Recognition Denied: An Examination of UK and US Foreign Policy towards the Republic of Croatia

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2013-05-02

Authors

Ljubic, Maria Christina

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Abstract

This thesis examines the development of decision making taken by two countries, the United Kingdom and the United States, in response to Croatia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia. The focus is on the recognition process and the reasoning and rationale used by the government officials and diplomats of the United Kingdom and United States to arrive at their policy decisions and opinions. The concentration is mainly on events from the early 1990s until mid 1992. Topics explored include matters such the politics behind non-recognition, democratic social norms, respect for human rights and Western national interests. The thesis first hypothesizes, then analyses, which International Relations theory, that is, realism or constructivism, possesses the best capacity explain why these nations initially withheld their recognition of Croatia’s independence before moving to accept the Republic of Croatia as an independent state. The role of the International Relations theories is to offer an interpretation and understanding of these events and decisions. Subsequently, they are judged on their ability to do so. The thesis finds that via the insight of scholars, analysts and theoretical perspectives that both the John Major government of the UK and the George H.W. Bush Administration of the United States behaved mostly according to realist principles, with some instances of constructivist manner.

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Keywords

Tudjman, Tudman, Milosevic, Badinter Commission, ethnic, constructivism, Britain, ethnic cleansing, genocide, Lord Carrington, Lawrence Eagleburger, Tito, arms embargo, Genscher, USSR, Westphalia, Serbia, Eagleburger, Glaurdic, Cushman, Mestrovic, Ramet, McAdams, Meier, Caplan, Clinton, Hurd, Hogg, Baker, Zimmermann, Jovic, Mesic, Vukovar, Dubrovnik, Balkans, ethnic hatred, Conversi, Slovenia, Kosovo, Bosnia, McCloskey, Kenney, MacKinnon, Belgrade, serbophilia, Anzulovic, Al Gore, Snowcroft, Waltz, Morgenthau, Machiavelli, Chetnik

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