Leiden University Student Repository

Hillier-Davis, Timothée (2024)

The EU, The BRICS, and the spaces in between: Mapping South Africa’s Manoeuvring Room Between a Formal and an Informal IGO.

Master thesis | Political Science (MSc)

This thesis examines the influence the BRICS and the EU have on South African foreign policy, specifically between 2010 and 2023. South Africa and the world have witnessed much change during those 13 years, between the several conflicts that erupted involving some BRICS member-states, revolutions in Africa, and the work that led up to the expansion of the BRICS into the BRICS+ format in 2024. Including a discussion on formal and informal IGOs, this study uses a constructivist theoretical framework and discourse analysis to examine South African foreign policy annual reports, BRICS joint statements, EU-AU joint declarations, and EU-South Africa joint declarations. It finds that South Africa’s foreign policy is influenced by the BRICS and the EU through two main pillars of its foreign policy, but in different manners, yet relating to the central theme of the multilateral system, particularly the UN.

South Africa, foreign policy, BRICS, EU, cooperation, African identity, human rights.

Author

Hillier-Davis, Timothée

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

International Organization

Supervisors

Dr. Rutger Hagen

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en