Throughout the last sixty years, foreign aid donations have experienced various transformations. Due to significant changes with an increased involvement of the business community and strategic...Show moreThroughout the last sixty years, foreign aid donations have experienced various transformations. Due to significant changes with an increased involvement of the business community and strategic elements, such donations can be understood with a new theoretical framework from Corporate Social responsibility (CSR). The theoretical perspective contributes to a new understanding of governments’ foreign aid behavior. More specifically, this study focuses on one part of the theory, named Institutional Window Dressing, to investigate whether governments appy masked communication efforts to maintain legitimacy while changing the initial agenda or not. The investigation conducts a discourse analysis exploring Norwegian foreign policy documents. In addition, explores the opposing forces of altruism and self-interest while investigating the governments during three different periods. The results find multiple CSR stakeholder strategies in Norwegian foreign initiatives. In addition, the policies currently indicate a clear step away from initial and altruistic aid principles towards increased self-interest forces and business components in foreign aid. However, the most valuable finding is that the more self-interest and business elements indicated, the more CSR strategies detected in the policies. While considering the strong legitimacy of Norwegian foreign policies among its stakeholders, these results can signify that high levels of CSR strategies can give a legitimate view of states' foreign aid involvement. The reason is that the purpose of the strategy is to inscribe the government with legitimacy and benefits that gives considerable room for maneuvering.Show less
The legitimacy of NATO is a continuing source of debate since the end of the Cold War. Now-adays with a changing security environment due to new threats like terrorism, NATO’s legiti-macy depends...Show moreThe legitimacy of NATO is a continuing source of debate since the end of the Cold War. Now-adays with a changing security environment due to new threats like terrorism, NATO’s legiti-macy depends on alternatives to traditional warfare. To meet parts of those challenges NATO adopted the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda which came as a surprise to most femi-nists and was soon depicted as co-opted for NATO’s interest. While the existing literature does not link the WPS agenda to legitimacy, this thesis assesses to what extent the WPS agenda is used to enhance NATO's legitimacy thus justify NATO’s military interventions. For this pur-pose, a discourse analysis in official statements of NATO member states disclosed an overview of legitimation dynamics in relation to the WPS agenda. The findings indicate that the member states use the WPS agenda to legitimize NATO and its military interventions, but depending on the discursive target either to the international or domestic public.Show less
This study aims to probe China’s attitudes toward Taiwan. The current literature contrasts two ideas. Realism argues that Taiwan is strategically important to China. Constructivism contends that as...Show moreThis study aims to probe China’s attitudes toward Taiwan. The current literature contrasts two ideas. Realism argues that Taiwan is strategically important to China. Constructivism contends that as fewer Taiwanese identify themselves as Chinese, China moderates its attitudes toward Taiwan. However, China should have annexed Taiwan according to realism, or keep the moderate attitude as Taiwanese people recognize as Chinese less. This study attempts to explain China’s attitudes by role theory. By investigating Message to Compatriots in Taiwan from 1958 to 2019, this thesis offers a comprehensive presentation of China’s attitude. In conclusion, China has taken a more identity-based than a relationship based role.Show less
Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) are on their way to becoming the next step in the evolution of warfare and power projection. As the increasing proliferation of armed drones in recent years...Show moreUnmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) are on their way to becoming the next step in the evolution of warfare and power projection. As the increasing proliferation of armed drones in recent years suggests, UCAVs are starting to replace the conventional military units and introduce new dimensions to armed conflicts. This study seeks to understand how these new capabilities shape the foreign policy behavior of states. By introducing three causal mechanisms, namely cost efficiency, operational and strategic superiority, and risk reduction, the study suggests that some unique characteristics of UCAVs have profound effects on state behavior. With a focus on the case of Turkey, the study concludes that the introduction of the armed drones to the Turkish national inventory played a major role in the reorientation and paradigm change of Turkish Foreign Policy (TFP) after 2016.Show less
