This thesis examines the European Union's (EU) mainstreaming efforts of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in its foreign operations. Despite its acceptance by all European member...Show moreThis thesis examines the European Union's (EU) mainstreaming efforts of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in its foreign operations. Despite its acceptance by all European member states and an extensive rhetoric on promoting and protecting children's rights, the EU has received critique on its practical commitments. While previous studies have highlighted the challenges towards mainstreaming children's rights in the EU's general foreign policy, this article focuses on the EU’s mainstreaming efforts within specific operations, or more specifically the MENA region. The findings reveal that, while limited, the EU has mainstreamed children's rights into both policy processes and outcomes. However, this varies per operation. Moreover, it also reveals that the primary focus of the EU remains on protection and provision aspects rather than empowerment. Constructivism and norm cycle theory help explain the limited level of mainstreaming of the CRC in EU foreign policy and finding potential solutions towards effective mainstreaming of children’s rights. The findings contribute to the discourse on advancing children's rights mainstreaming in EU foreign policy and guiding the EU's rhetoric into action.Show less
The long-standing relationship between Turkey and the EU has cooled considerably over the past decade. Due to its geopolitical importance in various areas – including the fields of security,...Show moreThe long-standing relationship between Turkey and the EU has cooled considerably over the past decade. Due to its geopolitical importance in various areas – including the fields of security, migration, and trade – the developments of the Turkey-EU relations are closely followed by experts. This thesis aims to determine what factors have contributed to post-2011 Turkey-EU tensions. It is convinced that relying upon events alone is not sufficient to understand the key dynamics of Turkey-EU tensions and to answer the research question. Specifically, it investigates how the notion of identity – as an angle within constructivism theory - played a role in the rise of right-wing populism and Islamophobia in Western Europe, the rise of political Islam in Turkey, the EU accession process, and it also scrutinizes the role of identity independently. To answer the research question, secondary data was collected through qualitative and quantitative research methods. Primary data was collected through one-on-one interviews with both Turkish and European participants. Responses were analyzed using critical discourse analysis (CDA). The results show a strong correlation between ‘‘Self’’ vs. ‘‘Other’’ sentiments - as prevalent in Turkey-EU tensions - and identity. On this basis, both Turkey and the EU seem to find themselves in an identity crisis that they both reflect upon the ‘‘Other’’ to safeguard their own identity. These results suggest that developments such as the rise of right-wing populism and Islamophobia in Western Europe and the rise of political Islam in Turkey, each contributing to mutual tensions, are products of a contemporary identity dilemma.Show less
Master thesis | Crisis and Security Management (MSc)
open access
In 2013, President Xi Jinping of China launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This initiative of unprecedented scale aims to connect China with its western hinterland, eventually reaching...Show moreIn 2013, President Xi Jinping of China launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This initiative of unprecedented scale aims to connect China with its western hinterland, eventually reaching Europe and the African east coast, through massive infrastructural investments. Although, the potential consequences of this initiative can be enormous, the EU has hitherto shown limited (re)action towards the BRI. This led Misiągiewicz & Misiągiewicz (2016, p. 39) to state that “the European Union has to date been slow and reluctant in responding to the ‘One Belt, One Road’ idea”. This reveals what some would call a low degree of EU-‘actorness’, with ‘actorness’ being understood as the extent to which an actor can deliberately operate among and with other actors within the international system (Sjösted, 1977). This leads to the research question of this thesis, namely: “What factors can explain the low degree of actorness of the European Union regarding the Belt and Road Initiative?”. Following on a literature review towards actorness, three factors that influence actorness are identified. These three factors are context, capability and coherence. The first factor, context, is about external elements that influence actorness (Brattberg & Rhinard, 2012; Bretherton & Vogler, 2013; Da Conceição-Heldt & Meunier, 2014; Jupille & Caporaso, 1998). The factor of capability is about the different ‘tools’ an actor has and whether it is able to use those tools (Brattberg & Rhinard, 2012; Bretherton & Vogler, 2006; 2013). The third and last factor this thesis will study is coherence. This factor is about how coherent an actor and its institutions are among themselves (Bretherton & Vogler, 2013; Da Conceição-Heldt & Meunier, 2014; Nilsson et al., 2012). These factors are elaborated upon and analyzed in this thesis to determine whether they can explain the low degree of EU actorness regarding the BRI. To analyze the factors of context and capability, qualitative content analyses are conducted towards primary sources, consisting of EU documents and two EU webpages. To study the factor of coherence, a quantitative content analysis will be conducted towards primary sources, consisting of EU documents that represent the external message of the EU. Following from these analyses, it can be concluded that the factors context and coherence resulted in the low degree of EU actorness regarding the BRI. The factor of context constrains EU actorness regarding the BRI, because the EU is not completely recognized as a relevant party by other international actors with regard to themes that are relevant in the context of the EU and the BRI, for example concerning FDI laws. The factor of coherence constrains EU actorness regarding the BRI, because the external ‘message’ of the EU is not coherent in three ways. First of all, EU documents often contradict themselves. Secondly, EU documents that are published in the same year are not coherent with one another. Last, the EU’s message is also not coherent with itself over time.Show less
