The purpose of this thesis is to answer the question ‘to what extent can the EU act geopolitically in the context of energy security and should it?’ through the case study of the Southern Gas...Show moreThe purpose of this thesis is to answer the question ‘to what extent can the EU act geopolitically in the context of energy security and should it?’ through the case study of the Southern Gas Corridor. The academic debate on the EU’s actorness in international politics has been ongoing and the unique structure of the EU seems to still puzzle scholars. This has especially been the case in the field of energy policy, as energy is a strategic and public good and thus subject to a geopolitical dimension. By analyzing previous research in the field of EU energy policy, four possible answers to the research question were found. These are that the EU can or cannot and that the EU should or should not act geopolitically in the context of energy security. The four answers make up the spine of this thesis and guides the research into finding that the EU can act geopolitically to a certain extent, but still lacks full-fletched policy tools due to the nature of the energy policy area, and should act geopolitically to advance its strategic energy security agenda. The EU is essentially no less geopolitical than other actors but attempts to hide this within its rule-based regulatory framework.Show less
This study aims to show why Africa, specifically the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in this case study, seems to lack agency regarding the control of their internal security...Show moreThis study aims to show why Africa, specifically the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in this case study, seems to lack agency regarding the control of their internal security issues. The Malian conflict, which started in 2012, saw the activation of the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) as well as a French military intervention called Operation Serval. However, in July 2013 AFISMA was superseded by a UN-led military operation while the French mission remained functional. This case study reflects the issue regarding the lack of African agency. By using an analytical framework of power in international politics, this study seeks to understand this dynamic as it pertains to the case study. The findings show that France, via a Realist understanding, is the primary power in the conflict out to seek its own security. Simultaneously, African agency is not realisable due to the inherent inferiority of African institutions compared to the UN and France.Show less
The argument presented in this thesis is that constructivist theory offers a useful tool to interpret the effect that CW use has on the international community. It is the social identities and the...Show moreThe argument presented in this thesis is that constructivist theory offers a useful tool to interpret the effect that CW use has on the international community. It is the social identities and the strong prohibitive norm when it comes to the use of CW that construes a reality in which narratives of justification are produced when it comes to the use of force. This moral reality cannot be explained solely rationally, but has roots in decades of social interaction, which makes that violations of norms concerning CWs are put higher on the international agenda than other violations. The relevance of this study lies in the reflection on constructivism as a theoretical tool, but also in its aim to contribute to a broader understanding of how certain types of harm raise more attention in international politics: what causes the international community to be concerned about norm violation? As obvious as the answer of ‘inhumane practices’ seems, it is just a small percentage of suffering that becomes an international concern. The following puzzle has led to the research question: how can we explain the international community’s particular concern about violations of the norm on the prohibition of chemical weapons by using constructivist theory?Show less
This thesis goes into blockchain technology as a possible solution to the lack of effectiveness in contemporary humanitarian aid delivery. The literature review lays out the contemporary...Show moreThis thesis goes into blockchain technology as a possible solution to the lack of effectiveness in contemporary humanitarian aid delivery. The literature review lays out the contemporary humanitarian aid supply chain and the bottlenecks that hold back the effectiveness. The supply chain is divided into three separate chains and problems inherent to that specific chain are analyzed. Blockchain and its potential for the humanitarian aid industry is outlined and applied to the within- case study of the use of blockchain technology by the United Nations World Food Programme. The case study analyses the solution that blockchain has to offer to the bottlenecks in practice. This thesis concludes with stating that blockchain has the potential to increase effectiveness in certain parts of the contemporary humanitarian supply chain.Show less
Europe recently played victim to various acts of Islamic terrorism. Multiple attacks on different targets put European countries in fear for more attacks, making some Europeans anxious about the...Show moreEurope recently played victim to various acts of Islamic terrorism. Multiple attacks on different targets put European countries in fear for more attacks, making some Europeans anxious about the flow of refugees coming to Europe. However, most terrorist appear to be 2nd or 3rd generation migrants, making Europe’s terrorist threat mostly an home grown issue. This article tries to broaden the knowledge about home-grown radicalization in Europe by analyzing the root causes of radicalization as they are present in society, and by comparing the Dutch and Belgian society subsequently.Show less
