Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Following the controversy surrounding Qatar’s winning bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, this thesis sets out to investigate the extent to which Qatar was able to harness soft power through its...Show moreFollowing the controversy surrounding Qatar’s winning bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, this thesis sets out to investigate the extent to which Qatar was able to harness soft power through its hosting of this global competition. The research gap from which this research stems is that of authoritarians’ struggle in wielding soft power. Sports, being a field that is frequently instrumentalized for political purposes, is argued to be an attractive venue for authoritarians to overcome this struggle. Taking the fields of soft power, sports diplomacy, and Sports Mega-Event hosting as its theoretical foundations and the Sports Diplomacy Model by Abdi et al. (2018) as its design, this research uncovers observable implications of successful soft power wielding by Qatar. These implications are linked to state visits undertaken and received by Qatar, bilateral investment treaties Qatar has signed, and Qatari participation in international fora. The timeline spans from 2012 to 2022 and within the relatively small sample yielded by this research, slight increases in all three variables indicate that some degree of soft power was successfully harnessed by Qatar through its hosting of the World Cup.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Quasi states and their interaction within the international system remain chronically understudied. To date, Kosovo is the only recent example of a former quasi-state that has managed to proclaim...Show moreQuasi states and their interaction within the international system remain chronically understudied. To date, Kosovo is the only recent example of a former quasi-state that has managed to proclaim independence and be internationally recognized afterwards. While displaying similar characteristics, Nagorno-Karabakh remains unrecognized. United by their nonrecognition, quasi states frequently rely on diplomacy by diasporas for their advocacy and representation. This thesis therefore aims to investigate where this different outcome in terms of diaspora diplomacy originates. Using the concepts of diaspora positionality and diaspora mobilization for an interpretive comparison between Albanian diaspora diplomacy for Kosovo and Armenian diaspora diplomacy for Nagorno-Karabakh in American and European host-state contexts, this research finds that for the Armenian diaspora genocide recognition took precedence over Nagorno-Karabakh, while Kosovo united the Albanian diaspora as a whole which through a combination of historical factors and context awareness subsequently set in motion an irreversible process towards recognized independence. On these grounds, this thesis posits diasporas as determined diplomatic actors in their own right who can play a pivotal role in homeland recognition and therefore warrant further research.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Biodiversity is a transboundary issue that is subject to conceptualisation at different levels of environmental governance. The implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is...Show moreBiodiversity is a transboundary issue that is subject to conceptualisation at different levels of environmental governance. The implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is dependent on such conceptualisations, especially on national and regional levels. This thesis analyses national and regional dynamics that influence the interpretation and implementation of internationally determined CBD concepts. In order to study this, the research follows a critical discourse analysis methodology in addition to a stakeholder analysis. It included the effect of regional and national power relations on the conceptualisation of CBD concepts. Four court cases taking place in different countries across the globe were selected to include differentiating national and regional contexts. The findings of the analysis show that power relations among the involved stakeholders affect the way CBD concepts are framed and interpreted. The findings reveal that community stakeholders emphasised discourses that were the most oriented towards biodiversity conservation. This thesis stresses the importance of understanding where the discrepancies lie between nationally determined concepts and national and regional interpretations of them. This is of importance to the effective implementation of the CBD.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Consensus is an increasingly selected decision-making procedure in negotiations and institutions. As a more informal mode of negotiating and decision-making without voting, We propose a method of...Show moreConsensus is an increasingly selected decision-making procedure in negotiations and institutions. As a more informal mode of negotiating and decision-making without voting, We propose a method of coding and tracking consensus in The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the foremost global organisation tasked with managing and improving states relations in space, by using its annual reports. By building a dataset of all COPUOS reports from 1990 to 2022, we model the presence and extent of consensus over time in against other quantitative data coded within the reports. We find an increasing number of views expressed over time, with the attainment of consensus mostly attributable to the substantive topic discussed. We also notice that factors related to less frequent attainment of consensus are often also associated with a higher strength of consensus. Non-state actors and developing countries are in some cases associated with increased attainment and strength of consensus.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
