Papers by Philip Giurlando
International studies review, Dec 27, 2023
This article reviews one of the expanding research programs in International Relations (IR): the ... more This article reviews one of the expanding research programs in International Relations (IR): the study of populist foreign policy (PFP). Recent years have witnessed a significant proliferation of IR scholars researching the nexus between the global rise of populism and their foreign policies across different countries, regions, and subfields. However, scientific progress at such stage of this research program demands an in-depth “mapping” of its different ontological approaches. To this end, we identify and explore five different “schools” of PFP that have been consolidated in the last decade, while highlighting their accomplishments in understanding the distinctive populist elements in foreign policy and their possibilities of analyzing local and external conditions under which PFP impacts global politics. We also set the stage for future contributions on the drivers, patterns, and effects of PFP, under the assumption that the populist phenomenon and its transnational dimensions will continue to affect IR prospects for a long time to come.
Comparative European politics, Feb 23, 2024
Populist politics in Southern Europe displays several distinctive patterns related to a shared hi... more Populist politics in Southern Europe displays several distinctive patterns related to a shared history, geography, culture, and economy, while being subject to similar geopolitical pressures. In the last decade, moreover, the Euro-Mediterranean region has been struck by destabilizing shocks: the Eurozone crisis and the refugee crisis, which led to a realignment of party politics, with populist parties of both the left and the right enjoying high levels of popular support and taking, or have gotten close to taking, governmental power. These patterns make Southern Europe an interesting case for the study of populism and foreign policy through a (sub-)regional comparative approach. This article applies a structured, focused comparison of the populist foreign policies (PFP) of France, Italy, Spain, and Greece, seeking to explain how populist leaderships have shaped foreign policy in these countries and the conditions under which their PFP were translated into action. After putting Euro-Mediterranean populism in context, we examine four structural themes of catalysts or constraints that populists face when 'navigating' PFP around the European Mare Nostrum: international power distribution, ideological underpinnings, domestic political system, and policy domains. The comparative analysis reveals how, while populist performances are often aimed at executing a rupture and, as a result, gaining legitimacy, the implementation of PFP in Southern Europe has ultimately been affected by structural pressures to discard these revolutionary impulses and align with the mainstream.
International Affairs, 2024
It is widely recognized that populists oppose the delegation of more decision-making to supranati... more It is widely recognized that populists oppose the delegation of more decision-making to supranational actors and that this tendency can be constrained by other branches of government, geopolitical power pressures or factors such as whether populists are minor or major members of coalitions. The literature, however, has not elaborated on how the transformation of international organizations can affect populist politics. We aim to fill this gap with an examination of how the NextGenerationEU (NGEU), a redistributionist and solidaristic form of supranational governance, undermined populist opposition to the European Union in selected beneficiary countries. To demonstrate this, we explore populist discourses in France, Italy and Spain during four successive crises in the EU's history in which its structure and identity were at stake and which prompted debates on the future in/of the EU: the referendum on the Constitutional Treaty of 2005, the Greek referendum of 2015, the Brexit referendum of 2016 and the COVID–19 crisis, followed by the Recovery Fund/NGEU of 2020. Observing populist discourses during the acute phases of these four crises allows us to observe a consolidated trend of populist contestation until 2020, when the NGEU was announced, and supports the conclusion that populists, especially in Spain and Italy, went in a less sovereigntist direction as a result of the NGEU.
Griffith Journal of Law & Human Dignity, Jan 31, 2021
Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, Nov 4, 2020
The purpose of this paper is to answer the following four questions using Italy as a case study: ... more The purpose of this paper is to answer the following four questions using Italy as a case study: (A) does populism represent, in the realm of foreign policy, a substantive rupture with its predecessors? (B) Are there differences between left-wing and right-wing populists in the realm of foreign affairs? (C) In what ways do domestic institutions constrain or enable populist action in the international arena? (D) Are international opportunities and
European politics and society, May 25, 2021
International Journal, Dec 1, 2019
In France, the adoption of the euro was partly motivated by the desire for equality with Germany,... more In France, the adoption of the euro was partly motivated by the desire for equality with Germany, but asymmetry has increased in terms of economic prowess and international status, leading to a sense of déclassement. This paper identifies links between France's status reduction, a consequent feeling of humiliation, and the foreign policy positions associated with that collective emotion. Evidence of France's déclassement includes macroeconomic trends, semi-structured interviews with a sample of elites, the secondary literature, and the domestic political disputes that have emerged as a result of this reduction of national status. The paper also systematically compares France to Italy, as in many ways it is similar to that country, but with one key difference: the political forces which have been loudest about Italy's humiliation vis-à-vis Germany obtained power and governed from May 2018 to August 2019. Their orientations and positions provide a peek into the kinds of international political decisions associated with both déclassement and humiliation, and provide further evidence on the links between status reduction, group-level emotion, and inter-group behaviour.
International Journal, Mar 1, 2023
Populists in southern Europe and potentially beyond display a distinctive understanding of intern... more Populists in southern Europe and potentially beyond display a distinctive understanding of international relations, such as the belief that national or the “people's” sovereignty must be the main organizing principle of international affairs, a preference for a multipolar world, suspicion of multilateral governance institutions, and sympathy toward Russia and/or China. This phenomenon represents a potentially fruitful domain for scholarly inquiry to answer questions such as: what are some of the ontological features of populism and how are these elements connected to patterns of foreign policy preferences? This essay aims to provide tentative answers to these questions with a focus on Spain.
International Studies Review, Apr 3, 2023
Review of European and Russian affairs, Aug 1, 2012
This paper explores how European integration impacts the national identities of Member States. Id... more This paper explores how European integration impacts the national identities of Member States. Identity is an amorphous concept, and so this paper focuses on one dimension of it: the perception of the relative status of the nation that nationalized individuals possess. Perceptions of relative national status flow from the fact that the international system is characterized by hierarchy, competition, and concerns for relative gains and losses. A key motivation for the foreign policies of lower status nations is equality with higher status ones, and for the former, European integration is often perceived in equalizing terms. But, this perception of Europe as equalizer often does not correspond with objectively unequal power relations in Europe. This paper focuses on why, among nationalized individuals, perceptions of power differentials change, even though objectively the unequal interstate power relations may remain unchanged. The case study is Italy entering the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union in 1999, which was perceived by many Italians in equalizing terms, even though the unequal power relations between Italy and Europe's elite countries remained objectively the same.
Intelligence and national security, Jul 6, 2020
Activists Under Surveillance presents readers with declassified documents which formed part of th... more Activists Under Surveillance presents readers with declassified documents which formed part of the FBI's investigations into persons and groups deemed to pose a threat to America's security. Most of the targeted were activists who had morally and intellectually defensible reasons to oppose some of the U.S. government's policies, such as the mistreatment of minorities or the war against North Vietnam, and yet they were perceived by the FBI as subversive threats potentially being directed by Moscow. Activists Under Surveillance shows how this politicization empowered unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats to pursue suspects and, in so doing, criminalize legitimate opposition and seriously compromise civil liberties, particularly during the Cold War. Additionally, the text under review contributes to our understanding of the Intelligence Community's (IC) politicization from the middle of the 20 th century to the present; accordingly, it will be of keen interest to scholars and general readers concerned with this tendency and the dangers it poses to democracy. The documents displayed in Activists Under Surveillance are mostly from the period when the FBI was led by J. Edgar Hoover, and hence in many ways they reflect his worldview, which was, among other things, intensely anti-communist. A diverse array of activists was targeted, in part because they were suspected of having communist sympathies. Libertarians, feminists, anti-racists, activists fighting for native rights and the Palestinian cause, and particularly those opposed to U.S. foreign policy were all suspected by the FBI. Each individual suspect has their own chapter, 1 which begins with the editors' preamble on the investigation, providing helpful background information and context of the person under examination. Most of the documents are written in sterile bureaucratese, and some are heavily redacted despite being declassified. This makes reading some of them a slog, but the effort is worth it since they provide a window into this agencies' activities during much of the Cold War. One position which in particular drew Hoover's ire, and triggered many FBI investigations, was opposition to the war in Vietnam. Notable examples included in Activists Under Surveillance are the investigations of legendary labour leader Cesar Chavez, writer and psychologist Abbie Hoffman, and historian Howard Zinn. In the case of Hoffman (and others discussed below), documents reveal that he was categorized by the FBI as 'potentially dangerous because of background, emotional instability [emphasis added], or activities in groups inimical to the U.S.' (p. 190). Here we have an example of how the FBI at times conflated political opposition with a psychological deficiency, and many readers might be reminded of how political dissent in the Soviet Union was also sometimes treated as a mental illness, although with much graver consequences. One of the ways that the FBI carried out investigations of activists was to attend their rallies, often on college campuses, and take detailed notes of their speeches. Activists Under Surveillance allows readers to see some of the results of these investigations, mainly the summaries of the agents' observations, allowing one to imagine with some amusement an undercover FBI agent present among a group of hippies, listening intensely for comments he considers to violate federal laws, or a threat to the U.S.'s security. One in particular stands out: Abbie Hoffman, who, during a speech at Marshall University on April 21 st , 1972, in front of 400 students, criticized 'the [Nixon] administration in Washington D.C. regarding the continuation of the war in Vietnam, and the renewed bombing of North Vietnam' (p. 202). Hoffman's case is also fascinating because he knew the FBI was watching him, and he reacted, in contemporary terms, by 'trolling' it. For example, he organized a séance to end the Vietnam war by levitating the Pentagon via, among other things, Tibetan chanting. He also
Populism, Mar 4, 2020
This paper argues that the “feeling of betrayal” thoroughly entangles feeling and narration into ... more This paper argues that the “feeling of betrayal” thoroughly entangles feeling and narration into a single subjective impression. When felt by large numbers of citizens in the political realm, it motivates the desire to reassert national control over a realm where such control is perceived to have been lost. Expressions of “feeling betrayed” can be observed in the aftermath of the Great Recession and the consequent populist insurgencies impacting many Western countries, suggesting links between economic insecurity, feelings of betrayal, and the willingness to support non-mainstream political movements which demand a reassertion of national control. The paper attempts to demonstrate these links by analyzing Italy and Greece, two countries which saw a surge in support for populist groups after the Eurozone’s debt crisis.
Mediterranean Quarterly, Sep 1, 2015
There were many narratives that European elites used to sell the euro to their publics. One was t... more There were many narratives that European elites used to sell the euro to their publics. One was that it would modernize and rationalize public finances, but this narrative appears to have been held mainly by the highly educated elite. Another was that the currency would unify the continent and help to create a superpower that would better be able to address the challenges of globalization. 1 One of the most widely expressed narratives was that the euro would produce economic benefits, 2 perhaps in the form of more jobs, more economic growth, and increased standards of living. This expectation was not met in Italy, where it is widely perceived that the currency led to inflation, or that it helped to cause many of the economic difficulties that the country is experiencing. Much of the decline in the support for the currency can be traced to these unmet expectations, and the implications are very important: the euro is fundamentally a political construct, and its long-term viability will depend on at least some degree of legitimacy. This essay reconstructs some of the elite-created narratives of the euro in Italy in the late 1990s. Following a review of the existing literature and a discussion of the Italian media, the essay shows that the narratives came in two forms: economic and cultural. The former was based on the idea that the euro would be a panacea for Italy's economic problems, while cultural narratives presumed that the euro would cure Italians' propensity to behave "irresponsi
Modern & Contemporary France, Dec 11, 2020
Standard accounts of the politics of the Eurozone often emphasize the importance of German leader... more Standard accounts of the politics of the Eurozone often emphasize the importance of German leadership. But this assumes that Europe's fate is in the hands of Berlin. Events in Paris matter equally, or more, because Germany cannot take on the leadership of Europe by itself. It is recognized in both countries that a fundamental condition for the proper functioning of the duopoly is proximate parity in the rapport de force. But four events have undermined equality between France and Germany: the latter's unification, the distributional effects of the common currency, the eastward expansion of the EU, and the debt crisis of 2011-2012. Emmanuel Macron's challenge is to reverse France's déclassement and restore it to a position of proximate equality with Germany. If he fails, the asymmetry between Germany and France will increase, and the resulting skewed power structure will undermine the chances of needed reform initiatives.
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Papers by Philip Giurlando