Samhällets förändring från Just in case till Just in time har gett flödessäkerheten ökad betydelse. När man ser till den forskning som behandlar flödessäkerhet den ofta haft sin tyngdpunkt i affärsmässiga förhållanden där den ekonomiska avkastningen varit central vid sidan av krishanteringsperspektiv. Sett till flödessäkerhetens ökade betydelse för samhället samtidigt som omvärldsutvecklingen går i negativ riktning så är det förbryllande att forskningen kring samhällets förmåga att upprätthålla flödessäkerheten i krig eller krigsliknande tillstånd är mycket begränsad. Studien syftar till att analysera vad som påverkar flödessäkerheten för läkemedel respektive livsmedel i krig för svenska Totalförsvarets försörjning. Med utgångspunkt i interdependensteorins huvudområden hämtas ett strategiskt urval av sex indikatorer. Förekomsten av dessa indikatorer i källmaterialet påvisar härigenom huruvida ömsesidiga beroenden påverkar flödessäkerheten för Totalförsvarets försörjning. Genom kvalitativ textanalys genomlyses politiska styrdokument, myndighetsunderlag samt ett flertal rapporter med koppling till forskningsområdet för att ge underlag för analys gällande försörjningen av läkemedel och livsmedel. Resultatet visar på förekomsten av samtliga sex indikatorer (anpassningsförmåga, kritisk infrastruktur, antal aktörer, politik, militära maktmedel, fungerande marknad) i källmaterialet vilket styrker att interdependens påverkar flödessäkerheten. Vidare visar resultatet på hög grad av komplexitet i dagens flöden som gör dem känsliga för störningar. Detta kommer sig bland annat av att sett stort antal aktörer återfinns i respektive flöde men också genom att varje flöde är en integrerad del av andra flöden vilket knyter dem samman i större och mer komplexa beroendekedjor.

Denna studie handlar om hur kommuner i Västerbottens län samverkar kring krisberedskap inom ramarna för det geografiska områdesansvaret, och hur det arbetet påverkas av både formaliseringsgrad och kommunstorlek (befolkningsmässigt, yta och befolkningstäthet). Ett speciellt fokus ligger på kommunernas lokala krishanteringsråd, samt till vilken grad samverkan överlag är formaliserad i kommunens arbete. Detta har studerats genom att se till en rad aspekter inom samverkansteorin, däribland hur strukturella faktorer och interdependens påverkar kommunernas samverkan, följt av huruvida detta påverkar aktörernas förtroende gentemot varandra. Därefter belyses vikten av gemensamma mål och värderingar i arbetet, samt graden av formalisering. Slutligen lyfts det fram hur de olika kommunala förutsättningarna kan påverka detta arbete. Den metod som använts för genomförandet är en intervjustudie med informanter från kommunerna, som även kantats av textanalytiska inslag. Informanterna tillfrågades en rad frågor utifrån de teman som utkristalliserade sig i teoriavsnittet. Empiri- och analysdelen lyfter därefter fram hur informanterna ser på respektive teoretisk utgångspunkt, och presenterar hur de idag arbetar, eller inte arbetar, med formalisering av sin samverkan. De slutsatser som kan dras från undersökningen är att de skilda kommunala förutsättningarna inte har en direkt påverkan på kommunernas samverkansarbete, samt formaliseringsgrad. Däremot finns vissa tendenser, bland annat att kommuner med lägre befolkning och ”god lokalkännedom” oftare använder sig av en lägre formaliseringsgrad i arbetet jämfört med de befolkningsmässigt större kommunerna. Dessa tendenser pekar däremot inte på några bakomliggande orsaker till varför vissa kommuner idag har lokala krishanteringsråd och inte andra – trots det lagkrav som finns. Det framgår dock tydligt att lagkraven är något skevt ställda, och passar inte de olikheter som Sveriges kommuner besitter. Därtill kan lagen anses vara något otydlig gällande vilka kommunen ska samverka med, och hur.

