The Return of Geopolitics in Europe?: Social Mechanisms and Foreign Policy Identity Crises (Cambridge Studies in International Relations, Series Number 124)

The end of the Cold War demonstrated the historical possibility of peaceful change and seemingly showed the superiority of non-realist approaches in International Relations. Yet in the post-Cold War period many European countries have experienced a resurgence of a distinctively realist tradition: geopolitics. Geopolitics is an approach which emphasizes the relationship between politics and power on the one hand; and territory, location and environment on the other. This comparative study shows how the revival of geopolitics came not despite, but because of, the end of the Cold War. Disoriented in their self-understandings and conception of external roles by the events of 1989, many European foreign policy actors used the determinism of geopolitical thought to find their place in world politics quickly. The book develops a constructivist methodology to study causal mechanisms and its comparative approach allows for a broad assessment of some of the fundamental dynamics of European security-- Provided by Publisher Cambridge University Press Cover 1 THE RETURN OF GEOPOLITICS IN EUROPE? 3 Series Page 5 Title 7 Copyright 8 CONTENTS 9 FIGURES AND TABLES 11 CONTRIBUTORS 12 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 13 Introduction. The argument: geopolitics for fixing the coordinates of foreign policy identity 15 PART I: The analytical framework 21 1 Which puzzle? An expected return of geopolitical thought in Europe? 23 1 ‘1989 and all that’: realist politics after the Cold War freezer 24 2 Critical geopolitics: 1989 stirring up the geographical imagination 27 3 Conclusion: the puzzling rise of ‘neoclassical geopolitics’ 30 2 Which geopolitics? 32 1 Classical geopolitics, but no Geopolitik? 34 Geopolitics saved from the Nazi aberration 34 Geopolitics avoiding the German path? 36 Alternative roads to Social Darwinism 38 Classical geopolitics: the inevitable clash of national expansionism in a finite world 40 2 Geopolitics and realism 42 Realism: the necessity of power expansion (for rank maximisation) 43 Geopolitics, or: realism’s military and nationalist gaze 46 3 Neoclassical and critical geopolitics 49 Saving geopolitics by trivialising it? No way out of the determinism dilemma 50 From geopolitics to geo-politics? 55 4 Conclusion: the meaning and functions of ‘neoclassical geopolitics’ 56 3 The framework of analysis: geopolitics meets foreign policy identity crises 59 1 The trigger: ‘foreign policy imaginaries’ meet 1989 in a foreign policy identity crisis 63 Foreign policy roles and self-conceptions 63 Foreign policy imaginaries and foreign policy discourses 66 1989 and a foreign policy identity crisis 69 2 How identity crises meet neoclassical geopolitics: ideational, institutional and rhetorical process factors 71 Interpretivist process tracing 72 Geopolitics and the sociology of knowledge: the ideology of a great or dissatisfied power 75 Geopolitics and intellectual traditions: the continuity of materialism 78 Geopolitics and sociological institutionalist analysis: the ‘field’ of foreign policy expertise 79 Geopolitics and rhetorics: mobilising geopolitics in political debate 81 Summary of this section 83 3 Summary of research design and case selection 84 Puzzle 84 Thesis 84 Framework of analysis and methodology 85 Particular research questions for the case studies 85 Case selection 86 Theory development 87 PART II: Case studies 89 4 Czech geopolitics: struggling for survival 91 Introduction 91 Geopolitics, anti-geopolitics and common sense 94 The anti-geopolitical mainstream 97 Figures 97 From Jan Hus to human rights 98 Anti-geopoliticians’ geopolitical trips 101 Czech geopoliticians: lingering on the margins 102 Reality of power 103 Identity of a geopolitical centre 104 German threat 105 Fragile revivals of geopolitics after 1989 107 Fall of Czechoslovakia 107 US missile defence 109 Contested institutionalism and irrelevant geopolitics 112 Conclusions 113 5 The theme that dare not speak its name: Geopolitik, geopolitics and German foreign policy since unification 115 A note on methodology 116 The meso level I: re-reading Geopolitik after the end of the Cold War 118 Micro level I: Geopolitik as the Other 121 The meso level II: a new Geopolitik as political critique 125 Micro level II: towards the geopolitics of the Berliner Republik? 129 The security imaginary of the Berliner Republik 132 Afghanistan and the end of Geopolitik 134 Conclusion: the spectre of Geopolitik 138 6 Geopolitics ‘in the land of the prince’: a passe-partout to (global) power politics? 141 Italy’s geopolitical precedents, amnesia and awakening 143 Let a thousand flowers bloom: the renaissance of geopolitics in post-1989 Italy 147 Limes and co.: the birth of a geopolitical ‘fad’ 147 The Machiavellian, half-critical (and all-realist) geopolitics of Carlo Jean 150 Carlo Maria Santoro: the last classical geopolitical theorist 154 Geopolitics as the new orthodoxy? Some hypotheses 156 From theory to practice? Contextual factors in the revival of Italian geopolitics 159 Conclusions 163 7 Turkey’s ‘geopolitics dogma’ 165 Turkey’s ‘geopolitics dogma’ (identifying a ‘pre-existing materialist disposition in foreign policy thinking’) 166 Post-Cold War ubiquity of geopolitical truth-claims (a ‘revival or not?’) 173 Turkey’s post-Cold War crisis in foreign policy identity 176 Why geopolitics (but not another materialist explanation as to how the world works)? 179 Multiple actors, different agendas, tapping geopolitics 182 Conclusion 185 8 Banal Huntingtonianism: civilisational geopolitics in Estonia 188 Introduction: the small map 188 Cultural borders 191 Cultural threats 195 Civilisational ethnicity? 