Affiliation:
1. Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden Danish Institute for International Studies, København, Denmark; Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Abstract
For Henry Kissinger, a stable international order is not only based on a balance of power, but also on a balance of identities, of “visions of itself ”. How do our observational theories of international relations come to understand this practical maxim? This article shows that rationalist theories, methodological underpinnings fall short of satisfactorily addressing the issue, while constructivism’s and post-structuralism’s social ontology and relational understanding of identity provide a better starting point. And yet, when we return from the level of explanatory theory back to foreign policy practice, constructivist theorizing, precisely for its focus on identity, risks of being abused for the purpose of nationalist apologies of the very kind that makes a balance of identities impossible.
Publisher
Uniwersytet Jagiellonski - Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego
Reference105 articles.
1. 1. Adler-Nissen, R. (2014). "Stigma Management in International Relations: Transgressive Identities, Norms, and Order in International Society". International Organization, 68(1), pp. 143-176.
2. 2. Akchurina, V., Della Sala, V. (2018). "Russia, Europe and the Ontological Security Dilemma: Narrating the Emerging Eurasian Space". Europe-Asia Studies, 70(10), pp. 1638-1655.
3. 3. Allison, G.T. (1971). Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. Boston: Little Brown.
4. 4. Aron, R. (1962). Paix et guerre entre les nations. Paris: Calmann-Levy.
5. 5. Astrov, A., Morozova, N. (2012). "Russia: Geopolitics from the Heartland". In: S. Guzzini (ed.). The Return of Geopolitics in Europe? Social Mechanisms and Foreign Policy Identity Crises. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 192-216.
Cited by
4 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献