Pol BARGUÉS

Pol Bargues-Pedreny

Research Fellow

  • Geographical lines of research: Europe.
  • Thematic lines of research: Global geopolitics and security.

Professional experience

Pol Bargués is a Research Fellow at CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs), working on the Horizon 2020 project on EU’s external action (EU-LISTCO), where he examines the EU’s external action and possibility to enhance resilience in areas of limited statehood and in the context of rising contested orders. He earned his PhD from the University of Westminster, United Kingdom, in 2014.

Before joining CIDOB, he was a post-doc research fellow at the Centre for Global Cooperation Research and the Institute for Development and Peace (both from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany). He has also taught several International Relations courses in the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals, Spain.

Over the years he has developed an interest in the intersection of philosophy and international relations. He has critically interrogated international interventions and engaged in social critique. He is author of Deferring Peace in International Statebuilding: Difference, Resilience and Critique (Routledge 2018) and has published in diverse academic journals like Global Society, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding or Resilience: International Policies, Practices and Discourses.

Books 

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol, David Chandler and Elena Simon (2018) Mapping and Politics in the Digital Age. London: Routledge

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol (2018) Deferring Peace in International Statebuilding: Difference, Resilience and Critique London: Routledge 

Articles 

Bargués, Pol & Schmidt, Jessica (2021).  The Tragic Practice of Prevention. Quarterly Magazine (April)

Bargués, Pol & Morillas, Pol (2021)  From democratization to fostering resilience: EU intervention and the challenges of building institutions, social trust, and legitimacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Democratization, DOI: 10.1080/13510347.2021.1900120

Bargués, Pol (2020) ‘Peacebuilding without peace? On how pragmatism complicates the practice of international intervention’ Review of International Studies 46 (2), 237-255.

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol (2020) ‘Resilience is “always more” than our practices: Limits, critiques, and skepticism about international intervention’ Contemporary Security Policy 41 (2), 263-286.

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol and Maria Martin de Almagro (2020) ‘Prevention From Afar: Gendering Resilience and Sustaining Hope in Post-UNMIL Liberia’ Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 14 (3), 327-348.

Bargués, Pol (2020) 75 años de Naciones Unidas: La ONU y la Idea de Sostener la Paz en un Mundo Multipolar 72 (2): 341-349. 

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol (2019) ‘From Critique to Affirmation in International Relations’ Global Society 32 (1), 1-19.

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol and Jessica Schmidt (2019) ‘Learning to Be Postmodern in an All Too Modern World: “Whatever Action” in International Climate Change Imaginaries’ Global Society 32 (1), 45-65.

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol and Xavier Mathieu (2018) ‘Beyond Silence, Obstacle and Enigma: Revisiting the Problem of Difference in Peacebuilding’, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 12 (3), 283-299.  See also edited book from special issue: The Politics of Peacebuilding in a Diverse World: Difference Exposed (London: Routledge).

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol and Elisa Randazzo (2018) 'Hybrid peace revisited: an opportunity for considering self-governance?' Third World Quarterly 39 (8), 1543-1560.

Pol Bargués-Pedreny (2017) 'Connolly and the never-ending critiques of liberal peace: from the privilege of difference to vorarephilia'Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 30 (2-3), 216-234.  

Pol Bargués-Pedreny  (2016) ‘From Promoting to De-Emphasising “Ethnicity”: Rethinking the Endless Supervision of Kosovo’, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 10 (3), 222-240.  

Pol Bargués-Pedreny (2015) ‘Realising the “Postmodern” Dream: Strengthening the Resilience of Post-Conflict Societies and the Promise of Peace,’ Resilience: International Policies, Practices and Discourses, 3 (2), 113–132.  

Book Chapters 

Bargués, Pol (2021) 'Conclusion: European vulnerability and the policy dilemmas of resilience in times of coronavirus' in Elena Korosteleva and Trine Flockhart Resilience in EU and International Institutions Redefining Local Ownership in a New Global Governance Agenda. London and New York: Routledge. 

