The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has redirected the attention of scholars and political analysts towards the often-forgotten frozen conflicts, now, consolidated into functioning de facto states in...Show moreThe ongoing conflict in Ukraine has redirected the attention of scholars and political analysts towards the often-forgotten frozen conflicts, now, consolidated into functioning de facto states in the Post-Soviet region. The recent opening of the official diplomatic representation of Transnistria in Moscow has sparked a series of questions regarding the intentions of the de facto state and its patron, Russia. While other de facto states, such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia have been recognised and have established official diplomatic missions in Moscow since 2008, the PMR is only taking these steps now. These developments point to a new chapter for Transnistria and raise questions regarding the statehood of the de facto state. This thesis seeks to uncover the overarching mechanisms which foster the development of de facto statehood. Considering the ‘renewal’ of negotiations in the ‘5+2’ format and the declared progress made in in terms of the ‘policy of small steps’ in Transnistria, this is a good place to start. Hence, this thesis aims to explore the causal link between peace processes and de facto statehood.Show less
The European Union’s approach towards the OPT on human rights has often been criticised for its conflicting interests, its internal division and coordination. However, simply renouncing the EU’s...Show moreThe European Union’s approach towards the OPT on human rights has often been criticised for its conflicting interests, its internal division and coordination. However, simply renouncing the EU’s effort in human rights promotion in the name of realism, neo-liberalism or Eurocentric imperialism does not offer clarifications why the EU is committed to universal human rights norms and as to why the EU proved to be very weak in projecting its human rights agenda. This thesis suggests a normative power approach to the study of EU human rights policy towards the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Vital to it is the assumption that EU human rights policy and the relation between the EU and Israel has been and should be normative. To analyse this assumption, this thesis draws upon the existing literature in regard to ‘Normative Power Europe’ and adopt Ian Manners tripartite analytical framework in order to assess the EU’s adherence to human rights norms and its external identity, illustrate how the EU diffuses human rights norms, and how the impact of this should be evaluated in the case of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In doing so, this thesis aims to add to the empirical abundance of NPE literature and applying normative power to the human rights dimensions of EU-Israeli relations. To address these goals, the research shows the inconsistencies between the EU’s rhetoric and the diffusion of norms in Israel’s policy. This thesis will argue that the EU has normative intentions but that this is not a precondition for firm action and the diffusion of human rights norms in Israel. The protection of human rights as core norm of the EU is easily sacrificed when it has to compete with (vital) self-interests such as a collective European identity, security interests and strategic interests. The extent to which the EU pursues a human rights agenda is nevertheless very limited to the detriment of the EU’s normative identity.Show less
