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

记忆的机制：研究历史记忆在国际能源合作中的作用。

• 批准号: 2879628
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2879628
• 关键词: Mechanisms; Memory; Investigating; role; historical

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.

最近在地中海东部发现的天然气最初被视为该地区加强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，有助于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。持续不断的政治争端，如塞浦路斯问题和以色列-巴勒斯坦冲突，以及几个区域参与者之间恶化的关系，阻碍了天然气储量的合作。我提出的研究项目旨在通过探索历史记忆在构建/驱动国家合作偏好中的作用来解释东地中海天然气合作的这些模式。东地中海是一个具有宗教、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，这些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受到假定的天然气潜力、历史恩怨和记忆政治的推动的，我将研究东地中海天然气论坛（EMFG）成立期间国家间关系中的敌意和友好模式，这是该地区的第一个国际机构。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。这种方法将辅以精英访谈。我将重点关注希腊、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参与者，以我目前的研究为基础，重点关注土耳其和塞浦路斯的关系。我最终有兴趣解释为什么，何时以及如何历史记忆纠纷来影响合作方面的天然气储量，特别关注有关塞浦路斯问题和阿以冲突的话语。这项研究的相关性有三个原因。首先，它进一步加深了我们对记忆政治如何影响状态行为的理解。其次，它挑战了关于资源基础冲突的主流文献，这些文献认为国家之间的关系主要由物质激励决定。第三，它有助于我们理解该地区天然气合作的地缘政治，该地区在欧洲推动天然气供应多样化的过程中变得越来越重要。这些影响既有理论意义，也有经验意义，强调需要更好地理解非物质价值在一个区域的因果影响，在这个区域，鉴于更广泛的地缘政治趋势，合作日益重要。