This thesis is about foreign policy analysis and what it could learn from an examination of Turkey's Outside Turks policy. More specifically, the thesis explores the implications of the post-Kemalist changes in Turkey on Outside Turks communities in the case of Kosovar Turks and offers a norm-based analysis of the constitutive relationship between domestic politics and foreign policy formation and conduct. Throughout the thesis, accordingly, the domestic norms guiding the way Turkey approaches Outside Turks, the conduct of domestic norms-guided Outside Turks policy and, finally, the implications of such policy for the Kosovar Turks are explored. Based on this, the study establishes firstly that the traditional policy of transforming the religiously defined Turkish speaking Muslim communities in the surrounding countries to nationally thinking and acting ethnic Turkish communities has changed after 1980s, but particularly during the Justice and Development Party rule. The aspiration shifted towards imagining Outside Turks in cultural and religious lines, other than in purely ethnic sense. Thus invoking and safeguarding the practice of Muslim identity, history and culture became a priority concern in the Outside Turks policy agenda. The thesis secondly establishes that this shift in approach has been generated by four post-Kemalist norms, namely Ottomania, de-ethnicized nationhood, Turkish Islam, and Islamic Internationalism. These post-Kemalist norms have manifested themselves as practices of transforming the ethnically mobilized and behaving Turkish community in Kosovo as religiously and historico-culturally thinking and acting community. The thesis thirdly establishes that the post-Kemalist approach to the Outside Turk community in Kosovo has been constitutive for the community. Accordingly, Turkey’s anti-nationalist practices and activities of restoring inter-ethnic relations in Ottoman lines have partly relieved the relations between Turks and Albanians, facilitated the transcending of ethnicity as a bases for organizing relations, and increased the scope for collaboration between Muslim communities in the country. However, such post-Kemalist policies could not deconstruct the dominant nationalist framings, it has rather been counter-productive. Therefore, due to the post-Kemalist approach, the ethnic Turkish identity has been sharpened, Ottomans have been ethnicized as a Turkish emperorship, the nationalism gained a reactionary character, and people now believe that their ethnic survival is jeopardized by Turkey’s anti-nationalism or ‘anti-Turkism’ as the community calls it. This in return has led the community to further embrace Kemalist frames and discourses to resist Turkey’s post-Kemalist approach and norms. The thesis, consequently, introduced a norm-based foreign policy analysis model for examining the overseas implications and influences of domestic norms and norm changes.

This paper studies the importance of acknowledging social identities in a state-building process. Kosovo is a disputed area in which several ethnic groups reside. These groups obtain extensive rights within the legal framework of the Republic of Kosovo. Although these rights are extensive and, according to some, the best laws regarding minorities in Europe there are those who do not feel an attachment to the state. Historically states have been based on single-groups in so called nation-states in which the mainstream identity of the population were synonymous with that of the state. Today the view on the state has evolved into that of a multi-cultural society in which everyone are accepted regardless of their identity (i.e. sex, ethnicity, gender and so on). The conflict of Kosovo has its base in the Albanian population within Kosovo and their struggle for recognition as a people. Their struggle throughout the 20th century culminated with the complete removal of rights by Slobodan Milošević in 1989 and the formation of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1993. By the end of the 20th century NATO intervened in the conflict resulting in the adaptation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 in which the future of Kosovo where determined. After being administrated by the international UN mission (UNMIK) for almost 9 years Kosovo declared its independence. Kosovo were to be a multi-ethnic state constituted of its many communities (ethnic-groups). Today there are few people who uses the term 'Kosovar', instead people still identify themselves by their ethnic-identity. This paper studies the importance of social identities and if the citizenship of Kosovo can fill the position as an overlapping identity bringing the ethnic-groups of Kosovo together. Although the conclusion is that the citizenship cannot fill this position today the study identifies several issues that, when resolved, severely increases the possibility for the Kosovo citizenship to fulfill this position.

