For decades, Japan has been entrenched in a nationalistic paradigm of war memories.Can this be overcome by providing a cultural approach or will Japan continue to show strong nationalistic...Show moreFor decades, Japan has been entrenched in a nationalistic paradigm of war memories.Can this be overcome by providing a cultural approach or will Japan continue to show strong nationalistic sentiments towards its neighbors?Show less
Five years of bloodshed in between warring factions of Tajikistan had culminated in the signing of the 1997 Peace Agreement which was designed and supervised by international actors. The process...Show moreFive years of bloodshed in between warring factions of Tajikistan had culminated in the signing of the 1997 Peace Agreement which was designed and supervised by international actors. The process was hailed as one of the most successful peace-building operations in conflict resolution history. Thirteen years later, Tajikistan witnessed an insurgency which stemmed from the very same resentments that caused the civil war in the first place. Why did the peace agreement fail? To answer this question, this thesis draws on conflict resolution theory by identifying its claims and shortcomings. The study pinpoints four main propositions made by conflict resolution theorists, namely: role of regional identity, state capacity, third party mediation and agreement design and power-sharing, and evaluates their effects on the resurgence of violence in Tajikistan. This thesis additionally tests the relevance of conflict resolution theories by applying them to Tajikistan archetypal case answering the central question of ‘how can the 2010 resurgence of violence in Tajikistan be explained by conflict resolution theory?’ The study finds that while conflict resolution theory is effective in explaining the resurgence of violence in Tajikistan, peace-building in Tajikistan was unsuccessful; the democratisation process did not take place, the agreement was democratically limited and failed to address the causes of conflict while power-sharing provisions were short-lived and naïve. The peace process in Tajikistan resulted in a ‘negative peace’ where peace is characterised by the mere absence of war, demonstrating that the capacities of peace-building are limited, and should be treated with caution.Show less
The role of smaller parties in British politics has become increasingly interesting since the 2010 election produced the first coalition government in post-war Britain. The period leading up to the...Show moreThe role of smaller parties in British politics has become increasingly interesting since the 2010 election produced the first coalition government in post-war Britain. The period leading up to the 2015 election offers a good opportunity to study the dynamics between these smaller parties and the establishment. Many of these smaller parties can be considered niche parties as they are defined by a single or limited set of issues. This allows for an assessment of party competition employing B.M. Meguid’s PSO Theory. This thesis provides a case study of party competition prior to the British General Election of 2015. It includes the two mainstream parties; the Conservative and the Labour Party, and two niche parties, UKIP and the SNP. Through the case study, the thesis questions the influence that niche parties have on mainstream parties prior to elections in Britain. In particular, it argues that; 1) electoral threats posed by UKIP and the SNP significantly influenced the strategies of the Conservative Party and the Labour Party; 2) these strategies subsequently influenced the electoral performance of UKIP and the SNP. The findings show that threats posed by the niche parties influenced the electoral strategies of the Conservative and Labour parties. In the face of niche party threats between the 2010 and 2015, the Conservatives adopted four strategies; the immigration-, the EU referendum-, the EVEL- and the anti-coalition- card. The first three strategies were directed against UKIP’s imminent threat. Both the third and fourth strategy were used as a weapon against their mainstream opponent; the Labour Party. In reaction to the surge of the SNP, the Conservative and the Labour Party both sought to accommodate Scottish voters on the issue of devolution. Yet, the most influential strategy involving the SNP concerned the anti-coalition card. In response to Conservative allegations of a Labour-SNP deal, Labour disregarded the SNP as an acceptable coalition partner. These two strategies of the mainstream parties were influential for the SNP’s landslide. Besides, they helped the Conservative Party to attract defectors to UKIP back to the fold. UKIP’s high vote share was partly the result of the Labour Party’s failure to stop its supporters outside of London from defecting to the niche party. However, the fact that UKIP merely obtained one seat in the election was mostly due to voter distribution and the electoral rules. Altogether, the analysis of party competition between the four parties prior to the 2015 election supports the arguments outlined in the thesis.Show less
Anti-colonial studies of Moroccan nationalism in general, and Istiqlal (Independence) Party in particular, have privileged a macro-level of analysis, discarding the socio-political processes of...Show moreAnti-colonial studies of Moroccan nationalism in general, and Istiqlal (Independence) Party in particular, have privileged a macro-level of analysis, discarding the socio-political processes of local actors. This bachelor’s thesis approaches the emergence of Moroccan nationalism, namely under the Istiqlal Party, by emphasising its impact on the socio-political identity of Berbers and their fusion into a larger national context between 1930 and 1970. By doing extensive literature study and examining primary sources–such as the 1962 and 1970 Moroccan Constitutions, and ethnographic works on the Berbers–this thesis allows for a better understanding of the relationship between Istiqlal’s Moroccan nationalism and Berbers.Show less
This thesis compares the legal foundations for sovereign debt accumulations in the Eurozone and states of the United States. Furthermore, it examines the TARGET2 payment system that processes...Show moreThis thesis compares the legal foundations for sovereign debt accumulations in the Eurozone and states of the United States. Furthermore, it examines the TARGET2 payment system that processes transactions amongst European central banks and compares it with its US equivalent.Show less
As Sweden’s government has begun accepting high numbers of immigrants, the resulting cultural tensions seems to be a secondary concern. Culture can be argued as the basis of a nation-state, and...Show moreAs Sweden’s government has begun accepting high numbers of immigrants, the resulting cultural tensions seems to be a secondary concern. Culture can be argued as the basis of a nation-state, and when culture is threatened the citizens tend to turn against ‘the other’, as they believe them to be the threat (Schwarz and Cauchon 13). The aim with this paper is to explore how various groups in the ethnically heterogeneous country are willing and able to interact, with a focus on how their identity contributes to this interaction. There are certain groups in Sweden that are becoming alienated due to the effect of their cultural identity, two of these groups are the Roma people and the Muslim community (Persson 8).Show less
This thesis seeks to showconsiders how oil, as one of the key factors, did drivedrove the foreign policy of Iran in certain ways during the presidency of Ahmadinejad. It examines the role of oil as...Show moreThis thesis seeks to showconsiders how oil, as one of the key factors, did drivedrove the foreign policy of Iran in certain ways during the presidency of Ahmadinejad. It examines the role of oil as a source of government power and shows how it is playing a strategic role in Iran’s relations with other countries.Show less
