The Past is Present: The Use and Misuse of Traumatic Historical Events in Foreign Policy

Basic research , History , International relations , Politics

2022 - 2025

Providet	Charles University
Programme	PRIMUS
Project code	PRIMUS/22/HUM/011
Participants	Faculty of Social Sciences Charles University (coordinator), Johns Hopkins University

How do traumatic historical events shape contemporary foreign policy? This question has been made more pressing by the rise of European populist parties who advocate revisionist policies, which they legitimize through controversial framings of the past. In assessing why and how “the past is present” (TPIP), this project will impact this ongoing policy debate by analyzing how memories of World War II and the Holocaust shape: (i) EU member states’ foreign policies; (ii) the EU’s decision-making and; (iii) Israel-Europe relations. There are few studies of how framings of traumatic events affect international relations, or how populism has affected memory politics. TPIP will address this research gap through an interdisciplinary, mixed-methods framework, which it will apply to key case studies at the intersection of memory politics and foreign policy. This research will be publicized in peer-reviewed journals, an edited volume and policy-focused publications to maximize its impact within academic, lay and policy audiences. TPIP will be based at Charles University and will bring together scholars from the UK, US and Israel, each with divergent case and methodological expertise.