Peter Halden | Swedish Defence University (original) (raw)
Books by Peter Halden
Worlds of Uncertainty: War, Philosophies and Projects for Order, 2023
Description Contents Resources Courses About the Authors In recent year... more Description
Contents
Resources
Courses
About the Authors
In recent years we have faced huge uncertainty and unpredictability across the world: Covid-19, political turbulence, climate change and war in Europe, among many other events. Through a historical analysis of worldviews, Peter Haldén provides nuance to the common belief in an uncertain world by showing the predictable nature of modern society and arguing that human beings create predictability through norms, laws, trust and collaboration. Haldén shows that, since the Renaissance, two worldviews define Western civilization: first, that the world is knowable and governed by laws, regularities, mechanisms or plan, hence it is possible to control and the future is possible to foresee; second, that the world is governed by chance, impossible to predict and control and therefore shocks and surprises are inevitable. Worlds of Uncertainty argues that between these two extremes lie positions that recognize the principal unpredictability of the world but seek pragmatic ways of navigating through it.
Argues that the co-existence, conflict and co-constitution of two principally contradictory worldviews are what define and shape modern Western culture
Aims to decrease the anxiety and uncertainty many people feel about the world and provide a realistic picture of how much they can control and overcome crises
Offers added value to military students, analysts and planners who will become more aware of the activities in which they are engaged and of the limits and possibilities within different ways of thinking
Cambridge University Press, 2020
Since the seventeenth century, scholars have argued that kinship as an organizing principle and p... more Since the seventeenth century, scholars have argued that kinship as an organizing principle and political order are antithetical.
This book shows that this was simply not the case. Kinship, as a principle of legitimacy and in the shape of dynasties, was fundamental to political order. Throughout the last one and a half millennia of European
and Middle Eastern history, elite families and polities evolved in symbiosis. By demonstrating this symbiosis as a basis for
successful polities, Peter Haldén unravels long-standing theories of the state and of modernity. Most social scientists focus on coercion as a central facet of the state, and indeed of power. Instead, Haldén argues
that much more attention must be given to collaboration, consent and common identity and institutions as elements of political order. He also demonstrates that democracy and individualism are not necessary features of modernity.
Mod är en egenskap som hyllats i alla krigförande kulturer. Konsten, litteraturen och filosofin h... more Mod är en egenskap som hyllats i alla krigförande kulturer. Konsten, litteraturen och filosofin har ofta tagit upp modet som tema, både för att befästa ett militärt ideal och för att problematisera denna egenskap. Men vad är egentligen mod? Var går gränsen till övermod? Vad utmärker mod i strid, och kan man träna soldater att bli modiga? Dessa frågeställningar tar plats även i vår tid där krig och försvar diskuteras i dagens militära miljöer, och frågor om etik är lika aktuella som frågor om effektivitet.
I Mod i strid och filosofi studerar författarna historiska perspektiv på mod och dagsaktuell forskning kring strid och militär utbildning. Förr talade man om mod eller tapperhet som en av flera eftersträvansvärda dygder – idag talar man hellre om professionalism. Men hur mycket skiljer sig egentligen den moderna tidens militära ideal från de historiska? Kan vi lära oss något av den dygdetik som i århundraden användes för att forma modiga individer och tappra krigare?
This volume offers an interdisciplinary study of how different cultures have sought to transform ... more This volume offers an interdisciplinary study of how different cultures have sought to transform individuals into warriors.
War changes people, however a less explored question is how different societies want people to change as they are turned into warriors. When societies go to war they recognize that a boundary is being crossed. The participants are expected to do things that are otherwise prohibited, or at least governed by different rules. This edited volume analyses how different cultures have conceptualized the transformations of an individual passing from a peacetime to a wartime existence to become an active warrior. Despite their differences, all societies grapple with the same question: how much of the individual’s peace-self should be and can be retained in the state of war? The book explores cases such as the Nordic berserkers, the Japanese samurai, and European knights, as well as modern soldiers in Germany, Liberia, and Sweden. It shows that archaic and modern societies are more similar than we usually think: both kinds of societies use myths, symbols, and rituals to create warriors. Thus, this volume seeks to redefine theories of modernization and secularization. It shows that military organizations need to take myths, symbols, and rituals seriously in order to create effective units.
This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, war studies, sociology, religion, and international relations in general.
This work deals with the problem of how to conceptualize Somalia beyond the narrow confines of th... more This work deals with the problem of how to conceptualize Somalia beyond the narrow confines of the 'failed state' debate. The author argues that if it is seen as a nascent state-system then a whole new set of analytical and practical questions and answers is opened up.
[
This book is an edited and commented translation of the text of the Peace of Westphalia (Treaty o... more This book is an edited and commented translation of the text of the Peace of Westphalia (Treaty of Osnabrück) 1648 into Swedish. The translation is followed by four chapters that reinterpret the context, the history and the reception history of the peace treaty in history, political science and International Relations.
Westfaliska freden år 1648 är ett av den europeiska och svenska historiens mest välkända årtal. Slutet på trettioåriga kriget och de fördrag som beseglade uppgörelsen har tolkats, framförallt inom statsvetenskapen, som början på den moderna eran inom internationell politik och som ett dramatiskt brott mot det förmoderna sättet att bedriva politik.
