Subnational climate diplomacy is a concept that has been gaining attention in the field of International Relations in recent years. It refers to the way in which state and local governments are...Show moreSubnational climate diplomacy is a concept that has been gaining attention in the field of International Relations in recent years. It refers to the way in which state and local governments are increasingly taking part in international negotiations and cooperation to advance global climate objectives. This signifies a sizable shift in the traditional approach to state-to-state diplomacy. However, the value of subnational climate diplomacy to the global fight against climate change is currently almost exclusively measured in terms of clearly quantifiable outputs, which largely overlooks its less directly quantifiable contributions and broader social, economic and political impacts. Therefore, this thesis analyzes how subnational climate diplomacy can contribute to transformative change through more indirect impacts. The indirect impacts that are measured are ‘rescaling’ and ‘entrenchment,’ based on the frameworks developed by authors van der Ven, Bernstein and Hoffmann (2017) and Setzer (2017). These two concepts serve to guide the analysis undertaken in this thesis, which aims to answer the following research question: How can subnational climate diplomacy contribute to transformative change through rescaling and entrenchment? To answer this question, the thesis includes a detailed case study of the international climate agenda of the U.S. state of California. The analysis of California's international climate agenda shows how the state’s subnational climate diplomacy is contributing to a rescaling of climate governance. By establishing international linkages along both the vertical and the horizontal axis, California is triggering a rescaling of climate governance on the subnational, national and international/supranational level. Additionally, California’s subnational climate diplomacy is fostering entrenchment by generating effects in climate governance that are durable and difficult to reverse. Overall, this study emphasizes that subnational climate diplomacy can contribute to transformative change in global climate governance, not only through producing directly quantifiable emission reductions, but also through rescaling climate governance and entrenching durable change.Show less
Master thesis | European Politics and Society: Vaclav Havel Joint Master Programme
open access
Despite a long history of scholarship about economic sanctions, research about European Union sanctions, specifically EU sanction threats, is more nascent. The institutional changes in the EU...Show moreDespite a long history of scholarship about economic sanctions, research about European Union sanctions, specifically EU sanction threats, is more nascent. The institutional changes in the EU changes since the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, which gave the European Parliament some increased powers whilst maintaining an intergovernmental Common Foreign and Security Policy, add to this research gap. This thesis thus attempts to answer the question, “What are the effects of the Treaty of Lisbon on the European Parliament’s role in sanctions decision-making?” Due to the EP’s significant role in the Magnitsky case and its high salience and implications for EU relations with third countries, this study uses the Magnitsky case in the EU to answer this question. It uses an explaining-outcome process-tracing method and finds that some legal changes did not make the EP more assertive in sanctions policy in the Magnitsky case. It does find that the EP ‘tested the waters’ by forging a greater connection between human rights and external relations. It also finds that the augmentation of the HRVP role led to a more difficult relationship between the EP and the Council in the Magnitsky case.Show less
In the past decade, the relationship between the United States and Iran has been through significant changes, particularly playing out in the realm of nuclear proliferation. The establishment of...Show moreIn the past decade, the relationship between the United States and Iran has been through significant changes, particularly playing out in the realm of nuclear proliferation. The establishment of the landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) under the Obama administration, thought to be the start of a new chapter of US-Iran relations, was uprooted by the Trump administration almost immediately after the change in leadership. In order to understand how this radical policy shift is possible, this thesis analyses and compares the policy discourses on Iran of the Obama and Trump administration in terms of Self-Other identity construction. Taking a poststructuralist approach to policy discourse analysis, the ontological link between discursive identity and policy decision making is the central subject of study. The thesis concludes that the decisions to establish and withdraw from the JCPOA are constituted by discourses which in fact construct a highly similar radical Self-Other relationship between the US and Iran, within which the US is positioned as having to change the behaviour of the Iranian regime as arbiter of the Middle East and ally of the Iranian people. Crucially, they differ when it comes to the use of orientalist binaries, the capacity for change attributed to the Iranian regime (temporal identity) and the position of the US vis-a-vis the international community (ethical-spatial identity), which is congruent with the diverging policy decisions on the JCPOA.Show less
