International Socialization in the New Europe: Rational Action in an Institutional Environment

Abstract

The international relations of the `new Europe' are shaped by a process of international socialization in which the Western community transmits its constitutive liberal norms to Central and Eastern Europe. This process neither fits rationalist assumptions about international politics in a technical environment nor sociological theories of action. Rather, international socialization in the new Europe is best explained as a process of rational action in a normatively institutionalized international environment. Under these conditions, rational state behaviour is constrained by value-based norms of legitimate statehood and proper conduct. Selfish political actors conform to these norms in order to reap the benefits of international legitimacy, but as instrumental actors they also calculate whether these benefits are worth the costs of conformity and how they can be reaped efficiently. An empirical analysis of the behaviour of the Western socialization agencies and the CEE countries supports this perspective on international socialization.