Ákos Kopper
Biographic Data
| ID | 806448 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ákos Kopper |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ákos |
| FAMILY NAME | Kopper |
| SIGNATURE | KOPPER Á |
| AFFILIATIONS | Eötvös Loránd University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8873-8610 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 77 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Studying Diplomacy Diplomatically – Between Theorizing History and Historicizing Theory
In our contribution, we reflect on two challenges the Manifesto identifies in conducting diplomatic history. The first challenge is how to expand and diversify New Diplomatic History ( ndh ) while keeping its identity intact, while the second has to do with overcoming Eurocentrism. To resolve these dilemmas, we propose turning the ethos of diplomacy into an ethos of academic conduct, suggesting that just as the diplomat mediates between home and …
Non-complying citizens and dilemmas of governance at times of emergency - the power of passivity and (in)action
Acceptance of political restrictions and societal polarization during the Covid-19 pandemic: A comparative study of Austria and Hungary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some governments took measures to restrict political liberties, claiming that these restrictions were necessary to contain the spread of the virus. In this study, we scrutinize differences in citizens’ willingness to accept three types of political restrictions: restricting the media, banning protests, and introducing extensive state surveillance. We focus on two European countries: Austria and Hungary. While we find…
Ruptures in Depiction—Recognition and Political Cartoons of Putin: From a Strategic Mastermind to the Object of Contempt and Mockery
This article contributes to discussions over the role of recognition in international relations by focusing on an aspect of popular culture, specifically political cartoons. It argues that studying political cartoons may contribute to capturing aspects of recognition that go beyond those rooted in formal interactions between states and thereby enhance our understanding of what Ringmar called the recognition game. The article focuses on political …
Media framing of political protests – reporting bias and the discrediting of political activism
Recently several European countries shifted to illiberalism and made attempts to dominate the media and political narratives. The question we raise is how media populism in Hungary contributes to the buttressing of the regime by discrediting protests. We offer a four-level media analysis. First, we ask whether the pro-government media is characterized by so-called selection bias. Second, we focus on framingbias relying on ideas presented by the p…
The ‘Insecurity Toolbox’ of the Illiberal Regime: Rule by Law and Rule by Exclusion
This article scrutinizes the ‘insecurity toolbox’ that Hungary’s illiberal regime relies on in order to create an increasingly authoritarian system that sidelines the opposition and silences discontent. While authoritarian shifts are widespread, what makes the case of Hungary unique is that it involves a member state of the European Union. We identify three important features of the regime: (1) it relies on securitization by using an anti-immigra…
Pirates, justice and global order in the anime “ One Piece ”
This article studies the Japanese manga One Piece, which tells the story of the pirate Monkey D. Luffy fighting the World Government. One Piece deserves our attention not only because it is the most successful Japanese mangas of all time, but also because it reflects on dilemmas of IR in a surprisingly elaborate manner. Being a pirate story, it ties into the intertextual milieu of what pirates stand for in popular culture—symbolizing a challenge …
Hungary’s Over-powerful Government Party and the Desperate Opposition
This paper focuses on Hungary’s illiberal regimes from the perspective of the opposition – a perspective we believe has been under-scrutinized so far. It argues that in order to understand the regime’s success it is crucial to explain why opposition parties have been unable to offer a credible alternative. The paper argues that the opposition is in a trap with three unfavourable factors mutually strengthening each other and undermining its abilit…
Translating Security across Borders: Staging the Migration Crisis in Hungary and Transylvania
This article highlights the synergies between securitisation theory and the empirically rich literature on crossborder kin-state policies by underlining the unique dilemmas the logic of security brings to the fore in the transborder setting. Doing so, the article critically engages securitisation theory by focusing on two of its underdeveloped aspects: first, the concept’s relevance for non-liberal settings where securitisation can serve multiple…
The use of humour in diplomatic tweets: The affiliative potential of ridicule
Today diplomacy increasingly relies on tweets. Yet, as tweets only allow for 280 characters, statements must be brief and impactful, which encourages the use of humour in conveying one’s message. This article scrutinizes irony and ridicule in diplomatic interactions. Even though these forms of humour may antagonize parties and even turn issues into a security concern, this article points out that they also have an affiliative aspect and could pla…
