This thesis examines the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on transatlantic relations through a neoclassical realist perspective. It tests the hypothesis that the sustained conflict would...Show moreThis thesis examines the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on transatlantic relations through a neoclassical realist perspective. It tests the hypothesis that the sustained conflict would foster nationalist and regionalist sentiment, leading to continued divergence in the transatlantic alliance. The paper does this by employing a holistic grading method to analyze nationalist and European regionalist rhetoric in speeches from key Western leaders, specifically French President Emmanuel Macron, American President Joe Biden, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Contrary to initial expectations, the findings indicate that nationalist and European regionalist sentiments have not significantly increased among these leaders. Consequently, the US-EU relationship remains on a convergent path, suggesting resilience in the liberal international order.Show less
In deze scriptie wordt onderzoek gedaan naar de invloed die vakbonden, gemeten door de vakbondsdichtheid, uitoefenen op overheidsuitgaven aan sociale programma’s, gemeten als de sociale...Show moreIn deze scriptie wordt onderzoek gedaan naar de invloed die vakbonden, gemeten door de vakbondsdichtheid, uitoefenen op overheidsuitgaven aan sociale programma’s, gemeten als de sociale overheidsuitgaven. Aan de hand van een zelf samengestelde dataset worden OLS- en fixed effects-regressies gedraaid die als doel hebben om deze relatie uit te lichten. Door gebruik te maken van gedesaggregeerde vormen van sociale overheidsuitgaven en crisiseffecten wordt de bestaande kennis over het verband verdiept en verbreed. Uit de resultaten blijkt dat de vakbondsdichtheid inderdaad een positief effect hebben op de sociale overheidsuitgaven. Op de sociale uitgaven waartoe ook private stromen gerekend zijn lijkt geen sprake van een effect. Het effect van gedesaggregeerde uitgaven wijst erop dat vakbonden zich met name inzetten voor arbeidsongeschiktheidsuitgaven. Van een crisiseffect lijkt op de geaggregeerde uitgaven geenszins sprake. Wel hebben vakbonden mogelijk een nog sterker effect op de overheidsuitgaven aan arbeidsongeschiktheidsuitgaven tijdens crises. Dit onderzoek kunnen beleidsmakers gebruiken om te bepalen hoe zij in de toekomst om willen gaan met lobbyactiviteiten van vakbonden, met het oog op de afnemende vakbondsdichtheid.Show less
This thesis will argue that it is possible for a theory of European justice to escape Hayek’s trap. I will demonstrate this by combining Van Parijs’ theory of European justice with Sangiovanni’s...Show moreThis thesis will argue that it is possible for a theory of European justice to escape Hayek’s trap. I will demonstrate this by combining Van Parijs’ theory of European justice with Sangiovanni’s account of European solidarity. I will show that a theory of European justice is the most plausible when grounded in (European) solidarity. Specifically, I will argue that the most plausible and desirable way of understanding European solidarity – from a liberal egalitarian perspective – is represented by Sangiovanni’s account of European solidarity. Sangiovanni’s account supports the political aspect of the argument made by Van Parijs and demonstrates that his interpretation of a theory of European justice can escape Hayek’s trap.Show less
Terrorism has been a highly salient issue in Europe for the past decades and is treated as an immediate threat to the states and citizens. This study focuses on the 2015-2019 terrorism wave and...Show moreTerrorism has been a highly salient issue in Europe for the past decades and is treated as an immediate threat to the states and citizens. This study focuses on the 2015-2019 terrorism wave and seeks to identify why states with similar characteristics respond differently to a common threat; through a comparative analysis of the cases of France and the United Kingdom. A securitization framework is applied to examine what ultimately leads to the variation of the actions in the two cases. The expectation is that intense securitization leads to a militaristic response, while low securitization levels lead to a criminal justice approach. The empirical analysis lends support to this argument; however, this study finds it possible that other explanatory factors might be interrelated to the proposed mechanism, influencing the result. This thesis, uses a framework of analysis that links the aspects of security and terrorism and endeavors to further contribute to the study of these topics.Show less
