International Identity Research Articles

Protecting cultural heritage during armed conflict: the Italian contribution to ‘cultural peacekeeping’

World cultural heritage is under systemic attack on several crisis fronts, most notably in Mesopotamia, where ISIS is practising a deliberate and highly sophisticated strategy of ‘cultural cleansing’. Through its newly established Task Force, Italy is leading the international community’s efforts to strengthen the protection regime by including a cultural component in the mandates of peacekeeping interventions. The Italian contribution distinguishes itself, thanks to its capacities and capabilities, in fulfilling the military, police and cultural tasks of ‘cultural peacekeeping’ and in meeting the needs of the international intervention in the crucial entry and exit phases. Moreover, Italy’s commitment to protecting cultural heritage fits perfectly with the distinctive features of Italy’s international identity and role while at the same time serving the country’s national interests by increasing its standing and visibility in world affairs.

KULTURA I ROZWÓJ JAKO PODSTAWOWE KATEGORIE ODNIESIENIA W TWORZĄCYM SIĘ PRAWIE LUDÓW TUBYLCZYCH

CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT AS THE BASIC CATEGORIESOF REFERENCE IN THE EMERGING LAW OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES Summary In contemporary international relations indigenous peoples constitute particular ethnic communities waiting for a long time for the regulation of their status as subjects of international law. Paradoxically, decolonisation, which helped many colonial societies gain national rights, has not only left the issue of indigenous peoples in countries formerly colonised by the White Man unresolved but has also complicated their status. In practice former colonies such as the United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand have not regulated the legal status of indigenous peoples, relegating them politically and economically to the margins of society. The rights of indigenous peoples as minority groups living in the former Soviet Union, who are not at all colonial peoples officially, have not been defined either. The category of indigenous peoples now extends to many ethnic groups living in nation-states, who are culturally and linguistically distinct with respect to the dominant segments of the national society. However, assigning the attributes of indigenous peoples to them in the strict sense of the term is questionable and is not dealt with in this article. This article traces the process which leads to indigenous peoples acquiring the status of a fully-fledged subject of international law. It describes attempts that have been made to interpret the rights of indigenous peoples on the grounds of the universal instruments of international law. The principal documents are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (1960), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1966), the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and finally the Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation Among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations (1992). Despite the progress made in granting indigenous peoples their rights with the adoption of the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights (2007), it is still difficult to talk of full success, i.e. the recognition of the international identity and rights of indigenous peoples on a par with other sovereign nations.

Kryzys w Unii Europejskiej a tożsamość europejska

The aim of this article is to show what impact the crisis in the European Union, along with the crisis in the euro zone at the forefront, had on European identity, interwoven with the identity of the European Union to such an extent that these terms are often handled as equivalent. Developments and crises situations which exert an influence on European identity were presented with respect to areas of particular importance that affect the way the European Union is identified within the community and abroad. Following issues were discussed: implications of the crisis for the European Union’s international identity, for the European social model (welfare state), for transnational identity (in internal relations) and for unity and solidarity in the European Union. In the conclusion, it is stated that the economic, political and social crises had undermined the gradual development of European / European Union identity among citizens and had an impact on its image in international relations.

A Failed New World Order and Beyond: Russian View

Twenty-five years have passed since the Cold War, but no stable international order has been created. The idea about a Western-centric unipolar world has failed, and a multipolar system is yet to emerge, though it’s hard to comment on how it may function properly.Due to its size, geopolitical location, resource potential, great power tradition and aspirations Russia finds itself in the middle of the most important trends shaping the next world order. Global demand for a stable and balanced model is intertwined with Russia’s quest for its new international identity. Thus, re-assessment of the past quarter of a century is needed both internationally and nationally to pave a way to the future.

Language (in)competency, communication strategies, and the development of an international academic teacher identity: becoming an audible minority

ABSTRACTDespite universities’ enthusiasm for internationalization, international academic mobility requires considerable institutional and cultural adjustment in terms of teaching and supervision styles, research expectations, and departmental relationships. Although language competency underpins these practices, research on international academics has neglected the impact of language proficiency on professional identity. This article uses autoethnography to document conversations about language ability during my first two years as an academic in a French-language university. My responses to language-related comments evolved over time, reflecting how I positioned myself as a linguistic – or audible – minority, vis-à-vis the linguistic majority. Using cultural phenomenology, the findings highlight the interactional, unstable nature of international academic identities and the importance of positive collective support for international academics who shift from majority to minority linguistic status.

Canada’s flagship development priority: maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

ABSTRACTThis article explores the process through which Canada has positioned maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) as its flagship development priority, first at the 2010 Muskoka Initiative and more recently in negotiations surrounding the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This emphasis conflicts with the government’s recent alignment of development assistance with security and trade-related interests. We argue that a combination of policy path dependency with a constructivist focus on international identity and reputation building best explain the centrality of MNCH in Canada’s promotion of MNCH in the SDG process.

Legitimising Emerging Power Diplomacy: an Analysis of Government and Media Discourses on Brazilian Foreign Policy under Lula

This study analyses whether Brazilian foreign policy under Lula successfully legitimised the country's international identity as a rising power in the eyes of the domestic and international media. Based on a constructivist framework, we have applied French Discourse Analysis to a corpus of 36 official addresses by the President of the Republic and the Minister of Foreign Relations and 137 news articles from four news outlets, two Brazilian and two international, concerning two diplomatic episodes deemed representative of Brazil's quest for greater pre-eminence: the leadership of MINUSTAH (2004) and the Nuclear Deal signed with Iran and Turkey (2010). Results show that official discourse characterises Brazil's identity as a rising power chiefly by South-South diplomacy, while media discourse was more heterogeneous, being the discursive formation of each news outlet determinant in explaining their interpretation of Brazil's international identity.

Community Service Learning as Critical Curriculum: Promoting International Students' Second Language Practices

Grounded in the whole person perspective of language learners and the concepts of investment and L2 socialization, this qualitative study explores how community service learning (CSL) contributes to international students' L2 practices and identity development. This study finds that CSL creates “a pedagogical contact zone” outside the formal language classroom in which students are exposed to authentic L2 practices and discourse acquisition. CSL is a critical curriculum for students' learning, repositioning, cooperating, and empowering. It transforms the multiple spaces of students' worlds and connects the boundaries between university and community and between foreign culture and American culture. CSL promotes students' L2 practices and positions in the community as worthy cultural and social beings. This study advocates that CSL is a legitimate language practice. It offers students an alternative discourse, community contact, and an invitation to reading and understanding the world. Suggestions for curriculum implications are discussed.

Constructing a “new type of great power relations”: the state of debate in China (1998-2014)

Provide the first comprehensive study of Chinese discourse of new type of great power relations Contribute to a broader understanding of how new political concepts and ideas are gradually established in China Use content analysis to study 141 Chinese academic articles with title ‘new type of great power relations’ in the title’ China’s re-emergence as a global power has intensified its conflicts with the United States. Power transition theory suggests that the rising power and the exiting hegemony are unlikely to settle with peace. In order to manage the confrontation with the United States, China has called for establishing a ‘new type of great power relations’. This article explores how this Chinese-coined concept is introduced by Chinese leaders, and subsequently filled with real meaning, in an incremental manner. It provides the first comprehensive study of the Chinese discourse of new type of great power relations using content analysis to study 141 articles written by Chinese scholars. It finds that the academic debate of this concept can be traced back to the late 1990s when China still considered itself as a normal power. China’s international identity has shifted with China’s rise and thus changed the contemporary debate on new type of great power relations. This article argues that there are neither predetermined strategic intentions nor real substance contained by this concept at this stage. Indeed, China itself is concerned that it may be constrained by its own concept.

Discussing the posthosting evaluation of a mega sporting event: The perception of Warsaw Residents toward UEFA EURO 2012

The aim of this paper is to identify Warsaw residents’ perceptions and attitudes toward the UEFA EURO 2012 tournament. The investigation focused on how residents of Warsaw perceived the impacts of the tournament one year after the event. A questionnaire survey was applied using a stratified sampling method to 480 residents of Warsaw. The results of the survey and ordered logit regressions show that although the residents did not perceive that the economic benefits of the tournament were spread uniformly, a large majority valued the tournament’s role in promoting Warsaw as a tourist destination and enhancing the international identity of the city. Whereas residents generally displayed positive attitudes toward EURO 2012 in terms of lifting their pride and bringing the community closer together, they also noted some negative impacts of the event. The opinions expressed about the tournament depended on the age, education, and income of the responders. A majority of the residents agreed that the positive impacts of EURO 2012 outweighed the negative.

