Struggles in the European Union about the reform of the United Nations Security Council
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2013-08-15
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en
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Abstract
The United Nations, an organization based on sovereign states, is at the centre of international politics
and tries to govern the global space. The EU has no seat and limited representation in the UN Security
Council. In the struggles for reform of the UNSC the EU member states UK, France, Germany and Italy
play a significant role. The EU member states France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy play a
significant role in the struggles for reform of the Un Security Council. The views of these states on the
desirable reforms diverge greatly. Formal texts are examined in this thesis to uncover the discourses of
the EU and the individual EU member states in the reform debate in order to clarify the geopolitical
nature of the EU. Critical Geopolitics, Constructivism and the Discourse Theory of Laclau and Mouffe
constitute the theoretical framework. The analyses of this thesis draws on the insights of this Discourse
Theory, although it does not include so many practical tools for textually oriented analysis. Furthermore,
the textual analyses are carried out with a deconstructivistic approach.
The analyses indicate that in the reform debate UK and France, permanent members of the UNSC, are
primarily oriented towards maintaining the status quo. Germany aspires a permanent seat in the UN
and Italy is questioning the current undemocratic structure of the UNSC in order to gain influence. These
states contest each other’s reform proposals.
The thesis concludes that, given the divergent discourses of its member states, the internal EU debate
on integration and coordination must be brought to a conclusion before the EU can obtain a seat in the
UNSC and present itself as a geopolitical actor in issues of international peace and security
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen