This thesis aims to answer the question on why did the United States use private military contractors in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. It approaches the advantages and downsides of using PMCs in...Show moreThis thesis aims to answer the question on why did the United States use private military contractors in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. It approaches the advantages and downsides of using PMCs in times of war through the political and economic framework. It engages with several literatures re-assessing the role of PMCs in Iraq. Regarding the economic approach, it targets the cost and logistical benefits of contracting these firms through over-outsourcing, intelligence and logistics, additional costs and expenses, and the differentiation between private and conventional military operators. Furthermore, the focus of this paper is also to analyze whereas PMCs have a political mean. Thus, it explores the concept of depoliticization of war, lobbying and market adaptation and military independence. This paper concludes PMCs were crucial in Iraq to sustain United States military actions. It provided men power, vital logistics and intelligence. However, it was not effectively monitored and appeared to drain many unnecessary ressources. It questions also the role of the U.S government regarding the way it wages war and answer to its citizens.Show less
Language is a topic that has been routinely manipulated and contested in the political arena. It was a significant tool during the colonial era and has also acted as a force for social unity among...Show moreLanguage is a topic that has been routinely manipulated and contested in the political arena. It was a significant tool during the colonial era and has also acted as a force for social unity among divided peoples. Major empires have succeeded in subjugating the conquered by imposing their own language. This has led to minoritisation of languages that were once widely spoken in certain countries and regions. In the era of postcolonialism and multiculturalism, language continues to be a battleground where old fears and rivalries play out. In Western Europe, there are a range of official attitudes towards minority and regional languages. These attitudes are generally reflected in the status given (or not) to such languages by the governments in the affected countries. There is a lack of comparative work in the field at present, with most scholars focusing on individual cases. Through both positive (Republic of Ireland and Spain) and negative (Northern Ireland and Franco-era Spain) cases, this paper will show how economic and political power play a crucial role in preserving minority languages.Show less
At the turn of this millennium Russia stood before the behemoth task of rising from the ashes left behind by the chaotic 90's. Russia's seemingly endless natural resources and an accompanying rise...Show moreAt the turn of this millennium Russia stood before the behemoth task of rising from the ashes left behind by the chaotic 90's. Russia's seemingly endless natural resources and an accompanying rise in oil prices only go so far in its development. However, to gain relevance on the world stage beyond the constant military flexing and being an energy appendage to the upper echelon industrialised countries, it needs to produce marketable technologies and secure a spot among the greatest economies. At the end of the first decade a new paradigm in the way we transact information found prominence in the minds of the tech savvy, which turned into the explosive development of the Blockchain technology. This potentially revolutionary new technology has the characteristics to alter the social fabric in which old power structures become obsolete, but at the same time provide a golden opportunity for the relative young and unbound Russian IT sector to thrive and leave a global mark. The new generation technocrats plead for full scale adoption, regulation and development of this technology, but their older and politically more powerful Soviet rooted counter parts plead against the dangers of this shift in dynamics. In this work I looked at what the blockchain technology means for Russia and how the Russian authorities took a stance in adapting the technology.Show less
In this thesis, I will defend the epistemic and moral value of democratic government, and oppose claims that there are legitimate grounds to replace democratic elections or restrict universal and...Show moreIn this thesis, I will defend the epistemic and moral value of democratic government, and oppose claims that there are legitimate grounds to replace democratic elections or restrict universal and equal suffrage to ensure the epistemic value of political decision-making. If one takes the principles normative authority and legitimacy into account, then any restriction on equal voting rights on the grounds of elitism will result neither in a rule of government that is intrinsically better nor a rule of government that is superior in producing better outcomes than a democratic system.Show less
This thesis examines the last circa twenty years of Venezuelan politics and economics with a focus on populism. It seeks to understand the central cause of the current economic, social and...Show moreThis thesis examines the last circa twenty years of Venezuelan politics and economics with a focus on populism. It seeks to understand the central cause of the current economic, social and political crises. The paper poses the hypothesis that populism answers questions in this debate alternative explanations cannot. It argues that populism has been the underlying tool that legitimized and consolidated the government’s political and economic actions even in the light of overspending, mismanagements and anti-democratic adjustments. However, the paper acknowledges that there can be sound alternative explanations as well if one only considers central planning without incorporating populism. The thesis concludes that the current crisis is an ideology-made one.Show less
