This thesis analyses the development of Nordic cooperation in the Arctic and the reasons behind this development. It argues that Nordic cooperation has played an important role in the policy areas...Show moreThis thesis analyses the development of Nordic cooperation in the Arctic and the reasons behind this development. It argues that Nordic cooperation has played an important role in the policy areas of security and defence, and regional development. Regarding security and defence, NORDEFCO has complemented the limits of NATO in providing the Nordics with security guarantees and involving partners in the North Cap region, in order to respond to the growing Russian threat. Regarding regional development, the NCM and other Nordic venues have established an elaborate policy framework for addressing transnational issues, coordinating intra-Nordic cooperation and cooperation with other Arctic actors, and managing and implementing EU funding programmes. Through this, Nordic cooperation has fulfilled an important role in complementing and supplementing various shortcomings of EU and NATO Arctic policies. Nordic cooperation is analysed as a form of sub-regionalism, which has allowed for a nuanced, realistic understanding of the functioning of Nordic cooperation in the Arctic, in relation to the national and regional level. Through this, this thesis has contributed to strengthening the nexus between the scholarship on Nordic cooperation and sub-regionalism. The analysis consists primarily of a document analysis of the Nordic Arctic strategies and policy documents of the Nordic institutions, combined with elements of (comparative) institutional analysis and a semi-structured interview.Show less
Few policy areas are as closely guarded by the member states of the European Union as their foreign policy. This is visible on the EU-level, in the Common Foreign and Security Policy and its...Show moreFew policy areas are as closely guarded by the member states of the European Union as their foreign policy. This is visible on the EU-level, in the Common Foreign and Security Policy and its individual policies, as the CFSP is considered to be a salient example of intergovernmentalism’s hold on aspects of EU policy-making. However, there have been some examples of small states influencing EU foreign policy. Malta is a relevant object for this study, as it is undoubtedly a small state. This makes it an interesting case study, as it, nonetheless, has clearly defined interests in the Southern neighbourhood. The Southern neighbourhood aspect of the ENP has itself been an under researched area in recent years, as it is widely considered a failed policy, and the interest of EU-scholars has largely shifted away from the Southern neighbourhood to the Eastern neighbourhood, where the threats to the EU, and its influence on the ‘ring of friends’ it aims to create, seem more pressing. Has Malta, despite its status as a small state, and the current general disinterest in the Southern neighbourhood, managed to capture EU policy-makers’ attention and successfully Europeanised its domestic foreign policy preferences? Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis, which traces frames and discursive constructions across the domestic level, to the European level, before concluding with a comparative analysis of two EU foreign policy documents, this study demonstrates that Maltese policy preferences were uploaded to the level of EU foreign policy, more specifically, the ENP's Southern Neighbourhood component.Show less
This thesis researches the discursive construction of Brexit, placing it into a framework of a British Eurosceptic tradition. Political discourses are compared between the 1975 referendum on EEC...Show moreThis thesis researches the discursive construction of Brexit, placing it into a framework of a British Eurosceptic tradition. Political discourses are compared between the 1975 referendum on EEC membership and the 2016 Brexit referendum, allowing for a historical contextualisation of British European discourse. In doing so, striking parallels are found in the discourse employed by the 1975 ‘Out’ and the 2016 ‘Leave’ campaigners. Through a critical discourse analysis, themes of national interest, sovereignty, security, historical and imperial memory, British exceptionalism, and Othering are demonstrated to be apparent in British European discourses. The continued salience of such themes throughout the years thereby arguably contribute to the perpetuation of the British Eurosceptic tradition.Show less
This research firstly analyses mainstream centre-right party manifestos in order to establish variation in their support for European Integration. Afterwards the study aims at explaining the...Show moreThis research firstly analyses mainstream centre-right party manifestos in order to establish variation in their support for European Integration. Afterwards the study aims at explaining the observed variation by looking at four explanatory variables.Show less
