Do United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) impact democratization in post-conflict states? Currently, this question is up for debate and this study builds on new relationships recently...Show moreDo United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) impact democratization in post-conflict states? Currently, this question is up for debate and this study builds on new relationships recently discovered in the literature. Blair, Di Salvatore, & Smidt (2023) argue that UN PKO tactics improve the likelihood of democratization. This relationship is tested through the examination of four mission tactics between the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) and the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA). The cases were selected using a most similar design, indicating the cases are similar in all regards, except for their democratization outcomes; Mozambique democratized, while CAR did not. The analysis revealed that ONUMOZ and MINURCA were very similar in their mission tactics and thus mission tactics cannot be considered the sole explanation for democratization. Rather, the size and budget of the mission, involvement of civilian personnel, and recurrence of violence provided more fruitful avenues for explaining the difference in the democratization outcomes. This research contributes to the literature and yields recommendations for future research on UN PKOs and democratization. Additionally, this research provides insight into how the UN can successfully design and implement PKOs aimed at democratization.Show less
European defence and security cooperation has largely remained intergovernmental in nature. Other issue areas such as the common market have been integrated and are primarily governed through EU...Show moreEuropean defence and security cooperation has largely remained intergovernmental in nature. Other issue areas such as the common market have been integrated and are primarily governed through EU institutions as a result. This is puzzling since the earliest efforts of European integration occurred in the field of defence and security. These efforts ultimately proved a failure and stifled further attempts at integration in this policy field for decades to come. In academic discussion, a common approach to European security and defence policy is the analysis of outcome. The pace and nature of European defence and security policy has been analysed and critiqued on frequent occasions, pointing to the still great reliance of the EU on NATO in security matters. Considering both of these aspects, this analysis aims to deliver an analysis that focusses on the process of EU defence and security policy making itself in order to investigate the puzzle of why it has remained intergovernmental. Hypothesising that it is a policy of deliberate non-decision, „gatekeeping”, by one or more actors within EU policy-making that is responsible for the intergovernmental outcome, process tracing is conducted. The findings of this analysis do not, however, corroborate the hypothesis and an alternate explanation is developed that points to a non-decision being motivated by passive factors, namely inopportune situations of the individual actors capable of propelling an integration effort forward. This analysis is, however, also able to observe that the recent push in the implementation of PESCO came about as a result of political hurdles being overcome and, in principle, a road towards integration may open up in the future.Show less
This research explores the potential impact of EU election observation missions on the quality of elections, through the diffusion of democratic standards. The analysis is based on a single-case...Show moreThis research explores the potential impact of EU election observation missions on the quality of elections, through the diffusion of democratic standards. The analysis is based on a single-case study of the Kenyan elections building on diverse data including reports and interviews, applied in the process tracing method. Building on socialization theory and norm diffusion, I hypothesize that election observation has an impact on election quality, through the diffusion of democratic values. The Kenyan legal framework meets international obligations requiring elections to be “accountable and transparent”. But the tumultuous history of election violence highlighted fundamental issues and systematic problems that must be addressed. The findings show that there is a relevant added value to the presence of EU EOM, within different phases of the election cycle. The implementation of the EU EOM recommendations plays a key role in understanding the contribution of election observation to improve election quality. EU EOMs are found to be effective in deterring fraud and corruption, as election observation contributes to pressuring government officials to respect the electoral law. In the Kenyan case, the implementation of recommendations contributed to the mitigation of election-related violence, and the promotion of the stakeholders' confidence in the electoral process.Show less
Most nations are a mix of various ethnicities and backgrounds, especially prevalent within the European Union. With the emphasis that is currently based on nationality and ‘belonging’, the European...Show moreMost nations are a mix of various ethnicities and backgrounds, especially prevalent within the European Union. With the emphasis that is currently based on nationality and ‘belonging’, the European Migrant Crisis, brought these sentiments to the forefront. With the sudden rise in asylum applications, the shock was reverberated throughout the continent. Since its creation, the EU and its member states have always been a goal destination for those seeking asylum. When member states aim to join the union, they must adhere to certain regulations with regards to various concepts, such as the right to asylum. As each nation had its own asylum system that was not unified under supranational regulations, the communication between the nations were blocked. With the realisation that a unified asylum system had to be created, the EU set out to complete this. But with the unification of asylum processes and regulations, the member states had to change their national asylum systems in accordance with EU regulation as well. But unifying more than 20 asylum systems proved difficult. As an emphasis is primarily based on the EU perspective, this research will be conducted from a member state perspective. This an attempt will be made to further identify and consequently understand the causes of variation within the member states. Instead of focusing on the EU aspect of this, an emphasis will be made in understand the variation from a bottom-up aspect, essentially from the view of the case studies.Show less
