This study investigates how small states can employ different strategies to overcome structural disadvantages and exert influence within NATO. To this end, the establishment of Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) has been used as case study to explore how the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – undertook deliberate efforts during the decision-making process to serve their long-time policy preferences. As part of a reinvigorated strategic approach, the eFP multinational battlegroups would ultimately constitute leading elements of the alliance’s deterrence and defence posture. Through careful process-tracing, this study illustrates how the Baltic states, both as a collective trio and within a larger coalition, mitigated their structural disadvantages by joining efforts to influence others. The cohesiveness among eastern allies, and moreover the concrete and tangible policy preferences of the Baltic states, benefited discussions where allies’ diverging strategic preferences needed to be reconciled to find an equitable compromise. The study includes eleven semi-structured interviews with senior officials who were directly or indirectly involved in the decision-making process, allowing for credible, first-hand insights into the internal development of NATO’s strategic shift.

In 1996 the state of Nepal was challenged by a Maoist insurgency, resulting in a decade-long civil war. During the course of the subsequent peace process the parliamentary parties found themselves agreeing to significant political changes, including a republican constitution. This study approaches the Nepal case on the assumption that the discursive aspect of social relations is one important factor in understanding how specific events unfold and why actors do one thing and not another. Two frames are investigated using frame analysis in terms of their representation of problem, cause and solution: a terrorism frame from the period of conflict and a peace frame from the period of conflict resolution. The terrorism frame is categorised as a negative frame and the peace frame as a positive frame. This overarching difference is found to have implications for the effects of the respective frames. In contrast to traditional frame analysis, which tends to focus on the success of a frame and the effects on a specific audience, this study investigates the effects of frames on the actors involved in the framing process in terms of their perceived manoeuvrability for action. This approach is formalised in a model of four types of logic of actor effects that is applied to the Nepal case. The analysis of frame effects is based on first-hand interviews with key actors, such as former prime ministers and top leaders of political parties and civil society. From this material, the study gives insight into how the two frames influenced the actors’ perceived manoeuvrability. This actor-centred approach shows that the frames affected the actors in both enabling and restrictive ways and thus influenced the outcome in Nepal. For example, it is shown that frames created during the conflict were considered a prerequisite for the legitimate use of military force. The study also shows the unintended effects of framing, captured in the model as the effect of self-entrapment, and highlights the coercive character of ideas in making actors perceive themselves as forced to take a certain action or position.

This thesis explores the concept of hybridity within the context of rebel-to-party transformation, with a particular focus on Renamo during the period of 2015-2017 in Mozambique. This timeframe was marked by a resurgence of organised systematic violence, disrupting the relative peace that had prevailed in Mozambique since 1992. The central conflict revolved around the issue of local self-governance, with Renamo asserting its claim to govern in six out of Mozambique's ten provinces. During this period, Renamo operated both as a political party with a significant presence in parliament and as an armed group engaged in systematic violence. The rebel-to-party literature has sparked discussions about groups that seem to retain elements of their violent past while transitioning into political parties, leading to the emergence of the concept of hybrid parties. However, this concept remains relatively undefined and underexplored. This thesis seeks to contribute to this discussion through an in-depth qualitative study of Renamo's elite-level politicians, aiming to enhance our understanding of hybrid parties. The study, conducted during the conflict years, closely examines how elite politicians in Renamo navigate their dual roles. It encompasses 14 months of fieldwork from February 2015 to January 2017, drawing on elite interviews, elite-level public statements, and elite observations of parliament, enriched by ethnographic sensibility. The analysis is grounded in a theoretical framework that allows for an exploration of Renamo's behaviour and perceptions as both an armed group and a political party, particularly concerning the issue of local self-governance. Through this analysis, the study aims to elucidate the intersections, thereby advancing our comprehension of how hybridity manifests. The main findings suggest that Renamo's hybridity predominantly manifests through processes related to contemporaneity in behaviour, elite-level legitimisation, and one key political issue. Furthermore, I argue that the hybridity is maintained through narratives of democracy and a charismatic leader. The thesis advocates for a deeper exploration of these processes to enhance both empirical understanding and the theoretical discussion surrounding hybrid parties.