Especially in the last decade, pipelines transporting Russian natural gas abroad have come under much attention in academic studies. The academic debate surrounding these pipelines is characterized...Show moreEspecially in the last decade, pipelines transporting Russian natural gas abroad have come under much attention in academic studies. The academic debate surrounding these pipelines is characterized by a wide variety of different viewpoints, which can be broadly classified into studies ascribing geopolitical and economic motives to Russian energy policymakers. This thesis adds to the literature on Russian gas pipelines by examining Russian official rhetoric on the Nord Stream 2 and Power of Siberia pipelines, the largest pipelines from Russia to Europe and China, respectively, planned in the last decade. In particular, it questions the dichotomy between geopolitical and economic ways of looking at pipelines by examining how Russian officials use narratives of both kinds in justifying the construction of these pipelines. In analyzing statements from various Russian officials, this thesis used qualitative content analysis, meaning that the narratives discussed are the result of a close reading and interpretation of the statements, instead of identifying and counting the use of key words. The results of this research show that Russian officials have regularly made use of both geopolitical and economic narratives to justify both pipelines – with economic narratives slightly more prevalent – , but the nature of these narratives and the frequency of their use differs widely between the cases. This calls into question the strong focus on either economic or geopolitical factors that can be seen in the literature.Show less
This thesis builds on the idea that subtle, culturally induced differences in semantic meaning remain between translation equivalent words across different languages. This study further argues that...Show moreThis thesis builds on the idea that subtle, culturally induced differences in semantic meaning remain between translation equivalent words across different languages. This study further argues that these differences in meaning may be approached through the examination of the linguistic contexts within which these words occur. Consequently, this work provides a quantitative methodology for highlighting relevant areas in which such cultural differences may be reflected. The method is based on intuition derived from several existing, structuralist methods and works primarily by comparing the frequency of hypernyms of nouns that appear in the neighborhood of an examined word. This thesis focuses on the indigenous Dolgan language as a case study; one that is purposely exploratory in nature. This minority language poses the research with the additional challenge of working with a small-sized language corpus for computational purposes: it demands a ‘rough’ look at data to act as a means, instead of being a limitation. Overall, the results indicate that culturally determined differences between words exist to a measurable degree, despite the unavailability of an adequately sized dataset. Although the results provide insufficient guidance for drawing anthropological conclusions, the findings reassert that cultural knowledge is encoded within language and reiterate the need to preserve endangered indigenous languages.Show less
Since gaining its independence from the Soviet Union, the foreign policy of the Eastern European state named the Republic of Moldova has been heavily influenced by the region of Transnistria, a...Show moreSince gaining its independence from the Soviet Union, the foreign policy of the Eastern European state named the Republic of Moldova has been heavily influenced by the region of Transnistria, a breakaway territory found within Moldova's borders. This thesis will look at the extent and means through which Transnistria exerted its influence on Moldova's relations with The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).Show less
An overview of the Belarusian foreign policy of the past 5 years not including the ongiong situation on Ukraine. Looking with mostly realist views at the evolution of the Belarusian foreign policy,...Show moreAn overview of the Belarusian foreign policy of the past 5 years not including the ongiong situation on Ukraine. Looking with mostly realist views at the evolution of the Belarusian foreign policy, this paper has found, that Belarus has, after a period of decline in relations, been slowly looking to rekindle past relations.Show less
In this thesis, the following research question is answered: What is the reliability of Jan Danckaert’s Dutch description of seventeenth-century Muscovy? The methodology used is comparative...Show moreIn this thesis, the following research question is answered: What is the reliability of Jan Danckaert’s Dutch description of seventeenth-century Muscovy? The methodology used is comparative philology, through a close reading analysis a comparison is made between different texts to study whether one makes use of the other as a source. Only a preliminary answer can be given to the research question. On the one hand, since the work is not purely written by Danckaert, but makes use of information given by both Herberstein and Massa without mentioning these sources, it is not reliable as a source of how a Dutchman perceived Muscovy at the beginning of the seventeenth century. On the other hand, if you purely look at the ratio between chapters that are demonstrably copied and those that seem to be purely written by Danckaert, one could conclude that this work written by Danckaert is fairly reliable to see how the Dutch perceived the Russian people at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The negative image of the Russians that is conveyed in this work influences the way the Dutch perceive them, who at that time did not have many different sources on which they could base their opinion.Show less
Triggered by the Euromaidan protests of 2013/14, Ukraine over the past eight years has experienced a cultural revival as a response to Russian aggression. This revival has manifested itself no more...Show moreTriggered by the Euromaidan protests of 2013/14, Ukraine over the past eight years has experienced a cultural revival as a response to Russian aggression. This revival has manifested itself no more so than in music, where numerous Ukrainian artists have used traditional instruments and ethnic motifs in combination with broader, “western” styles of popular music. In this thesis I will argue that the motivation behind this music revival - and by extension the wider cultural revival in general - is a restorative nostalgia for a free, flourishing, democratic, western-oriented, independent Ukraine that is entirely separate from Russia. After noting the stark similarities between music revivalism and restorative nostalgia, I will answer how more deeply held restorative nostalgic sentiments manifest themselves in Ukrainian revivalist music, and investigate why these sentiments manifest themselves in the way that they do. I will argue that contemporary Ukrainian revivalist popular music is instrumentalising the past in present-day culture in order to “create a future”. I term this process “signposting” insofar that signposts create a future for those who follow them, promising where they will eventually end up should they choose that path. Given Russia’s renewed, full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022, this topic is particularly current, and will demonstrate Ukrainian culture’s tenacity, ingenuity, adaptability and resilience in the face of Russian military and cultural aggression. While the discussions in this thesis predominantly focus on cultural artefacts from between 2014 and 2021, all evidence is pointing to another Ukrainian cultural revival borne out of the events of 2022 that will make the revival of the past decade seem fairly timid by comparison. To this end, I include an afterword looking at Ukrainian music during the latest chapter of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.Show less
Citizenship and the intertwined educational subject of civic education are highly contested, as the notion of citizenship is strongly dependent on the type of government with its specific political...Show moreCitizenship and the intertwined educational subject of civic education are highly contested, as the notion of citizenship is strongly dependent on the type of government with its specific political system and the cultural-historical development of a nation. The Russian Federation as the multinational successor state of the Soviet Union (SU) faced major struggles concerning notions of citizenship during the 1990s. After the collapse of the SU and leaving the notion of citizenship as ‘the builder of communism’ behind, the main focus of Russia was on democratization, but this changed after 2000, when patriotism was getting more prominent. A way to get access to Russia's conceptions of civic education is examining high school textbooks. An analysis of their content can provide a deeper understanding of how civic education is approached and practised in nowadays Russia, in shaping its next generation. This analysis applied three general conceptions of citizenship, namely liberal individualism, republicanism and communitarianism and argues that Russia fits the the communitarian approach the most.Show less
