Disruptions to the routine operations of ICTs in conflict situations have made cybersecurity come to ascend a prominent position in the legal and political decision-makeing of the EU....Show moreDisruptions to the routine operations of ICTs in conflict situations have made cybersecurity come to ascend a prominent position in the legal and political decision-makeing of the EU. Europeanization has been used to describe the processes by which EU decision-makeing manifests itself in the logic of, for example, national policy outcomes of those processes (see Radaelli, 2012, p. 1 as cited by Fererro & Ackrill, 2016, p.880). The literature has pointed to the significant amount of soft law which the EU has issued to regulate cybersecurity. However, per definition EU member states are not legally obliged to implement soft law. Accordingly, by utilizing Europeanization as a conceptual frame, this thesis has sought to answer the question: To what extent has non-legally binding EU soft law on cybersecurity influenced the making of the national cybersecurity policies of its MS over time? To address the research, question the thesis has taken a small-scale empirical mixed-method approach by analyzing the extent to which specifically, Germany's and Slovakia's national cybersecurity strategies have harmonized over time toward the 2020 EU cybersecurity strategy (EUCSS) as a consequence of using the soft law document in their stagey-making. The analysis suggest that the EU cybersecurity strategy did influence the national strategy-making, but that the degree of harmonization depended on the extent to which the EUCSS aligned with national ambitions and priorities. To this end, the member states actively strived to 'Europeanize' their national cybersecurity strategies.Show less
The United Kingdom (UK)'s 2020 decision to prohibit the Chinese company Huawei from participating in the development of Britain's 5G networks, also known as the Huawei ban, raised many questions....Show moreThe United Kingdom (UK)'s 2020 decision to prohibit the Chinese company Huawei from participating in the development of Britain's 5G networks, also known as the Huawei ban, raised many questions. The ban represented a stark policy shift, as the UK had earlier granted Huawei the right to participate in 5G development to a limited extent. Amid political pressure that came from the United States (US) and the United Kingdom itself, the UK government reversed course. The rhetoric used by the political actors pressuring the UK government as well as by the government itself in its announcement of the ban contained characterisations of Huawei and China as threatening. This suggests the securitisation of China played a role in the UK's decision. Therefore, this study posed the following research question: "What role did the securitisation of China in the West play in the UK's decision to prohibit Huawei from participating in the development of British 5G networks?" This is a relevant question as it is concerned with how British foreign policy towards China takes shape and how securitisation takes place and influences consequential policy decisions. Critical discourse analysis with special attention to the context of discourse production and making use of Amin's (2019) three- step conceptualisation of securitisation theory found that the securitisation of China and Huawei played a key role in the UK government's decision to ban the company. The securitisation of China by US political actors influenced US and British pressure on the UK government to reverse its earlier decision. Ultimately the UK government backtracked and implemented the Huawei ban securitising China and Huawei in the process in an effort to regain lost credibility and win support for its newly adopted policy.Show less
This thesis examines the role of the norm of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) during the 2017 Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. Literature shows humanitarian crises have continuously impacted the norm...Show moreThis thesis examines the role of the norm of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) during the 2017 Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. Literature shows humanitarian crises have continuously impacted the norm of R2P since 2005, shifting it towards or away from internalization in the international community. The 2017 crisis in Myanmar presented an opportunity for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to implement the norm yet are widely regarded unsuccessful in doing so. Through conducting a Discourse-Theoretical Analysis (DTA) of UNSC meeting records on the Rohingya crisis, this thesis explores the norm’s (lack of) influence at the time. The analysis finds the duty of a government to protect its citizens and the duty of the international community to assist a struggling government are widely accepted, yet the duty of the international community to protect citizens against their own government is not. Finally, this thesis urges for further research on discourse and R2P to understand what drives UNSC member states in adhering to or rejecting the norm.Show less
