Although jihadist organisations envisage a society segregated by roles between the sexes, they increasingly turn to women in pursuit of their goals. This is a double-edged sword for jihadist...Show moreAlthough jihadist organisations envisage a society segregated by roles between the sexes, they increasingly turn to women in pursuit of their goals. This is a double-edged sword for jihadist organisations: while female recruits increase the pool of followers, the discrepancy between their patriarchal ideology and women’s enlistment may have implications for their legitimacy. Whereas explanations have been offered as to how jihadists resort to patriarchal gender beliefs to legitimise their exclusion of women, questions remain regarding how jihadist groups use gender to legitimise their inclusion of women. Increased understanding of this gender component may yield insight into the organisational structure of jihadist organisations and their future direction regarding female recruits. Exploring the case of ISIS, this thesis analyses the extent to which the group adopted a gender perspective in legitimising its recruitment of women between 2015 and 2017. By conducting a critical discourse analysis, three gendered narratives are identified that ISIS employed in justifying its recruitment of women, depicting women as builders of the Ummah, as representatives of Islam and as guardians of the Caliphate. Rather than women challenging its patriarchal hegemony, the narratives illustrate how ISIS used this structure to create a set of gendered incentives and thereby attributed women (violent) agency.Show less
Thesis on diplomats’ experiences on interdepartmental, international, and local cooperation during their deployment in a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan by analysing autobiographies...Show moreThesis on diplomats’ experiences on interdepartmental, international, and local cooperation during their deployment in a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan by analysing autobiographies written by diplomats on their experiences. From the analysis of the autobiographies, lessons learned regarding the three different types of cooperation are drawn.Show less
This essay looks at the security discourse developed by the Colombian right-wing political movement Uribismo and its impact in the aftermath of the 2016 Colombian peace process between the...Show moreThis essay looks at the security discourse developed by the Colombian right-wing political movement Uribismo and its impact in the aftermath of the 2016 Colombian peace process between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Using discourse analysis to identify key messages of the security rhetoric and juxtaposing them with findings from fieldwork conducted in Bogota in 2018, the paper concludes that the discourse reinforces divided identities, uses security fears and a history of political violence and transforms the peace process in another point of political cleavage, preventing peace-building efforts in Colombia.Show less
This thesis investigated the differences between the legitimacy claims of the Janjaweed militia and the JEM rebel movement during the Darfur conflict until the Darfur Peace Agreement in 2006. A...Show moreThis thesis investigated the differences between the legitimacy claims of the Janjaweed militia and the JEM rebel movement during the Darfur conflict until the Darfur Peace Agreement in 2006. A framework containing three elements of legitimacy: norms, ideas, and actions was operationalized to explore the concept of legitimacy and the differences between the legitimacy claims of the Janjaweed and the JEM. The resulting analysis has shown that the traditional norms of legitimacy of both groups did not differ substantially. However, their ideas of legitimacy have shown many distinctions. These distinctions within the context of Darfur can be explained through several regional, national, and international processes which effected ethnic tensions in Darfur and influenced the ideas of legitimacy of both the JEM and the Janjaweed. The Janjaweed adopted a militarized Arab supremacist ideology and exhibited brutal violence along ethnic lines. The JEM on the other hand, rebelled against the marginalisation of the Darfur region by the ‘illegitimate’ GoS.Show less
One of the main impediments to the Syrian conflict, has been the absence of sufficient food aid to the local population. For the past nine years, the Syrian government has systematically blocked...Show moreOne of the main impediments to the Syrian conflict, has been the absence of sufficient food aid to the local population. For the past nine years, the Syrian government has systematically blocked humanitarian aid from entering its territory, based on the principle of sovereignty. Theoretically, international aid organizations have impartial access to deliver humanitarian aid when necessary, based on the fundamental humanitarian principles. Paradoxically, these fundamental principles have limited aid organizations to execute their work and compromises needed to be made with the Assad government in order to obtain access. Ever since the beginning of the conflict, humanitarian aid has been unequally distributed via government channels between government- and opposition controlled areas in Syria. It has become a strategy of warfare for the Assad regime, perpetuating violence and advancing legitimization and support for the nation’s regime. Simultaneously, international aid organizations created cross-border operations in order to circumvent this demonstration of the politicization of humanitarianism. This thesis extensively addresses this phenomenon and its consequences, by examining the central research question: To what extent has the politicization of humanitarianism impeded neutral emergency food aid delivery by international aid organizations in the Syrian conflict between 2011 and 2019?Show less
Conflicts do not naturally attract the interest of policy makers nor do they naturally garner international recognition and attention. It is therefore essential to understand, if conflicts are...Show moreConflicts do not naturally attract the interest of policy makers nor do they naturally garner international recognition and attention. It is therefore essential to understand, if conflicts are ignored, how inattention manifests itself in inaction, what are the consequences of inattention and why does inattention exist. This thesis will seek to answer these questions within the primary confines of the conflict(s) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It will be argued that attention is a commodity predominantly distributed by policymakers and media organisations who may choose to pay attention or not. The consequences of inattention, such as increased levels of severity and violence, can therefore be attributed to those purposefully ignoring conflict.Show less
