In person icon Coming Out of the Periphery? The Agency of CEE in European and Global International Relations

Abstract

This panel provides a platform to scholars coming from the region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The intention is to confront the simultaneous peripheralization and marginalization of CEE voices and experience in the explanation and understanding of both global and European International Relations (IR). The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 came as a surprise to many EU member states. But there have been also those in the Union, who were much less surprised and rather frustrated as their voices and warnings had fallen on deaf ears. In fact, many countries from Central Eastern Europe (CEE) had been trying for decades to warn their counterparts about the nature of Russia’s imperial policies in what Moscow perceives as its neighbourhood. Labeled as “Westsplaining,” academics and diplomats from the region have been expressing their frustration with the persistence of patronizing attitudes expressed towards them by their Western counterparts, who would insist on providing them with an explanation of how the Central Eastern Europe worked. The main query motivating this panel is the engagement with the positioning of the CEE countries in the growing pluralization of the study and practices of world affairs.

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