Burgeoning Africa-China relations have sparked considerable debate over the past two decades. Many Western academics, politicians, and journalists now see growing Africa-China relations as a form...Show moreBurgeoning Africa-China relations have sparked considerable debate over the past two decades. Many Western academics, politicians, and journalists now see growing Africa-China relations as a form of Chinese neo-colonialism in Africa that is challenging Western efforts to help the continent develop. It is in this atmosphere of competition that the perspectives of Africans themselves have often been overlooked. This research paper attempts to shed light on these perspectives by analysing how elite political discourse in South Africa, Zambia and Angola perceives growing Africa-China relations, and how this discourse differs from common themes found in Western discourse. The paper combines a macro critical political discourse analysis of elite political discourse with a qualitative comparative analysis of these three case studies, within the timeframe January 2018 – January 2020. The research paper reveals that African political discourse often differs from, and indeed challenges, common themes found in Western discourse. In doing so, this research also contests the ‘universality’ of Western perceptions of both Africa and Africa-China relations. And finally, this research problematises the portrayal of non-Western actors in mainstream IR and highlights the need to listen to these voices from the periphery.Show less
This thesis will argue that to remain relevant within scholarship, IR scholars should recognize, as Nye and Strange have, that MNCs are powerful actors that influence the states they operate in,...Show moreThis thesis will argue that to remain relevant within scholarship, IR scholars should recognize, as Nye and Strange have, that MNCs are powerful actors that influence the states they operate in, the global political economy, and the norms and values the international system is based on. This point is fundamental to the study of IR so long as IR claims to explore power dynamics and the influences behind state-to-state interaction. This thesis does not claim that multinationals ought to be included in the study of IR on the grounds that they supersede the state or that states are no longer important in global governance, rather it argues that MNCs are important to the current structure of the global order. Its central research question seeks to explore how multinational corporations can be incorporated into the IR discipline. It looks at constructivism as the appropriate theoretical tool to do so. Although it seeks to add to the constructivist school of thought, it also critiques previous constructivist literature for not having done so already. These criticisms are two-fold: constructivists have failed to 1) analyze the MNC in terms of identities, interest, and power; and 2) analyzing contemporary international relations from a standpoint that is too theoretical to fully observe the realities of international relations in practice.Show less
Throughout the last decades, the UN has applied various efforts in order to bring an end to colonialism, and they have done so through different approaches. This thesis aims to answer the question:...Show moreThroughout the last decades, the UN has applied various efforts in order to bring an end to colonialism, and they have done so through different approaches. This thesis aims to answer the question: ‘How effective has United Nations been in achieving decolonization in the cases of Tokelau and Puerto Rico?’. Three main arguments run through this thesis. First, it argues that the UN engages in norm creation through affirming resolutions and publishing visiting reports, and that this is one of the most effective instruments in achieving decolonization in the cases of Tokelau and Puerto Rico. Second, it demonstrates that this norm creation has an effect on the international reputation on the administering states of New Zealand and the US, which affected their cooperation. Lastly, it challenges the current UN framework on decolonization and includes critique on this framework in order to apply this to the case studies and display the consequent ramifications.Show less
This thesis deals with securitization and desecuritization of immigration in right and left wing media in the United States as evidence of polarization through applying critical discourse analysis....Show moreThis thesis deals with securitization and desecuritization of immigration in right and left wing media in the United States as evidence of polarization through applying critical discourse analysis. Considering the current political climate in which matters such as immigration, race and social class are being securitized, research that focuses on how the right and the left wing securitize/desecuritize is important.Show less
The inconsistent application of the United Nations (UN) Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine has facilitated a discussion on the legitimacy of the principle. While the legal and ethical issues...Show moreThe inconsistent application of the United Nations (UN) Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine has facilitated a discussion on the legitimacy of the principle. While the legal and ethical issues concerning R2P have been examined in detail, scholars have mostly neglected its practical dimension. In order to interpret the inconsistent implementation of R2P, the cases of Syria and the Central African Republic (CAR) serve as a comparative framework. Thereby, this paper argues that the geopolitical interests of the Security Council’s permanent member states had a major impact on the adoption of R2P’s non-coercive and coercive instruments. From these case studies and the UNSC’s in/-action three implications for R2P are inferred: that the conditions for the successful implementation of the principle are dependent on the P5, that its application does not in fact delegitimise the doctrine and that a reformist approach can improve the inconsistencies in international response.Show less
Major policy shifts are rare phenomena on a national level, and identifying the specific moments when these transitions take place is not always possible. In the case of the Netherlands, 1982...Show moreMajor policy shifts are rare phenomena on a national level, and identifying the specific moments when these transitions take place is not always possible. In the case of the Netherlands, 1982 proves to be an exception: the ‘Wassenaar Accord’ was a turning point in the governmental policymaking regarding the influence of labour unions and employers’ organisations, after years of economic malaise. The enduring lack of economic growth in combination with high inflation, known as stagflation during the 1970s, paved the way for the new cabinet to force employers’ organisations and trade unions into an agreement on wage cuts in exchange for shorter working years. New policies through a breakthrough agreement were needed because of what an Economist article from 1977 described as the ‘Dutch disease’: high unemployment and lack of economic growth despite natural resource exports. The timing of the negotiations in Wassenaar coincided with neoliberal economists taking over the IMF and the World Bank (Harvey 93). What does this remarkable transition tell us about the way states should handle economic events such as stagflation, or more specifically the Dutch disease? This research seeks to provide the background information on that matter and answer the following question: how should the Dutch policies which were meant to counter the Dutch disease be identified? The processes leading up to the Wassenaar Accord can be traced back to causal mechanisms which will clarify to what extend the Dutch policies where identifiable as policies befitting neocorporatism, if they shifted towards the international trend of neoliberalism and perhaps if the Netherlands found a third way between the two established explanations.Show less
This thesis researches whether the Women, Peace and Security agenda was successfully implemented by the Dutch troops in Afghanistan using interviews with ten members of the Dutch armed forces.
