The announcement of the establishment of rapid response European Battlegroups (EUBG) in the Helsinki Headline Goal of 2004, functioning as the first European military capabilities, was marked as...Show moreThe announcement of the establishment of rapid response European Battlegroups (EUBG) in the Helsinki Headline Goal of 2004, functioning as the first European military capabilities, was marked as the start for the establishment of a common defence and security policy in the European Union. It is argued that the EUBG were a logical consequence of de further deepening of the European integration process at the end of the 1990s and would prove that even on such a sensitive issue the member states were able to contribute without only pursuing the national interest. This research focuses on the implementation and impact of the EUBG concept and shows that there must be a clear distinction between paper reality and the military feasibility of supranational cooperation. Subject to many determining factors the EUBG have never been deployed and are not recognized as common support until today. As such, this research seeks for the substantiation why the EUBG did not succeed in their primary task as accelerator of the integration process. This research suggests that without a policy-based embedding, a military executive organization misses not only the right facilities, but it is also insufficiently supported to be successful in the end.Show less
In October 2000, the United Nations Security Council passed the resolution 1325 on gender mainstreaming. Several resolutions on this topic have followed and together these resolutions form the...Show moreIn October 2000, the United Nations Security Council passed the resolution 1325 on gender mainstreaming. Several resolutions on this topic have followed and together these resolutions form the Women, Peace and Security agenda. This agenda encompasses all aspects of gender mainstreaming such as the protection of women’s rights in conflict and post-conflict, the prevention of sexual abuse against women and the enhancement of women in United Nations peacekeeping operations. This thesis particularly studies the latter issue, urging the Member States to deploy more women peacekeepers in peacekeeping missions. The larger deployment of women in missions is of high importance since the inclusion of women peacekeepers has advantages for conflict and post-conflict societies. Therefore, the United Nations advises the Member States to adopt a National Action Plan and aims to fully support national governments to implement gender mainstreaming in their policies and guidelines. This thesis hypothesises that there is a gap between the increasing policies established by the Dutch government in favour of gender mainstreaming and the reality of vast under-representation of Dutch women peacekeepers in peacekeeping operations. An analysis of the Dutch National Action Plans and Defence Action Plan demonstrates how the official Dutch governmental discourse fails to increase the participation of Dutch women in peacekeeping operations. The three main observations, resulting from this analysis, are the lack of internal focus within the national policies and the Dutch society on gender mainstreaming, the use of the word ‘women’ instead of ‘gender’ and the fact that the Dutch government treats the implementation of the policies as a final goal, while these policies are merely a sub-part of a larger effort. Therefore, it can be concluded that the official Dutch government discourse on the Security Council resolution 1325 shows the gap between the little change in Dutch women’s participation in peacekeeping operations and the adoption of policies in favour of gender mainstreaming.Show less
Social media have increased the ways in which people can and do communicate with each other. This could have consequences for speech act theory as founded by J.L. Austin and refined by J. Searle....Show moreSocial media have increased the ways in which people can and do communicate with each other. This could have consequences for speech act theory as founded by J.L. Austin and refined by J. Searle. This thesis shows that the introduction of social media has led to the existence of a new illocutionary act that is not covered by existing speech act theory: the illocutionary act of hashtagging. It is argued that hashtagging is a meta-speech act that has no counterpart offline and is deserving of its own category within existing speech act theory.Show less
This thesis investigates the impact of fascist ideas and practices on anticolonial nationalism in late colonial Indonesia (primarily 1935-42). Focusing on the example of Partai Indonesia Raya ...Show moreThis thesis investigates the impact of fascist ideas and practices on anticolonial nationalism in late colonial Indonesia (primarily 1935-42). Focusing on the example of Partai Indonesia Raya (Parindra) and its youth organization Surya Wirawan, it aims at bringing together disparate historiographies on fascism, anticolonial nationalism, and Indonesian intellectual history. Moreover, it traces the first 'birth pangs' of Indonesian paramilitarism back to the late colonial period, thus arguing against the commonly held view explaining the militarization of Indonesian politics merely as an effect of the Japanese occupation (1942-45). Therefore, this thesis uncovers traces of a 'homegrown' tradition of paramilitarism that drew a considerable part of its inspiration from fascist role models. For the purpose of this study, fascism is applied as a heuristic tool to ask hitherto avoided questions about organizations like Parindra that have long been labeled as 'cooperative' nationalist parties. In doing so, this thesis considers Indonesia as one of the countless (emerging) nations that were receptive to the global fascist hype in the 1930s.Show less
The Democratic Autocrat. Venezuela under Hugo Chávez in historical perspective: a comparison with puntofijistic Venezuela regarding democracy and autocracy
Military conflicts with a significant difference in military power or strategy between two opponents are called asymmetric conflicts. Since World War II, research proves military and technological...Show moreMilitary conflicts with a significant difference in military power or strategy between two opponents are called asymmetric conflicts. Since World War II, research proves military and technological superiority proved to be a highly unreliable ground to predict the outcome of wars. This thesis aims to develop a more satisfying answer on why big nations lose small wars in asymmetric conflicts. The weaknesses and strengths of the currently leading explanations on asymmetric conflict outcome are assessed and combined. Instead of creating another rival view, currently known decisive elements for asymmetric conflict outcome are combined in a new, more comprehensive model. Although further research should assess the significance of the individual variables and the relevance of possible other variables, this thesis concludes that if the duration of an asymmetric conflict is short, the external political pressure aimed at the strong actor is low, the internal political pressure in the home country of the strong actor is low, a symmetrical military strategy is adopted and the strong actor received more military support from an external actor than its opponent, the strong actor is most likely to win the asymmetric conflict.Show less
Kijk op de Compagnie' belicht het scheepvaartverkeer van de VOC in Azië in de jaren 1680-1700 aan de hand van reisgegevens van fluitschepen. Deze data zijn ondergebracht in een aparte database.
