Back to school, back to the future of geopolitics
3 September 2024
Power politics, strategic competition, the risk of an alliance dilemma and entrapment… sounds familiar? Besides being key concepts of realist international relations theory, the study of grand strategy, and the international system, these terms have made it back into the vocabulary of political commentators, experts and media in recent years. In other words: geopolitics is back.
One of the objectives of Geopolitical Europe is to bridge the gap between academia and international relations theory on one side, and the world — with all its implications for Europe’s role in it — as we see it in practice on the other side. At a time where geopolitics clearly shapes our thinking about the world, turning to international relations theory can therefore offer a helpful framework for better understanding and contextualisation of current affairs.
Why “back to the future”? Because the discipline evolves, and there is a lot of up-and-coming scholars in the field. The overview below features some articles from them on questions of world order, international security, and the future of geopolitics. The list is anything but exclusive, but certainly includes many must-reads for those contemplating about the geopolitics of Europe, and Europe in geopolitics.
Why take the time for deep dives into political science and international relations literature for a better understanding of the course of current events? The article Introduction to the Debate: How Does Political Science Matter? The Relevance and Impact of the Discipline has good arguments.
The following eight articles, all authored or co-authored by PhD students or post-docs at the time of publication, address a diverse range of topics in international relations, from world order to alliance formation and the EU’s approach to these challenges.
World order and alliances
On the impact of Chinese ideas and Chinese International Relations approaches: Reconceptualizing International Order: Contemporary Chinese Theories and Their Contributions to Global IR, by Haoming Xiong, David A. Peterso and Bear F. Braumoeller
On the Belt and Road Initiative: Two Paths: Why States Join or Avoid China’s Belt and Road Initiative, by Eleanor Freund, M. Taylor Fravel, Raymond Wang, Nick Ackert, and Sihao Huang
On changing strategy of an ally: Forever Bound? Japan’s Road to Self-defence and the US Alliance, by Lotje Boswinkel
Europe
On the effectiveness of the EU as a buyer of defence goods: Markets in Defense of Europe: Providing Public Goods in European Defense, by Lucas Hellemeier and Kaija Schilde
On the role of industrial alliances in an era of geopolitics: Industrial Alliances for the Energy Transition: Harnessing Business Power in the Era of Geoeconomics, by Riccardo Bosticco and Anna Herranz‐Surrallés
China
On China’s nuclear doctrine: Under No Circumstances? What the Chinese Really Think about the Wartime Use of Nuclear Weapons, by Changwook Ju and Joshua Byun
US-China competition
On maritime competition: China-U.S. Maritime Competition: Destined for Strategic Miscalculations?, by Ahmed Bux Jamali and Hongsong Li
On competition in the South China Sea: Naming and Shaming China: America’s Strategy of Rhetorical Coercion in the South China Sea, by Wendy He and Haridas Ramasamy