Herkozen worden is een van de belangrijkste doelen van parlementariërs: alleen als zij daarin slagen, kunnen zij hun andere doelen binnen het parlement verwezenlijken. Om de kans op herkiezing te...Show moreHerkozen worden is een van de belangrijkste doelen van parlementariërs: alleen als zij daarin slagen, kunnen zij hun andere doelen binnen het parlement verwezenlijken. Om de kans op herkiezing te vergroten kunnen parlementariërs zich opwerpen als constituancy servant, als vertegenwoordiger van de belangen van een specifieke achterban. Zo kunnen zij voorkeurstemmen uit die achterban vergaren. Onderzoek naar het verband tussen voorkeurstemmen en vertegenwoordiging in het Nederlandse parlement aan de hand van de vraag in hoeverre regionale vertegenwoordiging op nationaal niveau kan worden verklaard door voorkeurstemmen ontbrak vooralsnog. Dit onderzoek vult die leemte. Het Nederlandse kiesstelsel is meteen een least-likely case: het geeft weinig prikkels om voorkeurstemmen te vergaren doordat de partij en niet de kiezer leidend is bij het opstellen van de kieslijst. Het effect van voorkeurstemmen op regionale vertegenwoordiging is onderzocht door kwantitatieve en kwalitatieve analyse van 630 parlementaire vragen uit de kabinetsperiode Rutte II (november 2012 - oktober 2017). De parlementariër die de vraag stelde en de regio (Kieskring) waar de vraag betrekking op had zijn in kaart gebracht. Zo kon het verband worden onderzocht tussen het relatief aantal voorkeurstemmen dat de parlementariër kreeg uit die regio en het aantal vragen dat hij ten behoeve van die regio stelde. Daarnaast zijn de positie (coalitie/oppositie), de lijstzekerheid, de link met de regio en de expertise van de parlementariër als variabelen toegevoegd aan de dataset om het effect van die variabelen op het aantal vragen in de analyse mee te kunnen nemen. De conclusie luidt dat voorkeurstemmen uit een regio een positief significant effect hebben op het aantal ten behoeve van die regio gestelde parlementaire vragen.Show less
In late 2019, Chile and Colombia witnessed mass protests of historic dimensions that united different generations, ideologies, and sectors of civil society in their dissatisfaction with their...Show moreIn late 2019, Chile and Colombia witnessed mass protests of historic dimensions that united different generations, ideologies, and sectors of civil society in their dissatisfaction with their governments, the current neoliberal model, its socio-economic policies and malaises like inequality, poverty, and violence. The mostly peaceful and brutally repressed protests vary in their immediate political outcomes. While the Chilean case can be considered a success story, which achieved the start of a constitutional reform process, Colombia’s protests did not induce any significant political transformation. Why do protests with similar characteristics lead to different short-term political outcomes? Applying a comparative case study of the most-similar cases of the 2019-2020 mass protests in Chile and Colombia, this study argues that classic explanations regarding endogenous and exogenous variables of social movements fall short of explaining these different outcomes. Instead, this article suggests that short-term protest “success” and “failure” can be better explained by a society’s history of repression and its consequences for collective experience with protest mobilization. This proposed hypothesis is based on a theoretical framework combining social movement literature and research on the repression-mobilization relationship and is examined in a document analysis of material from a wide array of sources on the protests.Show less
During the partition, more than twelve million people crossed the border to reach Pakistan or India, soon communal violence roared in which women, out of revenge and hatred, became the victim of...Show moreDuring the partition, more than twelve million people crossed the border to reach Pakistan or India, soon communal violence roared in which women, out of revenge and hatred, became the victim of sexual violence at the hands of the other ethnic community. One of the major issues plaguing women was the widespread abductions of women by men from the other ethnic community in which many women were stuck on the other side of the border. Soon after, an interdominion agreement was drafted to recover abducted women from Pakistan to India and vice versa. In 1949 this agreement was discussed again to be renewed and possibly amended. The Constituent Assembly transcript of this debate that lasted for four days has been used to investigate through critical discourse analysis which roles of women within ethnicity are reproduced and to what extent. This thesis has used the framework from Anthias and Yuval-Davis to define those roles. Women's roles as boundaries, signifiers of difference, and biological reproducers become highly visible in the debate and most of all point to one issue: the lack of autonomy and representation of the voices of abducted women. Moreover, while the distinct roles of Anthias and Yuval-Davis are helpful, they lack a relational approach to the prescribed roles of women and men.Show less
European defence and security cooperation has largely remained intergovernmental in nature. Other issue areas such as the common market have been integrated and are primarily governed through EU...Show moreEuropean defence and security cooperation has largely remained intergovernmental in nature. Other issue areas such as the common market have been integrated and are primarily governed through EU institutions as a result. This is puzzling since the earliest efforts of European integration occurred in the field of defence and security. These efforts ultimately proved a failure and stifled further attempts at integration in this policy field for decades to come. In academic discussion, a common approach to European security and defence policy is the analysis of outcome. The pace and nature of European defence and security policy has been analysed and critiqued on frequent occasions, pointing to the still great reliance of the EU on NATO in security matters. Considering both of these aspects, this analysis aims to deliver an analysis that focusses on the process of EU defence and security policy making itself in order to investigate the puzzle of why it has remained intergovernmental. Hypothesising that it is a policy of deliberate non-decision, „gatekeeping”, by one or more actors within EU policy-making that is responsible for the intergovernmental outcome, process tracing is conducted. The findings of this analysis do not, however, corroborate the hypothesis and an alternate explanation is developed that points to a non-decision being motivated by passive factors, namely inopportune situations of the individual actors capable of propelling an integration effort forward. This analysis is, however, also able to observe that the recent push in the implementation of PESCO came about as a result of political hurdles being overcome and, in principle, a road towards integration may open up in the future.Show less
