Cooperation and Conflict recent issues

The Internal--External Security Nexus: Notes on an Emerging Research Agenda

Eriksson, J., Rhinard, M. — 2009-08-20

The central contention of this article holds that scholars do not adequately assess and explain the influence of transboundary security issues on government behaviour. Their assessment is not adequate because they do not fully conceptualize the relationship between internal and external security concerns. Their explanations are not adequate because existing theories cannot fully explain how and why states respond to transboundary security issues. To rectify these concerns, stimulate and structure further research, and encourage scholarly dialogue, we build an analytical framework for (a) understanding what we describe as the ‘nexus’ of internal and external security matters, and (b) explaining why that nexus may change state behaviour on transboundary security issues. The resulting framework encourages a strong focus on the nature of transboundary problems before studying their implications for changes in perceptions, policies, politics and polity.

Security Re-Divided: The Distinctiveness of Policy-Making in ESDP and JHA

Weiss, M., Dalferth, S. — 2009-08-20

In this article, we argue that the premature abolishment of the allegedly anachronistic concepts of internal versus external security is of doubtful heuristic value for the study of security practices. The two domains may gradually converge from the perspective of problems, but do so much less in terms of political practices. We show that security policy is pursued according to different systems of rules. It follows distinct institutional logics. We undertake a systematic comparison of policy-making in the European Union’s Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and Justice and Home Affairs (JHA). It is structured along the distinction between making and implementing an agreement as indicative stages of the policy-making process. First, rule-setting asks how decisions are made in the two domains: with or without the inclusion of external actors. Second, we explore whether the implementation of political decisions involves management or enforcement mechanisms. The empirical results are unambiguous: the political actors follow different systems of rules in the two domains. There are still ‘ideal-typical’ differences in a Weberian sense. This implies that internal and external security may be closely linked, like the opposite sides of the same coin, but must be separated for the purpose of analytical clarity.

Uncovering the Diverging Institutional Logics of EU Civil Protection

Bremberg, N., Britz, M. — 2009-08-20

The development of European Union (EU) civil protection cooperation highlights important issues in the debate on the internal—external security nexus. It points to the increased transnationalization of threats usually assigned to the field of ‘internal’ security, but it also presents researchers with a puzzle: despite the relatively rapid development of civil protection cooperation, there is still substantial disagreement among the EU member states as to how it should continue to develop. Applying an analytical framework based on neo-institutional organization theory and the study of organizational ‘fields’, this article explores two questions: What is the institutional basis for member states’ diverging positions on the future direction of EU civil protection? and How may these positions affect the current development of EU civil protection? Our analysis draws upon empirical evidence from civil protection practice in Spain, Sweden and the EU, including official documents in the form of bills and laws, policy papers and elite interviews. We find that the basis for member states’ diverging positions on the future of EU civil protection is rooted in conflicting national institutional logics of civil protection. No logic has become dominant at the EU level, suggesting that as long as multiple institutional logics continue to coexist, disagreement on the future development of European level civil protection cooperation will persist.

There is No European Security, Only European Securities

Burgess, J. P. — 2009-08-20

In this article, I explore the relationship between ‘value’ and ‘security’ in the conceptualization of European construction and its transformation in recent years through the anti-terror effort. I suggest that the landscape of human values, and the way it is correlated with security, is discontinuous and fragmented. In the post-Madrid/London era, variations in cultures of law enforcement, border control, intelligence and diplomacy, and, not least, new cultures of fear and prudence, render this landscape increasingly complex. The value-laden nature of security and insecurity has contributed to a fragmented evolution in European approaches to the challenge of security. The politics of harmonization and standardization of European security reveals not a singularity in security, but the contrary, namely multiple securities. I thus develop a counter-argument to both realist and social constructivist understandings of values and the role these play in security thinking. I affirm, in a typical constructivist vein, that values matter in the formation of security policy. However, I reverse the typical constructivist position that sees security as the embodiment of ideas, arguing instead that the European self-understanding is itself the product of its own constellation of security and insecurity.

