Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
2012-07-30T00:00:00Z
This thesis investigates the role of new media on the revolutionary movement(s) in Egypt. Investigated time spam is the birth of the first small revolutionary movements in 2004 – when the...Show moreThis thesis investigates the role of new media on the revolutionary movement(s) in Egypt. Investigated time spam is the birth of the first small revolutionary movements in 2004 – when the revolutionary spark of the Colored Revolutions of Eastern Europe first crossed the Mediterranean Sea – till the historic “18 days” of 2011 which resulted in former president Hosni Mubarak resigning from office. Central argument is that the so-called "New Media" – i.e. pan-Arab satellite-TV and social media – represent but also contribute to and facilitate these social developments. Al-Jazeera and other pan-Arab satellite-TV channels have changed the way the Arab public view social and political events in their own region and have given them a voice of their own. These channels provide digital activists with a platform and break through the monopoly of state-controlled news. New Media played an indispensable role in connecting people and places, transforming loose activists into organized groups, and finally bringing the masses to the streets resulting eventually in the fall of Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak. This research is a cross-over of several fields of study including political science, communication studies and international relations. Itapplies political theories on social movements (Tilly et al) and modular revolutions (Beissinger et al), as well as Katz and Lazarsfield’s theory on the two-step process of opinion formation and several theories on media and democratization.Show less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
This study analyzes debates conducted at the Finnish parliament between the years 2001 and 2011 to find out key causal mechanisms that impacted Finland‟s decision to join the Ottawa Convention...Show moreThis study analyzes debates conducted at the Finnish parliament between the years 2001 and 2011 to find out key causal mechanisms that impacted Finland‟s decision to join the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines in 2012. The study found empirical support for both constitutive and constraining effects which were necessary but not alone sufficient conditions for the decision. Without the left wing parties being receptive to moral persuasion there would not have been enough political will to push the issue forward and without peer pressure stemming from other countries and the ability of international institutions to lock in domestic decisions it is highly unlikely that the right wing parties would have yielded to accept the treaty. In the absence of the latter two, the right wing parties would not have been able to justify the accession decision.Show less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
The so-called ‘Pacific Century’ has inspired a new wave of literature on the impact of the rise of China on existent trends of Geopolitics, Development and Global Governance. In no place has this...Show moreThe so-called ‘Pacific Century’ has inspired a new wave of literature on the impact of the rise of China on existent trends of Geopolitics, Development and Global Governance. In no place has this been more apparent than in sub-Saharan Africa, a region previously dominated by Western influence and norms. This thesis examines the implications of the pursuit of interests by the EU and China on Sovereignty since the turn of the century, focusing on the case of Nigeria. I argue that whereas the EU considers sovereignty to be ‘subjective’ to internal legitimacy, China adopts a ‘defensive’ stance on the norm. These positions are the result of each actor’s respective interests in resource accumulation, economic growth and diplomatic support. Using process tracing, I show how the pursuit of interests by the EU and China result in both direct and indirect impacts on Sovereignty in Nigeria. Whereas most scholars of International Relations focus on direct breeches of sovereignty in the case of international intervention in state affairs, I have developed the concept of indirect breeches of Sovereignty to incorporate cases in which internal state affairs are influenced, for example through the support of a particular regime type that does not necessarily hold internal legitimacy. This concept has important implications for the potential for collective bargaining between states and the ability to determine the amount of influence of external states in cases of Political-Economic diversity.Show less
