Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
This study employs descriptive statistics and Difference-in-Differences (DID) analysis from 1990 to 2022 to investigate the impact of minimum wage policies on women's labor force participation...Show moreThis study employs descriptive statistics and Difference-in-Differences (DID) analysis from 1990 to 2022 to investigate the impact of minimum wage policies on women's labor force participation rates in the European Union (EU). The findings suggest that increases in the minimum wage have a modest but statistically significant positive effect on women's economic activity. Additionally, the analysis indicates that this impact varies depending on national socioeconomic conditions and existing labor market structures. While minimum wage policy alone cannot fully address gender inequality in the labor market, it can be a valuable tool for promoting women's workforce participation, particularly among low-income earners. This research fills a critical gap in the literature and informs policy discussions aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 5.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Europe (and beyond) has adopted its foreign policy which meant for many countries providing military support to Ukraine and/ or agreeing to...Show moreFollowing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Europe (and beyond) has adopted its foreign policy which meant for many countries providing military support to Ukraine and/ or agreeing to harsh economic sanctions against Russia. However, the German case is special: Due to historical reasons and – at the latest since 1990 – the expansion of political and economic networks, Germany has been heavily involved in EU-Russia relations and became Russia’s most important partner in Brussels. Against this background, this thesis attempts to answer the following question: Why did a major foreign policy change in Germany only happen in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine – and not already in 2014 after the Russian annexation of Crimea? This is done by performing a comparative case study and applying process tracing for the years 2014 and 2022 – enrichened by extensive interview research in Berlin with senior MFA officials, MPs specialised in foreign policy as well as with journalists. This thesis finds that in both years an exogenous political shock triggered the change process – but with a different scope. That is best explained by the reprioritisation and (partly) neglection of core pillars of German foreign policy – Ostpolitik, Wandel durch Handel, Westbindung, non-military foreign policy and historical responsibility – that occurred from 2014 to 2022.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
In recent times, the diaspora has become a focus of interest in the study of International Relations. The diaspora communities have been engaged in both peaceful activism and violent resistance...Show moreIn recent times, the diaspora has become a focus of interest in the study of International Relations. The diaspora communities have been engaged in both peaceful activism and violent resistance fighting for the cause of homeland conflicts. Can these groups influence the foreign policy decisions on security cooperation (particularly counterterrorism) between host and homeland countries? Using the Host Integration Theory, this study investigates the impact of South Asian diaspora-led activism (India and Pakistan) on India’s bilateral counterterrorism cooperation with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. To explore the question, India’s counterterrorism cooperation with three cases (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom) and South Asian diaspora-led activism/resistance with these states has been mapped out using content analysis. Additionally, three semi-structured interviews were conducted with terrorism studies researchers to explain the trends observed in the content analysis. The findings of the comparative study revealed that Indo-French counterterrorism engagement has high levels of cooperation and lower levels of diaspora-led activism. Similarly, the Indo-Germancounter-cooperation showed medium to high levels of cooperation and lower levels of diaspora-led activism. On the other hand, lower levels of counterterrorism cooperation and higher levels of diaspora-led activism/resistance involving violence were identified in the case of the United Kingdom. Hence, the study helps to understand how diaspora-led activism/resistance can impact the bilateral counterterrorism cooperation between host and homeland countries.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
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare services is a crucial and basic need for women and girls worldwide, yet practical improvement of services and protections for access has been...Show moreAccessing sexual and reproductive healthcare services is a crucial and basic need for women and girls worldwide, yet practical improvement of services and protections for access has been asymmetrical and slow. International level fora serve as a platform to define and prioritize issues, serving as agenda setting agents with the capability of shaping global standards and understandings. This study applies explanatory quantitative methods to define and understand how state sponsorship factors affect understandings of sexual and reproductive healthcare in the UN General Assembly. Through understanding how “frames” of sexual and reproductive (SRHC) are employed in UNGA resolutions within broader discussions of women and gender, this thesis examines the nexus between language framing within international policy and the potential explanatory capacity of state sponsorship characteristics. The findings of this study indicate statistically significant associations between the occurrence of theoretically derived “health”, “security” and “rights” frames in contexts discussing SRHC, and sponsorship characteristics. These relationships point to an unexplored dimension of research into international agenda-setting bodies and the establishment of frames through which state actors understand and discuss key issues of sexual and reproductive healthcare.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Following the controversy surrounding Qatar’s winning bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, this thesis sets out to investigate the extent to which Qatar was able to harness soft power through its...Show moreFollowing the controversy surrounding Qatar’s winning bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, this thesis sets out to investigate the extent to which Qatar was able to harness soft power through its hosting of this global competition. The research gap from which this research stems is that of authoritarians’ struggle in wielding soft power. Sports, being a field that is frequently instrumentalized for political purposes, is argued to be an attractive venue for authoritarians to overcome this struggle. Taking the fields of soft power, sports diplomacy, and Sports Mega-Event hosting as its theoretical foundations and the Sports Diplomacy Model by Abdi et al. (2018) as its design, this research uncovers observable implications of successful soft power wielding by Qatar. These implications are linked to state visits undertaken and received by Qatar, bilateral investment treaties Qatar has signed, and Qatari participation in international fora. The timeline spans from 2012 to 2022 and within the relatively small sample yielded by this research, slight increases in all three variables indicate that some degree of soft power was successfully harnessed by Qatar through its hosting of the World Cup.