Welcome to the Umma: The British State and its Muslim Citizens Since 9/11

Archer, T. — 2009-08-20

British Muslims are citizens of the United Kingdom and also part of a worldwide community, the Umma, the Muslim community of the faithful. British Muslims have both national and transnational allegiances and on the part of the British state this has necessitated new ways of governing its Muslim citizens. Concerns over both terrorist violence and societal security questions regarding Muslims in the UK are both internal and external to the state. The government has had difficulties in finding transnational policy responses that go beyond the old division of internal and external security. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, security was the main reason why the British state sought to engage Muslims, but this has been transformed into the wider agenda of ‘community cohesion’. In tracing the Muslim groups that the government has engaged with since 2001, I show how the issue of governing Muslims has gone beyond concerns just about terrorism and violence to a wider agenda that accepts British Muslims as citizens, yet at the same time still reflects the fears of Muslim ‘otherness’. I consider how this otherness is seen as a threat to societal security, and how the government’s attempt to create policies to deal with such threats is best understood as the ‘politics of unease’.

Sweden and Development of the European Security and Defence Policy: A Bi-Directional Process of Europeanization

Lee-Ohlsson, F. — 2009-05-11

Since its creation in 1999, the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) has evolved rapidly. This new policy area presented Sweden, once a neutral state, with a challenge to its security policy tradition. In responding to the challenge, the Swedish government was initially reluctant about the ESDP, but today has become one of its staunchest supporters and active members. In this article, I examine Swedish participation in the ESDP since its inception, i.e. the impact Sweden has had on the ESDP, but also the extent to which the ESDP has influenced Swedish security policy. Furthermore, I seek to shed light on why the Swedish government has become so active and supportive of the ESDP despite initial reluctance. Drawing on Reuben Wong's multidimensional model of Europeanization and new research undertaken primarily through interviews with key officials, I argue that Sweden has embarked on a journey from sceptical and hesitant participant to one of its main driving forces. Although the ESDP has had a major influence on Swedish security policy, I argue that the Swedish government has had a major impact on shaping the current character of the ESDP. I point to an interwoven relation between European and domestic levels, thus confirming the bi-directional character of the process of Europeanization.

Changing Belarus?: The Limits of EU Governance in Eastern Europe and the Promise of Partnership

Bosse, G., Korosteleva-Polglase, E. — 2009-05-11

Since the end of the Cold War, European Union (EU) efforts in transforming Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have been enormously successful. The 2004 enlargement is widely regarded as the single most effective foreign policy strategy in the Union's history, and the recent European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was designed to repeat that success in countries located on the EU's new Eastern borders. Although the ENP has been the subject of substantive discussion in European academia, Belarus is the one country in Eastern Europe that has largely escaped scholarly attention. This article takes stock of recent developments in EU—Belarus relations and seeks to explain the very limited leverage of the EU over the country. We first examine the EU's relations with Belarus through the theoretical lens of external governance. By taking for granted the EU's ability to transfer its norms and values, however, the governance perspective does not account for the EU's very limited success in changing Belarus. We therefore revisit Michael Smith's notion of `boundaries of order' to highlight the impact of legal/institutional, transactional, cultural and geopolitical factors on EU—Belarus relations. We argue, in particular, that the existence and the construction of boundaries between the Union and its neighbouring states are essentially mutually constitutive processes. Besides shifting its own boundaries (and thereby extending its rules to outsiders), the EU is itself subject to the boundaries enacted by neighbouring states. In our conclusion, we juxtapose the notion of external governance as `rule transfer' with `partnership' as a more suitable mode of interaction between the EU and Belarus.