In recent years, the whole world has been embroiled in the intermingled crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, global recession, and Ukrainian-Russian conflicts. As a result, the petroleum regime that...Show moreIn recent years, the whole world has been embroiled in the intermingled crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, global recession, and Ukrainian-Russian conflicts. As a result, the petroleum regime that nourished our global economies for the last seven decades was massively destabilized and further imperiled by the impending climate change. Against this backdrop, the renewable energy transition is enshrined as a robust alternative to reverse the bleak status quo and reinvigorate our waning economies. However, it may not fulfill the promising future as expected. In this research, I adopted a comprehensive geographical and political-economic framework to conduct a multiscalar critique of the renewable transition in Morocco and a larger trans-Mediterranean landscape. The research aims to argue that the renewable energy transition requires the same fraud, dispossession, and control as under the petroleum regime to be materialized. In this process, the technological advantage, financial investment, environmentalist discourse, colonial conception, and legal framework of Europe constitute a type of 'hegemony'. This hegemony is maneuvered to reshape the ecologically unequal exchange between Morocco and Europe under an emerging renewable regime and further their asymmetrical relations since the old. More unfortunately, the renewable transition tends to prolong overproduction, overconsumption, and overaccumulation cliché that will doom humans rather than build more sustainable social and human-ecological relations in the future. It drives us to reflect on which socioeconomic scenario we should implement the transition.Show less
Climate change has had an influence on hominin evolution for quite some time and led to several speciation and adaptation events. With the later hominin species climate change has less of an impact...Show moreClimate change has had an influence on hominin evolution for quite some time and led to several speciation and adaptation events. With the later hominin species climate change has less of an impact, and extinction theories for the Neanderthals tend to lean in other directions. Despite this, the role of climate change in the Neanderthal extinction is not clear. Older research tended to be focused on global climate records that might not be representative of the smaller climate differences across highly geographically diverse continents. This research provides an overview of local palaeoenvironmental reconstructions for the period of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in research from 2015-2021 and focuses on the different proxies and climate factors, the stability of the climate, the scale of the research performed, and the perceived influence of climate change on local Neanderthal extinctions. These will be compared per major region (Iberian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula, Balkan Peninsula, and mid-latitude Europe) in order to determine if any patterns exist. The results show a diversity in the applied proxies and a general trend of deteriorating climate around the time of the Neanderthal extinction. The majority of the research concludes that climate change did not play a major role in the Neanderthal extinction. Despite this, there are some anomalous locations that do not agree with the general consensus this overview produced. Future research at these locations could provide information to nuance the current picture of climate change or corroborate the overall consensus.Show less
Hallyu still charges forward as a new and evolved version of itself, dubbed Hallyu 2.0. Adapting to the digital world and expanding online, it is still increasing the spread of South Korean culture...Show moreHallyu still charges forward as a new and evolved version of itself, dubbed Hallyu 2.0. Adapting to the digital world and expanding online, it is still increasing the spread of South Korean culture and the Soft Power of South Korea. One often overlooked sector of this phenomenon is the gaming sector. Despite being by far the most profitable sector, it falls behind music, dramas, movies and other categories when it comes to spread and impact, especially in Europe. This thesis aims to research this discrepancy in financial success and longevity in order to find out why Korean games are relatively unknown in Europe. Discoveries include bad reputation, lack of recognizable attributes, looked down upon mechanics in Korean games and the preferences of European players not being met. This work aims to open the door to future research about the topic.Show less
