The thesis seeks to provide an explanation regarding the decision of the European Union to impose economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, after the latter’s involvement in Ukraine with...Show moreThe thesis seeks to provide an explanation regarding the decision of the European Union to impose economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, after the latter’s involvement in Ukraine with the annexation of Crimea, by using a constructivist approach. The argument of this thesis for the constructivist interpretation of EU sanctions against Russia lies on the notions of EU Identity and EU Shared Values. The analysis of the purpose of the sanctions, their relation with the international legal order and the decision making process leading to their adoption, results in an interpretation that can be satisfactory under the constructivist approach. This approach is useful in order to explain EU’s imposition of economic sanctions against the Russian Federation as part of its broader foreign policy. Furthermore, by employing the method of Congruence Analysis the thesis draws inferences between normative predictions deriving from the given theory and empirical observations. Moreover, the argument of this thesis concludes that the special character of the EU, the notions of its Identity and Shared Values affected its collective decision to impose economic sanctions. Ultimately, the thesis renders the European Union to fit the constructivist assertions regarding the functions of the international system.Show less
This thesis examines the effectiveness of EU initiated education programs in the discourse of EU identity building. Through an analysis of what constitutes a EU identity as well as which challenges...Show moreThis thesis examines the effectiveness of EU initiated education programs in the discourse of EU identity building. Through an analysis of what constitutes a EU identity as well as which challenges it faces, three main factors are isolated. These are the issue of nationalism, the notion of EU elitism, and the lack of shared common history, language and culture. After reviewing the historical progress which the EU has made in the field of educational policy, a case study is made of the current EU education initiative Erasmus+. An assessment of Erasmus+ based on its capacity of combatting the three identified challenges ultimately reveals that while the EU has extensive education frame works in place and funds these sufficiently, the emphasize on content is missing.Show less
