<p>Essay in Political Science, Advanced Course, by Christoffer Hagström</p><p>“The Bush Administration´s view on international cooperation and international</p><p>law and political-theoretical traditions influence on the administration´s foreign</p><p>policy”</p><p>Supervisor: Jan Olsson</p><p>The purpose of this paper is to analyze the American foreign policy, particularly with regard to</p><p>international cooperation and international law. The two following research-questions are used in</p><p>order to fulfil the purpose: (1) what is the Bush-administrations´s view of of the place for</p><p>international cooperation and international law in American foreign policy?, and (2) how does the</p><p>administration´s foreign policy correspond to dominant political-theoretical thought-traditions? The</p><p>traditions used are: liberalism, realism and neoconservatism. The sources of the study mostly</p><p>include literature and policy-documents. The author conducts qualitative and quantitative content</p><p>analysis of the Bush-administration´s policy document National Security Strategy of the United</p><p>States from March 2006. First the document is summarized based on different criteria followed by</p><p>categorizations of ideas connected with realism, liberalism and neoconservatism in the document. In</p><p>the quantative analysis value-words that are appropriate for the various traditions is chosen. The</p><p>frequency of those words can be seen as indications of the influence of the traditions in the thoughts</p><p>of the Bush-administration, but is mostly seen as a complement to the qualtative analysis. The main</p><p>conclusions of the paper are that the Bush-administration most often wish to act according to</p><p>international law and to cooperate with other actors internationally in the long run, it may even be</p><p>necessary. In the short run however, it may act outside the parameters of international organizations</p><p>and international law in order to accomplish foreign policy-goals. Matters related to the security of</p><p>the American state and people is considered much more important than international cooperation</p><p>and law. Liberalism seems to be the tradition that has most affected the Bush-administration´s</p><p>foreign policy. It is followed shortly thereafter by realism and neoconservatism seems to have had</p><p>the least influence on the the thought-traditions. All of the them has been active in the making of the</p><p>foreign policy.</p>

L’évolution scientifique du VIH/sida ne peut se conter sans son aspect juridique ; en effet, la pandémie a soulevé de nombreuses interrogations sur le plan juridique, qui se sont traduites par l’adoption de multiples législations. De la sorte, la sérophobie, née de l’impuissance de la médecine et de la science face à cette maladie qui semblait inexorable et de la peur du fait de l’incertitude sur ses origines et sa prophylaxie, a eu pour corollaire des réactions liberticides accompagnée d’un anathème jeté sur certaines populations. Toutefois, ce fléau médical, devenu également social, a eu comme résultat de lutter contre diverses injustices. En effet, alors que depuis le XIXe siècle, la réponse apportée aux épidémies était très autoritaire, le VIH/sida a introduit une nouvelle conception du contrôle de ces dernières, éloignée de la conception classique. Une perspective inédite consistant en une réflexion plus globale s’est alors mise en place. À partir de cela, le respect des droits individuels ne fut plus considéré comme pouvant être contraire à l’intérêt général, mais comme étant un élément nécessaire au bien-être commun. Dès lors, après avoir constitué une boîte de pandore aux atteintes aux droits fondamentaux, la riposte au VIH/sida est devenue, de façon croissante, un moyen de lutter contre les obstacles juridiques, traditionnels ou religieux d’un État à la mise en place d’une protection juridique égale à tous. Mais nonobstant ces progrès, des pans de la population mondiale restent très vulnérables face à l’infection. L’histoire du VIH autant scientifique que juridique n’est donc pas terminée / The scientific development of HIV/AIDS cannot be told without its legal aspect. Indeed, the pandemic has raised many questions in terms of law, which led to the adoption of numerous legislations. Thus, the "serophobia", result of the powerlessness of medicine and science regarding this disease that seemed inexorable and of the fear due to the uncertainty about its origins and prophylaxis, has been followed by drastic reactions and an anathema thrown on certain populations. However, this medical scourge, that also became a social one, has permitted to fight against some injustices. Indeed, while since the nineteenth century, the response to an epidemic was very authoritarian, HIV/AIDS has changed the game and introduced a new concept of control of the latter, different from the classic design. A new perspective consisting of a more global thinking, was then introduced. From this, the respect for individual rights was no longer regarded as being contrary to public interest, but as a necessary element of public health. Therefore, after having been a Pandora's box for human rights violations, the response to HIV/AIDS has become, increasingly, a way to fight against the legal, traditional or religious national obstacles to the implementation of a legal protection equal to all. But despite this progress, some populations remain highly vulnerable to the infection. Thus, the scientific and legal story of HIV is far from over

