During the last decades, climate change appeared at the centre of the academic, political, and societal debate as it is a phenomenon that occurs to be increasingly urgent, given the existence of...Show moreDuring the last decades, climate change appeared at the centre of the academic, political, and societal debate as it is a phenomenon that occurs to be increasingly urgent, given the existence of environmental degradation and extreme weather events. Although developed states from the global north have contributed to climate change significantly, emerging economies that previously were part of the global south, cause rising greenhouse gas emissions as well. The problem requires a collective approach in terms of shared responsibility and multilateral cooperation; however, the architecture of global climate governance portrays to be fragmented. Resulting from the fact that the topic has not received much scholarly attention, this research seeks – by means of a thematic content analysis – to investigate how the trend towards centralised global climate governance through the Paris Agreement has changed the perspective on environmental policy. The research builds on the theoretical approach of liberalism, as well as the spectrum model that explains the degree of centralisation in climate cooperation. Based on the case of China as the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter, it can be concluded that after the Paris Agreement entered into force, the nation’s perspective on environmental policy shifted politically/strategically and ideologically/socially.Show less
China has emerged as a new rising power with the largest Navy force and the second-biggest economy in the world. A regional collective defense security organization, NATO, has expanded its global...Show moreChina has emerged as a new rising power with the largest Navy force and the second-biggest economy in the world. A regional collective defense security organization, NATO, has expanded its global partnership to the Asia-Pacific region. This thesis seeks to research the impact of the military rise of China on NATO-led security cooperation among NATO and far yet like-minded countries. Comparative qualitative content analysis is conducted to elaborate on how the security implications of the rise of China engendered NATO to form global initiatives, analyzing two cases, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand. Theoretical expectations are based on Regional Security Complex Theory, which is anchored on constructivism: if NATO successfully securitizes China's rise, the ROK and NZ will create bilateral or multilateral security cooperation with NATO. This paper finds out that NATO successfully framed China as an identity and a military threat, and expanded security cooperation with the ROK and NZ based on common liberal norms and values.Show less