Erratum

2009-05-11

Out of the Box: Coping Successfully with Euro-Outsiderness

Marcussen, M. — 2009-05-11

The existence of the euro-area has lowered the costs emanating from the autumn 2008 financial crisis for weak euro-area economies. For the Scandinavian euro-outsiders, the financial crisis awoke a public discussion about the pros and cons of the euro. This is just natural in a situation of crisis. Owing to their good economic standing, however, the Scandinavian euro-outsiders have not, on the whole, been worse off outside the euro-area than EU member states inside it. One reason may be the level of micro-innovation. Over the past 10 years, a considerable amount of experience has been accumulated among the euro-outsiders. Innovative ways have been found to compensate for non-membership of the euro-area. In fact, it seems as if the special status of the semi-permanent euro-outsiders, such as Denmark and Sweden, initially has worked as a catalyst for innovation among civil servants and other stakeholders, thereby contributing to innovation in the entire public sector in these countries. Somehow this stands in sharp contrast to the reform rhythm among the euro-insiders.

Cooperation and Control in the European Union: The Case of the European Union as International Environmental Negotiator

Delreux, T. — 2009-05-11

This article examines the internal decision-making process in the European Union when the EU participates in international environmental negotiations. More particularly, the practical functioning of the relation between the member states and the EU negotiator (i.e. the Commission, the Presidency or a lead country), representing the member states externally, is examined. Starting from principal—agent theory and based on empirical research on eight EU decision-making processes with regard to international environmental negotiations, the article argues, first, that control by the member states on the EU negotiator takes place most manifestly during the course of the international negotiations, and, second, that these ad locum control mechanisms perform not only a control function, but also a cooperation function.

Danish Foreign Policy and the Balance between the EU and the US: The Choice between Brussels and Washington after 2001

Larsen, H. — 2009-05-11

In the international debate, it is often argued that Denmark, in its major foreign policy priorities, has sided with the United States (US) since the Cold War rather than with the European Union (EU) or its European partners. I examine whether this is correct, and if it is, why this is so, since 2001. I also ask whether a different theoretical approach, namely discourse analysis, would lead to findings different from those of the dominant approaches. I first present various ways of explaining why a country chooses the balance that it does between the EU and the US. One particular approach, post-structuralist discourse analysis, is applied. The balance between the EU and the US in the dominant Danish discourse is analysed. I outline the policy level and attempt to map where Danish policies are conducted with the EU and the US, respectively. I show that the EU is the most important partner across foreign policy areas since 2001, despite ad hoc foreign policy cooperation with the US, and that this is due to a dominant discourse articulating the EU as `our most important alliance'. However, the US is the most important partner on military security issues based on a discourse articulating cooperation with the US as a central part of Danish foreign policy identity and an `offensive foreign policy'.

Book Review Essay: Transformative Learning through Globalization of World Politics: * John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens (eds) The Globalization of World Politics, 4th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, 745 pp. ISBN 13-978-0-19-929777-1

Angstrom, J. — 2009-05-11

List of Referees

2009-02-13

`An Institution is Born': The Formation of a Lithuanian Counter-Terrorism Institution after 9/11

Karlsson, M. — 2009-02-13

Lithuania's formation of a counter-terrorism institution after 9/11 sheds new light on three premises often associated with the study of institutional formation. First, while the distinction between the creation phase and the operation phase is logical, the appearance of extra-institutional guidance suggests that established institutions within other domains (e.g. military security) can temporarily fill an institutional vacuum (counter-terrorism). Second, the dynamic between agency and structure is readily seen, but in this case it was quite clear that agency was strongly dependent upon changes in some of the structural contexts (threat of terrorism, international institutions, age of the security state). Third, the role of sequencing and timing turned out to be more important than expected. There was a strong temporal order between the sequences of the formation phase and a significant spillover from two contemporary security processes (preparations for NATO membership, reforms of the security state).

How and Why Interaction Matters: ASEAN's Regional Identity and Human Rights

Manea, M.-G. — 2009-02-13

The aftermath of the Cold War has brought a shift in the West's position on the acceptance and promotion of international human rights standards in developing countries. In this context, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries challenge the West's position based on two contradictory principles — comprehensibility and cultural embedment of human rights. In this article, I argue that interactions with regard to human rights involving state and non-state actors in ASEAN have become part of the process of regional identity formation. How ASEAN has responded to external pressures in terms of compliance with international human rights norms, and how it has developed its own normative and procedural approach to human rights at the regional level, are inherent in the dynamics of `Self' definition. A mixed pattern of `rhetorical' and `communicative action' explains how interaction has led to different phases — differentiation, affirmation, contestation and re-orientation — in the dynamics of `Self' definition of ASEAN with regard to human rights.