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol and Xavier Mathieu (2019) ‘Intervening in a Diverse World: Revisiting the ‘problem’ of difference in international statebuilding’. In: Nicolas Lemay-Hébert Handbook on Intervention and Statebuilding. Cheltenham and Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol, David Chandler and Elena Simon (2018) ‘Introduction’. In Pol Bargués-Pedreny, David Chandler and Elena Simon Mapping and Politics in the Digital Age. London: Routledge

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol (2018)‘Mapping without the world and the poverty of digital humanitarians’. In Pol Bargués-Pedreny, David Chandler and Elena Simon Mapping and Politics in an Age of Critique. London: Routledge, 2018.  

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol ‘False Promise: Local Ownership and the Denial of Self-Government’. In Tobias Debiel, Thomas Held and Ulrich Schneckener (Eds.) Peacebuilding in Crisis? Rethinking Paradigms and Practices of Transnational Cooperation, pp. 227-239 (London: Routledge Global Cooperation Series, 2016).   

Other contributions, blog engagement

Bargués, Pol & Schmidt, Jessica (2021).  The Tragic Practice of Prevention. Centre for Global Cooperation Research. Quarterly Magazine (April) 

Bargués, Pol (2020) Containing Coronavirus: Resilience in Times of Catastrophe. E-International Relations, March 23. 

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol, Kai Koddenbrock, Jessica Schmidt and Mario Schmidt (2015) Ends of Critique. Global Dialogue. Duisburg: Käte Hamburger Research/ Centre for Global Cooperation Research 2015.  

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol,  Kai Koddenbrock, Jessica Schmidt and Mario Schmidt (2015) ‘Introduction’. In: Pol Bargués-Pedreny, Kai Koddenbrock, Jessica Schmidt and Mario Schmidt (eds.), Ends of Critique. Global Dialogue 10, pp. 6-10. Duisburg: Käte Hamburger Research/ Centre for Global Cooperation Research 2015

Bargués-Pedreny, Pol (2015)‘The Betrayal of the New Utopianism.’ In Pol Bargues-Pedreny, Kai Koddenbrock, Jessica Schmidt and Mario Schmidt (Eds.) Ends of Critique. Global Dialogue 10, pp. 62-73 (Duisburg: Käte Hamburger Research/ Centre for Global Cooperation Research, 2015).

 

  • EU-LISTCO

    Europe's External Action and the Dual Challenges of Limited Statehood and Contested Orders

    EU-LISTCO investigates under which conditions ALS/CO (Areas of Limited Statehood)/(Contested Orders) deteriorate into governance breakdown and violent conflict, turning risks into security threats for Europe.The project also looks into how the preparedness of the EU and its member states can be strengthened to anticipate, prevent, and respond to threats of governance breakdown and violent conflict and to foster resilience in ALS/CO.

  • JOINT

    Understanding and Strengthening EU Foreign and Security Policy in a Complex and Contested World

    The project will analyse how intra-EU contestation, regional fragmentation and multipolar competition affect the capacity of the EU to set foreign and security policy objectives and generate and integrate diplomatic, military, economic and other sectorial capabilities to handle conflicts, crises and relations with external players

Mataró Audiovisual – Cruïlla d’Europa - Jun 8, 2021

Bòsnia, la guerra que no ens van explicar

Diàleg entre Pol Bargués, investigador principal del CIDOB, Joan Salicrú, periodista i autor de “Bòsnia, la guerra que no ens van explicar”, i Edin Kapić.

Levante - Apr 25, 2021

Las nuevas adhesiones a la UE, una cuestión a la espera

La falta de avances democráticos en varios territorios balcánicos, sumada al cansancio dentro del ente europeo, dificultan aún la entrada de hasta seis países prometida por Bruselas en 2003. Lo analiza Pol Bargués, investigador principal de CIDOB.

