The diplomacy of post-Soviet de facto states
Ontological Security Under Stigma
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4445032 |
|---|---|
| Authors | André Pacher (0000-0001-5149-6294, Independent researcher, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 563-585 |
| Publication date | 2019-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Relations (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-1178 • E-ISSN: 1741-2862 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0047117819856397 |
| OpenAlex | W2953001336 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 21 |
Why do post-Soviet de facto states (such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia) regularly interact with remote Pacific islands or Latin American countries, even though they are not bound by any meaningful political, economic or military ties? This article argues that the diplomatic relationship management amounts to a strategy of external legitimacy-building through stigma rejection and ontological security-attainment. This diplomatic practice creates positively tinged social affiliations, whereby the unrecognized entities aim to have their identity as 'normal' states affirmed. It renders the international society's stigma ineffective, thus facilitating a potential exit from the stigma. By illuminating the performative aspects behind the de facto states' quest for recognition, this article uncovers the de facto states' agency and analytically emancipates them from the structural factor of 'Russia-as-a-great-power'. It also contributes to the literature of ontological security by highlighting how positive (rather than conflictual) relationships, and how transformed (rather than stable) identities can be conducive to its attainment. This article generally highlights the need to analyse de facto states' foreign relations more holistically than previously done
Agency (philosophy) · De facto · Diplomacy · Identity (music) · Legitimacy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Social science · Sociology · Stigma (botany) · Arctic and Russian Policy Studies · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Law · Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics · Psychology
Abkhazia’s Geopolitical Roles in the Russia – European Union – Georgia Triangle
The Concept of Anxiety in Ontological Security Studies
Stigma in World Politics
Jesting with a Double-Edge Sword
In Search of Ontological Security
Part of the Civilized World Community’
The embodied state
Diplomatic complexity and long-tailed distributions
Transnistria’s Order of Friendship
Modelling a Privileged Partnership
State personhood and ontological security as a framework of existence
Defending the islands, defending the self
Statehood and recognition in world politics
Permanent neutrality
Bureaucracy and the everyday practices of contested state diplomacy
Competitive Stigmatization in International Conflicts
Redefining the demos
Punching Above Their Diplomatic Weight
Status Hierarchies and Stigma Shifting in International Relations
How diplomacy evolves
Returning to the roots of ontological security
| Citations per year | 3.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Highly cited | No |