Race, Racism, and International Security

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Against the backdrop of growing nativism and racialized conflicts in countries around the world, IR scholars are beginning to contemplate the role of race and racism – long considered as purely domestic issues – in shaping foreign policies and key facets of international security. This panel contributes to the emerging scholarship on race and racism in international relations, with a focus on international security. We bring together scholars who advance diverse theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches to the subject, ranging from critical International Relations and qualitative case studies to the quantitative study of public opinion surveys and experiments. Zoltán I. Búzás theoretically engages how race factors into reputation costs in IR, exploring the role of concerns about appearing (non-)racist in shaping US nuclear policy in the 1950s and information campaigns during the Cold War. Yoon Jin Lee draws from insights in critical International Relations to discuss the theoretical and practical implications of racial underpinnings for democratic credibility. David Ebner explores the racial microfoundation of foreign security policy preferences, demonstrating the key role white identity and racial conservatism in shaping public support for U.S. defense spending. Finally, D.G. Kim highlights the increasing racialization of contemporary U.S.-China relations, with a focus on how the Chinese media discuss growing anti-Asian racism in the United States and the effects of such political rhetoric on Chinese public support for hawkish foreign policies.

Sub Unit

• Theme Panel

Cosponsor

• Division 19: International Security 

Individual Presentations

• Race and Reputation in International Security - Zoltan I. Buzas, University of Notre Dame

• Race, Culture, and Trust in Democratic Credibility - Yoon Jin Lee, Queens College Department of Political Science

• Race, Racism, and Public Support for U.S. Defense Spending - David Brooks Ebner, Sweet Briar College

• Anti-Asian Racism and Chinese Public Support for Hawkish Foreign Policies - D.G. Kim, Harvard University

Chair

• Joshua D. Kertzer Harvard University

Discussants

• Sonal S. Pandya University of Virginia

• Joshua D. Kertzer Harvard University