The paper provides an account of the illegal waste disposal activities committed by the three major Italian organized crimes namely Camorra, Cosa Nostra and ‘Ndrangheta. ‘Ecomafia’ is the term used...Show moreThe paper provides an account of the illegal waste disposal activities committed by the three major Italian organized crimes namely Camorra, Cosa Nostra and ‘Ndrangheta. ‘Ecomafia’ is the term used to describe the divisions of criminal networks that operate in the illegal trafficking and disposal of waste. Guided by the theoretical framework of Illegal Enterprise Theory, the paper aims to illustrate why certain Italian regions have higher incidences of the phenomenon of Ecomafia.Show less
After the end of the Cold War, US – Russia relations have been fluctuating. In recent years, they have been deteriorating, partly because of the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014. The...Show moreAfter the end of the Cold War, US – Russia relations have been fluctuating. In recent years, they have been deteriorating, partly because of the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014. The portrayal in the media of the other has become increasingly negative in both states, and public opinion polls show that an increasing number of Americans and Russians saw each other as “unfavourable” in the months after the annexation. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the annexation was framed in both American and Russian news. It employs a deductive framing analysis, using five pre-defined, issue-specific frames, that were derived from the literature. The dataset consists of two articles each out of two Russian and two American newspapers. The thesis concludes that American and Russian news have framed the annexation differently: American news framed the annexation as an aggressive Russian act, whereas Russian news framed it as a result of the Crimean people freely expressing their will to reunite with Russia. As media has an influence on public opinion, the results of this research partly explain the decline of respective favourability in public opinion.Show less
Whereas the rhetoric of democracy has entered ASEAN’s agenda through the ASEAN Charter, this thesis will argue that not much democratisation has taken place in ASEAN. The high level of...Show moreWhereas the rhetoric of democracy has entered ASEAN’s agenda through the ASEAN Charter, this thesis will argue that not much democratisation has taken place in ASEAN. The high level of authoritarian ASEAN member states obstructs the process of democratisation. The unbinding and unconditional nature of ASEAN’s way of operating, also known as the ASEAN way, allows a system unsusceptible to democratic change to persist within the organisation. ASEAN’s initiatives relating to democracy have left actors involved in democratic processes disappointed due to, amongst other reasons, the interference of ASEAN’s governments. ASEAN’s power processes reflect a shared reluctance to institutionalisation. The research suggests that a higher level of democratisation in ASEAN is only likely if the number of democratic member states increases.Show less
This thesis researches whether the Women, Peace and Security agenda was successfully implemented by the Dutch troops in Afghanistan using interviews with ten members of the Dutch armed forces.
In this thesis the IR-theories constructivism, liberalism and realism will be used in order to shed light on the security and defence policy of the European Union. Three recent developments affect...Show moreIn this thesis the IR-theories constructivism, liberalism and realism will be used in order to shed light on the security and defence policy of the European Union. Three recent developments affect the course of the integration process of this policy area. The first facet is the institutional change Brexit will bring about. The second facet is the cultural difference between the foreign policies of the United States and the European Union, which is enhanced by the election of Donald Trump as president of the US. The last facet is the geopolitical security dilemma that is imposed on the EU by Russia. In this research the impact of these three developments on the integration process of the EU’s security and defence policy will be analysed.Show less
This thesis considered the shift of soft power of the United States in relation to the foreign policy on war on terrorism during the Bush and Obama presidency. It considered three measurements of...Show moreThis thesis considered the shift of soft power of the United States in relation to the foreign policy on war on terrorism during the Bush and Obama presidency. It considered three measurements of soft power: (1) discourse in speeches regarding the war on terrorism, (2) allied support from the United Kingdom and Germany in joining three specific war on terrorism operations, (3) and polls from the United Kingdom and Germany in relation to the foreign policy on the war on terrorism. These three measurements showed a shift in soft power of the United States in relation to the war on terrorism from 2001 to 2016: in comparison to the decline of soft power during the Bush presidency, the soft power was rising during the Obama presidency.Show less
Interpreting sexism, misogyny and racism in the American military culture with regards to South Korean camptown prostitution and placing it within the context of the existing literature on this sex...Show moreInterpreting sexism, misogyny and racism in the American military culture with regards to South Korean camptown prostitution and placing it within the context of the existing literature on this sex industry, this research concludes that the cultural factors of the military play a highly relevant role in the South Korean sex industry. The research includes the recent development of foreign women working, many of whom involuntarily so, in the camptown sex industry, and moreover, the role that the American military culture plays as a contributing factor to the prostitution.Show less