Directly or indirectly, diplomacy affects us all, it is thus important to have diverse representation. However, this is not an easy feat. This research focuses on the reasons for the low percentage...Show moreDirectly or indirectly, diplomacy affects us all, it is thus important to have diverse representation. However, this is not an easy feat. This research focuses on the reasons for the low percentage of women in senior diplomacy compared to the number of women in the field altogether. This was researched by conducting a case study in the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where 12 employees were interviewed. A literature review combined with in-depth interviewing showed three main obstacles that prevent equal representation in senior diplomacy. Diplomacy is still associated with men, who are associated with having hard skills. Women are associated with soft skills and thus less likely to be seen as suitable candidates for leadership. Moreover, women carry out gender specific actions that add pressure on top of their work, which can increase the likelihood of women leaving the field. Gender specific actions are related to dealing with misidentification, undervaluation, and the lack of access to old-boys’ networks. Networking is essential in promotion rounds and as women are often kept out of these circles, levelling up becomes a challenge. In addition, the career of a women can differ from that of a man, around which diplomacy is structured, due to part time work related to family responsibilities or due to maternity leave. This takes a gap out of a woman’s career path and can make it difficult for women to catch up to men and reach the senior levels. Based on the findings, research must be done to combat these challenges to create equal opportunities for women in diplomacy to reach the diplomatic top and break the glass ceiling.Show less
Sexualized violence perpetrated by terrorist organizations is a prevalent issue that has continuously been identified as a pressing issue and even a “disturbing trend” in international terrorism....Show moreSexualized violence perpetrated by terrorist organizations is a prevalent issue that has continuously been identified as a pressing issue and even a “disturbing trend” in international terrorism. However, the conflation of concepts explaining or defining sexual terror exacerbated by the issue of no universally agreed definition of terrorism blurs explanations of sexualized violence. Furthermore, academic debates do not differ in the instrumentality of their explanations referring to sexualized violence as a tool, weapon, strategy, or tactic, putting sexualized violence at a means-end framework and categorizing it merely as a method to achieve a particular goal while neglecting the act’s social construction and the human factor. This thesis attempted to move beyond the instrumentality lens by utilizing practice theory to investigate patterns of sexualized violence perpetrated by Islamist terrorist organizations using the cases of Boko Haram's targeting of Christian students and the IS' brutal campaign against the Yezidis. The comparison of the two cases demonstrates that the practice of sexualized violence perpetrated by Islamist terrorist organizations is neither singular nor extraordinary. Instead, it presents itself as reoccurring pattern even among different communities of practice, thus, indicating a continuum in the practice of sexualized violence. Hence, by utilizing practice theory, the thesis argues for a more multi-dimensional analysis of sexualized violence, including previously neglected parameters of context, patterns, and discourses inciting and justifying the abuse.Show less
The field of International Relations (IR) is dominated by experts whose source of authority is opaque to the public. However, in 2005 Tetlock’s Expert Political Judgement revealed the inaccuracies...Show moreThe field of International Relations (IR) is dominated by experts whose source of authority is opaque to the public. However, in 2005 Tetlock’s Expert Political Judgement revealed the inaccuracies in expert predictions. As prediction is a defining feature of a maturing discipline, these results undermine the authority of IR experts. Tetlock found that accurate predictors “are moderates who factor conflicting considerations—in a flexible, weighted-averaging fashion—into their final judgments.” Six traits distinguish the cognitive style of these ‘foxes’ from their opposite, the ‘hedgehogs.’ This thesis converts these traits into a signal-analysis that can be used to determine the cognitive style of a piece of writing. This analysis is applied to a selection of six essays from the same source. The results generally corroborate Tetlock’s findings. Foxes make more modest predictions and avoid the pitfalls of overconfidence while hedgehogs make bolder claims which decreases their accuracy. It is also discovered that there is rigidity in the application of IR theory. Parsimonious applications of theory are favoured, which causes IR foxes to distance themselves from theory altogether. To restore experts’ IR authority, new theories need to be crafted which can integrate dissonant theories.Show less
