This research aims to improve our understanding of the decision-making processes within the European Union (EU) concerning sanctions imposed on Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine....Show moreThis research aims to improve our understanding of the decision-making processes within the European Union (EU) concerning sanctions imposed on Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Through the implementation of a comprehensive framework, this research enables a thorough examination of the selection process for specific types of sanctions, their application across various sectors, and the consideration of exceptions. The study expands upon existing literature by integrating feedback effects into the framework, alongside normative, domestic political, and geopolitical factors, as well as diffusion effects. The findings underscore the significant influence of normative and geopolitical considerations, while also highlighting the constraints imposed by humanitarian and economic concerns. Furthermore, the analysis reveals a dynamic sanctions regime shaped by feedback mechanisms and evolving geopolitical dynamics. By providing a solid foundation, this study paves the way for future research efforts on sanction design. It enables comparisons with other entities that impose sanctions and facilitates the evaluation of diverse sanctioning instruments in terms of their effectiveness.Show less
This thesis sought to explore factors resulting in EU foreign policy reform through Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework. Using the literature on EU foreign policy change and the EU’s sanctions...Show moreThis thesis sought to explore factors resulting in EU foreign policy reform through Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework. Using the literature on EU foreign policy change and the EU’s sanctions policy as a fundamental basis, the expectations were that framing in a particular way would result in EU foreign policy reform, that policy entrepreneurs contributed to EU foreign policy reform, and that think tanks and swings of European mood contributed to EU foreign policy reform. Within this thesis, the imposition of sanctions against Russia represents the policy reform and window of opportunity through which policy reform can be realized. The cases of the annexations of Crimea and four Ukrainian regions were selected. To identify the factors at play, European news outlets, EU policy documents and meeting results, think tank reports and opinion polls have been consulted. The results revealed that policy entrepreneurs within the policy stream were responsible for the imposition of sanctions, despite continuous expression of dissatisfaction and use of the window of opportunity by think tanks. The discoveries within this thesis offer insights into the significant influence of factors found in the Multiple Streams Framework, contributing to existing literature on policymaking and opening avenues for further research.Show less
The war between Russia and Ukraine that started in 2022 came as a shock to most of the world. While the war is still in progress, attempts to prosecute the aggressor have already been set in motion...Show moreThe war between Russia and Ukraine that started in 2022 came as a shock to most of the world. While the war is still in progress, attempts to prosecute the aggressor have already been set in motion. The crime of aggression, which refers to Russia initiating the war, currently falls outside of the prosecuting options within international law. Therefore, the idea was created to set up an ad-hoc criminal tribunal to prosecute Russia’s high officials for starting the war. This thesis examines the factors that influenced the Dutch government’s offer to host a potential criminal tribunal to hold Russia accountable for the crime of aggression. Government documents, policy reports and literature on the interplay between international law and international relations were analysed and provided a basis for the semistructured interviews. The interviews with government officials and professors in international law and foreign policy show that there are multiple factors that influenced this offer. It was found there is a strong relationship between the history of the Netherlands and the foreign policy identity that exists today. The focus on accountability and the fight against impunity strongly influenced the Netherlands’ commitment to aiding the international community, by focussing on their specialty: hosting an international tribunal. The most important factor that could be identified which influenced the offer is the aspiration of the Netherlands to project a foreign policy identity that is linked to hosting international tribunals.Show less
Although the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is described as a universal norm, it has long been contested by postcolonial and decolonial scholarship. Considering the Russian invasion and occupation...Show moreAlthough the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is described as a universal norm, it has long been contested by postcolonial and decolonial scholarship. Considering the Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine, the conflict provides a rare possibility to compare the use of R2P between states in the Global North and the Global South. This Master thesis consequently conducts a comparative critical discourse analysis between discourse of the UNGA and UNSC on R2P in the cases of the Syrian Civil War and the Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine. The analysis finds that the UN discourse reflects both colonial and decolonial dynamics. It has institutionalized various narratives to decolonize its approach, whilst still engaging in Eurocentric discourse. Moreover, the results indicate that the geopolitical positioning of both Ukraine and Syria have played a role in the UN’s R2P approach to each case.Show less
