast into doubt? How can states cooperate to protect nature if the meaning of the term is socially and historically contingent? This article argues that postmodern criticisms of "nature" do not undermine global environmental protection efforts—as many IR scholars suggest—but rather provide their own guidelines for practice. Postmodernists value the so-called "other"; they aim to give voice to the poor, oppressed, and otherwise disadvantaged in an attempt to limit hegemonic tendencies of the powerful. The article calls on postmodernist IR scholars to take their own concerns seriously and stand up for the paradigmatic "other," the nonhuman world in all its abundance and diversity. It calls on postmodern IR scholars to extend their concern for the "other" to the realm of plants, animals, landscapes, and so forth, and work to protect the radical "otherness" of the so-called natural world. The article, in other words, uses postmodern criticism against itself to ground commitment to global environmental protection.     

The European-ness of Estonia's Ethnic Integration Policy: Nation,culture, and security in an applicant state

This article argues that the process of European Union accession prioritises the linguistic and cultural hegemony of the ethnic Estonian majority as a necessary condition of securing post-Soviet Estonia in an enlarged European Union. This occurs through a conceptualisation of security used by 'e´lites of statecraft' that binds together 'nation', 'culture', and 'state' as cornerstones of a stable interstate system. Evidence is gathered from extensive interviews with Estonian and western European officials as well as analyses of international agreements on minority rights and Estonia's main ethnic integration document, State Programme: Integration in Estonian Society 2000-2007. Estonia's ethnic integration policy should not be understood as a peculiar, eastern European case of cultural protectionism. Rather, it is a logical expression of broader European patterns of political organisation. The research was funded by a 1999-2000 Fulbright-IIE fellowship to Estonia and 2000-01 David L. Boren Fellowship. I would like to thank the staff of the Integration Foundation and the United Nations Development Program: Estonia for their invaluable assistance during my ethnographic fieldwork. Numerous diplomats, administrators, officials, and minority leaders also provided indispensable help. I would also like to thank Merje Kuus and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.