This doctoral thesis asks what ideational factors underlie parties' national role conceptions in narratives on violent conflict and crises abroad. It explores French and German parties' national role statements in the case of the 2011 military intervention in Libya. The thesis lies at the intersection of Foreign Policy Analysis research focused on domestic foreign policy actors, International Relations studies on ideas in international relations and Party Politics scholarship looking at international issues in party campaigns and competition. It develops a theoretical framework using role theory and combines it with scholarship on international norms and ideologies. It contributes to role research on domestic role contestation and role socialisation. It adds a study of parties' national roles to this scholarship. It also advances the conceptual development of the role theory approach through an exploration of the responsibility concept within national roles. The main finding of the thesis is that parties often agree on the national role but sometimes interpret the same role differently. Moreover, sometimes parties can propose alternative national roles. The theoretical framework permits to trace variation in role interpretation to foreign policy traditions, international norms and ideologies. The central argument is that parties do not necessarily agree on the national role and its interpretation even when confronted with the same situation and events. It suggests that variation in national role interpretation can matter because parties contest the national role and, thereby, may point to role conflicts and dilemmas that may have an effect on future role selection and performance.

Die deutschen Interessen werden in Berlin definiert, nicht in Washington oder Paris. Darin waren sich Angela Merkel und ihr Vorgänger schon 2003 einig. Und sie werden im Kanzleramt festgelegt, nicht auf Oppositionsbänken, in Thinktanks oder gar Talkshows. Da helfen auch mediale Empörungsinszenierungen nicht. Isolierungsängste belasten nur kleine Staaten. Die Zeiten kleiner Politik sind allerdings vorbei.

Today there exists a legal norm that declares the existence of a global responsibility to protect civilians from mass atrocities. Previous doctrines of non-intervention and permissibility were inadequate and demonstrated the need for a new outlook. From a commission proposal to international acceptance the doctrine of a responsibility to protect (R2P) developed quickly and legitimately. Recent events, especially the events in Libya during the Arab Spring, highlight the conceptual evolution of the norm and, more importantly, an international acceptance of its binding quality. Therefore, it is apparent R2P has achieved the status of a legal norm of international law.

Today there exists a legal norm that declares the existence of a global responsibility to protect civilians from mass atrocities. Previous doctrines of non-intervention and permissibility were inadequate and demonstrated the need for a new outlook. From a commission proposal to international acceptance the doctrine of a responsibility to protect (R2P) developed quickly and legitimately. Recent events, especially the events in Libya during the Arab Spring, highlight the conceptual evolution of the norm and, more importantly, an international acceptance of its binding quality. Therefore, it is apparent R2P has achieved the status of a legal norm of international law.

Nine of the ten recessions since WWII have been preceded by relatively large and sudden increases in the price of oil. In this paper, I use time series analysis to forecast GDP growth using oil prices. I use the methodology from Hamilton (2009), and extend the dataset through 2010. Impulse response functions are used to analyze the historical performance of the model’s one-year-ahead forecasts. In April, 2011, the International Monetary Fund changed its forecast of 2011 GDP growth in the U.S. from 3.0% to 2.8% largely due to persistently high oil prices. My model suggests that the price increase in 2011Q1 will lead to growth of 2% in 2011. Furthermore, my model predicts that a 54% increase in crude oil prices during the second quarter of 2011 will lead the U.S. into a double dip recession.

Before the United States Constitution was ratified there was much debate about what war powers the executive and legislative branches should hold. After much deliberation it was decided that the power to declare war would fall under the control of Congress. But as time passed, control over initiating military action began to shift from Congress to the President. This thesis examines the shift of power from the legislature to the President. The thesis explains the difference between a declaration of war, an authorization of force, as well as using the military as a police force. It examines the precedents set by Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Truman, as well as the more recent methods used by Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. It also analyzes some of the major court cases that have dealt with the War Powers Clause and several War Powers Resolution. The information collected in this thesis comes from biographies, journal articles, and newspaper articles regarding the subject. This thesis shows that the executive has taken more power in initiating and continuing armed conflict and that the declaration of war, as defined in the Constitution, is obsolete.

