Local authorities play a key role in European Union (EU) governance. They are no longer simply ‘passive receivers’ of EU policy, but proactively engage at the European level. This active engagement includes participation in local government transnational networking (LGTN), an activity which sees local authorities form links with their counterparts in other countries. The contemporary prevalence of LGTN presents an interesting empirical puzzle. Local authorities lack the formal competence to engage beyond their territories. Furthermore, since the financial crisis councils’ budgets have been restricted. Why, then, are local authorities participating in LGTN when they lack both the formal competence and the financial resources? This thesis tackles this puzzle. In particular it explores three broad questions relating to LGTN: - What is the extent of LGTN? - Why do local authorities participate? - What determines effective participation? By focusing on the local authorities within transnational networks, this thesis makes an empirical contribution to knowledge and informs a body of literature which has until now overlooked the perceptions of local actors in EU governance. It further informs conceptual debates surrounding multi-level governance and local level Europeanization. This focus is achieved through a cross-national analysis of 14 local authorities in south-east England and northern France, and adopting a qualitative empirical approach which draws data from semi-structured interviews, document analysis and participant observation. The findings show that LGTN continues to be a prevalent phenomenon and is therefore an important feature of the EU’s multi-level system of governance. However, engagement is not uniform. While all local authorities are involved, variation is present in the number of links councils engage in, the type of networks they target and their motivations for participation. In all cases, however, engagement in LGTN is driven by a rationalist logic, as councils seek to achieve individual pre-determined strategic aims and improve their relative positions. A number of local and external factors are shown to impact how effectively councils engage in LGTN and, ultimately, explains why the process of local level Europeanization is marked by differentiation rather than convergence.

The central research puzzle of this thesis relates to new opportunities for political organisations due to technological change and non-electoral forms of creating democratic legitimacy. In particular, the thesis asks if new Information and communication technologies can address democratic legitimacy issues of the European Union. Without doubt, the European Union already has mechanisms for creating democratic legitimacy. However, does political participation based on new information and communication technologies offer an avenue for enhancing democratic legitimacy besides elections for the European Parliament and indirect democratic legitimacy provided by national governments in the European Council and the Council of Ministers? If we accept the assumption that technology offers new opportunities for the development of democratic legitimacy providing institutions then what are these new opportunities for the European Union? The methods used for this thesis are based on a qualitative case study design. The first case study is an online consultations for the directive on 'Harmonisation of legislation on industrial products', the second consultation is for the 'Community Action Plan on the Protection and Welfare of Animals 2006- 2010'. The main phenomenon, around which the research is built, is the input legitimacy potential of the Commission's online consultation regime. The unit of analysis are two online consultations of the Commission. The thesis uses three hypotheses to examine the input legitimacy potential dealing with accessibility of the participation arena, the meaningful transformation of inputs and participation patterns of participants. The gathered original data comes from four primary sources, semi-structured interviews with Commission officials directly related to case studies, semi structured interviews with consultation participants, interviews with so-called case study outsiders and a document analysis concerning the EU's communication strategies in connection with participation in policy-making. The key finding of this study is that the input legitimacy potential of the Commission's online consultation in its current form is negligible. Input legitimacy is not a prime concern, either for the citizens or for the Commission. There is no culture of inclusive participation aimed at individual citizens from within the Commission.

On 7 July 2005, a global call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) was declared to people around the world to enact boycott initiatives and pressure their respective governments to sanction Israel until it complies with international law and respects universal principles of human rights. The call was endorsed by over 170 Palestinian associations, trade unions, non-governmental organizations, charities, and other Palestinian groups. The call mentioned how broad BDS campaigns were utilized in the South African struggle against apartheid, and how these efforts served as an inspiration to those seeking justice for Palestinians. The call stated that boycott measures should be carried out until three demands are met – that Israel end the occupation of Arab lands, end discrimination against Palestinian citizens in Israel, and respect the Palestinian right of return. This study explores the causes for the BDS movement, its organizational dynamics, and the potential outcomes the movement intends to gain through bordercrossing solidarity groups and networks. Research questions guiding this investigation have been: What causal conditions have led to the emergence of the movement? How is the movement similar and/or dissimilar to other forms of challenging Israel? How is the BDS movement organized across borders, and how are local campaigns within the movement operationalized? This thesis is comprised of three sections that include a historical background, case study chapters on BDS campaigns, and a final section that analyzes the movement’s structure and processes, its connection to global justice activism, and challenges and limitations of the movement. Thus, this thesis critically investigates the BDS movement through its operationalization across borders and argues that due to its scope, organizational structure, and collective action frames, the transnational movement represents a new and different approach to challenging Israel in the Palestinian struggle for justice.

