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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been responding to external demands and expectations, including moderate steps towards becoming a more norm-oriented organization, and developing its image as a responsible actor engaging in international and regional relations. For example, it has been issuing statements addressing relevant challenges, most often by criticizing them. A growing body of literature proves that this type of critical communication may bring desirable outcomes, e.g. the name and shame strategy. This strategy, however, does not align with ASEAN's silent diplomacy. Thus, the aim of the article is to analyse how ASEAN structures its communication when criticizing others and their actions. Does ASEAN, considering its 'uniqueness', name and shame? And, if so, what is the pattern of the criticism? The author argues that ASEAN produces three types of critical narratives: universal shaming, reasonable criticism and considerate affirmation resulting from a narrative trap of responding to international and regional pressure. Each narrative explains and improves the organization's image, although not comprehensively, and is utilized to strengthen its role as a peace promoter. But this image is tarnished by the questionable performance of ASEAN in the area of peace promotion. The article's argument is substantiated by an analysis of ASEAN's narratives of non-compliance with norms.

Selfhood versus Sameness: between Christian Hope and Evolutionary Naturalism

The present study examines the dialectical relationship between the two emblematic factors of human identity distinguished by Paul Ricoeur – character and keeping one's word. The first part of the text will articulate objections to the philosophical significance of this distinction in the order of justification, as well as suspicions about its non-philosophical genesis and, consequently, regarding its philosophicality in the order of discovery. The second part of the article presents an interpretive proposal for another justification of the dialectic under consideration – a justification inspired by the post-secular thought of Jürgen Habermas, which, moreover, grows out of a different context of discovery, as it engages in the debate on freedom from the standpoint of naturalistic determinism and evolutionary theory. It seems, therefore, that invoking the position of a prominent Frankfurter can provide an interesting counterpoint to the indicated suspicions.

Indonesia's rise, its democracy promotion, and engagement in the democratisation of regional institutions have often been analysed in scholarly literature in the recent years. Indonesia's "democratic turn," both internal and external, increased its relevance in international relations. The academic discussion focuses on the role and meaning of Indonesia's contribution. The aim of this article is to broaden the debate by analysing the meaning of "democracy" in Indonesian narrative investigated from the perspective of the strategic narratives concept and to propose a new framework for the assessment of narrative based on its coherence. Therefore, the research question is – Are the strategic narratives of democracy articulated by Indonesia coherent? The analysis shows, and it is an argument, that with some exceptions strategic narratives are incoherent and this incoherence has two dimensions: intra- and inter-incoherence. The argument is substantiated by an analysis of Indonesian foreign policy strategies and political speeches. (JCSA/GIGA)

Indonesia has developed an internal model of reconciling the values of dem- ocracy and Islam; therefore it could pursue international activities for bringing the West and the Islamic world together. However, Indonesia's international role as a bridge-builder between democratic values and Islam has limited effectiveness. In this paper the attempt is to investigate why Indonesia's inter- national activity as a bridge-builder between the West and the Muslim world is ineffective? The analysis shows, and this is the argument, that its limited effectiveness results from a conflict between the country's conception and prescription roles. The assumptions are that Indonesia's underlying objective in its foreign policy is to provide a tool for reconciling the West and the Muslim world (role conception); however an enactment of this role is affected by a dissonance between the authors of this role. The paper examines three empirical case studies at different levels of Indonesia's external engagement: (1) civilizational and interfaith dialogues at the international level; (2) the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Developing-8 at the inter-regional level; and (3) the Bali Democracy Forum at the regional level. (Pac Rev/GIGA)

Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie stosunku państwa indonezyjskiego do państw Zachodu w wymiarze retorycznym i praktycznym. W pracy podjęto próbę odpowiedzi na pytanie o to, jak postrzeganie Zachodu wpływało na politykę zagraniczną Indonezji wobec państw zachodnich. W tekście zweryfikowana zostanie hipoteza stanowiącą, że politykę tego państwa charakteryzuje dualność: wieloletnia krytyka Zachodu miała charakter przede wszystkim deklaratywny, a więc była retoryką, nie zaś praktyką. W artykule wykorzystano analizę treści do oceny retoryki, następnie porównano narrację z działaniami politycznymi. Artykuł podzielono na cztery części. Po wstępie omówiona została polityka Indonezji przed i po rozpoczęciu procesu demokratyzacji w 1998 roku. Pracę kończy podsumowanie. Przyjęcie długiej perspektywy czasowej pozwala ukazać zmiany zachodzące w polityce Indonezji – od państwa antyzachodniego po państwo prozachodnie w retoryce i praktyce.

Chinese initiatives of a geopolitical nature are being more and more frequently analyzed in the literature. At the same time, it is pointed out that at least since 2012 China has been pursuing an assertive and active foreign policy. Due to the importance of the Belt and Road Initiative project and also the 16 + 1 cooperation in the Central and Eastern Europe region, it is worth analyzing what the perception of China in this region is on the example of Poland. The study attempts to answer the question of how the increase in China's importance and its international engagement are perceived in Poland. The analysis of Polish papers published in 2003–2017 shows, and this is an argument, that Polish researchers more frequently present China in the categories of a threat and apply research terminology and tools within the realistic theory of international relations and this image is being reinforced, especially after 2013. The analytical framework of "China as a threat" and "China as an opportunity" occurring frequently in research is placed in this paper in theories of international relations.