Ontological security crisis and role conception change
The impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the European Union’s role conceptions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7770929 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gordon M Friedrichs (0000-0003-1117-6258, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, corresponding author), Jule Sommer (0009-0008-9267-2619, London School of Economics and Political Science) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 126-151 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of International Relations (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1354-0661 • E-ISSN: 1460-3713 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/13540661241304533 |
| OpenAlex | W4405883415 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 85 |
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has put significant pressure on the European Union’s (EU) role conceptions, challenging its self-perception as a normative and civilian power. This article explores the impact of the invasion on EU role conceptions through the lens of ontological security theory. We differentiate between ontological insecurity and crisis, elucidating the EU’s responses to acute shocks that disrupt the connection between its self-image and social roles. Drawing on role theory, we examine how the invasion has prompted the EU to reconsider its roles. We identify adjustment, adaptation, innovation, and abandonment as key types of role change, exploring how these responses vary across individual roles within the EU’s role set. By combining qualitative and quantitative content analysis of EU documents, we empirically investigate changes in EU role conceptions pre- and post-invasion. Our analysis contributes to a deeper understanding of role theory’s application to international organizations (IOs), bridging gaps between foreign policy analysis and IO research. In addition, we advance methodological approaches to studying role changes, offering insights into the complex interplay between external events, institutional identity formation, and ontological security in the context of geopolitical crises
Economics · European union · Geopolitics · Normative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · European Union Policy and Governance · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Peacebuilding and International Security
Emotions research meets European studies
Ontological Security beyond Binaries
Gradual Change in Foreign Policy
Democracy, security and European Union enlargement
Measuring Central and Eastern European Countries’ Responses to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Varoluşsal Tehdit Algısının Dinamik Güvenlikleştirmeye Dönüşümü
“We want to be friends with you, but we can’t under these circumstances”
The War in Ukraine
(Re-)Setting the World Stage
Role Theory in International Relations
Normative Power Europe
Introduction to 2018 special issue of European Security
Modernity and self-identity
National Roles and Foreign Policy
Ontological Security in International Relations
Rising Powers and Foreign Policy Revisionism
Social Theory of International Politics
Role Theory, Narratives, and Interpretation
The role of the European Union in global health
Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse
The United States, Israel, and the Search for International Order
Crisis and Ontological Insecurity
Ukraine-Eu Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area as part of Eastern Partnership initiative
Psychoanalysis, cultures of anarchy, and ontological insecurity
Conflicting Role Conceptions? The European Union in Global Politics1
Ontological Security, Civilian Power, and German Foreign Policy Toward Russia1
Role Change and Russia's Responses to Upheavals in Ukraine
EU political discourse on the energy security relations with Russia
Public diplomacy and the persistence of the conflict and cooperation dichotomy in EU-Russia relations
A Typology of Ontological Insecurity Mechanisms
Ontological security, the struggle for recognition, and the maintenance of security communities
Critical situations, fundamental questions and ontological insecurity in world politics
European Identity, Euromaidan, and Ukrainian Nationalism
Resilience and the role of the European Union in the world
Values, rights, and changing interests
War in Ukraine
Restoration and Revolution in Putin's Foreign Policy
The European Neighbourhood Policy
A moving target. EU actorness and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
The partnership that failed
In every crisis an opportunity? European Union integration in defence and the War on Ukraine
The European Union’s transformation after Russia’s attack on Ukraine
Homeland security
Ontological security, crisis and political myth
War and integration. The Russian attack on Ukraine and the institutional development of the EU
Ontological dissonance, clashing identities, and Israel's unilateral steps towards the Palestinians
Russia's strategic partnership with Europe
National role conceptions in a new millennium
Role theory and foreign policy analysis
Assessing the decennial, reassessing the global
Do Images Matter
The EU’s ontological (in)security
Stereotyped images and role dissonance in the foreign policy of right-wing populist leaders
Feeling at Home in Europe
Geostrategies, geopolitics and ontological security in the Eastern neighbourhood
Is Europe really forged through crisis? Pandemic EU and the Russia – Ukraine war
The identity/policy nexus in European foreign policy
The European Union Global Strategy and the EU's Maieutic Role
Normative Power Europe
From the 2014 Annexation of Crimea to the 2022 Russian War on Ukraine
Arguing Sanctions. On the EU's Response to the Crisis in Ukraine
National Role Conceptions in the Study of Foreign Policy
International Organizations, Strategy, and Crisis Bargaining
Destined for deadlock? Russia, Ukraine, and the unfulfilled Minsk agreements
Role Theory and Foreign Policy
Ontological Security and Public (Mis)Recognition of International Crises
Of the contemporary global order, crisis, and change
The Leadership Paradox in EU Foreign Policy
Mirror, Mirror On the Wall
The Institutional Identity of Regional Organizations, Or Mercosur’s Identity Crisis1
Role Theory, Foreign Policy, and the Social Construction of Sovereignty
Ontological Crisis and the Compartmentalization of Insecurities
Self and Other in International Relations
Ontological Security in World Politics
Interactionist role theory meets ontological security studies
From logic of competition to conflict
Changing Course
Ontological security as temporal security? The role of 'significant historical others' in world politics
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 9 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |