ZIB Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen

This contribution to the forum argues that norm research would profit from a rationalist perspective, particularly with regard to the strategic and instrumental use of norms. The article develops the concept of ‘norm-washing’ – the...

The contribution reflects on recent proposals for a multidimensional perspective on norm dynamics and discusses their added value concerningthe concept of norm clusters, which is situated as a meso-level between individual norms as the basic unit...

For some years now, norms research has been more intensively concerned with complex relationships between norms. Against this background, the article argues that the concept of norm collisions is a useful as well as necessary extension of the...

Research on international norm dynamics faces the challenge of analytically capturing the interpretations of many different actors in order to be able to account for the complexity, plurality, and changing perspectives in global politics. Recent...

Liberal norms such as human rights have long been the focus of constructivist norm research, but feminist, post- and de-colonial approaches have reconstructed them as ambivalent: The revelation of both emancipatory potential and principled exclusion...

Reflexivity matters, both in relation to oneself as a researcher and in relation to one’s own scientific-theoretical basic assumptions. Reflexivity is a prerequisite for successful communication within research fields, but it is not yet the status...

The increasing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in many areas of politically relevant decision-making leads to new questions regarding the role of norms. Existing norm research offers important, diversified concepts, particularly on the...

Cooperation in the United Nations Security Council is becoming increasingly difficult due to global political tensions. This is also reflected in the failure to pass resolutions. But what drives the voting behavior of countries in the UN Security...

Women’s rights have been developing in a liberal-progressive manner on the international stage since the creation of the United Nations. Although the contestation of norms is not an unusual phenomenon, the increased critique of the human right to...

What is the significance of the military in German foreign and security policy? This article focuses on the development of the German government's convictions in the confrontation with multiple crises between 2014 and 2020. It shows that the German...

For much of German politics and political science, the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, came as an unexpected shock. At the same time, the war seemed to confirm core realist messages, such as Russia's stated goal of using force to...

Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine also signifies, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced, a 'turning point' in German foreign policy. This article explores the question of whether the shock of the Russian war of aggression has led to a profound...

Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine provides an opportunity for a critical reassessment of the civilian power research paradigm. Specifically, the article lists three points of criticism that are relevant for understanding German foreign policy...

This article offers a new theoretical approach to intelligence studies. Based on the intellectual history of the reason of state, I argue that exceptional national and transnational activities of the intelligence services are enabled by the inner...

The Holy See continuously expanded its diplomatic network in the transformations of international relations since the end of the 19th century. The increase was synchronous with the growth of sovereign states in the process of decolonization....

Russia’s war against Ukraine started with a nuclear threat Putin’s against the West. More explicit threats by the Kremlin followed. The West takes these threats and the general danger of Russian nuclear weapons use serious and warns about...

A little more than 20 years ago, members of the DVPW Section on International Relations founded a mailing list. Since then, generations of researchers and students have subscribed to (and certainly often unsubscribed from) the ib-liste. Inspired by...