Human Rights in Foreign Policy : The role of the Human Rights discourse throughout the Venezuelan Presidential Crisis

Sammanfattning: The conception of Human Rights is relatively new to international relations and their analysis and, accordingly, their location within this field, theoretically as well as practically, has not yet been ultimately identified. Their role varies among differing theoretical approaches. The aim of this work is to contribute to this discussion through working towards a theoretical framework which allows to place the normative conception of Human Rights in a rather realist analysis of foreign policy. Visualizing this attempt through reviewing the foreign policy measures initiated by the United States and the European Union towards the Maduro government throughout the Venezuelan presidential crisis, the potential impact of the Human Rights discourse for the means of legitimizing such measures becomes apparent. Eventually, the power potential the discourse holds when instrumentalized as a tool of foreign policy contributes to the understanding of its role in contemporary international relations.