Education and the Origins of Quebec’s International Engagement

ABSTRACTThis article examines some of the ways that education has served as a catalyst for the engagement of Quebec and Quebeckers with the broader world, from the educational activities of French Canadian missionaries beginning in the late-nineteenth century to the growing involvement of secular nongovernmental organizations and of the government of Quebec itself in international educational assistance in the mid- to late-twentieth century. For the government of Quebec in particular, jurisdiction over education was integral to the development of Quebec’s own international identity and the Gérin-Lajoie Doctrine that both articulated and bolstered its claim to international competence. The controversy surrounding Quebec’s international educational endeavors has declined since the 1970s, and with it the relative amount of attention and funding devoted to it by the provincial government, yet education broadly defined remains a bridge linking Quebec and Quebeckers to the wider world and catalyzing their engagement with it.

Contemporary Public Diplomacy: The Case of China

Contemporary Public Diplomacy: The Case of China Dolgorsuren Dorj Abstract This article aims to give an understanding of how China is conducting public diplomacy and how it is using its soft power to shape its world future and gain the international identity. It investigates the scope and features of contemporary public diplomacy conducted by China and the efforts that China is making to increase its soft power. It finds that public diplomacy is a foreign policy tool used by the Chinese Government to advance their national interests and achieve their foreign policy goals through gaining influence and creating positive images or attractiveness from other countries as its practitioners categorize public diplomacy as one of the core functions of diplomacy today. This paper finds that increasing the cooperation as well as the number of exchange students has a significant and positive influence on every aspect of its society, its economic growth, and that increasing the incorporation soft power in their public diplomacy has strategic values in gaining both national and international influence, identity and status. This article explains the pros and cons of Chinese public diplomacy, Americans view of China, and also how Public Diplomacy paves the way for innovations in Chinese diplomatic practice. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jirfp.v4n1a1

‘The Record on Which History Will Judge Us Tomorrow’: Auto-History in the Opening Statements of International Criminal Trials

AbstractIn international criminal tribunal discourse, appeals to history and legitimacy are omnipresent. This article addresses the widespread practice of combining these appeals into one narrative. It analyses how international prosecutors engage with justifying the legitimacy of trials through the invocation of a tribunal'sownhistory. The scrutiny of such ‘auto-histories’ as a specific form of history-telling illuminates an overlooked dimension of trials as fora for writing history. The opening statement is a perfect opportunity for constructing and communicating auto-histories. A comparative study of opening statements at the International Military Tribunal, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Court reveals a recurrent, self-justifying narrative where both rootedness in history and a break with the past are key to singing the tribunal into existence as a crucial mechanism in the transition from chaos to peace. The connections between auto-histories at different tribunals show how legal practitioners discursively contribute to constructing the international criminal law's identity by relying on both origins and future.

The Bamiyazation of Cultural Heritage and the Silk Road Economic Belt: Challenges and Opportunities for China

In 2013, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, announced an ambitious new agenda for Chinese foreign policy: the Silk Road Economic Belt. Heralded as a gift from China to the world, his envisioned program aims to resurrect the historical Silk Road, which linked East and West by land and sea. The historical Silk Road was built to facilitate trade, but it grew to have a distinct wider political and cultural impact. In this article, we argue that this political and cultural impact is currently being threatened by what we call the ‘Bamiyazation phenomenon’ — an iconoclastic movement with transnational dimensions that particularly affects routes along the Silk Road. We contend that China should adopt a more holistic approach to the development of the twenty-first century Silk Road. To this end, we suggest that China should spearhead the defence and protection of the world’s cultural heritage through implementing and promoting a specified ‘crime against common cultural heritage’ in order to counteract the effects of the Bamiyazation phenomenon and to support the development of China’s new international identity as a power that, in Xi Jinping’s own words, ‘adopt[s] a right approach with some important principles.’

The global dimensions of Irish identity: race, nation, and the popular press, 1840-1880

Though Ireland is a relatively small island on the northeastern fringe of the Atlantic, 70 million people worldwide--including some 45 million in the United States--claim it as their ancestral home. In this wide-ranging, ambitious book, Cian T. McMahon explores the nineteenth-century roots of this transnational identity. Between 1840 and 1880, 4.5 million people left Ireland to start new lives abroad. Using primary sources from Ireland, Australia, and the United States, McMahon demonstrates how this exodus shaped a distinctive sense of nationalism. By doggedly remaining loyal to both their old and new homes, he argues, the Irish helped broaden the modern parameters of citizenship and identity. From insurrection in Ireland to exile in Australia to military service during the American Civil War, McMahon's narrative revolves around a group of rebels known as Young Ireland. They and their fellow Irish used weekly newspapers to construct and express an international identity tailored to the fluctuating world in which they found themselves. Understanding their experience sheds light on our contemporary debates over immigration, race, and globalization.

