This research seeks to analyze the current hydropolitical relationship between Israel and Jordan in the light of the Declaration of Intent, agreed upon in November 2021. The agreement entails a...Show moreThis research seeks to analyze the current hydropolitical relationship between Israel and Jordan in the light of the Declaration of Intent, agreed upon in November 2021. The agreement entails a collaboration between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel and the United Arab Emirates on water and energy issues. While the literature on hydropolitics has mainly focused on the connection between water scarcity on the one hand, and conflict or cooperation, on the other, this study moves beyond this dichotomy by applying a mixed method of environmental peacebuilding and hydro-hegemony to the case-study. Built on theoretical analysis and including historical aspects, the international, regional and domestic context as well as the concept of asymmetrical power and discursive power, the research looks beyond elite interests and traditional theories of international relations. While the analysis identifies the envisaged cooperation from the water-for-energy deal as a form of technical environmental cooperation, the findings also stress the ambiguity in Jordan’s behavior and the underlying dynamics of power asymmetry, reinforced by the role of external actors and the use of dominant discourses.Show less
For 20 years, studies have been underlining a decrease in the attachment of young diaspora Jews with the State of Israel. While a broad majority of young Jews supports the existence of a Jewish...Show moreFor 20 years, studies have been underlining a decrease in the attachment of young diaspora Jews with the State of Israel. While a broad majority of young Jews supports the existence of a Jewish state in Palestine, an increasing minority develops an opposition to Israeli policies, especially concerning the occupation of Palestinian Territories. As Jewish organisations advocating for Palestinian rights flourish in the Western world, where the Jewish diaspora is in majority located, the process according to which young Jews are increasingly distancing themselves from an Israeli- centred Jewish identity seems important to inquire. Indeed, growing diaspora support for a just political solution to the Middle East conflict might have empiric repercussions on the Israeli government. Therefore, this thesis seeks to inquire the identification process of young progressive Jews in France and Britain relating to the Zionist project, and aims at answering the following question: What drives critical French and British Jewish youth’s identification choices in the construction of a non-Israel centric identity? This paper argues that young Jews self-identify in a nexus between the Jewish community, overwhelmingly Zionist, and external norms and values of human rights and social justice, which creates conflicting dynamics. When left-wing values out-weight the community’s narrative, it creates or strengthens a feeling of alienation among progressive Jewish youth, that is slowly turning into criticism and distancing from the State of Israel. This youth, therefore, seeks to navigate new spaces of identification and revive a Jewish identity able to reconcile this internal struggle. To demonstrate so, this thesis will firstly conceptualise identity and discuss historical debates on Jewish identity. It will then analyse the distancing hypothesis, and the debates it created among scholars about its accuracy and potential factors. In the last two chapters, it will study the self- identification process of four young British and French Jews advocating for Palestinian rights. Through life-long interviews dealing with their attitudes towards a Zionist Jewish identity, this paper underlines the dynamics characterising their progressive alienation from the State of Israel: a primary discomfort, followed by a de-Zionification process, creating important fractures with friends, families, and their Jewishness, and finally the identification with a revived diasporic identity, able to reconcile Jewishness and anti-Zionism.Show less
In my thesis, I argue that the end of the Cold War affected Israel’s role in the U.S. Middle East strategy. During the Cold War, this role was predominantly military. However, the end of the Cold...Show moreIn my thesis, I argue that the end of the Cold War affected Israel’s role in the U.S. Middle East strategy. During the Cold War, this role was predominantly military. However, the end of the Cold War changed this and as a result, this role was predominantly political and economic after the Cold War. I base my research on a combination of two theories: constructivism, an approach of International Relations (IR), and Historical Sociology (HS).Show less
An analysis of the emotive portrayal of Dutch-Israeli relations by Dutch scholarship, looking at three case studies between the years 1979-1982 to see if there is sufficient empirical evidence for...Show moreAn analysis of the emotive portrayal of Dutch-Israeli relations by Dutch scholarship, looking at three case studies between the years 1979-1982 to see if there is sufficient empirical evidence for this emotive portrayal in academic studies.Show less
This thesis asks why the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, has become a prominent issue within the British Labour Party. Further, it seeks to examine whether or not positions on...Show moreThis thesis asks why the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, has become a prominent issue within the British Labour Party. Further, it seeks to examine whether or not positions on the conflict and expressions of solidarity with the Palestinians by members of the Party follow a general trend, and which external and internal factors have brought about the relative prominence of the conflict within the Party. It uses textual and discourse analysis to examine these questions and focuses on the formation of discourses around Palestine in the elite of the Labour party in the post-war period, with a particular focus on the period following the 1973 October war.Show less
Suez is a seaport city which is one of the two gates of the Suez Canal. Most media talked about Tahrir Square in Cairo as the epicenter of the Arab Spring in Egypt. However the truth is that Suez...Show moreSuez is a seaport city which is one of the two gates of the Suez Canal. Most media talked about Tahrir Square in Cairo as the epicenter of the Arab Spring in Egypt. However the truth is that Suez was genuinely the center of the unprecendented uprising, as it was the first city to rise up against Hosni Mubarak. Likewise, Suez was also sadly known for being the city where the first protester was killed in Egypt during the January 2011 uprisings. Therein, Suez was renowned across Egypt for carrying ‘The Flame of Revolution‘. As such, some activists referred to Suez as the ‘Egyptian Sidi Bouzid’.Show less
