Introduction to a symposium on political apologies

Abstract

World history has long confirmed Thucydides’ observation that “the strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must.” Yet, starting more than a quarter century ago, the “strong” began to do something that powerful states had never done before—namely, apologizing to the “weak” for harms committed against them in the past. Although this was heralded as the Age of Apology, there was every reason to believe this would be a fleeting affair, best serving the inflated egos of “New Age” politicians such as Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. One obvious reason to question the staying power of political apologies was that this was contrary to literally centuries of state practice. Another reason, and perhaps a more practical one, was that the weak have no means to make the strong do anything, let alone apologize. Yet, just the opposite has taken place. Rather than dying a natural death and returning to a status quo in which powerful states answered to no one—not even to themselves—what has happened is that not only have political apologies become common but it is now the absence of a state apology that often will raise questions. Along with the rise of political apologies has been academic analysis of this phenomenon. It would not be possible to summarize anywhere near the scope of this scholarship. Still, one overriding question that serves as the underlying basis for so many of the books and articles that have been written on political apologies to date is this: Do political apologies really mean anything? Some scholars are of the mind that the veritable explosion in state apologies over the past few decades is evidence of a new international ethos, whereas others see little, if any, change in international relations and therefore conclude that many, if not all, political apologies are little more than cynical political ploys dressed up in high-sounding language purely for domestic consumption. Of course, it is possible that both points of view are correct. What follows are three articles that were presented at the online workshop, “Political Apologies for Historical Wrongs,” hosted by the University of Aberdeen in February 2021, which brought together some of the leading authorities on state apologies. In addition to the outstanding scholarship on display, one of the more useful aspects of these articles is how differently they approach this subject. Given their ubiquity, one of the problems in studying political apologies has simply been keeping track of them. Of course, some apologies are given with great fanfare and ceremony, but others are done more in the shadows, perhaps reflecting the degree of sincerity with which the apology is being given. For decades, Rhoda Howard-Hassmann performed the unenviable job of constructing and maintaining a public website cataloging all (known) state apologies. This task has now been handed over to Juliette Schaafsma, Marieke Zoodsma, Thia Sagherian-Dickey, and others at Tilburg University and is described more fully in the article, “Closing Chapters of the Past? Rhetorical Strategies in Political Apologies for Human Rights Violations across the World.” One of the things that is so groundbreaking about this work is the global perspective it provides. As the authors point out, most work in this area has been case based, meaning a particular