This International Studies Master Thesis adds to the existing literature concerning private-humanitarian relationships and its development over time from a humanitarian perspective. Since the 1990s...Show moreThis International Studies Master Thesis adds to the existing literature concerning private-humanitarian relationships and its development over time from a humanitarian perspective. Since the 1990s the private sector has become more involved in the humanitarian field due to various reasons. Because the phenomenon of private-humanitarian relationships has endured quite some criticism, it is important to analyze whether this criticism has been addressed by the humanitarian sector to determine if the gap between the private and humanitarian sector is decreasing. This study will reflect on how the private sector relationship of the world’s oldest humanitarian organizations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has changed from 2006 to 2016. This thesis attempts to show that the private sector strategy in 2006 was not in line with the original motivations for private sector engagement, since it mainly focused on enhancing their capacity. This made the ICRC susceptible to criticism. Since 2006, one of the ICRC’s main motivations for private sector engagement, namely enhancing capacity, has expanded from focusing solely on funds and goods to welcoming other ways of enhancing their capacity as well. Additionally, the other original motivation, educating the private sector, has slowly changed from “promoting humanitarian principles” to “influencing the private sector”. The new private sector strategy of the ICRC, besides the initial motivations, also encapsulates new motivations, such as innovation, and the widening of the private sector network. In line with the ICRC’s new private sector strategy, new initiatives to better and more effectively work together with the private sector have been launched. The status of these new initiatives in 2016, alongside the existing initiatives, will be analyzed. Overall, this thesis concludes that the ICRC has made several efforts to address the criticism concerning private-humanitarian partnership. In particular, criticism concerning institutional- and knowledge gaps, as well as negative imagery towards the private sector, have been addressed by the ICRC. However, it must be stated that some of the changes the ICRC made were very beneficial for the ICRC itself. In general, it can be said that the ICRC mostly used platforms to improve their private sector relationship. Additionally, besides an overall insight of the evolution of the private sector relationship of the ICRC, this thesis will briefly glance into the future of the ICRC and its relationship with the private sector.Show less
This thesis examines the following research question: how did US Arctic policy concerning oil drilling change from 2001-2017 (Bush and Obama administration)? By researching this question, this...Show moreThis thesis examines the following research question: how did US Arctic policy concerning oil drilling change from 2001-2017 (Bush and Obama administration)? By researching this question, this thesis will examine how their policy discourses and actual policy strategies differed from each other. The thesis contains a comparative case studies between the Bush and Obama administrations, and gives an insight in the debate about (current) energy challenges and environmental issues. The theoretical framework is drawn from constructivist and discursive approaches, and consists of different elements which are subject to individual discourse analysis.Show less
Following a bloodless coup d'état in 1965, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's new leader, Mobutu Sese Seko, was faced with a number of objectives, the most important of which was the creation...Show moreFollowing a bloodless coup d'état in 1965, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's new leader, Mobutu Sese Seko, was faced with a number of objectives, the most important of which was the creation of a unified Congolese identity, which would help to prevent the return to political infighting that marked the first five post-independence years. After all, the DRC is a country that is made up of many different tribes and languages, hence the creation of the unified identity was not an easy feat. Authenticité — a return to ancestral roots that would take the country forward —, renaming the country Zaire, and putting himself in the position of messianic figurehead were all just vehicles through which Mobutu sought to create this identity while at the same time firmly entrenching his own authority. At the same time, however, religious actors such as the Catholic church and the Kimbanguist church also played their part in uniting the Zairean people under one umbrella. Especially the efforts of the Catholic church were not always appreciated by Mobutu and the two often went head to head during the latter's time in power. In contemporary Congo, Mobutu and his ideology of Mobutism are often held to be two out of a myriad of reasons for the current instability, while the Catholic church is still mending the wounds. Nonetheless, by connecting the evidence from the past to the situation of the present, this thesis will show that all three aforementioned actors nonetheless perform a crucial role in ensuring that the country does not completely disintegrate.Show less
This thesis seeks to give a more accurate account as to why al-Qaeda and the Islamic State broke off ties amid the Syrian civil war in 2014. To answer this question this thesis mainly draws on...Show moreThis thesis seeks to give a more accurate account as to why al-Qaeda and the Islamic State broke off ties amid the Syrian civil war in 2014. To answer this question this thesis mainly draws on theories about cooperation and competition between terrorist organisations. A study of the effects of these types of relationships, as well as a thorough account of the events leading up to the break in 2014, has furthermore given an insight into this difficult relationship. The thesis introduces the notion of a competitive alliance, combining competitive and cooperative aspects, to make sense of this divorce.Show less