The increasing territorial losses of the Islamic State group (IS) in its Iraqi and Syrian strongholds have led numerous commentators to predict a surge in IS-related terrorist attacks in the West....Show moreThe increasing territorial losses of the Islamic State group (IS) in its Iraqi and Syrian strongholds have led numerous commentators to predict a surge in IS-related terrorist attacks in the West. While the media was quick to report “related” terrorist attacks and IS claims of responsibility, few have actually attempted to assess the groups’ actual involvement in these attacks. Moreover, it was taken for granted that the prime objective of IS’s Western terrorist campaign was to obtain the withdrawal of the coalition from its core terrain. But why continue waging a terrorist campaign against the West while it gives no results? Given the starting assumptions that IS is a rational, unitary actor, this thesis aims to uncover the “whys” of IS’s Western terrorist strategy and its imbrication with an insurgent strategy by empirically investigating whether the loss of territorial control in Iraq and Syria corresponds to changes in IS’s degree of involvement in “related” terrorist attacks in the West and in its claiming strategy. While the data does not support the above-mentioned hypothesis, it indicates a clear change in the group’s claiming strategy. This article concludes that IS’s Western terrorist strategy allows it to showcase its politico-military supremacy to attract die-hard sympathisers and that the interlacing of IS’s strategy of terrorism with its main strategy of “glocal” insurgency points to IS being a product of glocalisation processes of de-territorialisation and re-territorialisation.Show less
There has always been a correlation between football and violence. However, incidents at football matches lost its spontaneity in the UK during the 1960s, when groups of young supporters started to...Show moreThere has always been a correlation between football and violence. However, incidents at football matches lost its spontaneity in the UK during the 1960s, when groups of young supporters started to organize themselves in groups, giving life to football hooliganism. The advent of European football competitions and the interaction between British supporters and the ones from rest of Europe provoked the spread of football hooliganism. This thesis proposes an analysis of the development of this social phenomenon in four countries: the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain. In particular, this research will focus on the role that political ideologies have played within hooligans’ groups and will assess the motives for the major presence of politics within the stadiums of countries such as Italy and Spain, and its absence in the UK and the Netherlands.Show less
This thesis intends to establish a link between the generation of Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) and the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The aim of this document is to...Show moreThis thesis intends to establish a link between the generation of Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) and the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The aim of this document is to answer the following research question: To what extent do Millennials value the fact that a company has a robust CSR strategy and implements social initiatives when applying for a job? After having pointed out Carroll's Responsibility Pyramid and explained that a revisitation of the theory, which rather focuses on the ethical and environmental aspects of CSR, is needed, the questionnaire is presented. The number of overall people who have been surveyed is 242. As part of the analysis, the data that has been produced by the questionnaire is shown. The results showed that generally, Millennials tend to show a genuine interest towards CSR, especially during the process of job application. However, when specifically looking into the answers of the American Millennials population, it seemed as they would be rather interested in their personal achievements.Show less
For this bachelor thesis, I have done research on the subject of the role of Hollywood in US soft power in relation to the fight against Islamic extremist terrorism. The research question I have...Show moreFor this bachelor thesis, I have done research on the subject of the role of Hollywood in US soft power in relation to the fight against Islamic extremist terrorism. The research question I have posed is: ‘Has Hollywood been a tool for North American soft power by contributing to the creation of a Western imagined community against Islamic extremist terrorism since 9/11? If so, how?’. In order to answer this question, I have done qualitative research using a scene from the movie American Sniper and a scene from the movie Lone Survivor which served as case studies. To provide a guiding tool, for each scene I have posed the questions ‘How is the ‘westerner’ portrayed?’, ‘How is the ‘Arab portrayed?’, and ‘Does the scene accord to the biographic book?’