Sàpiens - Dec 23, 2020

Pol Bargués: “L’ONU ha entès que la pau no es pot imposar”

Aquest 2020 s’ha commemorat el 75è aniversari de la creació de l’Organització de les Nacions Unides (ONU). L’investigador del CIDOB Pol Bargués, especialitzat en construcció de pau i relacions internacionals, fa balanç de la controvertida trajectòria d’aquest organisme i explica cap on va aquesta institució perquè sigui útil en el segle XXI.

Público - Dec 2, 2020

Atrapados en la frontera entre Bosnia y Croacia

“25 años después de los Acuerdos de Paz de Dayton, Bosnia tiene nuevos retos por delante. Desde que Italia cerró la frontera por mar con Libia, se ha convertido en la principal ruta terrestre de migrantes que quieren acceder a la Unión Europea y acoge a los miles que no logran entrar” Pol Bargués, investigador principal de CIDOB.

La Vanguardia - Oct 29, 2020

El mundo en 2030: Multilateralismo vs populismo nacionalista

Pol Bargués-Pedreny, investigador del CIDOB, apunta que “el mundo actual tiene poco que ver con el período de entreguerras del siglo XX (años 20 y 30)”. Este experto añade que “entonces los países salían de la Primera Guerra Mundial y ahora no estamos en una situación de postguerra”. Más allá de la ausencia de un escenario bélico o postbélico global, este analista también señala otra diferencia importante: “entonces había dos proyectos políticos que dominaban el imaginario de la gente: el liberalismo y el socialismo. Eran dos opciones reales que dividían a la población, pero hoy no hay ideologías que puedan movilizar a las masas, ni ideales, ni conciencia de clase ni utopías”. Y concluye su cuestionamiento a este paralelismo histórico señalando que “las dos principales amenazas no provienen tanto de proyectos nacionalistas, capitalistas o socialistas de otros estados, sino del coronavirus o de los efectos del cambio climático”.

ethic - Sep 25, 2020

La ONU a los 75: hacia un nuevo multilateralismo

“La ONU ha vivido dos grandes momentos de aprecio y euforia, y los dos fueron con motivo del fin de una guerra. Sin embargo, en 2020, sin un líder o un ganador claro, la incertidumbre se apodera de las relaciones internacionales. ¿Vuelve la desconfianza de la guerra fría?” Pol Bargués, investigador principal de CIDOB.

Ara - Sep 20, 2020

L’ONU celebra 75 anys ferida per l’‘America first’

L’òrgan arriba debilitat per la crisi de la multilateralitat i amb la pandèmia i el canvi climàtic com a grans reptes. Pol Morillas, director del CIDOB, i Pol Bargués, investigador del CIDOB y coordinador de l’informe ‘L’ONU als 75: Repensant el multilateralisme’, analitzen l’estat en què arriba l’organisme al seu 75è aniversari.

La República - Sep 12, 2020

“Europa ha externalitzat les fronteres”

Els Balcans busquen el seu lloc a Europa. Pol Bargués, investigador principal del CIDOB, analitza l’endarreriment de l’entrada d’aquests països a la Unió Europea.

Strategic Europe - Dec 18, 2019

The Hopes and Frustrated Expectations of COP25

“For most policymakers and experts who took part in the COP25, the summit’s outcomes are insufficient. The protesters and critics who followed the summit from outside are even more frustrated” Pol Bargués-Pedreny, researcher at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs.

RNE – Cinco continentes - May 9, 2019

Las aspiraciones de Serbia y Kosovo de entrar en la UE

La semana pasada, el presidente francés Emmanuel Macron y la canciller alemana Angela Merkel se reunieron en Berlín con los gobernantes serbio y kosovar, así como los de otros países balcánicos, en una cumbre que trataba de acercar posturas de cara a las intenciones de ambos territorios de integrarse en la Unión Europea. Hablamos del dilema kosovar con Pol Bargués, investigador de CIDOB.