The main goal of this article is to find out in what way discrete negative emotions are of influence regarding a person's level of tolerance. To investigate this matter, an experiment among Dutch...Show moreThe main goal of this article is to find out in what way discrete negative emotions are of influence regarding a person's level of tolerance. To investigate this matter, an experiment among Dutch citizens was conducted to discover the impact of fear, anger and hatred on tolerance attitudes. Besides that, a person's perception of threat may be an important factor in explaining already existing emotions like fear. Because previous literature has pointed out that a person's perception of threat and felt emotions towards a certain group are closely connected, the research in this article will combine findings of threat perception and emotional responses in explaining political tolerance attitudes. The research question for this study is therefore: In what way do discrete negative emotions and perceptions of threat regarding a certain out-group effect a person's level of tolerance towards that out-group.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
Articles that investigate minority influence on foreign policy-making have mainly concentrated on minorities living in the United States. Research on national minorities outside the United States...Show moreArticles that investigate minority influence on foreign policy-making have mainly concentrated on minorities living in the United States. Research on national minorities outside the United States has been limited. This paper tries to compare two cases that are dissimilar to the United States, namely Turkey and Israel and this essay asks the question: to what extent do the Kurdish and Arabic minorities influence Turkish and Israeli foreign policy? There is a particular emphasis on foreign policy influence of Pro-Kurdish and Pro-Arabic political parties. The party websites of the Pro-Arabic, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) and Meretz are looked into. With regard to Turkey, the party website of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) is examined. The BDP has been established in 2008, which is considerably later compared to the pro-Arabic political parties in Israel. Unfortunately, it is impossible to investigate pro-Kurdish parties from before 2008, as these parties were banned by the Turkish Constitutional Court. It is argued in this paper that no proof can be found of pro-Arabic and pro-Kurdish political parties influencing foreign policy. Since Israel and Turkey are truly dissimilar to the United States, other cases need to be examined in order to find out whether minorities in other countries influence foreign policy. Moreover, international organizations, such as the Council of Europe and the European Union, can play a role in accommodating minorities. More research is necessary to find out whether international organizations, as the Council of Europe and the EU, play a role in protecting minority rights.Show less
This thesis analyzes the motives behind the hesitation of the American military interference in Syria to overthrow President Bashar al Assad. It provides a close focus on the role of global and...Show moreThis thesis analyzes the motives behind the hesitation of the American military interference in Syria to overthrow President Bashar al Assad. It provides a close focus on the role of global and regional actors in Syria. The research question of this paper is: What explains the hesitancy of the US involvement in the Syrian War? The research is focused on the red-line speech of President Obama to intervene in Syria and the following chemical weapon attack in Damascus. This study provides significant insight into the political relations between the US and Syria as well as the Syrian civil war. Many academic pieces of literature have been examined to combine valuable information about the power dynamics in the Middle East and their impact on the Syrian civil war. As a result, it is concluded that there are multiple causes behind the hesitancy of the US military intervention in Syria. These are listed as, the vetoes of Russia and China in the UN Security Council, the concern of non-ending regional war, the economic, political and humanitarian costs of the war, the emergence of the radical groups and the absence of strong secular opposition, the concern of state of chaos after the intervention, minor factors like difficult geography, population and the advanced air defense of SyriaShow less
The aim of this study is to find out how the occupation in the West Bank is maintained by Israel, the Palestinian Authority, its capitalist class and the aid agencies with its donors. Hereby, the...Show moreThe aim of this study is to find out how the occupation in the West Bank is maintained by Israel, the Palestinian Authority, its capitalist class and the aid agencies with its donors. Hereby, the focus set upon the question what the neoliberal economic policies in the West Bank are and how they play a role in the occupation of it. To answer this question, the thesis will explore the policies of both Israel and the Palestinian Authority next to the policies that are promoted in the West Bank by aid agencies and international donors. Israel’s neoliberal economic policies will be explained through its economic interests in the West Bank, such as land, labour, water and market. Furthermore, the study will look into the neoliberal economic policies of the Palestinian Authority and how the Palestinian capitalist class has been created through these policies. Lastly, the study will highlight the role of international donors and aid agencies in the West Bank and the means in which they apply their influence to promote neoliberal economic policies that sustain the occupation of the West Bank. The study will show that the neoliberal economic policies in the West Bank contribute to its occupation and its dependency on the Israeli economy and international aid. However, not only Israel profits from the occupation, but also the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian elite through their cooperation with Israel.Show less
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
This paper discusses the relationship between Israel’s high-tech industry and the high levels of income inequality in the country. The high-tech cluster in Israel is very successful, but this...Show moreThis paper discusses the relationship between Israel’s high-tech industry and the high levels of income inequality in the country. The high-tech cluster in Israel is very successful, but this success does not benefit the Israeli workforce equally. The main argument of this paper is that the high wages of the Israeli high-tech industry benefit only a small, overwhelmingly Jewish and highly educated elite, and thereby contribute to the high income inequality. The findings of this paper support the main argument. The majority of the workers in the high-tech sector are highly educated and Jewish. Their wages are significantly above the average wages in other sectors and qualify them to belong to the quintile with the highest income share. In addition, the data confirms that only the wages of the upper quintile are increasing, while the wages of all other quintiles are declining. This development is reinforced by the lack of unionisation in the high-tech sector and the declining importance of trade unions in other sectors. The findings further suggest that entrepreneurship in the high-tech sector requires substantial levels of knowledge and finance. Overall, it can be concluded that the high-tech industry in Israel contributes to a polarisation of income in the country.Show less
