Not International Relations’ ‘mare nostrum’: On the divergence between the Mediterranean and the discipline of International Relations

Abstract

This study analyzes the (dis)connections between the Mediterranean and the discipline of International Relations (IR) by focusing on their interactions from two distinct but complementary perspectives. First, a comparative analysis of leading academic IR journals both from the most active IR scholarly communities (American/global, European, British) and across the northern/European Mediterranean region (Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, and Turkey) looks to what extent topics related to the Mediterranean have found a place in these publications. Second, it offers a more disciplinary analysis that considers the reasons of IR’s lacking engagement with the Mediterranean, pointing to the discipline’s historical and sociological development that hindered a greater role for this significant region in IR theories and empirics. The study concludes by discussing the possibility of a Mediterranean IR theory that would consider the region’s distinct world historical role while pointing to the constraints faced by such an alternative theoretical framework.