Humiliation in International Relations: A Pathology of Contemporary International Systems (French Studies in International Law, 6)

In international relations (IR), often some states deny the legal status of others, stigmatising their practices or even their culture. Such acts of deliberate humiliation at the diplomatic level are common occurrences in modern diplomacy. In the period following the breakup of the famous ‘Concert of Europe’, many kinds of club-based diplomacy have been tried, all falling short of anything like inclusive multilateralism. Examples of this effort include the G7, G8, G20 and even the P5. Such ‘contact groups’ are put forward as if they were actual ruling institutions, endowed with the power to exclude and marginalise. Today, the effect of such acts of humiliation is to reveal the international system’s limits and its lack of diplomatic effectiveness. The use of humiliation as a regular diplomatic action steadily erodes the power of the international system. These actions appear to be the result of a botched mixture of a colonial past, a failed decolonisation, a mistaken vision of globalisation and a very dangerous post-bipolar reconstruction. Although this book primarily takes a social psychology approach to IR, it also mobilizes the resources of the French sociological tradition, mainly inspired by Emile Durkheim. It is translated from Le temps des humiliés. Pathologie des relations internationales (Paris, Odile Jacob, 2014). Volume 6 in the series French Studies in International Law In international relations (IR), some states often deny the legal status of others, stigmatising their practices or even their culture. Such acts of deliberate humiliation at the diplomatic level are common occurrences in modern diplomacy. In the period following the breakup of the famous 'Concert of Europe', many kinds of club-based diplomacy have been tried, all falling short of anything like inclusive multilateralism. Examples of this effort include the G7, G8, G20 and even the P5. Such 'contact groups' are put forward as if they were actual ruling institutions, endowed with the power to exclude and marginalise. Today, the effect of such acts of humiliation is to reveal the international system's limits and its lack of diplomatic effectiveness. The use of humiliation as a regular diplomatic action steadily erodes the power of the international system. These actions appear to be the result of a botched mixture of a colonial past, a failed decolonisation, a mistaken vision of globalisation and a very dangerous post-bipolar reconstruction. Although this book primarily takes a social psychology approach to IR, it also mobilizes the resources of the French sociological tradition, mainly inspired by Emile Durkheim. It is translated from Le temps des humiliés. Pathologie des relations internationales (Paris, Odile Jacob, 2014). In international relations (IR), humiliation is currently commonplace. Denying states' status and stigmatising their practices (or even culture) are common occurrences in modern diplomacy. After the well known and very selective European 'concert of powers', many kinds of club diplomacy have been-and continue to be-substituted for an attempted inclusive multilateralism. G7, G8, G20, but also P5 and many 'contact groups' are regarded as ruling institutions which have the power to exclude and marginalize. Today, these humiliations are at the core of the system. They reveal the system's limits and lack of capacity while also posing a real threat to the power of the international order which is being eroded by the use of humiliation, fuelled by a colonial past, a failed decolonization, a mistaken vision of globalization, and a very perilous post-bipolar reconstruction. Although this book primarily takes a social psychology approach to IR, it also promotes another approach by investigating the international system from a French sociological tradition, mainly inspired by Emile Durkheim. This book is translated from Le Temps des Humiliés. Pathologie des relations internationales (Paris, Odile Jacob, 2014). (Series: French Studies in International Law, Vol. 5) [Subject: Public International Law, Comparative Law, French Studies] In international relations (IR), some states often deny the legal status of others, stigmatising their practices or even their culture. Such acts of deliberate humiliation at the diplomatic level are common occurrences in modern diplomacy. In the period following the breakup of the famous 'Concert of Europe', many kinds of club-based diplomacy have been tried, all falling short of anything like inclusive multilateralism. Examples of this effort include the G7, G8, G20 and even the P5. Such 'contact groups' are put forward as if they were actual ruling institutions, endowed with the power to exclude and marginalise. Today, the effect of such acts of humiliation is to reveal the international system's limits and its lack of diplomatic effectiveness. The use of humiliation as a regular diplomatic action steadily erodes the power of the international system. These actions appear to be the result of a botched mixture of a colonial past, a failed decolonisation, a mistaken vision of globalisation and a very dangerous post-bipolar reconstruction. Although this book primarily takes a social psychology approach to IR, it also mobilizes the resources of the French sociological tradition, mainly inspired by Emile Durkheim.-- Provided by Publisher Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Preface to the English Edition 6 Table of Contents 10 Introduction 12 Part One: Humiliation in the History of International Relations: The Discovery of a New Form of Social Pathology 20 1. Pitfalls of the Ordinary Lives of People 22 2. Humiliation, or Power without Rules 36 3. Types of Humiliation and their Diplomacies 58 Part Two: An International System Fed by Humiliation 76 4. Constitutive Inequality: The Colonial Past 78 5. Structural Inequality: To be Outside the Elite 98 6. Functional Inequality: Being Excluded from Governance 116 Part Three: The Dangerous Repercussions that Follow Humiliation: Towards an Anti-System? 132 7. The Mediating Role of Societies 134 8. Are there Anti-System Diplomacies? 150 9. Uncontrolled Violence 164 Conclusion 178