I 1648 – Den westfaliska freden introducerar författarna en nytolkning av fredsfördragen som betonar hur dokumenten befäster och utgör en fortsättning på äldre tiders politiska former. Detta nya perspektiv står i stark kontrast mot den traditionella synen på freden. I boken hävdar skribenterna att den tidigare statsvetenskapliga tolkningen är förlegad och bygger på missuppfattningar av centrala delar av de westfaliska avtalen. För studiet av internationell politik bör det nyare synsättet anläggas.
Författarna, som är historiker och statsvetare, ger goda grunder för sin reviderade syn på avtalen, och belyser fördragen i sina verkliga sammanhang. Boken kompletteras av den första moderna svenska översättningen av fredstraktaten. För första gången någonsin publiceras också på svenska det kompletta fredsfördraget i Osnabrück mellan den svenska drottningen och den tysk-romerske kejsaren.
This work analyses the consequences of climate change and global warming for international politi... more This work analyses the consequences of climate change and global warming for international politics in general and international security in particular. It focuses on whether and in what way climate change may alter the conditions of international security. From this perspective, the initial effects of climate change will vary according to existing economic, political and social structures in different world regions. Organised violence is more likely in regions with weak states and conflictual inter-state dynamics than in those characterized by co-operative relations. In the short- to medium term, climate change is unlikely to alter the constitutive structures of international security.
However, depending on the severity of climate change, these conditions may change over the long term. Such changes will probably depend on the secondary effects that change has on the world and regional economies. Climate change is unlikely to lead to an increase in conflicts in the short- to medium term, but a long-term development marked by unmitigated climate change could very well have serious consequences for international security. The author argues that, although necessary, mitigation and adaptation measures may have consequences for international politics.
This volume connects the study of statebuilding to broader aspects of social theory and the histo... more This volume connects the study of statebuilding to broader aspects of social theory and the historical study of the state, bringing forth new questions and starting-points, both academically and practically, for the field.
Building states has become a highly prioritized issue in international politics. Since the 1990s, mainly Western countries and international institutions have invested large sums of money, vast amounts of manpower, and considerable political capital in ventures of this kind all across the globe. Most of the focus in current literature is on the acute cases, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, but also to states that seem to fit the label ‘failed states’ such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Somalia.
This book brings together a diverse group of scholars who introduce new theoretical approaches from the broader social sciences. The chapters revisit historical cases of statebuilding, and provide thought-provoking, new strategic perspectives on the field. The result is a volume that broadens and deepens our understanding of statebuilding by highlighting the importance of hybridity, contingency and history in a broad range of case-studies.
This book will be of much interest to students of statebuilding and intervention, peacebuilding, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR in general.
Peer review articles by Peter Halden
Armed Forces and Society, 2018
Previous studies of the cohesion of organized armed groups (OAGs) have made great progress, but t... more Previous studies of the cohesion of organized armed groups (OAGs) have made great progress, but they have mostly focused on units fighting for modern Western states. I argue that the study of OAGs that contain their own legitimacy requires a broadened theoretical framework. Such groups may be conceptualized as “ruling organizations” in Max Weber’s terminology. Examples of such groups range from early medieval warbands to modern militias and guerrillas. Members of ruling organizations obey commands for a combination of three reasons: rational, traditional, and charismatic—these in turn form the basis of the legitimacy of the organization. Pinpointing the foundations of obedience in a group provides us with another way of emphasizing weak points that we want to either target or reinforce. This study contributes theoretically to the study of cohesion by linking it to theories of legitimacy in political orders.
Anarchy and hierarchy are two central concepts of International Relations theory but as conventio... more Anarchy and hierarchy are two central concepts of International Relations theory but as conventionally defined they cannot describe political life for most of Western history. Neither concept describes the structure of medieval politics well. Rather, many different principles of differentiation existed simultaneously, both stratificatory and segmentary. The situation was closer to anarchy as understood as the absence of overarching principles of order rather than as 'anarchy' in the conventional sense used in international relations and absence of government. The power of the Popes over temporal rulers was considerable, but it never corresponded to the concept 'hierarchy' as conventionally understood either. Between c. 700 and c. 1300, Europe became more heteronymous as time went by, not less. More principles of differentiation were developed, and both Popes and kings became more powerful. The reinvention of the papacy after the 'Investiture Controversy' (1075–1122) created a system of law and practices in which European monarchs and realms were embedded, but it did not create an all-powerful papacy.
