The thesis assesses the writings of a key set of neoconservative intellectuals in the post-Cold War era to ascertain what arguments they use to be critical of the United Nations as a global...Show moreThe thesis assesses the writings of a key set of neoconservative intellectuals in the post-Cold War era to ascertain what arguments they use to be critical of the United Nations as a global security provider. The thesis clarifies that while the UN was still useful for US foreign policy, this was only so in cases where the US would determine what it should do, when and whereShow less
Deze scriptie beslaat de Amerikaanse partijsysteemwisselingen van de 20ste en 21ste eeuw. Een partijsysteem is een periode van stabiele partijprogramma’s zoals een conservatieve Republikeinse...Show moreDeze scriptie beslaat de Amerikaanse partijsysteemwisselingen van de 20ste en 21ste eeuw. Een partijsysteem is een periode van stabiele partijprogramma’s zoals een conservatieve Republikeinse Partij en een progressieve Democratische Partij. Indien een partij wisselt van dominante ideologie en daarmee een ruime verkiezingsoverwinning behaalt, dan betreed men een nieuw politiek tijdperk; een partijsysteem. Er zijn zes partijsystemen geweest en het huidige (1980-heden?) is dan ook het ‘Zesde Partijsysteem’. De verkiezing van Donald Trump was een trendbreuk in de Republikeinse politiek en voldoet daarmee aan de eisen van een partijsysteemwisseling. Bij de voorgaande presidentsverkiezing (2012) was de Republikeinse kandidaat nog relatief gematigd; fiscaal-conservatief en kosmopolitisch met geloof in vrijhandel en globalisme. Het Trumpisme daarentegen heeft deze vrijhandelsideologie ingeruild voor een protectionistisch beleid. Waar de V.S. voorheen een intensivering van de internationale betrekkingen propageerde, is deze sinds Trump vervangen door een isolationistische koers. Dit blijkt uit conflicten met de NAVO, de EU en het uitreden van internationale verdragen. Concluderend, de partij van Reagan, de Bushes, McCain en Romney is onherkenbaar veranderd in slechts vier jaar tijd. Als de Republikeinen dus van ideologie zijn gewisseld, is er dan sprake van een partijsysteemwisseling? Wat waren de omstandigheden bij voorgaande partijsysteemwisselingen? En waren deze omstandigheden ook in 2016 aanwezig? Dit onderzoek tracht een antwoord te vinden of Trump het Zesde Partijsysteem heeft beëindigt door voorgaande partijsysteemwisselingen te analyseren (1932/1980). Hieruit is een ‘Transitiemodel’ ontwikkeld met vier factoren. Dit model kan worden toegepast op de huidige situatie waardoor er een antwoord kan worden gegeven of Trump het Zesde Partijsysteem heeft beëindigd. De onderzoeksvraag is dan ook: ‘’In welke mate kan geconcludeerd worden of Donald Trump een partijsysteemwisseling heeft veroorzaakt indien men de voorgaande partijsysteemwisselingen (1932/1980) analyseert en het daaruit ontwikkelde transitiemodel toepast op de verkiezingen van 2016?’'Show less
Op de ochtend van maandag 21 september in het jaar 1976 ontplofte in Washington D.C. een auto waarbij de Chileen Orlando Letelier kwam te overlijden. Onderzoek naar het voorval concludeerde dat het...Show moreOp de ochtend van maandag 21 september in het jaar 1976 ontplofte in Washington D.C. een auto waarbij de Chileen Orlando Letelier kwam te overlijden. Onderzoek naar het voorval concludeerde dat het geen ongelukkige samenkomst van omstandigheden was maar een gerichte bomaanslag tegen Letelier. Hij was namelijk de rechterhand van Salvador Allende, de voormalige president van Chili wiens regering ten val werd gebracht in 1973 door de Chileense generaal Augusto Pinochet. De aanslag op Letelier in Washington maakte deel uit van Pinochets internationale netwerk van staatsterrorisme genaamd Operatie Condor, een samenwerkingsverband tussen verschillende autoritaire Latijns-Amerikaanse régimes om linkse dissidenten op te sporen en in een aantal gevallen om te brengen. Een belangrijk aspect van de Junta van Pinochet was de diplomatieke relatie en het de facto bondgenootschap met de Verenigde Staten, wat werd opgesteld na de staatsgreep van Pinochet in 1973. Een belangrijk aspect van dit bondgenootschap was de intentie van beide naties om ‘Communistische invloeden’ op het Amerikaanse continent in te perken. De bomaanslag op Letelier in Washington door de Chileense Junta was echter een schending van de staatssoevereiniteit van de VS en daarmee een bondgenoot. Deze paradox in dit bondgenootschap tussen op het eerste gezicht twee naties met dezelfde ideologische doelen brengt de vraag naar voren welke oorzaken voor de aanslag in Washington te vinden zijn in de desbetreffende diplomatieke relatie tussen de Verenigde Staten en Chili. Een vraag die deze scriptie poogt te beantwoorden.Show less
With their intellectual and traditional focus on civil rights in the past, the NAACP was often accused of being too moderate and too indifferent to the problems of the black masses. The NAACP...Show moreWith their intellectual and traditional focus on civil rights in the past, the NAACP was often accused of being too moderate and too indifferent to the problems of the black masses. The NAACP really went through a lot of historical and socio-cultural developments that caused them to change their tactics and strategies. What impact did the energy crises of the 1970s have on the civil rights agenda of the NAACP. How did they interpret this crisis? And did it represent a new turn for this civil rights organization, demonstrating more interest in economic issues?Show less
