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，最初被视为加强该地区合作的一个有希望的时刻。面对巨大物质利益的前景，地区参与者将这些发现定义为国家间合作新时代的开始，帮助克服了以冲突和暴力为特征的历史。不幸的是，这一期望从未成为现实。塞浦路斯问题和以巴冲突等持续不断的政治争端，加上几个区域行为者之间关系的恶化，阻碍了天然气储备方面的合作。我提出的研究项目旨在通过探索历史记忆在构建/推动国家对合作的偏好方面的作用，来解释东地中海天然气合作的这些模式。东地中海是一个有着宗教、族裔和基于身份的竞争和冲突的重大历史，这些争端在指导区域关系方面的持续重要性没有反映在主要侧重于物质奖励的文献中。为了探索天然气合作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，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。东地中海天然气论坛是该地区第一个国际机构。我打算分析从2009年在该地区发现第一个重大天然气发现到2019年EMFG成立的国家话语。这一方法将得到精英采访的补充。在我目前侧重于土耳其和塞浦路斯关系的研究的基础上，我将把希腊、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。我最终感兴趣的是解释历史记忆争端为何、何时以及如何影响天然气储备方面的合作，特别侧重于与塞浦路斯问题和阿以冲突有关的讨论。这项研究之所以相关，有三个原因。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，它挑战了关于基于资源的冲突的主流文献，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元化的努力中正变得越来越重要。这些影响既是理论上的，也是经验上的，强调有必要更好地理解非物质价值在一个区域的因果影响，鉴于更广泛的地缘政治趋势，合作在该区域越来越重要。

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.