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In order to take account of the radical change in South Africa's international and continental environment, I have divided this thesis under two headings; policy towards colonial Africa (broadly, the period 1910 - 1959) and secondly, policy towards independent Africa (1960 - ). The division is by no means an absolute one. South Africa first began to feel the pressures of decolonization soon after the end of the Second World War. These took a variety of forms; for example, India's attacks on South Africa's racial policy and the United Nations' refusal to countenance the incorporation of South West Africa into the Union. They were echoed internally by growing militancy on the part of the African National Congress in the 1950's. Similarly after 1960, by which time most of the countries of Africa had achieved independence, the remnants of colonialism remained important to South African foreign policy. Firstly, the continuing existence of the Portuguese empire has carried the colonial order into the 1970's. Secondly, the former colonial powers have continued to exercise considerable influence on their ex-colonies. In particular, France's neo-colonial hold on many of her former colonies has assumed special importance in the context of South African initiatives towards francophone Africa.

This thesis examines Russia's foreign policy within a comparative historical framework and theorizes that Russian foreign policy while briefly deviating from its historical pattern following the collapse of the Soviet Union, has realigned its current trajectories with its more traditional foreign policy strategies. This correction is largely consistent with Soviet notions of great power status and is rooted in a desire to secure its own national interests and achieve geopolitical objectives. This thesis is divided into six chapters. For context, chapter one provides an historical overview of the traditional challenges faced by the Russian state, many of which remain today. Chapter two examines several core theories of foreign policy, providing a theoretical foundation from which the following chapters will routinely reference. Chapter three offers an historical synopsis of three discrete periods of Russian foreign policy and hypothesizes that the modern Russian state implements its foreign policy within a Defensive realist framework consistent with that of the former Soviet Union. Chapter four demonstrates how periods one and three are similar and fit within a consistent theoretical framework while concurrently demonstrating that period two was a temporal anomaly in the Russian approach to foreign policy. Chapter five addresses the implications associated with the continuation of Defensive realist foreign policy actions conducted by the Russian state. Finally, chapter six revisits the central theme of the work and contends that based on all demonstrated evidence the foreign policy of Russia today is in fact consistent with its historical patterns of behavior. / Master of Arts / This thesis examines Russia's foreign policy across three distinct periods of time and theorizes that Russian foreign policy while briefly deviating from its historical pattern following the collapse of the Soviet Union, has realigned its current trajectories with its more traditional foreign policy strategies. This correction is largely consistent with Soviet notions of great power status and is rooted in a desire to secure its own national interests and achieve geopolitical objectives. This thesis compares the Soviet Union's foreign policy strategy throughout its intervention in Afghanistan from 1979 - 1989, the Russian Federation's objectives prior to, and immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union from 1989 - 1993, and modern Russia's objectives in Syria from 2015 to the present. Russia's modern foreign policy shares many parallels with that of the former Soviet Union and should be considered a return to, rather than a divergence from its traditional approach to international relations. The main goal of this thesis is to determine, "What is Russia's modern Foreign Policy strategy and how has it changed over time?" This thesis compares each period by focusing primarily on the Russian state's actions and its leaders' perceptions regarding threats to their regional and global objectives throughout each period.

This paper examines U.S. political and social discourse on the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict and attempts to better understand U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, specifically on Israel. By examining official U.S. government documents, media articles, and pop culture platforms, this project identifies dominant narratives within the United States on Israel and the Palestinian territories. The complicated notions of identity that were discursively expressed within the United States on the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict are deconstructed and discussed to further the academic discussion on U.S. relations in the Middle East. / Master of Arts / This paper examines U.S. political and social discourse on the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict and attempts to better understand U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, specifically on Israel. By examining official U.S. government documents, media articles, and pop culture platforms, this project identifies dominant narratives within the United States on Israel and the Palestinian territories. The complicated notions of identity that were discursively expressed within the United States on the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict are deconstructed and discussed to further the academic discussion on U.S. relations in the Middle East.

Title: Det nya Ryssland - En inblick over Rysslands utrikespolitik under 2000-talet Author: Tim Balder and Jens Kindh Linnaeus University Department of Political Science Autumn term 2011 The purpose of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of how the Russian foreign policy is, how it is conducted and how it may develop in the future. To do that, we are going to try to answer the following questions: What characterizes Russia's official foreign policy? What theories are there for the Russian foreign policy? How can the various theories explain the Russian foreign policy actions at the international level? Our theory is to try explaining how the Russian foreign policy is continuing its development during the 21st century through three theories known as the Western liberalism, Pragmatic nationalism and Fundamental nationalism. Furthermore, to explain Russia's foreign policy and their behaviour, we are going to use the two foreign policy doctrines from 2000 and 2008. In addition, books and articles will also be used to explain how Russia's foreign policy is conducted and developed.

Since 2015, the Canadian government has made recurrent assertions that Canada has a feminist foreign policy. A policy, according to certain critics, that is hypocritical because of the government’s continuation of arms exports to countries deemed unsavory from a human rights standpoint. This context makes for a fertile exploration of the nexus between ethical foreign policy aspirations and the realities of foreign relations policy implementation and impact. By assessing these circumstances, I attempt to understand how hypocrisy functions within Canadian foreign policy. Through a method of discourse analysis, I evaluate the official discourses from the government and responses by civil society in relation to the Liberal Government’s handling of the Canada – Saudi Light Armoured Vehicle contract. In addition, by analysing Canadian foreign policy, via departmental reports, I highlight how the government attempts to infuse Canada’s foreign policy with ethical considerations. By tracing the rise of ethical considerations in Canada’s foreign policy, I argue that hypocrisy is intertwined with ethical considerations, thus systematically embedding hypocrisy within established Canadian institutions. Moreover, I show that Canada is committed to the concept of risk transfer, the doctrine of double effect and need for ‘proof grounded in evidence’ when assessing arms exports. These concepts shift the risks associated with hypocritical action away from the government and onto the people it purports to aid.

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