Contemporary transnational terrorism destabilizes governments, threatens social and economic development while jeopardizing peace and stability. The 9/11 terrorist attacks and the War on Terror led...Show moreContemporary transnational terrorism destabilizes governments, threatens social and economic development while jeopardizing peace and stability. The 9/11 terrorist attacks and the War on Terror led to the implementation of counterterrorism strategies that feature hard and soft power politics. Simultaneously the global order changed with the rise of new great powers. Why do counterterrorism strategies from great power and non-great power states differ? Little has been done to explain the underlying variation. This comparative study shows that the theory of Nye (2004) can help to address the uncertainties in terms of future great power behaviour in the field of counterterrorism. Moreover, future research on this topic must examine the validity of this conclusion in relation to other cases than the US and the Netherlands.Show less
This thesis analyses how previously demilitarized states are pressured to remilitarize and tries to find a middle ground in the fragmented debate on this issue. The case study used to study this...Show moreThis thesis analyses how previously demilitarized states are pressured to remilitarize and tries to find a middle ground in the fragmented debate on this issue. The case study used to study this topic is Japan from the end of the Second World War until the present day. The two primary pressures through which the research is conducted are economic competition with the protector and the rise of new perceived threats. By reviewing both government sources and secondary literature it is apparent that external forces linked to economic competition and rising threats are consistently motivating remilitarization efforts. However, remilitarization is not one-dimensional. This paper observed both increased multilateral efforts and domestic military upgrading. These different facets interact with each other and provide a mixed-mode of remilitarization that does not neatly fit the existing polarized narratives.Show less
Migrant integration has become a pressing policy concern ever since governments perceived an economic, political, and social distance between the migrant groups and native citizens, which resulted...Show moreMigrant integration has become a pressing policy concern ever since governments perceived an economic, political, and social distance between the migrant groups and native citizens, which resulted in a backlash against multicultural approaches. In Western Europe, this has led to a civic integration approach, which aims to hand civic tools to migrants in order to emancipate them to participate within the receiving society. Through integration procedures, courses and contracts the policies aim to establish social inclusion of immigrants. These civic integration policies often share the demand of the adoption of values rooted in liberal, democratic principles but at the same time take on different shapes depending on the political and historical context. While scholars largely agree on the existence and differing shapes of civic integration policies, only few consider it as a form of nationalism. This research interrogates what notions of national identity and the role of immigrants in society are apparent in both civic integration policies as well as related political discourses. Exploring how, in what context, and by whom notions of the Dutch identity and integration are discursively deployed in parliamentary debates, this research aims to shed light on the relationship between liberal values and nationalist narratives. I argue that references to moral universal and liberal principles within the debate of integration policy can be understood as a part of a broader civic nationalist narrative and sometimes shows aspects of cultural nationalism. This thesis considers the distinction between civic and cultural nationalism as ambiguous and illustrates that the intertwinedness of the two concepts can explain the transition from multiculturalism to a rejection of this approach. This research finds that civic and cultural nationalist narratives can coexist.Show less
The literature illustrates that the use of parliamentary instruments is in some cases related to the position of a Member of Parliament (MP) on the list of candidates in the upcoming election. The...Show moreThe literature illustrates that the use of parliamentary instruments is in some cases related to the position of a Member of Parliament (MP) on the list of candidates in the upcoming election. The theory therefore assumes that performing certain activities is rewarded with a high position. If an MP has obtained this high position, he will therefore have to prove himself again with a view to re-selection. Based on this reasoning, it therefore appears that an MP with a long term of office is active in the use of parliamentary instruments. However, there is still a gap in the literature with regard to the relationship between the seniority of MPs and the use of parliamentary instruments. This fully quantitative analysis examined whether the length of office of an MP correlates with the use of parliamentary instruments. The parliamentary instruments examined are motions, amendments, oral parliamentary questions, written parliamentary questions and bill proposals. Subsequently, in the case of motions, amendments, written parliamentary questions and bill proposals, a distinction was made between first submitters and submitters in combination with co-sponsors. Many of these parliamentary instruments are very clearly not significant, but both oral and written parliamentary questions do have a positively significant effect with seniority. In the case of written parliamentary questions this applies to both first submitters and first submitters in combination with co-sponsors. However, in the case of written parliamentary questions, the significant effect disappears if control variables are included in the analysis. The significance effect remains for oral parliamentary questions. The results of this research may not be groundbreaking, but they do provide interesting insights into the use of parliamentary instruments in relation to seniority, especially for the case of the Dutch House of Representatives. There are also other parliamentary instruments that could be analyzed, this can be part of follow-up research.Show less
This thesis studies an imposed peace agreement's effect on a state's voter turn-out and its relationship with low voter turn-out. The study focuses on the case of Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH),...Show moreThis thesis studies an imposed peace agreement's effect on a state's voter turn-out and its relationship with low voter turn-out. The study focuses on the case of Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH), which has had a mandated peace agreement since December of 1995: the Dayton Peace Agreement. My key expectation for the research is that BiH citizens do not perceive their vote as a factor that could implement change in the electoral process and eventually incorporate their political changes through politicians and their parties. Furthermore, the consociational aspect of the state, corruption and violence may lower voter turn-out. The analysis has been executed through in-depth interviews with 12 citizens in BiH, deriving from different ethnic backgrounds and equally divided by gender, age, and voters and non-voters. The analysis has strongly brought forward a relationship between corruption and low voter turn-out. The results also show that one of the causes of citizens not heading to the ballot box is that their vote will not imply significant change. This is also because of the consociational nature within the state that uses peacebuilding and power-sharing. The presence of nationalist parties and the DPA's administration also raised issues with respondents through the analysis.Show less
This thesis addresses the question How has the Transatlantic Atlantic relation, in terms of security and defence, developed since Obama until Biden, and what explains the main uncovered changes...Show moreThis thesis addresses the question How has the Transatlantic Atlantic relation, in terms of security and defence, developed since Obama until Biden, and what explains the main uncovered changes with special emphasis on the threat from China and Russia? By using neorealism and balance of threat the thesis uncovers, through the use of process tracing with in-depth interviews and primary records, that structural changes have greatly influenced the relationship and will continue to do so in the future. The thesis concludes after the initial decline, transatlantic relations between the EU and USA have now mainly been driven by the Chinese and Russian threats, with a more pragmatic coordinated strategy that benefits both the USA and Europe.Show less
The Milk Tea Alliance (MTA), an online pan-Asian movement, generated unprecedented participation in the region through an interplay of benefits and a constructed relative deprivation that was...Show moreThe Milk Tea Alliance (MTA), an online pan-Asian movement, generated unprecedented participation in the region through an interplay of benefits and a constructed relative deprivation that was capable of overcoming different grievances. Literature emerging from the Arab spring has brought about several benefits that applied to the MTA, namely invitation of social movements, sharing of information and tactics, solidarity, social capital, mobilization, and motivation. However, the MTA was not able to initiate social movements contrary to expectations. The other benefits are found to apply. By combining constructivist theory and relative deprivation theory I argue that the MTA experienced this unprecedented participation because a constructed relative deprivation partly created by Hong Kong and adopted by participating countries such as Myanmar which was able to create shared grievances that inform participation. The grievance was with authoritarianism and China which was often equated and thus allowed for a perception of a shared grievance, ideology, and identity. Additionally, the MTA expanded on the benefits by having an internally unifying power in Myanmar and building an alternative to ASEAN. Another reason for participation is a demographic aspect. However, so far, the MTA has not managed to have the desired success.Show less
A master thesis on the factors that contributed to the ongoing Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and the ineffectiveness of the international human rights framework and United Nation Institutions.
