Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
Why is it that some separatist movements remain united while others fragment into competing factions? While one would expect supporters of a separatist movement to be united in the struggle against...Show moreWhy is it that some separatist movements remain united while others fragment into competing factions? While one would expect supporters of a separatist movement to be united in the struggle against their common enemy, the state, recent literature has shown that they often spend valuable time and resources on internal rivalries – yet little research has been done to explain this phenomenon. Based on a comparison of the cases of the Armenians in Azerbaijan, the Chechens in Russia, and the Abkhaz in their struggle with Georgia, this thesis shows that the ability of the separatist movement to establish institutions capable of providing effective governance is essential in understanding processes of cohesion and fragmentation. It further illustrates that the strength of the incumbent state as well as the amount of external support a separatist movement receives play into these processes in important ways. Future research will have to show whether these variables hold the same explanatory power in other contexts.Show less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
Why do people who face rather similar situations sometimes resort to violence and others do not? While structural factors are often assumed to be of high explanatory value for explaining the...Show moreWhy do people who face rather similar situations sometimes resort to violence and others do not? While structural factors are often assumed to be of high explanatory value for explaining the occurrence of violence, more recent approaches focused more on local dynamics and the specific position of agents in the political and economic system. Case studies entangling the specific reasons why people engage in violence are suited to gain further insight into these dynamics. Based on a comparison of the cases of North Sinai and South Sinai which show very different levels of violence despite sharing many similarities, this thesis shows the diversity of motives for individuals to engage in violent activities in North Sinai. At the same time it illustrates the importance of a shared interest that increases societal cohesion in the South of the peninsula and allows the people there to maintain nonviolent discipline.Show less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
closed access
The crisis in Darfur is one of the world’s most significant conflicts. In the last decades, frequent drought and increasing demographic pressures are part of the forces that have pushed the region...Show moreThe crisis in Darfur is one of the world’s most significant conflicts. In the last decades, frequent drought and increasing demographic pressures are part of the forces that have pushed the region into a spiral of violence leading to a major humanitarian disaster. According to the Environmental Degradation and Conflict in Darfur Report (2009), carried out by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), Darfur illustrates the linkage between poverty, environmental degradation and conflict. However, Darfur cannot be understood merely as a conflict over resources. It is also driven by governmental deficiencies and purposeful mismanagement. The purpose of this paper is therefore to contribute to the study of the role of environmental resources in conflicts and in particular, their contribution toward the perpetuation of violence. Under what conditions does resource scarcity contribute to the perpetuation of violence?Show less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
closed access
Recent research of internal conflict has changed the conception of civil war from the clash of two major actors along clearly defined political cleavages because of both theoretical considerations...Show moreRecent research of internal conflict has changed the conception of civil war from the clash of two major actors along clearly defined political cleavages because of both theoretical considerations and observations of civil wars in the post-Cold War era. On one hand, micro-level inquiries of civil wars concentrate on the importance of local issues in civil war environments and call attention to the fact that such local considerations are usually more important in participation and picking sides than past research assumed. On the other hand, the binary perception of civil wars also challenged by the increase in the number of symmetrical non-conventional (SNC) civil wars, fought mainly in multiethnic states and by actors with balanced, yetmutually low military capabilities. I argue that in this type of warfare actors feel less compelled to realign along the main cleavage of the conflict as it has been shown by research on the fluidity of groupallegiance in such wars. By looking at the cases of the Armenian community during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war and the Baggara tribes of South Darfur in the Darfur conflict since 2003 I argue that SNC wars provide a good chance for pursuing neutral strategies. I argue that these neutral strategies are shaped by the values of two variables: the cohesion of the political leadership of the group and the relation between local intercommunal and supralocal national cleavages.Show less
