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‘Solemn and just demands’: Seeking apologies in the international arena

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2020

Tracy Adams Open the ORCID record for Tracy Adams [Opens in a new window]  and
Zohar Kampf Open the ORCID record for Zohar Kampf [Opens in a new window]
Tracy Adams*
Affiliation:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Zohar Kampf
Affiliation:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
*
*Corresponding author. Email: tracy.adams@mail.huji.ac.il
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Abstract

Demands for apology are a prominent rhetorical means for pointing out transgressions in contemporary world politics. They transform ‘seen but unnoticed’ conduct into ‘seen and noticed’ transgression and attach a price tag to the restoration of damaged relations. Nevertheless, compared to the widely discussed practice of apologising, demands for apologies have received scant scholarly attention. In this article we adopt an actor-oriented perspective in order to situate the speech act of demanding an apology within the delicate management of interstate relations. In-depth content analysis of 57 cases of demands made by various state actors in a variety of diplomatic contexts between 1999 and 2019 let us delineate the discursive construction of transgressions, the normative scripts that inform acts of demands, the types of sought-after remedies, and their discursive consequences. We conclude by discussing the normative diplomatic scripts that guide demands for apology and how these speech acts reconfigure power relations in international politics.

Keywords

DemandsApologyDiplomatic TransgressionsNormative ScriptsPublic Noticing
Type
Research Article
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , October 2020 , pp. 555 - 572
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British International Studies Association

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