Research master thesis | Middle Eastern Studies (research) (MA)
closed access
This thesis focuses on property disputes in Iraq resulting from former regime policies between 1968 and 2003. The former regime used three intertwined strategies that resulted in loss of real...Show moreThis thesis focuses on property disputes in Iraq resulting from former regime policies between 1968 and 2003. The former regime used three intertwined strategies that resulted in loss of real property in particularly the northern regions of Iraq. Through land reforms, Arabization, and a series of attacks on Kurdish regions in the late 1980’s (entitled Anfāl) many persons were affected, notably Kurds. Houses and land were then often given to Arabs to tip the demographic balance in Kurdish majority areas in favor of Arabs. This thesis describes the stories of three victims of such property loss, and proceeds to analyze the legislative framework in place to solve these issues. From there, it analyses the Property Claims Commission, which has been the sole institution in Iraq to address the property conflicts that developed as a result of these former strategies.Show less
With the boom in the Chinese economy and its increasing influence in the global world order, China adhered to a new strategy that focuses on improving its image in the world by relying solely on...Show moreWith the boom in the Chinese economy and its increasing influence in the global world order, China adhered to a new strategy that focuses on improving its image in the world by relying solely on soft power. China’s soft power strategy in the Middle East is little researched, however, the Middle East is of paramount global importance as the region is the world’s largest energy supplier. This thesis examines China’s soft power strategy and its key objectives in the Middle East through an in-depth analysis focusing on economic, cultural, political and military soft power initiatives. The findings of this research argue that China’s pivot towards the Middle East is primarily driven by its need to secure energy sources, as well as other economic interests. Its influence in the Middle East is rapidly increasing through these various soft power initiatives. Although China’s soft power strategy is mainly focused on economic and cultural soft power initiatives, political and military soft power initiatives have taken a larger focus in recent years. As China is gradually shifting from non-interference to limited-interference in the regions political and security affairs, it is committed to maintain and improve its image, which it attained solely through soft power, by not losing its neutrality while gradually becoming more proactive in the political and security field.Show less
This thesis explores the durability of Libya's authoritarianism before and during the Arab Spring. By using a conceptual framework on Arab authoritarianism, this thesis argues that Gaddafi's system...Show moreThis thesis explores the durability of Libya's authoritarianism before and during the Arab Spring. By using a conceptual framework on Arab authoritarianism, this thesis argues that Gaddafi's system of governance survived for 42 years due to the structure of the state, its economic and foreign policies, and its claims on various forms of nondemocratic legitimacy. The argument is that these elements of Libya's governance resulted in a situation whereby the regime initially was able to withstand mass protests, but that the regime's actions also led to the military intervention that played an important role in the downfall of the regime.Show less
On the 31st of January 2015, a video was released which showed the brutal murder of the Japanese journalist Gotō Kenji at the hands of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The killing sent...Show moreOn the 31st of January 2015, a video was released which showed the brutal murder of the Japanese journalist Gotō Kenji at the hands of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The killing sent shockwaves throughout the world yet nowhere more so than in Gotō’s homeland. Japan has long maintained a policy of resource diplomacy with key trading partners in the Middle East who have supplied the Japanese economy with the oil that the country has required in order to maintain its regional and global position. However, with the death of Gotō along with his associate Yukawa Haruna, the first Japanese citizens to be executed as a result of the Japanese government’s policy in the Middle East since the end of Japanese involvement in Iraq in 2005, there is a rekindled debate amongst Japan’s leaders that the country must develop its hard power ability in order to be able to assert itself and protect its interests abroad. This thesis investigation will examine Japan’s foreign policy in the Middle East using the case studies of the murders of Gotō Kenji and Kōda Shosei and the backdrop of resource diplomacy. The investigation will be using a constructivist approach in order to provide a theoretical framework that will speculate that the Japanese government is, rather than responding to threats against it, attempting to create a an identity for itself in the region. The conclusion will then ascertain whether the changing situation in the Middle East will force Japan to re-evaluate its interests in the region or whether the instability in the region has, rather than putting Japan’s energy lifeline in jeopardy, been used by its leadership to re-ignite the debate about its need to adopt a more assertive security stance on the global stage and whether Japan, far from being attached to US foreign policy, has in fact been pursuing an entirely separate Middle Eastern policy of its own.Show less
