De afgelopen jaren is het debat rondom het Molotov-Ribbentroppact sterk gepolariseerd. Enerzijds verdedigt Rusland met hand en tand het narratief van de Sovjet-Unie als heldhaftige overwinnaar van...Show moreDe afgelopen jaren is het debat rondom het Molotov-Ribbentroppact sterk gepolariseerd. Enerzijds verdedigt Rusland met hand en tand het narratief van de Sovjet-Unie als heldhaftige overwinnaar van de Tweede Wereldoorlog, en is er voor het Molotov-Ribbentrop geen plaats. Immers, Groot-Brittannië en Frankrijk lieten de Sovjet-Unie geen keus met hun 'appeasement-politiek'. Anderzijds stelt het Europese Parlement, sterk beïnvloed door de Baltische Staten - de grote benadeelden van het pact -, dat door het Molotov-Ribbentroppact de Tweede Wereldoorlog kon plaatsvinden. Hoe is het tot deze 'memory war' gekomen, en waarom is de geschiedenis belangrijk voor zowel de Russische federatie als de Europese Unie?Show less
Complexity is a crucial barrier to our understanding of how actors behave in the international arena. Market power, normative power, regulatory power, global power, civilian power, are all concepts...Show moreComplexity is a crucial barrier to our understanding of how actors behave in the international arena. Market power, normative power, regulatory power, global power, civilian power, are all concepts which have been utilised to describe the EU international actorness. However, the interaction between these concepts, and how the EU employs these comprehensively has been less debated. In an effort to contribute to the literature on EU’s strategic behaviour, this thesis engages in a critical discourse analysis throughout numerous strategic documents from the Commission. Through the analysis, a grand strategic framework, established by the Commission, was identified. Such framework appeared divided into two phases; the first being an inward-looking effort to “rebuild Europe”, and the second being an outward-looking approach towards providing security in the neighbourhood. This work manages to move past the theoretical debate on the EU’s engagement with grand strategy, which has characterised European academia and engages in a practical discussion of grand strategy and the EU. While the contributions of this work are essential for different fields in European studies, such as Europeanization, it also contributes to grand strategy academia by putting forward a theory on how international organisations interact with grand strategy.Show less
In the last decade, several Eastern members of the European Union (EU) have regressed in their democratic quality. This ‘democratic backsliding’ has most notably occurred in Hungary where the...Show moreIn the last decade, several Eastern members of the European Union (EU) have regressed in their democratic quality. This ‘democratic backsliding’ has most notably occurred in Hungary where the populist government led by Viktor Orbán continues to infringe upon the liberal democratic values championed by the EU. As the Hungarian populist government employs a Eurosceptic narrative, its continued success in combination with the rather pro-EU population is puzzling. Applying a multidimensional framework of EU attitudes, this study conducts a quantitative analysis of public opinion to explain the aforementioned puzzle and gauge the impact Euroscepticism has on the continued success of populism. It is argued that the government uses the underlying dimensions of EU attitudes to varying extent to mobilise public support. The binary regression’s results show that popular EU attitudes are not a definitive predictor for populist support. Nonetheless, the findings illustrate that the continued success of the Hungarian government is attributable to nationalist sentiments in the unique post-communist context.Show less
The thesis studies the perpection of the European Union within the German Bundestag, its delegation to the Council of Europe and German newspapers. Applying frame analysis, the thesis finds, that...Show moreThe thesis studies the perpection of the European Union within the German Bundestag, its delegation to the Council of Europe and German newspapers. Applying frame analysis, the thesis finds, that the perception and use of European institutions from the German national positition has visibly changed over since 1989. Key changes took place around political watershed on national and international level, leading to a new relevance of the national perspective and realpolitk-alike forms of othering in the discursive structures.Show less
This thesis examines North Macedonia’s response to the European Council’s decision of rejecting the opening of accession negotiations, resulting from a veto by French President Emmanuel Macron in...Show moreThis thesis examines North Macedonia’s response to the European Council’s decision of rejecting the opening of accession negotiations, resulting from a veto by French President Emmanuel Macron in October 2019. North Macedonia is considered to be a pioneer in complying with the EU’s conditionality framework since 2001 and has received the European Commission’s positive recommendations to open the accession negotiations in 2009 and 2019. Although the EU’s incentive-based conditionality strategy is considered to be effective in academia, a scenario whereby a candidate country has adopted the EU conditions and was nevertheless rejected by the European Council has not been analysed yet. Consequently, this thesis is based on qualitative primary and secondary data, in which interviews played the essential sources of information. Rationalist and constructivist theories in EU conditionality studies play the fundamental basis as explanatory behavioural models in this research. The results of this research reveal that North Macedonia has not been discouraged by the French veto and eventually implemented final provisions of the EU integration process. On 24 March 2020, North Macedonia received the green light to the start of the accession talks.Show less
On the 12th of February 2019 the European Council adopted the Gas Directive Amendment consisting of common rules for the European gas market. The Amendment added that the rules of the original Gas...Show moreOn the 12th of February 2019 the European Council adopted the Gas Directive Amendment consisting of common rules for the European gas market. The Amendment added that the rules of the original Gas Directive of 2009 were not merely applicable to the internal European gas market, but also applicable for pipelines going from, and to third countries (non-member states) making the Directive contain common rules for the external energy policy of member states. This is a big step for a more integrated Europe, because external energy policy has never been a topic where member states were willing to share interests about. This rather special area gives theories like Neofunctionalism a new challenge to explain the process of integration in the EU. Three concepts of Neofunctionalism (spillover, loyalty shift and politicization) are tested on the Gas Directive Amendment and explain the strengths and weaknesses of Neofunctionalism as integration theory.Show less