The Eurovision Song Contest has, since its establishment in 1956, became a forum for European interaction and space where European identity is defined and performed. Participating states are...Show moreThe Eurovision Song Contest has, since its establishment in 1956, became a forum for European interaction and space where European identity is defined and performed. Participating states are expected to embrace the established shared norms and values, while presenting their cultural identity to a global audience. Examining Eurovision through mega-events theory, this thesis will answer: how are mega-events utilised by states and their critics to present and disseminate competing narratives on the host state’s identity and right to host? To do so, the 2019 contest in Israel will be examined as a case study to demonstrate how mega-events can be instrumentalised by states and critics. In doing so it also explores the dangers inherent in hosting a mega-event. This thesis will conclude that Israel utilised the hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019 as an opportunity to present a clear narrative of Israel as a legitimate and worthy member of Eurovision, and by extension Europe, by echoing the values of the contest. However, critics of Israel also utilised the same show to counter this narrative by challenging Israel’s adherence to Eurovision’s values and the ability of Eurovision to uphold its apoliticality when hosted by a controversial state. These competing narratives demonstrate how mega-events create a forum both for hosting states to disseminate their narratives and for critics to counter it, it also demonstrates how the values of a mega-event can be instrumentalised by critics to attack and delegitimate the hosting state.Show less
Within the limits of European cooperation, economies, and strategies, during the Cold War, lies the Berlin question and West Germany’s fate. The US from the start saw it as a vital condition that...Show moreWithin the limits of European cooperation, economies, and strategies, during the Cold War, lies the Berlin question and West Germany’s fate. The US from the start saw it as a vital condition that West Germany joins the Western allies in order to help its nation’s rebuilding and to upgrade Germany’s European role and diplomatic relations. Since the early days of Kennedy’s administration, a complex relationship between the West Germany and the US is distinguishable. It could be said that West Germany became the locomotive of implication of US policy in Europe. Kennedy used Germany’s question towards West’s favor. The FRG not only became a representative of American policy and American thinking but also played the role of the mediator amongst European nations which at the time were not as synchronized and responsive as they should towards the new situation, regarding European and national security and safety. However, it seems that the German administration, during the last two years of the Berlin Crisis brought great headaches to the US president and his team.Show less
International cultural relations connect a countries’ foreign policy agenda and their cultural achievements in a unique way. Therefore, this thesis compares the Austrian and the Dutch approach to...Show moreInternational cultural relations connect a countries’ foreign policy agenda and their cultural achievements in a unique way. Therefore, this thesis compares the Austrian and the Dutch approach to international cultural relations and explores the influence of its soft power projection in the international political arena. It studies the setup, the methods and the resources of the Austrian Cultural Fora and the Dutch embassies. By analysing the cultural diplomacy frameworks, this dissertation explains the incentives of the two countries to invest in cultural policies abroad. The diplomatic activities present national values and promote a politically and economically beneficial Image of the Netherlands and Austria abroad. Despite the aim to establish a coherent approach, the diplomats adapt cultural diplomacy to the political and societal circumstances in the host country to achieve both economic benefits and international cooperation. This research analyses semi-structured interviews with elites working in the field of international cultural relations at the Austrian and the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs as primary sources and supports the findings with secondary literature. The thesis demonstrates that the methods and the institutions of Austrian and Dutch international cultural policy depend on the countries’ history and their foreign policy objectives.Show less
Using Okinawa as a case study, this thesis focuses on how U.S. military bases have spread American culture and values in East Asia during and after the Cold War. Due to how the U.S. military...Show moreUsing Okinawa as a case study, this thesis focuses on how U.S. military bases have spread American culture and values in East Asia during and after the Cold War. Due to how the U.S. military institution forms the context within which cultural transfer takes place between the host community and the military community, the main question posed is whether or not (American) culture may in this case be depoliticised.Show less
This thesis focuses on an informal collective of individuals known as the ‘Rijkens group’. It offers new insights in the influence this group has had on the international developments of the West...Show moreThis thesis focuses on an informal collective of individuals known as the ‘Rijkens group’. It offers new insights in the influence this group has had on the international developments of the West New Guinea dispute, thereby strongly challenging current historiographical consensus. This topic is approached from a New Diplomatic History perspective and focuses in almost equal parts on private archives, governmental archives and secondary literature. It showcases the value of expanding the notion of ‘diplomacy’ to also include non-state actors and therefore is able to present a more complete image of the exchanges between, and influences on, the countries involved in the dispute. Ultimately this thesis is able to conclude that the group was of large influence on the views and undertakings of the different governments involved in the dispute. This is accompanied by the group’s influence on Dutch domestic press coverage of the West New Guinea dispute. Such coverage turned out to be much more representative of the group’s opinion on the matter than that of the actual larger public.Show less
