Identitarian movements and negotiated agreements: the impact of nationalism, ethnicity, and populism on global governance

The chapter explores the impact of identitarian movements on negotiated agreements, international cooperation, and global governance. The authors focus on three types of identitarian movements: ethnic, nationalist, and populist. They find that the impact of such movements depends not only on the type of movement but also on the level of analysis: sub-state, inter-state, and supra-state. On the sub-state level, ethnic movements tend to negatively affect negotiations and cooperation, while nationalist and populist movements have rather indeterminate effects. At the inter-state level—focusing on bilateral relations—ethnic and nationalist movements have mostly negative impact on negotiations, while populist movements are again indeterminate. At the supra-national level, populist and nationalist movements tend to be detrimental to international cooperation, but ethnic movements facilitate global governance by promoting norms and regimes protecting their interests. The findings underscore the need to distinguish between movement types and levels of analysis in assessing their impact.