Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:38:16.704Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Security Institutions as Agents of Socialization? NATO and the ‘New Europe’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2005

Alexandra Gheciu
Affiliation:
Oxford University, England, alexandra.gheciu@politics.ox.ac.uk
Get access

Abstract

This article examines the dynamics and implications of practices of socialization enacted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in post–Cold War Central and Eastern Europe. With particular emphasis on the Czech Republic and Romania, I argue that NATO relied extensively on mechanisms of teaching and persuasion to project a particular set of liberal-democratic norms of security into the former Eastern bloc. Several interrelated conditions affected NATO's ability to teach new norms to Central and East European actors: the parties' mutual recognition of their respective roles as “teachers” and “students”; the socializees' identification with the Western security community that NATO claimed to embody; and systematic interactions between teachers and students. In teaching new liberal-democratic norms, NATO exercised significant power: the power to shape its socializees' interpretations of the world and ideas about proper ways of acting in that world. The shared ideational framework established via teaching also empowered subsequent persuasive appeals launched in the name of liberal-democratic norms. NATO conducted a socialization process that targeted—and often affected—not simply the behavior of Central and East European socializees, but also their definitions of national identity and interests.For extremely helpful comments on previous incarnations of this article, I am grateful to the editors of International Organization, two anonymous reviewers, Jeffrey Checkel, Michael Zürn, Alastair Iain Johnston, Michael C. Williams, and all the participants in the IDNET workshops.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 The IO Foundation and Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adler, Emanuel. 1997. Imagined (Security) Communities: Cognitive Regions in International Relations. Millennium 26 (2):24977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adler, Emanuel. 1998. Seeds of Peaceful Change: The OSCE's Security Community-Building Model. In Security Communities, edited by Emanuel Adler and Michael Barnett, 11960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Adler, Emanuel, and Michael Barnett, eds. 1998. Security Communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Asmus, Ronald. 2002. Opening NATO's Door: How the Alliance Remade Itself for a New Era. New York: Columbia University Press.
Barany, Zoltan. 2003. The Future of NATO Expansion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Barnett, Michael, and Raymond Duvall. 2005. Power in International Politics. International Organization 59 (1):3975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnett, Michael, and Martha Finnemore. 1999. The Politics, Power and Pathologies of International Organizations. International Organization 53 (4):699732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, Peter, and Thomas Luckmann. 1967. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1990. In Other Words: Essays towards a Reflexive Sociology. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre, and J. C. Passeron. 1977. Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. London: Sage.
Checkel, Jeffrey T. 1997. International Norms and Domestic Politics: Bridging the Rationalist-Constructivist Divide. European Journal of International Relations 3 (4):47396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Checkel, Jeffrey T. 2001. Why Comply? Social Learning and European Identity Change. International Organization 55 (3):55388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Checkel, Jeffrey T. 2003. ‘Going Native’ in Europe? Theorizing Social Interaction in European Institutions. Comparative Political Studies 36:20931.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Checkel, Jeffrey T., and Andrew Moravcsik. 2001. A Constructivist Research Program in EU Studies? (Forum Debate). European Union Politics 2 (2):21949.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cialdini, Robert. 1993. Influence: Science and Practice. 3d ed. New York: Harper Collins.
Cortell, Andrew, and James Davis. 2000. Understanding the Domestic Impact of International Norms: A Research Agenda. International Studies Review 2 (1):6587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Culik, Jan. 1999. Ten Years After Communism: The Great Czech Malaise. Central Europe Review 1 (1). Available at 〈http://www.ce-review.org/99/1/culik1.html〉. Accessed 21 June 2005.Google Scholar
Donnelly, Chris. 1997a. Developing a National Strategy for the Transformation of the Defense Establishment in Post-Communist States. Central European Issues 3 (2):6381.Google Scholar
Donnelly, Chris. 1997b. Defense Transformation in the New Democracies: A Framework for Tackling the Problem. NATO Review 45 (1):1519.Google Scholar
Douglas, Mary. 1975. Implicit Meanings: Essays in Anthropology. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Douglas, Mary. 1986. How Institutions Think. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press.
Dragsdahl, Joergen. 1998. NATO Resists Pressures to Militarise Central Europe. BASIC Occasional Paper 28. Available at 〈http://www.basicint.org/pubs/Papers/BP28.htm〉. Accessed 21 June 2005.