Human Rights, the Sex Industry and Foreign Troops: Feminist Analysis of Nationalism in Japan, South Korea and the Philippines

Zimelis, A. — 2009-02-13

This article explores the relationship between prostitution, nationalism and foreign policies using a feminist analysis framework. Although scholars have dealt with the theoretical role of women in nationalist projects, there is little work factually supporting these theories. There is also a paucity of works demonstrating the role of prostitution in national security policies. This article rectifies these shortcomings and demonstrates that, although prostitution is illegal in Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, these governments have played an active role in supporting and maintaining the prostitution industry geared at servicing US troops. The US troops, in turn, have protected the national security of each of these countries for all of the post-Second World War era. In this context, it seems clear that `national security' does not include the physical, economic, legal and social insecurity of Japanese, Korean and Filipino women despite their contribution to the most quintessential Realist policy — national security.

Paying for Protection: Denmark's Military Expenditure during the Cold War

Ringsmose, J. — 2009-02-13

Since the creation of the Atlantic Alliance in 1949, the Alliance's minor partners have persistently spent a smaller share of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on military measures than their larger brothers-in-arms do. Taking my cue from collective goods theory, I examine the factors shaping the armament behaviour and military spending patterns of the smaller allies. The article's main theoretical argument is that the smallest among allies tend to perceive their military instruments as the price of admission to a collective defence organization upheld by larger and more potent powers. In essence, military spending becomes the price of security guarantees and protection. Consequently, small allies raise their military expenditures when their security-guaranteeing senior partner threatens with sanctions that the small ally considers more costly than the requested increase in military expenditures and not as a response to rising threats. In the second section of the article, this theoretical claim is illustrated and assessed against Denmark's Cold War defence policies. The empirical findings corroborate the belief that the small allies' leading policy-makers view their armed forces as a necessary evil maintained in order to profit from their senior partners' capabilities.

Book Review Essay: Europe's Enlargements: Security, Identity and the New Politico-Geographical Constellations

Moisio, S. — 2009-02-13

Book Review Essay: Navigating Boundaries, Going Beyond Categories: From the Theoretical Figure of a Refugee to the Everyday as a Refugee

Puumala, E. — 2009-02-13

On the State of the IR Art: Problems of Self-Positioning and the Absence of Freedom: Reflections of the Outgoing President of the Nordic International Studies Association

Vogt, H. — 2008-12-02

If we postulate that International Relations is not meeting the expectations that many have assigned to it, and that it may even be at risk of losing some of its intellectual appeal in the foreseeable future, what could the reasons be? This essay seeks to provide answers by identifying three general problems that the field currently faces, in many respects as a result of its increasing professionalization. The first is the excessive need of IR scholars to operate within the traditional parameters of the field; the second is their too weak relationship with the `real' world; and the third, the absence of freedom that undermines creative, intuitive thinking.

The Balkanization of Ottoman Rule: Premodern Origins of the Modern International System in Southeastern Europe

Hoffmann, C. — 2008-12-02

The term `Balkanization' has found entry in the social sciences vocabulary as a metaphor for diversity at best, social and political instability for the most part, and genocidal war at worst. And yet it is precisely the emergence of a variety of national states and the Ottoman Empire's disintegration that are frequently portrayed as processes of `modernizing' as well as `naturalizing' the international system of the Balkans and the Middle East. By offering a historical sociological re-construction of early modern Ottoman history up to the Greek Revolt in 1821, I argue in this article that the national secessions were not synonymous with the creation of a `modern' international system in southeastern Europe. National independence cannot therefore be understood as a functional derivate of an expanding European Modernity mediated through global capitalism or geopolitical competition. Rather, the various secessions were the result of a series of conservative reactions to the modernization efforts of the Ottoman central administration. National state formation and Ottoman disintegration, on the one hand, and capitalist development and modern sovereignty on the other, have thus to be seen rather as having historically and socially distinct origins than as representing two sides of the same coin of a totalizing form of European international modernity.

