The child soldier problem is an escalating and growing phenomenon around the world. It is a complex issue as it involves a wide range of areas such as human rights, politics and cultures. A comprehensive legal framework is in place to protect children in armed conflicts, yet they are still being targeted, recruited and deployed in armed groups and organizations. The purpose of this study is to conduct an exhaustive examination of current international law, de lege lata, regarding child soldiers aged 15-18. The legal-dogmatic method will be used to identify the merits, but above all the shortcomings and problems of the legislation. The result shows that international law treats children differently in terms of age and when they are no longer considered child soldiers. The findings demonstrate the difficulties between the two frameworks of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in relation to child rights and protection issues. Furthermore, it has been discovered that the international law regarding child soldiers is outdated, contradictory and inconsistent, as society and warfare have changed since the adoption of the documents. The lack of legal sanctions against recruiters and enablers complicates the situation even further.

In this thesis, I explore positions of power in transnational human rights education, using The Raoul Wallenberg Institute as example in a case study. I am interested to know how human rights knowledge is produced and transferred in a global system of human rights education. My research focuses on positions of power in this global system, on challenges   and practical solutions, and on if and how education can contribute to decolonisation processes. I analyse four interviews with employees at RWI, who are working with transnational human rights education. The interviews, and supporting formal documents published by RWI, are analysed through close textual analysis, organised by key topics of transnational human rights education. As a theoretical framework to understand knowledge transfer, I use Stone’s concept of policy translation. For a post-colonial perspective and as tool to understand claims for decolonising transnational human rights education, I use Spivak’s concept of the subaltern as well as her request for ethical reflection of Western privileges.   The conclusion of my thesis shows a firm commitment of RWI to localisation, with methods embedded in their concept of transnational human rights education. There are some, but few attempts by the Institute to reflect on their own position in a global system of power linked to the production and transfer of knowledge, which hinders attempts of decolonising transnational human rights education.

The negotiation process of a peace agreement is an uncertain period where adversaries can have a difficult time credibly guaranteeing their commitment to an approaching agreement. However, violence is often ceased before a peace agreement is signed, demonstrating their importance for understanding non-violent and violent behavior by warring actors. Furthermore, research finds that rebels at times comply with laws of war during conflict and negotiations. Hence, the purpose of this study is to derive a better understanding of rebel groups’ non-violent behavior, and whether it relates to the commitment problem and the negotiation process. This paper argues that by complying with international law, rebels can convey a signal with a peace-making objective, increasing the likelihood of a successful negotiation. Through a qualitative, structured and focused comparative case analysis of the FMLN in El Salvador and the NPFL in Liberia, the study finds that rebel’s compliance with IHL may serve as a costly signal that mitigates the credible commitment problem and leads to the signing of a successful peace agreement. However, further research is needed to support this hypothesis.

The thesis purports to assess the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in maintaining international peace and security and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in prosecuting individuals who have committed severe violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international law, during humanitarian and counter-terrorism operations. The thesis endeavours to highlight the failures of both institutions, firstly, the UNSC being unable to fulfil its institutional mandate, which is mainly attributed to the abuse of veto privileges granted to the five permanent members (P5). This has effectively allowed individuals from the militaries of the P5 and their allies elude criminal liability, promoting a culture of impunity. The UNSC’s failure to prevent P5 members use of unauthorised military force in pursuing counter-terrorism operations and interpose expeditiously in humanitarian crises, have also contributed to the erosion of the institutions’ legitimacy, which is further perpetuated by the USA’s continued ‘War on Terror’ doctrine after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Secondly, the ICC’s inability to prosecute individuals for crimes under the Rome Statute will also be highlighted as the principle of complementarity and the court’s inability to enforce arrest warrants are significant factors contributing to the institutions inability to administer international criminal justice. The thesis draws upon practical examples to substantiate the failures of both institutions by referring to the conflicts in: Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria and Libya. Before concluding the UNSC and the ICC have become futile, the thesis will then make recommendations for reform and propose a novel solution to restore legitimacy back to both institutions.

