The European Union has been recognised as a unique international organisation in its securitisation of climate change. The organisation has successfully securitised climate change since 2008,...Show moreThe European Union has been recognised as a unique international organisation in its securitisation of climate change. The organisation has successfully securitised climate change since 2008, prioritising it on the policy agenda. This securitisation has been established through speech acts defining climate change as a threat. This thesis examines the security narratives invoked in European Parliamentary debates from 2005 to 2011, focusing on the different security framings of climate change as a threat, and how these have changed over time. It argues that before the securitisation of climate change, the European Parliament framed climate change predominantly through ‘low politics’ security narratives like cooperative, environmental, and human security framings. Remarkably, this did not change after the securitisation of climate change, while it was expected that ‘high politics’ security narratives like global and national security would be more dominant. Ultimately, this thesis shows that when addressing climate change, the European Parliament frames the issue as a threat primarily through ‘low politics’ narratives, both in the three years before and the three years after the successful securitisation of climate change.Show less
Gradually, the authority and capability of IOs to undertake tasks that enhance the enjoyment of human rights have proliferated, but these growing capacities also expand the potential for rights to...Show moreGradually, the authority and capability of IOs to undertake tasks that enhance the enjoyment of human rights have proliferated, but these growing capacities also expand the potential for rights to be violated. This has led to increasing efforts to hold IOs accountable for the consequences of their behavior. The costs for IOs of being accused of human rights violations in terms of punishment and lost legitimacy creates the incentive for them to avoid accountability. Yet how IOs avoid accountability for human rights violations has not been substantially studied. This thesis fills this gap by applying a theory of blame management to the context of Frontex, which in recent years has faced scrutiny for violating the non-refoulement rights of migrants at sea. In doing so this thesis challenges the popular understanding of IOs as institutions committed to the high road in global governance, particularly on matters of human rights. Through a single case study of Frontex this thesis scrutinizes and ultimately finds support for the argument that when put in the spotlight for alleged human rights violations, accountability and blame are avoided through denial, delay, diversion, and delegation rather than accepted.Show less
How have framings of climate change in European Parliamentary debates been used as a tool for attempted influence over the European Union’s long-term climate strategy in the aftermath of the 2015...Show moreHow have framings of climate change in European Parliamentary debates been used as a tool for attempted influence over the European Union’s long-term climate strategy in the aftermath of the 2015 Paris agreement? This single case study conducts a qualitative content analysis on the debates around, and the content of, the European Climate Law from 2021. The study tests the relevance and applicability of the Copenhagen school of securitisation theory, with the aim to contribute toward a deeper understanding of the European, and global, lack of effort to combat climate change. It can be concluded that framings of climate change in the European Parliamentary debates have been used as tools for attempted influence over the European Climate Law, in that the debates have been characterised by (unsuccessful) securitisation attempts.Show less
In 1946 the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission holds two-week...Show moreIn 1946 the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission holds two-week sessions every year during which UN Member States engage in a general debate and organize side-events with civil society organizations (UN Women, n.d. a). The participating civil society organizations typically hold liberal beliefs on human rights and adhere to the dominant beliefs of the CSW (Rincker et al. 2019, 3). It is therefore interesting to find that pro-life organizations have frequently hosted side-events at the CSW in the past. Especially the pro-life organization C-Fam which has hosted multiple side-events in the past decade in which they present their anti-abortion campaign (UN Women, n.d. b). Even more interesting is that pro-life organizations have actively been blocked from the CSW66 which was held in March of 2022 (Tuns 2022). This makes one wonder how pro-life organizations managed to get into the CSW and present their alternative view in the first place. Based on this puzzling observation this research aims to research the framing tactics of C-Fam. The research question is as follows: How did the Center for Family and Human Rights frame their anti-abortion campaign to align with the Commission on the Status of Women between 2014-2019? To gain better insight on the organization’s narratives, a constructivist and a rationalist approach will be embedded in the overarching model of framing theory and then traced throughout the corresponding campaigns via a thematic content-analysis.Show less
During the last decades, climate change appeared at the centre of the academic, political, and societal debate as it is a phenomenon that occurs to be increasingly urgent, given the existence of...Show moreDuring the last decades, climate change appeared at the centre of the academic, political, and societal debate as it is a phenomenon that occurs to be increasingly urgent, given the existence of environmental degradation and extreme weather events. Although developed states from the global north have contributed to climate change significantly, emerging economies that previously were part of the global south, cause rising greenhouse gas emissions as well. The problem requires a collective approach in terms of shared responsibility and multilateral cooperation; however, the architecture of global climate governance portrays to be fragmented. Resulting from the fact that the topic has not received much scholarly attention, this research seeks – by means of a thematic content analysis – to investigate how the trend towards centralised global climate governance through the Paris Agreement has changed the perspective on environmental policy. The research builds on the theoretical approach of liberalism, as well as the spectrum model that explains the degree of centralisation in climate cooperation. Based on the case of China as the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter, it can be concluded that after the Paris Agreement entered into force, the nation’s perspective on environmental policy shifted politically/strategically and ideologically/socially.Show less
