Papers by Nicolas de Zamaróczy
Contestation and Polarization in Global Governance - European Responses, 2023
Regional integration played a major albeit underappreciated role in shaping the second half of th... more Regional integration played a major albeit underappreciated role in shaping the second half of the 20th century for the better. While the case of the European Union is well known, regional organizations (ROs) in other parts of the world also significantly contributed to both the "Long Peace" and the economic "Long Boom" that characterized the post-WWII era. ROs, through their facilitation of state-to-state relations and other kinds of cross-border cooperation, tend to make their members more peaceful, wealthier, and better governed than would otherwise be the case. As the 21st century progresses, however, regional initiatives are increasingly being contested across the world: worldwide support for regionalism has fallen in recent years, at both the popular and elite levels. At the same time, stakeholders that were previously important in upholding regionalism, such as business lobby groups and national parliaments, are increasingly finding themselves sidelined amid a sea of nationalism and suspicion of cross-border trade deals.
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Cooperation and Conflict, 2020
Practice theorists favor interviews and participant observations in their study. Using insights f... more Practice theorists favor interviews and participant observations in their study. Using insights from anthropological works on bureaucratic texts, in this article we develop methodological tools to complement these interpretive methods of data collection. We suggest a way to trace practices by systematically looking through both the content of documents and their form. We probe this approach with an analysis of 408 diplomatic cables sent by the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2005–2009 and subsequently released by Wikileaks. We draw on these documents to tell two related stories about diplomatic practices: the first about epistemic practices and how the cables privilege certain voices and types of knowledge over others, and the second about diplomatic culture, where the cables serve as evidence of the powerful socialization processes that diplomats are subject to. This contributes to International Relations (IR) with a new approach for systematically analyzing written documents to uncover international practices.
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Open Political Science, 2019
International Relations (IR) scholars, particularly those working in the rationalist tradition, a... more International Relations (IR) scholars, particularly those working in the rationalist tradition, argue that costly signalling is one of the main tools that policymakers have to resolve interstate bargaining disputes and, ultimately, to minimize the occurrence of war. Recent rationalist work has greatly advanced our understanding of how costly signalling works in global politics, particularly by unpacking how militarized escalations can signal potential antagonists (e.g. Slantchev 2011). But the current literature is too hasty in dismissing the importance of non-militarized signalling during international crises, particularly for leaders worried about the risk of accidental wars. This paper presents mandatory evacuations (MEs) as a form of non-militarized escalation that states have been increasingly using since World War II to credibly signal their opponents. We illustrate our claims with a case study of China's preparations for the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War, when it ordered a massive evacuation along its northern border as a costly signal towards the Soviets.
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Seminar, 2018
What causes some types of political protests to be more effective than others? Drawing on the le... more What causes some types of political protests to be more effective than others? Drawing on the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I argue that a key attribute of successful protest movements is that they involve creative and novel protest tactics. In other words, successful activism requires changing the repertoire of contention—the set of actions most individuals in society recognize qua protest tactics. I consider some of the ways in which Gandhi, King, and their allies innovated with protest tactics historically, before turning to an analysis of protest tactics used by the American Left today. Finding that there is arguably an absence of creative dissent in contemporary American protests in the physical world, I then assess the emerging debate on the effectiveness of digital activism. I close by suggesting that despite the criticisms, digital activism has the potential to help contribute to a more just, equitable, and non-violent future for everyone, in keeping with the legacies of Gandhi and King.
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International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2019
In November 2016, the Indian government suddenly declared that two major banknotes were no longer... more In November 2016, the Indian government suddenly declared that two major banknotes were no longer legal tender. This shock move of "Demonetization" caused widespread panic throughout Indian society. At the same time that the Indian government was causing entire swaths of currency to disappear, at the quotidian level small amounts of money were magically appearing in the hands of anxious women across the country. It soon became apparent that millions of Indian women had been quietly setting aside cash over the years, typically without the knowledge of their husbands and families. What circumstances had led women to adopt these practices, and how would they now handle the difficult decisions Demonetization thrust upon them? In the two months following Demonetization, we conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with 15 North Indian women seeking to understand how they were managing their finances in a time of uncertainty. Our findings focus on four gendered aspects of their everyday financial lives: the " secret kitties " many women quietly set aside; why they deliberately store wealth in illiquid and feminized assets; the higher share of household saving women bear; and how joining " sharing clubs " can serve as an informal collective insurance strategy. On November 8, 2016, at 8:15 pm, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India made a surprise address to the nation in which he announced that the two most common types of banknotes in circulation—the ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes, worth about $8 and $15, respectively—would cease to be legal tender beginning at midnight. Together, these two banknotes accounted for over 86 percent of all bank notes in circulation by value (RBI 2016: 89). The government's stated reasons for the abrupt move, which came to be known as " Demonetization, " were several: to make illegally obtained stashes of cash (so-called " black money ") useless; to combat counterfeiters, terrorists, and other criminals who relied upon cash; and to encourage all Indians to open bank accounts and move their financial transactions into the formal economy. The main result, however, at least initially, was massive panic and confusion, as hundreds of millions of ordinary Indians suddenly discovered that most of their cash risked losing its value unless they deposited it at a bank within the next fifty days. The Indian media soon overflowed with stories of long bank queues, widespread economic chaos, and even instances of people dying when health service providers would no longer accept their now useless cash. 2
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International Studies Perspectives, 2017
Building upon current interest in studies of how popular culture relates to global politics, this... more Building upon current interest in studies of how popular culture relates to global politics, this paper examines one hitherto overlooked aspect of popular culture: computer games. Although not prominent in the field of International Relations (IR), historical strategy computer games should be of particular interest to the discipline since they are explicitly designed to allow players to simulate global politics. The paper highlights five major IR-related assumptions built into most single-player historical strategy games (the assumption of perfect information; the assumption of perfect control; the assumption of radical Otherness; the assumption of perpetual conflict; and the assumption of environmental stasis) and contrasts them with IR scholarship about how they manifest themselves in the “real world.” The paper concludes by making two arguments: first, that we can use computer games as a mirror to critically reflect on the nature of contemporary global politics and, second, that these games have important constitutive effects on understandings of global politics, effects that deserve to be examined empirically in a deeper manner.
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Thesis Chapters by Nicolas de Zamaróczy
This chapter seeks to assess how well trade promotion theories can explain the case of the EAC. ... more This chapter seeks to assess how well trade promotion theories can explain the case of the EAC. Most often used to explain developments in Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East, how well does this class of theories translate to an East African context? Ultimately, I will conclude in this chapter that the regional integration process started up again in the late 1990s as part of a deliberate strategy by East African export-oriented elites to move policy-making to the regional level. Whereas the rent-oriented elites who dominated East African politics in the 1980s and early 90s preferred to keep decision-making at the lowest possible levels, the formal rebirth of the EAC in 2000 allowed it to form a close partnership with powerful international actors like the European Union, thereby allowing exporters in both East Africa and Europe to benefit. Based on this, I argue at the theoretical level that trade promotion theories, once slightly adapted to the East African context, do a rather good job of explaining the EAC’s recent history. Indeed, in conjunction with the post-colonial theories discussed in Chapter 4, they offer the most compelling account of the recent history and likely future trajectory of this particular DWRO.
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The main goal of this chapter is to assess the extent to which post-colonial theories can shed li... more The main goal of this chapter is to assess the extent to which post-colonial theories can shed light on the historical development of the EAC. In particular, I examine the relationship between the EAC and its single most important external donor, the EU. I ask a number of related questions: what is the nature of the EU’s relationship with the EAC? Has this relationship changed over time? What political impacts has the EU-EAC relationship had on East African regional integration? Is there any evidence that EU financial contributions to the EAC have affected the latter’s policy-making?
Rather than confine my analysis in this chapter to only recent EU-EAC ties, I instead examine EU-EAC relations during two historical moments. Section 4.2 concerns the period between 1960 and 1970, when the first EAC and the then-European Economic Community (EEC) began formally interacting. Section 4.3 focuses on the period since 2005, following the relaunch of the second EAC, when the EU and the EAC have reached an unprecedented degree of cooperation. This cooperation has involved significant financial transfers from external actors to the EAC—about half a billion USD since 2000—as discussed in Section 4.4, but also a wide variety in the forms of interaction, including day-to-day contacts, trainings and study tours, secondments, and high-level reports (discussed in Sections 4.5.1-4.5.4, respectively). Section 4.5.5 discusses the formal negotiations that occurred throughout the 2000s between the EU and the second EAC concerning the Economic Partnership Agreement, a controversial free trade agreement that was eventually signed in 2014. Building on the previous empirical sections, Section 4.6 is more big-picture and proposes that the main lens through which the EU views contemporary East Africa is a “developmentalist” one, by which I mean that being able to disburse development assistance has become the European Commission’s main raison d’être in East Africa. Indeed, the EU’s need to have a fiduciarily reliable partner on the ground that shares its technocratic and export-friendly mindset arguably explains why it has so assiduously partnered with the EAC Secretariat and is so willing to spend large sums of money on an otherwise minor, unproven regional organization. Finally, Section 4.7 rounds out the chapter by drawing attention to the profound differences between EEC-EAC relations in the 1970s and EU-EAC relations today—differences which resist being pigeonholed into a crude post-colonial argument but still reflect post-colonial theorists’ attention to how development assistance can distort local incentives, as well as the frequent tradeoff between a DWRO’s capability and its legitimacy.
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The goal of this chapter is to provide a historical account of the pre-colonial, colonial, and im... more The goal of this chapter is to provide a historical account of the pre-colonial, colonial, and immediate post-independence roots of present-day East African regional integration. Particular emphasis is given to explaining the foundation and subsequent collapse of the first East African Community (1967-1977).
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The main goal of this theory chapter is to explore various answers to three related questions: wh... more The main goal of this theory chapter is to explore various answers to three related questions: what are the purposes of developing world regional organizations (DWROs)? When and how do DWROs initially form? And what causes DWROs to either change or remain constant over time, well after their initial formation?
I survey how five different traditions within IR have theorized the purpose, formation, and development of DWROs: regional hegemonic theories; policy coordination theories; trade promotion theories; post-colonial theories; and rhetorical theories.
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Book Reviews by Nicolas de Zamaróczy
In-Spire Journal, 2007
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Nickled and Dimed, 2019
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Papers by Nicolas de Zamaróczy
Thesis Chapters by Nicolas de Zamaróczy
Rather than confine my analysis in this chapter to only recent EU-EAC ties, I instead examine EU-EAC relations during two historical moments. Section 4.2 concerns the period between 1960 and 1970, when the first EAC and the then-European Economic Community (EEC) began formally interacting. Section 4.3 focuses on the period since 2005, following the relaunch of the second EAC, when the EU and the EAC have reached an unprecedented degree of cooperation. This cooperation has involved significant financial transfers from external actors to the EAC—about half a billion USD since 2000—as discussed in Section 4.4, but also a wide variety in the forms of interaction, including day-to-day contacts, trainings and study tours, secondments, and high-level reports (discussed in Sections 4.5.1-4.5.4, respectively). Section 4.5.5 discusses the formal negotiations that occurred throughout the 2000s between the EU and the second EAC concerning the Economic Partnership Agreement, a controversial free trade agreement that was eventually signed in 2014. Building on the previous empirical sections, Section 4.6 is more big-picture and proposes that the main lens through which the EU views contemporary East Africa is a “developmentalist” one, by which I mean that being able to disburse development assistance has become the European Commission’s main raison d’être in East Africa. Indeed, the EU’s need to have a fiduciarily reliable partner on the ground that shares its technocratic and export-friendly mindset arguably explains why it has so assiduously partnered with the EAC Secretariat and is so willing to spend large sums of money on an otherwise minor, unproven regional organization. Finally, Section 4.7 rounds out the chapter by drawing attention to the profound differences between EEC-EAC relations in the 1970s and EU-EAC relations today—differences which resist being pigeonholed into a crude post-colonial argument but still reflect post-colonial theorists’ attention to how development assistance can distort local incentives, as well as the frequent tradeoff between a DWRO’s capability and its legitimacy.
I survey how five different traditions within IR have theorized the purpose, formation, and development of DWROs: regional hegemonic theories; policy coordination theories; trade promotion theories; post-colonial theories; and rhetorical theories.
Book Reviews by Nicolas de Zamaróczy
Rather than confine my analysis in this chapter to only recent EU-EAC ties, I instead examine EU-EAC relations during two historical moments. Section 4.2 concerns the period between 1960 and 1970, when the first EAC and the then-European Economic Community (EEC) began formally interacting. Section 4.3 focuses on the period since 2005, following the relaunch of the second EAC, when the EU and the EAC have reached an unprecedented degree of cooperation. This cooperation has involved significant financial transfers from external actors to the EAC—about half a billion USD since 2000—as discussed in Section 4.4, but also a wide variety in the forms of interaction, including day-to-day contacts, trainings and study tours, secondments, and high-level reports (discussed in Sections 4.5.1-4.5.4, respectively). Section 4.5.5 discusses the formal negotiations that occurred throughout the 2000s between the EU and the second EAC concerning the Economic Partnership Agreement, a controversial free trade agreement that was eventually signed in 2014. Building on the previous empirical sections, Section 4.6 is more big-picture and proposes that the main lens through which the EU views contemporary East Africa is a “developmentalist” one, by which I mean that being able to disburse development assistance has become the European Commission’s main raison d’être in East Africa. Indeed, the EU’s need to have a fiduciarily reliable partner on the ground that shares its technocratic and export-friendly mindset arguably explains why it has so assiduously partnered with the EAC Secretariat and is so willing to spend large sums of money on an otherwise minor, unproven regional organization. Finally, Section 4.7 rounds out the chapter by drawing attention to the profound differences between EEC-EAC relations in the 1970s and EU-EAC relations today—differences which resist being pigeonholed into a crude post-colonial argument but still reflect post-colonial theorists’ attention to how development assistance can distort local incentives, as well as the frequent tradeoff between a DWRO’s capability and its legitimacy.
I survey how five different traditions within IR have theorized the purpose, formation, and development of DWROs: regional hegemonic theories; policy coordination theories; trade promotion theories; post-colonial theories; and rhetorical theories.