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Lokaritgerð Til MA-Gráðu Í Alþjóðasamskiptum Barbarians Of

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Lokaritgerð Til MA-Gráðu Í Alþjóðasamskiptum Barbarians Of Lokaritgerð til MA-gráðu í alþjóðasamskiptum Barbarians of the North Iceland’s Status-seeking and Norm Entrepreneurship in the International System Hekla Fjölnisdóttir Júní 2019 Barbarians of the North Iceland’s Status-seeking and Norm Entrepreneurship in the International System Hekla Fjölnisdóttir Lokaritgerð til MA-gráðu í alþjóðasamskiptum Leiðbeinandi: Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir Stjórnmálafræðideild Félagsvísindasvið Háskóla Íslands Júní 2019 Ritgerð þessi er lokaverkefni til MA-gráðu í alþjóðasamskiptum. Óheimilt er að afrita ritgerðina á nokkurn hátt nema með leyfi rétthafa. © Hekla Fjölnisdóttir, 2019 301090-2349 Reykjavík, Ísland, 2019 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to understand Iceland’s foreign policy and strategies as a small state in the international system, primarily through the concepts of status-seeking and norm entrepreneurship. Iceland has increased its involvement in international cooperation in the past two decades, and regularly presents itself as an ‘ideal’ state at an international level, for example by highlighting its reputation and image as a gender equal country with a strong focus on sustainability in fisheries and environmental issues. Iceland’s behaviour begs the question: is Iceland seeking status at an international level and is it attempting to become a norm entrepreneur? The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of liberal theory, constructivism, and small state theories, including research on status-seeking, norm entrepreneurship and nation branding. Seven Icelandic foreign service representatives were interviewed with the objective of understanding their views on Iceland’s position in the international system. Also, governmental reports were analysed as secondary data. A deductive content analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts and reports. The main results of the thesis are that status-seeking has been a key driver of Iceland’s foreign policy in the period 1999 to 2019. Iceland seeks status by highlighting its image as a moral do-gooder, a state that is fair and equal. In other words, Iceland acts with moral authority at an international level. Furthermore, Iceland seeks status by increasing its involvement in multilateral cooperation, particularly at the UN, where it has the greatest potential to exert influence. Iceland has attempted to become a norm entrepreneur in the fields of gender equality, ocean affairs, renewable energy and land restoration. However, the greatest weight of the foreign service in terms of norm entrepreneurship is placed on gender equality issues. 3 Útdráttur Markmið þessarar rannsóknar er að gera grein fyrir utanríkisstefnu Íslands og aðferðum ríkisins til að hasla sér völl á alþjóðavettvangi og innan alþjóðastofnana. Íslenska utanríkisþjónustan er skoðuð út frá hugtökum um félagsleg völd í formi jákvæðrar ímyndar á ýmsum sviðum og út frá kenningum um hvernig smáríki leitast við að styrkja stöðu sína og öðlast virðingu frá stærri ríkjum og alþjóðasamfélaginu, til að öðlast meiri áhrif á alþjóðavísu. Á undanförnu áratugum hefur Ísland leitast við að auka þátttöku sína í alþjóðasamstarfi og lagt áherslu á jákvæða ímynd sína sem fyrirmyndarríki og sem hluti af Norðurlöndum. Þessi atriði er vert að skoða með því að svara spurningunum hvernig styrkir Ísland stöðu sína á alþjóðavettvangi og hvernig Ísland hefur reynt að gerast svokallaður „frumkvöðull í viðmiðum“ (e. norm entrepreneur). Tekin voru viðtöl við sjö fulltrúa utanríkisþjónustunnar til þess að fá fram þeirra viðhorf gagnvart stöðu Íslands í alþjóðasamfélaginu. Viðtölin og skýrslur frá stjórnvöldum voru greind með innihaldsgreiningu. Helstu niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar eru þær að utanríkisstefna Íslands hefur verið mótuð af því að styrkja stöðu landsins á tímabilinu 1999 til 2019. Íslenska utanríkisþjónustan hefur styrkt stöðu ríkisins með því að kynna landið sem fyrirmyndarríki, ríki sem hegðar sér á siðferðislega réttan hátt bæði innanlands og utan. Að auki hefur Ísland styrkt stöðu sína með því að auka þátttöku sína í alþjóðasamstarfi, sérstaklega innan Sameinuðu þjóðanna, þar sem ríkið hefur mesta möguleika til að hafa áhrif. Ísland hefur reynt að verða frumkvöðull í viðmiðum á fjórum sviðum, í kynjajafnrétti, sjávarútvegsmálum, endurnýjanlegri orku og landgræðslu. Mest áhersla er lögð á jafnréttismál í frumkvöðlastarfi utanríkisþjónustunnar. 4 Preface This thesis accounts for 30 ECTS credits and is the final assignment in my Master of Arts degree in International Affairs, from the faculty of Political Science at the University of Iceland, spring 2019. My supervisor was Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, Associate Professor in International Affairs at the University of Iceland. I would like to thank Silja Bára for her excellent guidance and support. The idea for this project came about in a class I took in Small State Studies last year, in which theories on status-seeking were presented. For me as a constructivist they made much sense, because of their focus on the human qualities that drive people, and therefore states. The longing for respect and recognition seemed just as likely to me as simply acting out of concern for interests. Since I was an intern at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs last year, I also wanted to focus my study on the foreign service, and Iceland as a small island state and learn about the experiences of the people that work on Iceland’s behalf abroad. I want to give my deepest thanks to all of my respondents. Without them and their cooperation, I would not have been able to conduct this research. I also want to thank my wonderful partner, Fannar, for his incredible support, patience and motivation throughout this process. He is my rock. Finally, my parents and my family I want to thank from the bottom of my heart, for always having faith in my abilities and for always being there. 5 6 Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................... 3 Útdráttur ................................................................................................................... 4 Preface ...................................................................................................................... 5 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 9 2 Iceland’s foreign policy – A historical overview ................................................... 13 3 Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................... 20 3.1 Liberalism ........................................................................................................... 20 3.2 Constructivism and Norm Diffusion ................................................................... 23 3.3 Small state theories ............................................................................................ 27 3.3.1 Status-seeking ........................................................................................... 29 3.3.2 Norm Entrepreneurship ............................................................................ 36 3.3.3 Nation branding ........................................................................................ 38 3.4 Summary ............................................................................................................ 40 4 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 41 4.1 qualitative research ........................................................................................... 41 4.2 Research design .................................................................................................. 42 4.3 Data collection and material .............................................................................. 45 4.4 Data analysis ....................................................................................................... 49 4.5 Validity and Reliability ........................................................................................ 50 4.6 Ethical issues and Delimitations ......................................................................... 50 5 Results ................................................................................................................ 52 5.1 Methods of status-seeking ................................................................................. 52 5.1.1 Image development and status-seeking – Iceland’s increased involvement in international cooperation ............................................... 52 5.2 Norm entrepreneurship and status-seeking ...................................................... 68 5.2.1 Human rights and gender equality ............................................................ 68 5.2.2 Fisheries and ocean affairs ........................................................................ 77 5.2.3 Renewable energy and land restoration ................................................... 81 5.3 Summary ............................................................................................................ 84 6 Discussion ........................................................................................................... 85 6.1 How Iceland seeks status ................................................................................... 85 6.2 Iceland as a norm entrepreneur ......................................................................... 90 7 Conclusion .........................................................................................................
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