Evangelista, Matthew. 1999. Unarmed Forces: The Transnational Movement to End the Cold War. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
Finnemore, Martha. 1996. National Interests in International Society. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
Finnemore, Martha, and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. International Norm Dynamics and Political Change. International Organization 52 (4):887917.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flockhart, Trine. 2004. ‘Masters and Novices’: Socialisation and Social Learning through the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. International Relations 18 (3):36180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gheciu, Alexandra. 2005. NATO in the ‘New Europe’: The Politics of International Socialization After the Cold War. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.
Gibson, James L. 1998. A Sober Second Thought: Persuading Russians to Tolerate. American Journal of Political Science 42 (3):81950.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gousseff, Catherine. 2000. L'effet Kosovo sur les nouveaux partenaires de l'OTAN. Courrier des Pays de l'Est 1001 (1):416.Google Scholar
Guzzini, Stefano. 2000. A Reconstruction of Constructivism in International Relations. European Journal of International Relations 6 (2):14782.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haftendorn, Helga, Robert Keohane, and Celeste Wallander, eds. 1999. Imperfect Unions: Security Institutions over Time and Space. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hoskova, Mahulena. 1999. Civilian Control of the Military and Security Structures of the Czech Republic. Unpublished manuscript, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law, Heidelberg, Germany.
Hybner, Jiri. 2001. The Significance of the Washington Summit for Strengthening the Membership of the Czech Republic in NATO. NATO-EAPC Fellowship Report, 1999–2001. Brussels: NATO HQ.
Jepperson, Ronald, Alexander Wendt, and Peter Katzenstein. 1996. Norms, Identity and Culture in National Security. In The Culture of National Security, edited by Peter Katzenstein, 3375. New York: Columbia University Press.
Joergensen, Charlotte, Christian Kock, and Lone Roerbech. 1998. Rhetoric That Shifts Votes: An Explanatory Study of Persuasion in Issue-Oriented Public Debates. Political Communication 15:28399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnston, Alastair Iain. 2001. Treating International Institutions as Social Environments. International Studies Quarterly 45 (4):487516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jupille, Joseph, James A. Caporaso, and Jeffrey T. Checkel. 2003. Integrating Institutions: Rationalism, Constructivism and the Study of the European Union. Comparative Political Studies 36 (1):740.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katzenstein, Peter J., Robert O. Keohane, and Stephen D. Krasner. 1998. International Organization and the Study of World Politics. International Organization 52 (4):64585.Google Scholar
Keck, Margaret, and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
Kennedy, Robert. 1998. Educating Leaders for the 21st Century: A Snapshot of the Marshall Center for Security Studies. NATO Review 46 (4). Available at: 〈http://www.nato.int/docu/review/1998/9804-08.htm〉. Accessed 21 June 2005.Google Scholar
Lauer, Robert, and Warren Handel. 1977. Social Psychology: The Theory and Application of Symbolic Interactionism. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
March, James G., and Johan P. Olsen. 1989. Rediscovering Institutions. New York: Free Press.
March, James G., and Johan P. Olsen. 1998. The Institutional Dynamics of International Political Orders. International Organization 52 (4):94369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milliken, Jennifer. 1999. The Study of Discourse in International Relations: A Critique of Research and Methods. European Journal of International Relations 5 (2):22554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mutz, Diane C., Paul M. Sniderman, and Richard Brody, eds. 1996. Political Persuasion and Attitude Change. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Payne, Rodger. 2001. Persuasion, Frames and Norm Construction. European Journal of International Relations 7 (1):3761.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pecina, Thomas. 1999. Arranged Marriage with Aborted Honeymoon? The Czech Republic and NATO. Central Europe Review 1 (5). Available at 〈http://www.ce-review.org/99/5/pecina5.html〉. Accessed 21 June 2005.Google Scholar
Powell, Walter, and Paul DiMaggio. 1991. The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Reiter, Dan. 2001. Why NATO Enlargement Does Not Spread Democracy. International Security 25 (4):4167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Risse, Thomas. 2000. ‘Let's Argue!’: Communicative Action in World Politics. International Organization 54 (1):139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Risse, Thomas, Stephen Ropp, and Kathryn Sikkink, eds. 1999. The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Risse-Kappen, Thomas. 1995. Cooperation Among Democracies: The European Influence on U.S. Foreign Policy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Risse-Kappen, Thomas. 1996. Collective Identity in a Democratic Community: The Case of NATO. In The Culture of National Security, edited by Peter Katzenstein, 35799. New York: Columbia University Press.
