This thesis looks into the motivations behind Hezbollah's military support for Syria's president Assad, despite its ideological opposition to repression and initial support for the Arab Spring. It...Show moreThis thesis looks into the motivations behind Hezbollah's military support for Syria's president Assad, despite its ideological opposition to repression and initial support for the Arab Spring. It compares these findings to the existing literature on the nature of Hezbollah. It is found that pragmatic considerations concerning Hezbollah's own security and its weapons supplies through Syria were its main motivators, despite ideologically charged rhetoric. In the literature, this reality is best reflected by those that acknowledge the duality of Hezbollah's ties to Lebanon and aims of integration into Lebanese politics on the one hand and its ties to Iran and fight against Israel on the other.Show less
The Responsibility to Protect principle introduced both the state’s and the international community’s responsibility to protect human rights. The principle is regarded as an emergent norm that is...Show moreThe Responsibility to Protect principle introduced both the state’s and the international community’s responsibility to protect human rights. The principle is regarded as an emergent norm that is yet to be successfully diffused and classified as a global norm. This thesis assesses the principle’s normative trajectory through the use of Finnemore and Sikkink’s ‘norm life cycle theory’ (1998). This work works toward a better understanding of Russia’s approach towards the emergent norm of human rights by default. By assessing Russia’s approach towards intervention, this study reviews the claim that Russia seeks to undermine the norms that underpin R2P. This has been conducted via a qualitative case study that reviews the following cases: Georgia, Crimea, Libya and Syria. The findings demonstrate that although Russia is actively engaged with the principle’s norm development process, it did also attempt to interpret the norm according to its own preferences. However, only once was the norm was truly undermined - in the case of Crimea.Show less
The 1996 Guatemalan Peace Accords were the result of a long Peace Process that marked the end of a 36-year lasting civil war. These Accords aimed to end violent conflict and reconstruct the country...Show moreThe 1996 Guatemalan Peace Accords were the result of a long Peace Process that marked the end of a 36-year lasting civil war. These Accords aimed to end violent conflict and reconstruct the country. The majority of individuals involved in this Peace Process were male, but a range of women managed to take part in the Peace Process through both formal and informal channels. This thesis focusses on this formal women’s involvement, where two women were placed on the negotiating teams and a range of women’s organizations formed part of the civil society structure within the Peace Process. Women in Guatemala’s pre-conflict society faced significant barriers to the full exercise of their rights. Openings into the Peace Processes therefore provided women with opportunities to influence the outcome and thereby improve the status of women overall in Guatemalan society. In recent decades, there has been increasing scholarly attention to the lack of women’s involvement in peace processes, focussing mainly on ways to overcome this lack of involvement. Although further scholarly attention has been set on peace processes as a way for women to advance their status in society, empirical evidence regarding this line of reasoning is often lacking. This thesis aims to fill this gap by undertaking a literature based qualitative research in the form of a within-case study. Various indicators on the status of women in Guatemalan society are compared across time to determine if women’s involvement in the Guatemalan Peace Process has impacted the Peace Agreement and following policies, and in turn has led to changes in the status of the general population of women throughout Guatemalan society. This research demonstrates that through formal involvement in the Guatemalan Peace Process the status of women has not improved as much as envisioned, but still progress has been made. The findings of this thesis indicate that women in such processes cannot be expected to raise certain topics on the basis of their gender. Furthermore, it demonstrates that women’s participation in peace processes could lead to social transformation, but that the nature and features of such an involvement are limiting or strengthening to the eventual results in terms of women’s status in society. This establishes the need to thoroughly analyse how the nature and features of their involvement can be deployed to maximize the effect of women’s inclusion in peace processes as a way to establish societies with a higher degree of gender equality.Show less
Scholars and humanitarian aid organizations alike continue to debate the effectiveness of varying methods of aid distribution in areas of protracted crisis. This thesis contributes to the field of...Show moreScholars and humanitarian aid organizations alike continue to debate the effectiveness of varying methods of aid distribution in areas of protracted crisis. This thesis contributes to the field of knowledge and research on the impact of interagency coordinated humanitarian responses to food insecurity amid civil war in South Sudan using measured IPC data, and furthermore explores how local actors and organizations in the region ‘measured up’ in their willingness and ability to assist in increasing food security in South Sudan in 2016.Show less
On March 15 this year, The United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearance (UNCED) has released a hammering report entitled "Double Injustice - Human Rights Violation in the Investigation of the...Show moreOn March 15 this year, The United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearance (UNCED) has released a hammering report entitled "Double Injustice - Human Rights Violation in the Investigation of the Ayotzinapa Case" into the forced disappearance of 43 students in Mexico in 2014 (OHCHR, 2018). This case, which has also become known under the "Iguala Case", named after the city in Mexico where the horrendous incident happened, has received unprecedented heights of attention, both by the national and international press. During the night of 26th to 27 September 2014, over 80 students from Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teachers College of Ayotzinapa travelled by bus (which they had seized) to participate in an annual demonstration in Mexico City.Show less
