Papers by Radu Ungureanu
Civil Szemle, 2023
For three decades after the end of the Cold War, non-traditional threats and their management dom... more For three decades after the end of the Cold War, non-traditional threats and their management dominated the perception and understanding of international security. Intra-state conflicts and humanitarian interventions, the war on terror, the financial crisis, migration or the pandemic sketched the main lines of a political and intellectual landscape prone to notice a continuous erosion of the traditional foci on nation-states and their military preoccupations due to the processes of globalization. Facing these challenges, the major powers, connected by a certain consensus on fundamental issues, commonly coped with the ubiquitous crises. The outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war dramatically marked the slow, even unnoticed, change of this perspective. As the ‘classical’ optics regains its privileged position as the main approach to international security, this conflict indicates a revision of the international order, too.
The aim of this paper is to question the noticeable current changes of the international order, based on three main arguments. Firstly, a certain de-legitimization of the great powers’ military interventions accompanies the reassertion of the statist understanding of international security. Secondly, the liberal values are still the very basis of the international order, as they were in the last thirty years. In this realm, the cosmopolitan approach, of Kantian inspiration, which envisions a transnational civil society, was slightly replaced by a Wilsonian conception, focused on national and international actors, institutions and processes. Finally, the global issues do not disappear, but become the premises of the present reshaping of the international order.
Keywords: international order, globalization, liberal values, great power politics, Russo-Ukrainian war
The unique features of the European Union generate permanent political and theoretical debates; t... more The unique features of the European Union generate permanent political and theoretical debates; the fact is unsurprising, since simply describing this entity is a challenge. Despite the impressive literature on the topic, there is no widely recognized understanding of EU"s nature as a polity. The paper considers that the most appropriate term from the usual political vocabulary to designate it is that of "empire". EU is based on an imperial myth, comprises many former imperial powers, can be considered an empire, but does not display the behaviour and ideology expected from one. The article suggests that the answer for this dissonance can be found in considering that the defining feature of a given empire is its "mission"the ideological project that legitimizes and guides it. From the theoretical position of social constructivism, the paper investigates the characteristics of EU"s mission as an innovative polity.
This paper intends to investigate the relations between former imperial powers and new sovereign ... more This paper intends to investigate the relations between former imperial powers and new sovereign states succeeding an empire in the field of international security, particularly when involving the use of force. Despite their stated attachment to the normative principles of what we usually call “Westphalian order”, former imperial powers continue to interfere in the domestic affairs of these new states, especially those unable to exercise their sovereignty efficiently and legitimately. One could say that, by military interventions, these powers deny the sovereignty of weak states in the regions once under their control; but the preparation of these missions makes the actions not to be interpreted as expressions of an imperialist attitude. I consider there are two major ideal-types that could better explain such interventions. In a power-oriented post-imperial order, the intervention of a former empire is the result of the projection of its national interests and identities. In a norm...
Every scholar who intends to study in a coherent and academically acceptable manner a world simul... more Every scholar who intends to study in a coherent and academically acceptable manner a world simultaneously extremely diverse and inter-connected faces a difficult choice. On the one hand, the researcher needs the clarity of the abstract intellectual frameworks in order to conceptualize the reality, and on the other hand to avoid becoming their prisoner, by preserving the empirical accuracy of the concepts and theories involved. The aim of this paper is to discuss some epistemological and methodological aspects of a research still in progress which intends to investigate the social legitimization of the use of violence. The basic assumptions of the research can be summarized as it follows: 1. the members of the epistemic community of the Social Sciences share a universally recognized set of concepts, methods, and principles, but the social phenomena conceptualized by the same terms have various, local explanations and meanings; 2. the dominant perspectives of the Social Sciences tend to simply replicate the Western-based, hegemonic knowledge and convictions and attitudes; 3. any political event, process or phenomenon can be studied only in its own terms; 4. in order to be understood, the social realm should be investigated by researchers who are part of it, members of the very society that is questioned. The research discussed here thus consider, as premises, that a political community is, first of all, a moral community, which can be defined through the socially acceptable attitudes towards violence, as is (or can be) used both inside and outside the group. Researchers who are members of a moral community are regarded as its ‘legitimate interprets’: they are considered to be at once members of the universal epistemic community and of the moral community to which they belong as individuals. The present article tries to discuss the logic and the design of a quantitative research still in progress, to critically assess its epistemological and methodological tenets, but also its risks and failures. By doing this, its authors hope to raise some questions concerning the knowledge of the social realm, how is it achieved, how accurate is it, what does it represent, how relevant, in intellectual and even political terms, is it, and so forth. The authors would highly appreciate the comments and observations, considering them of great value for refining the research.
