@article{BarthelBuerkner2020, author = {Barthel, Martin and B{\"u}rkner, Hans-Joachim}, title = {Ukraine and the big moral divide}, series = {Geopolitics}, volume = {25}, journal = {Geopolitics}, number = {3}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Philadelphia, Pa. [u.a]}, issn = {1465-0045}, doi = {10.1080/14650045.2018.1561437}, pages = {633 -- 657}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Geopolitical shifts and the changing significance of borders in the EU's neighbourhood are usually understood as a matter of international power politics. Factors that accompany geopolitical impact on borders, such as media coverage of geopolitical change, often appear as secondary or irrelevant. However the recent Ukraine conflict revealed the contrary as pro-EU attitudes were strongly supported by 'western' media. Therefore this paper seeks to clarify the role of news media in creating perspectives and attitudes on geopolitical shifts and the significance of European borders. Empirical evidence on the coverage of the evolving Ukraine crisis by German news sources portrays the media as promoters of biased framings and imaginaries which suggest that the EU be a potential conflict party in the newly evolving geostrategic confrontation in its eastern neighbourhood. The findings indicate that during critical periods of the Ukraine crisis media reports combined rising euphoria about Europe and 'the West', as defenders of the 'good cause', with excessive moral polarising and the discursive normalisation of a rhetoric of escalation. Imaginaries of a bipolar world (The West against Russia) and a new Cold War prepared the ground for a new understanding of European borders and neighbourhood relations as being manipulable at will.}, language = {en} } @misc{Buerkner2020, author = {B{\"u}rkner, Hans-Joachim}, title = {Europeanisation versus Euroscepticism}, series = {Geopolitics}, volume = {25}, journal = {Geopolitics}, number = {3}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Philadelphia, Pa. [u.a]}, issn = {1465-0045}, doi = {10.1080/14650045.2020.1723964}, pages = {545 -- 566}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Several overlapping crises which affected the EU during the past ten years have recently aggravated. Especially the progressing refugee crisis, the persisting financial crisis and geopolitical turmoil in the EU's neighbourhood contributed to the rise of anti-EU movements and diverse articulations of Euroscepticism. Although public opinion and mainstream political analysis have easily identified right-wing populism as one of the most important drivers, it is still doubtful if it can be equated with Euroscepticism without further ado. To date it is by no means clear how and where Euroscepticism exactly originates.}, language = {en} }