This article suggests studying special relationships in international politics from an ontological security perspective. It argues that conceptualising the partners to special relationships as ontological security seekers provides a promising theoretical angle to address gaps in our understanding of three important dimensions of such relations: their emergence and stability; the processes and practices of maintaining them; and the power relations within special relations. The article illustrates its theoretical argument in a case study on the German-Israeli relationship. The close partnership between the two countries that has developed since the Holocaust ranks as one of the most remarkable examples of special relationships in the international arena. We argue that foregrounding the ontological security that the special relationship provides, in particular for Germany, sheds important new light on how German-Israeli relations have developed. Specifically, we hold that Germany’s ontological security needs were already an important driver in establishing the relationship and have been a key stabiliser of it ever since; that the ontological security perspective can make sense of three interrelated practices of maintaining the ‘specialness’ of the relationship; and that the asymmetries between the ontological security needs of the two partners help account for Israel’s political leverage in the relationship.

中文翻译：

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特殊关系的本体安全：以德国与以色列的关系为例

本文建议从本体安全的角度研究国际政治中的特殊关系。它认为，将特殊关系的合作伙伴概念化为本体安全寻求者提供了一个有希望的理论角度来解决我们对这种关系的三个重要维度的理解中的差距：它们的出现和稳定性；维护它们的过程和实践；以及特殊关系中的权力关系。本文通过一个关于德以关系的案例研究阐述了其理论论点。自大屠杀以来，两国之间建立的密切伙伴关系被列为国际舞台上特殊关系最显着的例子之一。我们认为，突出特殊关系提供的本体论安全性，特别是对德国而言，它为德以关系的发展提供了重要的新视角。具体而言，我们认为德国的本体安全需求已经成为建立关系的重要驱动力，并一直是其关键稳定器；本体安全视角可以理解维持关系“特殊性”的三种相互关联的实践；并且两个合作伙伴的本体安全需求之间的不对称有助于解释以色列在这种关系中的政治影响力。本体安全视角可以理解维持关系“特殊性”的三种相互关联的实践；并且两个合作伙伴的本体安全需求之间的不对称有助于解释以色列在这种关系中的政治影响力。本体安全视角可以理解维持关系“特殊性”的三种相互关联的实践；并且两个合作伙伴的本体安全需求之间的不对称有助于解释以色列在这种关系中的政治影响力。