Constitutional othering, ambiguity and subjective risks of mobilization in Hungary: Examples From the Migration Crisis
This article discusses how an illiberal regime within the European Union (EU) can hinder the mobilization of citizens and civil actors by creating an atmosphere of "ambiguity". In our analysis, we first discuss the Hungarian constitution of 2011, which provides the driving force of the regime, and next using the example of the migration crisis show how this atmosphere of ambiguity is created. We argue that although there is no physical violence p…
Overcoming the poverty of Western historical imagination: Alternative analogies for making sense of the South China Sea conflict
This article analyzes the use of historical analogies to interpret and explain foreign policy behavior, focusing on the South China Sea conflict. In reviewing coverage in the international English-language press, we find a range of historical analogies, from the conflict between Athens and Sparta to the 1938 Munich agreement, to interpret China’s strategy and motivations in the region. While analogies are powerful tools for interpreting internati…
What Image Does IR Project? Chess, a Visual Metaphor for IR
The article focuses on the image the discipline of International Relations (IR) projects of itself via visuals, particularly the image of chess on IR book covers. It points out the corroborative and critical role that images can play in defining the way we see IR. The article underlines particular features of visual metaphors, first pointing out their role in the epistemological process, and second, highlighting their capacity for voicing an expr…
Pro-government demonstrations in Hungary – citizens’ autonomy and the role of the media
In the past few years, Hungary has witnessed numerous pro-government demonstrations. Because such demonstrations are typically associated with authoritarian regimes, it is a puzzling question regarding what motivates citizens to take to the streets in support of a government ruling with a two-thirds majority. In order to answer this question, we conducted a survey to identify the factors that contribute to the mobilisation of citizens at these de…
Managing conflicting ‘Truth Claims’ – ambiguity in the diplomat's toolkit in East-Asian Island conflict
The article is a study of managing interstate relations via ambiguity and secrecy. At the focal point of the article is the different constitutive logic of domestic politics and diplomacy in conceiving and managing social reality; with the former implying the notion of community and the latter separateness – the difference that allows for diplomatic conduct to rely on tacit agreements and ambiguity for managing contradictory ‘truth claims’, as Ch…
Why Guernica became a Globally Used Icon of Political Protest? Analysis of its Visual Rhetoric and Capacity to Link Distinct Events of Protests into a Grand Narrative
Fake and Dishonest: Pathologies of Differentiation of the Civil and the Political Sphere in Hungary
Almost 25 years has passed since transition, and Hungarian democracy is in a \ndeplorable state. Party politics pervades every aspect of political life, undermining the autonomy of \ncivil actors, treating them as a potential ‘fan club’ of parties rather than cooperating and consultative \npartners. In order to capture what went wrong in Hungarian civil society, we propose a structural \nanalysis that highlights pathologies of the differentiation…
Modern-day proxeny: Dual citizens and resident foreigners as citizen diplomats
The Oppressive Totality of the Past
Controlling for insecurities depends on a capacity to make inferences on the basis of experiences about the past, yet the use of knowledge about the past for anticipating and predicting future threats is highly problematic. This article examines the problem of governing individuals on the basis of what is available about their past deeds and social networks in governmental and commercial archives. It highlights the tension between administrative …
The Imaginary of Borders: From a Coloring Book to Cézanne's Paintings1
Metaphoric descriptions of the world offer simple cognitive schemes to put things in their place, thereby offering keys to make reality easily interpretable. For centuries, the prevailing understanding of the political relied on an imaginary where borders were conceived like the lines of a coloring book , cutting political space into distinct state boxes, where citizens were defined congruously with the box of their state. The spatial knowledge i…
Constitutional othering, ambiguity and subjective risks of mobilization in Hungary: Examples From the Migration Crisis
This article discusses how an illiberal regime within the European Union (EU) can hinder the mobilization of citizens and civil actors by creating an atmosphere of "ambiguity". In our analysis, we first discuss the Hungarian constitution of 2011, which provides the driving force of the regime, and next using the example of the migration crisis show how this atmosphere of ambiguity is created. We argue that although there is no physical violence p…
Pro-government demonstrations in Hungary – citizens’ autonomy and the role of the media
