The Mechanisms of Memory: Investigating the role of historical memory in international cooperation over energy resources.

最近在东地中海发现的天然气最初被视为加强该区域合作的一个有希望的时刻。面对巨大物质收益的前景，区域行动者将这些发现视为国家间合作新时代的开端，帮助克服以冲突和暴力为特征的历史。不幸的是，这一期望从未实现。塞浦路斯问题和以色列-巴勒斯坦冲突等持续的政治争端，加上若干区域行为体之间的关系恶化，阻碍了天然气储备方面的合作。我建议的研究项目旨在解释这些模式的合作，在东地中海天然气通过探索历史记忆的作用，在建设/驱动国家的偏好对合作。东地中海是一个有着宗教、种族和基于身份的竞争和冲突的重要历史的区域，这些争端在指导区域关系方面的持续重要性没有反映在文献中，文献主要侧重于物质激励。为了探讨天然气合作的政治是如何被假定的天然气潜力、历史恩怨和记忆政治所推动的，我将研究该地区第一个国际机构东地中海天然气论坛（EMFG）形成期间国家间关系中的敌意和阿米蒂模式。我打算分析从2009年发现该地区第一个重大天然气发现到2019年EMFG成立的国家话语。这种方法将通过精英访谈来补充。我将侧重于希腊，土耳其，塞浦路斯，以色列，埃及和黎巴嫩作为参与区域天然气合作的主要行为体，在我目前的研究重点是土耳其和塞浦路斯的关系。我最终感兴趣的是解释为什么，何时以及如何历史记忆争端来影响天然气储备方面的合作，特别是与塞浦路斯问题和阿以冲突有关的话语。这项研究具有相关性，原因有三。首先，它加深了我们对记忆政治如何影响国家行为的理解。其次，它挑战了主流文献的资源为基础的冲突，认为国家之间的关系，主要是由物质激励。第三，它有助于我们理解该地区天然气合作的地缘政治，该地区在欧洲实现天然气供应多样化的努力中正变得越来越重要。这些影响都是理论和经验，强调需要更好地了解在一个地区，合作具有越来越大的地缘政治趋势的重要性，非物质价值的因果影响。

Recent natural gas discoveries in the east Mediterranean were initially seen as a promising moment for increased cooperation in the region. Faced with the prospect of significant material gain, regional actors framed the discoveries as the beginning of a renewed era of interstate cooperation, helping overcome a history characterised by conflict and violence. Unfortunately, this expectation never materialized. Ongoing political disputes such as the Cyprus Problem and Israel-Palestine conflict, in addition to souring relations between several regional actors, has stunted cooperation regarding gas reserves. My proposed research project aims to explain these patterns of cooperation over natural gas in the east Mediterranean by exploring the role of historical memory in constructing/driving state preferences toward cooperation. The east Mediterranean is a region with a significant history of religious, ethnic and identity-based rivalry and conflict, with the continued importance of these disputes in guiding regional relations is not reflected in the literature, which primarily focuses on material incentives. To explore how the politics of natural gas cooperation is fuelled by assumed gas potential, historical grievances, and the politics of memory, I will research patterns of enmity and amity in interstate relations during the formation of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMFG), the regions first international institution. I intend on analysing state discourse from 2009, when the first major gas discovery in the region was found, to 2019, when the EMFG was established. This approach will be supplemented by elite interviews. I will focus on Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Egypt and Lebanon as the main actors involved in regional gas cooperation, building upon my current research which focuses on Turkish and Cypriot relations. I am ultimately interested in explaining why, when and how historical memory disputes come to impact cooperation with regard to natural gas reserves, focusing specifically on discourse related to the Cyprus problem and Arab-Israeli conflict. This research is relevant for three reasons. First, it furthers our understanding of how memory politics impact state behaviour. Second, it challenges mainstream literature on resource-based conflict that views relations between states as primarily determined by material incentive. Third, it helps us understand the geopolitics of gas cooperation in a region that is becoming increasingly important in Europe's drive to diversify gas supply. These implications are both theoretical and empirical, emphasising the need to better understand the causal impact of non-material values in a region where cooperation holds increasing importance given broader geopolitical trends.