Doctoral Defence: Butrint Berisha “Exploring the role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in foreign relations of de facto states: A comparative analysis of Kosovo, Palestine and Taiwan”

On 17 September, 2025 at 10:00 Butrint Berisha will defend his doctoral dissertation "Exploring the role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in foreign relations of de facto states: A comparative analysis of Kosovo, Palestine and Taiwan" for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Political Science).

Supervisor:
Professor Eiki Berg, University of Tartu

Opponent:
Professor Fiona McConnell, University of Oxford (United Kingdom)

Summary:

In the 21st century, civil society organizations (CSOs) have gained unprecedented opportunities to engage internationally, among others, due to technological advancements and the opening of multilateral venues. This thesis examines how domestic CSOs engage internationally in de facto states – states that maintain different degrees of acceptance and formal recognition, while lacking full United Nations (UN) membership. Unlike fully recognised states, de facto states possess partial diplomatic relations and limited engagement with international organisations and the broader international community. Within informal relations, CSOs possess capabilities to occasionally enhance the interaction capacity of de facto states with the international society, thereby expanding their international engagement, participation, representation, and visibility. However, CSO activities in contested statehood contexts remain underexplored in comparative research. Focusing on Kosovo, Palestine, and Taiwan, the study compares the international engagement of 45 domestic CSOs, therefore 15 per each case.

The thesis traces CSO international engagement enabled from various international, domestic, and organisational factors. By employing a comparative approach, the dissertation argues that the contested statehood context affects the international work of these organisations by compelling them to a ‘duality of commitment’, understood as balancing their activities between their primary focus on universal global governance challenges and national projects of state-making and state recognition. Although the CSO agency in world politics is constrained, they also serve as ‘de facto diplomats’ internationally, by engaging in what are considered as diplomatic functions such as communication and negotiation, and, most importantly, representing and protecting the interests of their citizens in the international fora. To this end, this thesis proposes to conceptualise instances where CSOs engage internationally through the notion of ‘CSO diplomacy’.

The dissertation connects to debates over who is recognised as the legitimate actor with the status to speak on behalf of populations. As international affairs increasingly accommodate multiple forms of diplomatic representation, CSOs battle to claim a legitimate position within these shifting arrangements. The constitutive structure of CSOs’ internal organisation is also undergoing change, as they increasingly develop capabilities in areas once reserved exclusively for foreign ministries and professional diplomats. For instance, CSOs make efforts to institutionalise and improve their international outreach capabilities. Finally, the dissertation argues that these CSOs both contest and reinforce statehood norms of the international society, such as sovereignty, self-determination, territorial integrity, non-intervention, and territoriality. Future research will be needed to better comprehend CSO roles across the highly diverse de facto state category, particularly in instances where the CSO sector does not follow a liberal paradigm or in cases with less international recognition and legitimacy.

University Senate Hall (Ülikooli 18-204)

17 September 2025 10:00

Organiser: Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies Link: https://hdl.handle.net/10062/115278