In the past few years, Hungary has witnessed numerous pro-government demonstrations. Because such demonstrations are typically associated with authoritarian regimes, it is a puzzling question regarding what motivates citizens to take to the streets in support of a government ruling with a two-thirds majority. In order to answer this question, we conducted a survey to identify the factors that contribute to the mobilisation of citizens at these de…
The use of humour in diplomatic tweets: The affiliative potential of ridicule
Today diplomacy increasingly relies on tweets. Yet, as tweets only allow for 280 characters, statements must be brief and impactful, which encourages the use of humour in conveying one’s message. This article scrutinizes irony and ridicule in diplomatic interactions. Even though these forms of humour may antagonize parties and even turn issues into a security concern, this article points out that they also have an affiliative aspect and could pla…
Fake and Dishonest: Pathologies of Differentiation of the Civil and the Political Sphere in Hungary
Almost 25 years has passed since transition, and Hungarian democracy is in a \ndeplorable state. Party politics pervades every aspect of political life, undermining the autonomy of \ncivil actors, treating them as a potential ‘fan club’ of parties rather than cooperating and consultative \npartners. In order to capture what went wrong in Hungarian civil society, we propose a structural \nanalysis that highlights pathologies of the differentiation…
Why Guernica became a Globally Used Icon of Political Protest? Analysis of its Visual Rhetoric and Capacity to Link Distinct Events of Protests into a Grand Narrative
Media framing of political protests – reporting bias and the discrediting of political activism
Recently several European countries shifted to illiberalism and made attempts to dominate the media and political narratives. The question we raise is how media populism in Hungary contributes to the buttressing of the regime by discrediting protests. We offer a four-level media analysis. First, we ask whether the pro-government media is characterized by so-called selection bias. Second, we focus on framingbias relying on ideas presented by the p…
Translating Security across Borders: Staging the Migration Crisis in Hungary and Transylvania
This article highlights the synergies between securitisation theory and the empirically rich literature on crossborder kin-state policies by underlining the unique dilemmas the logic of security brings to the fore in the transborder setting. Doing so, the article critically engages securitisation theory by focusing on two of its underdeveloped aspects: first, the concept’s relevance for non-liberal settings where securitisation can serve multiple…
Hungary’s Over-powerful Government Party and the Desperate Opposition
This paper focuses on Hungary’s illiberal regimes from the perspective of the opposition – a perspective we believe has been under-scrutinized so far. It argues that in order to understand the regime’s success it is crucial to explain why opposition parties have been unable to offer a credible alternative. The paper argues that the opposition is in a trap with three unfavourable factors mutually strengthening each other and undermining its abilit…
The Imaginary of Borders: From a Coloring Book to Cézanne's Paintings1
Metaphoric descriptions of the world offer simple cognitive schemes to put things in their place, thereby offering keys to make reality easily interpretable. For centuries, the prevailing understanding of the political relied on an imaginary where borders were conceived like the lines of a coloring book , cutting political space into distinct state boxes, where citizens were defined congruously with the box of their state. The spatial knowledge i…
Ruptures in Depiction—Recognition and Political Cartoons of Putin: From a Strategic Mastermind to the Object of Contempt and Mockery
This article contributes to discussions over the role of recognition in international relations by focusing on an aspect of popular culture, specifically political cartoons. It argues that studying political cartoons may contribute to capturing aspects of recognition that go beyond those rooted in formal interactions between states and thereby enhance our understanding of what Ringmar called the recognition game. The article focuses on political …
Acceptance of political restrictions and societal polarization during the Covid-19 pandemic: A comparative study of Austria and Hungary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some governments took measures to restrict political liberties, claiming that these restrictions were necessary to contain the spread of the virus. In this study, we scrutinize differences in citizens’ willingness to accept three types of political restrictions: restricting the media, banning protests, and introducing extensive state surveillance. We focus on two European countries: Austria and Hungary. While we find…
Overcoming the poverty of Western historical imagination: Alternative analogies for making sense of the South China Sea conflict
