Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
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Quasi states and their interaction within the international system remain chronically understudied. To date, Kosovo is the only recent example of a former quasi-state that has managed to proclaim...Show moreQuasi states and their interaction within the international system remain chronically understudied. To date, Kosovo is the only recent example of a former quasi-state that has managed to proclaim independence and be internationally recognized afterwards. While displaying similar characteristics, Nagorno-Karabakh remains unrecognized. United by their nonrecognition, quasi states frequently rely on diplomacy by diasporas for their advocacy and representation. This thesis therefore aims to investigate where this different outcome in terms of diaspora diplomacy originates. Using the concepts of diaspora positionality and diaspora mobilization for an interpretive comparison between Albanian diaspora diplomacy for Kosovo and Armenian diaspora diplomacy for Nagorno-Karabakh in American and European host-state contexts, this research finds that for the Armenian diaspora genocide recognition took precedence over Nagorno-Karabakh, while Kosovo united the Albanian diaspora as a whole which through a combination of historical factors and context awareness subsequently set in motion an irreversible process towards recognized independence. On these grounds, this thesis posits diasporas as determined diplomatic actors in their own right who can play a pivotal role in homeland recognition and therefore warrant further research.Show less
Executive master thesis | International Relations and Diplomacy (MSc)
open access
Consensus is an increasingly selected decision-making procedure in negotiations and institutions. As a more informal mode of negotiating and decision-making without voting, We propose a method of...Show moreConsensus is an increasingly selected decision-making procedure in negotiations and institutions. As a more informal mode of negotiating and decision-making without voting, We propose a method of coding and tracking consensus in The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the foremost global organisation tasked with managing and improving states relations in space, by using its annual reports. By building a dataset of all COPUOS reports from 1990 to 2022, we model the presence and extent of consensus over time in against other quantitative data coded within the reports. We find an increasing number of views expressed over time, with the attainment of consensus mostly attributable to the substantive topic discussed. We also notice that factors related to less frequent attainment of consensus are often also associated with a higher strength of consensus. Non-state actors and developing countries are in some cases associated with increased attainment and strength of consensus.Show less
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a series of projects spearheaded by China, aiming to establish a global infrastructural network connecting China and Europe, among others. The EU faces the...Show moreThe Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a series of projects spearheaded by China, aiming to establish a global infrastructural network connecting China and Europe, among others. The EU faces the reality of an externally initiated attempt to integrate the Chinese and European economies, without being asked for permission. China’s strategy has been a bottom up approach, reaching out to individual EU-member states and their publics with ambitions for bilateral agreements and mutual cooperation. Meanwhile, frictions caused by perceived incompatible political differences have been a source of turbulence for Sino-EU relations for decades. The impact of the BRI on these relations remains obscure, warranting research efforts. This thesis asks specifically how the BRI affects EU foreign policy towards China, using the pathways of connection framework to make inferences. The framework, founded in realism, liberalism and constructivism, takes a relational and practitioner-centred approach. To gather data, explaining-outcome process tracing is employed as a method, trying to provide minimally sufficient evidence to explain the occurrence of the phenomenon under study. The study finds that the BRI affects the EU and EU foreign policy in a broad range of categories, as China rigorously pursues its foreign policy interests. It concludes that Chinese efforts are met negatively by the EU, who in return tries to fortify its defences to prevent the BRI from growing roots on the European continent.Show less
Master thesis | Crisis and Security Management (MSc)
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Freshwater is an essential yet scarce good, that is predicted to only become scarcer because of climate change and growing populations. In addition, freshwater in rivers is often shared between...Show moreFreshwater is an essential yet scarce good, that is predicted to only become scarcer because of climate change and growing populations. In addition, freshwater in rivers is often shared between multiple countries. Despite multiple predictions by scholars and experts, states often do not go to war over freshwater. Instead, most disputes end in the signing of a treaty. However, these treaties are not always fair and do not, actually, always end conflict. In the view of this research, treaties are merely a way in which states fight, without using violence, and should thus be seen as a part of ongoing conflict, rather than the end of it. In addition, despite theoretical predictions, international organisations do not play a large role in the creation of River Basin Organisations and neither do hydrohegemons.Show less
With decreasing expenditure and increasingly complex societal demands, Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFAs) have a unique challenge in public administration cutback management. In an attempt to...Show moreWith decreasing expenditure and increasingly complex societal demands, Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFAs) have a unique challenge in public administration cutback management. In an attempt to heed this challenge, MFAs can try to use the external shock of a budget cutback to foster innovation within the ministry, in an effort to increase productivity with less resources. This research takes a closer look at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the period from 2010 to 2020, a full cyclical period from cutbacks to re-investments. Taking an explanatory research approach, in which ten key officials from the ministry have been interviewed, this research provides a model which theorizes the relationship between cutbacks and innovation. I then operationalize this relationship through five organizational factors (perception, flexibility, organizational agility, power dispersion and historical leadership) and five contextual factors (munificence, turbulence, social capital, goal ambiguity, and professionalism). Of these factors, turbulence and goal ambiguity positively affect creativity in innovation while they negatively affect implementation of innovations, while the rest of the factors stay constant between both phases. The factor historical leadership, however, mitigates the negative effect of turbulence and goal ambiguity in the implementation phase. For the Dutch MFA, the cutbacks have had a positive influence on innovation at the ministry, particularly because of perception, flexibility and historical leadership. For similar cases abroad, or for future cutback rounds, it would therefore be advisable to maximize those factors in a chosen cutback management strategy and start already laying the foundations for historical leadership to develop. Further research, by doing a comparative case study between MFAs, could compare the effectiveness of the factors objectively and further complement a ‘handbook’ for cutback strategies vis à vis innovation in foreign policy.Show less