This thesis explores why state effectiveness differs in countries that otherwise share many common characteristics, a question that has been central in recent academic and policy debates, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The thesis presents a comparative study of two such states, Burundi and Rwanda. Although they share many characteristics, their performance has followed diverging paths since the end of the civil war in Burundi (1993-2003) and of the war and the genocide in Rwanda (1990-1994). Through a comparative case study analysis, the research examines why the state is more effective in implementing government policies in the latter than in the former. Drawing on a year and a half of fieldwork, the thesis explores the effectiveness of the state from two analytical vantage points. First, a functional perspective examines the articulation and implementation of specific policies, taking as sub-case studies the promotion of fertiliser use in agriculture and the promotion of maternal health. Second, state effectiveness is explored through an organisational perspective, examining the incentive, monitoring and disciplining mechanisms of officials in the local-level and national-level bureaucracies. Both countries had formal state institutions ostensibly designed to promote development. However the informal norms and organisational behaviour promoted by ruling political parties undermined developmental efforts in Burundi while supporting them in Rwanda. The thesis argues that the difference in state effectiveness between the two countries lies ultimately in elites’ differing strategies of legitimation, making a well-functioning state less politically imperative in Burundi than in Rwanda. To demonstrate this, the thesis improves on existing typologies of forms of legitimacy and probes the relationship between the elite’s legitimation strategies and state effectiveness. Empirically, the research contributes to redressing the relative paucity of the literature on the political economy of the state in Burundi. It engages with the polarised scholarship on Rwanda by revisiting the main debates on the nature of its state. It invites nuancing current analyses on how power is deployed from the centre to the periphery in that country.

The process of the regionalisation of foreign and security policies, its conditions of emergence and evolution, is the core object of study of this doctoral thesis. This research has two aims, first it seeks to construct a new framework to understand and conceptualise regionalisation processes and second, applying this framework to draw conclusions on the paths these processes take in West Africa and South America. In this research I take issue with the way in which IR approaches present regional projects as the ‘natural’ or ‘rational’ response of nation states to a combination of objective and ideational factors. A more thorough explanation requires an account of the ways in which these factors are themselves constituted, maintained and shaped by discourses and power relations between the relevant actors, as well as through the concrete practices the actors deploy. I thus conceptualise regionalisation as an interplay between discourses and practices of actors ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ the region. Methodologically, the analysis uses a poststructuralist discourse analysis and an interpretative process tracing that relies mainly on ethnographic work. The key empirical findings of this thesis are twofold. First, historically constituted discourses are crucial in determining the form and extent of the regionalisation process – in particular the key articulations linking the concepts of state/nation and region. Second, the comparison allowed me to demonstrate that regions are not independent units: they are part of an international system where actors (re)produce discourses carrying certain norms, concepts and meanings such as ‘security’, ‘development’, ‘regional integration’, etc. It is precisely the encounter between the regional and ‘external’ actors discourses which constitutes the process of regionalisation. The meaning given to security, in particular, which emerges at the intersection of these discourses, decisively frames the process towards either cooperation between sovereign states or the building of a regional political community.

