In a quickly globalizing world, it is important to understand how foreign-policy takes shape. Using a constructivist perspective, this thesis researches the relationship between foreign-policy and...Show moreIn a quickly globalizing world, it is important to understand how foreign-policy takes shape. Using a constructivist perspective, this thesis researches the relationship between foreign-policy and individual decision-makers. To do so, this thesis composes the belief-systems of Barack Obama and Donald Trump and provides an overview of their administration’s foreign-policy towards China. Thereby it uncovers the relationship between the two phenomena. The belief-systems are composed though qualitative narrative analysis of speeches, delivered by the men throughout their time as president. The overview of American foreign policy towards China is composed though an inductive analysis of official foreign-policy documents. My research findings indicate that, for this specific case, there is indeed a relationship between the belief-systems of Barack Obama and Donald Trump and their administration’s foreign-policy towards China. Although the nature of this research does not allow for generalization, this thesis proves that the relationship between belief-systems and foreign-policy is important to research.Show less
The study investigated through a theory-testing setup the notion of whether offensive neo-realist assumptions hold true in the case of US-energy considerations of its own energy security, something...Show moreThe study investigated through a theory-testing setup the notion of whether offensive neo-realist assumptions hold true in the case of US-energy considerations of its own energy security, something that has previously not been studied in the literature. The analysis did this in regards to China as the main adversary of the United States today. Through a process-type tracing method the paper analyzed three crises; the 1973 oil crisis, the 2000’s oil crisis and the 2000’s gas crisis over two subsequent presidential terms. The findings indicated that the offensive neo-realist assumptions of the US vigorously pursuing its own energy security and sabotaging China’s did not hold true. The findings did however show that the US still pursued its own energy security goals on the international arena in a moderate, yet assertive manner, more aligning with the theoretical tenets of defensive neorealism. Further research on whether or not the defensive neorealist findings hold true regarding US-China relations across time would be beneficial to the theoretical debate.Show less
This thesis seeks to understand how the Belarusian democratic opposition influences the foreign policy of the European Union regarding Belarus by applying the boomerang pattern from Keck and...Show moreThis thesis seeks to understand how the Belarusian democratic opposition influences the foreign policy of the European Union regarding Belarus by applying the boomerang pattern from Keck and Sikkink (1998) on the case. The main argument of the study is that the boomerang pattern has to be complemented with the theory of resource exchange to understand the mechanism behind the pattern. Resource exchange holds that influence over policy can be exchanged for a valuable resource. The mechanism is expected to work because transnational advocacy networks from a country neighbouring the EU have security as a valuable resource as stability at their home state enhances both domestic and European security. The research shows that the boomerang pattern is present between the Belarusian democratic opposition and the EU. Nonetheless, the thrown and caught boomerang are not similar because the resource of security is incorporated in the caught European boomerang and not in the thrown Belarusian boomerang. Therefore, the success of the boomerang pattern depends on the process and not on the resource presented by the transnational advocacy network to the international ally. In other words, the overlap between the presented and perceived resource determines the success of the boomerang pattern.Show less
