States have used different justifications for acceding to the WTO, mostly through economic or security terms (or both). Considering the existing debates on economic interdependence, this thesis...Show moreStates have used different justifications for acceding to the WTO, mostly through economic or security terms (or both). Considering the existing debates on economic interdependence, this thesis seeks to explore to what extent Latvia and Yemen invoked security as a justification for joining the WTO. This question becomes relevant as we assess the existing positions regarding free trade. Proponents of free trade, either in academia or in government, have mostly mentioned and based their case upon economic gains, but many of those proponents have also put forward the importance of trade regarding economic interdependence and security. Indeed, a great part of the current literature in international political economy (IPE), as well as in security and conflict studies, argues that trade between countries is beneficial for security reasons, as it disincentives countries to go to war with a country with whom they benefit from through economic gains. To analyse state justifications, I am using Discourse Analysis (DA), which aims to inquire whether liberal and/or realist claims about the relationship between economic interdependence and security are in fact present in discursive and textual justifications made by states. Through the analysis of the discourse of foreign policy executives of Latvia and Yemen, this thesis has found that, indeed, FPEs and States often frame their discourse in terms of security when joining the GATT/WTO.Show less
Contemporary development studies needs a 'processual shift' from development to developing in order to transcend the static problematisation of African underdevelopment. The Washington Consensus...Show moreContemporary development studies needs a 'processual shift' from development to developing in order to transcend the static problematisation of African underdevelopment. The Washington Consensus and the Beijing Consensus still approach African underdevelopment according to a teleological view that is rooted in the belief that economic growth is necessary for achieving prosperity. By applying complexity science to the economy, this research fills the lack within International Relations (IR) of critically revising African development in contemporary, changing contexts. A model of economic evolution is employed to conduct a transformative analysis of Kenya's developing within the twenty-first century New Silk Road (NSR). Utilising the process tracing method to examine combined data sets, the researcher explores manifestations of the interdependence between evolutionary technological, institutional, and strategic forces. The analysis provides an innovative account of how and why economic evolution has emerged in Kenya. Future research should refine the model, but not define it: evolution is an endless process from which the economy as a complex adaptive system emerges.Show less
Within the emerging geopolitical frameworks of the global energy market, the concept of energy security has become a vital part of state strategies for implementation, both by consuming and...Show moreWithin the emerging geopolitical frameworks of the global energy market, the concept of energy security has become a vital part of state strategies for implementation, both by consuming and producing countries. Based on the trade relations between consuming and producing actors, one of the dominant ideologies in the political sciences (neoliberal interdependence theory) argue that economic interdependence between actors leads to co-operation on the bases of mutual benefits which decreases the emergence of conflicts. This thesis intends to shed a light on EU-Russia energy relations, specifically in terms of natural gas linked to energy security of EU as the biggest energy consumer and Russia as the biggest supplier of natural gas to EU. By comparing the energy policy strategies, current energy statistics and emerged interdependence, this thesis argues that the securitization of EU energy (gas) policy is experiencing serious challenges due to (increasing) European dependence on Russian gas resources which have not resulted in further co-operation but rising tensions. The main argument of this thesis therefore is that the nature of EU-Russia gas relations is too complex to be explained by the optimism of mutual interdependence between these actorsShow less