It is now well-known that The King and I has little claim to truth. Recent research has exposed the inaccuracy of the “biographical” works on which the musical is based: Anna Leonowens invented many things about her personal background and experiences. Much of her life, then, is a contrived fantasy. Yet her life of fantasy has been resurrected in countless adaptations, including the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and its 2015 revival production, that ceaselessly draw audiences. The fascination of American audiences with Anna’s tale lies their belief in the timeless American ideals that her fantasy employs: those of freedom and equality, which undergird such myths as American exceptionalism and American multiculturalism. The appeal of this cultural fantasy is illuminated by examining the history of the Cold War era in which The King and I was created, as well as the politics of President Trump that define recent years and influence the creation and reception of the revival show (and its 2016-2018 national tour). America today is occupied by the same conflicting desires for integration/internationalism and isolationism of bygone times; today, the idea of a superior America is still upheld by a fear of the Other. Examining how the visual elements, songs, and performances of the original and revival musicals both reinforce and undermine the fantasy of cultural superiority will reveal how Americans continue to fall under the spell of fantasy, and how a connection to the past sheds light on what it means to be an American today.

Belly dance is popularly practised in the West, and every year, thousands of enthusiasts and professionals from around the world travel to attend belly dance festivals in Egypt, which is considered the cultural centre of the dance. This bachelor’s thesis examines the discourses produced by Western or ʽwhiteʼ belly dancers from Sweden and Finland, on the topics of tourism in Egypt and belly dance festivals in Egypt. The texts are analysed using James Paul Gee's discourse analytical framework, combined with postcolonial theory, complemented with an intersectional approach. From the postcolonial and feminist perspectives, belly dance discourse in the West and tourism discourse are problematic, as they perpetuate Orientalist tropes and unequal global power structures, which build on colonial discourse. It is hoped that by identifying and questioning these aspects of discourse that are problematic in terms of equity, this study will make a small contribution towards mitigating its adverse effects, and towards social change. / <p>ORCID for Mavis Hooi : 0000-0002-0049-1095</p>

