This master's thesis examines the casual mechanism behind the geographical expansion of international governmental organizations through the lens of social constructivism and the Copenhagen School's securitisation theory. The main goal of the research is to identify and empirically examine the conditions under which the securitisation of external factors moves beyond mere operational adjustments of an alliance and triggers a formal expansion of its membership. Utilizing qualitative methods of process tracing and discourse analysis of primary institutional documents and official speeches, the thesis analyzes the historical evolution of the NATO alliance between 1990 and 2022. The analytical focus is placed on the case study of the latest expansion wave to Finland and Sweden following the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022. The study also offers a comparative analysis of alternative expansion models, including the EU, ASEAN, CSTO, and SCO. The key findings indicate that external material shocks do not operate automatically. Rather, they trigger geographical expansion only when a successful speech act by elites dismantles the prior ontological security of the candidate states. This act frames the event as an immediate existential threat to national sovereignty and mobilizes both the moral and formal audiences, creates the direct cause of expansion by legitimising full membership as an extraordinary measure. Consequently, the research confirms that in times of crisis, the borders of international governmental organizations are drawn primarily where collective social perceptions of security and survival are successfully redefined through the power of discourse.
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