Yuri van Hoef | Erasmus University Rotterdam (original) (raw)

Publications by Yuri van Hoef

The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace, 2021

This chapter introduces an approach to study political friendship as a factor that can contribute... more This chapter introduces an approach to study political friendship as a factor that can contribute to positive peace. This is done by drawing upon the works of Johan Galtung and Andrea Oelsner, through which friendship is established as an aspect of positive peace. Thereby, this chapter contributes to addressing current lacunae in positive peace research. Political friendship is conceptualized through five key elements; affect, grand projects, altruistic reciprocity, moral obligations, and equality, which are examined in the friendships of Helmut Schmidt and Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (1974–1982), and Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand (1982–1995). Both the commonalities and differences discovered shed a revealing light on the role of friendship in politics and international relations, and help us to understand the crucial role close personal relations played in the European project, establishing a degree of positive peace through personal friendship.

Political Psychology, 2019

Barack Obama's 2009 visit to Turkey resulted in an Obama‐Mania in Turkish media, followed by a fr... more Barack Obama's 2009 visit to Turkey resulted in an Obama‐Mania in Turkish media, followed by a friendship between Obama and Recep Erdoğan, which was widely reported in the media and emphasized in their rhetoric. This article explains the existence of the Erdoğan‐Obama friendship narrative, in spite of no actual political friendship existing. We first interpret their relationship through five key components of political friendship (affect, grand project, altruistic reciprocity, moral obligations, equality) and argue that, despite a strong friendship narrative, their histories, leadership styles, and political goals diverged to such an extent that a friendship never existed. We then introduce sentimental utility theory (SUT) to explain the utility of maintaining the appearance of a friendship. Through SUT, this article illuminates the utility of collective emotions and offers insight into how collective emotions produce ingroup identities and generate stability for a state's population. SUT reveals how Erdoğan utilized the Obama‐mania in Turkey to create a personal bond with Obama which linked himself, and his policies, to Obama and his progressive policies. Future research can deploy SUT to make sense of other claims of friendship and special relationships between states and between state leaders.

Journal of Leadership Studies, 2019

Politics and Governance, 2018

In recent years, the study of friendship has gained traction in political science. The aim of thi... more In recent years, the study of friendship has gained traction in political science. The aim of this article is threefold: (1) to offer an overview of the status of friendship studies and how it relates to the emotional turn in international relations, (2) to present a wide variety of different approaches to studying friendship, and (3) to highlight the contribution that a friendship perspective can make to other fields, such as Peace and Conflict Studies. From Aristotle and Plato onwards, we trace the development of the concept of friendship, and present several theoretical conceptualisations and methodological approaches that can be readily applied when making sense of friendship, both on a personal level between elite actors, and on the international level between states. We end by drawing attention to the merit of the study of friendship specifically for the field of Peace and Conflict Studies, where it helps to address the lacuna of research on positive peace.

Politics and Governance, 2018

The ‘emotional turn’ within the social sciences and humanities attracts increasing scholarly atte... more The ‘emotional turn’ within the social sciences and humanities attracts increasing scholarly attention. Political Science, traditionally emphasising the ‘rational’ public sphere rather than the ‘emotional’ private sphere, has increasingly questioned this dichotomisation, identifying broader political concepts and practices. The international political process—frequently characterised by widespread distrust, populist campaigns and extreme rhetoric—necessitates addressing and examining its underlying emotions. Informal, affective manifestations of politics are enormously influential, profoundly shaping inter- and intra-national democracy; they accordingly require interdisciplinary study. This thematic issue of Politics and Governance includes disciplines as diverse as education, history, international relations, political theory, psychology, and sociology. In doing so, we illustrate that emotions are cross-disciplinary concerns, relevant beyond the study of politics.

Researching Emotions in International Relations, 2018

This chapter conceptualizes friendship and operationalizes it through Mark Bevir’s and R. A. W. R... more This chapter conceptualizes friendship and operationalizes it through Mark Bevir’s and R. A. W. Rhodes’ Interpretive Political Science (IPS). This method is illustrated by assessing the political friendship between Winston S. Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Because friendship is such an unfathomable and highly individual phenomenon, this chapter takes a distinctly interpretivist approach. Therefore, this chapter is of particular interest to scholars who want to make sense of the role of personal relations in IR, but find traditional IR theories and methods unsatisfactory. Studying friendship between state leaders differentiates itself from the current state of the art in the studies of emotions and friendship in IR, because it examines friendship at the intermediary level, rather than at the individual or the collective level.

