Friendship among Nations: History of a Concept

265 Pages·2017·3.46 MB·English

by  Evgeny Roshchin

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‘This genealogical investigation into the history of friendship has offered a number of r
critical insights into the constructivist understanding of knowledge, international society,
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rules and law.” So says Evgeny Roshchin about his own book. He’s right, but too modest.
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This investigation is more thorough and far more original than anything else ever written
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about friendship in diplomacy or, for that matter, in public life.’
Nick Onuf, Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Florida International University d
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‘Modern scholars of international relations are likely to understand friendship in ethical
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terms, thereby often downplaying its relevance to international politics. But as Roshchin
shows in admirable detail, all the way from the ancients to the early modern period, there i
was a rich tradition of understanding friendship between states in political terms. With p
the coming of the modern age, such pragmatic and contractual conceptions of friendship

were gradually lost, with profound consequences for international politics and diplomatic a
practice. This book reconstructs the fascinating history of a neglected concept, and should
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be read by anyone interested in the history of international thought.’
Jens Bartelson, Professor of Political Science at Lund University o
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This is the study of the role that friendship plays in diplomacy and international politics.
It analyses how friendship has been practiced in pre-modern political orders and modern g
F r i e n d s h i p
systems of international relations. The book highlights how instrumental friendship was for
describing and legitimising a range of political and legal engagements with foreign countries n
and nations. It emphasises contractual and political aspects of diplomatic relationships
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based on the idea of utility. It is these functions of the concept that help the world stick a m o n g
together when collective institutions are either embryonic or no more. t
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The book draws on a contextualist and rhetorical approach developed by Quentin Skinner. o n at i o n s
It offers a combination of a history of concepts and a genealogy that traces incremental
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changes in the diplomatic linguistic conventions during a period of dramatic conceptual
change that occurred in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This is a period when s
religion and kinship were no longer able to offer rule-enforcement; hence alternative tools History of a concept
facilitating compliance were in high demand. Roshchin argues that contractual friendships
were among key diplomatic instruments to maintain the binding character of new political \
arrangements and, thus, to substitute for a lacking central authority.
Evgeny Roshchin
Friendship among nations will be of interest to students in areas such as international R
relations, international political theory, English School, political theory, international o
history, history of concepts, history of empire and imperialism. s
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Evgeny Roshchin is Dean at the Department of Comparative Political Studies, Russian Presidential h
Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), St Petersburg i
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ISBN 978-1-5261-1644-4
Cover image: © Andrijamarkovic | Dreamstime
Cover design: riverdesign.co.uk
9 781526 116444
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
Friendship among nations

Friendship among nations
History of a concept
EVGENY ROSHCHIN
Manchester University Press
Copyright © Evgeny Roshchin 2017
The right of Evgeny Roshchin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Published by Manchester University Press
Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 5261 1644 4 hardback
First published 2017
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-
party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Typeset in 10.5/12.5 Adobe Garamond by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire
To Sonia

Contents
Acknowledgements page viii
List of abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 The ambivalence of ancient friendship 27
2 Early modern friendship: politics and law 57
3 The ethics of friendship in early European diplomacy 111
4 Turning friendship into a moral prescription: conceptual change in
modernity 142
5 The unknown friendship of the modern international order 175
Conclusion 219
Bibliography 224
Index 250
Acknowledgements
This historical study of friendship has its own history of intellectual friendships
and engagements. I owe enormous gratitude to three persons who played a
critical role in helping me shape and work on this project. Oleg Kharkhordin
provoked my interest in the topic of friendship and assisted in devising the first
outlines of this project. Kari Palonen critically read the whole manuscript at all
stages of its evolution and inspired me to explore all possible aspects of the topic.
Jens Bartelson offered suggestions that led to profound post-dissertation revi-
sions of the manuscript. Pekka Korhonen, Peggy Heller and Kari Saastamoinen
kindly read and commented on early drafts of the manuscript. I am deeply
thankful to friends and colleagues who read selected chapters and offered sug-
gestions to sharpen the argument: Sergei Prozorov, Quentin Skinner, Nick
Onuf, David Konstan, Tapani Turkka and Richard Burke. I am also grateful
to professional communities with which I was privileged to collaborate at the
European University at St Petersburg, University of Jyväskylä and Queen Mary.
My special thanks go to Peter Morley for editing my English prose. Finally, this
research would not have been possible without the generous support I received
from the Centre of Excellence in Political Thought and Conceptual Change and
the Academy of Finland.
Abbreviations
BFSP British and Foreign State Papers
EAID Early American Indian Documents: Treaties and Laws
ECCO Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale Group
EEBO Early English Books Online
EIC East India Company
FCN friendship, commerce and navigation
OLL The Online Library of Liberty
TCIAPA Treaties, Conventions, International Acts, Protocols and Agreements
between the United States and Other Powers