Not International Relations' 'mare nostrum': On the divergence between the Mediterranean and the discipline of International Relations. Issue 2 (15th March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kuru, Deniz
• Is Part Of: Mediterranean politics. Volume 26:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 145
• Page End: 167
• Publication Date: 2021-03-15
• Subjects: Mediterranean -- International Relations (IR) discipline -- academic journals -- disciplinary history and sociology; Mediterranean Region -- Politics and government -- 1945- -- Periodicals; 320.91822
• DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2019.1700674
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1362-9395

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This study analyzes the (dis)connections between the Mediterranean and the discipline of International Relations (IR) by focusing on their interactions from two distinct but complementary perspectives. First, a comparative analysis of leading academic IR journals both from the most active IR scholarly communities (American/global, European, British) and across the northern/European Mediterranean region (Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, and Turkey) looks to what extent topics related to the Mediterranean have found a place in these publications. Second, it offers a more disciplinary analysis that considers the reasons of IR's lacking engagement with the Mediterranean, pointing to the discipline's historical and sociological development that hindered a greater role for this significant region in IR theories and empirics. The study concludes by discussing the possibility of a Mediterranean IR theory that would consider the region's distinct world historical role while pointing to the constraints faced by such an alternative theoretical framework.