Who is the Other: Competing Discourses on Ukraine in the Dutch Foreing Policy Debate

Language has the capacity to make politics, create narratives and impact policy making (Hajer, 2006). In the study of foreign policy, discourses define the issues at stake, create a sense of shared ‘common knowledge’ and legitimize foreign policies as necessary and plausible (Hansen, 2013, 2016). When the Ukrainian crisis breaks out in 2014, Europe is confronted with one of the most complex situations for decades. The sense of urgency increases for one member state in particular when flight MH17 is shot down above Ukraine. Losing almost 200 citizens in the crash, the Netherlands suddenly becomes a central actor in this conflict. The literature, however, pays little attention to the domestic political debates regarding Ukraine. Moreover, the role of parliaments and oppositional political parties in foreign policy is under-accounted for. Therefore, this thesis analyses whether and how discourses are reflected in the Dutch foreign policy debate since the Ukrainian crisis and what role...Show moreLanguage has the capacity to make politics, create narratives and impact policy making (Hajer, 2006). In the study of foreign policy, discourses define the issues at stake, create a sense of shared ‘common knowledge’ and legitimize foreign policies as necessary and plausible (Hansen, 2013, 2016). When the Ukrainian crisis breaks out in 2014, Europe is confronted with one of the most complex situations for decades. The sense of urgency increases for one member state in particular when flight MH17 is shot down above Ukraine. Losing almost 200 citizens in the crash, the Netherlands suddenly becomes a central actor in this conflict. The literature, however, pays little attention to the domestic political debates regarding Ukraine. Moreover, the role of parliaments and oppositional political parties in foreign policy is under-accounted for. Therefore, this thesis analyses whether and how discourses are reflected in the Dutch foreign policy debate since the Ukrainian crisis and what role the parliament and political parties play in Dutch foreign policy. A discourse analysis is conducted to see what discourses are reflected in the parliamentary debates. This studies shows that identity-policy constructions – articulated through discourses – are crucial for defining and legitimizing Dutch foreign policies. Furthermore, it finds that the Government’s official foreign policy discourse is influenced and constrained by oppositional discourses that stress the normative and geopolitical aspects of Dutch foreign policy. Hence, this study provides new insight into the role of discourse in the wider political debate in the Netherlands. Though this thesis establishes that the parliament and political parties matter in this specific case, more research is needed on the role of parliaments and political parties to make generalizable conclusions for foreign policy more broadly.Show less

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Who is the Other: Competing Discourses on Ukraine in the Dutch Foreing Policy Debate