Lepanto-miming History: Empire, Emotion, and Roleplaying in the Eastern Mediterranean Crisis

This paper examines the actions of Turkey, Greece, France, and Germany in recent disputes over territory and resource extraction rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, using the concept of “national role conception” (NRC) to understand how historical memory and emotion both influence state actors but also serve as symbolic resources to be mobilized by political elites in domestic political competition. I argue that these disputes are not merely over materialist interests such as natural gas deposits, but also concern struggles to redefine national roles at a time of geopolitical transformation. The Eastern Mediterranean has become a site of contestation between a number of states making conflicting claims concerning maritime zones and Exclusive Economic Zones, including the right to search for and exploit natural gas deposits that lie under the Mediterranean seabed. Disputed territorial claims between Turkey on one hand and Greece and Cyprus on the other lie at the heart of the struggle, but other actors, including Libya, France, Egypt, Germany, and the EU, have also played a role as either partners or mediators. This paper explores the role of national role conceptions, historical memory and emotion in shaping these disputes, focusing on Turkey, Greece, France, and Germany as they draw on the past to chart new futures in a region unsettled by geopolitical change. Notably, the Turkish government has promoted an expansionist conception of Turkish sovereignty over the seas called the Mavi Vatan (“Blue Homeland”) concept, which it has promoted in numerous forums, even producing a film connecting the current Eastern Mediterranean disputes to the naval greatness of the Ottoman Empire and 16th century competition with the Christian enemy (a narrative which notably elides the role of Christians in the Ottoman navy). These analogies also call up the specter of Ottoman defeat at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, a defining event in Ottoman strategic relations with Western powers. France, which has offered support to Greece through weapons sales and even a mutual security agreement in 2021, appears to play the role of what David Blagden terms a “residual Great Power,” demonstrating “pride” in its efforts to continue a Great Power security role that often extends beyond the post-World War II capabilities of the French state and seeks to restore a sense of national role that hearkens back to the French-Ottoman interventions of the 19th century. Germany, which also held the EU presidency during the height of the crisis, has tried to play the role of the fair and post-militarism mediator, in line with its post World War II national role conception as a civilian power. I examine how these countries’ NRCs are based in emotional repertoires and how emotional dialogues, both between states but also between politicians and their citizens, continue to shape outcomes in the Eastern Mediterranean crisis.