This paper investigated discourse on the use of the English language in Dutch pop music. An important term in this research was societal treatment. Societal treatment studies deal with the explicit...Show moreThis paper investigated discourse on the use of the English language in Dutch pop music. An important term in this research was societal treatment. Societal treatment studies deal with the explicit manifestations of beliefs, feelings and behavioural intents present in a wide range of communications (Santello 2015). The questions which were researched in this thesis were: What are the language attitudes of the people of the Netherlands towards Dutch and towards English in pop music? Do they have a language preference? Three methods were used to look at the societal treatment of English and Dutch in pop music: content analysis, indirect measurement, and direct measurement (Van Meurs 2010). In the content analysis, Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) was gathered about the use of Dutch and English in pop music from different forums. All this data was categorized into twenty-three different categories. The indirect measurement consists of a questionnaire which focused on the four tendencies which were found in the content analysis. These four tendencies were the connection to the song, the understanding of the song, the thoughts on the lyrics, and the enjoyment of the song. The goal of this questionnaire was to define if there were differences in the treatment of Dutch and English in these tendencies by letting people evaluate different video clips. In all the video clips Dutch artists were present but half of the video clips were sung in Dutch and the other half was sung in English. The direct measurement was the creation of two discussions online which focused on upcoming new Dutch music genres and the language attitudes of the Dutch towards the Dutch language. Overall, the results show that most of the Dutch have a negative language attitude towards their first language and have a language preference for English in pop music.Show less
In deze scriptie wordt onderzocht hoe het Russische nihilisme in de jaren 1860 als revolutionaire beweging kon ontstaan vanuit literaire fictie. Een naamloze en ongeorganiseerde groep radicalen...Show moreIn deze scriptie wordt onderzocht hoe het Russische nihilisme in de jaren 1860 als revolutionaire beweging kon ontstaan vanuit literaire fictie. Een naamloze en ongeorganiseerde groep radicalen veranderde door de beeldvorming in de romans Vaders en zonen (Toergenjev, 1862), Wat te doen? (Tsjernisjevski, 1863) en hun receptie in "nihilisten", georganiseerd rondom concrete idealen. Hierdoor wordt duidelijk hoe belangrijk literatuur was als politiek medium in negentiende-eeuws Rusland, en de complexe interactie tussen maatschappij en fictie onderstreept het belang van culturele geschiedenis.Show less
In deze scriptie wordt uitgezocht welke factoren van cultuur en cultureel bewustzijn invloed kunnen hebben op de tweedetaalverwerving van Chinees en Nederlands. Dit is gedaan door middel van...Show moreIn deze scriptie wordt uitgezocht welke factoren van cultuur en cultureel bewustzijn invloed kunnen hebben op de tweedetaalverwerving van Chinees en Nederlands. Dit is gedaan door middel van interviews met Nederlanders die Chinees leren en Chinezen die Nederlands leren. De belangrijkste factoren zijn de schoolsystemem van China en Nederland, communicatie, motivatie en formaliteit.Show less
Research into the representation of the main character Sara in each Western film adaptation created in the twentieth century. The thesis focuses on gender stereotypes and the representation of the...Show moreResearch into the representation of the main character Sara in each Western film adaptation created in the twentieth century. The thesis focuses on gender stereotypes and the representation of the significance of friendship, imagination and intelligence.Show less
This paper is motivated by the assumption that ‘terrorism’ is a loaded and politically significant term, the use of which exudes and produces power relations. It acknowledges this, and also argues...Show moreThis paper is motivated by the assumption that ‘terrorism’ is a loaded and politically significant term, the use of which exudes and produces power relations. It acknowledges this, and also argues that not everyone has an equal right to use the term. This leads to an examination into the kind of power that is manifested in the use of the term, by putting the social constructivist framework to work and placing the semantic field of terrorism within that framework. It identifies a kind of power attached to the enunciation of the term ‘terrorism’ and argues that it is unequally distributed between perceived potential victims of terrorism and perceived potential perpetrators of terrorism. Drawing on Nietzsche’s genealogical analysis of morality, I argue that it is counterproductive to deny potential perpetrators the power of enunciation around the term ‘terrorism’ on the basis that this leads to a kind of slave revolt in terrorism. Redistributing the power of enunciation around the term ‘terrorism’ might remove the line that separates potential victims from potential perpetrators of terrorism and work towards reducing the threat of terrorism itself by allowing those potential perpetrators to exercise this capability within mainstream society, as opposed to seeking alternative communities to do so outside of it.