Under 2011 så utbröt det våldsamma oroligheter i Libyen och Syrien med många civila offer. FN:s säkerhetsråd utfärdade i mars 2011 en resolution om upprättandet av en No-Fly Zone i Libyen. Ryssland har sedan länge haft en uttalad inställning mot att stater lägger sig i andra länders inre angelägenheter. Ryssland avstod från att rösta i fallet Libyen vilket möjliggjorde en humanitär insats. Men avseende Syrien så har Ryssland använt sitt veto två gånger för att stoppa resolutioner som möjliggör en humanitär insats. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka om Rysslands agerande kan förklaras utifrån realistisk teori inom internationella relationer. Forskningsfrågan som ska besvaras är: Hur påverkade Rysslands egenintressen dess agerande i FN:s säkerhetsråd i samband med konflikterna i Libyen och Syrien. Undersökningen genomförs som en kvalitativ textanalys.  Den utförs som en analys av meningsinnehåll i ett utvalt material med användning av indikatorer som är logiskt härledda från realistisk teori. Realistisk teori beskriver staters agerande och att de har intressen. Resultatet av undersökningen är att Ryssland värderade principen om interventioner beslutade av säkerhetsrådet och relationen till väst högre än sina ekonomiska intressen i Libyen och att den geopolitiska betydelse Syrien har för Ryssland innebär att Ryssland vill förhindra att de geopolitiska förutsättningarna i regionen ändras till fördel för USA och Europa, en sådan förändring skulle innebära en risk för att den makt som Ryssland kan utöva genom sina olje- och gastillgångar minskar. / In 2011 violence broke out in Libya and Syria with many civilian casualties. The UN Security Council made a decision in March 2011 authorizing a No-Fly Zone over Libya. Russia have maintained a clear standpoint regarding the non-interference in states internal affairs since long. Russia abstained in the Libya case which made it possible to authorize a humanitarian intervention. But regarding Syria, Russia has vetoed resolutions twice. Thus effectively blocking all efforts to make a humanitarian intervention possible. The purpose of this paper is to study if Russia’s actions can be explained from a realist theory perspective. The scientific question to be answered is: How did Russia’s interest affect their actions in the UN Security Council regarding the conflicts in Libya and Syria. The study is designed as a qualitative text analysis. It is performed by the use of indicators, logically deducted from the theory, to analyze meaningful contents in the texts of the empiric material. Realist theory in International Relations describes the actions of states and that they have interests. The result of the study is that Russia valued the principle of interventions authorized by the Security Council more than its economic interests in Libya and that the geopolitical importance of Syria means that Russia wants to prevent that the geopolitics in the region change advantageously for USA and Europe which would mean a risk that the power Russia can exercise through its oil and gas assets could diminish.

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2008.

Humanitarian intervention is a concept that generates several problems in our time. The idea of humanitarian intervention concerns the modern norms of sovereignty and noninterventional principals. It also concerns the conventional norm, which declares that states are not allowed to interfere in other states’ internal affairs. The use of military force to implement humanitarian intervention is restricted according to international law. This is what this thesis intends to investigate. The purpose was to find out the causes behind the intervention in Libya, which was carried out by NATO. The main questions were (1) to find out if the intervention in Libya was a humanitarian intervention (2) or if there were other motives that were behind the intervention. Two classical international relations theories have been utilized for the analysis. The analysis focused on the five UN Security Council members’ statements and arguments, which have been expressed in the UN Security Council. This issue created a gap between the members of the Security Council, especially between the Western states and the Russian and Chinese authorities

The Medina of Tripoli, Libya, is a very ancient walled city that has a history of change, development, deterioration, conservation, and preservation to its fabric. Influenced by various foreign groups (Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Muslims, Spanish, Ottomans, Karamanlis), its architectural styles include ancient and traditional structures, as well as modern Western style or acculturation architecture. The purpose of the Medina as a place of habitation has changed over the years because of many factors including residents moving out of the Medina, fluctuating preservation, the changes in government policy when each new ruling entity had its particular laws and regulations, and some distortion of the economy due to the oil revenues. The place has no long-term plan or vision applied to it--either from within or from without. This study, the first of its kind in North Africa to collect information by using surveys and mental maps, convert the information into geographic information system (GIS) data, and come to definite conclusions about the Medina's situation. The entire research focused on four areas (the Islamic buildings, common routes of transportation, areas of deterioration, and population densities within Tripoli's Medina), but this document focused on the deterioration in the city while analyzing its urban informality, the residents' rights to live in the city, and property categories. This study helped to clarify the current situation and provide input to planners in post-uprising Libya.