State-sponsored cyberattacks are increasing. Although most attacks have a motivation like espionage, theft, and sabotage, there are also attacks motived to disrupt or interfere with a country to...Show moreState-sponsored cyberattacks are increasing. Although most attacks have a motivation like espionage, theft, and sabotage, there are also attacks motived to disrupt or interfere with a country to negatively affect public support for the incumbent government. Even though there are plenty of examples of cyberattacks with these motivations, the actual effect of public support towards the government has not been analyzed yet. According to the rally-around-the- flag theory, sudden, international and short events such as state-sponsored cyberattack should increase public support for government instead of decrease, as the aim of the attack. In this paper, a regression discontinuity analysis is conducted on the 2007 Estonian cyberattacks. Thereby, the satisfaction levels with the government and democracy are measured before and during the attack. The effect of cyberattacks on both the satisfaction with the government as well as democracy are non-significant. In other words, state-sponsored cyberattacks do not affect the population’s support for government. This is remarkable because it directly contradicts the purpose of the attack. It raises the follow-up question to what extent these types of attacks are effective.Show less
On December 17, 2021, the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation published two draft treaties that demand various security guarantees from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the...Show moreOn December 17, 2021, the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation published two draft treaties that demand various security guarantees from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United States. This meant that Russia wanted to reform the post-Cold War European security architecture. Upon the rejection of these proposals, Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Despite extensive scholarly research on Russia’s stance regarding European security, the debate revolves around realist and neo-realist perspectives which are not sufficient in comprehending the fundamental reasons behind why Russia wants to do so. For that reason, this thesis introduces a new theoretical approach called the ontological security theory. By adopting a post-structuralist methodology and discourse analysis, it argues that Moscow feels ontologically insecure due to the divergence between Moscow’s identity and its role in the post-Cold War European security architecture. Therefore, Russia sets its foreign policy for the “recognition” of its Self by the West, which is necessary for ontological security. The findings of this thesis also reveal the significance of identity in international relations and politics, as it brings alternative explanations to arguments put forward by grand IR theories regarding a phenomenon.Show less
In May 2017, during an election rally in Munich, Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel said something that would create international headlines: ‘The times in which we could completely depend on...Show moreIn May 2017, during an election rally in Munich, Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel said something that would create international headlines: ‘The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. […] We Europeans have to take our destiny into our own hands’. The developments that followed were unique for the EU. The EU’s limited military structures already in place were being expanded, became more autonomous, and new mechanisms were created to foster more defence cooperation among the member states. Closer defence cooperation within the EU is generally being ascribed to geopolitical pressures, so how do the narratives of the US and Russia influence EU member states’ sense of urgency to cooperate in the field of defence? I combine the constructivist idea of perception with the realist idea of necessity and look at threat perception and the perceived necessity to cooperate further in defence. By analysing the narratives of the German and French political elite regarding EU defence cooperation in 2018, I come to the conclusion that while the US narratives significantly increase EU member states’ sense of urgency to cooperate in the field of defence, Russia’s narratives do not have such a significant impact.Show less
This thesis investigates how the German Federal Government lives up to its normative and international commitments and initiatives to harmonize arms export controls. By analyzing existing data from...Show moreThis thesis investigates how the German Federal Government lives up to its normative and international commitments and initiatives to harmonize arms export controls. By analyzing existing data from the Federal Government’s yearly reports on its policy on exports of conventional military equipment and applying the International Relations Theories of Neorealism and Neoliberalism, it highlights the inseparability of arms export policy frameworks and foreign and security policy interests in the case of Germany. Furthermore, this thesis calls attention to the hierarchical structure that exists within this inseparability where the country’s arms export policy framework is given a secondary role to its foreign and security interests.Show less
