The power politics of identity

International Relations scholars often treat international order as a bypro duct of threats of military violence. Recent scholarship, however, has focu sed attention on security communities - nonviolent international orders tha t develop as a by-product of interstate collective identity. Yet it is uncl ear how these regimes could work during crises when collective identity is disrupted. This article argues that during such periods member states can u se representational force, a form of power exercised through language, to s tabilize their collective identity. Through an analysis of the Anglo-Americ an security community during the 1956 Suez Crisis I demonstrate how both st ates relied on nonphysical but forceful expressions of power to 'fasten' th eir identity against the disintegrating effects of their dispute. One effec t was to stabilize the security community and preserve nonviolent order. Wh ile this illuminates one process by which security communities can weather crises, it also highlights that getting beyond guns does not necessarily me an getting beyond force.