Syftet med denna studie var att komma till insikt, dels om hur kriget mot terrorismen har präglat diskursen kring det rättfärdiga kriget med dess särskilt utmärkande preventiva krigföring, och dels om huruvida begreppet "illegal kombattant" kan betraktas som legalt eller inte. Denna studie visar hur krigskonceptet har blivit alltmer diffust sedan det kalla kriget och hur attackerna gentemot USA den elfte september 2001 innebar en brytpunkt gällande diskussionerna kring rättfärdig krigföring. Studien visar också att begreppet "illegal kombattant", med dess preventiva syfte, tillvisso skulle kunna betraktas som legitimt i kontext till omfattningen av ovan nämnda attacker men att dess innebörd inte kan betraktas som legalt i vare sig nationell eller internationell bemärkelse. Jag har kommit till denna insikt genom att identifiera en diskursiv företeelse och lyfta fram dess legalitets- och legitimitetsaspekter och genom att identifiera en juridisk företeelse och lyfta fram syftet med dess innebörd med fokus främst på dess legalitetsaspekter. Med en diskursanalys har jag undersökt talet om det rättfärdiga kriget efter den elfte september, och genom en juridisk analys har jag prövat begreppet "illegal kombattant" gentemot nationell och internationell rätt. Dessa två analyser har fogats samman genom en samlad studie av kriget mot terrorismen och dess legalitets- respektive legitimitetsaspekter. / The purpose of this study was to come to realization on how the war on terror has characterized the discourse on Just War with its particularly distinctive preventive warfare, and also on whether the term "unlawful combatant" can be regarded as legal or not. This study shows how the concept of war has become increasingly diffuse since the Cold War and how the attacks against the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001 represented an inflection point on the discussions of righteous warfare. The study also shows that the term "illegal combatant", with its preventive purposes, to a certain extent might be regarded as legitimate in the context of the magnitude of the above-mentioned attacks but that its content can not be regarded as legal in either a national or international sense. I have come to this realization by identifying a discursive phenomenon and highlighting its legality and legitimacy aspects and by identifying a legal phenomenon and highlighting the purpose and meaning of it, primarily focusing on its legality aspects. With a discourse analysis, I have examined the speach on Just War after September 11, and with a legal analysis, I have tested the notion of "unlawful combatant" against national and international law. These two analyzes have been consolidated in a comprehensive study of the war on terrorism and its legality and legitimacy aspects.

An investigative research unraveling the implication of economic sanctions on Burmese women. This research was inspired by allegations in 2003 that thousands of women in Burma/Myanmar lost their jobs in the garment industry, thus exposing women to vulnerable aspects of forced migration and trafficking. A short case study of Iraq, Haiti, and Cuba is additionally provided while the history of economic sanctions and boycotts is heavily scrutinized. Perspectives of humanitarian law, human rights law, and feminist theory frame the basis of the research of which provide another critical dimension into the ongoing debate on economic sanctions.

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Two international treaty frameworks - Amended Protocol II (APII) to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) - have been developed to prohibit or restrict the use of landmines. However, reflecting a gap in current academic research, there is a lack of knowledge of their effectiveness in supporting the humanitarian goals that underpin both treaties. In order to address gaps in the existing literature, this thesis applies an analytical framework grounded in regime theory to develop new insights into the design, implementation and effectiveness of APII and the APMBC within the broader framework of international humanitarian law (IHL). Two main hypotheses are explored. The first considers the importance for regime effectiveness of the relationship between design and implementation processes. The second analyses the significance for the landmine regimes of regime interplay and nesting within wider IHL and mine action discourses. In addressing these hypotheses, design/implementation interplay, agency dynamics and normative considerations represent key themes that enable us to develop new insights to a specific issue area that also demonstrates important linkages to wider humanitarian, security and developmental agendas.

With almost 4 million registered Syrian refugees, the UN has called it the world’s worst refugee crisis. The influx of 628,000 asylum-seekers to neighboring Jordan has tested its strength and protection capabilities. The UNHCR is the organizational spearhead of the international refugee regime, the set of rights and procedural structures upon which signatory States agree to protect refugee rights. This ethnographic research contributes lived experience to the existing quantitative scholarship on the Syrian refugee influx in Jordan. Spending the long days of Ramadan with young adult Syrian national urban refugees, I learned about the gaps between respondents’ hardships in establishing secure lives, and the rights the UNHCR guarantees for them in Amman. This thesis argues that respondents’ experiences reflect the systematic failure of refugee protection due to inherent weaknesses of the refugee regime. Gaps in protections are the logical result of the expanding role of nation-states, as self-interested actors, in making important decisions in the enforcement of refugee rights. I argue that the expanding interest of Northern States’ to limit immigration since September 11th has rendered the UNHCR incapable of providing refugees the levels of protection they are guaranteed. The refugee regime makes certain assumptions of the host country’s carrying capacity, as well as assumptions that other nation-states will willingly open its doors for Syrian refugee resettlement. Since the UNHCR cannot rely upon Northern states committing themselves to third country resettlement, refugees can no longer expect the refugee regime to uphold its mandate that it was founded to ensure.