Contemporary Political Theory

International friendship affects the making and conduct of foreign policy, an angle that is large... more International friendship affects the making and conduct of foreign policy, an angle that is largely neglected in the International Relations (IR) literature. Friendship constitutes the Other as familiar rather than foreign and implies a significant degree of trust, and analysts need to pay careful attention to the various ways close bonds develop and “work” across state boundaries. They need to understand how seeking friends can be an explicit goal of foreign policy and how established friendships function by studying their discursive, emotional, and practical expressions and their impact on decision making in concrete situations and as a disposition for cooperation in the long term. Yet, tracing these bonds and associated practices, especially the informal ones, is an analytical challenge. This article presents international friendship as a particular relationship of mutually agreed role identities embedded in a strong cognitive, normative, and emotional bond revolving around a shared idea of order. It discusses three types of practices unique to this relationship: providing privileged/special access, solidarity and support in times of need, and resolve and negative Othering against third parties. These friendship bonds and associated practices can be observed across three levels: political leaders, government bureaucracies, and civil society.

Keywords: friendship, special relationship, transnationalism, identity, roles, emotions, solidarity, leaders, institutions

This article sets out to offer a theoretical approach to evaluate political friendship, and to te... more This article sets out to offer a theoretical approach to evaluate political friendship, and to test this approach by focusing on two well documented and supposed friendships, between Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand, and George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. In this direction the article aims to address an academic oversight where friendships are taken for granted, without pausing to define and measure its influence on political actors. Part one of the article aims to operationalize the concept of friendship, and to that aim offers a concise philosophical overview of the concept, culminating in a demarcation between a (business-like) partnership and a character driven friendship. Part two analyses the current state-centred approach to friendship in international relations and shows that operationalizing the concept of friendship between actors connects directly to current research on friendship, adding an additional layer of analysis on the level of political actors. Part three follows with an overview of the supposed friendships between Kohl and Mitterrand and Bush and Gorbachev, which are then evaluated in the light of the definitions of partnership and friendship. This paper concludes by marking the similarities and inherent differences of the two friendships, particularly pausing on the thin line a politician must walk between personal affections and an opportune political agenda.

International Affairs, 2016

International Affairs, 2015

ABSTRACT

International Affairs, 2015

Papers by Yuri van Hoef

This article offers a theoretical approach to evaluate political friendship, and to test this app... more This article offers a theoretical approach to evaluate political friendship, and to test this approach by focusing on two well documented and supposed friendships: those of Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand, and George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. In so doing the article aims to address an academic oversight where friendship is taken for granted, without pausing to define and measure its influence on political actors. Part one aims to operationalize the concept of friendship, offering a concise philosophical overview of the concept, culminating in a demarcation between a (businesslike) partnership and a character driven friendship. Part two analyses the current state-centred approach to friendship in international relations and shows that operationalizing the concept of friendship between actors connects directly to current research on friendship, adding an additional layer of analysis on the level of political actors. Part three follows with an overview of the supposed friend...

This thesis investigates the possibility that friendship is not only possible between elite actor... more This thesis investigates the possibility that friendship is not only possible between elite actors, but that it also plays an explanatory role in their actions (and thus politics more generally). Part I of the thesis develops a model for the identification of friendship between elite actors. This model suggests that political friendship can be seen to exist between elite actors when five key components are seen to be present: (1) affect (2) a grand project (3) altruistic reciprocity (4) moral obligations, and (5) equality. Moreover, not only does the model confirm the presence of friendship, it also shows how friendship can have a role in explaining the actions of elite actors. Part II of the thesis, in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the model, examines, and confirms, the presence of friendship in four recent relationships in contemporary history: Helmut Schmidt and Valery Giscard d’Estaing (1974-1982); Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand (1982-1995); Margaret Thatcher and...