Keywords: community, morality, violence, survey methods.
The paper tries to investigate the present hiatus between the European Union’ positions in dealin... more The paper tries to investigate the present hiatus between the European Union’ positions in dealing with contemporary security crises, and the positions defended by the national governments. The article argues that some answers in this regard could be found in the ways the European societies identifies the threats, on one hand, and how adequate do they consider the answers given by EU. The members of the European Union have faced in recent years several significant threats to their security, but they do not perceive, interpret, and react towards them in similar ways. The financial crisis and its consequences, the immigrants, terrorism or the events in Ukraine have had very different impacts on the Europeans, so that they have offered quite diverse inputs to the national political systems. The fears of the Europeans are interpreted through the specific historic-cultural lenses and distilled in national political discourses. The national governments’ orientations emerged through elections are thus presenting a great variety across the EU. The European Union is, as a whole, a polity quite different from a nation-state. Lacking the surviving imperative of a Westphalian polity, the EU needs a clear and stable normative foundation. The paper considers that EU reacts towards security issues according to this normative framework, expressed in its very identities. The paper considers two dimensions of the EU’s identities. The first of them deals with the ‘mission’ - EU needs, as a non-Westphalian empire an ideological argument for keeping the coherence of the whole. The second one is the expression of its specificity - the ‘Europeanness’, or the ‘EU-style’ of approaching all the political issues, in particular the security ones. The political answers given by EU to various crises are thus consequences of the normative ‘mission” and expressed in its ‘Europeanness’. The paper supports the idea that the EU’s policies in dealing with various crises are direct consequences of its normative self-definition. Various national governments, prone to observe and to answer the fears of the societies that they represent, put under question the adequacy of these policies. Keywords: crises, ‘mission’, ‘Europeanness’, fear
International Review of Social Research, 2015
This article introduces the topic of armed nonstate
actors and briefly summarizes the contributio... more This article introduces the topic of armed nonstate
actors and briefly summarizes the contributions to
this special issue.
While sovereignty remains a hallmark of the increasingly globalized international system, the maj... more While sovereignty remains a hallmark of the increasingly globalized international system, the major powers are in particularly interested in offering directions to global politics, by taking the lead in formulating goals and policies, and thus promoting their vision. The present paper considers that these plans can be regarded in the terms of “hegemonic” enterprises - projects directed by a great power/ group of great powers for influencing other states through the interaction rules and public goods provided. The aim of the paper is to suggest an intellectual framework for understanding them.
The paper thus distinguishes between four different models of hegemony. The first one is the American hegemonic model that has shaped the major international institutions in the post- World War II era. The second model discussed is a purely functional co-hegemonic project, designed by the great powers for the common management of the most elusive phenomena connected with globalization processes, so that they create a concert of power. A third type, a co-hegemonic ideological model, can be observed by studying, the Transatlantic partnership. The fourth type is the most common and known hegemonic attempt, supported by a single great power in its self-designed sphere of influence.
The authors discuss the interplay between these models of hegemony, asserting that they all represent a governing answer to the challenges of anarchy and globalization shared by states. These dynamics are understood as a complex interaction among hegemonic projects.
"The European Union can be considered as the most innovative polity in modern times particularly ... more "The European Union can be considered as the most innovative polity in modern times particularly due to the way of dealing with the sovereignty-related issue among its members. In the international realm, this EU peculiarity explains how the independent actions of its members can coexist with those of EU as a whole. This article aims to finding some answers for a better understanding of the international presence of EU from a constructivist point of view, herein supported. From this perspective, the understanding of the behaviours of a social actor demands not only the questioning of its interests, but also of its identities. Nevertheless, the very nature of the EU, visible in the sovereignty issue, suggests that revealing the EU’s identities –and its interests, implicitly, - is neither self-evident, nor easy to differentiate from those of its members.
The paper investigates some possible meanings of the EU’s supra-/ post-national identities from the normative and cultural dimensions, based on their presence in the dynamics of the social interactions with other actors. The EU’s ideological unifying factor (its ‘mission’) and self-consciousness (the ‘Europeanness’) need to be identified, their dynamics observed, and their coherence interrogated in order to depict an accurate image of the EU’s identities. It is considered that the EU’s security concerns and policies – the processes of identifying the threats and answering them - offer the appropriate framework for discussing the EU’s identities."