Published chapter in Rochin, Evgeny (ed.) Sovremennaya Respublikanskaya Teoriya Svobody St. Peter... more Published chapter in Rochin, Evgeny (ed.) Sovremennaya Respublikanskaya Teoriya Svobody St. Petersburg: European University Press 2015
Journal of International Relations and Development, 2011
Research on climate change and conflict has been conducted in ways that may lead us to overlook r... more Research on climate change and conflict has been conducted in ways that may lead us to overlook risks of conflicts and miss opportunities to prevent them. In response, this article formulates an analytical framework based on hermeneutical perspectives on social action. The main argument is that climate factors are not the main drivers of conflict under conditions of climate change. Instead, the central mechanisms are how actors interpret their historical experiences and roles as guides for future actions and how international structures shape the scope of action in a constitutive fashion. Previous research has tended to construct the past as an objective assemblage of occurrences. However, the past can never be an ‘objective’ series of events and causal connections. Actors always interpret the past and construct it as meaning-laden history. History, in turn, is fundamentally ambiguous; it can be constructed as a story that has to be continued or one that needs to be broken with. An analysis of the relation between Ethiopia and Eritrea illustrates the theoretical framework. It concludes that despite their past enmity, there is no imminent risk of conflict in connection with climate change but strong reasons for both actors to maintain the status quo.
Although the public–private distinction is a historical construction it has been deeply internali... more Although the public–private distinction is a historical construction it has been deeply internalized and taken for granted in Western ways of thinking about society and politics. Therefore, we often apply it uncritically as a way to categorizing and coding non-Western societies. Doing so unreflectively may distort our observations as well as policies of state- and peacebuilding. I outline the history of the public–private distinction by emphasizing its role in state-formation processes. This distinction was essential to the formation of the state and society as distinct categories. Indeed, it was and is a pre-condition of the autonomy of the state.
State failure is often seen as due to endogenous factors, rather than systemic ones; correspondin... more State failure is often seen as due to endogenous factors, rather than systemic ones; correspondingly, the idea that states can be built by supporting internal processes and institutions alone is prevalent in policy documents and in some of the literature on state-building. This paper calls both assumptions into question. I demonstrate that three factors were important external preconditions of historical state formation: (1) effective states and sustainable regional security, which is expressed on an inter-state as well as a sub-state level, requires a region-wide creation of effective structures of state; (2) effective states and effective inter-state security require well-functioning states systems; (3) effective states require regional acceptance of the process of state-building. Analysing three contemporary countries and regions, Somalia/the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan/Central Asia and Namibia/ south-western Africa, the article concludes that state-building is substantially facilitated where these three contextual factors are in place. The absence of these external factors in the regions where Afghanistan and Somalia are located illuminate the depth of the problems facing these countries. In these cases regional structures are preconditions of state-building.
Social theory almost invariably equates modernity with the sovereign state. This equation must be... more Social theory almost invariably equates modernity with the sovereign state. This equation must be nuanced because the modern era and modern strategies of international stability have contained non-sovereign units. In the nineteenth century, the Great Powers tried to create international stability by engineering forms of rule in Europe. These strategies built on distinctively modern ideas: the possibility of radically breaking with the past, redesigning political organisations, and actively controlling political events through rational planning. Throughout the century the Great Powers alternated between creating non-sovereign units and creating sovereign units as instruments in these stabilising strategies. The degree of trust between the Great Powers accounts for the shift between the two strategies: they tended to create non-sovereign units when mutual trust was high and sovereign ones when trust was low. This article analyses Great Power strategies of designing forms of rule in the Balkans between 1820 and 1878. Like in previous centuries, nineteenth-century Europe actually consisted of two parallel but connected systems: the egalitarian system of sovereign states and a system of non-sovereign entities. Non-sovereign units disappeared only late in the century and this process was affected by the increasing rivalry and mistrust between the sovereign states.
This article argues that the German Confederation — deutscher Bund — (1815–66)was a form of rule ... more This article argues that the German Confederation — deutscher Bund — (1815–66)was a form of rule built on early modern republican political theory. It was a ‘Compound Republic’ form of rule constructed to prevent the emergence of a system of sovereign German states as well as a single sovereign German state. Its purpose was maintaining peace and stability in Europe and safeguarding the autonomy of its member polities. Contemporary statesmen, intellectuals and scholars saw these purposes as complementary. A non-sovereign, polycentric and republican organization of the German lands was regarded as a natural and necessary component in a stable Europe free from war and revolutions. This article analyses the origins, institutions and policies of the German Confederation, with particular regard to how the means of organized violence were organized. It thereby demonstrates the implementation of republican ideas and purposes in the Bund. The article situates the Bund in 19th-century thinking about European stability and sovereignty, further demonstrating the prevalence of republican ideas on international order. Republican political theories and institutions differed sharply from modern theories and models of international relations. Consequently, the history of international politics, the European system of states and state-formation must be re-conceptualized more in line with historical realities.
Both the US and the European Union (EU) have been analysed as empires. In contrast, this article ... more Both the US and the European Union (EU) have been analysed as empires. In contrast, this article argues that a reconstructed republican theory centred on the fear of domination reveals deeper dynamics in both entities. Both entities have external spheres of influence. While the US is not dependent on this sphere to sustain internal stability, the EU is. When the EU enlargement ends and the external sphere is absorbed, the EU’s stability and legitimacy might be at risk. A possible solution lies in the European Neighbourhood Policy. Strengthening it would increase the EU’s control over its environment and its normative aspects.