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Quasi states and their interaction within the international system remain chronically understudied. To date, Kosovo is the only recent example of a former quasi-state that has managed to proclaim...Show moreQuasi states and their interaction within the international system remain chronically understudied. To date, Kosovo is the only recent example of a former quasi-state that has managed to proclaim independence and be internationally recognized afterwards. While displaying similar characteristics, Nagorno-Karabakh remains unrecognized. United by their nonrecognition, quasi states frequently rely on diplomacy by diasporas for their advocacy and representation. This thesis therefore aims to investigate where this different outcome in terms of diaspora diplomacy originates. Using the concepts of diaspora positionality and diaspora mobilization for an interpretive comparison between Albanian diaspora diplomacy for Kosovo and Armenian diaspora diplomacy for Nagorno-Karabakh in American and European host-state contexts, this research finds that for the Armenian diaspora genocide recognition took precedence over Nagorno-Karabakh, while Kosovo united the Albanian diaspora as a whole which through a combination of historical factors and context awareness subsequently set in motion an irreversible process towards recognized independence. On these grounds, this thesis posits diasporas as determined diplomatic actors in their own right who can play a pivotal role in homeland recognition and therefore warrant further research.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Biodiversity is a transboundary issue that is subject to conceptualisation at different levels of environmental governance. The implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is...Show moreBiodiversity is a transboundary issue that is subject to conceptualisation at different levels of environmental governance. The implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is dependent on such conceptualisations, especially on national and regional levels. This thesis analyses national and regional dynamics that influence the interpretation and implementation of internationally determined CBD concepts. In order to study this, the research follows a critical discourse analysis methodology in addition to a stakeholder analysis. It included the effect of regional and national power relations on the conceptualisation of CBD concepts. Four court cases taking place in different countries across the globe were selected to include differentiating national and regional contexts. The findings of the analysis show that power relations among the involved stakeholders affect the way CBD concepts are framed and interpreted. The findings reveal that community stakeholders emphasised discourses that were the most oriented towards biodiversity conservation. This thesis stresses the importance of understanding where the discrepancies lie between nationally determined concepts and national and regional interpretations of them. This is of importance to the effective implementation of the CBD.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Consensus is an increasingly selected decision-making procedure in negotiations and institutions. As a more informal mode of negotiating and decision-making without voting, We propose a method of...Show moreConsensus is an increasingly selected decision-making procedure in negotiations and institutions. As a more informal mode of negotiating and decision-making without voting, We propose a method of coding and tracking consensus in The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the foremost global organisation tasked with managing and improving states relations in space, by using its annual reports. By building a dataset of all COPUOS reports from 1990 to 2022, we model the presence and extent of consensus over time in against other quantitative data coded within the reports. We find an increasing number of views expressed over time, with the attainment of consensus mostly attributable to the substantive topic discussed. We also notice that factors related to less frequent attainment of consensus are often also associated with a higher strength of consensus. Non-state actors and developing countries are in some cases associated with increased attainment and strength of consensus.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
NAFO is a group of digital activists, primarily on Twitter, that seek to oppose Russian attempts to frame the discourse on the invasion of Ukraine. In this paper, I interviewed five members of the...Show moreNAFO is a group of digital activists, primarily on Twitter, that seek to oppose Russian attempts to frame the discourse on the invasion of Ukraine. In this paper, I interviewed five members of the organisation and subjected the resulting interviews to thematic analysis. The results show that NAFO as an organisation is shaped by the medium it operates on, being a highly decentralised group relying on grassroots action and leveraging the features of social media to effectively shape public opinion in favour of Ukraine through ridiculing Russian propagandists, using memes to convey their message, and flooding Russian propaganda accounts through mass-reports and dogpiles while relying on intragroup connectivity to ensure rapid response times. I also identified problems the organisation faces: the low barrier of entry meaning it’s easy for impostors to enter the group and attempt to disrupt it, and the ‘always-on’ nature of social media putting NAFO members at risk of burnout.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