This article analyzes the use of historical analogies to interpret and explain foreign policy behavior, focusing on the South China Sea conflict. In reviewing coverage in the international English-language press, we find a range of historical analogies, from the conflict between Athens and Sparta to the 1938 Munich agreement, to interpret China’s strategy and motivations in the region. While analogies are powerful tools for interpreting internati…
Managing conflicting ‘Truth Claims’ – ambiguity in the diplomat's toolkit in East-Asian Island conflict
The article is a study of managing interstate relations via ambiguity and secrecy. At the focal point of the article is the different constitutive logic of domestic politics and diplomacy in conceiving and managing social reality; with the former implying the notion of community and the latter separateness – the difference that allows for diplomatic conduct to rely on tacit agreements and ambiguity for managing contradictory ‘truth claims’, as Ch…
The Oppressive Totality of the Past
Controlling for insecurities depends on a capacity to make inferences on the basis of experiences about the past, yet the use of knowledge about the past for anticipating and predicting future threats is highly problematic. This article examines the problem of governing individuals on the basis of what is available about their past deeds and social networks in governmental and commercial archives. It highlights the tension between administrative …
The Imaginary of Borders: From a Coloring Book to Cézanne's Paintings1
Metaphoric descriptions of the world offer simple cognitive schemes to put things in their place, thereby offering keys to make reality easily interpretable. For centuries, the prevailing understanding of the political relied on an imaginary where borders were conceived like the lines of a coloring book , cutting political space into distinct state boxes, where citizens were defined congruously with the box of their state. The spatial knowledge i…
Fake and Dishonest: Pathologies of Differentiation of the Civil and the Political Sphere in Hungary
Almost 25 years has passed since transition, and Hungarian democracy is in a \ndeplorable state. Party politics pervades every aspect of political life, undermining the autonomy of \ncivil actors, treating them as a potential ‘fan club’ of parties rather than cooperating and consultative \npartners. In order to capture what went wrong in Hungarian civil society, we propose a structural \nanalysis that highlights pathologies of the differentiation…
Modern-day proxeny: Dual citizens and resident foreigners as citizen diplomats
Why Guernica became a Globally Used Icon of Political Protest? Analysis of its Visual Rhetoric and Capacity to Link Distinct Events of Protests into a Grand Narrative
Managing conflicting ‘Truth Claims’ – ambiguity in the diplomat's toolkit in East-Asian Island conflict
The article is a study of managing interstate relations via ambiguity and secrecy. At the focal point of the article is the different constitutive logic of domestic politics and diplomacy in conceiving and managing social reality; with the former implying the notion of community and the latter separateness – the difference that allows for diplomatic conduct to rely on tacit agreements and ambiguity for managing contradictory ‘truth claims’, as Ch…
Pro-government demonstrations in Hungary – citizens’ autonomy and the role of the media
In the past few years, Hungary has witnessed numerous pro-government demonstrations. Because such demonstrations are typically associated with authoritarian regimes, it is a puzzling question regarding what motivates citizens to take to the streets in support of a government ruling with a two-thirds majority. In order to answer this question, we conducted a survey to identify the factors that contribute to the mobilisation of citizens at these de…
What Image Does IR Project? Chess, a Visual Metaphor for IR
The article focuses on the image the discipline of International Relations (IR) projects of itself via visuals, particularly the image of chess on IR book covers. It points out the corroborative and critical role that images can play in defining the way we see IR. The article underlines particular features of visual metaphors, first pointing out their role in the epistemological process, and second, highlighting their capacity for voicing an expr…
Constitutional othering, ambiguity and subjective risks of mobilization in Hungary: Examples From the Migration Crisis
This article discusses how an illiberal regime within the European Union (EU) can hinder the mobilization of citizens and civil actors by creating an atmosphere of "ambiguity". In our analysis, we first discuss the Hungarian constitution of 2011, which provides the driving force of the regime, and next using the example of the migration crisis show how this atmosphere of ambiguity is created. We argue that although there is no physical violence p…
Overcoming the poverty of Western historical imagination: Alternative analogies for making sense of the South China Sea conflict
This article analyzes the use of historical analogies to interpret and explain foreign policy behavior, focusing on the South China Sea conflict. In reviewing coverage in the international English-language press, we find a range of historical analogies, from the conflict between Athens and Sparta to the 1938 Munich agreement, to interpret China’s strategy and motivations in the region. While analogies are powerful tools for interpreting internati…
