The informal economy is ever-present in developing countries. It is present in any worker and small business out of the state’s regulatory environment. Moreover, high poverty rates are also present...Show moreThe informal economy is ever-present in developing countries. It is present in any worker and small business out of the state’s regulatory environment. Moreover, high poverty rates are also present in such developing countries. Therefore, finding a way to address the informal economy to see whether poverty can be reduced is paramount. Thus, this thesis will explore the research question of: What state interventions to the informal economy can affect the countries’ poverty rates across different levels of economic development? For this purpose, this research will explore two state interventions: those facilitating business formalization and those providing social protection. By analyzing over 100 countries and conducting a multiple linear regression, this research has found a statistical effect of state interventions on the countries’ poverty rates. The findings show that state interventions can affect the poverty rates of developing countries. However, such an effect is contingent on matters such as the level of corruption and government effectiveness. Thus, these findings pave the way for future focus on how the countries’ institutional environment must be addressed when looking into how to target the informal economy to reduce poverty.Show less
This thesis conducts a comparative case study analysis of the differing strategies of Rwanda and Uganda in managing conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the objective to...Show moreThis thesis conducts a comparative case study analysis of the differing strategies of Rwanda and Uganda in managing conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the objective to contribute to a nuanced understanding of power dynamics and security imperatives in the African Great Lakes Region. By applying a realist theoretical International Relations framework, this study analyses how the respective strategies of Rwanda and Uganda reflect their economic, security, and geopolitical interests, as well as the implications for regional stability. The methodology of this thesis relies on a systematic document analysis of UNSC Group of Experts reports, complemented with research reports by NGOs and think tanks. This thesis reveals that Rwanda's policies combine centralised and confrontational strategies with its historical security narrative, whereas Uganda's policies focus on maintaining entrenched smuggling networks and strategic use of minerals to boost its economy and regional significance. The comparative analysis illustrates how both countries use conflict minerals to enhance their geopolitical position in the region, thereby contributing to regional instability and a security dilemma.Show less
The thesis investigates the potential causes behind the differing responses given by South Korea and Taiwan in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster using a qualitative...Show moreThe thesis investigates the potential causes behind the differing responses given by South Korea and Taiwan in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster using a qualitative thick description analysis. This work contributes to the field of soft power by conducting a case study: this field is often criticized for its lack of empirical evidence. This topic is important as it posits a causal relationship between Japanese soft power and the differing levels of responses given, showing that soft power has visible and tangible effects. The research question was as follows: what explains the differences in Taiwanese and South Korean support following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami? Based on the research it was found that many factors, namely nationalism, historical relations, and the individual country’s soft power resources as mediating factors to Japan’s soft power.Show less
One year into the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war, debates still rage over the Russian motivations for this war. Purely international explanations, found in offensive and defensive realism, emphasise that...Show moreOne year into the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war, debates still rage over the Russian motivations for this war. Purely international explanations, found in offensive and defensive realism, emphasise that wars are best understood as a means of states to ensure security among states. I argue that domestic considerations matter by stressing the analytical utility of the selectorate theory of war, which argues that state behaviour is best explained by a leader's desire to stay in power through ensuring loyalty by providing public and private goods. Using a qualitative explanatory case study research design, focusing on a single case: the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is found that before the war, Vladimir Putin was facing a crisis of political survival because his ability to ensure support from the elites he depended on and the wider public was increasingly constrained during his presidency due to a persistently stagnating economy. The war strengthened Putin’s political survival because newly acquired territories provide new sources of revenue for Russia’s elites. For the wider public, this study strongly suggests that Putin was aiming for a rally round the flag effect to distract the public at home from deteriorating circumstances and temporarily reduce the demand for public goods. In addition, the war legitimised greater repression, which signals a high cost of expressing discontent with Putin which deters future opposition and serves as a means to purge the elites and the broader public from disloyalty. Understanding these domestic factors that are negated by the purely international explanations of war is crucial for understanding the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war. This thesis provides a novel contribution to the literature explaining Russia’s foreign policies by using the selectorate theory of war, a theory that has not been used systematically for explaining Russia’s foreign policy.Show less
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a series of projects spearheaded by China, aiming to establish a global infrastructural network connecting China and Europe, among others. The EU faces the...Show moreThe Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a series of projects spearheaded by China, aiming to establish a global infrastructural network connecting China and Europe, among others. The EU faces the reality of an externally initiated attempt to integrate the Chinese and European economies, without being asked for permission. China’s strategy has been a bottom up approach, reaching out to individual EU-member states and their publics with ambitions for bilateral agreements and mutual cooperation. Meanwhile, frictions caused by perceived incompatible political differences have been a source of turbulence for Sino-EU relations for decades. The impact of the BRI on these relations remains obscure, warranting research efforts. This thesis asks specifically how the BRI affects EU foreign policy towards China, using the pathways of connection framework to make inferences. The framework, founded in realism, liberalism and constructivism, takes a relational and practitioner-centred approach. To gather data, explaining-outcome process tracing is employed as a method, trying to provide minimally sufficient evidence to explain the occurrence of the phenomenon under study. The study finds that the BRI affects the EU and EU foreign policy in a broad range of categories, as China rigorously pursues its foreign policy interests. It concludes that Chinese efforts are met negatively by the EU, who in return tries to fortify its defences to prevent the BRI from growing roots on the European continent.Show less
