Before the Last Domino: Refining Rivalry

Huddleston, R. Joseph

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2727867

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

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“…Overall, these approaches focussed on the enduring -or protracted -characteristic of rivalry. They did so by examining securitized rivalries, that is, conflict-prone dyadic competitions between adversaries, who perceive, and treat, each other as a threat; their resultant hostility in turn influences their expectations about their future relationship (Huddleston, 2013). As a result, less attention has been dedicated to the status of the dyadic relationship before it becomes 'securitized', that is, how contested issues actually become a matter of 'national security' prompting the emergence of the rivalry.…”

Section: Rivalry In International Relations and Peace And Conflict St...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mimetic rivalry in practice: The case of Kosovo

Hehir

Lanza

2021

Journal of International Political Theory

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In this article, we advance a framework that highlights the relational nature of rivalry emergence and its ongoing manifestations, before illustrating this framework in practice through an analysis of the rivalry between Serbs and Albanians over the issue of Kosovo. We argue that the locus of rivalry lies in the inherently social character of human desire and the destructive reciprocity elicited by human mimetic behaviour. The manner in which rivals portray their plight, and legitimise their cause, is, we argue, a function of their desire to acquire that which they imagine the other has. As such, rather than adhering to the conventional view that rivalries are characterised by difference, we argue that rivals share a set of common goals/desires. Thus, though rivalries are characterised by mutual antipathy – and the attendant devotion to constructing self-serving myths – this is but a superficial manifestation of an underlying mimetic dynamic. To focus only on how myths are constructed and instrumentally employed, is not sufficient when seeking to explain the persistence of rivalries. Rather, we must understand the underlying desires the respective rivals seek to fulfill through the proliferation of these myths if we are to truly understand the nature of the rivalry.

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Section: Rivalry In International Relations and Peace And Conflict St...mentioning

confidence: 99%