2 research outputs found
Politics of memory for a New Era? Mainland Chinese historical memory, nationalism, and their impact on Chinese international behaviour
Overall, the subject has remained relatively understudied. In this context, this
paper presents a broader picture of the importance of the topic as such. It does not
attempt to present a complete picture of the role of historical memory in Chinese
foreign policy. Instead, it identifies the main points of reference that should be
treated as the invitation for further research. It also highlights certain new developments
that might suggest what to expecct in the future.
However, from the perspective of international politics, scientists have been somehow
reluctant to study the impact of historical memory on states’ behaviour. In
the academic world of IR, dominated by realism, immeasurable factors like identity
or culture, have been considered largely insignificant in shaping international
politics. If one defines power as one state’s ability to control a given sphere either
militarily or economically, intangible factors somehow “naturally” get sidelined.
Nevertheless, given the worldwide resurgence of nationalism as a political force
shaping international relations and the impossibility of explaining it with purely
realist means, some observers have turned towards a re-examination of alternative
or subsidiary explanations of factors influencing states’ international behaviour