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KELLNER Thierry
Units
REPI Recherche et Études en Politique Internationale
REPI is a research unit, mainly dedicated to research and studies in international politics at the Université libre de Bruxelles. It is linked to the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences. REPI fosters fundamental research in the field of international relations and aims at providing a high quality framework for the research in this field (PhD dissertations, publications, conferences...). Depending on available resources, members of REPI can also provide specific expertise for national and international institutions. Furthermore, the research centre encourages the dissemination of knowledge in international relations to a larger audience and represents a convenient space for discussing the teaching of international relations within the university. REPI also organises seminars and summer schools for professionals and young scholars. Its scientific activities focus on two major areas of international politics: the study of security issues and international public policy (environment, health, international economics, development, etc.). These activities are rooted in several research traditions and schools of thought: foreign policy analysis, political sociology of international affairs, critical approaches to security, international political economy, etc., with the aim of better understanding power issues in international relations at different levels. The research agenda also includes the study of the European Union's external action and the main international institutions. Director : Christian Olsson
Projetcs
The acceleration of climate change has revealed a presumably surprising link between environmental discourse and nationalist movements that immediately caught researchers' attention. Since the early 2000s, so-called eco-nationalism has been studied from different angles and in different contexts. However, outside of a European and predominantly democratic context, the impact of eco-nationalism remains understudied. This project addresses this gap in the literature by comparing the convergence of environmental rhetoric and nationalism in the legitimation strategies and national identity construction of three different political regimes in predominantly Chinese-dominated societies: China, Singapore, and Taiwan. Through a comparative perspective and a qualitative research design, this project intends to shed new light on the emergence of green nationalism - a form of nationalism that supports national sustainability - under authoritarian, hybrid, and democratic regimes, respectively China, Singapore, and Taiwan. The aim, then, is to understand the extent to which nations of different political systems in the Sinophone world cultivate and possibly co-opt environmental discourses in order to achieve broader goals of national identity and international legitimacy. From a theoretical point of view, the project will focus on the concept of green nationalism and a constructivist perspective of "imagined communities" – a term coined by Benedict Anderson (2006). Foregrounding on the relationship between environmental discourses and claims to legitimacy, the project aims to fill a gap in the literature on the impact of green nationalism outside of the European context and in different political regimes, a topic that has not previously been explored in the literature.
Peace and Security in Asia-Pacific
The rise of Asia is one of the most important developments of the 21st century. It confers on the Asian continent and its Pacific shores a renewed importance in the current reconfiguration of global power relations. Yet, multiple issues are at stake in Asia. The continent is not a calm strategic space: extreme nationalisms, territorial and maritime disputes are signs that this thriving territory is threatened. Furthermore, no regional institution has proven itself capable of avoiding escalation and giving this complex and multi-faceted area a strategic identity so far. In the wake of this « transformation of the world » come many questions for an introspective Europe. How intelligible are the overlapping processes of strategic competition and cooperation in Asia to Europeans? How can European institutions and states cope with an increasingly armed Asia while they simultaneously divest the defence sector of its resources? What will be the impacts on European security and prosperity? Although many competences are to be found in Europe, which could help in dealing with these questions, they face a dual challenge. First, they lack coherence. Second, they suffer from the tyranny of distance, which makes Asian interests all too often appear remote or vague to European audiences. Via its collaborative stance and research centred on the perceptions of Asian stakeholders rather than on a “European lens”, the GRIP “Peace and Security in Asia-Pacific” programme seeks to fill these gaps. Through its bilingual publications, its network and joint projects, GRIP aims to provide a platform for Asian strategic issues in Europe, based on high-end and collaborative research. Its added value lies in its focus on peace and security affairs, mainly tackled through: - maritime security in Asia: state policies and stakes for global security - strategic cultures in Asia, - military spending, arms transfers, the development of defence technological and industrial bases in Asia, - the role of Europe in the current reconfiguration of power relations - China and the Asian security: development and scenarios Thierry Kellner is associated with L. Mampaey, B. Hellendorff and S. Boisseau du Rocher in this programme.
