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    Canadian Political Science Association
    2020 Annual Conference Programme

    Confronting Political Divides
    Hosted at Western University
    Tuesday, June 2 to Thursday, June 4, 2020
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    Presidential Address:
    Barbara Arneil, CPSA President

    Origins:
    Colonies and Statistics

    Location:
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 05:00pm to 06:00pm
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    KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
    Ayelet Shachar
    The Shifting Border:
    Legal Cartographies of Migration
    and Mobility

    Location:
    June 04, 2020 | 01:30 to 03:00 pm
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    Keynote Speaker: Marc Hetherington
    Why Modern Elections
    Feel Like a Matter of
    Life and Death

    Location:
    Wednesday, June 3, 2020 | 03:45pm to 05:15pm
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    Plenary Panel
    Indigenous Politics and
    the Problem of Canadian
    Political Science

    Location: Arts & Humanities Building - AHB 1R40
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 10:30am to 12:00pm

CPSA/ISA-Canada section on International Relations



C05(a) - Geopolitics and the Politics of Cooperation

Date: Jun 2 | Time: 01:30pm to 03:00pm | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Dejan Guzina (Wilfrid Laurier University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Jeffrey Rice (Carleton University)

Serbian Foreign Policy: Between Geopolitics and The Identity Crisis: Dejan Guzina (Wilfrid Laurier University)
Abstract: The usual understanding of the rise of geopolitical tinkering in Serbia is that the crisis in Ukraine and the rising tensions between Russia and the West have turned the region into a proxy arena for a renewed geopolitical competition between Russia and the Western states. I argue, however, that the geopolitical thinking has been present or dominated Serbian foreign policy throughout the entire post-Milosevic period, and is best summarized through Serbia’s two-track approach – a special relationship with Russia while maintaining its commitment to join the EU. This is, after all, what defines this period irrespective of whether the Serbian government was in the hands of Serbian democrats or the Serbin progressive party. In other words, rather than explaining the rise of geopolitics in the region by relying on the external factors (the EU, Russia, USA), I argue that the confusing mix of institutionalist, realist and geopolitical elements in Serbian foreign policy can best be explained in the context of the identity crisis of the Serbian state and society. In the evaluation of the Serbian foreign policy, I rely on the rich IR literature on the “ontological insecurity” as well as on the work of Stefano Guzzini and his conceptualization of the return of geopolitics in Europe.


Why Cooperation with Russia in the Arctic is Still Possible: Kari Roberts (Mount Royal University)
Abstract: The Arctic region presents a rare opportunity for Russia-West relations today. A record of cooperation in the region exists, but this could be in jeopardy if Arctic nations allow the enemy images of Russia that have permeated other files to dominate relations in the Arctic. This paper contends that cooperation with Russia in the Arctic is still possible, but that this will require the acceptance of Russia as a major power with legitimate Arctic interests, and a reconsideration of the dominant western discourse about Russia that has already begun to affect Arctic relations, notably Russia’s disruptive and revisionist tendencies and its desire to overthrow the liberal order. These assumptions about Russia render it inherently threatening, unworthy of engagement, and make Arctic cooperation unlikely. This paper takes the view that Arctic nations – notably Canada – must undertake a more nuanced understanding of Russian interests in the Arctic if cooperation in the region is to be salvaged.


Analysing the Process of the European Union Facilitated Normalization Dialogue Between Kosovo and Serbia: Flamur Hoxha (AAB University)
Abstract: A month later, Kosovo will celebrate the 11th anniversary of its independence. However, there are still ongoing state-building problems of the country, whether internal or external. Although Kosovo has embraced the understanding and values of the European democracy, it has been tried to prove this goal by accepting European Union political and legal regulations in the state structure also the euro as its official currency. The fact that Kosovo is not a member of international institutions and organizations has caused Kosovo to be a special case in the field of international relations as well as preventing it from functioning as a normal state. The northern part of Kosovo, which is outside the state's control, is a serious problem both politically and securely. In this context, new negotiations/dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia have become inevitable in order to resolve these problems, both Kosovo and the entire region. The European Union has become both the organizer of the negotiations and the guarantor of the aimed agreements by ensuring the agreements to be accepted by the two countries. Moreover, in addition to encouraging Kosovo and Serbia to participate in the dialogue, the European Union has begun to use this dialogue as a condition of progress towards the integration of both countries.


Are Spheres of Influence 'Social'? Rethinking Geopolitics for the 21st Century: Christopher LaRoche (Central European University)
Abstract: In the past decade analysts have announced, with increasing frequency, the 'return of geopolitics.' These renewed geopolitics are understood to be coeval with Russian and Chinese assertiveness, and are argued to pose a grave threat to contemporary global governance structures and the liberal postwar international order in which those structures are embedded. This paper rethinks the dichotomy between 'geopolitics' and global governance. It argues that International Relations scholars, by relying on existing and often muddled definitions of geopolitics rather than developing their own, have ignored an important alternative conception wherein geopolitical phenomena are constitutive, shared elements of international society--in a word, social. I argue that the U.S.-led liberal world order is geopolitical in these terms, and can be understood as a series of regional 'geopolitical bargains' with local powers that the United States has increasingly overstepped. I contrast my relational conception of geopolitics with the dominant alternatives--critical geography and classical geopolitics--and conclude by arguing that the geopolitical ambitions of today's rising powers are best understood, and managed, from the new 'social' geopolitics perspective.




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