CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2016
| Author | Bandutova, Konstantina |
|---|---|
| Title | Contestations of Legitimacy in International Intervention |
| Summary | This thesis argues that the meaning of legitimacy is context-specific and materializes differently across states. The contested nature of the concept crystallizes best through practices, which are grounded in particular ideational principles. The current interpretative grid, which prevails in the United Nations emphasizes on the prevention of humanitarian disasters and the likelihood of democratic states to avoid it. While these arguments acclaim liberal democracies as instrumental for international peace, the conspicuously illiberal actors fall short on being perceived as legitimate. The research addresses this conceptual conundrum by looking at two separate theoretical frameworks that help circumscribe legitimacy. I use the Democratic Peace theory and its contingent relevance to current UN practices illustrated in the Libyan intervention from 2011. I then turn to the Just War paradigm, which provides an alternative basis for the validation of state behavior. The purpose of the study is to position the image of Russia as an intervener in a particular theoretical framework provided by Just War theory, which could help explain why the Western internationalist view holds Russia to be illegitimate. Inevitably, the thesis asks the questions “What constitutes legitimacy today?” and “What makes Russia illegitimate?” By way of addressing this, I explore the prevailing elements within Russian foreign policy conduct, for which I use official discursive justifications that help reconstruct the interpretation of legitimacy that Russia operates with. As such, the research design seeks to illustrate the argument that the meaning of legitimacy is embedded in context and reflects dominant discourses within individual states. |
| Supervisor | Kurowska, Xymena |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2016/bandutova_konstant.pdf |
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