Worlds of Uncertainty: War, Philosophies and Projects for Order, 2023
Description Contents Resources Courses About the Authors In recent year... more Description
Contents
Resources
Courses
About the Authors
In recent years we have faced huge uncertainty and unpredictability across the world: Covid-19, political turbulence, climate change and war in Europe, among many other events. Through a historical analysis of worldviews, Peter Haldén provides nuance to the common belief in an uncertain world by showing the predictable nature of modern society and arguing that human beings create predictability through norms, laws, trust and collaboration. Haldén shows that, since the Renaissance, two worldviews define Western civilization: first, that the world is knowable and governed by laws, regularities, mechanisms or plan, hence it is possible to control and the future is possible to foresee; second, that the world is governed by chance, impossible to predict and control and therefore shocks and surprises are inevitable. Worlds of Uncertainty argues that between these two extremes lie positions that recognize the principal unpredictability of the world but seek pragmatic ways of navigating through it.
Argues that the co-existence, conflict and co-constitution of two principally contradictory worldviews are what define and shape modern Western culture
Aims to decrease the anxiety and uncertainty many people feel about the world and provide a realistic picture of how much they can control and overcome crises
Offers added value to military students, analysts and planners who will become more aware of the activities in which they are engaged and of the limits and possibilities within different ways of thinking
Cambridge University Press, 2020
Since the seventeenth century, scholars have argued that kinship as an organizing principle and p... more Since the seventeenth century, scholars have argued that kinship as an organizing principle and political order are antithetical.
This book shows that this was simply not the case. Kinship, as a principle of legitimacy and in the shape of dynasties, was fundamental to political order. Throughout the last one and a half millennia of European
and Middle Eastern history, elite families and polities evolved in symbiosis. By demonstrating this symbiosis as a basis for
successful polities, Peter Haldén unravels long-standing theories of the state and of modernity. Most social scientists focus on coercion as a central facet of the state, and indeed of power. Instead, Haldén argues
that much more attention must be given to collaboration, consent and common identity and institutions as elements of political order. He also demonstrates that democracy and individualism are not necessary features of modernity.
Mod är en egenskap som hyllats i alla krigförande kulturer. Konsten, litteraturen och filosofin h... more Mod är en egenskap som hyllats i alla krigförande kulturer. Konsten, litteraturen och filosofin har ofta tagit upp modet som tema, både för att befästa ett militärt ideal och för att problematisera denna egenskap. Men vad är egentligen mod? Var går gränsen till övermod? Vad utmärker mod i strid, och kan man träna soldater att bli modiga? Dessa frågeställningar tar plats även i vår tid där krig och försvar diskuteras i dagens militära miljöer, och frågor om etik är lika aktuella som frågor om effektivitet.
I Mod i strid och filosofi studerar författarna historiska perspektiv på mod och dagsaktuell forskning kring strid och militär utbildning. Förr talade man om mod eller tapperhet som en av flera eftersträvansvärda dygder – idag talar man hellre om professionalism. Men hur mycket skiljer sig egentligen den moderna tidens militära ideal från de historiska? Kan vi lära oss något av den dygdetik som i århundraden användes för att forma modiga individer och tappra krigare?
This volume offers an interdisciplinary study of how different cultures have sought to transform ... more This volume offers an interdisciplinary study of how different cultures have sought to transform individuals into warriors.
War changes people, however a less explored question is how different societies want people to change as they are turned into warriors. When societies go to war they recognize that a boundary is being crossed. The participants are expected to do things that are otherwise prohibited, or at least governed by different rules. This edited volume analyses how different cultures have conceptualized the transformations of an individual passing from a peacetime to a wartime existence to become an active warrior. Despite their differences, all societies grapple with the same question: how much of the individual’s peace-self should be and can be retained in the state of war? The book explores cases such as the Nordic berserkers, the Japanese samurai, and European knights, as well as modern soldiers in Germany, Liberia, and Sweden. It shows that archaic and modern societies are more similar than we usually think: both kinds of societies use myths, symbols, and rituals to create warriors. Thus, this volume seeks to redefine theories of modernization and secularization. It shows that military organizations need to take myths, symbols, and rituals seriously in order to create effective units.
This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, war studies, sociology, religion, and international relations in general.
This work deals with the problem of how to conceptualize Somalia beyond the narrow confines of th... more This work deals with the problem of how to conceptualize Somalia beyond the narrow confines of the 'failed state' debate. The author argues that if it is seen as a nascent state-system then a whole new set of analytical and practical questions and answers is opened up.
[
This book is an edited and commented translation of the text of the Peace of Westphalia (Treaty o... more This book is an edited and commented translation of the text of the Peace of Westphalia (Treaty of Osnabrück) 1648 into Swedish. The translation is followed by four chapters that reinterpret the context, the history and the reception history of the peace treaty in history, political science and International Relations.
Westfaliska freden år 1648 är ett av den europeiska och svenska historiens mest välkända årtal. Slutet på trettioåriga kriget och de fördrag som beseglade uppgörelsen har tolkats, framförallt inom statsvetenskapen, som början på den moderna eran inom internationell politik och som ett dramatiskt brott mot det förmoderna sättet att bedriva politik.