Transitional justice plays a central role in helping nations move forward in post-conflict periods in which nations have suffered from mass violence and other atrocities. Moreover, educating youth...Show moreTransitional justice plays a central role in helping nations move forward in post-conflict periods in which nations have suffered from mass violence and other atrocities. Moreover, educating youth on the past is necessary in order to work towards reconciliation and preventing the reoccurrence of atrocities. By presenting a comparative study of two countries that have gone through the same type of horrific violence, this thesis will examine the transitional justice approaches adopted in the field of education Cambodia and Rwanda, whereby it will conclude which one has promoted the most effective way of dealing with the past. According to International Centre for Transitional Justice (2018), the aims of transitional justice is ‘the recognition of the dignity of individuals, the redress and acknowledgment of violations and the aim to prevent them happening again.’ Thus, I argue that education plays a crucial role in transitional justice, and is not only important in teaching youth about a country’s history, but schools also help shape politics and create intergroup relations. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the research on the relationship between transitional justice and education. By presenting two case studies, I will analyse which one of the two approaches in education has proven more successful as a mechanism of transitional justice. Lastly, I will conclude with a summary of the findings and give further recommendations.Show less
Korean unification is a concept that seems impractical and unwanted by the Republic of Korea. Yet the government continues to purport its desire for it, primarily romanticising a reunited Korean...Show moreKorean unification is a concept that seems impractical and unwanted by the Republic of Korea. Yet the government continues to purport its desire for it, primarily romanticising a reunited Korean bloodline. This project analyses the reasons and causes for this continued use of ethnic nationalism and explore how it shapes the very meaning of unification. Primarily, it is a speech act incorporated into the larger foreign policy of the Republic of Korea, mobilised for self-promotion and achieving its own interests.Show less
A deepening political crisis in Europe is accompanied by increasing civil discontent which directly translates into decreasing trust in political systems and political outcomes deficit of...Show moreA deepening political crisis in Europe is accompanied by increasing civil discontent which directly translates into decreasing trust in political systems and political outcomes deficit of legitimacy. It is already contributing to the emergence of potentially dangerous and exclusive policies as populism and Euroscepticism is on spectacular rise, endangering liberal democracies of the continent and the European regional project. Therefore, a search for political innovation that could effectively address these issues is excessively justified. This thesis seeks to offer a solution by investigating the possibilities to extend popular sovereignty of citizens via the better integration of technological advances into the political life of European states. Such intention could not only carry the possibility to nurse some of the most serious societal grievances but also would adopt the conduct of 21st century politics to the ongoing trends set out by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.Show less
Although Nigeria is becoming an important economic and political actor in the world, it is facing many security challenges. In the Middle Belt region of the country where the Christian South and...Show moreAlthough Nigeria is becoming an important economic and political actor in the world, it is facing many security challenges. In the Middle Belt region of the country where the Christian South and the Muslim North meet, exists a high level of intercommunal religious violence. While first establishing the developments that have led to this violence, this thesis looks to answer the following question: Why are some pluralistic communities in this region more prone to intercommunal religious violence than others? It does so by comparing local political systems in several LGAs (Local Government Areas) with similar ethnic-religious make-up. What has been found is that in those LGAs where a mechanism of informal local power sharing had emerged, very little to no violence took place, whereas in those LGAs where one group was in power, tensions easily turned violent. The final chapter explores what use these findings might have for conflict resolution programs in Nigeria, and Africa as a whole. Another result of the analysis is that the Nigerian situation represents the same causes as religious tensions in Europe, where the influx of Muslim migrants causes tensions. I suggest that there might be more lessons learned from Nigeria’s situation, than most people think.Show less
This thesis aims at assessing the US rhetorical response in terms of democracy promotion to the events of the Arab Uprising, with a particular focus on the political transitions started in Egypt...Show moreThis thesis aims at assessing the US rhetorical response in terms of democracy promotion to the events of the Arab Uprising, with a particular focus on the political transitions started in Egypt after 2011. Given the long history the mutual interests between the US and Egypt, the study conducts a throughout discourse analysis on the US statements and speeches delivered in the period 2011-2014, using the method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The analysis identifies three major narratives displayed by the US narrative, namely democracy promotion, regional stability/US-Egypt partnership and security interests, in order to understand how the discourses came together in the US rhetoric. More specifically, the thesis contends that, after an initial cautious support for the Egyptian democratization, the Obama administration increased the narrative on democracy promotion in 2011 and 2012, while associating it to the regional stability discourse. However, after the initial democracy euphoria displayed in the first two years after the revolution, the exam of the documents seems to reveal a notable prioritization of the security narrative in 2013 and 2014, especially with reference to counterterrorism practices and regional security. Finally, the thesis underlines the presence of a tension between the democracy promotion and the fostering of security objectives which worsened after the ouster of Morsi in July 2013.Show less