The external interventions, particularly the military ones, question the sovereignty of the state... more The external interventions, particularly the military ones, question the sovereignty of the states involved. From a constructivist viewpoint, the paper is approaching the possibility of considering some of these interventions as expressions of a post- imperial order, as they take place in weak states that formed part of an empire where the initiator was in many cases the very former imperial power. The aim of this article is to investigate the ideological arguments supporting these actions and how they affect the meanings of ‘sovereignty’.
Keywords: sovereignty; post-imperial order; mission; intervention.
The unique features of the European Union generate permanent political and theoretical debates; t... more The unique features of the European Union generate permanent political and theoretical debates; the fact is unsurprising, since simply describing this entity is a challenge. Despite the impressive literature on the topic, there is no a widely recognized understanding of EU’s nature as a polity. The paper considers that the most appropriate term from the usual political vocabulary to designate it is that of “empire.
EU is based on an imperial myth, comprises many former imperial powers, can be considered an empire, but does not display the behavior and ideology expected from one. The article suggests that the answer for this dissonance can be found in considering that the defining feature of a given empire is its “mission” – the ideological project that legitimizes and guides it. From the theoretical position of social constructivism, the paper investigates the characteristics of EU’s mission as an innovative polity.
Keywords: EU, polity, empire, mission, social constructivism"
LESIJ,, Jan 1, 2011
This paper intends to investigate the relations between former imperial powers and new sovereign ... more This paper intends to investigate the relations between former imperial powers and new sovereign states succeeding an empire in the field of international security, particularly when involving the use of force. Despite their stated attachment to the normative principles of what we usually call "Westphalian order", former imperial powers continue to interfere in the domestic affairs of these new states, especially those unable to exercise their sovereignty efficiently and legitimately. One could say that, by military interventions, these powers deny the sovereignty of weak states in the regions once under their control; but the preparation of these missions makes the actions not to be interpreted as expressions of an imperialist attitude. I consider there are two major ideal-types that could better explain such interventions. In a power-oriented post-imperial order, the intervention of a former empire is the result of the projection of its national interests and identities. In a norm-oriented post-imperial order, the sense of moral responsibility of the former imperial power is the main reason for its interference. The intervention's legitimacy and suitability require domestic and international support. This paper, grounded on a constructivist approach, intends to contribute to the understanding of international security issues in terms of a world shaped by actors' interests and identities and the dynamics of their relations. The identified ideal-types of post-imperial orders consider both material and cultural factors. The analytical elements that may link extremely different situations are the socially variable interpretations of past and present.
2 This PhD thesis is an attempt to understand how the international actions for security manageme... more 2 This PhD thesis is an attempt to understand how the international actions for security management and their dynamics conjoin. The theoretical perspective follows the social logics specific to the constructivist approach. In the debate between the two main traditions of Social Sciences -the explanatory one, represented by Durkheim or Marx -and the interpretative one, of Weber, I favor the latter. I shall tackle the topic of the series of crises that affected South Eastern Europe during the '90s in the context of the end of the Cold War, which impacted on the institutional approaches to the threats to international security.
Buletinul Ştiinţific al Universităţii „Mihail Kogălniceanu” Iaşi, 2007
The debate over international institutions has emerged as one of the most influential ones, withi... more The debate over international institutions has emerged as one of the most influential ones, within International Relations theory. The main research programs in the discipline have developed competitive discourses about the salience of institutions in contemporary international politics, based on different definitions of the concept. Neorealism, neoliberalism and constructivism have been particularly active in this respect.
Romanian Journal of Society and Politics, 2004
Discu\ia de mai jos încearc` s` formuleze câteva posibile r`spunsuri cu privire la o decizie care... more Discu\ia de mai jos încearc` s` formuleze câteva posibile r`spunsuri cu privire la o decizie care poate influen\a România pe termen lung ]i foarte lung. Consider`m c` se impune o interogare asupra felului în care a ajuns România în aceastp ozi\ie ]i a modului în care trebuie s`-]i ia în considerare noul statut.
Chapters by Radu Ungureanu
Vihren Bouzov (ed.), New Challenges to the Balkan Security, Veliko Turnovo: Ivis, 2016
The European Union’s transformative power, exercised not only on its member states, but also on t... more The European Union’s transformative power, exercised not only on its member states, but also on the societies in its proximity, in particular those that contemplate the possibility of accession, has been interpreted at times under the concept of Europeanization. These processes imply that the subjects of the EU’s influence adopt and internalize the norms and practices formulated by the Union. By requiring a reconsideration of the meanings of sovereignty and the adoption of certain rules for
interactions suggested by a foreign center of power, Europeanization can be considered as a hegemonic project.