Between 1915 and 1918, the Swedish Red Cross organised transportation and exchanges of prisoners of war between Russia, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During 1917, some particularly sick prisoners were sent to Norway and Denmark to be hospitalised. This paper studies the aid effort to prisoners of war by the Swedish Red Cross during World War One by studying their work with these prisoner exchanges. By doing this, the study aims to answer the question of how the Swedish Red Cross cooperated with states to conduct exchanges of prisoners of war. This is done through a qualitative method of analysis of the material, during which Nye’s theory of interdependence is employed as a tool for the analysis. The four dimensions of interdependence (sources, benefits, relative costs, and symmetries) are used to generate operationalized research questions and to analyse the results. These transportations were a massive administrative undertaking for the Swedish Red Cross and required cooperation from all involved states to run smoothly. The Russian revolution and subsequent civil war, lack of coal and oil, and animosity between the belligerent nations created problems repeatedly threatening the cooperations. The study concludes that the cooperation was based on administrational work by the Swedish Red Cross together with material, financial and medical contributions from the states. The study also concludes that the main sources of interdependence were the mutual need to exchange prisoners between the belligerent states. For them the main benefit was getting their compatriots back; for the Red Cross and neutral states, it was recognized as a humanitarian actor. The Swedish Red Cross and the neutral states were the more sensitive actors, while the belligerent states were the more vulnerable actors. The cooperation was relatively symmetrical but slightly skewed in the favour of the belligerent states

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p><em>Bachelor thesis in political science by Alexander Hassan, autumn 2008, “Effects of external factors on a nations democratisation process during the transition from authoritarian to electoral democratic rule – A categorical analysis”</em></p><p><em>Supervisor: Tomas Sedelius</em></p><p>In recent years globalization has become a hot topic in understanding the world we live in today. Globalization has indeed had a great impact on international relations and with it a great influence on the domestic conditions that determine a nation’s possibilities. It is therefore rational to hold true that this also would apply to a nation’s democratic process. This basic notion is what lies as a foundation for the thesis, where the purpose of the study is to examine the relatively new field of the international context and its significance on democratisation.</p><p>The aim of the study is to examine and determine, through a categorical analysis, the different forms and roles that the external factors can take during the process leading up to the transition and implementation of an electoral democracy, the most basic form of democracy.</p><p>The thesis thus has demanded the study and infusion of all discourses within the field of democratisation processes, as the only way to produce the roles and forms of the international contexts impact on the domestic process is through the study and determination of the different domestic spheres associated with the process.</p><p>The different forms of external influences have been studied within the confines of the third wave of democracy, and their roles in the democratic process determined depending on the respective domestic spheres they affect. The significant result of the studies where chiefly that all forms of external influence have the possibility to affect the democratisation process indirectly as well as directly. Where direct influence is exerted within the political sphere of the nation; where the actual transition takes place, and the indirect influence is exerted through the socio-economical and cultural sphere; which exerts its influence in the process through the political sphere. </p><p>The results thus show that it is hard to draw the conclusion that an indirect form of influence would be superior to the direct approach or vice versa, as both are prevalent in successful democratic transitions.</p>

The Swedish Red Cross (SRK) has worked for over a century to improve Swedishsociety and at the same time been involved in aid operations for several internationalhumanitarian disasters and crises. SRK is meant to be a stateless and neutralorganization, but has at the same time since its inception in 1864 SRK had a closecollaboration with the Swedish government. This essay aims to understand how thiscooperation has affected SRK's aid actions in war and if it has affected their neutralityin choosing sides in the wars. The essay's investigation deals with three areas thatwere affected by war and where SRK chose to carry out aid operations. The sourcematerial has been analyzed based on the qualitative text analysis method where thesource material is selected according to the three areas; Abyssinia, Finland andGreece. Furthermore, the empirical evidence has been analyzed based on Joseph S.Nye Jr. Theory of interdependence to better and at a deeper level understandcooperation. The analysis is based on the four concepts that Nye Jr. built his theorybased on: sources, benefits, relative costs, and symmetries. The study shows that therewas a mutual need for a collaboration between SRK and the Swedish state, whichaffected SRK's neutrality into whom and where the aid actions should be sent. / Svenska Röda Korset (SRK) har arbetat i över ett sekel för att förbättra det svenskasamhället och samtidigt varit involverat i hjälpinsatser för flera internationellahumanitära katastrofer och kriser. SRK är tänkt att vara en statslös och neutralorganisation, men har samtidigt sedan starten 1864 haft ett nära samarbete med densvenska regeringen. Denna uppsats syftar till att förstå hur detta samarbete harpåverkat SRK:s biståndsåtgärder i krig och om det har påverkat deras neutralitet i attvälja sida i krigen. Uppsatsens utredning behandlar tre områden som drabbats av krigoch där SRK valde att genomföra biståndsinsatser. Källmaterialet har analyseratsutifrån den kvalitativa textanalysmetoden där källmaterialet väljs ut enligt de treområdena; Abessinien, Finland och Grekland. Vidare har den empiriska evidensenanalyserats utifrån Joseph S. Nye Jr. Teori om interdependens för att bättre och på endjupare nivå förstå samarbete. Analysen bygger på de fyra begrepp som Nye Jrbyggde sin teori utifrån: källor, nytta, relativa kostnader och symmetrier. Studien visaratt det fanns ett ömsesidigt behov av ett samarbete mellan SRK och svenska staten,vilket påverkade SRK:s neutralitet till vem och vart biståndsinsatserna skulle skickas.