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is one of the most common perennial plants on the European continent. Growing equally well in forests, ditches and ruderal spaces up to 2.5m tall, it is easy to find...Show moreStinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is one of the most common perennial plants on the European continent. Growing equally well in forests, ditches and ruderal spaces up to 2.5m tall, it is easy to find and identify due to its stem and characteristic oval, serrated leaves being lavishly covered in irritant-filled trichomes, a hair-like organs. Having plenty of nutritional and medical applications, it is however often overlooked as a source of textile fibres. The issue perhaps being a result of dying traditions of nettle uses, as well as being associated with war time crop, due to the increased attempts at industrialisation during the both World Wars in Europe. Yet, it had a much more profound role, not only in historical times. It used to be known as distinctive, luxurious, soft, fine and full of lustre fabric of Bronze Age elites, as it was identified as a priced grave gift in one of the richest and most splendid burials of the period from the mound Lushoj in Denmark. It was also known and valued in mediaeval times as both sign of status, but also as tough, fast drying and resistant fibre preferred for rigging. Urtica dioica seems often neglected in the research of Neolithic textiles. The aim of this paper therefore is to propose it as an alternative material to the main source of fibre of the age, that was newly domesticated and introduced to the small continent flax, as well as more and more acknowledged, and utilised since at least Mesolithic, tree basts. It is necessary to draw attention towards nettle, as there is a small, yet growing set of samples identified as this plant. The best known examples coming from spheres where the introduction of flax came at a later period, as the waterlogged site of La Draga, Spain where a whole ball of yarn has been found, or a thread on the fishing comb from seabed near Skjoldnas on Aro in Denmark. To contextualise these finds, a wider look at the Urticaceae family is included, especially as Japanese cousins of the common nettle is one of the oldest known textile dated to 10 000 BC early Jomon period, while well documented processing methods of Boehmeria nivea might be also applied for Urtica. Similarly, ethnological, historical and experimental data allows for expanding the understanding of nettle fibre applications, but also, based on records and in comparison to flax and hemp, for reconstruction of the collection, retting and spinning techniques, which might have been used by European Neolithic communities. Further, the identification methods, such as modified Herzog test, calcium oxalate crystals observation and cross section, are briefly discussed to illustrate the complexity and limitations of bast plants attribution. Additionally, the information about technical properties allows to demonstrate the value of Urtica as a source of fibre, as tensile strength, toughness and drying rate presented results as good, or better than those of flax. These, combined with possibly greater length and longer collection period, could constitute an important input of advantages of Urtica and its presence in the Neolithic. _..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._ _..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._..._ Pokrzywa zwyczajna (Urtica dioica) jest wieloletnią rośliną powszechnie występującą na terenie całej Europy. Rozwija się równie dobrze na terenach leśnych, łąkowych oraz ruderalnych osiągając wysokość do 2,5m. Jest stosunkowo łatwa do zidentyfikowania dzięki łodydze i charakterystycznym owalnym, ząbkowanym liściom, obficie pokrytymi gruczołowatymi, parzącymi włoskami, powodującymi, w kontakcie ze skórą, bolesną reakcję zapalną. Pomimo, iż jej zastosowania w obrębie medycyny i żywienia są dobrze znane,wykorzystanie pokrzywy do produkcji tekstylnej wydaje się być zapomniane lub zupełnie pomijane. Jej użycie w tej dziedzinie jest zwykle jedynie wspominane w kontekście braków wojennych, szczególnie prób industrializacji jej uprawy w czasie II wojny światowej. Jednak w okresie prehistorycznym, a nawet historycznym, rola pokrzywy i jej znacznie były o wiele większe, do tego stopnia, że starannie utkana w cienką, delikatną, miękką, wysoce połyskliwą