. In order to provide answers to these questions, I have used the handbook ‘Film Narratology’ by Peter Verstraten to examine the implicit content of the scenes, the scripts of the movies to support analysis of the explicit content of the scenes, and the biographic books on which the movies were based to check whether the scenes accord to these books. Subsequently, used the concepts of culture and cultural hegemony, soft power, and orientalism to ascribe meaning to the outcomes of the analyses. As a result from these analyses and the application of the concepts, I have found that in both scenes the ‘westerner’ is portrayed as heroic and righteous, while the ‘Arab’ is mostly portrayed as savage, hostile and rogue which is showing that both movies have an Orientalist character. Also, resulting from these analyses I can state that the scenes culturally manipulate and influence the viewers perceptions of the ‘Arab’ and the ‘westerner’, which means that it is contributing to US’ story which is projected to the rest of the world to ‘sell itself’ with the goal to attract other people and states to be on the same page with the US. With these results I have provided with an answer to the research question, which reads that Hollywood has been a tool for US soft power by contributing to the creation of a Western community against Islamic extremist terrorism, albeit unwittingly. This is done by employing Hollywood’s prominent and influential status which makes it possible to manipulate the movies’ watchers into developing a perception of Islamic terrorists as rogue and savage as opposed to heroic and righteous US soldiers. Still, what could be considered as shortcomings of this research are its sensitiveness to time, place and interpretation, and the small amount of analyzed scenes. In order to resolve this in a more extensive research, I firstly recommend to do a comparison with results of analyses on movies within another time frame or from another country. Secondly, I recommend to use diverse means of interpretation. Lastly, I recommend to analyze more scenes or even entire movies to be able to make a more solid argument.Show less
In 2009 the world looked to Copenhagen in high hopes, as leaders assembled at the COP15 climate summit to discuss a successor to the Kyoto protocol set to expire in 2012. However the talks failed...Show moreIn 2009 the world looked to Copenhagen in high hopes, as leaders assembled at the COP15 climate summit to discuss a successor to the Kyoto protocol set to expire in 2012. However the talks failed and much blame was put on the Chinese delegation for allegedly having crashed a potential deal. This came as a surprise, as China just shortly before had announced as a sign of goodwill to reduce its carbon intensity by 40 -45% by 2020 and also domestically climate policy gained more and more traction. This discrepancy bears the question of what went wrong at the climate summit or rather how can we understand this gap between the domestic and the international level. This thesis examines whether and argues that competition between lower level political actors over the right direction between economy and ecology is to blame. This is done by using the negotiation theory of two-level games and the model of fragmented authoritarianism to examine the ways lower level actors such as ministries influence decisions at the top level of government and party and by applying these insights to the case study of the COP15 negotiations. In the course of research it became clear that lower-level influence is certainly one explanatory aspect but might on its own not be completely sufficient to conclusively explain the outcome of the negotiations. Nonetheless this research hopefully contributes to the understanding of recent developments in Chinese climate policy and Chinese attitudes towards international negotiations.Show less
This thesis has been done on the research question: what influence did U.S. public opinion have on the decisions made by the Johnson administration regarding U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam during...Show moreThis thesis has been done on the research question: what influence did U.S. public opinion have on the decisions made by the Johnson administration regarding U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam during and shortly after the Tet offensive (January 31, 1968 – March 31, 1968)? This research has been done through a literature analysis, including official documents. After this analysis, it became clear that the public did have an influence on the decisions to not send more troops to Vietnam, since it was mentioned many times in the official documents. However, this has been an indirect influence on state officials, who subsequently, chose to not send more troops to Vietnam, after the TET offensive.Show less
This thesis explores the calls for the right to self-determination in the Catalan secessionist movement. By analyzing European law, international law and the context of the Spanish constitution,...Show moreThis thesis explores the calls for the right to self-determination in the Catalan secessionist movement. By analyzing European law, international law and the context of the Spanish constitution, the paper aims to demonstrate within what legal realms is the Catalan community allowed to exercise their democratic rights as citizens to evoke, in this case unilaterally, self-determining claims. Furthermore, the paper seeks to investigate whether or not the EU, as a supranational body, should be obliged to mediate and aid with negotiations between the Catalan and Spanish parties.Show less