Roman, Petre. 1999. Building a Government-Opposition Consensus in the Field of Security Policy. In Romania and Euro-Atlantic Integration, edited by Kurt Treptow and Mihail Ionescu, 8391. Iasi, Romania: Center for Romanian Studies.
Romanian Government. 1999a. Programul National Anual de Pregatire a Integrarii in NATO (ANP) Conform Planului de Actiune Pentru Aderare (MAP). Bucharest, Romania: Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Romanian Government. 1999b. White Book on Romania and NATO. Bucharest, Romania: Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ruggie, John. 1998. What Makes the World Hang Together? Neo-Utilitarianism and the Constructivist Challenge. International Organization 52 (4):85585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarvas, Stefan. 1999. One Past, Two Futures?: The NATO Enlargement Debate in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Harmonie Paper 4. Groningen, Netherlands: Center for European Security Studies.
Sava, Ionel Nicu. 2002. Western (NATO/PFP) Assistance to Build Democratic Civil-Military Relations in South Eastern Europe: The Case of Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia. Manfred Wörner Fellowship Report. Brussels: NATO.
Schimmelfennig, Frank. 2000. International Socialization in the New Europe: Rational Action in an Institutional Environment. European Journal of International Relations 6 (1):10939.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schimmelfennig, Frank. 2003. The EU, NATO and the Integration of Europe: Rules and Rhetoric. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Searing, Donald. 1995. The Psychology of Political Authority: A Causal Mechanism of Political Learning Through Persuasion and Manipulation. Political Psychology 16 (4):67796.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, Jeffrey. 2000. Transforming the Armed Forces of Central and Eastern Europe. Strategic Forum 172:18.Google Scholar
Simon, Jeffrey. 2004. NATO and the Czech and Slovak Republics: A Comparative Study in Civil-Military Relations. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield.
Stroehlein, Andrew. 1999. Promising Paradise. Central Europe Review 0 (23). Available at 〈http://www.ce-review.org/authorarchives/stroehlein_archive/stroehlein23old.html〉. Accessed 22 April 2005.Google Scholar
Terry, Deborah, and Michael Hogg, eds. 2000. Attitudes, Behavior and Social Context. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ulrich, Marybeth Peterson. 2000. Democratizing Communist Militaries: The Cases of the Czech and Russian Armed Forces. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Walker, R. B. J. 1993. Inside/Outside: International Relations as Political Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wallander, Celeste. 2000. Institutional Assets and Adaptability: NATO After the Cold War. International Organization 54 (4):70535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallander, Celeste, and Robert Keohane. 1999. Risk, Threat, and Security Institutions. In Imperfect Unions: Security Institutions over Time and Space, edited by Helga Haftendorn, Robert Keohane, and Celeste Wallander, 2147. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Waterman, Harvey, Dessie Zagorcheva, and Dan Reiter. 2002. NATO and Democracy. International Security 26 (3):22135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wendt, Alexander. 1999. Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Williams, Michael C. 1997. The Institutions of Security: Elements of a Theory of Security Organizations. Cooperation and Conflict 32 (3):287307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, Michael C. 2001. The Discipline of the Democratic Peace: Kant, Liberalism, and the Social Construction of Security Communities. European Journal of International Relations 7 (4):52553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, Michael C., and Iver Neumann. 2000. From Alliance to Security Community: NATO, Russia and the Power of Security. Millennium 29 (2):35787.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zajicova, Darja. 2000. The Czech Media: Demythtified. Central Europe Review 2 (24). Available at: 〈http://www.ce-review.org〉. Accessed 22 April 2005.Google Scholar
Zanna, Mark, James Olson, and Peter Herman, eds. 1984. Social Influence: The Ontario Symposium on Personality and Social Psychology. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Zimbardo, Philip, and Michael Leippe. 1991. The Psychology of Attitude Change and Social Influence. New York: McGraw-Hill.