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Die Agrarpolitik in den Ländern der OECD hat sich seit Mitte der 1980er Jahre stark verändert. Lange Zeit galt die Landwirtschaft als exzeptioneller Wirtschaftszweig, der umfangreiche staatliche Unterstützung für Erzeuger:innen benötigt, um Ernährungssicherheit zu gewährleisten. Heute befasst sich Agrarpolitik auch mit politikfeldübergreifenden Themen wie Verbraucherschutz, Tierwohl und ökologischer Nachhaltigkeit. Dieser Wandel ging mit neuen Politikzielen und -instrumenten, offeneren Institutionen und komplexeren Akteurskonstellationen einher. Gleichzeitig ist Agrarpolitik weiterhin auf Erzeuger:innen ausgerichtet, wodurch der ‚exzeptionalische‘ Kern – die Stützung landwirtschaftlicher Einkommen – bestehen bleibt. Das Konzept des Post-Exzeptionalismus beschreibt dieses Nebeneinander von alten und neuen Ideen, Institutionen, Akteuren, Politikzielen und -instrumenten, wodurch Spannungen in den Politikarrangements entstehen können. Diese Dissertation hat das Ziel am Beispiel der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik (GAP) der Europäischen Union (EU) und von Governance-Aktivitäten in landwirtschaftlichen Wertschöpfungsketten in Deutschland zu einem besseren Verständnis dieser Spannungen beizutragen. Auf Grundlage einer Kombination verschiedener Ansätze der Public Policy- und Governance-Analyse untersucht diese Dissertation, wie sich die Spannungen in (i) der Ausgestaltung der Instrumente im GAP-Policy-Mix (2014-2022), (ii) den Diskurskoalitionen und Frames nationaler Stakeholdern in der Debatte zur GAP nach 2022, (iii) dem Verhältnis zwischen Staat und Landwirt:innen und (iv) den Koordinierungsaktivitäten in Wertschöpfungsketten in Deutschland zeigen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Details der GAP-Umsetzung und Governance-Aktivitäten entscheidend für die (Nicht-)Angleichung der alten und neuen Elemente in der Agrarpolitik sind. Ihre Ausgestaltung handelt sich also nicht um rein technische, administrative oder unternehmerische, sondern vielmehr um zutiefst politische Aktivitäten. / Agricultural policy in OECD countries has changed considerably since the mid-1980s. Long treated as an exceptional economic sector in need of extensive state support to ensure food security, agricultural policy now also aims to address more cross-cutting issues, including consumer protection, animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Novel objectives and policy instruments, a more open institutional framework and increasingly complex actor constellations have accompanied this shift. At the same time, agricultural policy has predominantly remained producer-oriented, perpetuating the exceptionalist core of farm income support. The term post-exceptionalism aims to capture the tensions arising from the juxtaposition of old and new ideas, institutions, actors, and objectives and policy instruments in agricultural policy. This dissertation aims to provide a better understanding of the tensions inherent in post-exceptionalist arrangements in agricultural policy, with the implementation of the European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and governance activities in agri-food value chains in Germany as an example. Combining different approaches of public policy and governance analysis, the thesis examines how the tensions play out in (i) the design of instrument calibrations in the CAP policy mix (2014-2022), (ii) discourse coalitions and frames among national stakeholders in the run-up to the CAP post-2022, (iii) the relationship between the state and farmers underlying direct payment implementation for the CAP 2023-2027, (iv) and coordination activities in the governance of sustainability-based agri-food value chains in Germany. The results of this dissertation show that the very details of CAP implementation and governance activities in value chains are decisive for the (non)alignment of old and new elements of agricultural policy. Thus, they constitute not a mere technical, administrative or entrepreneurial but rather a political activity.

This study uses defensive realism, offensive realism and power transition theory (PTT) in order to examine the great powers’ grand strategies in the Arctic region, aiming to recontextualise the security theatre in the Arctic as a reflection of the return of great power politics and the end of Arctic exceptionalism, and to examine the explanatory power of the different strands of realism on the great power behaviour identified in their Arctic strategies. The study is conducted using qualitative content analysis and utilises Jacob Westberg’s theorisation of grand strategies through the categories of context, ends, means and ways as analytical framework, to which the theoretical framework is applied. The result shows that realism is a suitable theory for predicting great power behaviour in the Arctic, where PTT provides the strongest explanatory power; that the dichotomy between hard and soft security is eroding; and that the strategies were highly context-dependent, thus rendering generalisable results difficult to discern.

No description available.