Recent insights have revealed that engagement with civil society can reinforce the effectiveness of counter-terrorism efforts. This study investigated when and to what extend the Dutch security and...Show moreRecent insights have revealed that engagement with civil society can reinforce the effectiveness of counter-terrorism efforts. This study investigated when and to what extend the Dutch security and intelligence services (Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst (AIVD)) started to recognise the importance of civil society based on their annual reports since the attacks of 9/11 (2001-2017). A documentary analysis of sixteen annual reports and additional documents, was used to measure the development in the extent to which civil society has played a role in countering radicalisation and terrorism in the Netherlands. Based on the reports published online by the Dutch secret and intelligence services since 9/11, this thesis found that there is surprisingly limited attention and interest for civil society. This study contributes to the existing discourse on engagement of civil society and counter-terrorism efforts, by performing an empirical study of annual reports published by the Internal Security and Intelligence Services in the case of the Netherlands. In addition, the issue investigated in this study provides insight into a real potential for improving our understanding of democratic counter-terrorism.Show less
The primary goal of this article is to identify the correlation between European integration and the transition to renewable sources of electricity. Several factors, such as environmental concerns...Show moreThe primary goal of this article is to identify the correlation between European integration and the transition to renewable sources of electricity. Several factors, such as environmental concerns and depleting deposits of fossil-fuels, have made the European Union and its member-states decide that in order to secure accessible, cheap and stable electricity, new sources of energy are required. The premise of this article is that past and contemporary European integration in energy policies is built upon energy security in correlation with the specific characteristics of fossil-fuels. The result is a unique combination of international cooperation and national sovereignty which needs to be identified and understood. Therefore, this article will first of all identify past European energy policies based on fossil-fuels. These are the founding documents of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European response to the 1973 oil crisis. These events will be followed by an analysis of EU-wide energy policies in recent year. In the following chapter, several forms of energy which can act as a substitute to fossil-fuels in the EU will be analysed, to precisely define what their specific characteristics are and how they can potentially be used to reduce dependency on fossil-fuels. When this is done, the three case-studies of the Netherlands, Sweden and Bulgaria will serve as a description of how states are currently approaching the transition to renewable sources of electricity, and what kind of problems and limitations they identify. The decision has been made to identify three individual states instead of the EU as a whole because of the fact that each state is in a unique position and is therefore deserving of an individual analysis. This study is relevant because in contemporary academic literature, the topics of European integration in energy policies and renewable energy is often overlooked. Most experts either focus on identifying European policies or the technical aspects of renewable energy, but they are seldom combined. This is problematic because it is almost certain that an increased reliance on renewable energy will have profound effects on societies in EU-member states and on the way the EU is integrated regarding energy policies. The question is therefore not if there is a connection between European integration and renewable sources of electricity, but how the transition to renewable sources in electricity generation influences European Integration within the field of energy cooperation. This article is meant to form as a basis for further research in the connection between the transition to renewable sources of energy and European integration and will therefore be a combination of a description and an analysis.Show less
Contemporary violence in Mexico has moved beyond the state, making it harder to find solutions to the ever-growing number of homicides country the country. Public security in Mexico is now...Show moreContemporary violence in Mexico has moved beyond the state, making it harder to find solutions to the ever-growing number of homicides country the country. Public security in Mexico is now identified as having three particular problems: it is seen as illegitimate, infused with impunity, and distrusted by citizens. Altogether, this has instigated citizens to find a way to protect themselves from the rising violence without having to turn to the state; private security. Private military and security companies have boomed exactly within the time frame in which Mexico was quickly trying to adapt to a more democratic rule. Having to deal with this many changes within a short time frame, regulations for PMSCs have fallen short and thus created an informal market. Policing the private security market has failed, creating the opportunity for corruption: impunity prevails.Show less
Kosovo declared independence in 2008 and then started a process of re-imagining its national identity. But how do you produce an identity that will be inclusive and multi-ethnic in a post-conflict...Show moreKosovo declared independence in 2008 and then started a process of re-imagining its national identity. But how do you produce an identity that will be inclusive and multi-ethnic in a post-conflict society, where a fight for one’s ethnic identity equals a fight for personal rights and values? This thesis acknowledges the power of education in social reconstruction and, through a critical discourse analysis of Kosovo’s educational reforms after 2008, uncovers the negatives and positives of the discourse utilized in education. Therefore, this thesis contributes to ongoing research on the construction of the multi-ethnic identity. Additionally, this thesis confirms the hypothesis surrounding the fluidity of identities, the manipulation of discourse and the role of education in changing the perceptions of the young and subsequently future of the nation.Show less
Migration is an opportunity for Europe: an opportunity to increase economic and cultural development. This claim is made by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), a liberal party...Show moreMigration is an opportunity for Europe: an opportunity to increase economic and cultural development. This claim is made by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), a liberal party in the European Parliament. The ALDE claim to view migration as an advantage and not as a security threat, a view that xenophobic populistic parties in the European Parliament do have. There is a significant amount of academic research focused on the securitization of migration and the role of right-wing parties in the securitization process. However, research on the role of politically moderate parties in the securitization process is limited. That is why this thesis focuses on the ALDE. It seeks to examine the relation between centrist parties in the European Parliament and securitization theory by exploring how the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe securitized migration between 2011 and 2017.Show less