I 1648 – Den westfaliska freden introducerar författarna en nytolkning av fredsfördragen som betonar hur dokumenten befäster och utgör en fortsättning på äldre tiders politiska former. Detta nya perspektiv står i stark kontrast mot den traditionella synen på freden. I boken hävdar skribenterna att den tidigare statsvetenskapliga tolkningen är förlegad och bygger på missuppfattningar av centrala delar av de westfaliska avtalen. För studiet av internationell politik bör det nyare synsättet anläggas.
Författarna, som är historiker och statsvetare, ger goda grunder för sin reviderade syn på avtalen, och belyser fördragen i sina verkliga sammanhang. Boken kompletteras av den första moderna svenska översättningen av fredstraktaten. För första gången någonsin publiceras också på svenska det kompletta fredsfördraget i Osnabrück mellan den svenska drottningen och den tysk-romerske kejsaren.
This work analyses the consequences of climate change and global warming for international politi... more This work analyses the consequences of climate change and global warming for international politics in general and international security in particular. It focuses on whether and in what way climate change may alter the conditions of international security. From this perspective, the initial effects of climate change will vary according to existing economic, political and social structures in different world regions. Organised violence is more likely in regions with weak states and conflictual inter-state dynamics than in those characterized by co-operative relations. In the short- to medium term, climate change is unlikely to alter the constitutive structures of international security.
However, depending on the severity of climate change, these conditions may change over the long term. Such changes will probably depend on the secondary effects that change has on the world and regional economies. Climate change is unlikely to lead to an increase in conflicts in the short- to medium term, but a long-term development marked by unmitigated climate change could very well have serious consequences for international security. The author argues that, although necessary, mitigation and adaptation measures may have consequences for international politics.
This volume connects the study of statebuilding to broader aspects of social theory and the histo... more This volume connects the study of statebuilding to broader aspects of social theory and the historical study of the state, bringing forth new questions and starting-points, both academically and practically, for the field.
Building states has become a highly prioritized issue in international politics. Since the 1990s, mainly Western countries and international institutions have invested large sums of money, vast amounts of manpower, and considerable political capital in ventures of this kind all across the globe. Most of the focus in current literature is on the acute cases, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, but also to states that seem to fit the label ‘failed states’ such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Somalia.
This book brings together a diverse group of scholars who introduce new theoretical approaches from the broader social sciences. The chapters revisit historical cases of statebuilding, and provide thought-provoking, new strategic perspectives on the field. The result is a volume that broadens and deepens our understanding of statebuilding by highlighting the importance of hybridity, contingency and history in a broad range of case-studies.
This book will be of much interest to students of statebuilding and intervention, peacebuilding, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR in general.
Armed Forces and Society, 2018
Previous studies of the cohesion of organized armed groups (OAGs) have made great progress, but t... more Previous studies of the cohesion of organized armed groups (OAGs) have made great progress, but they have mostly focused on units fighting for modern Western states. I argue that the study of OAGs that contain their own legitimacy requires a broadened theoretical framework. Such groups may be conceptualized as “ruling organizations” in Max Weber’s terminology. Examples of such groups range from early medieval warbands to modern militias and guerrillas. Members of ruling organizations obey commands for a combination of three reasons: rational, traditional, and charismatic—these in turn form the basis of the legitimacy of the organization. Pinpointing the foundations of obedience in a group provides us with another way of emphasizing weak points that we want to either target or reinforce. This study contributes theoretically to the study of cohesion by linking it to theories of legitimacy in political orders.
Anarchy and hierarchy are two central concepts of International Relations theory but as conventio... more Anarchy and hierarchy are two central concepts of International Relations theory but as conventionally defined they cannot describe political life for most of Western history. Neither concept describes the structure of medieval politics well. Rather, many different principles of differentiation existed simultaneously, both stratificatory and segmentary. The situation was closer to anarchy as understood as the absence of overarching principles of order rather than as 'anarchy' in the conventional sense used in international relations and absence of government. The power of the Popes over temporal rulers was considerable, but it never corresponded to the concept 'hierarchy' as conventionally understood either. Between c. 700 and c. 1300, Europe became more heteronymous as time went by, not less. More principles of differentiation were developed, and both Popes and kings became more powerful. The reinvention of the papacy after the 'Investiture Controversy' (1075–1122) created a system of law and practices in which European monarchs and realms were embedded, but it did not create an all-powerful papacy.
Published chapter in Rochin, Evgeny (ed.) Sovremennaya Respublikanskaya Teoriya Svobody St. Peter... more Published chapter in Rochin, Evgeny (ed.) Sovremennaya Respublikanskaya Teoriya Svobody St. Petersburg: European University Press 2015
Journal of International Relations and Development, 2011
Research on climate change and conflict has been conducted in ways that may lead us to overlook r... more Research on climate change and conflict has been conducted in ways that may lead us to overlook risks of conflicts and miss opportunities to prevent them. In response, this article formulates an analytical framework based on hermeneutical perspectives on social action. The main argument is that climate factors are not the main drivers of conflict under conditions of climate change. Instead, the central mechanisms are how actors interpret their historical experiences and roles as guides for future actions and how international structures shape the scope of action in a constitutive fashion. Previous research has tended to construct the past as an objective assemblage of occurrences. However, the past can never be an ‘objective’ series of events and causal connections. Actors always interpret the past and construct it as meaning-laden history. History, in turn, is fundamentally ambiguous; it can be constructed as a story that has to be continued or one that needs to be broken with. An analysis of the relation between Ethiopia and Eritrea illustrates the theoretical framework. It concludes that despite their past enmity, there is no imminent risk of conflict in connection with climate change but strong reasons for both actors to maintain the status quo.