The ever-growing Chinese economy and military have been viewed with suspicion by Western academics. One of the main questions that rises from China’s increasing power is how and if it will change...Show moreThe ever-growing Chinese economy and military have been viewed with suspicion by Western academics. One of the main questions that rises from China’s increasing power is how and if it will change the world order. When Xi Jinping became president of the People’s Republic in 2013, a new era began. Xi incorporates many historical narratives in his speeches to explain his views on the international system. This paper inquires the fifteen speeches of Xi Jinping, held between 2012 and 2020. The theoretical framework for this research is Zhao Tingyang’s neo-tianxa. The methodology that has been used is the macro critical political discourse analysis. The systematic application on Xi Jinping’s speeches revealed that the Chinese concept of neo-tianxia gives interesting insights in how Xi Jinping sees the world. Furthermore, this thesis goes beyond the East-West thinking that often can be found in the Western IR field.Show less
In the past couple of decades, the shared belief in peacebuilding has eroded. The failure from Western countries to deliver peace has led to a lot of criticism towards Western peacebuilding...Show moreIn the past couple of decades, the shared belief in peacebuilding has eroded. The failure from Western countries to deliver peace has led to a lot of criticism towards Western peacebuilding missions. The criticism was aimed at the fact that most Western peacebuilding approaches only focus on the implementation of liberal values. Whereas these values have proven to be successful in Western countries, the implementation of these values will not automatically create a peaceful situation in other countries. Therefore, more countries from the global South have expressed their interest in establishing a new and innovative peacebuilding approach which can be applied to non-Western countries. This thesis will therefore focus on the differences between peacebuilding approaches from the Global South and the Western peacebuilding approach. By looking at different International Relations (IR) theories related to peacebuilding and by analysing peacebuilding mission from the US, The Netherlands and South Africa, this thesis will contribute to exploring the differences between both approaches to peacebuilding and understanding what is the cause of these differences. The origin of these different peacebuilding approaches can be found in the different political and historical context of the countries, which has led to the establishment of Western ideology and a Pan-African ideology in their peacebuilding approaches.Show less
There are many forms and types of culture - violent cultures, peaceful ones, democracy, authoritarian, civilian and military orientated ones among many more. This paper will pay attention to German...Show moreThere are many forms and types of culture - violent cultures, peaceful ones, democracy, authoritarian, civilian and military orientated ones among many more. This paper will pay attention to German military culture and how it shifted from an aggressive culture to a pacifistic one to a ‘defensive’ military culture since the 1990s. In particular, the text will focus on changes in recent time, studying the political incentives in the 1990s. Upon it, a new case study will be made looking at the 2010s and how the new White Papers in 2006 and 2016 have changed the official military culture.Show less
Chile signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in February 2016 with twelve other countries from the Pacific Rim. As the only country with trade agreements in affect with all...Show moreChile signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in February 2016 with twelve other countries from the Pacific Rim. As the only country with trade agreements in affect with all participating countries and the grandeur of the economic, political and substantive scope of the TPP, some concerns were raised as to whether it was beneficial for Chile to join. For this, I analysed the domestic affairs that may have played a role during the negotiations. It became apparent that political leaders and business groups were able to directly influence the negotiations in which they believed the TPP could serve to solidify relations with the Asia-Pacific for the copper industry and enter higher value chains, in order to counter the inequality causing much societal unrest. As the continuous pushing of the neoliberal agenda shows whilst civil society groups opposed this, the failing cooperation between the different sectors of Chile becomes apparent. This confirms the theory of Katzenstein (1985) that small states need strong social policies if it wants to be successful in the international arena. Next to that, this thesis has shown that it is important to look at the domestic affairs of a country to understand its international behaviour.Show less