In the Twilight of Empire: Two Impressions of Britain and India at the United Nations, 1945–47

This article focuses on Indo-British interactions at the United Nations during 1945–47, a significant and hitherto overlooked episode of India's transition within the British Commonwealth from a colony to a dominion. In this twilight period of the British Raj, India sent its first delegations onto the international stage—forays that were critically received by London and subsequently employed to anticipate New Delhi's global role in post-1945 international affairs. The delegations' delicate composition, combative activities and difficult interactions with their British counterparts established the diplomatic implications of decolonisation for London. The focus of existing literature on India's international identity at this time has been on the formulation of Jawaharlal Nehru's non-aligned approach to the Cold War. This article, instead, concentrates on its presentation and reception. Secondly, the story of India's presence at the UN usually begins with the Korean War (1950–53). This article shows that in fact it was in 1946–47 that the first impressions of the country's independent foreign policy were given by an interim Indian government. Based on the papers of Frederick Puckle, advisor on Indian affairs at the British Embassy in Washington (1943–47) and of Vijayalakshmi Pandit, leader of India's UN delegation, and supplemented by relevant official records, oral histories and memoirs, the article presents an unheralded facet of India's emerging independent identity in this period of pre-Independence.

THINK LIKE CONSTRUCTIVIST: DISCOVERING A POLYPHONIC WORLD

The article covers the specific features an main ideas of the constructivist attitude to international relations studies. The article consists of two parts. In the first part the ontology, epistemology and main principles of constructivism is explained. In the second part, the author’s attention is directed towards the key concepts of the international relations theory (anarchical structure of the international system, power, national interest, identity, war and peace, etc.). The author’s conclusion is the following: principally constructivism managed «to build a “bridge” between neorealism and liberal instututionalism. The latest versions of constructivism have a propensity either for neorealism (realist constructivism), or for liberalism ( liberal constructivism).

The constitution of South Africa

On a hot dusty day on 10 December 1996, in a ramshackle stadium facing 4000 South Africans in the town of Sharpeville, Nelson Mandela signed a new, radical, Constitution into being. On that day, the thousands who danced and sang in the blazing summer sun came to celebrate their freedom from the vicious apartheid regime and witness the closing of the final chapter in the country's remarkable negotiated peace process. What they also witnessed was a transformation in South African identity – both locally as well as globally. While constitutions have long been understood as a way of constituting a people I propose that they also serve as a performative rhetorical space in which the nation-state constitutes itself among a community of nations. Constitutions are never alone for the nation, though that is an important function of a constitution, but in a modern globalized world serve as an integral component of a nation's international identity as well.

Pragmatic internationalism: public opinion on South Africa's role in the world

ABSTRACTThis report of a public opinion survey on South Africa’s foreign policy did not attempt to gauge South Africans’ knowledge about specific issues in international politics, but rather their underlying attitudes, specifically their foreign policy postures. After providing a brief overview of the scholarly debates about the role of public opinion in foreign policy analysis, we contextualise the nature and methodological approach of the survey. Thereafter we organise the article according to three key themes that illuminate ‘ordinary’ South Africans’ foreign policy postures and how South Africans view their country’s international identity. These themes include, first, debates about what the purpose of our foreign policy should be; second, the country’s international role; and third, who South Africans consider to be our allies and role models. Finally, we distil possible patterns emerging from the survey into a posture that we relate to two concepts: ‘pragmatic internationalism’, and a ‘middle power role’.

Identity politics: Exploring Georgian foreign policy behavior

This paper analyses the extent to which Georgia's pro-Western foreign policy orientation stems from ideas and identity rather than from materialist and systemic factors alone. Finding such narrow approaches insufficient for explaining small state behavior, and drawing on liberal and constructivist approaches to international relations theory, the article argues that Georgia's foreign policy orientation has a strong basis in the widespread ideological perception amongst the local political elite that Georgia “belongs” in the West. Based on this theoretical framework, this paper provides a historical overview of Georgia's foreign policy, tracing the evolution of Georgia's identity from seeing itself as “Christian” in contrast to its Islamic neighbors, to identifying as European in contrast to a modern, Russian “other”. As Georgia attempts to construct a collective international identity, the devotion to the idea of Euro-Atlantic integration as a “sacred destiny” amongst the country's elite has significant foreign policy implications. This article overviews the current challenges and dilemmas of self-identification and investigates the roles that national identity and the prevailing “European” identity play in Georgia's quest for “desovietization”.