International Security in Practice
The Politics of NATO-Russia Diplomacy

This book analyzes relations between NATO and Russia since the Cold War to draw lessons about how former enemies can become partners.

Vincent Pouliot (Author)

9780521122030, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 February 2010

308 pages, 1 b/w illus. 6 tables
22.7 x 15.1 x 1.5 cm, 0.5 kg

'In sum, Pouliot's book is a very important and innovative piece of scholarship.' Tuomas Forsberg, Europe-Asia Studies

How do once bitter enemies move beyond entrenched rivalry at the diplomatic level? In one of the first attempts to apply practice theory to the study of International Relations, Vincent Pouliot builds on Pierre Bourdieu's sociology to devise a theory of practice of security communities and applies it to post-Cold War security relations between NATO and Russia. Based on dozens of interviews and a thorough analysis of recent history, Pouliot demonstrates that diplomacy has become a normal, though not a self-evident, practice between the two former enemies. He argues that this limited pacification is due to the intense symbolic power struggles that have plagued the relationship ever since NATO began its process of enlargement at the geographical and functional levels. So long as Russia and NATO do not cast each other in the roles that they actually play together, security community development is bound to remain limited.

1. Introduction
Part I. Restoring the Practical Logic of Peace: 2. The logic of practicality: a theory of practice of security communities
3. A 'sobjective' methodology for the study of practicality
Part II. The Symbolic Power Politics of NATO-Russia Diplomacy: 4. The logic of practicality at the NATO-Russia council
5. The early steps: NATO, Russia and the double enlargement, 1992–7
6. The fallout: NATO and Russia from Kosovo to Georgia, 1998–2008
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP]