This study investigates the doctrine of self-determination in the practice of the United Nations and in relation to the self-determination claims of the Palestinian people. In the first years that...Show moreThis study investigates the doctrine of self-determination in the practice of the United Nations and in relation to the self-determination claims of the Palestinian people. In the first years that followed its establishment, the United Nations terminated British mandate on the territory and since then its Partition Plan has not materialize. Over the time, he principle of self-determination underwent numerous reforms. To look back at the development of the principle as well as its application the the Palestinian self-determination claims this work employs process tracing method. This research looks at the five decades following the establishment of the United Nations and analyses them in three separate time frames. The time frames are based on historical context of the time. Findings of this work suggest that process of disregard, negligence and flexible interpretation of the doctrine of self-determination have played part in the unsuccessful exercise of the right to self-determination by the Palestinians.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Piercing through the dust of wars in Sub-Saharan Africa has become increasingly difficult for peacekeeping operations. UN-led and regionally-led operations in this region face increasing challenges...Show morePiercing through the dust of wars in Sub-Saharan Africa has become increasingly difficult for peacekeeping operations. UN-led and regionally-led operations in this region face increasing challenges due to the evolving dynamics of intrastate conflicts and the inability of these organisations to adapt, leading to intensified violence and rising civilian casualties. The concept of local ownership in peacebuilding has gained traction over the decades as a response to these challenges but remains inadequately implemented and formulated in contemporary peacekeeping operations. This thesis conducts a focused structured comparison of two case studies in Sub-Saharan Africa – Mali and the DRC – to examine how specific approaches to local ownership influence the effectiveness of these peacekeeping operations. The findings reveal several overarching limitations in current approaches to local ownership in both UN-led and regionally-led missions, as well as some country- and region-specific issues. The key limitations include a severe lack of inter-organisational cooperation and communication, the apparent inability of peacekeeping operations to adapt to the rapidly changing nature of conflicts, failure to integrate various levels of governance in local ownership projects, and the tendency to view local ownership as a means to an end rather than part of a comprehensive framework for sustainable peace. This research contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the challenges faced by both the UN and regional organisations in transitioning from UN-dominated peacekeeping to regional ownership of these missions in Sub-Saharan Africa.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
States in the international system create international organizations to find solutions to collective action problems. To remain relevant, these organizations oftentimes need to adapt to newly...Show moreStates in the international system create international organizations to find solutions to collective action problems. To remain relevant, these organizations oftentimes need to adapt to newly arising challenges and issues. This need for institutional rearrangement and adaptation is most prominent during short periods of times, often referred to as critical junctures. The subsequent academic thesis will contrast the two critical junctures of the UN´s 75th Anniversary and the war in Ukraine, and their respective impact on the Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly. This will yield insights into how the momentum generated by such critical junctures can better be harnessed to advance reform processes in international organizations. The United Nations is the foremost international organization, and the General Assembly its most universal organ. Its 193 members come together to discuss a plethora of topics and to find solutions to the most pressing concerns of the 21st century. In 2020, amidst the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the United Nations celebrated its 75th Anniversary and adopting a set of commitments aimed at accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs outlined therein. In 2021 Secretary General Antonio Guterres proposed concrete steps to fulfill these commitments in his report Our Common Agenda. Especially, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the General Assembly has been increasingly vocal on issues related to international peace and security, originally the primary responsibility of the Security Council. The UNGA´s 11th Emergency Special Session on the war has resulted in numerous resolutions deploring the aggression, calling on Russia to remove its troops from Ukraine´s sovereign territory, but also rejecting Russia from the UN´s Human Rights Council and establishing the groundwork for an international registry of damages. Does this increasing activity constitute a broader shift in the UNGA´s self-perception, the interpretation of its mandate and of its working methods?Show less
As the liberal international order recedes, China has emerged as the principal challenger of global governance institutions that promote human rights. While China used to act as an ostensible norm...Show moreAs the liberal international order recedes, China has emerged as the principal challenger of global governance institutions that promote human rights. While China used to act as an ostensible norm taker in the sphere of human rights, it is increasingly asserting its own authoritarian human rights norms ‘with Chinese characteristics’ on the global stage. Using Chinese ‘tianxia’ theory and realism, this thesis endeavours to uncover how China is working to subvert international human rights governance with a case study of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC); the preeminent global forum for safeguarding human rights. A discourse analysis of China’s ‘counter- institutionalisation’ of the HRC, reveals a strategic effort to block criticism, prevent independent monitoring, and change established conceptions about the very meaning of human rights. The robustness of the HRC’s mandate thus appears to be under growing duress. How other states respond to China’s affront may determine the direction of global human rights governance for decades to come.Show less
Gender equality is becoming a more important value day by day, which is also recognized by the United Nations itself. However, reaching gender equality is a difficult aspect. One measure to reach...Show moreGender equality is becoming a more important value day by day, which is also recognized by the United Nations itself. However, reaching gender equality is a difficult aspect. One measure to reach gender equality is by introducing gender quotas. Countries can implement legislated or voluntary quotas to have a more equal gender division in their national parliaments, which represents countries’ citizens. Most of the existing theory discusses that gender quotas are expected to influence the gender division positively. This thesis tests whether quotas in general, legislated quotas, and voluntary quotas do influence the gender division of a countries’ parliament. There have been performed 10 regressions to test the drafted hypotheses. Even though the correlation was expected to be positive, the results show the opposite. Found estimators representing the influence of (different kind of) gender quotas are unsignificant and remarkably low. However, the found effects are negative which goes against most of the existing theory. There is not a clear answer yet to the question if quotas influence the gender division, but if the negative results are correct, this need to be further researched. Therefore, more research and the inclusion of more variables would be beneficial.Show less
This is a M.A. thesis on the forces contributing to the acknowledgement of genocides by the perpertrating states. It is comparing the Australian genocide of the Aborigines, the German genocide of...Show moreThis is a M.A. thesis on the forces contributing to the acknowledgement of genocides by the perpertrating states. It is comparing the Australian genocide of the Aborigines, the German genocide of Nama and (Ova-)Herero in Namibia, the Canaduan genocide of Native Canadians and the U.S. American genocide of Native Americans with eachother. The composure of the government as well as a lack of threat to the social identity of a state are identified as the key factors in the perpetrator state acknowledgment.Show less
The growth of the Peoples’ Republic of China’s economic development, and growth of influence within the international sphere, the nation is able to offer an alternative model to global governance...Show moreThe growth of the Peoples’ Republic of China’s economic development, and growth of influence within the international sphere, the nation is able to offer an alternative model to global governance and state development. This study seeks to answer whether or not the People’s Republic of China is actively developing its own framework for global governance, state development and human rights. Furthermore, it will aim to answer whether the actions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) developed in the 21st century towards achieving that end? This analysis will focus on the development of three variables that promote China’s ability in undermining human rights governance and democratic promotion, with a focus on the CCP’s machinations within the United Nations (UN), in order to provide an insight into whether China’s actions represent an intent on establishing a new world order in the 21st century.Show less
China’s rise in political power over the last decades has been reflected by its growing international influence, e.g., in international organisations like the World Bank or the United Nations....Show moreChina’s rise in political power over the last decades has been reflected by its growing international influence, e.g., in international organisations like the World Bank or the United Nations. Especially its role in the UN Security Council is of importance as China holds one of the permanent seats. One important agenda item of the SC is peacekeeping operations. China’s peacekeeping policy has attracted significant scholarly attention. However, there is a theoretical gap as previous research has not yet focused on the influence of institutions on China, in particular its peacekeeping approach. This study aims to fill this gap by looking at how China’s increase in political power affects its peacekeeping policy. In order to answer this question, this paper connects prior research findings with an analysis of UNSC meeting records on peacekeeping operations from 2000-2003 to explore China’s evolving peacekeeping policy. The analysis provides mixed results: While there is clear evidence for a path dependence and the critical juncture, there is ambiguity regarding a change in China’s peacekeeping policy after 2001.Show less
The United Nations' foundational principles, delineated in the Charter of the United Nations, remain the driving political and ideological force in its decision-making, formation, and performance....Show moreThe United Nations' foundational principles, delineated in the Charter of the United Nations, remain the driving political and ideological force in its decision-making, formation, and performance. This research will show that, because the Organization is built on a liberal internationalist morality, it prioritizes liberal ethics to the detriment of a communal morality. Currently, the principles governing the institutions are mostly generalized principles of conduct aimed at fostering economic freedom and to maintain security – a morality mostly based on voluntarism, mutual gains, and negative freedom – but these principles do not speak of an intrinsic motivation towards an (additional) morality based on fellowship, solidarity, equality, and global well-being. A communal moral dimension is absent in the Charter, and this in turns prevents the United Nations from becoming a community instead of an aggregate of member-states. As I will showcase later following the Akan philosophy, such intrinsic motivation is internal to the practices of a community, and the universalisation of the liberal morality currently is insensitive to the international context of the United Nations. Since the Organization has thus yet to become a holistic