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In the spring of 2011, massive protests shook the streets of Egypt, as hundreds of thousands of people protested against the sitting regime run by president Mubarak. Eventually the military ousted Mubarak and took power in his place. The military then kept power for more than a year until a new president, Morsi, could be elected in the summer of 2012. Morsi, in turn, was ousted by the military after only a year in power. During the period that followed after the revolution, according to several researchers, Egypt saw signs of democratization, a process that the military affected in several ways. The research question of this paper is thus how the military affected the democratization process in Egypt. By looking at Schmitter and Lynn’s (1991) democracy criteria, the actions of the military will be evaluated and labeled negative or positive in terms of democracy. The positive effects on the democratization process were that it did allow for multiparty elections, it instituted presidential term limits and strengthened judicial oversight. It also removed parts of the emergency law that had been in place since Mubarak came to power. Its negative influence consisted of several constitutional decrees which intended to take away several powers from the upcoming president (Morsi). It also abolished the democratically elected parliament and took over its powers to make laws and to decide on the country’s budget. A semi-democratic move was to force the sitting president Morsi from power in 2013.

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Climate change is often described as a threat by IGOs and at international climate conferences. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change frequently presents climate change as a threat to the planet and emphasises its urgency. This responds to the rhetoric and grammar of security which constitutes the main part of the securitisation theory as presented by the Copenhagen School of Security Studies. This theory suggests that the grammar and rhetoric of security has contributed to a securitisation of climate change on the global level by presenting it as e.g. an acute threat. On national level however, such arguments are rarely used and as a result, climate change has not received the same priority as it has on the global level. Hence, this research sets out to investigate to what extent the grammar and rhetoric of security is used on the national level by analysing climate documents in two different countries: a developed (USA) and a developing country (India). A content analysis facilitated in coding the research documents into categories based on how climate change is presented and described. The content analysis found that on national level, the degree to which climate change is described with the rhetoric and grammar of security is used to a lesser extent than on the global level.

The purpose of this paper is first, to describe the role of market places in a Swedish context, second, to investigate how could market places catalyze sustainable development in a city located in a Swedish context, and third to analyze which are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved, that could facilitate or obstruct the influence of market places in the process of sustainable development in the context of a city in the Swedish context. As some municipalities already started to do in the European context, market halls can be restored or some new ones can be built as vibrant centres of activity, which would complement the city centre and along with other facilities become one of the hot-spots on a city’s or town’s map as scholars point out. Constantly reinventing themselves, market places still keep some of their initial features that generated sustainable design through history. Nowadays, apart from market places for food, new types of markets appear on the niche, but which, as the old market places, generate sustainable development in the city in a different interpretation. Reviewing the literature will provide a base for the research which will be further tested using a case-study strategy to answer the research question: How can market places catalyze sustainable development in a mutualistic symbiosis with the city in a Swedish context? In biology, when being in a symbiotic mutualistic relationship, two organisms of different species co-exist, each benefiting from the activity of the other (Reese, 2013: 190).The market place and the city could develop a symbiotic relationship, in which, both influence mutually towards a sustainable outcome. After the research identifies and tests how could market places influence the four spheres of sustainable development in the city, a SWOT analysis is conducted to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that could facilitate or obstruct the influence of market places in the process of sustainable development in a city. The research will be relevant by adding to the previous studies, offering an understanding on how market places could influence in this manner and adding to the gap identified in the literature. The research was carried out using semi-structured and unstructured interviews, observation and secondary data sources.

Globalization is a diffuse term, which is why it’s interpreted very differently.  The purpose of this study is therefore to examine how the Swedish innovation policy portrays globalization and what consequences this imposes. How countries’ politics are run depends on their views on globalization. This study involves an ideal type analysis. The chosen ideal types represent three different perspectives on globalization. The three ideal types I have chosen are the neo-liberals, the reformists and the dissidents. In order to answer this study’s questions, I’ve chosen three documents to analyze. These documents concern the governments’ current view on growth strategies since innovation constitutes an important part. Innovation has now become Sweden’s response to globalization. The three chosen documents are: Den nationella innovationsstrategin (2012), En nationell strateg strategi för regional tillväxt och attraktionskraft 2014-2020 samt Svenska framtidsutmaningar – slutrapport från regeringens framtidskommission (2013). The conclusions of this study suggest that the Swedish innovation policy portrays globalization from a neo-liberalism perspective. This means that Sweden has a very positive view on globalization. The Swedish government sees great opportunities in this matter since globalization is something they want to invest in. By supporting innovation, education, attractive environments that allow companies to establish themselves and collaboration on both a local and a global scale, the Swedish government suggests that Sweden is prepared to confront the future challenges they are facing.

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