Een voorbeschouwing van de machtstrijd tussen Ambassadeur in Cuba Benjamin Sumner Welles en Cordell Hull in 1933 wanneer Welles op het eiland is om toe te zien op een machtsoverdracht
In this study, I focused on how historians looked at British and American handling of the ‘Polish Question’ in World War II. This was from the moment the discovery of the mass graves at Katyn led...Show moreIn this study, I focused on how historians looked at British and American handling of the ‘Polish Question’ in World War II. This was from the moment the discovery of the mass graves at Katyn led to a break between the Soviet Union and the Polish government-in-exile in April 1943 to the end of the Warsaw Uprising in September 1944. I was particularly interested in what ways the United States and Great Britain wanted to solve this problem in accordance with the wishes of the Polish government-in-exile. It seems as if historians are biased on this subject. They mainly see a pleasing Allied side, desperately trying to keep Stalin in the War. Churchill and Roosevelt wanted to please Stalin so much, according to these historians, that they were willing to sell out their Polish allies and to forget about the Soviet crimes committed in the Easter-European country. Instead of this biased historical look on affairs, summarized in the schools of innocence and blame, I argue for the school of reconstruction or a more objective look at this subject.Show less
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is the largest proposed trade agreement in history, affecting a total of 800 million people. Included in this trade agreement are provisions that...Show moreThe Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is the largest proposed trade agreement in history, affecting a total of 800 million people. Included in this trade agreement are provisions that challenge traditional ideas of state sovereignty. Most important of these are Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions. These provisions allow corporations to circumvent domestic court systems and sue national governments before a tribunal that is insulated from judicial review. While a nation might want to exercise its sovereign right to regulate on the behalf of the safety and welfare of its populace, the potential effect on the assets of its foreign investors can lead to a regulatory chill affect causing governments to cancel its adoption of legitimate regulatory changes because of the threat of arbitration. To further investigate the effect of these provisions on state sovereignty, this thesis will employ the neo-Gramscian theory of international relations. Antonio Gramsci and the theorists of neo-Gramscianism break with the notions of state centrism and focus instead on the social classes that exercise global governance. By taking ISDS out of the law perspective and into an international relations perspective, we, with the help of Gramsci, can begin to identify the possible motives of such provisions and, more importantly, attempt to uncover the true origins of power and hegemony.Show less
Door de strategische ligging en de aanwezigheid van olie is de afgelopen decennia de rol van het Midden-Oosten in de wereldpolitiek belangrijker geworden. De Verenigde Staten ontwikkelden hiervoor...Show moreDoor de strategische ligging en de aanwezigheid van olie is de afgelopen decennia de rol van het Midden-Oosten in de wereldpolitiek belangrijker geworden. De Verenigde Staten ontwikkelden hiervoor de Twin Pillar Strategy, een strategie die de landen Saoedi-Arabie en Iran als belangrijkste steunpilaren voorzag. Door de Iraanse revolutie werden de presidenten Carter en Reagan gedwongen om deze te veranderen.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
This thesis researches the way in which the pharmaceutical industry protects its interests in animal testing at the European Commission and looks especially at the influence of the public opinion.
Since 2009, smart power has been the leading foreign policy concept of the Obama Administration. While the concept of smart power has been extensively researched, questions about the conversion of...Show moreSince 2009, smart power has been the leading foreign policy concept of the Obama Administration. While the concept of smart power has been extensively researched, questions about the conversion of smart power theory into practice remain. This thesis examines the way in which smart power is implemented in American foreign policy regarding the Ukraine Crisis and the South China Sea conflict, taking into account the context of the changing nature of power in the twenty-first century.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
The American occupation between 1945 and 1948 is analysed through the eyes and minds of American political officials working in Austria. The interaction between Austrian government officials and...Show moreThe American occupation between 1945 and 1948 is analysed through the eyes and minds of American political officials working in Austria. The interaction between Austrian government officials and State Department officials, working at POLAD (USFA) and the US legation in Vienna, form the basis of this thesis. In search of America's post-war objectives in Austria this thesis discovered more than just that. The analysis indicates that the American assessment of the situation was increasingly influenced by dubious intelligence and, conflicting interpretations of domestic and international events. Uncertainty over Austria's future (imagination) became more important than actual facts and figures (knowledge) in determining policies. Both the American political officials and Austrian government contributed to the questionable notion that the country faced a considerable communist-Soviet threat, creating a potentially dangerous precedent for the future.Show less