Major policy shifts are rare phenomena on a national level, and identifying the specific moments when these transitions take place is not always possible. In the case of the Netherlands, 1982...Show moreMajor policy shifts are rare phenomena on a national level, and identifying the specific moments when these transitions take place is not always possible. In the case of the Netherlands, 1982 proves to be an exception: the ‘Wassenaar Accord’ was a turning point in the governmental policymaking regarding the influence of labour unions and employers’ organisations, after years of economic malaise. The enduring lack of economic growth in combination with high inflation, known as stagflation during the 1970s, paved the way for the new cabinet to force employers’ organisations and trade unions into an agreement on wage cuts in exchange for shorter working years. New policies through a breakthrough agreement were needed because of what an Economist article from 1977 described as the ‘Dutch disease’: high unemployment and lack of economic growth despite natural resource exports. The timing of the negotiations in Wassenaar coincided with neoliberal economists taking over the IMF and the World Bank (Harvey 93). What does this remarkable transition tell us about the way states should handle economic events such as stagflation, or more specifically the Dutch disease? This research seeks to provide the background information on that matter and answer the following question: how should the Dutch policies which were meant to counter the Dutch disease be identified? The processes leading up to the Wassenaar Accord can be traced back to causal mechanisms which will clarify to what extend the Dutch policies where identifiable as policies befitting neocorporatism, if they shifted towards the international trend of neoliberalism and perhaps if the Netherlands found a third way between the two established explanations.Show less
The economic impacts of tourism have been discussed widely, but mostly through the Tourism-led growth hypothesis. That is why; this thesis will contrast two viewpoints that I apply to the tourism...Show moreThe economic impacts of tourism have been discussed widely, but mostly through the Tourism-led growth hypothesis. That is why; this thesis will contrast two viewpoints that I apply to the tourism industry, which are the tourism-led growth hypothesis and the resource curse approach. Tunisia will be a useful case study because it epitomizes the debate on tourism due to its colonial history and the fact that its mass tourism development was centred on the well-known ‘sun, sand, sea’ package. The positive economic impacts of tourism, but also the costs of tourism will be analysed by the means of answering the following research question: How has mass tourism influenced the economic development of Tunisia since the late 1980s?. The purpose of this thesis is to research and understand the development and the economic impacts of the tourism industry in Tunisia. The theoretical framework will give an overview of the literature regarding the various perspectives on tourism. The conclusions drawn from this research provide insights into the positive economic impacts of the development of the tourism sector in Tunisia. I will also demonstrate throughout my thesis that there are constraining factors to the economic development of the industry. This implies that Tunisia could upscale its economic benefits from this sector. The aims of the research are to give recommendations to Tunisian policy-makers, and to suggest further research on the cross-sectoral linkages between tourism and the agricultural sector.Show less
In August 2010, The European Union (EU) withdrew its preferential trade agreement GSP+ from the island nation of Sri Lanka that was recovering from a long drawn civil war. The grounds for the...Show moreIn August 2010, The European Union (EU) withdrew its preferential trade agreement GSP+ from the island nation of Sri Lanka that was recovering from a long drawn civil war. The grounds for the withdrawal was cited to be Sri Lankan Government's poor human rights record in the latter stages of the war which had garnered international outcry. The ad hoc withdrawal of the scheme which was yoked to the Sri Lankan economy was damaging to the Sri Lankan economy and in particular its Ready-Made-Garment (RMG) industry that is central to povery alleviation in rural sectors of the country. In addition to the Sri Lankan Government was defiant of the EU's verdict and is believed to have made very little change. It is for this reason scholars argue that while the Human Rights concerns of the conflict were pressing, the objective of the EU withdrawal was unclear granted it achieved very little of its desired effect. Other writers have described it as 'democracy building' and 'economic terrorism' on the part of the EU. The objective of this research is to assess the effectiveness of the EU's withdrawal of GSP+ from the Sri Lankan economy and draw a conclusion on which side of the scholarly debate is more plausible.Show less
The thesis addresses the growing role of strategic Chinese investments among European economies. More specifically, it focuses on the case of Germany, a country which has been one of the highest...Show moreThe thesis addresses the growing role of strategic Chinese investments among European economies. More specifically, it focuses on the case of Germany, a country which has been one of the highest beneficiaries of Chinese capital over the last decade. Investments from Chinese enterprises span across pivotal German industries (such as automotive, heavy engineering, and financial services). As a result, the research aims to investigate why the German economy and its industrial sector is a strategically important investment channel for Chinese companies on the basis of four identified hypotheses. The parameters for gauging the aforesaid framework would include technological know-how, credit risk, macroeconomic synergies, and ease of conducting business over a selected sample of European case studies in juxtaposition with Germany’s. The objective is to measure Germany’s economic competency in relation to its European counterparts, which can partially explain the behaviour of Chinese firms in regards to their expansive financial footprint in Berlin vis-a-vis other European economiesShow less
