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A study on influential workings of scholars dealing with the Bosnian war. The narratives and discourses discussed and reproduced. Findings of alternative or unpopular narratives that encounter limitation when presenting their results shows how the field of conflict studies have ‘decided perception’ or even bias towards certain narratives. The field of research is not unaffected by the societal discourses especially from a western point of view, the reproducing of narratives or even relevance for research lays in if certain actors are involved or not. The study investigates the work of Campbell, Hansen and Kaldor. Then two articles of feminist security studies are analyzed of how their research was encountered by the field and the importance of widened narratives, to keep widening the understanding of the conflict. Especially when new tensions of conflict arise in the region.

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De nordiska länderna spelar en viktig roll för den säkerhetspolitiska framtiden i Arktis, men deras storleksmässiga nackdelar gör att de inte kan trygga sin säkerhet i området på egen hand. Denna analys studerar skillnaderna mellan Norges och Sveriges Arktispolitik med utgångspunkt i Baldur Thorhallssons shelter theory. De olika dimensionerna av “shelter” undersöks utifrån ett norskt och ett svenskt perspektiv, med en förväntan om att Norge söker politiskt vindskydd från NATO och att Sverige söker ekonomiskt vindskydd från EU. Studiens syfte är att bidra till forskning om småstatsteori, men också till den empiriska forskningen om Arktis. Studien utgörs av en kartläggande analys av Norges och Sveriges Arktisstrategier för att sedan övergå i en diskussion om vilka konsekvenser som kan uppstå till följd av ett lands “shelter”.

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This essay is an analysis of North Korea and South Korea and the task of reunification. Focus lays on the states political systems in a comparative perspective, and the main goal is to lay out the conditions for a potential reunification. A parallel is drawn between possible Korean unification and the actual unification of Germany in 1989, as an attempt to forecast what could be problematic with such an event. The questions that get answered in the study are: "What are the conditions for unification in Korea" and also "What kind of political system does North and South Korea have?" and "How do they compare?" The essay starts with an analysis of the political system in North and South Korea respectively, followed by a comparison of the two countries. It then addresses itself to the conditions for reunification, and the conclusions of the study. I have chosen to use literature on the topic as my main source of information. The comparison between North and South Korea is made according to the most similar as well as the most different research design. The study is limited to one case of possible unification, and one case of actual unification. The political system of North Korea is described as sultanistic, and that of South Korea as a developing democracy. The states have a long common history, and share a common language and religious traditions, but differ strongly in political direction. Reunification will probably be a very expensive project. North Korea runs the obvious risk of collapsing and South Korea getting stuck with the bill. The bad economy and other internal structural problems are far more likely than foreign intervention to bring North Korea down, due to the nuclear arsenal in the hands of North Korean leaders.

This research is the product of a qualitative research design in the field of Peace and Conflict Studies Research. The design of this study is Evaluation as Research and Monitoring of the Theory and Practice of Research in Conflict Zones. Syria as a multiple case study post-2011 conflict.  The objectives underlying this explorative research are three-fold. First, it seeks, from applied research, to produce and contribute to building better-suited methodological self-conscious and evidence-based approaches to building peace in conflict zones (Bush and Duggan, 2013; 2015); that also, can serve to propose new approaches and research practices within the state-of-the-art of Peace and Conflict Studies Research. Second, it proposes pertinent knowledge for researchers and practitioners in all spheres of humanitarianism, development, and peacebuilding that can influence policy-making and designing processes aid in the humanitarian crisis in extreme contexts of conflict conditions. By utilising Syria as a multiple case study post-2011 conflict, the overall goal of this study is to generate new knowledge for a better understanding and systematically reinforcing the political, economic and social infrastructures considered by the author as requisites to enable locally-oriented paths to a prosperous and dignified life, peace-reinforcing dynamics and a just future (Ibid., 2013, p.20; 2015). The findings and analysis are based on the conceptual framework built and developed by the author in this thesis, adopted and employed theories, specific methodology, and the author grounded experience in humanitarian action.

Uppsatsens forskningsproblem är vilken metodologisk tradition som Karl Marx kan placeras i. Forskningsfrågan lyder: är Karl Marx’ metodologi naturalistisk, konstruktivistisk eller kan den inte placeras i endera? Dess metod är kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Marx texter jämförs med ”marxisters” omtolkning – i naturalistisk, konstruktivistisk eller mellanliggande riktning. Naturalism och konstruktivism behandlas utifrån Moses & Knutsens lärobok ”Ways of Knowing” (2019) och vetenskaplig realism utifrån Roy Bhaskars bok ”A Realist Theory of Science” (1975). Marx’ verklighetsuppfattning (ontologi) reduceras varken till samhällets objektiva eller subjektiva sida utan utgår ifrån mänskliga subjekts växelverkan med objektiva strukturer i praktisk verksamhet. Bakomliggande lagar är varken naturalistiska växelspel mellan mänskliga organismer och deras miljö eller fria konstruktioner av mänskligt intresse, mening och vilja, utan objektiva tendenser och motkrafter, framträdande via underliggande mekanismer som förmedlas av människor själva. Så uppstår samhällets idéer, institutioner och statstrukturer. Marx’ kunskapsuppfattning (epistemologi) utgår som konsekvens därav ifrån hur objekts egna (intransitiva) egenskaper, inte blott korrelationer, av vetenskapen översätts till konstruerade (transitiva) begrepp. Vetenskapen är, som del av samhället, produkten av subjektens växelverkan med objekten. Dess metodanvisningar måste producera abstraktioner som omfattar en strukturerad, differentierad och föränderlig verklighet. Marx bör varken uttolkas naturalistiskt eller konstruktivistiskt utan däremellan, som närmast de vetenskapliga realisterna.

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