THE EUROPEAN RESPONSE TO THE LIBYAN CRISIS AN INQUIRY INTO SOVEREIGNTY

Abstract

This thesis investigates the crisis responses of Italy and the European Union towards the Libyan Civil War, from its outbreak in 2011 to its recent developments. The aim is to explain the actors’ challenges to implement a cohesive foreign policy that leads to a resolution of the conflict. To research that, this thesis will investigate to what extent the conceptions of sovereignty of Italy and the EU prevent the Union to implement a cohesive foreign policy towards the Libyan Crisis. This will be done through an interdisciplinary research approach. The method will consist of integrating the historical analysis of the actors’ crisis responses with a theoretical framework from political philosophy, defining different conceptions of sovereignty. Findings indicate that the actors’ conceptions of sovereignty evolved throughout the different phases of the Libyan Crisis. The found divergence in sovereignty conceptions for two of the three crisis response contexts indicates the effective impact on the EU’s challenges to implement a cohesive foreign policy towards the Libyan Crisis.