Abstract Bachelor thesis in political science by Alexander Hassan, autumn 2008, “Effects of external factors on a nations democratisation process during the transition from authoritarian to electoral democratic rule – A categorical analysis” Supervisor: Tomas Sedelius In recent years globalization has become a hot topic in understanding the world we live in today. Globalization has indeed had a great impact on international relations and with it a great influence on the domestic conditions that determine a nation’s possibilities. It is therefore rational to hold true that this also would apply to a nation’s democratic process. This basic notion is what lies as a foundation for the thesis, where the purpose of the study is to examine the relatively new field of the international context and its significance on democratisation. The aim of the study is to examine and determine, through a categorical analysis, the different forms and roles that the external factors can take during the process leading up to the transition and implementation of an electoral democracy, the most basic form of democracy. The thesis thus has demanded the study and infusion of all discourses within the field of democratisation processes, as the only way to produce the roles and forms of the international contexts impact on the domestic process is through the study and determination of the different domestic spheres associated with the process. The different forms of external influences have been studied within the confines of the third wave of democracy, and their roles in the democratic process determined depending on the respective domestic spheres they affect. The significant result of the studies where chiefly that all forms of external influence have the possibility to affect the democratisation process indirectly as well as directly. Where direct influence is exerted within the political sphere of the nation; where the actual transition takes place, and the indirect influence is exerted through the socio-economical and cultural sphere; which exerts its influence in the process through the political sphere.  The results thus show that it is hard to draw the conclusion that an indirect form of influence would be superior to the direct approach or vice versa, as both are prevalent in successful democratic transitions.

Why do strong states, despite their far superior military capabilities, experience increasing difficulties in defeating small states in asymmetric conflicts? In this thesis I develop a conceptual framework based on Keohane &amp; Nye's theory of complex interdependence, in which I argue that the increased degree of mutual interdependence among strong states leads to decreased cost-tolerance when exercising military power. This, in turn, leads to power being exercised in other forms such as different types of sanctions, influence on political agendas or through political pressure made possible by asymmetric vulnerabilities. The conceptual framework is tested with descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression on all 118 cases of asymmetric conflicts fought between 1945 and 2003. The results challenge existing knowledge about factors such as the importance of military power, troop commitment, external support, the nature of government and freedom of the press. At the same time, risks are identified in small states’ strategies that are based on external support. The result of the study indicates that such strategies lead to increased cost-tolerance among strong intervening states.

The European security order has for an extended period of time time rested on the assumption that interstate trade, and other economic ties, will lower the incentives for conflict initiation and thereby result in peace. This assumption was called into question on February 24, 2022, by the Russian re-invasion of Ukraine. Germany, as one of Europe’s primary proponents of interdependence, especially in its trade relationship to Russia defined by the pipeline natural gas, spirals into an energy crisis. How did it come to this? This thesis is an exploration of the concept of interdependence and its theoretical framework. Using congruence method, this thesis maps the internal processes of the concept, through two pieces of seminal research on interdependence theory – Robert O. Keohane &amp; Joseph S. Nye’s Power and Interdependence and Dale C. Copeland’s Economic Interdependence and War – and their respective ability to comprehend the case of Russo-German gas relations. The results show that the two theoretical interpretations can, although not with equal strength, to a certain degree predict the outcome of the Russo-German case. In spite of this, the theories struggle to capture the existence of regional conflict, and the slight contradiction that the Russo-German relationship continued to deepen after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.