Although the public–private distinction is a historical construction it has been deeply internali... more Although the public–private distinction is a historical construction it has been deeply internalized and taken for granted in Western ways of thinking about society and politics. Therefore, we often apply it uncritically as a way to categorizing and coding non-Western societies. Doing so unreflectively may distort our observations as well as policies of state- and peacebuilding. I outline the history of the public–private distinction by emphasizing its role in state-formation processes. This distinction was essential to the formation of the state and society as distinct categories. Indeed, it was and is a pre-condition of the autonomy of the state.
State failure is often seen as due to endogenous factors, rather than systemic ones; correspondin... more State failure is often seen as due to endogenous factors, rather than systemic ones; correspondingly, the idea that states can be built by supporting internal processes and institutions alone is prevalent in policy documents and in some of the literature on state-building. This paper calls both assumptions into question. I demonstrate that three factors were important external preconditions of historical state formation: (1) effective states and sustainable regional security, which is expressed on an inter-state as well as a sub-state level, requires a region-wide creation of effective structures of state; (2) effective states and effective inter-state security require well-functioning states systems; (3) effective states require regional acceptance of the process of state-building. Analysing three contemporary countries and regions, Somalia/the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan/Central Asia and Namibia/ south-western Africa, the article concludes that state-building is substantially facilitated where these three contextual factors are in place. The absence of these external factors in the regions where Afghanistan and Somalia are located illuminate the depth of the problems facing these countries. In these cases regional structures are preconditions of state-building.
Social theory almost invariably equates modernity with the sovereign state. This equation must be... more Social theory almost invariably equates modernity with the sovereign state. This equation must be nuanced because the modern era and modern strategies of international stability have contained non-sovereign units. In the nineteenth century, the Great Powers tried to create international stability by engineering forms of rule in Europe. These strategies built on distinctively modern ideas: the possibility of radically breaking with the past, redesigning political organisations, and actively controlling political events through rational planning. Throughout the century the Great Powers alternated between creating non-sovereign units and creating sovereign units as instruments in these stabilising strategies. The degree of trust between the Great Powers accounts for the shift between the two strategies: they tended to create non-sovereign units when mutual trust was high and sovereign ones when trust was low. This article analyses Great Power strategies of designing forms of rule in the Balkans between 1820 and 1878. Like in previous centuries, nineteenth-century Europe actually consisted of two parallel but connected systems: the egalitarian system of sovereign states and a system of non-sovereign entities. Non-sovereign units disappeared only late in the century and this process was affected by the increasing rivalry and mistrust between the sovereign states.
This article argues that the German Confederation — deutscher Bund — (1815–66)was a form of rule ... more This article argues that the German Confederation — deutscher Bund — (1815–66)was a form of rule built on early modern republican political theory. It was a ‘Compound Republic’ form of rule constructed to prevent the emergence of a system of sovereign German states as well as a single sovereign German state. Its purpose was maintaining peace and stability in Europe and safeguarding the autonomy of its member polities. Contemporary statesmen, intellectuals and scholars saw these purposes as complementary. A non-sovereign, polycentric and republican organization of the German lands was regarded as a natural and necessary component in a stable Europe free from war and revolutions. This article analyses the origins, institutions and policies of the German Confederation, with particular regard to how the means of organized violence were organized. It thereby demonstrates the implementation of republican ideas and purposes in the Bund. The article situates the Bund in 19th-century thinking about European stability and sovereignty, further demonstrating the prevalence of republican ideas on international order. Republican political theories and institutions differed sharply from modern theories and models of international relations. Consequently, the history of international politics, the European system of states and state-formation must be re-conceptualized more in line with historical realities.
Both the US and the European Union (EU) have been analysed as empires. In contrast, this article ... more Both the US and the European Union (EU) have been analysed as empires. In contrast, this article argues that a reconstructed republican theory centred on the fear of domination reveals deeper dynamics in both entities. Both entities have external spheres of influence. While the US is not dependent on this sphere to sustain internal stability, the EU is. When the EU enlargement ends and the external sphere is absorbed, the EU’s stability and legitimacy might be at risk. A possible solution lies in the European Neighbourhood Policy. Strengthening it would increase the EU’s control over its environment and its normative aspects.
This article deals with the importance of collective power and value consensus among elites for m... more This article deals with the importance of collective power and value consensus among elites for medieval polity formation by analyzing electoral monarchies. State formation theory focuses on the monopoly of legitimate armed force and has pushed notions of consensus and collective power into the background. This article questions material and coercive theories of state formation and emphasizes polity formation through theories of power as collaboration and as the ability to act in concert. Royal elections had two major functions: (1) A transfer of authority that created trust and concord among elite groups and (2) constructing ideas of an abstract ‘realm’ that political actors represented and to which they were accountable in an ideational and symbolic sense. The article focuses on the Holy Roman Empire and Sweden.
