Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Economics and Political Science - Department of Political Science

Antagonism against Islam and Muslims has been noticed and recorded by human rights{u2019} organizations, academics, and media. Such antagonistic phenomenon has been referred to as Islamophobia. However, Islamophobia has been studied in the realm of domestic politics and social dynamics. Also, international discourse has been neglected as an influential variable in shaping the foreign policy of international actors.The purpose of this research is to investigate the possibility of an Islamophobic foreign policy of the European Union (EU). This is done by examining the roots and causes of Islamophobia in the Western societies, EU{u2019}s self and others{u2019} presentation, and analyzing the European Council{u2019}s discourse.Two Muslim case studies are selected to compare the EU{u2019}s discourse towards them, Turkey and Iran. The study focuses on the timeframe of 1991 to 2011, where the terrorist attacks of 9/11 as the mid-point.The research adopts the social constructivist approach in understanding the interplay between the EU{u2019}s socialization process and the impact of the international discourse on formulating its {u2018}self- presentation{u2019} and foreign policy towards the case-studies. The EU{u2019}s discourse is analyzed using the Socio-Cognitive approach in Critical discourse analysis. The research finds that the EU{u2019}s foreign policy reflects tendencies of being Islamophobic, based on the constructed identity of Self and Others shaped through the socialization process, which was itself influenced by the Islamophobic international discourse, EU's internal dynamics, and the impact of the American role

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