The advent of Shinzō Abe and Xi Jinping in 2012 as respective leaders of Japan and China amidst a deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands launched a supposed new...Show moreThe advent of Shinzō Abe and Xi Jinping in 2012 as respective leaders of Japan and China amidst a deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands launched a supposed new era in foreign policy that is typically characterised by ‘rivalry’ in much of the literature, thereby reinforcing the China Threat paradigm. Some examine Sino-Japanese relations through a material lens and focus on military strength or economic preponderance, whereas relational Constructivists centre on a Japanese ‘Self’ 'identity' in relation to 'Others'. However, these studies take subjects, discursive practices and meanings that are constitutive of foreign policy as a given and uncritically accepts these as true. This is problematic, because rather than questioning the status-quo, their ontological arguments reinforce it. A poststructural analysis on foreign policy discourse within ethical, temporal and spatial dimensions with due consideration for the margins of the political debate brings in an epistemological perspective. This reveals inherent inconsistencies and contradictions that argue against the assumed ‘rivalry’, and continuous production and reproduction of the China Threat paradigm in relational Constructivist literature. This allows for an understanding of foreign policy as a transformative praxis capable of changing the way Sino-Japanese relations are registered, both in theory and in practice.Show less
Russia’s influence in Africa, particularly the Sahel, has been on the rise for the last two decades. On the one hand, it uses official tools of engagement including, diplomatic, economic, military,...Show moreRussia’s influence in Africa, particularly the Sahel, has been on the rise for the last two decades. On the one hand, it uses official tools of engagement including, diplomatic, economic, military, and political methods. And on the other hand, it uses unofficial tools to pursue its foreign policy objectives. This thesis focuses on the various ways in which Russia utilises its Private Military Companies as an unofficial tool, to gain maximum benefits. The theoretical framework of the ‘Racket of Predatory Power’ is used to elucidate the strategies employed by Russia through its PMCs. These strategies include leveraging historical elite ties, security partnerships to secure mining concessions, and conducting disinformation campaigns to gain elite favour. By using Mali as a case study, the thesis examines the key elements of the theoretical framework, including rent control, weakening accountability and legtimisation, to understand Russia’s use of PMCs as a foreign policy tool. The thesis concludes that Russia’s influence on African states is predatory, in the sense that it uses shadow actors like PMCs to repurpose state institutions and derive maximum benefits out of elite relationships.Show less
The war between Russia and Ukraine that started in 2022 came as a shock to most of the world. While the war is still in progress, attempts to prosecute the aggressor have already been set in motion...Show moreThe war between Russia and Ukraine that started in 2022 came as a shock to most of the world. While the war is still in progress, attempts to prosecute the aggressor have already been set in motion. The crime of aggression, which refers to Russia initiating the war, currently falls outside of the prosecuting options within international law. Therefore, the idea was created to set up an ad-hoc criminal tribunal to prosecute Russia’s high officials for starting the war. This thesis examines the factors that influenced the Dutch government’s offer to host a potential criminal tribunal to hold Russia accountable for the crime of aggression. Government documents, policy reports and literature on the interplay between international law and international relations were analysed and provided a basis for the semistructured interviews. The interviews with government officials and professors in international law and foreign policy show that there are multiple factors that influenced this offer. It was found there is a strong relationship between the history of the Netherlands and the foreign policy identity that exists today. The focus on accountability and the fight against impunity strongly influenced the Netherlands’ commitment to aiding the international community, by focussing on their specialty: hosting an international tribunal. The most important factor that could be identified which influenced the offer is the aspiration of the Netherlands to project a foreign policy identity that is linked to hosting international tribunals.Show less
In November 2014, India’s newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the “Act East Policy” (AEP), which aims to increase economic and strategic cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries and...Show moreIn November 2014, India’s newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the “Act East Policy” (AEP), which aims to increase economic and strategic cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries and deepen cultural relationships. It does so on a regional, multilateral, and bilateral level. Although there is academic literature on this policy, most of the literature looks at the AEP through a realist lens, thereby considering it a mere “balancing” effort against China’s increasing influence in the region. This thesis opts to diversify the literature on the AEP by taking a constructivist approach. In doing so it seeks to understand how the ruling Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) conceptions of India’s state identity have shaped the AEP. Using the value-action framework and process-tracing method, this thesis finds that there are three identities which create values that shape the BJP’s preferences for the AEP. Firstly, the “challenged state” identity gives rise to the ‘increasing national security’ value. The second identity, a “once-thriving civilization”, gives rise to two closely connected values: ‘creating an economically stronger India’ and ‘ensuring India gets its rightful place in the comity of nations and international institutions’. Lastly, the “democracy shaped by Hinduism in a changing Asian landscape” identity gives rise to the ‘establishing a democratic and rules-based international order’ value. However, through assessment of India’s wider foreign policy behaviour this thesis finds that these values do not all carry equal weight. It argues that the pursuit of national security, prosperity and indirectly the pursuit of India’s “rightful place” on the international stage were the main factors leading to the establishment of the AEP. Thus, concluding that the “challenged” state and “once-thriving civilization” identities have more influence on the AEP under BJP rule than the “democracy shaped by Hinduism in a changing Asian landscape” identity.Show less
At present, the study of disinformation remains relatively confined to personality-oriented and technologically deterministic approaches in the context of white nationalist populism or Trump...Show moreAt present, the study of disinformation remains relatively confined to personality-oriented and technologically deterministic approaches in the context of white nationalist populism or Trump cronyism. Guided by Actor-Network Theory’s translation process, this thesis builds on ethnographically grounded and comparative research on disinformation producers in the Philippines as it looks at the two most recent presidential elections in 2016 and 2022. Drawing from netnographic observations across social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Twitter, as well as published media interviews, I propose that disinformation networks under Rodrigo Duterte and Bongbong Marcos proved deeply complex, hierarchic and exploitative. The empirical material illustrates how different actors came together under one voice, mobilising a network of entities to promote each presidential candidate’s election. By making visible the organisational relations and labour arrangments underpinning political disinformation campaigns, as well as the mechanisms of control exercised over them, the following paper aims to deepen an understanding of these harmful networks in order to prevent their future occurrence.Show less
This study seeks to explore the linkages between organised crime and environmental change in the Amazon region, specifically zooming in on the Brazilian Amazonas. This study focuses on two aspects...Show moreThis study seeks to explore the linkages between organised crime and environmental change in the Amazon region, specifically zooming in on the Brazilian Amazonas. This study focuses on two aspects of this relationship. First, the relationship between state-making and crime, in particular the Brazilian state and crime, to show how ‘organised crime’ emerges as an important constituent of state-making rather than as an anomaly to it. To understand how organized crime and environmental change tie together, the analysis of state-making and governance in the Amazon region is needed. Thereafter, a systematic approach will be adopted to answer this question of the relationship between organised crime and environmental change, breaking the findings down into four categories of, Type, Method, Location, and Consequence. In the thesis, I examine how each of these shapes the relationship between organised crime and environmental change in the Amazon.Show less
