The development of a ‘normative battleground’ between the EU and Russia from 2004 to 2014

Abstract

This thesis will chart the development of a “normative battleground” between the European Union and Russia within Ukraine. This “normative battleground” stems from the clashing securitising projects both the EU and Russia are implementing within Ukraine in order to shape the development of the country according to their own interests. The EU and Russia are widely believed to carry out securitising projects from within different international relations spheres. For this thesis, these are the EU’s “postmodern”/“Kantian” security project, which is incompatible with the Russian “modern”/“Hobbesian” security project. These security projects are manifesting themselves in the norms each side is promoting, and this is where the clash is particularly visible, this is the “normative battleground”. This thesis seeks to provide a holistic conceptualisation of the term “normative battleground” within the framework of Buzan’s English School Triad and to tie its development with the contrasting securitising projects being implemented within Ukraine.