The European Union's normative power under fire: How does EU diplomacy balance NPE and Realist rhetoric about the war in Gaza and how does this balance reflect on its actions?
Author
Thalassinos, Georgios
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-10-15
Pages
71
Abstract
Specialet undersøger, hvordan Den Europæiske Union balancerer sit selvbillede som normativ magt med realistiske begrænsninger i sin diplomati om krigen i Gaza efter Hamas’ angreb den 7. oktober 2023. Med en venuesensitiv kritisk diskursanalyse af centrale EU-taler og politikudtalelser (bl.a. plenumsindlæg, EEAS-taler, diplomatiske fora og State of the Union-opdateringer) kortlægges, hvordan sprog, begrundelser og foreslåede instrumenter skifter på tværs af målgrupper og institutionelle rammer. Analysen peger på et tilbagevendende mønster: I humanitære og diplomatiske fora dominerer norm- og folkeretsbaseret sprog, mens forsvarsorienterede fora prioriterer realistiske temaer. Samtidig begrænser interne EU-splittelser, alliancemæssige afhængigheder og instrumentelle begrænsninger omsætningen af normative krav til tvangsmidler eller konditionalitet. Det skaber afstand mellem retorik og handling, som kan udhule EU’s normative legitimitet. I stedet for at udpege en vinder mellem Normative Power Europe og realisme præciserer specialet de betingelser, der gør det ene perspektiv mere styrende end det andet, tilbyder en mekanisme for, hvordan normative krav filtreres, svækkes eller forstærkes på tværs af institutioner, og fremhæver de empiriske grænser for NPE i konflikter med høj intensitet.
This thesis examines how the European Union balances its self-portrayal as a normative power with realist constraints in its diplomacy on the Gaza war following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack. Using a venue-sensitive critical discourse analysis of high-level EU speeches and policy statements (including plenary interventions, EEAS addresses, diplomatic forums and State of the Union updates), the study traces how language, warrants and proposed instruments shift across audiences and institutional settings. The analysis identifies a recurrent pattern: humanitarian and diplomatic venues foreground norms and international law, whereas defence-oriented venues privilege realist themes. It also finds that translating normative claims into coercive or conditional tools is constrained by intra-EU politics, alliance dependencies and limits of available instruments. This produces gaps between rhetoric and action that risk eroding the EU’s normative credibility. Rather than adjudicating between Normative Power Europe and realism, the thesis specifies the conditions under which each frames EU discourse and action, offers a mechanism for how normative claims are filtered, diluted or reinforced across institutions, and highlights the empirical limits of NPE in high-intensity conflict.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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