Abstract: This thesis analyses the economic policies of three Islamist parties that have come to power in the aftermath of what has come to be known as the Arab Spring. Campaigning on a platform...Show moreAbstract: This thesis analyses the economic policies of three Islamist parties that have come to power in the aftermath of what has come to be known as the Arab Spring. Campaigning on a platform emphasizing social justice and wealth redistribution, these parties have likewise embraced neoliberal economic policies. This thesis investigates how the Egyptian Freedom and Justice Party, the Tunisian Ennahda party and the Moroccan Party for Justice and Development have justified these two apparent contradictions and whether these parties perceive the latter as being antithetical to the former. On the basis of a wide range of primary and secondary sources, I conclude that the main channels through which these parties believe social justice and wealth redistribution are to be achieved in a neoliberal economy is through ‘trickle-down economics’ and wealth redistribution through zakat and other forms of individual charity. Evaluating the respective parties’ periods in power, one would have to conclude that as far as securing social justice is concerned, the reality is quite different from the campaign rhetoric. This has to some large extent been caused by demands raised by international financial institutions in exchange for loans to these countries, but likewise occurred prior to engaging in negotiations and eventually signing agreements with these institutions. Especially in the realm of labor laws, minimum wage laws, stimulating small and medium size enterprises and reducing subsidies on much needed consumer goods, the parties have not lived up to their earlier promises.Show less
Dictated by economic traits of progress via free trade agreements and profit-driven capitalism, the global paradigm of Neoliberalism has become the dominant framework of economic development in...Show moreDictated by economic traits of progress via free trade agreements and profit-driven capitalism, the global paradigm of Neoliberalism has become the dominant framework of economic development in Latin America since the 90s (Hojman 194). Neoliberalism is a revival of economic liberalism in which government intervention is disapproved within economic sectors, and free and self-regulating competitive markets and the development of capitalist societies are promoted (Thorsen and Lie 2). Introduced in 1989, The Washington Consensus is seen as the template for Latin America’s engagement with neoliberalism. It is as well, an indication of the vast expansion of the ‘USA model’ of economic progress by powerful international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (Grugel and Riggirozzi 4). The neoliberal model was implemented via free market open economy policies (FMOEP), guided by the objective of economic decentralisation. Conditions for private profitability were established, cutting back the central role of the state within the economic sectors (Geddes 3151). Within the agricultural sphere, Neoliberalism aims for a system in which the control in agricultural production and resources happens via private corporations via profit-driven interests. This contrasts with the prior agricultural model of Keynesian economics, in which state power dominates within the agricultural sector, via the control and active role in the production process (Miyake 380). The spread of neoliberal agrarian reforms in Latin America promoted the framework of international trade and free trade, leading to the birth of the Global Farm Model within Latin America. Following the ideology of Neoliberalism, trade embargoes are portrayed as a restrictive factor on economic progress within the agricultural sector of a country (Betancourt 175). Within the context of Neoliberal expansion, Cuba is an unique exception within the region of Latin America, as it followed an alternative path to agricultural development, away from a neoliberal agricultural model. For more than 50 years, the United States (US) has imposed an economic, commercial, and social embargo against Cuba. This makes Cuba an interesting case study, in the broader context of Latin America and the dominance of Neoliberalism. Within the current ideology of agricultural development, climate change, and environmental degradation, the issue of sustainability has gained momentum in the agricultural sector. Looking through the lens of sustainable agricultural development, this brings the paper to the following research question: What are the economic, social, and environmental impacts of Neoliberalism versus Cuban-style policies on sustainable agricultural systems?Show less
This research deals with the question what the economic system based on precious metals (the natural situation) looked like in the Muslim world and if the evolution toward fiat money violated the...Show moreThis research deals with the question what the economic system based on precious metals (the natural situation) looked like in the Muslim world and if the evolution toward fiat money violated the commandments of the sharia concerning riba, particularly riba al-fadl and riba nasi’ah? These two forms of riba apply specifically to gold and silver, designated in the Quran and Sunnah as natural money. The evolution of money described by Fox and Ernst consists of five different stages, namely the natural situation where gold and silver are valued by their intrinsic value. This situation is sharia compliant but in the next stage coins were valued at face or nominal value, a violation of riba al-fadl which prescribes the exchange of weight for weight. Bank money is seen as the next stage, and this is problematic regarding riba nasi’ah as the exchange of gold and silver is deferred whereas the sources prescribe exchange being done on the spot. Paper money convertible to gold is the fourth stage. This again constitutes deferred exchange of metals, but also riba al-fadl as there is no 100% backing of the notes brought in circulation. Fiat money is totally divorced from gold and silver and is always brought into existence as a loan with interest. Islamic finance hasn’t really engaged with the topic of the permissibility of fiat money, but it appears interest in the subject is gaining traction as most Muslims feel that from an Islamic perspective there is something fundamentally wrong with the current financial system.Show less
The thesis explores the linkage between economic policies and quality of governance in the Middle East. Through an Econometric model and further theoretical research it ask why some countries have...Show moreThe thesis explores the linkage between economic policies and quality of governance in the Middle East. Through an Econometric model and further theoretical research it ask why some countries have a high rate of "open" economic practices, but with severe "closed" political systems. It concludes that based on the rapid development of these Oil States, they spend relatively little time in a state of development where regimes are unstable and likely to fall, instead shooting towards the stable, high, GNI per capita they currently have.Show less
