Despite the main function of the United Nations (UN) peacekeepers being to protect civilians in war-torn territories, allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) committed by said...Show moreDespite the main function of the United Nations (UN) peacekeepers being to protect civilians in war-torn territories, allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) committed by said peacekeepers continue to arise during every peacekeeping mission. Much of the previous scholarship has focused on the structural and institutional causes of the problem, primarily focusing on factors such as immunities, data gathering mechanisms and training programs. The feminist scholarship has also been increasingly vocal on the matter, stressing the importance of gender framing in UN documents and policies. Nevertheless, the feminist theory has continuously resorted to normative studies, lacking any empirical backing to their arguments. This thesis investigates whether a condescending and victimizing way in which women are framed in a series of UN documents can serve as a possible explanation for the continued SEA perpetrated by the UN peacekeepers. A critical discourse analysis of the UN’s zero-tolerance policy, SEA pre-training manual and mission mandates demonstrated that UN’s discourse on gender can be one of the reasons why SEA is continuously committed by the peacekeepers.Show less
United Nations peacekeeping missions are increasingly criticised for their failures to protect civilians and even for human rights abuses by peacekeepers. The victims of this misconduct have been...Show moreUnited Nations peacekeeping missions are increasingly criticised for their failures to protect civilians and even for human rights abuses by peacekeepers. The victims of this misconduct have been trying to get reparation in court by holding the UN legally accountable. However, with the UN being protected by its immunity, they have started turning to the State as an alternative legal avenue. The academic debate has followed this turn of events by asking if and how a troop-contributing country (TCC) should be held accountable in court. Scholars are arguing in favour of applying the ‘effective control’ test to reach attribution to the State. This thesis will, therefore, aim to answer the question: In what ways can the ‘effective control’ test contribute to State accountability in peacekeeping? It will do so by applying a qualitative, legal doctrinal approach to a case study: the fall of Srebrenica (1995). The Srebrenica cases (2008-2019), which ensued from this instance of peacekeeping failure, provide insights into the contribution of the ‘effective control’ test to peacekeeping accountability. This thesis will conclude that the ‘effective control’ test according to the preventive interpretation, based on Article 7 ARIO, allows for a wide attribution to the State and thus State accountability in peacekeeping.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
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
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
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