[pt] O conceito de excepcionalismo americano permeou a história dos EUA e criou uma imagem de um país com um sistema e uma sociedade democráticos superior, capaz de promover a democracia, os direitos humanos e o Estado de Direito em nível nacional e internacional. Essa ideia legitimou a liderança dos EUA na construção de uma ordem liberal internacional. A ascensão ao poder do Presidente Donald Trump e a atual crise da ordem global contribuíram para questionar essa ideia e seus pressupostos. Esta dissertação tem dois objetivos principais: em primeiro lugar, discutir o conceito de excepcionalismo americano e, em segundo lugar, analisar como o conceito de excepcionalismo americano afeta a relação entre os Estados Unidos e o Direito Internacional. Será argumentado que o excepcionalismo pode ser definido como um conceito e analisado com as lentes teóricas e metodológicas da História Conceitual. Sem um significado definitivo, o excepcionalismo americano é composto de diferentes interpretações que variam de acordo com o contexto em que o autor se situa. Ainda assim, sua importância na história e na identidade americanas é inquestionável, tornando necessário levar em conta o excepcionalismo ao tentar entender as ações dos Estados Unidos. Para analisar a relação entre o excepcionalismo americano e o Direito Internacional, a dissertação se envolverá com a literatura sobre a Ordem Liberal Internacional, a hegemonia dos EUA e o multilateralismo. Além disso, será perguntado se a ascensão de Donald Trump pode ser considerada uma ruptura em duas tradições americanas: a relação dos Estados Unidos com o Direito Internacional e o uso político do excepcionalismo. Argumenta-se que, apesar de se distanciar claramente da tradição excepcionalista, Trump não se desviou da tradição do Direito Internacional como é comumente percebido. Essa percepção é derivada de seus discursos radicais, de sua personalidade estrondosa e de seus vínculos com a extrema direita, mas não se traduz na maioria de suas políticas. / [en] The concept of American exceptionalism has permeated U.S. history and created an image of a country with better democratic system and society, able to promote domestically and internationally the democracy, human rights and the rule of law. This idea has legitimatized U.S. leadership in the construction of a liberal international order. The rise to power of President Donald Trump and the current crisis of the global order have contributed to question this idea and assumptions. This dissertation has two main aims, firstly, to discuss the concept of American exceptionalism, and secondly to analyse how the concept of American exceptionalism affects the relationship between the United States and International Law. It will be argued that exceptionalism can be defined as a concept and analysed with the theoretical and methodological lenses of Conceptual History. With no definitive meaning, American exceptionalism is made of different interpretations that vary across the context the author was situated in. Still, its importance in American history and identity is unquestionable, making it necessary to take exceptionalism into account when trying to understand the United States actions. In order to analyse the relation of American exceptionalism and International Law, the dissertation will engage with the literature of International Liberal Order, U.S. hegemony and multilateralism. Furthermore, it will inquire if the rise of Donald Trump can be considered a rupture in two American traditions: the United States relationship with International Law and the political use of exceptionalism. It is argued that, although clearly distancing himself from the exceptionalist tradition, Trump did not deviate from International Law tradition as it is commonly perceived. This perception is derived from his radical speeches, loud personna and ties to the Far-Right, but do not translate into most of his policies.

In 1971, Isaac Asimov observed in humanity, a science-important society. For this he credited the man who had been his editor in the 1940s during the period known as the golden age of American science fiction, John W. Campbell, Jr. Campbell was editor of Astounding Science-Fiction, the magazine that launched both Asimov's career and the golden age, from 1938 until his death in 1971. Campbell and his authors set the foundation for the modern sci-fi, cementing genre distinction by the application of plausible technological speculation. Campbell assumed the science-important society that Asimov found thirty years later, attributing sci-fi ascendance during the golden age a particular compatibility with that cultural context. On another level, sci-fi's compatibility with "science-important" tendencies during the first half of the twentieth-century betrayed a deeper agreement with the social structures that fueled those tendencies and reflected an explication of modernity on capitalist terms. Tethered to an imperative of plausibly extrapolated technology within an American context, sci-fi authors retained the social underpinnings of that context. In this thesis, I perform a textual analysis of stories published in Astounding during the 1940s, following the sci-fi as it grew into a mainstream cultural product. In this, I prioritize not the intentions of authors to advance explicit themes or speculations. Rather, I allow the authors' direction of reader sympathy to suggest the way that favored characterizations advanced ideological bias. Sci-fi authors supported a route to success via individualistic, competitive, and private enterprise. They supported an American capitalistic conveyance of modernity. / Master of Arts