Research master thesis | Middle Eastern Studies (research) (MA)
open access
Debates around water in the MENA region center on its potential for conflict or for cooperation, with predictions of future water wars. Water is presented as a natural resource or an economic or...Show moreDebates around water in the MENA region center on its potential for conflict or for cooperation, with predictions of future water wars. Water is presented as a natural resource or an economic or political commodity. The debate is mostly focused on the international, inter-state scale. In recent years, however, some scholars have argued that a focus on the national or local level would generate more interesting and useful research regarding the importance of water and water management. The Middle East is generally regarded as a very water-scarce and fragile region. Syria, that since the Arab Spring of 2010-2011 has been torn by civil war, is particularly interesting. Water scarcity and climate change have been mentioned in scholarly and popular discourse as possible factors for the Syrian population’s dissent. In this thesis I explore the theoretical and practical political dynamics of water within the paradigm of water as a tool for conflict or cooperation. Through an integrative historical framework I identify four possible political functions of water: water as a tool for diplomacy, development, democracy, or war. Political water management can be conducted at different scalar levels via pragmatic strategies that serve different political agendas. I argue that both the notion of relative availability of water and the appearance of pragmatic strategies in water management must be taken into account in the debate on water. Furthermore, through balancing theory and practice of Syrian water management, both abstract and concrete political dynamics are revealed.Show less
This Thesis focuses on the regional effects of the Saudi regional foreign policy in reaction to the Arab Spring. Establishing the legitimacy of the Saudi regime in the transnational Wahhabi Sunni...Show moreThis Thesis focuses on the regional effects of the Saudi regional foreign policy in reaction to the Arab Spring. Establishing the legitimacy of the Saudi regime in the transnational Wahhabi Sunni Islam, the Arab Spring is viewed as an ideological and existential threat to the regime in Riyadh. On the other hand, the transnational character of the regime’s legitimacy contains the important connection between its survival and its regional foreign policy. These theoretical assumptions justify the Thesis’ focus on the sectarian dimension of the Saudi policies’ effects. As the research shows, continuously blaming Iran for the protests in Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Yemen or Syria and, simultaneously, portraying these protests as a “Shi’a revival”, has reinforced Saudi and regional identification of Iran with Shi’a Muslims’ struggles. Consequentially, Saudi policies have inevitably facilitated the determination of any struggle mainly involving Shi’a, regardless of any sectarian dimension in its nature, as exclusively based on religion and, therefore, unquestionably supported by Iran. In this sense, as well, Saudi actions have determinately layered Middle Eastern conflicts after the Arab Spring with an increasing sectarian tone.Show less
This Bachelor dissertation will focus on America’s policy regarding the Iraqi Kurds and their quest for autonomy between 1958 and 1975, in the context of Washington’s seventeen year-long Cold War...Show moreThis Bachelor dissertation will focus on America’s policy regarding the Iraqi Kurds and their quest for autonomy between 1958 and 1975, in the context of Washington’s seventeen year-long Cold War competition during these years with the Soviet Union for influence in Iraq. Was foreign policy of the United States towards the Iraqi Kurds contradictory or consistent between 1958 and 1975? What factors determined Washington’s policy towards the Iraqi Kurds between 1958 and 1975? And what factors caused it to change? These are the main research questions which should provide sufficient insight in Washington’s motives and goals which determined its policy on the Iraqi Kurds, and should explain how that policy finally took shape. First of all, Washington’s main policy interests in relation to the Iraqi Kurds during General Qasim’s regime from 1958 till 1963 will be examined. Second, the main U.S. policy interests regarding the Iraqi Kurds during the Ba’athist regime of 1963 and during the presidencies of the brothers Arif will be investigated. And finally, these same U.S. policy interests will be examined during the Ba’athist regime of President al-Bakr from July 1968, until the 1975 Algiers Agreement between Iran and Iraq. During these three separate periods, this dissertation will also focus on how these U.S. interests were eventually pursued.Show less