Dit artikel onderzoekt twee welbekende politieke vriendschappen: die tussen de Franse president F... more Dit artikel onderzoekt twee welbekende politieke vriendschappen: die tussen de Franse president Francois Mitterrand en de Duitse kanselier Helmut Kohl, en de vriendschap tussen de Engelse premier Margaret Thatcher en de Amerikaanse president Ronald Reagan. Het artikel gaat nader in op twee aspecten van de politieke vriendschap: de affectieve dimensie en het gedeelde politiek project. De casestudies bevestigen het bestaan van affectieve relaties op het niveau van de interstatelijke betrekkingen, maar illustreren ook de constante spanning tussen het statelijke belang en de persoonlijke vriendschap. Het onderzoek suggereert voorzichtig dat juist op dit eenzame hoge en internationale niveau mannelijke politici een diepe affectieve vriendschap durven aan te gaan.

The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace, 2021

Researching Emotions in International Relations, 2017

The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace, 2021

Political Psychology, 2019

Journal of Leadership Studies, 2019

Politics and Governance, 2018

Researching Emotions in International Relations, 2018

Contemporary Political Theory

Keywords: friendship, special relationship, transnationalism, identity, roles, emotions, solidarity, leaders, institutions

International Affairs, 2016

International Affairs, 2015

ABSTRACT

International Affairs, 2015

The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace, 2021

Researching Emotions in International Relations, 2017

Political Psychology, 2019

Barack Obama’s 2009 visit to Turkey resulted in an Obama-Mania in Turkish media, followed by a fr... more Barack Obama’s 2009 visit to Turkey resulted in an Obama-Mania in Turkish media, followed by a friendship between Obama and Recep Erdogan, which was widely reported in the media and emphasized in their rhetoric. This article explains the existence of the Erdogan-Obama friendship narrative, in spite of no actual political friendship existing. We first interpret their relationship through five key components of political friendship (affect, grand project, altruistic reciprocity, moral obligations, equality) and argue that, despite a strong friendship narrative, their histories, leadership styles, and political goals diverged to such an extent that a friendship never existed. We then introduce sentimental utility theory (SUT) to explain the utility of maintaining the appearance of a friendship. Through SUT, this article illuminates the utility of collective emotions and offers insight into how collective emotions produce ingroup identities and generate stability for a state’s population. SUT reveals how Erdogan utilized the Obama-mania in Turkey to create a personal bond with Obama which linked himself, and his policies, to Obama and his progressive policies. Future research can deploy SUT to make sense of other claims of friendship and special relationships between states and between state leaders.

Journal of Leadership Studies, 2019

Politics and Governance, 2018

The ‘emotional turn’ within the social sciences and humanities attracts increasing scholarly atte... more The ‘emotional turn’ within the social sciences and humanities attracts increasing scholarly attention. Political Science, traditionally emphasising the ‘rational’ public sphere rather than the ‘emotional’ private sphere, has increasingly questioned this dichotomisation, identifying broader political concepts and practices. The international political process—frequently characterised by widespread distrust, populist campaigns and extreme rhetoric—necessitates addressing and examining its underlying emotions. Informal, affective manifestations of politics are enormously influential, profoundly shaping inter- and intra-national democracy; they accordingly require interdisciplinary study. This thematic issue of <em>Politics and Governance</em> includes disciplines as diverse as education, history, international relations, political theory, psychology, and sociology. In doing so, we illustrate that emotions are cross-disciplinary concerns, relevant beyond the study of politics.

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, 2017

Contemporary Political Theory

As a leading friendship scholar, Evgeny Roshchin's latest work, Friendship Among Nations: History... more As a leading friendship scholar, Evgeny Roshchin's latest work, Friendship Among Nations: History of a Concept has been long awaited. Roshchin takes a unique position in the current debates in friendship studies, his conceptual approach being in stark contrast to the more dominant structural, individual, and state-centred approaches. While offering one of the more theoretical approaches to the study of friendship in politics, Roshchin's work also succeeds in revealing the deeper meaning behind the praxis of friendship in politics. Friendship Among Nations builds on Roshchin's previous works where he draws upon conceptual history to illustrate the development of the concept of friendship in international diplomacy, from the ancient era up to modern history, highlighting that modern conceptualisations are deeply indebted to both ancient and mediaeval ones. That means Roshchin's findings are highly relevant to both for our own theoretical understanding of friendship, and for what friendship practically means when it is invoked in the context of international treaties. In a field overwhelmingly concerned with the positive side of friendship, Roshchin's conceptual approach stands out both in its realistic outlook, and in what it has to teach us about the negative side of the utilitarian aspect of friendship. Chapter 1 critically discusses the history of political thought since Aristotle's seminal demarcation between pleasure, utility, and virtue-friendship. Chapter 2 details the conceptual development of friendship agreements in the 16th and 17th century. Chapter 3 illustrates the development of a normative approach of friendship, and Chapter 4 analyses the slow disappearance of utility friendship in the 17th and 18th century. This all builds towards Chapter 5, which showcases the implications of ancient assumptions underlying modern understandings of friendship. These are brilliantly illustrated by Roshchin in his analysis of both bilateral friendship treaties and the friendship treaties signed between the native populations and colonialising powers. Starting with Aristotle, friendship scholars have differentiated between one higher form of friendship, commonly denoted as virtue-friendship, and one or more

