Offensive realism has identified the Iranian interventionism in Syria as a major coercive regional strategy. The military and the political aspects of this intervention have been widely discussed....Show moreOffensive realism has identified the Iranian interventionism in Syria as a major coercive regional strategy. The military and the political aspects of this intervention have been widely discussed. However, the academic literature on the local dynamics of such policy in a post-colonial perspective is underdeveloped. Especially when we attempt to identify the sectarian consequences of the Iranian economic policies in Syria and the ramifications of settling and naturalizing increasing numbers of Shiites in Damascus, Homs, and the Lebanese borderline with Syria – ‘Useful Syria’ as defined by President Assad. These areas have suffered a drastic forced displacement of the original Sunni locals, only to be substituted with loyal new citizens of a Shiite background. This thesis discusses this topic, providing also an overview of the Iranian economic interventionism in Syria since 1979.Show less
Lebanon’s 17 October Uprising marked a watershed moment in the country’s history as it challenged the very foundation of the political system: sectarian power-sharing. It was the largest and most...Show moreLebanon’s 17 October Uprising marked a watershed moment in the country’s history as it challenged the very foundation of the political system: sectarian power-sharing. It was the largest and most diverse protest movement in decades and its anti-sectarian stature was entirely unprecedented. For the first time, many Lebanese called on their confessional leaders to resign. This thesis examines firstly why the uprising directed its focus toward political sectarianism as a primary cause of Lebanon’s political and economic plight. The inability or unwillingness of sectarian leaders to deliver basic services to their constituents created a situation in which Lebanese across all sects were more united than ever before in their collective plight. Second, it explores the timing of the uprising in the fall of 2019. It argues that the uprising was the culmination of simmering resentments that finally erupted as a result of deteriorating economic conditions, political corruption, and a series of disasters that the government failed to prevent or address. Lastly, the thesis investigates how the uprising helped propel anti-sectarian ideas that were previously taboo into mainstream political discourse. While the 17 October Uprising ultimately failed to achieve its objective of establishing a secular rather than sectarian political order, it stands as the most significant challenge to political sectarianism in the country’s history and could pave the way for future mobilizations in the same vein. This thesis will contribute to the nascent body of literature on the 17 October Uprising and the broader scholarship on sectarian power-sharing as a system of governance.Show less
This thesis aims to fill the existing gap in the writing of the history of development, i.e. the lack of research on the recipients and their political motives and agency. By using the case of...Show moreThis thesis aims to fill the existing gap in the writing of the history of development, i.e. the lack of research on the recipients and their political motives and agency. By using the case of Afghanistan during the Cold War, the main research question of the thesis thus is: To what extent did the Afghan elite influence the course of the Cold War development projects from 1953-1979? The main finding is that despite adopting and sharing the assumptions of the modernization theory with Americans, the Afghan state elites used developmental aid for the purpose of the Pashtunisation of Afghanistan. Through examining the case of the building of dams in the Helmand and Arghandab Valleys, the student shows that the goal of the Afghan state elites was to attract the Pashtun nomads ‘to settle in Afghanistan, as a Pashtun demographic majority was needed to bolster the legitimacy of the Pashtun government and shape Afghanistan's identity as such’.Show less
