Significant Other? The self-representation of Normative Power Europe: The United States as the EU’s Other in the context of the International Criminal Court, 2002-2005

Abstract

This thesis examines the self-representation of the normative power identity of the European Union through the case-study of the International Criminal Court (ICC), in the period of 2002-2005. Drawing upon the notion that identity is discursively constructed in relation to Others, this thesis examines how EU-actors have constructed the EU’s international identity as a normative power, in relation to the US as the EU’s non-normative Other. The ICC is an important case study in this regard, due to the importance of multilateralism and international law for the EU’s normative self-representation. Furthermore, disagreements over multilateralism and the ICC specifically, contributed to a worsening of transatlantic relations during this period. Drawing upon key theoretical notions with regard to the EU’s identity-construction, this thesis analyses the EU’s discourse from the perspective of specific functions of identity-discourse. It is argued that the EU has constructed a normative, multilateral identity in order to contribute to the construction of a European political identity, as well as a distinctive international identity. The identity of the EU has been fundamentally constructed in relation to the US as its Other in the context of the ICC, through a discourse of values, multilateralism and othering.