Description
Countries have collective memories of war, conflict and suffering. However, where precisely does the collective memory of a country take shape, and then, how does it impact state behaviour over time? In seeking answers to these questions, this paper introduces the interdisciplinary concept of collective memory into the academic field of International Relations (IR). It first outlines a novel 'international politics of memory' framework which locates the origins of a country's memory in political strategies within the international environment. With the illustrative help of mini-case studies on the emergence of diverse WWII memories, it shows that memory begins for a country as an international political effort to achieve 'status' within the community of states. However, once a country's memory has formed internationally, memory then also starts to channel international state behaviour. To show this, the constructivist identity-behaviour nexus proposed by Ontological Security scholars requires amendment through the formulation of a novel 'temporal security' approach. It proposes that countries follow their collective memory, that is, their narrated 'self', in world politics. In combining new theoretical moves with empirical cases, this talk not only shows that collective memory has an influence on political outcomes but also how and why memory matters for IR.
