Author profile: IJ Benneyworth

Why is ‘historical memory’ still so significant in understanding German foreign and security policy?

IJ Benneyworth • Jul 8 2011 • Essays

From the Holocaust memorial, to the deliberately unrecovered foundations of Gestapo headquarters, to rare war-era buildings bearing the scars of Red Army gunfire, links to the Nazi-era and the associated ‘historical memory’ has maintained a grip on the German psyche.

The Ongoing Relationship Between France and its Former African Colonies

IJ Benneyworth • Jun 11 2011 • Essays

France has attempted to maintain a hegemonic foothold in Francophone Africa to serve its interests and maintain a last bastion of prestige associated with past mastery. Do these relations retain an essentially colonialist character?

Accounting for Germany’s Foreign and Security Culture

IJ Benneyworth • Jun 7 2011 • Essays

Given Germany’s post-war situation, it moved towards a constitutionally enshrined antimilitarist, democratic and moralist stance, which helped make Germany a smaller geopolitical actor than its potential suggested, a situation it was not altogether unhappy with. Despite the former, it does have a genuine security culture which has adapted over time.

The Single European Currency as a catalyst for integration within the EU

IJ Benneyworth • May 31 2011 • Essays

The Euro, by design and recent accident, has been a catalyst to integration within the EU, but with the caveat that this integration is unevenly distributed. Even if there are disparities in broader levels of integration, the determination to avoid failure has unified the euro-area members and non-members alike.

Why has a negotiated settlement been possible in Northern Ireland and not the Basque conflict?

IJ Benneyworth • May 23 2011 • Essays

A case can be made that a negotiated settlement has been possible in Northern Ireland due to an inclusive political strategy and acceptance of compromise, whereas the Basque situation has not been conductive to a settlement due to the government pursuing an exclusionary position towards ETA and radical nationalist political groups.

The ‘Great Debates’ in international relations theory

IJ Benneyworth • May 20 2011 • Essays

Almost a century after its birth, IR is still in the process of defining itself. The Great Debates stimulated discussion about the essential characteristics of the discipline, and through these IR theory has undoubtedly advanced in complexity and nuance since its founding, and doubtless will continue to do so.

Does the European Union have a strategic culture?

IJ Benneyworth • Feb 14 2011 • Essays

This essay will posit that the EU does have a strategic culture, but one still in infancy, beset by weaknesses and potentially insurmountable obstacles. To demonstrate this, we shall explore key diplomatic efforts to enhance European strategic integration, responses to world events and operational deployments, how these have progressively shaped a common strategic culture, and how numerous issues undermine it.

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