Besides strong physical presence in Israeli society, the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) symbolic presence in society is even more pervasive through constant transmission of its prominent values,...Show moreBesides strong physical presence in Israeli society, the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) symbolic presence in society is even more pervasive through constant transmission of its prominent values, embodied by the concept of strategic culture. This paper analyses the process of cultural transmission, performed by the IDF, within the framework of militarized socialization. Arguably, the process of militarized socialization underwent a shift from the use of military education as the main vehicle for socialization, to the use of religion as a vehicle for socialization and as an identity marker of the Israeli military as a whole. The gradual return of religion to the ranks may have important implications for the development of Israeli society, as well as for the course of the prolonged Israeli-Palestinian conflict in terms of decreased chances of rapprochement between the two parties.Show less
In order to explore the dynamics of unequal citizenship between the Jewish citizens and the Arab citizens of the state of Israel this thesis engages with the societal security dilemma, a variant of...Show moreIn order to explore the dynamics of unequal citizenship between the Jewish citizens and the Arab citizens of the state of Israel this thesis engages with the societal security dilemma, a variant of the traditional security dilemma that operates between different societies on an intrastate level and focuses on collective identity concerns. The societal security dilemma as such offers an alternative approach to the traditional perspectives provided on ethnic conflict by security studies. Through the method of content analysis the perceived threats to the collective identity of both the Jewish Israeli society and the Palestinian Arab society present in the state of Israel are qualitatively analyzed. From the side of the Jewish Israeli majority political-legal measures aimed at Israel’s Arab minority are investigated as part of the action-reaction process. From the side of the Palestinian Arab minority the Vision Documents, a set of three separate and seminal documents which express the minority’s view of the future of the Israeli state are investigated as part of the action-reaction process. The two societies find themselves locked into a regular societal security dilemma in which the Jewish Israeli majority demonstrates expansionist security-seeking behavior and the Palestinian Arab minority exhibits non-expansionist security-seeking behavior.Show less
In the past, the threat of nuclear arms and the states and actors that might gain access to such technology has resulted in the pre-emptive use of military force against states. Israel attacked...Show moreIn the past, the threat of nuclear arms and the states and actors that might gain access to such technology has resulted in the pre-emptive use of military force against states. Israel attacked Iraq (Operation Opera in 1981) and Syria (Operation Orchard in 2007) in order to prevent or forcefully disrupt their nuclear proliferation efforts. Currently, concern about Iran’s nuclear program has raised debate about the possibility of an Israeli pre-emptive attack. This thesis employs hypotheses from realist, constructivist and liberal theory to explain the use of force in counter-proliferation, using a strategy of within-case and across-case analysis of both prior attacks. I locate determining conditions that led Israel to use force in counter proliferation. The hypotheses explore conditions such as uncertainty about state identity, the perception of threat, the risk of shift in regional power balance, prior military hostility, hostile public statements made by state leaders, undeterrability and the domestic support of state leaders. Most of these conditions are present in the current case of Iran, when considering the possibility of a pre-emptive Israeli attack. If Iran’s military support to Hezbollah is interpreted as indirect military hostility, all the conditions for an Israeli pre-emptive attack would be present, when considering the conditions leading to the previous two Israeli attacks in counter proliferation. The analysis suggests there is a high chance that this will cause Israel to use pre-emptive force in order to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, as the “Begin Doctrine”, on which Israel’s security policy is based, will not accept such high security risks.Show less
In a globalizing world, where experiencing new cultures is on a lot of bucket lists, the study of cultural interaction has become very popular. In our modern day and age, we like to project this...Show moreIn a globalizing world, where experiencing new cultures is on a lot of bucket lists, the study of cultural interaction has become very popular. In our modern day and age, we like to project this etic phenomenon of our modern day globalization onto the ancient world. And not without avail, research has found that cultural interaction did indeed take place in the ancient world, although we need to keep in mind that the emic perspective might have been a bit different from our own. A lot of intercultural interaction took place in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Bronze Age. During this period ships filled with luxurious gifts and exotic merchandise were plying the seas. However, this transfer of material culture did not only occur through trade or gift exchange, but also through warfare and travelling craftsmen. The transfer of non-material culture also took place, for example through the transfer of techniques and ideas. This could also take the form of motif transference. This thesis examines the phenomenon of motif transference between the Aegean, the Near East and Egypt during the Bronze Age. Besides the acculturation between two cultures, it is also possible for cultural interaction to take place between three or more cultures. This is reflected in the art of the Bronze Age, in which some motifs were shared by the artistic traditions of the Aegean, the Near East and Egypt. The transfer in style as well as technology and iconography created a new level of hybridity that lasted until the end of the Late Bronze Age and which is often called the international style. But the objects which are considered to belong to the international style, were not the only ones displaying a common style. Throughout the Eastern Mediterranean frescoes were found with motifs from the Aegean artistic tradition, which were produced during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. They are found in geographically important cities, which were located along important trade routes. These paintings were found at Alalakh, Miletus and Hattusa in Turkey, Qatna in Syria, Tel Kabri in Israel, Tell el-Dab’a, Malkata and Amarna in Egypt and display hybrid influences in iconography as well as technology. The goal of this thesis is to determine if the much-debated international style at present has a too narrow definition, which might need to be expanded to include these frescoes. This study tries to determine whether or not the palatial art found in the Eastern Mediterranean can be seen as a part of the international style.Show less
