Research has shown that news media reporting on foreign affairs tend to rely heavily on official sources (e.g. Schwalbe, 2013; Entman, 2004; Lawrence, 2009). This thesis analyse whether this is the case in Swedish news media reporting on the armed conflict in Mali, where Sweden has troops sanctioned by the UN. A more broader perspective is also analysed: How does the news media portray the armed conflict, and are there any differences between national daily newspapers (considered more “sober”) and national evening newspapers (considered more sensational)? An inductive framing analysis is used to identify frames not available in previous research. These frames, together with frames identified in other studies, are then used in a quantitative content analysis to measure to what extent the frames occur in the texts. Among the most important findings were that Swedish news media did in fact rely on Swedish official reporting to a large extent. The two evening newspapers, Aftonbladet and Expressen, used Swedish official sources in approximately 60% of their articles. The daily newspapers, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet, used Swedish official sources in about 35% of their articles. The main source used was also analyzed: This showed that Swedish official sources were the most common, in between 23% to 62% of the articles. The second most used source differed, but were in the range 9% to 18%. Other important results of the main themes of the articles showed that direct actions of war and other types of violence were the most commonly used. Peace efforts/negotiations and life of Mali civilians were the least common. The thesis also concludes that while there are variables where the evening newspapers and the daily newspapers can be grouped in those categories, that is often not the case.

This thesis aims to show how gender is done in the Swedish Armed Forces, against the backdrop of its transition into an international defence organization and the international resolutions that call for gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping operations. In the so-called “New Armed Forces”, traditional demarcations that have separated civilian employees from members of the military officer profession are no longer self-evident. At the same time, what it means to be men and women in the military is changing. Three empirical studies form the basis of the thesis. The first consists of qualitative interviews with women pioneers in the military officer profession, and discusses how gender relations in the Swedish military have changed since the inclusion of women. The second addresses the intersecting relations of gender and occupation and is based on interviews with strategic and executive actors in the Armed Forces Headquarters. The third, ethnographic, study follows a military unit preparing for a peacekeeping mission. It focuses on gender relations in everyday work and shows how the ongoing transformation changes what it means to be military men and women. The thesis is informed by feminist studies of organization, critical studies of men and masculinities, research on professions and occupations, and military studies. A “doing gender” approach and a relational view of both gender and occupations guide the analysis. The analysis shows how established ways of doing gender are changed and reproduced in military practices, how the emphasis on peacekeeping reshapes gender relations in military work, and how organizational boundaries are maintained and deconstructed in organizational practices. Theoretically, the thesis contributes by developing tools for analysing the practising of gender in organizations. The concept of boundary work is elaborated into a tool for analysing how demarcations of gender and occupation are accomplished in work practices. The concept Repair work is employed to capture the complexities of doing masculinities in organizations, by looking closely at situations where the everyday practising of gender is disturbed. / Denna avhandling syftar till att visa hur genus görs i den svenska Försvarsmakten, mot bakgrund av organisationens förändring från invasionsförsvar till insatsförsvar. Denna process kopplas till kraven på jämställdhetsintegrering inom fredsbevarande arbete. I den så kallade ”nya Försvarsmakten” är de gränser som tidigare skilt civilanställda från yrkesofficerare inte längre självklara. Samtidigt förändras de innebörder som kön ges i organisationen. Avhandlingen bygger på tre empiriska studier. Den första består av kvalitativa intervjuer med några av de första kvinnliga yrkesofficerarna i Sverige och diskuterar hur genusrelationerna har förändras sedan kvinnor gavs tillträde till officersyrket. Den andra, som inriktar sig på hur genus- och yrkesrelationer samverkar, bygger på intervjuer med aktörer på ledande och strategiska positioner i Försvarsmaktens högkvarter. Den tredje studien är etnografisk och följer ett internationellt insatsförband under förberedelserna för en fredsbevarande insats. Den undersöker hur genusrelationer skapas i det dagliga arbetet och visar hur den pågående förändringen omformar de betydelser som kvinnor och män tillskrivs i militären. Den tidigare forskning som avhandlingen knyter an till är genus- och organisationsforskning, kritiska studier av män och maskulinitet, forskning om yrken och professioner samt samhällsvetenskapliga militärstudier. Genomgående används ett ”doing gender”-perspektiv samt ett relationellt förhållningsätt till genus såväl som yrke. Analysen visar hur etablerade sätt att göra kön förändras och reproduceras i militära praktiker, hur betoningen på fredsbevarande arbete omformar genusrelationer samt hur gränser upprätthålls och dekonstrueras i organisatoriska praktiker. Avhandlingen bidrar med nya teoretiska verktyg för att förstå genuspraktiker i organisationer. Begreppet gränsarbete vidareutvecklas till ett begrepp som visar hur genus- och yrkesgränser görs i det dagliga arbetet. Begreppet reparationsarbete tydliggör de komplexa praktiker genom vilka maskulinitet görs då det vardagliga genusskapandet sätts ur spel.