Political Studies Review, 2017

Contemporary Political Theory

Contemporary scholars have taken up the gauntlet thrown down at them by C. S. Lewis who famously ... more Contemporary scholars have taken up the gauntlet thrown down at them by C. S. Lewis who famously admonished that while '[t]o the Ancients, Friendship seemed the happiest and most fully human of all loves; the crown of life and the school of virtue. The modern world, in comparison, ignores it' (1960, p. 87). Indeed, Lewis would hopefully look favourable upon contemporary attempts to make sense of friendship, whether in history (Caine, 2014), in Politics (Smith, 2011), in International Relations (Koschut and Oelsner, 2014), or in Foreign Policy Analysis (Berenskoetter and Van Hoef, 2017). While these works debate the essence of friendship, other works focus on the narratives of friendships between political actors (Reid-Henry, 2009; Meacham, 2003). In the media as well, friendships between politicians can count upon heightened scrutiny, best illustrated by the attention newspapers give to the joint walks on the beach of French Presidents and German Chancellors. Indeed, Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy even earned the moniker Merkozy in the press (Van Hoef, 2014, p. 63). Ancient works on friendships can count upon renewed interest as well, and it is here where John Von Heyking's work, based upon an elaborate reading of Plato and Aristotle, can be placed. Because of the renewed interest in friendship, the first critical question must be whether Von Heyking has anything to add to previous interpretations (such as: Smith Pangle, 2008; Vlastos, 2000). Because friendship pervaded both Greek personal and political culture, it is no wonder that the Greeks made friendship the centre of their political theory. Despite Plato's prominence, most works focusing on friendship draw upon Aristotle's three conceptualizations of friendship, rather than those of Plato. Friendship is addressed in several of Plato's works, most prominently in his Symposium, Lysis, and also in his Phaedrus. Plato's account of friendship has been criticized for being cold-hearted and egocentric, most prominently by Gregory Vlastos who concluded that Plato was not interested in other individuals for their own sake, but for his own needs and desires (a spiritual

Oxford Encyclopedia of Foreign Policy Analysis (Ed. Cameron Thies), 2017

This contribution discusses how international friendship affects the making and conduct of foreig... more This contribution discusses how international friendship affects the making and conduct of foreign policy, an angle that is largely neglected in the FPA and IR literature. Yet because friendship constitutes the Other as familiar rather than foreign and implies a significant degree of trust, it cannot be ignored. Analysts need to pay careful attention to the various ways close bonds develop and 'work' across state boundaries. More specifically, they need to understand how seeking friends can be an explicit goal of foreign policy and how established friendships function by studying their discursive, emotional and practical expressions and their impact on decision-making in concrete situations and as a disposition for cooperation in the long term. Tracing these bonds and associated practices, especially the informal ones, across levels is an analytical challenge. The aim of this article is to offer some guidance. It starts with presenting a reading of international friendship as a particular relationship of mutually agreed role identities embedded in a strong cognitive, normative and emotional bond revolving around a shared idea of order. In a second step, we highlight three types of practices unique to this relationship: providing privileged/special access, solidarity and support in times of need, as well as resolve and negative Othering against third parties. The third section then discusses how friendship bonds and associated practices can be observed across three levels: political leaders, government bureaucracies, and civil society, illustrated through examples from (primarily) Franco-German and US-UK relations. In doing so, the article does not simply offer a summary of existing accounts, but seeks to advance the still young literature on international friendship.

Programme for CIAP2016, 20-21 October, University of Leeds.