With Europe striving towards net zero carbon emissions, green hydrogen is a key priority in EU energy policy due to its significant potential for decarbonizing energy-intensive industries. Germany,...Show moreWith Europe striving towards net zero carbon emissions, green hydrogen is a key priority in EU energy policy due to its significant potential for decarbonizing energy-intensive industries. Germany, Europe’s largest economy and carbon-emitter, significantly shapes EU energy policy with its domestic Energiewende model, and has been among the first member states to pursue an explicit global hydrogen strategy as part of its foreign policy. However, given the country’s energy import-dependence on Russia, the latter’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and resulting breakaway of Russo-German trade relations has invoked a Zeitenwende (‘turning point’) in Germany’s foreign policy: diverging from past narratives on economic interdependence and market-driven politics, geopolitical and national security considerations are becoming more pronounced. This ‘paradigm shift’ thus has important implications for Germany’s hydrogen strategy, a cornerstone in its current foreign policy. Drawing onto critical geopolitics, this paper critically examines Germany’s hydrogen discourse since the onset of the war, and its repercussions for Europe’s and the global energy transition. The critical discourse analysis of official speeches and statements by the government between February 2022 (i.e. shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) and March 2023 reveals how the German government constructs and rationalizes its identity, interests and spatial beliefs about the international system vis-á-vis Russia in its geopolitical discourse on hydrogen. Contextualizing and discussing the assumptions driving Germany’s hydrogen discourse in the context of EU and international energy governance sheds light on how the government’s narrative (re)produces the geopolitics of hydrogen, and promotes a competitive policy framework that might risk undermining more cooperative and equitable efforts in the global energy transition.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
This thesis studies the West’s engagement with local civil society organizations in Vietnam to promote LGBT human rights. By interviewing embassy employees of some Western countries and NGOs...Show moreThis thesis studies the West’s engagement with local civil society organizations in Vietnam to promote LGBT human rights. By interviewing embassy employees of some Western countries and NGOs officials, substantial data is collected, shedding light on the relationship in question. The findings of this study points to the benefits brought about by the West’s using local actors as a channel to diffuse LGBT norms, calling for a continuous collaboration. The outcomes also help address the gap embedded within the existing literature body.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Over the past decades, sanctions have played an increasingly prominent role in defining the geopolitical landscape. As demonstrated once again by the unprecedented number of sanctions targeting...Show moreOver the past decades, sanctions have played an increasingly prominent role in defining the geopolitical landscape. As demonstrated once again by the unprecedented number of sanctions targeting Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, sanctions today constitute one of the foreign policy tools most widely used by national governments and international organisations in response to crises in world politics. This is especially the case for the European Union, which is characterised by a twofold sanctioning activity. On the one hand, its position as an international actor is shaped by its capacity to impose sanctions targeting policies and activities worldwide; on the other hand, it has the authority to sanction its own Member States when they fail to respect its fundamental principles. This thesis investigates the possible relationship between these two parallel, but not irreconcilable, mechanisms. More specifically, it explores whether, and how, the presence of EU sanctions on its Member States affects public support for EU sanctions against third states. It does so by conducting a quantitative analysis of the data collected via a public opinion survey experiment, using Italy as a case study. This thesis concludes that, based on the data examined and the analysis performed, no evidence is found in support of a relationship between the presence of EU internal sanctions and public support for EU external sanctions. Nevertheless, since this potential correlation could have significant policy implications for the EU, future research should further investigate it.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Understanding the motivations of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the ways Russia may respond to its current humiliation there is of paramount importance. To this end this thesis...Show moreUnderstanding the motivations of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the ways Russia may respond to its current humiliation there is of paramount importance. To this end this thesis employs status theory to compare modern Russia’s to France’s to its defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. This comparison allows for the development of our understanding of the importance of status to state’s decision-making processes, as well as making clear the likelihood of a Russian need to re-assert its status. This thesis contends that this is most likely to be done via an expansion in their Outer Space efforts which runs the risk of kickstarting a Scramble for Space among major powers, just as France inadvertently began the scramble for Africa in 1881.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is certainly not the first instance in which humor emerged as a by-product of political turmoil. In times of extreme societal change, people must adapt physically and...Show moreRussia’s invasion of Ukraine is certainly not the first instance in which humor emerged as a by-product of political turmoil. In times of extreme societal change, people must adapt physically and mentally to survive. Yet, because these adjustments are not immediate, one reaction that can help people acclimate to new circumstances is humor. In answering the research question “What were the functions of digital Ukrainian humor in the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine?”, this thesis finds that coping, cohesion, and criticism have emerged in as humor’s primary uses. Specifically, humor functions to create a buffer between old and new realities, define in- and out-groups, and form a medium for commentary. Yet, beyond this, through thematic discourse analysis, the thesis at hand also identifies the sub-categories of humor functions which help explain the means through which humor can meet the stress-relieving, superiority-affirming, or incongruity-resolving needs of groups and individuals in political turmoil. In turn, the thesis reaffirms that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could be labeled a ‘TikTok War’, as the social media became the primary platform for the sharing of Ukrainian humor. In studying visual data, the research contributes to spotlighting the integral role of images as tools of political influence in the digital age and as artifacts the study of which enhances scholars’ holistic understanding of the ramifications of Russia’s invasion. With these findings, humor can be appreciated as a highly nuanced and conscious part of Ukrainian resistance and social resilience.Show less