The ‘Insecurity Toolbox’ of the Illiberal Regime: Rule by Law and Rule by Exclusion
This article scrutinizes the ‘insecurity toolbox’ that Hungary’s illiberal regime relies on in order to create an increasingly authoritarian system that sidelines the opposition and silences discontent. While authoritarian shifts are widespread, what makes the case of Hungary unique is that it involves a member state of the European Union. We identify three important features of the regime: (1) it relies on securitization by using an anti-immigra…
Pirates, justice and global order in the anime “ One Piece ”
This article studies the Japanese manga One Piece, which tells the story of the pirate Monkey D. Luffy fighting the World Government. One Piece deserves our attention not only because it is the most successful Japanese mangas of all time, but also because it reflects on dilemmas of IR in a surprisingly elaborate manner. Being a pirate story, it ties into the intertextual milieu of what pirates stand for in popular culture—symbolizing a challenge …
Hungary’s Over-powerful Government Party and the Desperate Opposition
This paper focuses on Hungary’s illiberal regimes from the perspective of the opposition – a perspective we believe has been under-scrutinized so far. It argues that in order to understand the regime’s success it is crucial to explain why opposition parties have been unable to offer a credible alternative. The paper argues that the opposition is in a trap with three unfavourable factors mutually strengthening each other and undermining its abilit…
Translating Security across Borders: Staging the Migration Crisis in Hungary and Transylvania
This article highlights the synergies between securitisation theory and the empirically rich literature on crossborder kin-state policies by underlining the unique dilemmas the logic of security brings to the fore in the transborder setting. Doing so, the article critically engages securitisation theory by focusing on two of its underdeveloped aspects: first, the concept’s relevance for non-liberal settings where securitisation can serve multiple…
The use of humour in diplomatic tweets: The affiliative potential of ridicule
Today diplomacy increasingly relies on tweets. Yet, as tweets only allow for 280 characters, statements must be brief and impactful, which encourages the use of humour in conveying one’s message. This article scrutinizes irony and ridicule in diplomatic interactions. Even though these forms of humour may antagonize parties and even turn issues into a security concern, this article points out that they also have an affiliative aspect and could pla…
Media framing of political protests – reporting bias and the discrediting of political activism
Recently several European countries shifted to illiberalism and made attempts to dominate the media and political narratives. The question we raise is how media populism in Hungary contributes to the buttressing of the regime by discrediting protests. We offer a four-level media analysis. First, we ask whether the pro-government media is characterized by so-called selection bias. Second, we focus on framingbias relying on ideas presented by the p…
Acceptance of political restrictions and societal polarization during the Covid-19 pandemic: A comparative study of Austria and Hungary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some governments took measures to restrict political liberties, claiming that these restrictions were necessary to contain the spread of the virus. In this study, we scrutinize differences in citizens’ willingness to accept three types of political restrictions: restricting the media, banning protests, and introducing extensive state surveillance. We focus on two European countries: Austria and Hungary. While we find…
Ruptures in Depiction—Recognition and Political Cartoons of Putin: From a Strategic Mastermind to the Object of Contempt and Mockery
This article contributes to discussions over the role of recognition in international relations by focusing on an aspect of popular culture, specifically political cartoons. It argues that studying political cartoons may contribute to capturing aspects of recognition that go beyond those rooted in formal interactions between states and thereby enhance our understanding of what Ringmar called the recognition game. The article focuses on political …
Studying Diplomacy Diplomatically – Between Theorizing History and Historicizing Theory
In our contribution, we reflect on two challenges the Manifesto identifies in conducting diplomatic history. The first challenge is how to expand and diversify New Diplomatic History ( ndh ) while keeping its identity intact, while the second has to do with overcoming Eurocentrism. To resolve these dilemmas, we propose turning the ethos of diplomacy into an ethos of academic conduct, suggesting that just as the diplomat mediates between home and …
Non-complying citizens and dilemmas of governance at times of emergency - the power of passivity and (in)action
Political science (19 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Law (16 works) · Law (15 works) · Politics (14 works) · Political economy (9 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Art (5 works) · Democracy (5 works) · Global Security and Public Health (5 works)