Post-Modern Narrative of International Identity of the European Union

Abstract

The International identity of the European Union has been characterized with different conceptual narratives such as civilian power, normative power and so on. The post-modern power Europe is an important narrative which signifies the transition of the European Union beyond modern politics. Robert Cooper, the British diplomat and Robert Kagan, the American political Analyst, have been representatives of this dominant narrative in english world.;
The paper addresses one question in this regard: How post-modern narrative contributes to the definition of an European identity? The main argument of this paper is as follows: The post-modern Europe narrative plays a significant role in the identity construction of the European Union through othering, discursive representation and differentiation between Europe and its non-European others in world politics.;
After a brief review of the philosophical and sociological foundations of post-modernism as it developed in Europe over the last years, the paper analyses the post-modern turn in European politics, Robert Cooper and post-Modern Europe, Robert Kagan and Kantian Europe and the role of Post-Modern Europe in world politics on the basis of post-phenomenological tradition. It concludes that in the absence of complete identification between theory and reality, the post-modern narrative of European identity is more normative discourse rather than phenomenological explanation of European international politics;

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