This thesis describes the topic of labor within the NAFTA agreement, based on the labor conditions, labor unions, and finally labor mobility. It examines whether the labor conditions during the...Show moreThis thesis describes the topic of labor within the NAFTA agreement, based on the labor conditions, labor unions, and finally labor mobility. It examines whether the labor conditions during the agreement improved or worsened.Show less
For years, Mexicans have migrated to the United States in search of the American Dream. From the moment a Mexican becomes an American citizen, the immigrant is expected to assimilate to the country...Show moreFor years, Mexicans have migrated to the United States in search of the American Dream. From the moment a Mexican becomes an American citizen, the immigrant is expected to assimilate to the country’s culture and politics. This thesis addresses whether these assimilating immigrants actually have any influence on local politics in Texas, specifically El Paso, since 1965. The research answers this question from an individual and local-level perspective of first person accounts in El Paso Texas on political discontent and influence, as well as a local perspective on the assimilation of Mexican immigrants in El Paso.This type of study has not been done before on the local level in El Paso and therefore helps contribute to research on Mexican immigration. Historians and sociologists have focused mainly on the difficulties Mexicans face when migrating into the US, but have not explored the after-effects of these migrations. Three main topics create the foundation of this research, namely assimilation, political representation, and immigration policies for Mexican immigrants in El Paso, Texas. By using literary research as well as interviews with Mexicans who live or have lived in, or close to, El Paso it was found that Mexican immigrants are assimilating to American ways, yet they remain distant when it comes to politics. Because of this distance and disinterest in the subject, Mexicans have little-to-no influence on the politics of the country. Because of the growth in their population, they have become increasingly powerful and have managed to increase their representatives in politics. Yet, when it comes to officially voting or changing policies, Mexican immigrants do not practice this power. Thus, it is very unlikely that there will be a lot of influence on politics by the Mexican community. There has been an increasing influence on the representation of Mexicans, which has empowered them slightly; however, the Mexican community is so detached from the local political system, that it is not likely to create major changes in politics in the coming years.Show less
Global health diplomacy or medical diplomacy is a concept and practice that describes the relationship between global health and foreign policy (Feldbaum et al. 1). Cooperation among health...Show moreGlobal health diplomacy or medical diplomacy is a concept and practice that describes the relationship between global health and foreign policy (Feldbaum et al. 1). Cooperation among health officials and diplomats is becoming increasingly important in current times, as health issues are transcending traditional nation-state borders, which is largely due to the spread of epidemics such as Ebola, SARS and BSE. Medical diplomacy is a way to wield soft power, especially for small developing countries such as Cuba, which would never have the capabilities of superpowers, such as the United States, to gain power in traditional means through military force or economic supremacy (Feinsilver,” Fifty years of Cuba's medical diplomacy” 100). Cuba has been engaging in medical diplomacy for over fifty years, long before health became relevant on global agendas. Therefore Cuba makes an exceptional case study to investigate when assessing global health diplomacy. This thesis intends to understand Cuba’s unique healthcare system at home and abroad in order to understand ‘how’ and ‘why’ it has become what it is today. In order to assess this topic, first the concept of power will be examined, looking in particular at soft power. Following, a particular soft power policy will be examined: Global health diplomacy and its importance in International Relations. Then Cuba’s domestic healthcare system will be scrutinized to comprehend how it has emerged and why it has become so successful. Consecutively, Cuba’s efforts in medical diplomacy will be inspected, with a focus on the Cuban-Venezuelan oil-for-doctors trade agreement, to answer the central question of this thesis: What are Cuba’s intentions behind its policy of medical diplomacy?Show less
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
