How do states reminisce? Building relations through bonding narratives
| Published date | 01 March 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00108367231177795 |
| Author | Tracy Adams,Gadi Heimann,Zohar Kampf |
| Date | 01 March 2024 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/00108367231177795
Cooperation and Conflict
2024, Vol. 59(1) 47 –65
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00108367231177795
journals.sagepub.com/home/cac
How do states reminisce?
Building relations through
bonding narratives
Tracy Adams , Gadi Heimann and
Zohar Kampf
Abstract
Reminiscing during foreign state visits serves as a discursive means for building interstate
relationships. When political leaders strategically narrate their states’ historical legacies, they
construct a collective memory that serves as a resource for creating and sustaining amicable
relations between states. Studying evocations of past events in 455 speeches delivered during
foreign state visits between 2010 and 2020, we demonstrate the prevalence and significance
of the practice of reminiscing in interstate politics. We suggest bonding narratives as a device
through which a connection is generated between two collectives to create and sustain positive
relations. Despite the unique nature of bonding narratives, the constructed collective memory
mostly relies on shared memories of wars, once again underlining the link between nations and
violence.
Keywords
bonding narratives, collective memory, foreign state visits, interstate relations
Introduction
Scholars of interpersonal communication have long considered reminiscing, the act of
recounting past events or the process of reviewing life experiences (Butler, 1963), a
means to recreate with others the emotional bonds of a shared history (Reese et al.,
1996). At social gatherings, family members or old acquaintances engage in a joint
reconstruction of autobiographical memories, harnessing their shared history to build
and sustain meaningful relations (Bluck et al., 2005; Fivush, 2008; Vinitzky-Seroussi,
1998). While many studies have examined the forms and functions of reminiscing in
interpersonal communication (Blieszner and Roberto, 2004; Fivush, 2008; Reese et al.,
Corresponding author:
Tracy Adams, Center for Cultural Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Email: tracy.adams@yale.edu
1177795CAC0010.1177/00108367231177795Cooperation and ConflictAdams et al.
research-article2023
Article
48 Cooperation and Conflict 59(1)
1996), accounts of this practice in interstate relations are relatively scarce. This is puz-
zling since state visits, in which reminiscing plays a prominent role, are a prevalent
practice in interstate relations (Goldsmith and Horiuchi, 2009; Kunczik, 2016), “reunit-
ing” two peoples (Golan et al., 2019) and strengthening the bonds between the visitor
and the host state (Kunczik, 2016). Such occasions serve as an opportunity for building
interstate positive relationship through the construction and reconstruction of past events
into a bonding narrative.
In dealing with how the past is harnessed in politics, much literature refers to the poli-
tics of memory (Hodgkin and Radstone, 2003), specifically, how the past can be used for
domestic political gain, to build national legitimacy and a cohesive identity. Research
that focused on collective memory in the context of interstate relations has demonstrated
that where constructed collective memories converge, reconciliation or cooperation fol-
lows (the German-Israeli relations are a prominent example), and where collective mem-
ories diverge, conflict ensues (for instance, China–Japan relations). Previous studies
examined, for instance, the role of memory in present interstate relations (Wittlinger,
2007); in reconciliation efforts (He, 2009; Wittlinger, 2018); and in the formation of
bilateral initiatives and identity (Hofmann and Mérand, 2020).
A second line of research dealing with how the past is harnessed in foreign affairs
focuses on strategic narratives, “a means by which political actors attempt to construct a
shared meaning of the past, present, and future of international politics” (Miskimmon et
al., 2013: 6). Studies on strategic narratives explore international system narratives that
include references to the past, portraying the global structure and international actors’
identities; national narratives dealing with states’ identities, values, and goals (also
termed biographical narratives by Berenskoetter, 2014); and issue narratives that set out
why a policy is needed and normatively desirable (Roselle et al. 2014).
In this article, we suggest a fourth strategic narrative—a bonding narrative. Such a
narrative harnesses cultural, ideological, and historical sources and resources to con-
struct and sustain positive relations between two collectives. Research on bonding narra-
tives builds on the scant literature concerning regional and global collective memory,
linking it with discussions of strategic narratives. Asking how states reminisce together
and how this serves to strengthen their relations, we demonstrate the significance of
bonding narratives, which aim to build relationships between two states by underlining
their common history, experiences, and values.
The following suggests a theoretical framework that shows how bonding narratives
serve as a device through which past events are constructed and reconstructed as collec-
tive memory in order to enhance interstate amicable relations. In contrast to previous
International Relations (IR) studies that focused on the conditions under which positive
bilateral relations between states are made possible, we demonstrate how these condi-
tions are purposively utilized as a resource to create interstate amity. We argue that when
the past is evoked to help build interstate commonality, bonding happens, primarily since
these narratives are diplomatically adjusted to do so. Studying evocations of past events
in speeches delivered during foreign state visits, we utilize this framework to make sense
of a recurrent, though somewhat neglected, practice in interstate politics—how political
leaders reminisce during state visits.
To continue reading
Request your trial