Socialization as a power discourse: conceptualizing the Eastern enlargement of Western international institutions

Abstract

International relations literature of the last decade has characterised the post-Cold War order in Europe as the dissemination of Western norms and institutions eastward. In this process, Western international institutions, in particular NATO and the EU, have been regarded as socialisers and educators who transform former Soviet bloc states into Western-style liberal democracies through 'teaching and persuasion'. This paper analyses the implications of the socialisation model as a discourse on the relations between NATO, the EU and former Soviet bloc states. It argues that, even a decade after many of these states have 'joined the West'as NATO and EU members, the socialisation narrative has perpetuated a distinction between the 'West'as an epistemological-civilisational concept and Central and Eastern Europe as a complementary 'other'. The distinction between socialisers and the socialisees as passive receptors of Western norms has been codified as a 'West vs East'narrative in the literature and public discourse. This paper argues that the preoccupation with a one-way direction of influence in IR literature has not only maintained a false dichotomy, but also overlooked Eastern European agency and the role of these new member states in shaping the Western institutions.(original abstract)