Ukraine’s NATO integration in many ways is a product of a geopolitical power struggle between Russia and the US. As Sevsu Önder puts it, “from the perspective of Ukraine, NATO integration is simply...Show moreUkraine’s NATO integration in many ways is a product of a geopolitical power struggle between Russia and the US. As Sevsu Önder puts it, “from the perspective of Ukraine, NATO integration is simply a civilizational choice between Russia and the West to leave Russian geopolitical axis.” Since independence, and further intensified following 2008, the main way for Russia to impact this civilizational choice has been forming zones of influence and aligning Ukrainians, political elites, and the government against the possibility of NATO enlargement. Nevertheless, at the current point in time following the 2014 invasion of Crimea, it is hard to dispute that Ukraine is a lot more inclined towards NATO as opposed to Russia, and yet despite that a significant chunk of Ukraine was always against NATO which slowed down the process of NATOfication. Therefore, this essay will look at how much the factor of Russian influence affected the perception of NATO in Ukraine when compared towards other factors, raising the question of the extent to the perception of NATO enlargement shifted in Ukraine since independence despite Russian influence.Show less
The Zeitenwende has come with major developments in world order. Along with that, the image of global powers has changed. Media play a huge role in shaping the perceived identities of these actors....Show moreThe Zeitenwende has come with major developments in world order. Along with that, the image of global powers has changed. Media play a huge role in shaping the perceived identities of these actors. This thesis delves into the presentation of Russia and the European Union (EU) on the basis of the European sanctions against Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. It aims to answer the following research question: how do contemporary German and Russian media discourses on the EU sanctions frame the identity of the EU compared to Russia? Russian and German media are compared to provide insights into the way the identity of Russia and the EU are created in opposition to each other. As the media paint a picture of Russia and the EU as global actors, they rely on the interpretation of political events and foreign policy decisions, such as the implementation of sanctions. A mixed-methods approach of a quantitative content analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis reveals that the sanctions are appropriated to contribute to the dominant narrative in both Russia and the EU. In particular, Russian media create an image of Russia as smart and strong by othering the EU as stupid and irresponsible. In this light, the sanctions are casted as meaningless political activity. Meanwhile in the German media, the identity of the EU as capable actor is contingent on the impact of sanctions on Russia. Since the media contain a debate on the effectiveness on the sanctions, major disruptions of the Russian economy reflect a competent actor. Alternatively, when the effect of the sanctions is evaluated negatively the identity of the EU as capable is weakened. Furthermore, both the Russian and German media utilise legitimisation strategies to strengthen their narrative. First, the Russian media rely on authorisation to depict Russia as resilient actor. By referring to comments made by experts, it is stated that the Russian economy is not harmed by the sanctions. On the contrary, it is maintained that the sanctions damage the EU economy more. This way, it is emphasised that the EU is an irresponsible actor. Second, the German media employ rationalisation strategies to create an image of the EU as defensive actor. This means that the EU response is justified by providing a reason, in this case the attempt to contain Russia’s aggressive behaviour. Therefore, German media frame the EU as a capable actor with a set of instruments at its disposal to influence Russia. All in all, this thesis demonstrates that the identities of Russia and the EU are evolving in opposite directions.Show less
Abstract For the majority of its history, the Just War Tradition (JWT) has attempted to limit the occurrence of violence in the violent world it found itself. Today, out of noble causes, the same...Show moreAbstract For the majority of its history, the Just War Tradition (JWT) has attempted to limit the occurrence of violence in the violent world it found itself. Today, out of noble causes, the same tradition is becoming more interventionist by incentivizing the market for force in which Private Military and Security Companies have carved out a role for themselves. In this thesis the origin of the normalization of private violence in JWT will be accounted for and how it allows for more violence, rather than limiting it. These so-called PMSCs will be analyzed in two ways. The theological origin of arguments permitting their usage will be accounted for before analyzing the risks that comes with this. The latter part will be the main focus and is done by following the principles laid out by Aquino: 1) legitimate authority, 2) just cause, and 3) right intention. By looking at the state of the art of PMSC ethics, the debates in contemporary JWT will be accused of being disagreements in details, and not concerned with the theological foundations of their convictions. Namely, by accounting for the privatized turn JWT took, I will show how a cosmopolitan politics is causing this relaxing of norms and is at risk of being permissible to increases of violence. This originated in Pelagian theology who argued for the possibility of human perfection through social and moral progress. Kantian liberalism, the modern equivalent of this belief, has prioritized just cause over other principles and moves the JWT away from one of its core functions; namely, limiting the destructiveness of war. The other core function is to limit injustices, which has devolved into the attempt to eradicate all injustices and overturns ethical positions on private violence.Show less
