This thesis examines the role of International Monetary Fund (IMF)-led Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) in the economic and political landscape of Egypt leading up to the Arab Spring. By...Show moreThis thesis examines the role of International Monetary Fund (IMF)-led Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) in the economic and political landscape of Egypt leading up to the Arab Spring. By integrating a Marxist perspective with third-wave revolutionary theory, the study explores how these programs influenced the emergence of crony capitalism and affected civil-military relations in Egypt. Through a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, the research investigates the IMF’s impact on Egypt's macroeconomic and socioeconomic indicators. The findings suggest that while SAPs initially addressed macroeconomic imbalances, they failed to foster sustainable and inclusive growth, exacerbating poverty and unemployment. Moreover, the IMF's oversight of the emergence of crony capitalism contributed to political instability, which played a critical part in the uprisings against the Mubarak regime.Show less
This thesis explores how the AKP’s discourse on national security constructed Turkey’s national identity and defined threats during two major domestic crises: the Gezi Protests and the Peace...Show moreThis thesis explores how the AKP’s discourse on national security constructed Turkey’s national identity and defined threats during two major domestic crises: the Gezi Protests and the Peace Process between Turkey and the PKK. Through a theoretical framework drawing from securitization and ontological security theory, it provides a discourse analysis in order to determine how AKP officials constructed these events as a threat, identified them as a national emergency, legitimized the application of extraordinary measures against them, and rejected legitimate alternatives. Further, it studies the implications of this construction of identity and (in)security on ontological security, and argues that an appreciation of these implications helps provide significant insights on the nexus of identity and (in)security in contemporary Turkey.Show less
Intelligence agencies have been traditionally depicted as rogue elements within the state apparatus. In this thesis, I assess the validity of this alleged independent agency during the ‘Golden Age’...Show moreIntelligence agencies have been traditionally depicted as rogue elements within the state apparatus. In this thesis, I assess the validity of this alleged independent agency during the ‘Golden Age’ of convert operations: the Cold War. Throughout the said period, more subversive and clandestine activities became the norm instead of the erstwhile use of direct military force. The two most active Intelligence Agencies of the period, the CIA and the KGB were key actors in supporting and executing government overthrows mostly throughout the Third World. The two case studies I examine are the CIA coup against the Mohammed Mossadegh government in Iran in 1953 and the KGB overthrow of Hafizullah Amin in Afghanistan in 1979. However, my concern is not only the agencies’ role in carrying out the coups d’état but how they influenced the decision-making process within their foreign policy making bodies (the US National Security Council and the Soviet Politburo) to make these coups happen in the first place. By using the Bureaucratic Politics paradigm and other theoretical tools regarding the execution of coups d’état I underline how these intelligence agencies not only carried them but also were the main agents provocateurs behind the decision to intervene.Show less
The concepts of Class and leadership have been lately neglected in the study of Social Movements. This thesis surveys the theoretical reasons to bring these two back to analyze the Lebanese October...Show moreThe concepts of Class and leadership have been lately neglected in the study of Social Movements. This thesis surveys the theoretical reasons to bring these two back to analyze the Lebanese October Revolution of 2019 (LOR). Using semi-structured interviews with relevant activists of the movement, this thesis concludes that LOR's leadership is better understood as a collective, horizontal action composed by individuals with very high cultural and social capitals but more heterogeneous economic capital.Show less