In this thesis, the following research question is answered: What is the reliability of Jan Danckaert’s Dutch description of seventeenth-century Muscovy? The methodology used is comparative...Show moreIn this thesis, the following research question is answered: What is the reliability of Jan Danckaert’s Dutch description of seventeenth-century Muscovy? The methodology used is comparative philology, through a close reading analysis a comparison is made between different texts to study whether one makes use of the other as a source. Only a preliminary answer can be given to the research question. On the one hand, since the work is not purely written by Danckaert, but makes use of information given by both Herberstein and Massa without mentioning these sources, it is not reliable as a source of how a Dutchman perceived Muscovy at the beginning of the seventeenth century. On the other hand, if you purely look at the ratio between chapters that are demonstrably copied and those that seem to be purely written by Danckaert, one could conclude that this work written by Danckaert is fairly reliable to see how the Dutch perceived the Russian people at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The negative image of the Russians that is conveyed in this work influences the way the Dutch perceive them, who at that time did not have many different sources on which they could base their opinion.Show less
Citizenship and the intertwined educational subject of civic education are highly contested, as the notion of citizenship is strongly dependent on the type of government with its specific political...Show moreCitizenship and the intertwined educational subject of civic education are highly contested, as the notion of citizenship is strongly dependent on the type of government with its specific political system and the cultural-historical development of a nation. The Russian Federation as the multinational successor state of the Soviet Union (SU) faced major struggles concerning notions of citizenship during the 1990s. After the collapse of the SU and leaving the notion of citizenship as ‘the builder of communism’ behind, the main focus of Russia was on democratization, but this changed after 2000, when patriotism was getting more prominent. A way to get access to Russia's conceptions of civic education is examining high school textbooks. An analysis of their content can provide a deeper understanding of how civic education is approached and practised in nowadays Russia, in shaping its next generation. This analysis applied three general conceptions of citizenship, namely liberal individualism, republicanism and communitarianism and argues that Russia fits the the communitarian approach the most.Show less
This thesis aimed to establish how Gibridnaya Voyna became a popular framework in Russia to describe Russia’s relationship with the West. Using the process-tracing method, this thesis traced the...Show moreThis thesis aimed to establish how Gibridnaya Voyna became a popular framework in Russia to describe Russia’s relationship with the West. Using the process-tracing method, this thesis traced the two main aspects of the Gibridnaya Voyna framework, NATO expansion and color revolutions, throughout major Russian documents from 1991 to 2016.Show less
In April 2007, the streets of Tallinn bore witness to the worst civil unrest seen in Estonia since the Soviet Red Army arrived in the city in 1944. The riots, in which one ethnic Russian protester...Show moreIn April 2007, the streets of Tallinn bore witness to the worst civil unrest seen in Estonia since the Soviet Red Army arrived in the city in 1944. The riots, in which one ethnic Russian protester was killed and over 1,000 were arrested, came to be known as ‘Bronze Night’ and were sparked by the removal and relocation of a Soviet-era monument, the ‘Bronze Soldier’, which had stood in the centre of the city since 1947. This study argues that the removal of the ‘Bronze Soldier' can be viewed as the culmination of a ‘memory war’ which has played out since independence and which highlights and contributes to a rift in Estonian society. Drawing on insights garnered from memory studies and elements of securitization theory, this study argues that the construction of a singular focused ‘memory regime’ by the Estonian state has led to increased marginalisation of the ethnic Russian population in the state. Such marginalisation led to the creation of a counter-memory regime, embodied by the ‘Bronze Soldier’, which was easily exploited by the Russian state. The ensuing ‘memory war’ between both interpretations of history ensured ongoing hostility and antagonism between both ethnic groups which culminated in the events witnessed in 2007. This study argues that the construction of a more critical and pluralistic historical narrative on the part of the Estonian state, as opposed to an incessant fixation on Russia, would ensure increased integration in Estonia and subsequently, foster a greater feeling of security on the part of the Estonian state.Show less
The thesis analyses the extent to which the 2013 Crisis in Ukraine affected Kazakhstan and Belarus's economic and political relations with Russia within the integrational framework of the Eurasian...Show moreThe thesis analyses the extent to which the 2013 Crisis in Ukraine affected Kazakhstan and Belarus's economic and political relations with Russia within the integrational framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.Show less
