One of the main impediments to the Syrian conflict, has been the absence of sufficient food aid to the local population. For the past nine years, the Syrian government has systematically blocked...Show moreOne of the main impediments to the Syrian conflict, has been the absence of sufficient food aid to the local population. For the past nine years, the Syrian government has systematically blocked humanitarian aid from entering its territory, based on the principle of sovereignty. Theoretically, international aid organizations have impartial access to deliver humanitarian aid when necessary, based on the fundamental humanitarian principles. Paradoxically, these fundamental principles have limited aid organizations to execute their work and compromises needed to be made with the Assad government in order to obtain access. Ever since the beginning of the conflict, humanitarian aid has been unequally distributed via government channels between government- and opposition controlled areas in Syria. It has become a strategy of warfare for the Assad regime, perpetuating violence and advancing legitimization and support for the nation’s regime. Simultaneously, international aid organizations created cross-border operations in order to circumvent this demonstration of the politicization of humanitarianism. This thesis extensively addresses this phenomenon and its consequences, by examining the central research question: To what extent has the politicization of humanitarianism impeded neutral emergency food aid delivery by international aid organizations in the Syrian conflict between 2011 and 2019?Show less
The announcement of the establishment of rapid response European Battlegroups (EUBG) in the Helsinki Headline Goal of 2004, functioning as the first European military capabilities, was marked as...Show moreThe announcement of the establishment of rapid response European Battlegroups (EUBG) in the Helsinki Headline Goal of 2004, functioning as the first European military capabilities, was marked as the start for the establishment of a common defence and security policy in the European Union. It is argued that the EUBG were a logical consequence of de further deepening of the European integration process at the end of the 1990s and would prove that even on such a sensitive issue the member states were able to contribute without only pursuing the national interest. This research focuses on the implementation and impact of the EUBG concept and shows that there must be a clear distinction between paper reality and the military feasibility of supranational cooperation. Subject to many determining factors the EUBG have never been deployed and are not recognized as common support until today. As such, this research seeks for the substantiation why the EUBG did not succeed in their primary task as accelerator of the integration process. This research suggests that without a policy-based embedding, a military executive organization misses not only the right facilities, but it is also insufficiently supported to be successful in the end.Show less
This research attempts to add to the existing literature on the extent to which state sovereignty can restrict the efforts of international actors in the 21st century, specifically the World Bank,...Show moreThis research attempts to add to the existing literature on the extent to which state sovereignty can restrict the efforts of international actors in the 21st century, specifically the World Bank, to guarantee social development and the protection of human rights. The World Bank is an organisation that in recent years has been criticised for not upholding human rights obligations due to reasons largely placed on the failings of the organisation itself. However, this paper examines state sovereignty, an external reason for the World Bank’s failure in upholding international human rights obligations, using the case study of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project (CCPP).Show less