The failure of post-conflict state-building in Kosovo portrays itself in its physical reconstruction. The lack of efficient spatial planning is therefore an example of public policy ‘gone wrong’...Show moreThe failure of post-conflict state-building in Kosovo portrays itself in its physical reconstruction. The lack of efficient spatial planning is therefore an example of public policy ‘gone wrong’ due to Kosovo’s substantial governance issues such as rooted corruption, political instability and a weak economy. The causes do not only originate from the 1998-1999 war, such as its disputed status, but can also be attributed to balancing of interests by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). By focusing on the influence of international and local politics on the functioning of institutions the research provides new insights into the processes which influenced spatial planning in Kosovo from 1999 to 2017. Based on interviews conducted in September 2017 the research shows that spatial planning policy was and still is used for conflict mitigation and construction rather than strategic governance of territory. It furthermore illustrates the damaging effect of the decentralization policy on national and local governance and sheds light on Kosovo’s internal struggle to enhance an ineffective system put in place by the international community. The research therefore provides a critical reflection on the potential damaging effects of international state-building in a post-conflict setting.Show less
The Republic of Buryatia in the Russian Federation is resident to the Buryats, an ethnic minority. A large part of the population practice Buddhism. The thesis investigates how religion and...Show moreThe Republic of Buryatia in the Russian Federation is resident to the Buryats, an ethnic minority. A large part of the population practice Buddhism. The thesis investigates how religion and language can explain the construction of Buryat cultural identity. Most scholarly research emphasise on the importance of religion for the construction of Buryat cultural identity. However, their arguments are not fully explaining why this is the case. Therefore, Stuart Hall’s theory of cultural identity is applied to the case of Buryatia. The theory contains two models: one expresses that cultural identity is ‘fixed’ and the other claims that it is a ‘process’. These two models are applied using Buryat historical contexts. The thesis concludes that both language and religion are important to the construction of Buryat identity. Language is important because it functions as a system of representation, for it creates and ascribes ‘meaning’ in the cultural ‘space’. This is what entails the construction of cultural identity. Furthermore, religion carries, exchanges and creates meaning; therefore it functions as a language in itself. Hence, the language of religion is important for the construction and maintenance of Buryat cultural identity.Show less
When president Obama announced the Asia Pivot in 2011, the US was facing an increased security threat from China. With this increased security threat, structural realism expects balancing behaviour...Show moreWhen president Obama announced the Asia Pivot in 2011, the US was facing an increased security threat from China. With this increased security threat, structural realism expects balancing behaviour. The pivot contains elements which indicate balancing behaviour, whereas other elements do not. Neoclassical realism argues that the policymaking process is influenced by several forces. Firstly, leader images influence the process, and Obama’s image of international relations is one of pragmatism, and a believe that China’s growth could prove a good thing. Furthermore, the US strategic culture relies heavily on technology, state-society relations are characterised by a belief in global capitalism, and the Great Recession was the issue of the time, impacting all groups in society. Foreign policy decision making knows multiple actors in the US system. All the aforementioned factors influence the actual policymaking process, which begins at the perception of the systemic incentives. Obama understood the risks China posed, but believed a pragmatist mix between the carrot and the stick was best to deal with the threat. He thought the solution to the Great Recession was in International Trade, and China could help with that as well as his foreign policy goals of solving the nuclear threats from Iran and North-Korea. Foreign policy was also an easy victory in the Republican dominated House, which blocked his domestic agenda, and with the Pivot supported by the Republicans, Obama may have hoped that the Republicans would come along a bit more on his domestic agenda. The decision-making of the pivot was not so easy, however. Surprisingly enough not because many wanted the president to be tougher on China, but because the people were tired of US interventionism, and the political actors from Obama’s own party were reluctant to support a trade deal. TPP was supported by corporations, republicans and the people, but not by the democrats, and labour unions. The military component of the pivot was costly. Lastly, the US cultural trust in technology may well explain its tough approach in the cyber war with China. The policy-implementation phase was characterised by disagreement between different parts of the Administration. The State Department, Department of Defence and the President occasionally found each other at the other end of the table. In Obama’s second Administration, the execution of the Pivot seems to have slowed down. In conclusion: neoclassical realism gives a more inclusive account of the pivot. The implications hereof are that in due time, we may have to come to the conclusion that neoclassical realism is better suited to explain actual state behaviour. Other implications may be that the determinism underlying Gilpin’s power transitioning theory is not matching reality. In short, the implication of this research is that states are in fact not unitary actors, but domestic agency matters next to structural incentives.Show less