200 Conclusion 203 9 Russia: geopolitics from the heartland 206 The ontological crisis of the 1990s 210 A cold war within: liberals vs. ‘patriots’ 211 Eurasian impasse: ideocracy and politics 213 Geography and the ideocracy/politics nexus 218 Russia-Eurasia vs. Island-Russia 218 Geopolitics and geostrategy 220 Metaphysics and the ideocracy/politics nexus 223 Politics and metaphysics 223 Neo-Eurasianism and the production of the crisis 226 Conclusion 229 PART III: Empirical and theoretical conclusions 231 10 The mixed revival of geopolitics in Europe 233 1 No identity crisis – no revival: the Czech Republic and Germany 236 2 Different types of identity crises and geopolitical revivals 242 Italy: geopolitics after 1989 and ‘Tangentopoli’ 242 Turkey: geopolitics left and right and the problem of an endemic identity crisis 246 Estonia: civilisational geopolitics 250 Russia: geopolitical revival unable to fix the security imaginary 253 3 Conclusion 256 1 Was there a foreign policy identity crisis? 260 2 What kind of crisis? 260 3 Which geopolitics? 261 4 Which process factors were present? 262 5 Did geopolitics provide a fix? 263 11 Social mechanisms as micro-dynamics in constructivist analysis 265 1 Interpretivist process tracing and parallel historical dynamics 266 2 Making sense of social mechanisms in interpretivist process tracing 270 Defining mechanisms 276 3 Two social mechanisms as (micro-)dynamics in constructivist theory 279 A mechanism of foreign policy identity crisis reduction 280 Mechanisms of self-fulfilling prophecies: the vicious circle of essentialisation 284 4 Conclusion 289 BIBLIOGRAPHY 292 INDEX 330 9781107027343 The End Of The Cold War Demonstrated The Historical Possibility Of Peaceful Change And Seemingly Showed The Superiority Of Non-realist Approaches In International Relations. Yet In The Post-cold War Period Many European Countries Have Experienced A Resurgence Of A Distinctively Realist Tradition: Geopolitics. Geopolitics Is An Approach Which Emphasises The Relationship Between Politics And Power On The One Hand; And Territory, Location And Environment On The Other. This Comparative Study Shows How The Revival Of Geopolitics Came Not Despite Of, But Because Of, The End Of The Cold War. Disoriented In Their Self-understandings And Conception Of External Roles By The Events Of 1989, Many European Foreign Policy Actors Used The Determinism Of Geopolitical Thought To Find Their Place In World Politics Quickly. The Book Develops A Constructivist Methodology To Study Causal Mechanisms And Its Comparative Approach Allows For A Broad Assessment Of Some Of The Fundamental Dynamics Of European Security-- Machine Generated Contents Note: Introduction: The Argument: Geopolitics For Fixing The Coordinates Of Foreign Policy Identity / Stefano Guzzini; Part I. The Analytical Framework: 1. Which Puzzle? An Expected Return Of Geopolitical Thought In Europe? / Stefano Guzzini; 2. Which Geopolitics? / Stefano Guzzini; 3. The Framework Of Analysis: Geopolitics Meets Foreign Policy Identity-crises / Stefano Guzzini; Part Ii. Case Studies: 4. Czech Geopolitics: Struggling For Survival / Petr Drulák; 5. The Theme That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Geopolitik, Geopolitics And German Foreign Policy Since Unification / Andreas Behnke; 6. Geopolitics 'in The Land Of The Prince': A Passe-partout To (global) Power Politics? / Elisabetta Brighi And Fabio Petito; 7. Turkey's 'geopolitics Dogma' / Pinar Bilgin; 8. Banal Huntingtonianism: Civilizational Geopolitics In Estonia / Merje Kuus; 9. Russia: Geopolitics From The Heartland / Alexander Astrov And Natalia Morozova; Part Iii. Empirical And Theoretical Conclusions: 10. The Mixed Revival Of Geopolitics In Europe / Stefano Guzzini; 11. Social Mechanisms As Micro-dynamics In Constructivist Analysis / Stefano Guzzini. Edited By Stefano Guzzini. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "The end of the Cold War demonstrated the historical possibility of peaceful change and seemingly showed the superiority of non-realist approaches in International Relations. Yet in the post-Cold War period many European countries have experienced a resurgence of a distinctively realist tradition: geopolitics. Geopolitics is an approach which emphasises the relationship between politics and power on the one hand; and territory, location and environment on the other. This comparative study shows how the revival of geopolitics came not despite of, but because of, the end of the Cold War. Disoriented in their self-understandings and conception of external roles by the events of 1989, many European foreign policy actors used the determinism of geopolitical thought to find their place in world politics quickly. The book develops a constructivist methodology to study causal mechanisms and its comparative approach allows for a broad assessment of some of the fundamental dynamics of European security"-- Provided by publisher "The end of the Cold War demonstrated the historical possibility of peaceful change and seemingly showed the superiority of non-realist approaches in International Relations. Yet in the post-Cold War period many European countries have experienced a resurgence of a distinctively realist tradition: geopolitics. Geopolitics is an approach which emphasises the relationship between politics and power on the one hand; and territory, location and environment on the other. This comparative study shows how the revival of geopolitics came not despite of, but because of, the end of the Cold War. Disoriented in their self-understandings and conception of external roles by the events of 1989, many European foreign policy actors used the determinism of geopolitical thought to find their place in world politics quickly. The book develops a constructivist methodology to study causal mechanisms and its comparative approach allows for a broad assessment of some of the fundamental dynamics of European security"-- Résumé de l'éditeur Analyses the relationship between the end of the Cold War and the resurgence of geopolitical thought in Europe. This book contributes to the analysis of the role of identity in foreign policy and its comparative approach allows for a broad assessment of some of the fundamental dynamics of European security.