Over the years, large multilateral banking institutions like the World Bank have attracted substantial criticism regarding their private sector investments. However, the World Bank’s International...Show moreOver the years, large multilateral banking institutions like the World Bank have attracted substantial criticism regarding their private sector investments. However, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) branch, the largest private sector focused global development institution, and the IFC’s independent accountability body, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), have not received much scholarly attention. By means of a thematic content analysis, this research seeks to investigate the following research question: How do different accountability mechanisms shape the Dispute Resolution and Compliance role of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman? The theoretical foundations of this research build on agent-centric constructivism and the forum-based accountability model. Based on the Wilmar Jambi case in Indonesia and the operational policies of the CAO and IFC, it can be concluded that social accountability is integrated to different extents, depending on which role the CAO performs. Furthermore, the analysis finds that the CAO’s authority as an administrative accountability body ultimately depends on the IFC’s voluntary compliance.Show less
The Convention on the Rights of the Child went into force over thirty years ago. It is the most widely ratified treaty in the world, yet many children all over the world find themselves in...Show moreThe Convention on the Rights of the Child went into force over thirty years ago. It is the most widely ratified treaty in the world, yet many children all over the world find themselves in situations where their rights are violated. This thesis aims to research the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s influence on compliance of member states with the objectives of the Convention. Compliance with objectives on the minimum age of criminal responsibility in juvenile justice in Denmark shall be analysed through a single-case study. The theoretical expectation is that through interactions with the member state, the Committee has an agenda-setting influence on the domestic policy-making process, which in turn increases compliance. The research finds that when the member state finds itself in a condition of non-compliance with a particular objective, that the Committee’s monitoring and reporting mechanism provides an agenda-setting function and opportunity for Danish parliamentarians to initiate policy that increases compliance.Show less
The European Union (EU) has a substantially more united foreign policy than any other international organisation. Said expansive joint foreign policy has developed in an inhospitable setting where...Show moreThe European Union (EU) has a substantially more united foreign policy than any other international organisation. Said expansive joint foreign policy has developed in an inhospitable setting where its members hold widely different interests and perspectives on joint foreign policy. Given states’ tendency to jealously guard sovereignty over their foreign policy, how the EU’s foreign policy structures and instruments have been aggregated remains unclear. This paper addresses this via the question “Through what mechanism did the EU aggregate its foreign policy between 2014 and 2021?” and applies a modified ‘Failing Forward’ framework where foreign policy is aggregated via a process of problem-solving by problem-making resulting in an iterative institutionalisation causal mechanism. To analyse whether this mechanism is present, this study adopts a theory-testing process-tracing research method on the development of EU foreign policy structures and instruments from 2014 to 2021. It argues that the aggregation of the EU’s foreign policy relies on iterative intergovernmental and neofunctional processes establishing an integrative causal feedback loop. Examining how the EU aggregates foreign policy is valuable to both EU policymakers and actors within other international organisations seeking greater unison in their foreign policy and contributes to research on international integration in intergovernmental settings.Show less
China has emerged as a new rising power with the largest Navy force and the second-biggest economy in the world. A regional collective defense security organization, NATO, has expanded its global...Show moreChina has emerged as a new rising power with the largest Navy force and the second-biggest economy in the world. A regional collective defense security organization, NATO, has expanded its global partnership to the Asia-Pacific region. This thesis seeks to research the impact of the military rise of China on NATO-led security cooperation among NATO and far yet like-minded countries. Comparative qualitative content analysis is conducted to elaborate on how the security implications of the rise of China engendered NATO to form global initiatives, analyzing two cases, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand. Theoretical expectations are based on Regional Security Complex Theory, which is anchored on constructivism: if NATO successfully securitizes China's rise, the ROK and NZ will create bilateral or multilateral security cooperation with NATO. This paper finds out that NATO successfully framed China as an identity and a military threat, and expanded security cooperation with the ROK and NZ based on common liberal norms and values.Show less