tkaninę, jest obecnie czasem określana jako obiekt charakteryzujący epokę brązu. Taki, luksusowy, materiał był odnajdowany w darach pogrzebowych w pochówkach elit tego okresu, m. in. z niezwykle bogato wyposażonego kopca Lushøj w Danii. Jeszcze w okresie średniowiecza wykonana z pokrzywy lekka tkanina była symbolem statusu, zaś jej mniej obrobione, sztywniejsze i szorstkie włókna wykorzystywano do produkcji sznurów i olinowania. Jednakże Urtica dioica wydaje się być pomijana w badaniach nad szeroko rozumianymi tekstyliami okresu neolitu, dlatego celem tej pracy jest przybliżenie jej zastosowań i właściwości oraz, poprzez analogie form pozyskania i przetwórstwa, zaproponowanie pokrzywy jako alternatywy dla głównych źródeł włókienniczych tej epoki, za które przyjmuje się nowo udomowiony i dopiero wprowadzany do uprawy na terenie Europy len, oraz coraz częściej rozpoznawane, a będące w użyciu przynajmniej od mezolitu, łyka drzew. Jest to szczególnie uzasadnione ze względu na rosnącą grupę zabytków identyfikowanych jako tekstylia pokrzywowe, pochodzące często z regionów i kultur, w których uprawa lnu nie była praktykowana, takich jak podmokłe stanowisko w La Draga, w Hiszpanii, na którym odkryto wytworzony z włókien pokrzywy motek sznurka, lub z dna morskiego w pobliżu Skjoldnæs na Ærø, w Danii, skąd pochodzi trójzębna ość rybacka połączona ze sobą pokrzywową nicią. Aby umiejscowić pokrzywę zwyczajną w temacie produkcji tekstylnej, należy przyjrzeć się jej w szerszym kontekście taksonomicznym rodziny Urticaceae, jako że należące do niej rośliny mają długą i obszerną historię zastosowań w tej dziedzinie, a których techniki obróbki mogą być z powodzeniem przełożone na Urticę dioicę. Najlepiej znany jest tu Szczymiel biały (Boehmeria nivea) zwany również Ramią, zaś spokrewniona z nim Boehmeria japonica jest prawdopodobnie jedną z najdawniej wykorzystywanych roślin tkackich, o czym świadczy wykonany z niej fragment materiału z wczesnego okresu Jomon (Japonia), datowany na około 10 tys. lat BC. Podobnie, etnologiczne, historyczne i eksperymentalne badania pozwalają na poszerzenie wiedzy o wykorzystaniu pokrzywy zwyczajnej w produkcji tekstylnej, zwłaszcza poprzez porównanie tej rośliny, oraz metod jej pozyskania i obróbki, z tymi znanymi dla lnu i konopi włóknistych. W pracy dodatkowo przedstawiono metody identyfikacji wykorzystywane w badaniach tekstyliów archeologicznych, takie jak modyfikowany test Herzoga, analiza obecności kryształów szczawianu wapnia oraz kształtu przekroju łodygi, aby pokazać ich możliwości, ale także ich ograniczenia dotyczące prawdopodobieństwa rozpoznania poszczególnych roślin włóknistych, ponieważ istnieje podejrzenie błędnej atrybucji wielu prehistorycznych tkanin. Z tego powodu informacje o technicznych własnościach wyrobów tekstylnych wykonanych z dostępnych w neolicie roślin włóknistych stanowią tutaj konieczne uzupełnienie. Z nielicznych przeprowadzonych badań wynika bowiem, że Urtica dioca ma właściwości podobne, jeśli nie lepsze, do lnu, konopi włóknistych, czy łyka drzew, szczególnie w zakresie wytrzymałości materiału. Razem ze znacznie dłuższym dostępnym okresem zbioru, te cechy sprawiają, iż pokrzywa zwyczajna mogła być atrakcyjnym źródłem włókien dla neolitycznych społeczności europejskich i w tym kontekście powinna być częściej uwzględniana w pracach i badaniach dotyczących tej epoki.Show less
How can we understand the EU as a foreign policy actor? The research presented here aims to answer this old, but increasingly relevant, question by applying a narrative analysis. This analysis...Show moreHow can we understand the EU as a foreign policy actor? The research presented here aims to answer this old, but increasingly relevant, question by applying a narrative analysis. This analysis based on texts by the European Commission and European Parliament provides insights into how the EU constructs its own position in the international arena. Most importantly, the research establishes that both institutions are increasingly constructing the EU as a powerful, interest-driven, actor which should aim to develop capabilities similar to those of its constituent nation-states. Thereby, calls for a more 'geopolitical' EU are moved alongside the value-driven approach that was still dominant little over a decade ago.Show less