Talking Europe -- the Dilemma of Sovereignty and Modernization

Braun, M. — 2008-12-02

There is a significant amount of scholarly literature produced on the topic of the alleged legitimacy deficit of the European Union (EU). This article is based on the assumption that the legitimacy of the EU is shaped largely by the domestic discourses on European governance. Therefore the stories of the individual countries are crucial for our understanding of EU legitimacy as a whole. The article is an analysis of how the legitimacy of the EU is constructed and shaped in the Czech and Swedish political discourses. It is based on discourse analysis and the constant comparative method of grounded theory, and suggests that the discourses on European unity in the two countries are structured around the nexus of modernization and sovereignty. Based on different constellations of this nexus, three ideal types are outlined: sovereignty unchallenged, sovereignty challenged and modernization unchallenged. In conclusion, it is suggested that the EU has been legitimized primarily as an instrument for modernization. Critics, however, base their argumentation on an underlying discourse on the sovereign people and on an understanding of the EU as a hindrance to progress. The advocates thus emphasize output-oriented legitimacy, while the critics are more concerned with input-based legitimacy.

From Pulp to Fiction?: Fray Bentos Pulp Investment Conflict through the Finnish Media

Pakkasvirta, J. — 2008-12-02

The pulp mill conflict between Argentina and Uruguay is a topical environmental local—global dispute including various time—space levels (local—regional—national—global). It is also a politico-economic battle among business, civil society and governments in the two South American countries. This article highlights the widely analysed Argentine and Uruguayan perspectives, but it also brings to the fore the Finnish case (of mass media, the global Finnish paper industry, Finnish NGOs and the government). The article seeks to come to an understanding of the characteristics of the conflict as portrayed by the media in Finland and, critically, to examine the effects of the stereotypical Finnish image — `iconic model' — on Argentina and Uruguay. The article is a study of the discussions in the Finnish mass media, mainly in Helsingin Sanomat (HS), the key national newspaper, and in the television coverage of the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE. The analysis shows that the Finnish media, too, have created stereotypes that harden attitudes and make conflict resolution more difficult. What is virtually absent in the Finnish media is a democratic multicultural learning culture that fosters and itself is fostered through a more transnational and interdisciplinary perspective. The global and national media have an increasingly important task in such situations of cultural conflict resolution, situations which are also attached to the recent discussions of corporate social responsibility.

Book Review Forum: Scenarios and Science in International Relations/International Political Economy: * Heikki Patomaki, The Political Economy of Global Security: War, Future Crises and Changes in Global Governance. London and New York: Routledge, 2008, 292 pp. ISBN 978--0-415--41672--6

Leander, A. — 2008-12-02

Book Review Forum: The Limits of the West in Theory and Practice

Barkawi, T. — 2008-12-02

Book Review Forum: The Evolution of Capitalist Globalization and Possible Human Futures: Hamlet without the Prince

Chase-Dunn, C. — 2008-12-02

Book Review Forum: A Response from Between the Past and the Future: On the Ethico-Political Notion of Collective Learning of Humankind

Patomaki, H. — 2008-12-02

Book Review Essay: Taking Trafficking Seriously: What the Abject Subject Can Teach IR: * Claudia Aradau, Rethinking Trafficking in Women: Politics Out of Security. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, 225 pp. ISBN 0 230 57331 2. * Elina Penttinen, Globalization, Prostitution and Sex-Trafficking: Corporeal Politics. London: Routledge, 2008, 167 pp. ISBN 0 415 42099 7

Hansen, L. — 2008-12-02

Book Review: Raia Prokhovnik, Sovereignties: Contemporary Theory and Practice. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, 272 pp. ISBN 13: 978 1403 913 234

Mishra, A. — 2008-12-02

Erratum

2008-12-02