NAFO is a group of digital activists, primarily on Twitter, that seek to oppose Russian attempts to frame the discourse on the invasion of Ukraine. In this paper, I interviewed five members of the...Show moreNAFO is a group of digital activists, primarily on Twitter, that seek to oppose Russian attempts to frame the discourse on the invasion of Ukraine. In this paper, I interviewed five members of the organisation and subjected the resulting interviews to thematic analysis. The results show that NAFO as an organisation is shaped by the medium it operates on, being a highly decentralised group relying on grassroots action and leveraging the features of social media to effectively shape public opinion in favour of Ukraine through ridiculing Russian propagandists, using memes to convey their message, and flooding Russian propaganda accounts through mass-reports and dogpiles while relying on intragroup connectivity to ensure rapid response times. I also identified problems the organisation faces: the low barrier of entry meaning it’s easy for impostors to enter the group and attempt to disrupt it, and the ‘always-on’ nature of social media putting NAFO members at risk of burnout.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
With Europe striving towards net zero carbon emissions, green hydrogen is a key priority in EU energy policy due to its significant potential for decarbonizing energy-intensive industries. Germany,...Show moreWith Europe striving towards net zero carbon emissions, green hydrogen is a key priority in EU energy policy due to its significant potential for decarbonizing energy-intensive industries. Germany, Europe’s largest economy and carbon-emitter, significantly shapes EU energy policy with its domestic Energiewende model, and has been among the first member states to pursue an explicit global hydrogen strategy as part of its foreign policy. However, given the country’s energy import-dependence on Russia, the latter’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and resulting breakaway of Russo-German trade relations has invoked a Zeitenwende (‘turning point’) in Germany’s foreign policy: diverging from past narratives on economic interdependence and market-driven politics, geopolitical and national security considerations are becoming more pronounced. This ‘paradigm shift’ thus has important implications for Germany’s hydrogen strategy, a cornerstone in its current foreign policy. Drawing onto critical geopolitics, this paper critically examines Germany’s hydrogen discourse since the onset of the war, and its repercussions for Europe’s and the global energy transition. The critical discourse analysis of official speeches and statements by the government between February 2022 (i.e. shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) and March 2023 reveals how the German government constructs and rationalizes its identity, interests and spatial beliefs about the international system vis-á-vis Russia in its geopolitical discourse on hydrogen. Contextualizing and discussing the assumptions driving Germany’s hydrogen discourse in the context of EU and international energy governance sheds light on how the government’s narrative (re)produces the geopolitics of hydrogen, and promotes a competitive policy framework that might risk undermining more cooperative and equitable efforts in the global energy transition.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
This thesis studies the West’s engagement with local civil society organizations in Vietnam to promote LGBT human rights. By interviewing embassy employees of some Western countries and NGOs...Show moreThis thesis studies the West’s engagement with local civil society organizations in Vietnam to promote LGBT human rights. By interviewing embassy employees of some Western countries and NGOs officials, substantial data is collected, shedding light on the relationship in question. The findings of this study points to the benefits brought about by the West’s using local actors as a channel to diffuse LGBT norms, calling for a continuous collaboration. The outcomes also help address the gap embedded within the existing literature body.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Over the past decades, sanctions have played an increasingly prominent role in defining the geopolitical landscape. As demonstrated once again by the unprecedented number of sanctions targeting...Show moreOver the past decades, sanctions have played an increasingly prominent role in defining the geopolitical landscape. As demonstrated once again by the unprecedented number of sanctions targeting Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, sanctions today constitute one of the foreign policy tools most widely used by national governments and international organisations in response to crises in world politics. This is especially the case for the European Union, which is characterised by a twofold sanctioning activity. On the one hand, its position as an international actor is shaped by its capacity to impose sanctions targeting policies and activities worldwide; on the other hand, it has the authority to sanction its own Member States when they fail to respect its fundamental principles. This thesis investigates the possible relationship between these two parallel, but not irreconcilable, mechanisms. More specifically, it explores whether, and how, the presence of EU sanctions on its Member States affects public support for EU sanctions against third states. It does so by conducting a quantitative analysis of the data collected via a public opinion survey experiment, using Italy as a case study. This thesis concludes that, based on the data examined and the analysis performed, no evidence is found in support of a relationship between the presence of EU internal sanctions and public support for EU external sanctions. Nevertheless, since this potential correlation could have significant policy implications for the EU, future research should further investigate it.