Cultural Divides and Geopolitical Alignments: How History Interacts with Modernity
Constantine A. Stephanou
Professor Emeritus of International and European Institutions at Panteion University, Athens. Fmr. Visiting Professor at the University of Geneva
The essay discusses the influence of recent ideological rivalries on the international system. Western values, designated as such since the Cold War, provide the basis of our discussion. They draw their origins from the Greco-Roman heritage and the Enlightenment, but they have been continuously contested and redefined. While their support or rejection defined the Cold War alliances, we seek to determine what kind of alignments have emerged since the end of that period, how much they are related to cultural divides and whether they constitute an impediment to global cooperation.
Keywords: Constitutionalism; Governance; Enlightenment; European Integration; Identity (ies); International Organisation; Political Theory
