Discursive Identities/Identity Discourses and Political Power

Abstract

The conduct of European politics has undergone a major shift since the end of the Cold War. The end of the nuclear stand-off between the superpowers has prompted increased integration, institutionalisation and the reconceptualisation of security, all encapsulated in the enlargement of NATO and the European Union. Freed from the constraint of the balance of power between the United States and the Soviet Union, European states have become more vocal in defining their national interest as much in terms of identity and culture as in terms of sovereignty and territorial integrity. As we saw in the run-up to the French and Dutch referenda on the EU Constitution, these developments have in turn provoked much debate on the relationship between Europe and the nation-state and on the potential emergence of an incipient European identity.