This master’s thesis investigates whether anti-Islam neo-Orientalist populist political discourse in the context of the 2015 migration crisis deepened Islamophobia in French and Hungarian society,...Show moreThis master’s thesis investigates whether anti-Islam neo-Orientalist populist political discourse in the context of the 2015 migration crisis deepened Islamophobia in French and Hungarian society, causing lasting damage to the perception of Middle Eastern and North African immigrants and refugees, taking into consideration whether the respective country’s citizens had already been exposed to a considerable population of immigrant background before the crisis. The research delves into how the political discourse of the largest and most influential right-wing to far-right political parties in France and Hungary affected and shaped public opinion, social hostility, and Islamophobia between the first considerable influx of immigrants in 2015 and the first nationwide elections held after the crisis, in 2017 in France and 2018 in Hungary. By comparing similar social and political phenomena in the two countries, the current thesis also scrutinizes crucial differences between France and Hungary’s respective historical, political, social, and demographic contexts to reveal why certain political and rhetorical strategies proved successful in one country and not in the other.Show less
This thesis examinates the role of PMCs in international intervention and in what ways this can explain the differences in reconciliation efforts in instances of misconduct by PMCs and regular...Show moreThis thesis examinates the role of PMCs in international intervention and in what ways this can explain the differences in reconciliation efforts in instances of misconduct by PMCs and regular troops. In order to do this, this paper's analysis is focused on the reconciliation efforts made by the U.S. government in cases of misconduct that took place during the Iraq War between 2003-2011.Show less
This thesis investigates the processes of repression and exclusion of the Palestinian refugee in the Arab host-state. A theoretical framework using theories from Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt,...Show moreThis thesis investigates the processes of repression and exclusion of the Palestinian refugee in the Arab host-state. A theoretical framework using theories from Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, Michael Hardt, and Antonio Negri, is used to analyse the situation of the refugee in the three case studies of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. It is argued that biopolitics are employed to control and exclude the Palestinian refugee. The host-state excuses this exclusion through the retoric of the incommensurability of the right of return to Palestine with citizenship of the host-state. Gaining citizenship of the host-state supposedly cancels the right of return to Palestine. This discourse is a tool that is employed by the host-states when he refugee proses a threat to their status quo. This thesis disagrees with this supposed incommensurability argueing that the two can co-exist. Furthermore, an analysis of the situation of the Palestinian refugee in the case studies leads to the conclusion that Hannah Arendt and Giorgio Agamben were right when argueing that the nation-state is the only institution capable of upholding human rights and that without citizenship the refugee is vulnerable and without protection. Because of this, serious steps need to be taken towards citizenship for the Palestinian refugee.Show less
In my thesis, I argue that the end of the Cold War affected Israel’s role in the U.S. Middle East strategy. During the Cold War, this role was predominantly military. However, the end of the Cold...Show moreIn my thesis, I argue that the end of the Cold War affected Israel’s role in the U.S. Middle East strategy. During the Cold War, this role was predominantly military. However, the end of the Cold War changed this and as a result, this role was predominantly political and economic after the Cold War. I base my research on a combination of two theories: constructivism, an approach of International Relations (IR), and Historical Sociology (HS).Show less