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Understanding the motivations of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the ways Russia may respond to its current humiliation there is of paramount importance. To this end this thesis...Show moreUnderstanding the motivations of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the ways Russia may respond to its current humiliation there is of paramount importance. To this end this thesis employs status theory to compare modern Russia’s to France’s to its defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. This comparison allows for the development of our understanding of the importance of status to state’s decision-making processes, as well as making clear the likelihood of a Russian need to re-assert its status. This thesis contends that this is most likely to be done via an expansion in their Outer Space efforts which runs the risk of kickstarting a Scramble for Space among major powers, just as France inadvertently began the scramble for Africa in 1881.Show less
This report describes the results of the research in the context of the Master's degree in Cyber Security. This study researched the problem that public tenders contain information that can be...Show moreThis report describes the results of the research in the context of the Master's degree in Cyber Security. This study researched the problem that public tenders contain information that can be collected by hackers during their preparation for a cyber-attack. Adversaries can easily access this information and abuse it against the tendering organizations. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to establish guidelines aimed at identifying and reducing sensitive information in tenders, in order to prevent that malicious parties gather and use this information in the preparation of cyber-attacks against tendering organizations. To this end, the various concepts of open data, procurement, reconnaissance, cyber kill chain, and open source intelligence were examined. In addition, interviews were held to both identify the risks for tendering organizations due to the above identified problem and to evaluate on the established guidelines. The research results have shown that the information in tenders is public due to the principles on which the rules regarding tenders are based. This is to offer fair opportunities to companies to win contracts through tenders. Due to the public nature of information in tenders, the comparison can be made with the concept of open data. As a result, the risks inherent to open data, such as abuse by malicious parties, also apply to information in tenders.Further research into the reconnaissance activities of hackers has made it clear that hackers are looking for specific types of information in preparation for cyber-attacks. It has been determined through document analysis on real tenders and interviews with security professionals that these types of information occur in tenders. This means that malicious parties can use tenders to collect information about organizations that is relevant for the preparation of cyber-attacks, against the tendering organizations. As a result, the tendering organizations face risks with regard to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of company assets. In particular, the likelihood that such risks arise is increased because the information is easily accessible to malicious parties. In order to prevent this, guidelines have been established. These guidelines should be used in follow-up research where a final solution is created that implements the described functionalities of the guidelines. The established guidelines focus in particular on identifying and reducing information that is relevant to hackers in tenders, before the tenders are made public. In this way the risks for tendering organizations can be prevented because this information can no longer be collected by malicious parties. The likelihood of the identified risks occurring is reduced. In addition, techniques have been suggested for these guidelines on which they can be implemented.The techniques regular expressions, text mining, comparison with known information, optical character recognition, and image recognition are discussed. Furthermore, guidelines have also been established that focus on the practical side of a final solution and the fact that this solution must be used in an existing context: people, processes and organizations. The guidelines and the results of the study were evaluated in interviews with senior purchasers. From these interviews it can be concluded that a solution based on the guidelines is of added value in practice in order to reduce sensitive information in tenders and prevent risks for tendering organizations. The results of this research thus result in recommendations for follow-up research, where the aim is to create an automated solution based on the guidelines that have been established.Show less