The European Union as a whole operates with a broad conception of international security, leaving the concerns over its narrow, military meanings to the member states. As part of the influence it exercises through the Europeanization process, the EU identities
some nontraditional threats (trafficking, terrorism, migration, etc.) as relevant to
international security and formulates policies aimed to address them. The present paper
focuses on the influence exercised by the European Union in the Balkans, by attempting to highlight the specific nature of the hegemonic influence it exercises on Serbia and Romania.
Key words: hegemony, Europeanization, security, Balkans
George Anglițoiu (coord.), Europenizarea. Studii de guvernare și securitate, 2015
European : specificul puterii normative non-westphalice i responsabilitate post-imperial Rezumat:... more European : specificul puterii normative non-westphalice i responsabilitate post-imperial Rezumat: "Obiect politic necunoscut", greu de surprins în cadrele conceptuale uzuale, Uniunea European î i define te un rol particular în gestionarea problemelor securit ii interna ionale. Fapt vizibil mai ales în interven iile ce implic folosirea violen ei, Uniunea î i define te prezen a interna ional în domeniu prin aten ia dat laturii umane a securit ii, negând urm rirea de obiective egoiste. Pentru în elegerea cauzelor acestui specific, principalul obiectiv al lucr rii de fa , mai întâi de toate este necesar definirea acestei entit i politice. Dat fiind puternicul caracter normativ al politicilor din domeniul securit ii, dimensiunea supra-/ transna ional a UE i faptul c Uniunea ca întreg scap imperativului supravie uirii (care revine statelor membre) ar fi îndrept it , din punctul de vedere al acestei lucr ri, considerarea UE în termenii unui "imperiu nonwestphalic". Dac rela iile dintre membrii Uniunii Europene pot fi cel mai bine în elese în termenii unei comunit i de securitate, utilizarea for ei fiind de neconceput pentru rezolvarea diferendelor, folosirea instrumentelor coercitive de c tre UE în mediul anarhic nu poate fi f cut în afara cadrului normativ comun asumat, centrat pe individ i pe securitatea acestuia. În ceea ce prive te sfera de ac iune, aceasta este definit mai ales prin asumarea trecutului imperialist al unora dintre membrii de azi ai UE. Implicarea în gestionarea problemelor de securitate din statele nou-ap rute ar fi urmare a rela iilor speciale ale fostelor metropole cu acestea (cu care formeaz "ordini post-imperiale"), fundamentate pe aceast responsabilitate istoric resim it . Pozi ia este împ rt it cu alte democra ii stabile, dar în primul rând cu ceilal i membri ai UE. Dimensiunea puternic normativ a implic rii Uniuni Europene în gestionarea securit ii interna ionale este astfel, din punctul de vedere al acestei lucr ri, urmare a modului în care UE trateaz problema suveranit ii. Cuvinte-cheie: imperiu nonwestphalic, comunitate de securitate, putere normativ , securitate uman , ordine post-imperial
Daniel Biró (coord)., Relațiile internaționale contemporane. Teme centrale în politica mondială, 2013
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Papers by Radu Ungureanu
The aim of this paper is to question the noticeable current changes of the international order, based on three main arguments. Firstly, a certain de-legitimization of the great powers’ military interventions accompanies the reassertion of the statist understanding of international security. Secondly, the liberal values are still the very basis of the international order, as they were in the last thirty years. In this realm, the cosmopolitan approach, of Kantian inspiration, which envisions a transnational civil society, was slightly replaced by a Wilsonian conception, focused on national and international actors, institutions and processes. Finally, the global issues do not disappear, but become the premises of the present reshaping of the international order.
Keywords: international order, globalization, liberal values, great power politics, Russo-Ukrainian war
Keywords: community, morality, violence, survey methods.
actors and briefly summarizes the contributions to
this special issue.
The paper thus distinguishes between four different models of hegemony. The first one is the American hegemonic model that has shaped the major international institutions in the post- World War II era. The second model discussed is a purely functional co-hegemonic project, designed by the great powers for the common management of the most elusive phenomena connected with globalization processes, so that they create a concert of power. A third type, a co-hegemonic ideological model, can be observed by studying, the Transatlantic partnership. The fourth type is the most common and known hegemonic attempt, supported by a single great power in its self-designed sphere of influence.
The authors discuss the interplay between these models of hegemony, asserting that they all represent a governing answer to the challenges of anarchy and globalization shared by states. These dynamics are understood as a complex interaction among hegemonic projects.