The legitimacy of NATO is a continuing source of debate since the end of the Cold War. Now-adays with a changing security environment due to new threats like terrorism, NATO’s legiti-macy depends...Show moreThe legitimacy of NATO is a continuing source of debate since the end of the Cold War. Now-adays with a changing security environment due to new threats like terrorism, NATO’s legiti-macy depends on alternatives to traditional warfare. To meet parts of those challenges NATO adopted the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda which came as a surprise to most femi-nists and was soon depicted as co-opted for NATO’s interest. While the existing literature does not link the WPS agenda to legitimacy, this thesis assesses to what extent the WPS agenda is used to enhance NATO's legitimacy thus justify NATO’s military interventions. For this pur-pose, a discourse analysis in official statements of NATO member states disclosed an overview of legitimation dynamics in relation to the WPS agenda. The findings indicate that the member states use the WPS agenda to legitimize NATO and its military interventions, but depending on the discursive target either to the international or domestic public.Show less
The study of regional security governance has gained much attention in the past years, particularly in regions such as Europe, Africa, and Asia. While the existing literature is focused upon those...Show moreThe study of regional security governance has gained much attention in the past years, particularly in regions such as Europe, Africa, and Asia. While the existing literature is focused upon those regions, this thesis will focus upon the Pacific region. The Pacific is vulnerable to a variety of non-traditional security issues (e.g. non-military), ranging from Environmental Security to Cybersecurity. These transborder threats ask for a regional response. Through an exploratory analysis of the security governance systems governing Environmental Security and Cybersecurity, this thesis gives a comprehensive understanding of the governance of non-traditional security issues in the Pacific region. Findings indicate that Climate Security is governed by a clear security governance system, while Cybersecurity is governed by a hybrid system that contains characteristics of two systems.Show less
This study examines the extent to which the Multilateral Intelligence Cooperation (MIC) model can account for the increase in intelligence cooperation between European Union Member States (EU MS)...Show moreThis study examines the extent to which the Multilateral Intelligence Cooperation (MIC) model can account for the increase in intelligence cooperation between European Union Member States (EU MS) in the field of counterterrorism. It is an explanatory deductive study employing qualitative methods, more specifically process-tracing, using data obtained from interviews and analysis of primary and secondary sources. The Madrid 2004 bombings and November 2015 Paris attacks are used as case studies to provide in-depth analysis of the MIC framework. The findings indicate that the driver internal demand contributes significantly to a MS’ decision to engage in intelligence exchange. The other two drivers, external pressure and cooperative momentum, are clearly discernible but have a smaller impact. Additionally, this research examines the MIC model’s limitations and discusses alternative factors crucial for establishing effective multilateral intelligence cooperation.Show less
While small states lack the military and economic resources to affect the behaviour of other states, they do have access to other forms of power that they can utilize when in conflict with a major...Show moreWhile small states lack the military and economic resources to affect the behaviour of other states, they do have access to other forms of power that they can utilize when in conflict with a major power. This research examines the ways in which the Philippines, as a small state, uses these forms of power to overcome the structural constraints that it faces in its conflict with China, a major power, in their conflict over the South China Sea. These different forms of power are categorised into four types: particular-intrinsic, derivative, collective and legal. This research has found that by using certain types of power, the Philippines precludes itself from using other types of power. The different types of power, when used successfully, can also be used to amplify or enhance other types of power. Finally, this research has found that there are limits placed on the use of derivative power of major powers by different domestic interest groups.Show less
Ever since various IPCC reports have shown the impact and consequences of human action on the climate, an increasing number of policymakers start to realize the urgency of altering the way humans...Show moreEver since various IPCC reports have shown the impact and consequences of human action on the climate, an increasing number of policymakers start to realize the urgency of altering the way humans deal with it. Consequently, climate policies have emerged in the European political realm aimed at mitigating climate change. However, Europe has seen a recent rise of farmer protest movements that oppose these climate policies. Often labelled as being ‘anti-climate’, these protest movements seem to have deeper underlying causes. Policy perception impacts the way citizens react, which should be considered during the implementation of policy. This thesis analyses the cases of Germany and the Netherlands with interview data of various protest groups elites and experts. It argues that when citizens feel that climate policies are unfair, exclusive, untrustworthy and their financial costs are perceived as high, protest movements will arise and intensify. In addition, results show that perceived sociocultural costs are most important for protest movement emergence and intensification. Policymakers should deal with these perceptions adequately if they want to implement climate policies effectively.Show less
