China claims to be one of the main followers and protectors of the principles of non-interference and sovereignty. It often invokes these principles either in order to protect itself from...Show moreChina claims to be one of the main followers and protectors of the principles of non-interference and sovereignty. It often invokes these principles either in order to protect itself from interference from Western states, or to defend its alternative approach to aid engagement in African countries (Pang 244-245). However, China also violates the principle of non-interference by putting conditions on other countries’ internal affairs, such as demanding that the government does not support issues that China is against, in return for its continued bilateral cooperation. Therefore, China’s foreign policy approaches and especially its use of conditionality seem contradicting. Such contradicting foreign policy approaches can be challenging to understand and counter for other states if the motivations are not known. The academic debate on China’s use of conditionality and foreign policy in general has failed to take into account a wide enough range of foreign policy approaches, something I attempt to do in my paper.Show less
The present thesis analyzes two works: Les Hommes centre l'human from Gabriel Marcel (1951) and Maus II from Art Spiegelmann (1991). The first one is a philosophical essay, very representative of...Show moreThe present thesis analyzes two works: Les Hommes centre l'human from Gabriel Marcel (1951) and Maus II from Art Spiegelmann (1991). The first one is a philosophical essay, very representative of the post-war French existentialist thoughts. The second one is a graphic novel about the Holocaust. Gabriel Marcel's philosophy is used in order to elucidate and get a better understanding of Spiegelman's interpretation of the Nazi crimes against the Jewish people. This thesis can also be situated in the larger framework of linking visual arts and philosophical texts, which is a developing but still not common process.Show less
This thesis concludes that Gabriel Marcel’s notion of the spirit of abstraction provides us with important insights regarding how and why the Republican army was able to repress the community of...Show moreThis thesis concludes that Gabriel Marcel’s notion of the spirit of abstraction provides us with important insights regarding how and why the Republican army was able to repress the community of Canudos as viciously as it did. As put by Blundell, “The process of abstraction, which Marcel also refers to as primary reflection, “is, roughly speaking, purely analytical and (…) consists, as it were, in dissolving the concrete into its elements.””(p. 59). Once one of those elements is accorded, “isolated from all other categories, an arbitrary primacy, we are victims of the spirit of abstraction.” (Marcel, p. 155-156). By connecting his battle against the spirit of abstraction with issues such as fanaticism, the role of (communication) technology and the press, violence and war, religion and historiography, Marcel provides us with a unique perspective to use when analysing conflicts such as the Canudos War. Especially his emphasis on the role of language in the process of justifying war turned out to be particularly useful. As put by Johnson, “Naming, says De Certeau, is not “the ‘painting’ of a reality any more than it is elsewhere; it is a performative act organizing what it enunciates. It does what it says and constitutes the savagery it declares. (…) To understand subalternity thus is to side with the argument that it is a discursive effect.” (p. 30). Words, so it seems, are the primary vehicle through which the spirit of abstraction manifests itself.Show less
Hizballah is a Lebanon-based terrorist organisation that has been establishing ties with Latin America in the form of activities that generate funds for the organisation. This thesis argues that...Show moreHizballah is a Lebanon-based terrorist organisation that has been establishing ties with Latin America in the form of activities that generate funds for the organisation. This thesis argues that these financial activities are part of the transnational world as being finanscapes, and that, according to the natural systems model proposed in terrorism studies, they have contributed to the success of the terrorist organisation.Show less
A thesis presented on the reinforcing effects of gender stereotyping during military missions by the Israeli Defense Forces. Acts of selected gender inequality in the army still exist in spite of...Show moreA thesis presented on the reinforcing effects of gender stereotyping during military missions by the Israeli Defense Forces. Acts of selected gender inequality in the army still exist in spite of legal amendments made to the National Service Law. This unequal treatment stems from specific gender roles attributed to women and men, and a masculine point of view in the military. The presented case studies illustrate continuity and intensification of gender inequality during war operations in Lebanon, West Bank and The Gaza Strip. Thus, the recent formation of a new co-ed combat unit will not have a significant impact on women’s emancipation in the Israeli army. Future work on gender inequality might include the implications of gender inequality in the army on the Israel-Palestine conflict, including its impact on the peace process and the role of women could play in this process.Show less
