Sustainable development increasingly provides new norms in the international agenda for development assistance. As an international development actor the European Union (EU) integrates this notion into its objectives for development co-operation with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. This study, therefore, investigates how effectively the EU contributes to the sustainable development of Tonga, member of the Pacific ACP region. An operational mode of sustainable development should adopt an agenda that addresses the needs of the poor and adopts the objective to manage natural resources in a manner that allows economic growth and social development without irreversible impacts on the environment. In the bilateral development co-operation between the EU and Tonga the concept of sustainable development is now firmly established as an overarching objective. This research therefore investigates the correlation between Tonga’s agenda for sustainability and the development policy and co- operation the EU provides. In the policy framework that the EU adopts, addresses effectively many of the aspects of Tonga’s sustainable development. In the current framework of the tenth European Development Fund (EDF), in particular, the EU adopts appropriate strategies for the management of Tonga’s environment that support social and economic development. An analysis of the allocation of funds, however, shows that the promised policy strategies do not result in appropriate action. To contribute more successfully to the sustainable development of Tonga, the EU needs to integrate the development of the country into its own interests. The notion of cosmopolitan moral responsibility and distributive justice offers an incentive for the EU to do so.

The Confucius Institutes (CIs) are part of a major new Chinese Government initiative promoting the learning of the Chinese language and culture internationally. They operate through a network of institutes located in learning institutions around the world, and while they have an education focus, they also reflect political changes in China’s relationship with the rest of the world. A transformation in China’s approach to foreign relations has been evident since the belligerence and self-sufficiency of the Mao era, and cautious engagement of the Deng era. In the early 21st century, China’s new foreign policy is more confident and engaged behaviour than it has ever been. The conceptual sources of China’s foreign policy have broadened from Marxism-Leninism to include some contemporary international values and traditional Chinese norms. However, managing the sphere of ideas both domestically and externally, and securing the nation’s economic development, are the main means the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) maintains its legitimacy in the early 21st century. While China’s leadership has given the CIs considerable political independence, they are part of the Party’s propaganda system. Despite some foreign concerns about the Confucius Institutes being a propaganda tool, many other countries have similar programmes; the difference is China’s political system. Through the CIs, China is building the architecture of a major power, and has succeeded in improving its international influence. But because of the lack of international attractiveness of China’s political system, this is likely to be slow. The CIs reflect a more confident and effective Chinese foreign policy; and one that offers greater opportunities for engagement.

The increasing importance of media, especially digital media, in society has been studied widely, from identity formation to activist movements. In international relations studies digital media’s impact has focused considerably on public diplomacy 2.0. This focus has caused a more holistic view of digital diplomacy to be neglected. This study explores how digital media’s impacts as a part of mediatization are seen within the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Semi-structured interviews with 11 officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were conducted. These led to the creation of three thematic fields. The first one looks into how the agency of the Ministry is seen to be impacted by digitalization. The second section looks into how community building is seen as essential. And the third part investigated how the ministry evaluates the impacts of digitalization on other ministries of foreign affairs in the light of its own experience. The finding is that the ministry is expanding into a new digital sphere and that in the process of so doing the Ministry is not a tabula rasa, but it mirrors the cultural and political context of the country within the online sphere.

My thesis analyzes the relationship between Russia and Syria since the Second World War.

The Arctic region has not been a topic of discussion or a reason for a conflict in the past, but with the development of environmental issues which has resulted in melting of the ice, so has the interest for the region developed. This has resulted in a conflict over the area, with five countries as main actors. This paper investigates the five main actors’ goals with increased influence in the area, using the thoughts of Rational Actor Model, with states as utility-maximizing actors and foreign policy as the expression of national interest. Furthermore the paper investigates the means of getting to the goal, what kind of tools they use.The paper shows that all of the countries are interested in the economically benefits that are buried under the melting ice and the short cuts in sea routes that will be a possibility to use ones the ice melt more. It is also revealed that there is a security concern when the region is more accessible. The main tools that the countries use to get the influence that they wish are military and diplomacy means.

Since its reorganization in the early 1990s, the English School of international relations has emerged as a popular theoretical lens through which to examine global events. Those that use the international society approach promote it as a middle-way of theorizing due to its supposed ability to incorporate features from both systemic and domestic perspectives. A noticeable trend in the School since the end of the Cold War has been its interest with domestic and critical theory concerns, often focusing on individual, discursive or emancipatory issues. As a result, the English School has been able to accommodate the growing trends in international theory more generally, with the decline of problem-solving theory and the rise of critical projects. While the School and its practitioners may, for the most part, see value in discussing how domestic or critical variables impact the society of states, such examinations tend to neglect or overlook the systemic level of analysis. This project takes exception to the decline of the English Schools problem-solving foundations and argues that the School must place more emphasis on the systemic level of analysis if it hopes to be relevant in international theory debates. To this end, the criticisms of American scholars regarding the Schools lack of methodological rigour and explanatory power are addressed by demonstrating the added value to the international society approach if the constraints of the international system are included in theoretical explanations. In order to demonstrate how the systemic level alters English School analyses, two areas of popular examination within the School are explored, namely the role of international institutions and the debate over humanitarian intervention. Ultimately, the contention of this work is that English School scholars can greatly benefit from including systems-level thinking because of what it adds to the Schools explanatory power and also its ability to provide methodological rigour. In doing so, it is more likely the English School can penetrate the mainstream of international theory in the future.

China's rise is the most important change in our time. China with a population of 1.3 billion, annual economic growth rates above 10 percent and a successful economic transition has become the second biggest economic power worldwide. Since its economic opening, initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, China has gradually opened itself, welcomed international investors for Foreign Direct Investment and advocated international multilaterism. At the same time, China has successfully secured its own interests. Beijing has, while keeping its currency artificially low, implemented several economic and trade policies, which mostly benefit Chinese companies. At the same time, China reacts highly sensitive to interference in internal affairs and even punishes states, which are too critical of the Chinese government. China’s new, strong role has also transformed the unipolar international system, which was dominated by the United States after the end of the Cold War, towards a multipolar system. Many actors see themselves within a rapidly changing international system and are forced to react to the environment and conduct appropriate foreign policies towards China. This paper discusses EU-China relations from 2001 to 2009 and examines EU’s foreign policy towards China. The purpose of this study is to determine the weakness of Brussels’ China policy and to answer the question of whether or not the EU needs to adjust its policy in order to create a more thorough stance towards China. Keywords: EU, China, foreign policy, EU-China relations, economic rise

Inhalt: 1. Werte und Selbstverständnis behutsam erneuern Globalisierung Demografischer Wandel Klimawandel 2. Langfristig ökonomischen Wohlstand sichern Bildung Forschung und Entwicklung Außenwirtschaft 3. Plädoyer für eine neue außenpolitische Kultur : Deutsche Interessen – Ein Anachronismus? Status quo: Interessendefinition im Hinterzimmer Interessen klar definieren und erfolgreich durchsetzen Entscheidungsmatrix für Auslandseinsätze Evaluierung des Nutzens Evaluierung der Kosten Ableiten der Entscheidung Und die Moral? – Aber sicher! Der Tönissteiner Kreis

Inhalt: Deutsche Interessen Werteorientierte Außenpolitik Debattenkultur

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