This study seeks to explore the linkages between organised crime and environmental change in the Amazon region, specifically zooming in on the Brazilian Amazonas. This study focuses on two aspects...Show moreThis study seeks to explore the linkages between organised crime and environmental change in the Amazon region, specifically zooming in on the Brazilian Amazonas. This study focuses on two aspects of this relationship. First, the relationship between state-making and crime, in particular the Brazilian state and crime, to show how ‘organised crime’ emerges as an important constituent of state-making rather than as an anomaly to it. To understand how organized crime and environmental change tie together, the analysis of state-making and governance in the Amazon region is needed. Thereafter, a systematic approach will be adopted to answer this question of the relationship between organised crime and environmental change, breaking the findings down into four categories of, Type, Method, Location, and Consequence. In the thesis, I examine how each of these shapes the relationship between organised crime and environmental change in the Amazon.Show less
This thesis uses explaining-outcome process tracing to analyse why the Islamic Republic of Iran failed to build a long-standing proxy ally among the Shiite and Hazara groups of Afghanistan as it...Show moreThis thesis uses explaining-outcome process tracing to analyse why the Islamic Republic of Iran failed to build a long-standing proxy ally among the Shiite and Hazara groups of Afghanistan as it did in other countries during the 1980s and 1990s.Show less
With approximately 19.8 million copies sold, Call of Duty: WWII is the most popular WWII first-person shooter video game of all time. Given its popularity, the way the developers portray WWII is...Show moreWith approximately 19.8 million copies sold, Call of Duty: WWII is the most popular WWII first-person shooter video game of all time. Given its popularity, the way the developers portray WWII is crucial to consider as studies have shown that information in fictional messages has the ability to alter people's perspectives. This is especially true when it comes to narratives provided within single player experiences. Therefore, this thesis provides a qualitative content analysis of the single player campaign mode in Call of Duty: WWII and focuses on narrative elements including conflict/theater of war, locations, player character, friendly non-playable characters, enemy characters and interactable objects. The analysis concludes that the game presents a narrow and US centric view of WWII. However, weapons, equipment, vehicles and locations were found to be represented historically accurately with a substantial amount of detail. Furthermore, it was discovered that the primary cast had been heroized, which can result in a romanticized interpretation of the conflictShow less
Disruptions to the routine operations of ICTs in conflict situations have made cybersecurity come to ascend a prominent position in the legal and political decision-makeing of the EU....Show moreDisruptions to the routine operations of ICTs in conflict situations have made cybersecurity come to ascend a prominent position in the legal and political decision-makeing of the EU. Europeanization has been used to describe the processes by which EU decision-makeing manifests itself in the logic of, for example, national policy outcomes of those processes (see Radaelli, 2012, p. 1 as cited by Fererro & Ackrill, 2016, p.880). The literature has pointed to the significant amount of soft law which the EU has issued to regulate cybersecurity. However, per definition EU member states are not legally obliged to implement soft law. Accordingly, by utilizing Europeanization as a conceptual frame, this thesis has sought to answer the question: To what extent has non-legally binding EU soft law on cybersecurity influenced the making of the national cybersecurity policies of its MS over time? To address the research, question the thesis has taken a small-scale empirical mixed-method approach by analyzing the extent to which specifically, Germany's and Slovakia's national cybersecurity strategies have harmonized over time toward the 2020 EU cybersecurity strategy (EUCSS) as a consequence of using the soft law document in their stagey-making. The analysis suggest that the EU cybersecurity strategy did influence the national strategy-making, but that the degree of harmonization depended on the extent to which the EUCSS aligned with national ambitions and priorities. To this end, the member states actively strived to 'Europeanize' their national cybersecurity strategies.Show less
From 1871 until 1945, a period of less than a century, Germany underwent incredible developments as a nation-state. While Germany was only a bundle of separate and divided states in 1848, it...Show moreFrom 1871 until 1945, a period of less than a century, Germany underwent incredible developments as a nation-state. While Germany was only a bundle of separate and divided states in 1848, it managed to turn itself into a unified country by 1933. Furthermore, during an even shorter timeframe (1933-1942), the Nazis physically succeeded at turning an economically and politically broken country into a continental superpower. It is also important to mention that Germany in 1914-1918 lost over 2 million soldiers and 400,000 civilians during the First World War.1 In this light, it is difficult to understand how the Nazi government mentally prepared its’ population for the idea of waging another World War. Given this contradictory and volatile context, it is historically relevant to re-examine the relationship between Nazi propaganda and public opinion. Therefore, this research attempts to explain how Nazi propaganda reinterpreted realities in a way that created an inescapable context of propaganda for a majority of the German population.Show less