The paper investigates some possible meanings of the EU’s supra-/ post-national identities from the normative and cultural dimensions, based on their presence in the dynamics of the social interactions with other actors. The EU’s ideological unifying factor (its ‘mission’) and self-consciousness (the ‘Europeanness’) need to be identified, their dynamics observed, and their coherence interrogated in order to depict an accurate image of the EU’s identities. It is considered that the EU’s security concerns and policies – the processes of identifying the threats and answering them - offer the appropriate framework for discussing the EU’s identities."
Keywords: sovereignty; post-imperial order; mission; intervention.
EU is based on an imperial myth, comprises many former imperial powers, can be considered an empire, but does not display the behavior and ideology expected from one. The article suggests that the answer for this dissonance can be found in considering that the defining feature of a given empire is its “mission” – the ideological project that legitimizes and guides it. From the theoretical position of social constructivism, the paper investigates the characteristics of EU’s mission as an innovative polity.
Keywords: EU, polity, empire, mission, social constructivism"
Chapters by Radu Ungureanu
interactions suggested by a foreign center of power, Europeanization can be considered as a hegemonic project.
The European Union as a whole operates with a broad conception of international security, leaving the concerns over its narrow, military meanings to the member states. As part of the influence it exercises through the Europeanization process, the EU identities
some nontraditional threats (trafficking, terrorism, migration, etc.) as relevant to
international security and formulates policies aimed to address them. The present paper
focuses on the influence exercised by the European Union in the Balkans, by attempting to highlight the specific nature of the hegemonic influence it exercises on Serbia and Romania.
Key words: hegemony, Europeanization, security, Balkans
The aim of this paper is to question the noticeable current changes of the international order, based on three main arguments. Firstly, a certain de-legitimization of the great powers’ military interventions accompanies the reassertion of the statist understanding of international security. Secondly, the liberal values are still the very basis of the international order, as they were in the last thirty years. In this realm, the cosmopolitan approach, of Kantian inspiration, which envisions a transnational civil society, was slightly replaced by a Wilsonian conception, focused on national and international actors, institutions and processes. Finally, the global issues do not disappear, but become the premises of the present reshaping of the international order.
Keywords: international order, globalization, liberal values, great power politics, Russo-Ukrainian war
Keywords: community, morality, violence, survey methods.
actors and briefly summarizes the contributions to
this special issue.
The paper thus distinguishes between four different models of hegemony. The first one is the American hegemonic model that has shaped the major international institutions in the post- World War II era. The second model discussed is a purely functional co-hegemonic project, designed by the great powers for the common management of the most elusive phenomena connected with globalization processes, so that they create a concert of power. A third type, a co-hegemonic ideological model, can be observed by studying, the Transatlantic partnership. The fourth type is the most common and known hegemonic attempt, supported by a single great power in its self-designed sphere of influence.
The authors discuss the interplay between these models of hegemony, asserting that they all represent a governing answer to the challenges of anarchy and globalization shared by states. These dynamics are understood as a complex interaction among hegemonic projects.
The paper investigates some possible meanings of the EU’s supra-/ post-national identities from the normative and cultural dimensions, based on their presence in the dynamics of the social interactions with other actors. The EU’s ideological unifying factor (its ‘mission’) and self-consciousness (the ‘Europeanness’) need to be identified, their dynamics observed, and their coherence interrogated in order to depict an accurate image of the EU’s identities. It is considered that the EU’s security concerns and policies – the processes of identifying the threats and answering them - offer the appropriate framework for discussing the EU’s identities."
Keywords: sovereignty; post-imperial order; mission; intervention.
EU is based on an imperial myth, comprises many former imperial powers, can be considered an empire, but does not display the behavior and ideology expected from one. The article suggests that the answer for this dissonance can be found in considering that the defining feature of a given empire is its “mission” – the ideological project that legitimizes and guides it. From the theoretical position of social constructivism, the paper investigates the characteristics of EU’s mission as an innovative polity.
Keywords: EU, polity, empire, mission, social constructivism"
interactions suggested by a foreign center of power, Europeanization can be considered as a hegemonic project.
The European Union as a whole operates with a broad conception of international security, leaving the concerns over its narrow, military meanings to the member states. As part of the influence it exercises through the Europeanization process, the EU identities
some nontraditional threats (trafficking, terrorism, migration, etc.) as relevant to
international security and formulates policies aimed to address them. The present paper
focuses on the influence exercised by the European Union in the Balkans, by attempting to highlight the specific nature of the hegemonic influence it exercises on Serbia and Romania.
Key words: hegemony, Europeanization, security, Balkans