In 2018, the European Council proposed to establish regional disembarkation arrangements in the Mediterranean with a view to stem irregular migration and prevent loss of life of migrants bound for...Show moreIn 2018, the European Council proposed to establish regional disembarkation arrangements in the Mediterranean with a view to stem irregular migration and prevent loss of life of migrants bound for Europe. The proposal allows for the quick disembarkation of migrants saved in search and rescue missions and the extraterritorial assessment of their claims to international protection. This study employs a doctrinal research method in order to provide a legal analysis on the proposal's compatibility with EU Member States' international human rights obligations. In addition, the assessment puts focus on refugees’ options to obtain legal access to EU Member States’ territory in order to claim international protection as well as the proposal's implications on these options. The study concludes that the European Council's proposal is compatible with EU Member States’ international human rights obligations, but cannot create protected entry procedures for refugees.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to assess the role of the European Union in transboundary water relations between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) since the Oslo II Accords, and in...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to assess the role of the European Union in transboundary water relations between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) since the Oslo II Accords, and in particular the extent to which EU policy is reinforcing Israel's position regarding the shared water resources. The research shows that EU policy contributes towards the further consolidation of Israeli control over Palestinian resources, an important aspect of the occupation which undermines the possibility of the emergence of a viable Palestinian state. The research is based on Marxist views of political economy, arguing that power relations play a determining role in the way in which transboundary water interaction takes place between Israel and the OPT. Using the framework of hydro-hegemony and Steven Lukes three dimensions of power, the analysis shows that there is a discrepancy between EU rhetoric and practice which results in the EU sustaining Israel's hydro-hegemony.Show less
This study investigates the question how migration has shaped the broader relationship between the EU and Egypt between the 2011 Revolution and 2019. It found that migration has profoundly affected...Show moreThis study investigates the question how migration has shaped the broader relationship between the EU and Egypt between the 2011 Revolution and 2019. It found that migration has profoundly affected the bilateral relationship, particularly in the fields of democracy, human rights, development aid and economic cooperation. An analysis of policy documents and (public) statements by officials from the EU and Egypt shows how migration cooperation has made it difficult for the EU to uphold its image as a normative actor. Egypt's efforts to limit irregular migration to the EU are mainly driven by its economic dependency on the EU.Show less
The debate on the EU and the various aspects of its enlargement process is a topic which has been viewed through various approaches; however no specific theory is capable of encompassing and...Show moreThe debate on the EU and the various aspects of its enlargement process is a topic which has been viewed through various approaches; however no specific theory is capable of encompassing and explaining the EU, its behavior, position, actions and role in the international political scene in the entirety of its complexity. In this regard Kenneth Waltz stated that “If we gather more and more data and establish more and more associations, however, we will not finally find that we know something” (Waltz, 2010, p.4). Therefore, continuously piling up new data does not contribute to our understanding and it brings us to finding new approaches and methods. In this sense, this research tries to paint a clearer and wider picture of the EU and its process through some of the core/basic principles of realism. Namely the process of EU enlargement is influenced by numerous factors; this thesis however, is focused specifically on the concept of threat perception as an important external factor which influences decisions in regards to EU enlargement. Stephen Walt, through his Threat Perception Theory (TPT), has not only provided a systematic way to introduce the concept of threat perception in the overarching theory of realism, but has also through the 4 categories, provided us with a tool to determine the concrete evaluation of a threat. In this thesis, that evaluation is applied to the example of Russia and how it is perceived from the EU standpoint. Walt has defined these four categories in such a way that they are not only applicable to the evaluation of threat that comes from certain actors (states), but they also provide room for analyzing specific aspects of their policies. This thesis utilizes this applicability of Walt’s TPT and uses it to also analyze the threat coming from Russian natural gas/energy politics. Due to the fact that threat, as a wider concept, is irrefutably connected to the concepts of survival and power, this thesis will also tackle the topic through the prism of these two primary concepts of realism. When it comes to power it will more notably focus on the works of Tom Casier (2018) and the notions of positive and negative compulsory power. Where this research deviates from the (often dogmatic) principles of the realist theories is the claim that states are the unitary actors on the international scene. This thesis views, and proves, that the EU is a sui generis actor capable of creating and achieving its foreign policy goals. Thus the aforementioned concepts which are generally attributed to states in realist theories, in this research are applied to the European Union.Show less
The exponential increase in Chinese investments abroad since the 2008 financial crisis, along with the idiosyncratic characteristics associated with Chinese investment, has led to policy debates in...Show moreThe exponential increase in Chinese investments abroad since the 2008 financial crisis, along with the idiosyncratic characteristics associated with Chinese investment, has led to policy debates in many developed economies around the world. This thesis conducts a discourse analysis of the policy debate on Chinese investments in key technologies in the European Union that started around 2016, led by the normative research question “Should the EU protect European key technologies from being acquired by Chinese entities through Foreign Direct Investment?". It analyses respectively the purpose of the actors involved (China and the EU); the (perceived) necessity of EU protection of key technologies from Chinese FDI; and the risks related to the protection of key technologies in the EU. In doing so, it provides an overview of the different discourses, building on theoretical insights from a wide range of literature: including on strategic thinking in the EU, and the drivers behind Chinese FDI for both firms and polities.Show less
The thesis seeks to answer the question of the reasons for the fear of Muslim immigrants, observable within the Polish society since 2015 migration crisis, despite the relatively low percentage of...Show moreThe thesis seeks to answer the question of the reasons for the fear of Muslim immigrants, observable within the Polish society since 2015 migration crisis, despite the relatively low percentage of migrants approaching the country. The author applies Arjun Appadurai's theory of the fear of small numbers and examines rhetoric of the crucial entities of the country, such as political parties, media and church, in order to analyse the changing attitude of the society, presented in national polls and voting.Show less