All over the world local governments engage in ‘decentral diplomacy’, which refers to the international relations of sub-state regions (Dams, 2022; Šimalčík, Šebok, Kalivoda, & Blablová, 2021)....Show moreAll over the world local governments engage in ‘decentral diplomacy’, which refers to the international relations of sub-state regions (Dams, 2022; Šimalčík, Šebok, Kalivoda, & Blablová, 2021). European regions often engage in decentral diplomacy with Chinese provinces because of the expected economic outcome. The question is often asked, however, how does a region economically make the most out of these relationships? This thesis studies the domestic state-local political dynamism that influences economic opportunities emerging from the provincial relationship with Jiangsu province. In an interview-based comparative case study using a most similar systems design, the Dutch province Noord-Brabant is compared to the Moravian Silesian Region in Czechia. Whereas these regions are comparable in certain aspects, of which their relationship to Jiangsu is the most important, this thesis makes the comparison studying three dissimilar factors: the extent of central-local coordination on China policy, the institutional structure of the regional relationships, and the local institutional bureaucratic effort. These factors are expected to explain the difference in economic opportunities emerged through the relationship with Jiangsu province. Studying the determinants of good interstate relations at the local level, this thesis finds that based on these two cases particularly the institutional structure of the regional relationships and the local institutional bureaucratic effort are important for economic opportunities emerged through the relationship with Jiangsu.Show less
In this study three defence initiatives/cases were investigated to portrait a path dependency process towards more military integration between European nations. The three cases are: The Western...Show moreIn this study three defence initiatives/cases were investigated to portrait a path dependency process towards more military integration between European nations. The three cases are: The Western European Union (WEU), European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Battlegroups. In this study, more insight is given, using these three cases, why a European strategic autonomous position in defence hasn’t been accomplished yet.Show less
This thesis explores how Italy portrayed itself movies after the years of facism and war in neorealist. It provides an analysis of the main neorealist movies and how they relate to the most common...Show moreThis thesis explores how Italy portrayed itself movies after the years of facism and war in neorealist. It provides an analysis of the main neorealist movies and how they relate to the most common tropes of this era.Show less
There is much research indicating that people’s attitudes towards immigration can influence whether or not they support redistribution programs. In accordance with one view, anti-immigration...Show moreThere is much research indicating that people’s attitudes towards immigration can influence whether or not they support redistribution programs. In accordance with one view, anti-immigration attitudes weaken support for redistribution, as those who hold negative attitudes towards immigration supposedly consider immigrants to be “free-riders” who disproportionately benefit from the welfare state. Nevertheless, there are competing views suggesting that the same negative attitudes towards immigration can arouse residents’ subjective income insecurities, which then leads them to support welfare solidarity and redistribution. This thesis analyzes evidence collected through the European Social Survey (ESS) in support of the latter view. More specifically, this research finds that negative attitudes towards immigration lead to higher support for redistribution when subjective income insecurity increases, whilst pro-immigration attitudes also lead to support for redistribution when there is a higher percentage of foreign-born citizens.Show less
In 1973, the emergence of all-powerful statesmen in the principal European monarchies was identified by Bérenger as the Euroepan phenomenon of the minister-favourite. In 1999, Elliott and Brockliss...Show moreIn 1973, the emergence of all-powerful statesmen in the principal European monarchies was identified by Bérenger as the Euroepan phenomenon of the minister-favourite. In 1999, Elliott and Brockliss actualized and expanded the understanding of this phenomenon with the help of various scholars and the latest advances in the study of the principal minster-favourites. Taking as a reference the last studies of Orry and Dubois, this paper will analyze their memorials to measure the degree to which the context of the early 18th century promoted the reemergence of the power and state conceptualization held by the original minister-favourites.Show less
