The Role of Human Rights in EU-Belarus Relations

• Main Author: Bayer, Bastian
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen 2017
• Subjects: Human Rights; Belarus; Lukashenka; EU; Foreign Policy; Jospeh Nye; Soft Power; Hard Power; Smart Power; Social Sciences; Samhällsvetenskap
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-329937

It has been proven that the burgeoning power of the EU is not negligible. However, it is still debatable whether the EU acts as a smart power in its external human rights policy. Through Joseph Nye's theory of hard, soft, and smart power, this thesis will offer a critical understanding of a wide range of factors which merits the EU's role as a smart power. The contemporary history of Belarus also illustrates that the political, economic, and cultural endeavours of the EU reveal the institution's role as a smart power. Within the theoretical framework predicated on Nye's theory on the aforementioned powers, the EU-Belarus relations will be be analysed in order to lay bare the power of the EU and to shed light on the significance of human rights in the EU policies.