Based on a several projects, this research overall is based on a broad discourse analysis which compares three case studies: foreign policy discourses of Turkey, United Kingdom and Germany towards Syria (and partly Libya) regarding humanitarian intervention or Responsibility to Protect (R2P). based on the premise that identities are not fixed, nor are discourses, this research tries to understand discourses of (humanitarian) interventions and efforts to stabilize them. In doing this, this research asks significant questions such as why states support or oppose interventions abroad, what the role of norms, values and humanitarian concerns is and how (non)interventions are justified. With a critical discourse analysis, this research explains how identities are (re)constructed in relation to one`s own self-image and in an opposition to others. In the research, especially the role of competing (national and international) discourse alliances in decision-making or on decision-makers are analysed. Moreover, this research assesses how the official discourse is challenged and transformed. In short, by incorporating tools and methods proposed by Discourse Theory (DT) or also known as Essex School, this study investigates how actors articulate, interpret, and negotiate the concept of humanitarian intervention and R2P in relation to their own and others` identities.
The author has recently completed a book research on the discourse analysis of the Turkish foreign policy regarding R2P towards Libya and Syria. She is involved in two similar projects on the analysis of the R2P discourse of the United Kingdom and Germany (towards Syria). This group of research aims at explaining the instabilities in foreign policy discourses and the interpretation and contestation of the norm-based interventions. In doing so, it exhibits relations of power within one discursive coalition or between different coalitions. It indicates the points of contestation, formation of alliances and establishment of the relationships of othering and equivalence. Furthermore, it contributes to the understanding of identities (self and other) around the normative concepts like R2P or humanitarian issues beyond borders.
