In recent decades, scholars have found that the influence of Great Powers in recognition politics is fairly big. They choose whether or not to recognize entities as states and other countries...Show moreIn recent decades, scholars have found that the influence of Great Powers in recognition politics is fairly big. They choose whether or not to recognize entities as states and other countries simply follow. Scholars have stated that in fear of costs of contravention, small states are being pressured to align recognition policy by extensive military, economic and diplomatic resources of major actors in world politics. Following the path of prior research on how Great Powers influence non-Great Powers on recognition policies, this paper aims to explain how extensive economic resources can be used to push other system members in certain recognition positions. Using data from the Correlates of War project and the World Trade Bank this paper argues that trade interdependence does, in fact, correlates with alignment of recognition policy with the U.S. With that said, no hard evidence has been found that the U.S. is willingly using trade as leverage to push states towards the recognition of Israel and the nonrecognition of Palestine.Show less
This thesis attempts to explain what ethnic Russians in northern Kazakhstan prevented from creating a successful secessionist movement in the 1990s. The first part of the thesis tests five...Show moreThis thesis attempts to explain what ethnic Russians in northern Kazakhstan prevented from creating a successful secessionist movement in the 1990s. The first part of the thesis tests five preconditions of Wood (1981) and shows that favourable conditions in Kazakhstan were present. These conditions would make attempts at secession of the ethnic Russian minority more likely to occur. The second part explains why serious attempts at secession, despite the favourable conditions in Kazakhstan, did not take place. In this part, the analysis is carried out on three levels, as suggested by Siroky (2016): 1) Russian organisations in Kazakhstan, 2) Kazakhstan’s government, 3) Russia’s government. The analysis shows that mobilisation, an important factor explaining attempts at secession, was not possible due to internal problems and inefficient leadership in the Russian organisations, combined with repressive policy of the Kazakhstani authorities and a lack of support from the Russian government.Show less
This bachelor’s thesis examines the relationship between external support by Great Powers and secessionist violence. Through statistical analyses, we find that financial external Great Power...Show moreThis bachelor’s thesis examines the relationship between external support by Great Powers and secessionist violence. Through statistical analyses, we find that financial external Great Power support increases the likelihood of conflict between secessionist contested states and their host state. Moreover, our analysis points to the fact that external support by autocratic (compared to democratic) and interventionist (compared to non-interventionist) Great Powershas a more severe effect on conflict in secessionist contested states.Show less