Barack Obama secured two remarkable deals during his presidency: the nuclear deal with Iran and the military deal with Israel. Which beliefs inspired Obama to establish these deals? In this thesis...Show moreBarack Obama secured two remarkable deals during his presidency: the nuclear deal with Iran and the military deal with Israel. Which beliefs inspired Obama to establish these deals? In this thesis Obama’s foreign policy towards nuclear Iran and military Israel is explored to determine whether any of the three ideologies – liberty promotion, orientalism and containment – have potentially inspired Obama’s decision to establish the deals. In both cases Obama’s actions indicate strong influence of the ideology of liberty promotion. The ideology of orientalism seems absent in both cases, and the containment ideology can be found in the Iran case only. The findings indicate that Obama’s approach has been inspired by particular ideologies when he dealt with nuclear Iran and military Israel.Show less
Since the end of the Cold War, international statebuilding – creating and strengthening government institutions – has been regularly promoted by international organisations and western states in...Show moreSince the end of the Cold War, international statebuilding – creating and strengthening government institutions – has been regularly promoted by international organisations and western states in order to end, resolve and prevent violent civil conflict in non-western countries. This thesis critically reflects on how statebuilding policymakers understand and represent the problem of violent civil conflict which they seek to tackle. It offers an original exploration of statebuilders’ narratives about the relationship between violent civil conflict and states, their formation, strengthening and weakening. Three arguments are made. Firstly, statebuilders represent violent civil conflict as a process which destroys states and is incapable of generating legitimate forms of governance. Secondly, this is a major divergence from a body of academic literature on domestic state formation which suggests that conflict can, and may even be necessary, to produce states. By drawing out the major divergences between these two bodies of literature, the thesis attempts to make sense of statebuilders’ narratives about conflict and their political consequences for policy. I argue, thirdly, that statebuilders’ representations of conflict are in fact vital for legitimising the norm and practice of international statebuilding.Show less
The development of A.I. systems and robotics in recent years has lead to increased concerns over how such technology will be utilized in war. Specifically, Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS),...Show moreThe development of A.I. systems and robotics in recent years has lead to increased concerns over how such technology will be utilized in war. Specifically, Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS), designed to survey, recognise, target and eliminate, are highly controversial in that they have the potential to operate completely independent of human control or interference. While currently not in use, it potentially contradicts International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and has stimulated discussions over implementing restrictions or banning its use entirely. However, there remains a number of challenges in addressing the conceptualisation of LAWS, as well as how they will be used in the future. This essay attempts to tackle the current predicaments facing the political debates on LAWS by examining how weapons technology contains an element of agency which influences its development and use. Through Actor-Network theory, its role as an assemblage of various human and non-human parts can shed light on how its status and representation in the political debate is fluid and more complex than what it initially seems.Show less
This thesis studies India's diplomatic relations with its western neighbours- namely- Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the context of increasing threats to its domestic and regional security, India has...Show moreThis thesis studies India's diplomatic relations with its western neighbours- namely- Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the context of increasing threats to its domestic and regional security, India has adopted a "soft power" approach in achieving its strategic interests. Through qualitative case selection, this thesis dwells into India's diplomatic approach especially through the study of water diplomacy in the case of Pakistan and public diplomacy in the case of Afghanistan. In this context, this thesis associate security concerns of the three countries with their national interests, particularly focusing on India. The underlying conclusion of this thesis is that while a hard power approach or use of coercion may serve as a base to further "soft power" approach, India needs to maintain a delicate balance between the two approaches for achieving regional stability and ensuring national security.Show less
