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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 thesis focuses on cases of drought since it is one of the most common and disastrous natural hazards that we experience on earth. Non-governmental organisations have traditionally offered humanitarian aid directed to response and relief measures. However, research shows that more long-term adaptive measures are more effective in reducing vulnerability and decreasing disaster risk. This thesis investigates how the International federation of the red cross and crescent society (IFRC) engage in vulnerability reducing measures through short-term coping and long-term adaptive measures and if it is in line with what the research presented in the theory section of this thesis has shown is the most effective way. Through the use of qualitative content analysis and a case-study design, four reports from two cases of drought in Sub-Saharan Africa have been analysed. The results indicate that the IFRC are still more prone to implement coping measures, but that adaptive measures are visible throughout the entirety of their projects. This thesis will have nuanced the work of Non-governmental organisations in disaster-struck areas and to contribute to future studies by its generalisability.

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.

This thesis will investigate to what extent the midwifery programme atselected Swedish universities is including the issue of female genitalmutilation (FGM) into their education and curriculum. This is an importantsubject to do research on since a lot of existing literature on the topic showsthat midwives in Sweden are seriously lacking in knowledge regarding thepractice of FGM. According to a study done by Tamaddon et al. (2006) lessthan 30% of the Swedish midwives believed that they had adequateknowledge of FGM. Another study of the issue of FGM showed thatSwedish midwives felt that their knowledge of FGM was lacking and that itwas a marginalized issue on their place of work (Widmark et al. 2002).The reason to why the focus of my research will be on midwifery studentsand teachers within the midwifery program is because the healthprofessionals who is most likely to meet circumcised women are midwives.According to Dawson et al. (2015) “Midwives are often the first providerswomen will see for their maternal health needs and therefore play a criticalrole in providing quality care and preventing the practice” (Dawson et al.2015 p 230).The chosen research topic fits smoothly into the broader peace anddevelopment area due to what has been mentioned earlier, the increase inpeople movement in the world today makes some issues a global challenge.Which has been the case of the practice of FGM, it is now time to understandthat this is no longer an issue only in the countries were FGM is traditionallypracticed, it is an issue and especially a challenge even in high incomecountries.The method to be used in this research is semi-structured interviews with acareful sampling process of participants, done by a purposive sampling. Itwill be a qualitative study based on a cross-sectional design.

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.

This research paper endeavours to investigate the correlation between sanctions and the exacerbation of gender inequality. Specifically, the study aims to assess whether the imposition of sanctions leads to heightened levels of gender-based disparities. In the aftermath of the Cold War, the utilisation of sanctions surged markedly as an instrument for altering states' behaviour in foreign policy. In line with the increased prevalence of sanctions, a growing discourse has emerged surrounding the unanticipated outcomes of these measures. What remains unexamined is whether women are disproportionately affected. This represents a significant gap in the literature as almost no studies address gender-based consequences of sanctions. In compliance with the scarcity in academia, this thesis aims to test the outlined hypothesis that sanctions have been shown to affect women and men differently, that sanctions will have a negative impact on gender equality. This relationship between sanctions and gender inequality will be assessed by conducting OLS regression based on data from The Global Sanctions Data Base (GSDB) and the Quality of Governance (QoG). Control variables have also been incorporated to mitigate the potential impact of these variables on both the independent and dependent variables. In the bivariate model, when controls were not included, a notable level of support for the hypothesis was observed, whilst a substantially weaker, statistically insignificant connection in the multivariate regression analysis was evident. The findings of this study may offer valuable insights to enhance future investigations in the realm of sanctions and gender.