This thesis tries to research the JCPOA and the German / French official and medial reaction to it and to establish a connection of this with the state of European foreign policy.
In the past decade, the relationship between the United States and Iran has been through significant changes, particularly playing out in the realm of nuclear proliferation. The establishment of...Show moreIn the past decade, the relationship between the United States and Iran has been through significant changes, particularly playing out in the realm of nuclear proliferation. The establishment of the landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) under the Obama administration, thought to be the start of a new chapter of US-Iran relations, was uprooted by the Trump administration almost immediately after the change in leadership. In order to understand how this radical policy shift is possible, this thesis analyses and compares the policy discourses on Iran of the Obama and Trump administration in terms of Self-Other identity construction. Taking a poststructuralist approach to policy discourse analysis, the ontological link between discursive identity and policy decision making is the central subject of study. The thesis concludes that the decisions to establish and withdraw from the JCPOA are constituted by discourses which in fact construct a highly similar radical Self-Other relationship between the US and Iran, within which the US is positioned as having to change the behaviour of the Iranian regime as arbiter of the Middle East and ally of the Iranian people. Crucially, they differ when it comes to the use of orientalist binaries, the capacity for change attributed to the Iranian regime (temporal identity) and the position of the US vis-a-vis the international community (ethical-spatial identity), which is congruent with the diverging policy decisions on the JCPOA.Show less
This theis compares the effectiveness of the comprehesive Dialogue and the Coercive Diplomacy strategies which the EU had persued in relation to Iran. The goal of these stragies was to ensure that...Show moreThis theis compares the effectiveness of the comprehesive Dialogue and the Coercive Diplomacy strategies which the EU had persued in relation to Iran. The goal of these stragies was to ensure that Iran would halt its nuclear development program, while also improving the human rights situation in the country. The two strategies are compared in accordance with 5 factors deemed relevant in influencing nuclear development programs.Show less
This thesis seeks to explain the motivations behind the transition from sanctions to negotiations in the context of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) or the ‘Iran Deal’. Firstly, an...Show moreThis thesis seeks to explain the motivations behind the transition from sanctions to negotiations in the context of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) or the ‘Iran Deal’. Firstly, an elaboration on two-level negotiation theory is offered. Consequently, and in line with the underlying assumptions of the reviewed literature, three factors are assessed in order to provide an answer to the main research question ‘What factors best explain the coming about of the Joint Plan of Action?’ These are historic events that shaped relations, the effectiveness of the sanctions imposed, and the respective political leadership. This question is highly relevant and topical, as where President Obama in both of his election campaigns openly sought diplomatic rapprochement with Iran, President Trump campaigned the promise to withdraw from the JCPoA and re-impose sanctions. The findings of this thesis show that rationality is not a durable approach to international decision-making. Ineffectiveness of the sanctions did not prevent them from being continued or even aggravated. Rather, a determining factor in the case of Iran seems to be the leadership of both countries. These two factors gave the political momentum to realise the start of negotiationsShow less