Conflict, Security & Development, Aug 19, 2010
Robert Egnell is a lecturer in War Studies at the Swedish National Defence College. He received h... more Robert Egnell is a lecturer in War Studies at the Swedish National Defence College. He received his doctorate from the Department of War Studies, King's College London and won the 2008 APSA Kenneth N. Waltz Dissertation Prize. He is the author of Complex Peace ...
Conflict, Security & Development, Apr 14, 2009
Security sector reform (SSR) is a concept that is highly visible within policy and practice circl... more Security sector reform (SSR) is a concept that is highly visible within policy and practice circles and that increasingly shapes international programmes for development assistance, security co-operation and democracy promotion. This paper examines the concept and practice of SSR using theories of the state and state formation within a historical-philosophical perspective. The paper recognises that the processes of SSR are highly laudable and present great steps forward towards more holistic conceptions of security and international development. However, the main argument of the paper is that we should be careful of having too high expectations of the possibility of SSR fulfilling its ambitious goals of creating states that are both stable and democratic and accountable. Instead, we should carefully determine what level of ambition is realistic for each specific project depending on local circumstances. A further argument of this paper is that legitimate order and functioning state structures are prerequisites and preconditions for successful democratisation and accountability reforms within the security sector.
This chapter studies how three successive German societies constructed the boundary between peace... more This chapter studies how three successive German societies constructed the boundary between peace and war: The German Empire (1871-1918), Nazi German (1933-45), and the Federal Republic of Germany ...
To say that we live in a world of states today is a truism. We also live in the world of the stat... more To say that we live in a world of states today is a truism. We also live in the world of the state if we consider the mental map of politics that dominates most thinking, debate and research on politics. The state is not just an object of research; it is the tool with which we understand politics. Having the state not only as a concept in politics but also as a precondition of politics provides a powerful heuristic organizing mechanism for doing and analysing politics; generations of advances in political science provide powerful testimony to that. Nonetheless, it obscures several aspects of socio-political life once we go before or beyond the world of states. From the viewpoint of this book the source of these problems is that the state originated as a normative-political project to quell religious and civil war in sixteenth-century Europe and to counter what were seen as injustices and inefficiencies caused by the power of estates and other intermediary bodies. As this normative ideal has supported the dominance of what, expressed as abstractly as possible, is a particular configuration of institutions (e.g. the state), prescriptive theory/ideology has transmuted into an analytical lens which today forms the basis of much of political science, law and sociology. Not only is the state widely regarded as the best form of rule, but in many respects also as the only possible one.
Cooperation and Conflict, Sep 1, 2011
... cleavages caused by environmental scarcity … [and] civil strife caused by environmental scarc... more ... cleavages caused by environmental scarcity … [and] civil strife caused by environmental scarcity affecting economic activity, livelihood, elite behaviour and state responses' than to inter-state wars (Dalby, 2002: 47). A particular case is subsistence conflicts (Homer-Dixon, 1991 ...
Westfaliska freden ar 1648 ar ett av den europeiska och svenska historiens mest valkanda artal. S... more Westfaliska freden ar 1648 ar ett av den europeiska och svenska historiens mest valkanda artal. Slutet pa trettioariga kriget och de fordrag som beseglade uppgorelsen har tolkats, framforallt inom ...
For most of its history the European Union has been identified with peace and presented itself in... more For most of its history the European Union has been identified with peace and presented itself in the character of a civilian power. Its main activities have been peaceful ones, such as trade, industry, finance, labour markets (after 1992) social policy, the environment and the promotion of democracy. The introduction of a foreign and security policy in 1992 and a security and defence policy later in the decade were controversial and seen as alien additions to the European project. While the EU as a security actor is new, it has always been a security system. However, it has been unusual to identify the EU as a form of rule for which security has always been central (Sangiovanni and Verdier 2005). Part of the problem is conceptual. Modern political science has coded security and defence as the remit of the unitary state. Since the EU does not resemble such an entity, how could it be concerned with security? The institutional distinctness between the EU and the unitary state has been fused with the state-centred narrative of formation of order in European history reviewed in Chapter 2. For example, Marks (1997) claims that “[s] tates were created in war, the European Union in peace.”
Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift, 2006
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2011
I have argued throughout this book that the state as the dominant paradigm for ordering politics ... more I have argued throughout this book that the state as the dominant paradigm for ordering politics manifests itself in two ways: an analytical lens which makes it difficult to distinguish political organization beyond the state, particularly if said organizations control the means of force; and a normative-political programme, which explicitly states or tacitly implies, that the sovereign state is the optimal form of political organization. This paradigm causes problems for our understanding of the HRE, the USA and the EU. It also creates problems for how we perceive, understand and grapple with issues of political organization in the developing world. The most extreme difficulties of rule are coded by the state paradigm as “state failure” and the solution as “state-building.” The two complementary issues have become politics of considerable magnitude and now occupy centre stage in the security and development policies of most Western countries, international organizations and NGOs. External state-building operations have found it difficult to achieve durable order in several of the dire cases. Therefore, we must rethink the diagnosis as well as the remedy. The principal components of this book — resurrection of the republican tradition, making it empirically applicable through modern sociological theory and the comparative investigation of the three cases — impart three lessons for how we understand and attend to fractured societies in Africa and Asia. All three do not provide definite answers but produce different questions.
