This thesis looks into the effects of horizontal inequalities on civilian victimisation during civil wars. The contribution of this paper is two-fold. First, it gave an extensive overview of...Show moreThis thesis looks into the effects of horizontal inequalities on civilian victimisation during civil wars. The contribution of this paper is two-fold. First, it gave an extensive overview of relevant research from numerous fields, which were subsequently combined into one overarching theoretical framework. Secondly, a preliminary empirical analysis was conducted using multiple linear regression (OLS) models to test the resulting expectations - that horizontal inequalities (economic and political) are likely positively related to civilian victimisation during civil wars. The analysis came back with mixed results, and at best limited and indirect support for the expected positive link between horizontal inequality and civilian victimisation.Show less
The impact of external influences on the intensity of intra-state conflicts is a topic of primary explanatory value. Upon consideration of broader academic entries, this paper examines the Greek...Show moreThe impact of external influences on the intensity of intra-state conflicts is a topic of primary explanatory value. Upon consideration of broader academic entries, this paper examines the Greek Civil War to identify the causal mechanisms that link foreign interventions with human casualties.Show less
Civil wars are hard to quantify, this leads to conflicting definitions of civil war. How does the definition of civil war impact the results of studies on the matter? This paper seeks to understand...Show moreCivil wars are hard to quantify, this leads to conflicting definitions of civil war. How does the definition of civil war impact the results of studies on the matter? This paper seeks to understand how two different codings impact the significance of a number of variables found to be important to civil war duration in the past.Show less
This thesis analyzes the depiction of Abraham Lincoln in two novels of the previous decade that include elements of the supernatural: Lincoln in the Bardo (2017) by George Saunders, and Abraham...Show moreThis thesis analyzes the depiction of Abraham Lincoln in two novels of the previous decade that include elements of the supernatural: Lincoln in the Bardo (2017) by George Saunders, and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (2011) by Seth Grahame-Smith. With a focus on Lincoln's images as Savior of the Union and as The Great Emancipator, this thesis demonstrates in what ways the novels use the supernatural in their portrayal of the President and how this use contributes to the cultural memory of Lincoln that continues to exist in the United States today.Show less
Lynchings became a common practice in Guatemala after the signing of the peace accords in 1996.Since lynching has become a source of serious concern in post-war Guatemala, it is of vital importance...Show moreLynchings became a common practice in Guatemala after the signing of the peace accords in 1996.Since lynching has become a source of serious concern in post-war Guatemala, it is of vital importance that the underlying causes of this phenomenon receive a more profound analysis, in order to discern, and consequently address, the root causes of this issue. Due to the often complex and multi-causal nature of violence it is imperative that these problems be tackled from a similar multifaceted perspective. However, the incidence and geographical dispersion of lynching in Guatemala provide clues as to possible factors and conditions of interest as focal points for further analysis.The central hypothesis of this thesis is that widespread loss of social capital and the profound alteration of fundamental social and communal relations have left communities vulnerable to ‘frontier’ practices such as vigilantism and lynching. In the absence of a strong and capable legitimate power, the democratic transition left rural and marginalised communities isolated in an already volatile political and security situation, while pre-existing social disjunctions persisted. In an attempt to re-establish order in a context of psychosocial and collective trauma, perched on the razor’s edge of a near-defunct legal system, violence remained as the only tool in their armoury to settle conflict, exert social control, and impose moral authority.Show less
During the last half of the nineteenth century, major European colonial powers tended to see society as something that was malleable and that the state should act as a ‘’gardener of society’’...Show moreDuring the last half of the nineteenth century, major European colonial powers tended to see society as something that was malleable and that the state should act as a ‘’gardener of society’’ rooting out ‘’weeds’’ in the ‘’social body’’ wherever they are through the use of military statistics, surveillance, deportation and the use of force among other things. This idea of social engineering became conceptually and practicably possible only with the rising concern through the last half of the nineteenth century for the social realm and the emergence of technologies for acting upon this realm. This thesis is about how the Bolsheviks, inspired by these ideas, used violence as an instrument in applying social engineering and the fashioning of a new (Soviet) social body during the Russian Civil War. The subject of this thesis is the Cheka, the first Bolshevik secret police and security agency, and its leader Feliks Dzerzhinsky, and takes as its starting point that these actors might have played a crucial role in the execution of the so-called ‘’gardening state’’ and the use of violence in achieving a ‘’pure’’ Soviet social body in which ‘’contaminating elements’’ have been excised. I will show to what extent the Cheka conceptualised and operated on society through techniques of violence during the Russian Civil War. I argue that the Cheka and its leader Feliks Dzerzhinsky played a prominent role in the execution of the ‘’gardening state’’ that the Bolsheviks were in the process of shaping. Both their conceptualisation in language as well as their violent performances can be deducted as partly the result of envisioning the Soviet social body to be a supposed utopia, that required the excising of unreliable, unwanted or dangerous elements. These elements were plentiful, and in the end, the classification of what was considered malign could be extended to those individuals considered allies of the Bolsheviks, or even Bolsheviks themselves. However, deviations by both Dzerzhinsky and his chekisty occurred on multiple occasions in relation to cleansing society of elements. It is these deviations that call into question to what extent the Cheka thought the ‘’gardening state’’ should go, in its efforts to mold the population.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
Teboul, Léo-Paul Ned Alfred Marc Eli François 2018
How is the postcolonial subject's identity formed, in a nation which in addition to being postcolonial also happens to be postwar. The importance in bridging both the fields of Post-colonialism and...Show moreHow is the postcolonial subject's identity formed, in a nation which in addition to being postcolonial also happens to be postwar. The importance in bridging both the fields of Post-colonialism and Memory studies, is crucial to further understand the identity creation processes in Latin America. The case of Guatemala, and its 36 years long raging Civil War,has provided informants that were interviewed in order to shade a light onto their truths, and further our understanding of the identity of the postcolonial subject.Show less
Between January and April 1861, in the wake of Abraham Lincoln's election, the seceding lower South states sent five secession commissioners to Virginia to persuade the Virginians to secede and...Show moreBetween January and April 1861, in the wake of Abraham Lincoln's election, the seceding lower South states sent five secession commissioners to Virginia to persuade the Virginians to secede and join in forming the Confederacy. This study examines why all but one failed to achieve their goal. While this thesis only gives a partial answer, it sheds light on a number of complexities regarding both the commissioners' efforts and Virginia's secession crisis.Show less
The struggle between sovereignty and humanitarian intervention remains one of the fundamental controversies in international politics. The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia helped to bring peace to much of...Show moreThe struggle between sovereignty and humanitarian intervention remains one of the fundamental controversies in international politics. The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia helped to bring peace to much of the world through the creation and realisation of national sovereignty, however a growing global consciousness began to resist against this. The ratification of the responsibility to protect (R2P) doctrine in 2005 by the UN General Assembly set the humanitarian interventionist pendulum in motion. Providing a mechanism to facilitate foreign intervention in a sovereign state in order to protect human welfare, the R2P doctrine indicated a shark contrast with the past. Although proving successful in many cases, this doctrine has been pushed to its limits in Libya and Syria. Through content and discourse analysis this paper assesses the impact of the Libyan and Syrian crisis on the R2P doctrine, and as a result questions the feasibility and viability of the doctrine. R2P references in key UN documents show that R2P fails to positively influence decision making in the highest echelons of international diplomacy, while the comments of state representatives show that NATO’s un-mandated regime change in Libya has infected the doctrine. This infection has been so great that in its current form, R2P no-longer has a place in facilitating humanitarian intervention.Show less
