The Agent-Structure Issue in Foreign Policy Analysis: The “Macedonian” issue
|
Speaker
|
:
|
Georgios Evangelopoulos
Scientific Advisor to the President of the Hellenic Republic, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Institute of International Relations (IDIS) at Panteion University of Athens
|
|
Chair
|
:
|
Spyros Economides
Hellenic Observatory Director; Associate Professor, International Relations and European Politics; LSEE-Research on South Eastern Europe Co-ordinator
|
|
Date
|
:
|
Tuesday, 9 February 2016
|
|
Venue
|
:
|
Cañada Blanch Room, COW 1.11, 1st floor, Cowdray House
European Institute, LSE
|
|
Time
|
:
|
18:00-19:30
|
Abstract
In his attempt to approach the agent-structure issue in FPA, the main criterion will be its instrumental utility in explaining the political phenomena under consideration. This choice, which is along the lines of the Anglo-Saxon tradition of middle-range sociological theories, constitutes a radical change with regard to the orientation of research on this issue within the IR and FPA literatures, which has been a philosophical and rather unproductive one up to now.
Georgios Evangelopoulos gave an example by turning his attention to one of the problems facing Greek Foreign Policy (FP) in the Balkans. Greece has to come up with a solution to the longstanding problem of our relationship with FYROM.
What is important to this study of the Greek FP towards FYROM is to locate the agents and structures in each case and at each level of consideration and, then, study the degree of freedom the agents have to act. After all, the degree of freedom for action determines the degree of possibility for change.
Biography
Georgios Evangelopoulos obtained his BA in Law from the National University of Athens, his MSc in European Studies from the LSE and his Ph.D. in International Relations from the LSE. The title of his doctoral thesis was “Scientific Realism in the Philosophy of Science and International Relations”. His research interests include philosophy of science, political theory and Foreign Policy Analysis while his current research project is “Greek Foreign Policy and the Agent-Structure Issue”. He has published the following three books in Greek: Philosophy and Science – A Dialogue between Cornelius Castoriadis and Georgios Evangelopoulos (Eurasian Publications, 2010 [2004]), Mathematics and Physics – A special relationship (Eurasian Publications, 2010), Castoriadis and modern political theory (Eurasian Publications, 2009). He has also edited the Greek edition (Themelio, 2007) of Spyros Economides & Peter Wilson, The Economic Factor in International Relations (I.B. Tauris, 2001), and co-edited (with Athanasios Samartzis) the Greek edition (Crete University Press, 2006) of Michael Redhead’s, From Physics to Metaphysics (Cambridge University Press, 1995). Furthermore, he has served as the founding editor and editor in chief of the Greek edition of Quantum – The Magazine of Math and Science. Georgios was a National Bank of Greece Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Hellenic Observatory between January and July 2014. Since 2007, Georgios has been scientific advisor to the President of the Hellenic Republic, currently Mr Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
PHOTOS