Memory in international diplomacy

Bachleitner, Kathrin

doi:10.4337/9781800372535.00025

Cited by 2 publications

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“…However, this narrative concerns historical events not as they happened, but as they are interpreted in the present. (Bachleitner, 2023: 246)Bachleitner acknowledges the kinship of her understanding of memory to the pioneering work of Halbwachs (1992[1952]), who significantly and lastingly contributed to the literature on collective memory. Bachleitner also emphasises, as argued above, that the question of historical veracity takes a backseat when it comes to a country's memory and its ramifications.…”

Section: Attractive Tales: Soft Power and Memory In International Aff...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this narrative concerns historical events not as they happened, but as they are interpreted in the present. (Bachleitner, 2023: 246)…”

Section: Attractive Tales: Soft Power and Memory In International Aff...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this regard, political leaders and official representatives play a vital role. Bachleitner (2023: 248) hence recently argued, “Diplomats, in such a framing, thus gain agency in forming memory into a foreign-policy tool. They ‘manage’ their country's memory for an external audience.” This last observation in particular not only warrants a focus on the elite-level formation of memory, for example, through speech acts, but it also directly leads to the political tools available for the wielding of what we call mnemonic soft power.…”

Section: Attractive Tales: Soft Power and Memory In International Aff...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mnemonic Soft Power: The Role of Memory in China's Quest for Global Power

Ohnesorge,

Owen

2023

Journal of Current Chinese Affairs

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In twenty-first-century international relations, the telling of stories is as important an instrument of national power as are military strength or economic prowess. Geared not towards coercion or inducement but rather drawing on the forces of attraction and persuasion, such practices can be attributed to the realm of soft power, which plays a key role in today's great-power politics. Starting from these premises, the article explores the role of memory and its relation to soft power. By way of an empirical example, it argues that the recourse to and utilisation of memory constitutes a crucial component in China's quest for global power. In so doing, the article first establishes a conceptual bridge between soft power and memory in international relations. Subsequently, by taking into account contemporary empirical evidence, it identifies and discusses two select narratives – colonialism and tianxia – as core components of Chinese mnemonic soft power.

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Section: Attractive Tales: Soft Power and Memory In International Aff...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this narrative concerns historical events not as they happened, but as they are interpreted in the present. (Bachleitner, 2023: 246)…”

Section: Attractive Tales: Soft Power and Memory In International Aff...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Attractive Tales: Soft Power and Memory In International Aff...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mnemonic Soft Power: The Role of Memory in China's Quest for Global Power

Ohnesorge,

Owen

2023

Journal of Current Chinese Affairs

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Collective Memory and Problems of Scale in International Relations

Sammons,

Kujala

2024

International Studies Review

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International relations (IR) scholars are increasingly interested in the role of memory in world politics. In this paper, we examine a key tension in the uptake of memory in IR between its status as a topic studied within IR and its use as an optic through which the basic categories of IR might be rethought. Focusing on the problem of scales of analysis, central within memory studies more broadly, we suggest that while memory poses a challenge to typical scalar arrangements in IR, such as “levels” of analysis, memory is often studied within these very arrangements. We argue that this is significant because questions of scale are at times the central political problem at stake in international memory. We track this tension between topic and optic in studies of memory, national identity, and foreign policy; studies of collective trauma and sovereignty; and studies of conflict and cooperation over memory.

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Memory in international diplomacy

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Mnemonic Soft Power: The Role of Memory in China's Quest for Global Power

Mnemonic Soft Power: The Role of Memory in China's Quest for Global Power

Collective Memory and Problems of Scale in International Relations

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