In the past few years, all major space powers have revamped their interests in the conquest of the Moon as a key geopolitical asset. In May 2020, the United States was the first space-faring state...Show moreIn the past few years, all major space powers have revamped their interests in the conquest of the Moon as a key geopolitical asset. In May 2020, the United States was the first space-faring state to officialise a set of bilateral agreements, the Artemis Accords, aimed a legally and politically support the extraction, utilisation and commercialisation of lunar resources, as well as the permanent settlement of a lunar outpost. The American space agenda marked the opening of interesting times for the politics of space exploration, as all major space powers have either embraced or criticised the American approach. As such, this thesis attempts to fill the gap in the literature on the geopolitical implications of space exploration. In order to do so, a descriptive process-tracing of the single case study of the Artemis Accords is carried out, while investigating its geopolitical link with the international space agenda of four major space powers: the US, China, Russia and Europe. While relying on both primary and secondary data, the analysis allows to conclude the inherent geopolitical value of states’ practice in outer space, as well as the underlying political, economic and diplomatic factors that are at the heart of international politics. Outer space is increasingly bounded by geopolitical value, to a level seeing only during the 1960s space race, and while the future of international politics is yet to be determined, one thing is certain: it will pass by the Moon.Show less
El Salvador suffers some of the highest rates of violence in the world. Following the end of the civil war, violence in El Salvador remained high with politicians and media outlets blaming maras...Show moreEl Salvador suffers some of the highest rates of violence in the world. Following the end of the civil war, violence in El Salvador remained high with politicians and media outlets blaming maras for being the perpetrators of violence and insecurity in the country. Governments began to employ repressive anti-crime measures to remedy the country of high rates of violence, however, repressive policies were highly ineffective; led to serious prison overcrowding and failed to address the underlining structural causes of the problem. After years of ineffective repressive measures, the diffusion of preventive measures across the region by international actors had a positive impact in the reduction of crime levels and increased the state’s capacity to combat crime and improve citizen security. This thesis explores the effect of citizen security measures on the maras' violence problem in El Salvador. I argue that El Salvador’s shift from repressive anti-crime measures to preventive measures is an effect/result of political networks that incorporate the participation of NGOs, the private sector, civil society, and international community in the formulation of policy to attain citizen security in the country.Show less
According to the rational choice theory acting cooperative in collective goods problems is not rational because the benefits of cooperating do not outweigh the costs. The fact that some countries...Show moreAccording to the rational choice theory acting cooperative in collective goods problems is not rational because the benefits of cooperating do not outweigh the costs. The fact that some countries do cooperate in international collective goods problems means that something must be missing from traditional rational choice models. IR theorists have tried to explain how it is possible that some countries do cooperate in collective goods problems while others do not.This research examines oil wealth as an explanation for non cooperative behavior in collective goods problems. This explanation is derived from the realist school of thought. The results of this research show that in two different cases oil wealth is negatively related to cooperative behavior in collective goods problems. Also other explanations from realist, liberalist and constructivist theories have been tested and compared to understand the importance of any of these explanations when explaining state behavior in collective goods problems.Show less
