| Summary: | This study problematises two theoretical propositions that have prevailed in the mainstream International Relations (IR) literature: the first concerns the negative understanding of the role of entities in the margins; and the second is the attention paid to material resources and physical capabilities in comparison to the politics of norms or identities. Building on insights from Constructivism, this thesis advances the idea of ‘norm competition’, which international norms compete with each other to gain initiative, and it explores this with reference to nuclear norm entrepreneurship in the Western Alliance in the early Cold War. In so doing, the study traces the historical paths towards the creation of EURATOM between 1955 and 1957 at two levels. First, the external relations of EURATOM are examined in the framework of norm competition; that is, between the emerging norms of EURATOM, and existing norms in the form of US nuclear regulations developed after the end of World War II. I argue that favourable temporal and spatial conditions, as well as an ‘agree-and-deepen policy’, a communication skill carefully designed to increase one’s political leverage by exploiting one’s own identification, helped the creation of EURATOM and the emergence of alternative norms in the nuclear field. Second, the inner-dynamics of EURATOM with regard to its member states, specifically Belgium and France, is explored in terms of their motivation for joining EURATOM and its influence on them with respect to their post-war foreign policy identity—namely, the ‘hyphen role’ of Belgium and the ‘exceptionalism’ of France. It is argued that EURATOM played a key role in creating room for its own autonomy and its member states in relation to nuclear norms. In turn, Belgium and France contributed to the creation of EURATOM by exploiting their unique identities. Finally, it concludes that norm entrepreneurship can increase the political leverage of margins in relation to centres, and therefore being marginal does not necessarily mean being powerless.
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