Det dröjde 32 år från det att Folkrepubliken Kina blev permanent medlem i FN:s säkerhetsråd till dess att landet kontinuerligt deltog med militära förband inom ramen för FN:s fredsbevarande insatser. Kinas plötsliga och fortsatt ökande engagemang för FN-insatser väcker frågan om bevekelsegrunderna för detta paradigmskifte. Med utgångspunkt i Kinas ekonomiska och militära utveckling samt landets internationella relationer, syftar studien till att förstå Kinas ökande deltagande i FN:s fredsbevarande insatser. Kinas ökande internationella engagemang talar för att möten mellan svensk och kinesisk militär personal kommer att öka. Studien är därför relevant och kan utgöra en kunskapskälla för Försvarsmaktens officerare, som i kommande tjänsteutövning ska interagera med kinesisk militär personal inom ramen för internationella insatser. Studiens slutsatser är: (1) Kina strävar efter att balansera de negativa internationella effekter som landets politiska system innebär genom ett målmedvetet arbete för internationell normförskjutning. Det innebär att förändra såväl den internationella bilden av Kina, som Kinas verkliga internationella förutsättningar. (2) Bevekelsegrunderna för de ökande kinesiska FN-insatserna kan förstås först genom att placera insatserna i en internationell kontext med kinesiska utgångspunkter. FN-insatserna utgör där en medveten och kostnadseffektiv åtgärd i Kinas strävan efter internationell normförskjutning och multipolaritet. Insatserna leder till ett ökat diplomatiskt handlingsutrymme vilket kan användas för såväl ekonomiska som militära syften. (3) Det finns idag inga tecken på att nuvarande trend avseende Kinas engagemang för FN:s fredsbevarande insatser avtar. / Since the People’s Republic of China became a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), it took 32 years until continuously participating with troops within a UN peacekeeping operation. The sudden and increasing peacekeeping-commitment raises questions of motives. Based on China’s economic and military development and its international relations, this study aims at understanding China’s increasing participation in UN peacekeeping operations. China’s increasing involvement in UN peacekeeping operations implies that meetings between Swedish and Chinese military personnel will increase. This study is therefore relevant and may constitute a source of knowledge for personnel of the Swedish Armed Forces who will interact with Chinese military personnel within international peacekeeping operations. Conclusions: (1) China strives to balance the negative international impacts of the country’s political system through a focused effort for shifting international norms. This means changing both the international image of China as well as changing China’s international conditions. (2) The motive for increasing Chinese UN efforts can be understood by placing these in an international context with Chinese perspective. The UN efforts constitute a focused and cost-effective step in China’s pursuit of shifting international norms towards multipolarity. The efforts lead to increased diplomatic capability, which can be used for both economic and military purposes. (3) There are currently no indications that the current trend of China’s commitment to UN peacekeeping operations is diminishing.

United Nations peacekeeping forces and operations, have long had a history of crimes against civilians by its personnel, not least concerning crimes of sexual exploitation and abuse. While human rights violations are grave despite their origin, there is a specific element of impunity and distrust when the same people who comes to ‘protect’, are the same people who become perpetrators. In this sense, it is notably interesting and important to examine victims’ rights to access justice when crimes have been committed by UN Personnel. The primary aim is to explore to what extent the fore-mentioned victims have the possibility to access justice within the legal system of UN Transitional Administrations. These UN operations are chosen since it is particularly important to examine the extent to which victim’s may access justice when the UN exercises governmental powers and acts as a quasi-state. An underlying aim is to explore how the eventual inconsistencies within this system may be colored by postcolonial tendencies. In this sense, the study is conducted through a doctrinal method with a postcolonial perspective, examining the normative aspects of law in the light of a critical lens. The legal basis and the legal obligations of UN Transitional Administrations are compared to the International Standard on Victims’ rights and evidence on how victims’ rights to access justice is practiced within these administrations. Finally, the aim is to evaluate the result of this analysis from the standpoint of postcolonial theory.