1,721,001 research outputs found
'Not a heap of stones':material environments and ontological security in international relations
Full text linkExtant scholarship on ontological security in IR has focused on the relevance of social environments for state identity. In this article, I argue that material environments also provide an important source of ontological security for states. In order to assume this role material environments need to be discursively linked to state identity through either projection or introjection. Once incorporated into state identity narratives, material environments become ‘ontic spaces’: spatial extensions of the collective self that render state identities to appear more firm and continuous. However, ontic spaces are inherently unstable and require maintenance, especially during periods of crisis or transition. States bear agency in this process but they never achieve full control as identity discourses are continuously contested both domestically and internationally. I illustrate these claims by looking at the role of the General Staff HQ, destroyed by NATO in 1999, for ontological security of Serbia
Abjection, materiality and ontological security: A study of the unfinished Church of Christ the Saviour in Pristina
No full textOntological security scholarship in International Relations (IR) has predominantly focused on the importance of social environments for the healthy sense of self. However, material environments can also provide an important source of ontological security. In my previous work I have argued that to assume this role of 'ontic spaces' material environments need to be discursively linked to states' self-identity either through projection or introjection. In this article, I draw on the work of Julia Kristeva to argue that ontic spaces can also come about through abjection or the rejection of a material environment from the narrative of the self. I illustrate this theoretical point in the case study of the Serbian Orthodox Church of Christ the Saviour in Pristina. Its construction began in 1992 during the rule of Slobodan Milosevic but was never finished due to the Kosovo war in 1998/9. Over the years, as all proposed changes are considered to be a threat to a healthy sense of self of either Serbs or Albanians, the building has been turned into an abjected ontic space, an ambiguous symbol undermining the self/other and victim/oppressor boundaries and as such both repels and attracts, threatens and protects
The Spectre of an Arms Race in the Western Balkans
Full text linkSecurity in the Western Balkans has recently deteriorated due to heightened geopolitical tensions, EU enlargement fatigue and democratic backsliding. Despite some positive developments, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains unstable, and the Belgrade/Pristina dialogue is still deadlocked. In addition, all Western Balkan states have increased their defence budgets and have engaged in military modernization. At the same time, policymakers and the media in the region often evoke the spectre of military competition and an arms race. This Policy Brief shows that, although the letter of the Agreement on Sub-Regional Arms Control signed in Florence in 1996 is still being complied with, these developments have already eroded trust in the region. If allowed to unfold, they could lead to further escalation in the future
Memories of Empire and Entry into International Society:Views from the European periphery
No full textWhat is the role of memories for the expansion of international society? By drawing on the English School approach to International Relations this edited volume argues that the memories of empire and suzerainty are key to understanding sociological aspects of the expansion of anarchical society. The expert contributors adopt a socio-historic conceptualization of entry into international society, aiming to move beyond the legalist analysis, and also explore the impact of identity-constructions and collective memories on the expansion of international society.Empirically, the volume investigates the entry into international society of Belarus, Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and Romania and studies memories that they activated along the way. While these memoires of bygone polities were used by state builders to make sense of international society and legitimise claims of the new entrants, they inadvertently also generated tensions and anxieties, which in many ways persist until this day. Both the theoretical angle and the empirical material presented in this book are novel additions to the growing body of knowledge in historical International Relations.Exploring how memories and experiences of the past still complicate the entrants’ positions in the international society and to what degree ensuing tensions remain today this volume will be of interest to all students and scholars of European International Relations, particularly those with a focus on Eastern Europe.<br/
The expansion of international society after 30 years: Views from the European periphery
No full textSince its publication three decades ago, Hedley Bull and Adam Watson's The Expansion of International Society has served as the main point of departure for historically informed discussion of how today's states system emerged and then went on to envelop the world. In a recent article, Iver Neumann criticized Bull and Watson's conceptualization for being Euro-centric, in the sense that these scholars only ascribed agency to the European side of the relationship between an entrant and international society. For International Relations, it is particularly apposite that the new entrants to international society themselves came from suzerain systems, such as Habsburg-dominated or the Ottoman-dominated one. Neumann's example was Russia, whose experiences with Mongol suzerainty and, before that, with being a part of a suzerain system centred on Byzantium, infused Muscovy with experiences and memories that formed the reference point for what to expect when getting in contact with international society. This forum broadens this debate by looking not only at one state, but at a set of Central and South-Eastern European states with experiences and memories from various suzerain systems. The articles discuss when and how Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Turkey began to aspire for membership in international society; experiences, memories and ideas such as translatio imperii that informed what they made of the entry; and how and in what degree the ensuing tensions remain today
Beyond National Interests: Identity Conflict and Serbia’s Neutrality toward the Crisis in Ukraine
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