This master's thesis examines humanitarian aid as an instrument of the European Union’s (EU) soft power within the framework of its foreign policy. The central research question addressed is: »In what ways does EU humanitarian aid function as a means of soft power in responding to humanitarian crises?« The aim of the thesis is to explore how the EU employs humanitarian assistance to influence the international environment and how this contributes to its attractiveness, legitimacy, and normative influence. The theoretical part outlines the concept of soft power as defined by Joseph Nye and normative power as conceptualized by Ian Manners, with a focus on the role of values, foreign policy, and institutional mechanisms. A five-dimensional analytical framework is developed, encompassing: values and norms, legitimacy and perception of aid, institutional mechanisms, visibility and communication as well as impact on soft power. The empirical analysis is based on two case studies: the EU's response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and its approach to providing aid to the population in Myanmar. The analysis shows that humanitarian aid can contribute to the exercise of the EU’s soft power in both cases; however, this effect is highly dependent on the perception of aid by recipients, the political context, and the consistency between EU principles and its actions.
|