Journal of political power, Jan 2, 2015
Small wars & insurgencies, May 1, 2013
Although the public–private distinction is a historical construction it has been deeply internali... more Although the public–private distinction is a historical construction it has been deeply internalized and taken for granted in Western ways of thinking about society and politics. Therefore, we often apply it uncritically as a way to categorizing and coding non-Western societies. Doing so unreflectively may distort our observations as well as policies of state- and peacebuilding. I outline the history of the public–private distinction by emphasizing its role in state-formation processes. This distinction was essential to the formation of the state and society as distinct categories. Indeed, it was and is a pre-condition of the autonomy of the state.
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2011
Global Affairs, Jul 27, 2018
This article outlines the possible geopolitical consequences of climate change in the Baltic Sea ... more This article outlines the possible geopolitical consequences of climate change in the Baltic Sea Region. In order to do so it also presents a framework that understands geopolitics as a dynamic rather than static field of study. One of the most important factors that determine the character of the impact of climate change on geopolitics in the Baltic Sea Region will be the kind of relations that exist between the littoral states. Still, modern societies are buffered from changes in local natural systems by the world economy and the global trade in foodstuffs. This makes them vulnerable, to different degrees, to the effects of climate change in other parts of the world. If, or when, the latter lose their capacity to produce surplus for export, then climate change is likely to affect the welfare and geopolitical relations of the Baltic Sea Region states.
European Journal of International Relations, Dec 7, 2011
This article argues that the German Confederation-deutscher Bund-(1815-66) was a form of rule bui... more This article argues that the German Confederation-deutscher Bund-(1815-66) was a form of rule built on early modern republican political theory. It was a 'Compound Republic' form of rule constructed to prevent the emergence of a system of sovereign German states as well as a single sovereign German state. Its purpose was maintaining peace and stability in Europe and safeguarding the autonomy of its member polities. Contemporary statesmen, intellectuals and scholars saw these purposes as complementary. A non-sovereign, polycentric and republican organization of the German lands was regarded as a natural and necessary component in a stable Europe free from war and revolutions. This article analyses the origins, institutions and policies of the German Confederation, with particular regard to how the means of organized violence were organized. It thereby demonstrates the implementation of republican ideas and purposes in the Bund. The article situates the Bund in 19thcentury thinking about European stability and sovereignty, further demonstrating the prevalence of republican ideas on international order. Republican political theories and institutions differed sharply from modern theories and models of international relations. Consequently, the history of international politics, the European system of states and state-formation must be re-conceptualized more in line with historical realities.
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jan 18, 2017
The Realm as a European Form of Rule : Unpacking the Warfare Thesis through the Holy Roman Empire
The state was not always the starting-point of political analysis. From antiquity to the eighteen... more The state was not always the starting-point of political analysis. From antiquity to the eighteenth century, what we today call republicanism was the dominant body of thought regarding politics within as well as between these units. Republicanism allows us to conceptualize and analyse entities that do not conform to the state-system of state paradigm and understand their role in world politics. Republicanism offers an alternative analytical lens since it proceeds from a political ontology where units are embedded in greater communities without losing their autonomy through integration. These forms of rule are characterized by an understanding of power as divisible and authority as shared. This sharing extends even to what can be considered the foundations of politics, the means of organized violence.
I.B.Tauris eBooks, 2011
The strategic and political use of potential climate change in conflict : The case of Somalia
Journal of political power, Dec 1, 2011
... 1 1. Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, M... more ... 1 1. Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine. View all notes. A strengthened ENP could perform similar functions to the enlargement. ...
In recent years, hybrid warfare has become increasingly common concepts in strategic studies as w... more In recent years, hybrid warfare has become increasingly common concepts in strategic studies as well as in military doctrine. Despite their proliferation the concepts remain unclear and the literature is prone to mix or even confuse four main things: (a) hybrid war; (b) hybrid warfare, (c) hybrid situations and operational environments; (d) hybrid actors and forms of organization. The purpose of this paper is firstly to create a clearer distinction between these four categories and secondly to investigate which ones are likely to generate consequences for Western armed forces –as well as to outline the nature of these consequences. To solve the two tasks we have to clarify which ones of a-d are real problems. Thereafter, in order to understand the consequences we have to distinguish between their effects on strategic, operational, and tactical levels. I will argue that the consequences of hybrid factors also depend on if Western forces are pursuing a classic “Clausewitzian” campaign or a stabilizing, state-building or occupying mission. My main argument is that the most serious and unexplored problems are constituted by the operative and strategic consequences of hybrid organizations and societies under conditions of stabilizing, state-building or occupying missions.