The battle of ideologies during the Cold War produced many theories dedicated to spreading one ideology or another to states which had yet to feature it. Liberal engagement theory is just such a...Show moreThe battle of ideologies during the Cold War produced many theories dedicated to spreading one ideology or another to states which had yet to feature it. Liberal engagement theory is just such a theory, and claims that a liberal state can transform a non-liberal state from the inside, causing it to liberalize itself. This is said to be achieved through economic and social influences. To test liberal engagement theory, this thesis employs an in-depth comparative analysis of two cases which feature a liberal state engaging or not engaging a state whose ideology the liberal state may want to change. The cases chosen were that of US-Cuba and US-China relations from 1960-1989 (the height of the Cold War). To measure liberalization in these cases, economic and political data was drawn from multiple sources. Through this research, it was concluded that in neither case was the liberal state able to liberalize the non-liberal state, either through engagement or attempts at isolation of the non-liberal regime. Still, engagement policies with non-liberal states should typically be pursued for the benefits and increased options that trade, communication, and diplomatic engagement can provide for a state.Show less
The concept of Gay Pride Parade goes back many years, the first parades took place in 1970s United States. Since then, the concept of Gay Pride Parade has travelled not only from New York City to...Show moreThe concept of Gay Pride Parade goes back many years, the first parades took place in 1970s United States. Since then, the concept of Gay Pride Parade has travelled not only from New York City to other cities in the US, but also to cities all over the world. Both the Netherlands and Brazil are countries where Gay Pride Parades have been organized, although both in their own form with their own identity. However, realism, as an international relations theory, argues that non-state actors are not in a position to influence human rights policy as this can be done solely by states. This would mean that either Gay Pride Parade is not a multifunctional tool influencing legal emancipation, at the most only social emancipation, or that gay rights cannot be seen as human rights in this scenario. A link of causality between Gay Pride Parade and LGBT emancipation cannot be proven because of the lack of measurability of LGBT emancipation in its totality. However, to write the influence of such non-state actors of completely because of this, would not be correct either. Thus: when analyzing Gay Pride Parades and LGBT emancipation in the Netherlands and Brazil from 1970 onwards, how do Gay Pride Parades affect LGBT emancipation?Show less
This thesis examines the contribution of the two Russian think tanks – the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) and the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) – to...Show moreThis thesis examines the contribution of the two Russian think tanks – the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) and the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) – to the development of Russia’s foreign policy in the Arctic. Given an increasingly significant role played by think tanks in the foreign policy-making process, it appears important to consider whether and how Russian think tanks could be involved in this specific policy area. The thesis applies the case study method and draws on the documentary analysis in order to answer the research question: How and to what extent have Russian think tanks influenced the development of Russia’s foreign policy in the Arctic? The analysis presented in this thesis indicates that, by providing specific ideas and policy options, both thinks tanks have affected the Arctic foreign policy process, especially problem identification and agenda-setting. Overall, the thesis finds that examining the impact of Russian think tanks on Russia’s Arctic foreign policy helps to explain more fully its nature and dynamics.Show less
In the last several years, Turkey’s relationship with the EU has strongly deteriorated over the country’s equally deteriorating human rights conditions. However, there was a time when Turkey was...Show moreIn the last several years, Turkey’s relationship with the EU has strongly deteriorated over the country’s equally deteriorating human rights conditions. However, there was a time when Turkey was dedicated to its reform process for the purpose of EU accession. As the EU views itself as a normative power, and it had been relatively successful in advancing minority rights in the CEECs, why had it not been able to do the same in Turkey? This thesis researched: why was the EU unable to advance the Aramean property cases during the height of Turkey’s accession negotiations (2005-2011)? It tested this question based on Nye’s (2008) use of smart power, wherein public diplomacy plays a central role. Additionally, it tested Schimmelfennig & Sedelmeier’s (2004) application of carrots and sticks in the case of EU accession. It found that, with regard to Turkey in the Aramean property case, the EU failed to engage in public diplomacy and lacked credibility to effectively apply its carrots and sticks against Turkey.Show less
This thesis looked at U.S. counterterrorism policies and strategy in Yemen during the precidencies of Bush and Obama, and how those were related to the decline of state power in Yemen. It...Show moreThis thesis looked at U.S. counterterrorism policies and strategy in Yemen during the precidencies of Bush and Obama, and how those were related to the decline of state power in Yemen. It demonstrated that both presidents had a different approach towards the country. Whereas Bush's policies were rather reactive to the developments in Yemen, Obama instead drafted a plan and stuck with it, even though there were major changes in the country during his tenure.Show less