This thesis asks why Canada became a global leader in peacekeeping in the 1960s and 1970s. The thesis is conducted through an analysis of both domestic and international causes that played a role...Show moreThis thesis asks why Canada became a global leader in peacekeeping in the 1960s and 1970s. The thesis is conducted through an analysis of both domestic and international causes that played a role in Canada's acquisition of a disproportionally large role within global peacekeeping. These causes are extensively researched using two case studies, being the United Nations' peacekeeping mission in Congo in the 1960s as well as the mission in Cyprus in the 1960s and 1970s. Furthermore, the thesis analyses the link between the United Nations and Canada on the peacekeeping front and discusses why it is that the UN came to rely on Canada so heavily for global peacekeeping efforts in the time period of the 1960s and 1970s.Show less
This thesis researches the different effects that Chinese FDI has on the economy of Brazil as well as on Sino-Brazilian international relations. In particular, it takes the case study of Brazilian...Show moreThis thesis researches the different effects that Chinese FDI has on the economy of Brazil as well as on Sino-Brazilian international relations. In particular, it takes the case study of Brazilian oil company Petrobras and its cooperations with Chinese oil company Sinopec. The main argument provided in the thesis is that although FDI had an impact in the development of Sino-Brazilian economic relations, other factors, such as patterns of trade, played a larger role here.Show less
This thesis forms an inquiry into the queer figurations that emerge from the general discourse of COC Nederland and their employment in the organisation of queer citizenship. Through a combination...Show moreThis thesis forms an inquiry into the queer figurations that emerge from the general discourse of COC Nederland and their employment in the organisation of queer citizenship. Through a combination of qualitative code analysis and discourse analysis, three main figurations have been identified: 1) The Rights-Holders/non-Rights-Holder, 2) the Victim and 3) the Community Member. Strengthened by various queer, feminist and critical citizenship studies, this thesis uncovers the schemes in which these figurations influence the delineation of citizenship. By diving deep into various encounters between the state and the above-mentioned queer figurations, this thesis shows how queer citizenship is organised. Through these encounters, it is shown how the Dutch state and COC Nederland cooperate in discursive practices of constructing figurations in a semiotic relationship. Examples of encounters that are treated are: equal marital rights, the culturalization of citizenship, the mobilisation of queer victimhood, police presence at Pride and the rainbow symbol.Show less
As diplomatic ties between Russia and the West have gradually worsened in the early 2010s, it has become clearer that the rights of the LGBT community have become trapped in a geopolitical tug of...Show moreAs diplomatic ties between Russia and the West have gradually worsened in the early 2010s, it has become clearer that the rights of the LGBT community have become trapped in a geopolitical tug of war. In 2013, president Vladimir Putin declared the Russian Federation “a defender of traditional conservative values against what it considers an assault of genderless and fruitless so-called tolerance” (Ragozin 2013). Russia is thus making an effort to lead by example in disapproving of non-traditional sexual orientations, and offering an alternative to Western liberalism. One of the most visible components of this 'traditional values' alternative, is a collection of implicit anti-LGBT laws imposed in Russia since 2013, which some scholars have labelled as a form of non-Western soft power. This thesis builds on that literature and assesses to what extent Russia has been successful in using its anti-LGBT Traditional Values discourse and policies as a foreign policy tool.Show less
This thesis explores how the Christian Democratic Appeal’s (CDA) attitude towards the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has affected the party’s understanding of its key principle solidarity during its...Show moreThis thesis explores how the Christian Democratic Appeal’s (CDA) attitude towards the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has affected the party’s understanding of its key principle solidarity during its most prominent years in government between 1980 and 2010. By analyzing primary source material in the form of personal statements from key CDA members, election programs and official party documentation, it focusses on two aspects of the CDA’s identity: (1) its membership of a family of Christian democratic parties, whose political identity is based on an explicit appeal to Christian values in general; and (2) its primary objective of both “nationally and internationally appealing to the responsibility of the strong to show solidarity with the weak” as laid out in the party’s Statement of Principles in 1980. This thesis concludes that the CDA, throughout its years in government, has been gradually drifting away from these aspects of its Christian democratic identity, because of (1) the CDA’s core principle of solidarity being originally inspired by Catholic social doctrine, (2) the Israel-Palestine conflict having been an internally dividing topic ever since the start of the CDA, and (3) the increasing support of the secular vote having made the party’s successes possible in the first place. This combination of factors has often made room for circumstances in which not always the content of the party’s foundational Statement of Principles was of the utmost priority. Moreover, it has often resulted in a negligence of the protection of those Christian values and traditions in places where Christian solidarity was actually needed the most. While this research gives an interesting insight into the CDA’s developing understanding of solidarity towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, future research on the connection between Christian democratic politics and threatened Christian communities in the rest of the world might be a welcome addition to the discussion.Show less
In this paper the author looks at the media perspective of American newspapers after the Second World War on Japan and Germany and whether these perspectives differed. The hypothesis is that there...Show moreIn this paper the author looks at the media perspective of American newspapers after the Second World War on Japan and Germany and whether these perspectives differed. The hypothesis is that there will be a racial difference in the portrayal of these countries.Show less
