Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet

Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
The Securitization of UNRWA and the Role of Moral Support
Swedish Defence University.
2025 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

The Copenhagen School's securitization theory has been criticized for neglecting the role of the audience (Léonard & Kaunert 2010, pp. 59–61). In response, Thierry Balzacq (2005) reconceptualized the audience into formal and moral support. This thesis adopts his concept of moral support to analyze the securitization of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). On October 28, 2024, Israel banned UNRWA from operating within its territories (BBC 2024), citing national security concerns.Using qualitative content analysis, the thesis examines statements from Israeli politicians and official press releases, alongside responses from the European Union, United Nations, and the United States as providers of moral support. The findings indicate that Israeli politicians securitized UNRWA as an existential threat due to its alleged affiliation with Hamas and perceived risks to national security. Furthermore, the findings reveal that actors providing moral support do not align with the securitization of UNRWA. However, while the EU, UN, and USA publicly support UNRWA and reject its securitization, their actions often do not align with their rhetoric, indicating a form of strategic ambivalence. This suggests that moral support may be more symbolic than decisive. This thesis highlights the increasing politicization of humanitarian organizations like UNRWA and the practical impact of moral support in securitization theory.  

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025. , p. 42
Keywords [en]
UNRWA, Securitization, Moral Support, Thierry Balzacq
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-13624OAI: oai:DiVA.org:fhs-13624DiVA, id: diva2:1953711
Subject / course
Political Science with a focus on Crisis Management and Security
Educational program
Swedish Defence University’s Bachelor Program
Uppsok
Social and Behavioural Science, Law
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2025-04-23 Created: 2025-04-22 Last updated: 2025-04-23Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(667 kB)20 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 667 kBChecksum SHA-512
68e8f6a48611f6df7a26e4dd4c6ecded25fd383643eed5217ae3c197b26798845abdef112a8781d9567f6c6200055cfd8dfccab92a6c27b7470bf5719290ae5f
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

By organisation
Swedish Defence University
Political Science

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 20 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 65 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf