How have the European Commission (EC) and Arctic EU Member States constructed Russia as a security threat through evolving Arctic discourse?

• Main Author: Seidel, Emilia Ballaux
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Malmö universitet, Institutionen för globala politiska studier (GPS) 2024
• Subjects: European Commission; Arctic; Security Threats; Discourse; Poststructuralism; Political Science; Statsvetenskap; Climate change
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-68862

There are currently growing geopolitical tensions within the Arctic region. Furthermore, climate change is quickly providing easier access to the Arctic region and its natural resources, strategic positioning, and unclaimed territory. Simultaneously, the EC and EU Arctic states are pushing public discourse with an incorporated distaste for the growing geopolitical tensions and increasing interest by certain states. However, there is a lack of academic literature applying a poststructuralist approach to the construction of these security threats within this topic. Therefore, the thesis will incorporate several theoretical tools by prominent poststructuralists such as Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida, including identity, deconstruction, and power/knowledge for the analysis. Moreover, the chosen methodological approach for the analysis is a predicate analysis. The predicate analysis aided the thesis in successfully approaching the research question, by exploring how the EC and EU Arctic states have constructed Russia as a security threat through their public Arctic discourse. Thus, the findings concluded that the EC and EU Arctic states do construct Russia as a security threat within their public discourse through the chosen theoretical tools.Â