Values against Interests? Or Both? : A Case Analysis of Germany's Feminist Foreign Policy and Trade Relations with Saudi Arabia from 2021 to 2023

Sammanfattning: "Values and interests are not contradictory” is the approach of Germany’s current coalition government of the SPD, Greens, and FDP. However, German politicians from all parties narrate the role of the state in international affairs differently. With the government’s position, Germany’s role as a human rights defender gained importance and is now imposed as “value-led” foreign policy. Another attribute, “feminist”, is added and emphasises the greater importance of human security in the foreign policy programme of Germany. In order to achieve coherence among all areas of the state’s foreign affairs, this thesis poses the question of which roles Germany fulfils and why they are chosen in accordance with its feminist foreign policy and with specific regard to its foreign trade relations with Saudi Arabia from 2021 to 2023. The two countries are long-time trading partners with increasing importance since German politicians face the dilemma of climate change and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In particular, German arms exports to Saudi Arabia remain a controversy. The case of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy has shown in the past a diplomatic crisis about arms deals with Saudi Arabia and serves as a reference point to assume similar troubles for Germany’s foreign policymaking. Namely, the roles in question are guarantor of European security and peace, economic competitor, and human rights guardian. The narrative analysis conducted in this thesis reveals the different portrayals of politicians in government and opposition. Since the watershed moment of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the perceived dilemma Germany encounters with that, narratives have largely divided in their basis on whether they are realpolitik or idealism. Both values and interests are important for the government’s narratives of Germany’s role on the international scale and challenge the foreign trade with Saudi Arabia.