community, it is unable to take up grand collective responsibility in their striving towards global well-being and development. Akan philosophy specifically and African communitarianism in general will be put forward as candidates to manifest this additional morality, one which will be able to facilitate the formation of a community, to strengthen the bond between member-states and United Nations, and to address social responsibility within a framework of relationality and interconnectedness. African communitarianism could help bridge the gap that currently exists between the theoretical appeal and the actual implementation of the Organization’s collective responsibility. A synthesis between liberal internationalist and African communitarian principles could fashion the United Nations as a community, one in which concepts of freedom and voluntarism would be coupled with values of solidarity and relationality, and where the individual member-states are motivated to adhere to their social responsibilities.Show less
This thesis asks why Canada became a global leader in peacekeeping in the 1960s and 1970s. The thesis is conducted through an analysis of both domestic and international causes that played a role...Show moreThis thesis asks why Canada became a global leader in peacekeeping in the 1960s and 1970s. The thesis is conducted through an analysis of both domestic and international causes that played a role in Canada's acquisition of a disproportionally large role within global peacekeeping. These causes are extensively researched using two case studies, being the United Nations' peacekeeping mission in Congo in the 1960s as well as the mission in Cyprus in the 1960s and 1970s. Furthermore, the thesis analyses the link between the United Nations and Canada on the peacekeeping front and discusses why it is that the UN came to rely on Canada so heavily for global peacekeeping efforts in the time period of the 1960s and 1970s.Show less
The Indonesian War of Independence (1945-1949) has long been overlooked in large parts of international historiography, which is a shame. The war, which saw the nationalist Indonesian Republic...Show moreThe Indonesian War of Independence (1945-1949) has long been overlooked in large parts of international historiography, which is a shame. The war, which saw the nationalist Indonesian Republic prevail over its Indonesian competitors for national sovereignty and the Dutch, who were intent on re-establishing their colonial presence in the archipelago, took place on the intersection of the twentieth century's most significant themes, such as World War II, the Cold War and decolonisation. With the archipelago's future at stake, including its population of nearly seventy million inhabitants in 1945 and its large reserves of strategic resources, the conflict was pushed to the top of the international diplomatic agenda with a central role for the United States. According to the existing historiography, the US' attitude towards the conflict was relatively passive and reactive, while its policy was predominantly informed and executed through formal diplomacy. This seems out of character for the United States, given its WWII intelligence achievements and Cold War reputation for covert action, and raises the question if the historiography on the Indonesian War of Independence suffers from a 'missing dimension'. This thesis aims to explore and explain the role of the American intelligence community in shaping the American information position and policy on the Indonesian question, based on a wide variety of secondary literature and primary sources from American and Dutch collections and archives. Due to its classified nature, much of the intelligence-related archival material from this period was only declassified from the 1990s onwards, allowing for a reassessment of the major diplomatic histories on the conflict primarily written between 1960 and 1985. After charting the US intelligence presence and capabilities in Indonesia from 1945 to 1949, considering the relevant organisations for both human intelligence (HUMINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT), it will be assessed how effectively intelligence was integrated into the State Department's foreign policy formulation process. This assessment will be made based on the intelligence cycle framework, distinguishing between the stages of planning and direction, collection, analysis, processing and dissemination. The story of American intelligence in the Indonesian War of Independence is also the story of the radical transformation the American intelligence community underwent in the years immediately following World War II, as the haphazardly created wartime intelligence apparatus was laboriously adapted into the country's first foreign intelligence apparatus in peacetime. Over a period of several years and via various short-lived interim agencies such as the Strategic Services Unit (SSU) and the Central Intelligence Group (CIG), the wartime Office of Strategic Services Unit (OSS) finally evolved into the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Throughout the Indonesian War of Independence, signals intelligence would remain a military affair in the hands of the Army Security Agency (ASA) and the Navy's OP-20-G. However, these forebears to the National Security Agency (NSA) went through a tumultuous period as well. Fearing competition in their foreign reporting privileges, State Department officials generally resisted the idea of intelligence gathering in peacetime. The strained 1 relationship with the upcoming intelligence community in which this resistance resulted will also form a central theme throughout this thesis. Although the lack of institutional continuity, absence of a clear mandate, continuous shortages of capacity and assets and the novelty of peacetime intelligence to policymakers generally prevented the American intelligence organisations from having a radical impact on the country's course, the story of American intelligence in the Indonesian War of Independence adds an intriguing perspective to the historiography on this complex and multi-layered conflict. In addition, the events of the Indonesian War of Independence proved to be one of the early American intelligence community's formative experiences, which were crucial in laying the foundations for the organisations that would gain notoriety in the Cold War soon afterwards.Show less