The fact that interventions take place on dubious grounds is not a new phenomenon, but it isan area that is constantly interesting to study as the forms of foreign and security policy areconstantly changing. The Russian intervention in Georgia in 2008 is a formative crossroad forRussia's foreign and security policy. Since then, Russia motivates the Russian interventions,in other sovereign states, by referring to the protection of its own citizens. This studydemonstrates how Russia uses securitization theory as part of its foreign and security policy.By referring to the protection of its own citizens in the intervened state, Russia seekslegitimacy for the Russian interventions. Russia is constructing a threat to Russian citizens,which aims to legitimize Russian action to the international community. The study analyzesthe UN Security Council's meeting records from the Georgia War 2008 and the CrimeanCrisis 2014 based on the Copenhagen School's securitization theory. The analysis examineshow Russia argues that there is a threat to the Russian population in Georgia and Ukraine,during their statements in the Security Council. The study also examines how Russia justifiesits actions and how the other states in the Security Council perceive the stated threat and theRussian measures. The results of the analysis clearly sheds light on how Russia construct athreat, how Russia repeatedly justifies its actions and how the member states of the SecurityCouncil criticize the Russian actions. The Russian action is not perceived as legitimate by theSecurity Council, which is required for the securitization to be considered successful, butthere are clear signs that Russia has conducted a security attempt in both Georgia in 2008 andUkraine in 2014. Because of the many similarities between the cases, the study also shows atrend over time, which justifies the conclusion that Russia uses securitization as part of its foreign and security policy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:ltu-90214 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Berg-Nilsson, Lovisa |
| Publisher | Luleå tekniska universitet, Institutionen för ekonomi, teknik, konst och samhälle |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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