| Summary: | This dissertation examines the emergence of norms and the process through which these influence state behaviour. State identity conceptualized in ethnic or civic terms, shapes state preferences concerning the recognition of new states. Hence, the ethnic or civic identity of Germany, France, Greece and Italy influenced their policy on recognition of the former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia, FYROM (Macedonia) and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nevertheless, the examination of these policies indicates that these preferences were tempered by security concerns and perceptions of threat. Hence, although this thesis supports the constructivist claim on the power of principles such as identity, it also incorporates the realist claims on the significance of geopolitics in foreign policy. Consequently, it does not claim the supremacy of one theory over another instead it attempts to provide a better framework for understanding the sources of foreign policy.
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