Turkey-EU relations have attracted high public attention and academic curiosity as a special case that has provided a fruitful environment for a wide-ranging group of study areas. This thesis is particularly interested in the way in which AK Party and specifically Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been represented in the mainstream western media and political discourse, and how these representations have influenced specific encounters in Turkey-EU relations. The changes in the dominant representations over time have a special place in this analysis. This thesis mainly claims that, although there is no linear or causal relationship between representations and policy choices, western media and political discourse on AK Party had decisive influence in limiting possible policy options for policy makers. Positive and praising discourse on AK Party and Turkey that dominated western political landscape enabled EU leaders to open the way for membership negotiations. Similarly, negative and even demonising discourse on AK Party became the biggest obstacle for the continuation of the negotiations. This thesis claims that understanding the international social context is crucial in grasping the background of discourses and their influences on actors. Thus, it focuses on post-9/11 international social context with specific emphasis on western security discourses and the rise of Islamophobia in western societies, as crucial factors in shaping the international context during the relevant period. Turkey-EU relations is at its lowest point since the beginning of accession talks in 2005. The prospects for Turkey’s EU membership are looking bleaker than ever now, as is the representation of Erdogan and AK Party in the mainstream western media and political discourse. By using discourse analysis method, this thesis analyses the representations of AK Party in western mass media and political landscape, especially in the political turmoil during and after infamous Gezi Park incidents in Turkey that highlighted the problems in Turkey-EU relations as a negative turning point.

Jakobsen’s ideal policy is a strategy of coercive diplomacy that comprises of a credible threat of force to defeat the opponent or deny him his objectives quickly with little cost, a deadline for compliance, an assurance to the adversary against future demands and an offer of carrots/incentives for compliance. Although derived to understand why Western coercive diplomacy had failed to make aggressors stop or undo their actions; Jakobsen claimed the logic of the ideal policy should remain valid for preventing acquisition of Weapon of Mass Destruction. In 2006 North Korea conducted a nuclear test, signifying the failure of the Treaty for Nuclear Non-proliferation and US coercive diplomacy. However, in 2003 Libya took the decision to surrender its WMDs. Arguably Libya’s decision was an example of US coercive diplomacy backed by credible threat, demonstrated by the US invasion of Iraq. Nuclear proliferation is one of the most significant issues in international security; therefore, developing effective counter proliferation strategies is of interest to academics and policymakers. Using Jakobsen’s ideal policy as a framework this study conducts a focussed structured comparison of US coercive diplomacy, from 1992-2006, aimed at preventing North Korea and Libya from obtaining a nuclear weapon. It is the only independent study to use Jakobsen’s ideal policy to conduct a comparison. Furthermore, it contains first-hand accounts from policy makers involved in the cases. The key finding is states do not employ a form of coercive diplomacy in the form of the ideal policy over the issue of nuclear proliferation, as they are unwilling to set deadlines and make direct threats. The thesis argues that the ideal policy has utility as an analytical framework to conduct a structured comparison; however, cannot be used to form accurate predictions of whether a strategy will be successful.

The 1648 landmark signing of the Westphalian Treaties which famously implemented the principle of cuius regio, eius religio has, for International Relations (IR), meant that relatively little attention has been paid to religion as an influential force in international relations. A “turn to religion” amongst a growing body of IR scholars, fueled by post-Cold War studies and empirical events, has sought to change this by placing religion within the study of IR. With a view of adding to this debate, this thesis examines the role of religion in Israeli, Iranian and Saudi Arabian foreign policy during the respective leaderships of Menachem Begin (1977-84), Ayatollah Khomeini (1979-89) and Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1975-1995). It does so by drawing on extensive primary material, including private and public discourse of the leaders in question, as well as existing literature from, primarily, Middle East Studies and Religious Studies. The thesis argues, and shows with reference to its empirical findings, that the leaders’religious beliefs shaped their respective world-views and, by extension, their foreign policy doctrines and foreign policy outcomes. Moreover, it shows that religion played an important role in legitimizing the leaders themselves as well as their respective foreign policies. In this context, the thesis furthermore shows that, for the foreign policy leaders, religion assumed distinct meanings which were seemingly shaped according the context in which they operated. Importantly, the thesis argues, this does not uncritically support the long-standing assumption in IR scholarship that religion is epiphenomal, and/or a tool of instrumentalisation. With reference to Constructivist literature and a dynamic definition of religion developed for this project, the thesis rather explains that the malleable nature of religion can and does interact with variables like material security to shape, and sometimes drive, conceptualisations of national interest and foreign policy outcomes. The project concludes that religion’s role is multi-faceted, and, more to it, that the foreign policies of Khomeini’s Iran, Begin’s Israel and Fahd’s Saudi Arabia cannot be fully understood without it.

This thesis explores the conditions under which incumbent regimes in the Eastern Neighbourhood cooperate effectively with CSDP missions by adhering to and adopting the objectives set out by their mandates. In establishing whether and under what circumstances CSDP missions successfully cooperate with third country governments by inducing the acceptance of and adherence to their mandates, this thesis reclaims a focus on the local dimension of EU partner countries in order to explore the extent to which domestic stakeholders display agency in their relations with the EU and are able to constrain and/or facilitate its foreign policy. It thus asks: under what conditions do incumbent regimes in host countries embrace EU-driven strategies and reforms? The thesis examines two CSDP functions – rule transfer and confidence-building – across three CSDP missions in the Eastern Neighbourhood: the EUJUST Themis rule of law mission to Georgia, the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) and the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) to Georgia. Drawing on rational-choice assumptions and recent academic contributions to the Eastern Neighbourhood literature, this thesis starts from the premise that the sine qua non condition for effective cooperation between CSDP missions and incumbent regimes in the Eastern Neighbourhood is the compatibility between EU objectives and the incumbent regimes’ intrinsic preference for gaining and/or maintaining political power. Defined as preferential fit, the ‘match’ between the goals of EU missions – as highlighted by their mandates – and the political agendas of national governments in ENP countries emerges as the necessary condition that facilitates effective EU-ENP cooperation. In addition to confirming the centrality of the agency-oriented concept of ‘preferential fit’ for the development of effective cooperation between the EU and its Eastern neighbours, the findings outlined in the four empirical-analytical chapters also identify the conditions which shape the cost-benefit calculations of national governments: 1. The competing strategies of domestic veto players; 2. The potential for alternative coalitions (Russia, US other international organisations); 3. The cost-effectiveness of threats and side-payments (i.e. EU policy-specific conditionality; and EU capacity-building).

In the early hours of 20 October 1962, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched a series of devastating assaults on Indian posts stretched along thousands of miles of mountainous border. The attack drew a line under several years of acrimony over the border and an even longer period of uncertainty and ambiguity regarding each sides’ respective claims. However, the SinoIndian War was far more than just a territorial scrap, bloody as it was. It was widely perceived as a Chinese attack on Nehruvian non-alignment, a peculiar foreign policy posture that he had developed to counter the Cold War. By rejecting Nehru so firmly, Beijing was demonstrating a clear turn from the moderation it had pursued in tandem with the Soviets to engage non-socialist Asia through the mid-1950s. Mao’s attack on India was then a firm rejection of both Delhi’s moderation and Soviet partnership and a major turning point in the history of the Cold War and Asia. This thesis adds to the existing histories of the war by exploring Sino-Indian relations from 1949 when the two Asian giants cautiously swapped ambassadors. The ambiguous relationship between Beijing and Delhi is examined from the perspective of Nehru’s ambitious overall foreign policy agenda, rather than just a narrow focus on the border and Tibet. The deterioration of ties between Delhi and Beijing is often characterised as the result of conflicting territorial and indeed imperial ambitions. But it is also true to say that from early in the 1950s there was a remarkable effort at collaboration and accommodation of their respective ambitions. Simultaneously, collaboration was always underpinned by an acute sense of competition for influence in Asia, in particular over the appropriate model of development for the region. In particular, this thesis gives far greater emphasis on Beijing’s function within the dynamics of Sino-Indian relations, and shows how vital were the ideological shifts within the Chinese leadership. The ideologically framed judgements about Indian economic development policies had a major impact on how Beijing assessed the ongoing feasibility of its entire experiment with a moderate foreign policy in general and cooperation with Delhi specifically. By illustrating how these understandings of India also affected Chinese views of the Soviet leadership’s competence, this thesis also makes an important contribution to the historiography of the Sino-Soviet split. Ultimately, relations collapsed with Delhi not just because of hard territorial interests, but because Mao came to believe that the continued deferral of revolutionary goals was leaving the field clear for reactionary elements in China, India and beyond.