Power and the Past

This collection features some of the most intelligent, articulate, and accessible scholarship on the crucial issue of memory's profound role in shaping key aspects of contemporary politics, both domestic and foreign, all over the world. A must read for academics and practitioners! -- Andrei Markovits, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Karl W. Deutsch Collegiate Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies, The University of Michigan By bringing the concept of collective memory to international relations, this book offers a highly distinctive and cutting-edge approach. It will provide a great resource for students interested in the way the past is used to shape the international present. -- Ruth Wittlinger, School of Government and International Affairs, University of Durham, UK By focusing on the relationship between collective memory and international affairs, this excellent volume fills a glaring lacuna. In a series of comparative case studies, its authors skillfully demonstrate that collective memory is divided, contested, and multi-faceted. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in the past's indelible imprint on the present. -- Lily Gardner Feldman, Harry & Helen Gray Senior Fellow, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, The Johns Hopkins University This collection of interdisciplinary scholarship cuts new ground as it shows how collective memories shape international relations. [The book] furthers debates between constructivists and realists in international relations and demands yet again, that international relations scholars begin to engage culture more directly. -- Mark Wolfgram, Oklahoma State University-Stillwater

Examines the impact of collective memory. This study makes a contribution to developing a theory of memory and international relations and also examines specific cases of collective memory's influence resulting from the legacies of World War II, the Holocaust, and September 11.Only recently have international relations scholars started to seriously examine the influence of collective memory on foreign policy formation and relations between states and peoples. The ways in which the memories of past events are interpreted, misinterpreted, or even manipulated in public discourse create the context that shapes international relations. "Power and the Past" brings together leading history and international relations scholars to provide a groundbreaking examination of the impact of collective memory. This timely study makes a contribution to developing a theory of memory and international relations and also examines specific cases of collective memory's influence resulting from the legacies of World War II, the Holocaust, and September 11. Addressing concerns shared by world leaders and international institutions as well as scholars of international studies, this volume illustrates clearly how the memory of past events alters the ways countries interact in the present, how memory shapes public debate and policymaking, and how memory may aid or more frequently impede conflict resolution.