On constructing post-soviet international identities: Armenian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian civil nuclear cooperation with Russia

Thesis

The aim of this thesis is to understand how former Soviet states claim international status and agency through civil nuclear technology vis-à-vis Russia. The argument of the thesis is that nuclear energy and civil nuclear cooperation are instruments used strategically and deliberately by Armenia, Ukraine, and Belarus to generate narratives that project certain statuses and social roles. The latter in turn defines the relationship between these states and the rest of the world. Such social roles in the international arena may be viewed as beneficial by officials in the three states and paradoxically may work at the expense of overall closer integrated relationships with Russia. The theoretical framing of the thesis relies in particular on International Relations conventional social constructivism. It emphasises ideational factors in international identity construction and social meanings of nuclear energy acquisition and cooperation. The methodology of the thesis draws on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of official discourse. The thesis demonstrates how Belarus, Ukraine, and Armenia paradoxically exercise agency in constructing their international identities through nuclearity in such a way that counters and balances against Russian influence as well as fosters cooperation and relationships and affirms certain statuses at the regional and wider international levels. The primary findings are 1) nuclearity is considered, to an extent, to be a strategic asset in affirming social roles, desired characteristics, and status and 2) different audiences and norms have shaped and helped determine the status-seeking strategies of Ukraine, Belarus, and Armenia over time as these states attempted to demonstrate evidence of certain characteristics via nuclearity such as modernity, advancement, equality, and independence. The thesis affirms the value of Area Studies and decentring scholarship on international identity, particularly in the post-Soviet region, in a way that challenges Russia-centric assumptions about identity, materiality, and agency.

Authors: Davis, A

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-qarmvw9vz
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Constructivism; Belarus; Ukraine; International identity; Area Studies; civil nuclear cooperation; Critical Discourse Analysis; foreign policy; Decentring; Armenia; Russia; International Relations
• Subjects: International relations; Area studies; Critical discourse analysis