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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The current study is an acoustic investigation of the three-way obstruent contrast between voiceless aspirated, voiceless unaspirated and voiced stops in the medial position of tone sandhi domains...Show moreThe current study is an acoustic investigation of the three-way obstruent contrast between voiceless aspirated, voiceless unaspirated and voiced stops in the medial position of tone sandhi domains in Lili Wu Chinese, a language that has an aspiration-induced tonal split in lexical tones. The main focus of the thesis was to examine the acoustic realizations of the three-way stop contrast. By analyzing acoustic data from twenty old-generation Lili Wu native speakers, we found that f0 perturbation was employed by speakers to contrast phonological voicing: voiced stops introduced lower f0 contours to the following vowels than the voiceless ones. Durational data on consonant release (c/v ratio) and difference in phonation types (H1*-H2*) were adopted as two cues to contrast aspiration: voiceless aspirated stops tend to be associated with greater c/v ratio and H1*-H2* differences than voiceless unaspirated ones.Show less
In dit onderzoek is aan de hand van de Hanserecessen onderzocht welke verandering er plaatsvond in de rol die de vorsten en steden van het Oostzeegebied speelden in de piraterijbestrijding op de...Show moreIn dit onderzoek is aan de hand van de Hanserecessen onderzocht welke verandering er plaatsvond in de rol die de vorsten en steden van het Oostzeegebied speelden in de piraterijbestrijding op de Oostzee tussen 1259 en 1500. Ook de reden voor deze verandering is onderzocht.Show less
The thesis seeks to provide an explanation regarding the decision of the European Union to impose economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, after the latter’s involvement in Ukraine with...Show moreThe thesis seeks to provide an explanation regarding the decision of the European Union to impose economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, after the latter’s involvement in Ukraine with the annexation of Crimea, by using a constructivist approach. The argument of this thesis for the constructivist interpretation of EU sanctions against Russia lies on the notions of EU Identity and EU Shared Values. The analysis of the purpose of the sanctions, their relation with the international legal order and the decision making process leading to their adoption, results in an interpretation that can be satisfactory under the constructivist approach. This approach is useful in order to explain EU’s imposition of economic sanctions against the Russian Federation as part of its broader foreign policy. Furthermore, by employing the method of Congruence Analysis the thesis draws inferences between normative predictions deriving from the given theory and empirical observations. Moreover, the argument of this thesis concludes that the special character of the EU, the notions of its Identity and Shared Values affected its collective decision to impose economic sanctions. Ultimately, the thesis renders the European Union to fit the constructivist assertions regarding the functions of the international system.Show less
Most researchers agree that frequency plays a role during the processing or accessing of words. Hay (2001) argues that there is a type of frequency called relative frequency which has an important...Show moreMost researchers agree that frequency plays a role during the processing or accessing of words. Hay (2001) argues that there is a type of frequency called relative frequency which has an important effect on the processing of derived forms through a two-route model of morphological processing. She argues that complex forms with a frequency lower than the frequency of their base forms (e.g. uncommon) are more likely to be perceived as decomposable than a complex form with a higher frequency than the frequency of their base words (e.g. uncanny). She reports the results of an experiment which provides evidence for this view. Since it is reasonable to assume that these relative frequency effects also occur in other languages, I replicated her experiment for Dutch. The results of my experiment suggest that relative frequency effects are observed in the processing of Dutch derived forms.Show less
India has a mixed stance on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) norm due to its partial support to only pillars one and two and not pillar three. The first two pillars go hand in hand with the...Show moreIndia has a mixed stance on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) norm due to its partial support to only pillars one and two and not pillar three. The first two pillars go hand in hand with the country’s foreign policy on humanitarian assistance. The third pillar that states the responsibility of the international community to protect citizens from mass atrocities using militarily intervention is incompatible with Indian foreign policy’s longstanding commitment to sovereignty and non-intervention. To comprehend India’s stance on the R2P norm, this thesis traces India’s views on the earlier principle of humanitarian intervention. India’s past humanitarian interventions into its neighbours have taught the country that social change cannot be achieved through forced military intervention. While India has always been suspicious of western intentions behind intervention, the R2P norm is also a direct threat to India’s own sovereignty as it focuses on India’s domestic vulnerabilities such as its human rights situation. Combining Amitav Acharya’s theory of norm localisation and feedback, and Negron-Gonazales’ and Contarino’s theory on compatibility between strategic interests and local norms, this thesis argues that localization of the R2P norm has not been possible in India due to incompatibility of its strategic interests, domestic norms or both with the third pillar of the R2P norm. In order to localize and accept the norm, India has attempted to limit the definition of mass atrocities under the norm to ease the threat on India’s own sovereignty.Show less