The study explored the question of how Kosovar-Albanians living in Sweden identify themselves; whether they felt that they belonged in Sweden, Kosovo or both places, and; the transnational ties they maintain with Kosovo. The study participants included six individuals  with Kosovar-Albanian origins, half of them born in Sweden and the other half who had immigrated to Sweden from Kosovo. The data for the study was collected using semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study suggest that both immigrants born in Sweden to first generation Kosovar immigrants and those born in Kosovo but immigrated to Sweden had fluid and dual identities. Sometimes they identified as Kosovo-Albanians, sometimes they identified as Swedish while at other times they identified as both. Those born in Sweden indicated that they felt that they belonged in Sweden, while those born in Kosovo did not have a clear sense of belonging. The study established that the sense of belonging was determined by the perception of others. Native Swedes did not think the immigrants belonged in Sweden because of their Kosovo-Albanian heritage while those in Kosovo felt that the immigration process had changed the immigrants thus they did not belong in Kosovo. The study established that both the first and second generation immigrants maintained transnational ties with Kosovo.

ABSTRACTWithin migration and globalization the concept of ethnic identity, religious identity and belonging have come to play a significant role in both immigrants’ lives and as well in social context. Sweden, as a multicultural society has been dealing with different ethnic groups of immigrants and the way these minority groups perceive themselves to be and how they are perceived by others in the society has also come to be of high importance. By migrating people also change their position. They often occupy inferior positions in the society when they settle down in the new country. Identity as a phenomenon is very abstract. It is a process that is shaped by social processes. My own thoughts to the questions of identity shape and belonging inspired me to specifically look into the Kosovar Albanian immigrants in Sweden and investigate their views and experiences of their shapes and changes of identity while living in Sweden, where they constantly are facing cultural differences. I wanted to research this phenomenon, partly because this subject lies personally close to me and see if other Kosovar Albanians share the same experiences.From the experiences of the respondents that were selected during the interviews it is shown that immigrants are always in between two cultures, which gives the sense of confusion while they do not know where ‘home’ really is. The respondents show everything from how they feel themselves to how they are perceived by others. They have a background with different values and norms, they have an existing identity and they are influenced by Swedish values and norms, which leads to identity shape. The important theories that are described in the text strengthen the respondents’ views and experiences and give a broader understanding to the issue of identity. Ethnicity, culture, religion, diaspora and transnationalism are highly crucial to the subject. The historical background of the Kosovar Albanians is also important because of their pre-existing national and ethnic feelings about their country as an independent state and their rights to express their culture. Keywords: identity, ethnicity, first & second generation immigrants, culture, diaspora, transnationalism, ‘Kosovar’ identity.

My thesis explores the roles in Albanian nation-building of the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjin, an early-twentieth century codification of northern-Albanian customary practices, and the Pajtimi i Gjaqeve, a late-twentieth century movement to conciliate blood feuds in Kosovo. To understand them, we need to know: what both were, in their own terms; their significance; and how they relate to other aspects of nation-building, and comparative examples. I draw on participant-observation fieldwork, archive work and extensive interviews. Nation-building is necessarily complicated and the Albanian case particularly so. The existence of an Albanian nation was contested by neighbouring peoples, and its characteristics, by Albanians themselves. In this complex context, the text of the Kanun, and the Pajtimi i Gjaqeve, give us good insights into Albanian understandings of the nation, and associated nation-building activities, at pivotal points in national history. While the nation-building projects of the region had many elements in common, prominent ideas of a ‘national’ legal tradition are a distinctive aspect of the Albanian case. Both the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjin and the Pajtimi i Gjaqeve need to be understood as aspects of nation-building. In the context of a crumbling Ottoman Empire, by presenting Albanian customary practices in the form of a legal code, the Albanian codifier made claims about the contents and the people from whom they came. The Kanun demonstrated the existence of a distinct people with a tradition of self-governance and mediation; and made significant contributions to the crucial process of language standardisation. In the context of the 1990s break-up of Yugoslavia, ideas of an Albanian legal tradition re-emerged in Kosovo, in the Pajtimi i Gjaqeve which presented intra-Albanian disputes as national concerns, and drew on traditional values and customary practices to effect conciliations. Subsequently, the Movement itself has become a national resource, through reference to which important ideas about the nation are expressed.