The Russian-Ukrainian tensions have recently sparked greater debates on an international scale, particularly since the Russian attack on Ukrainian independence in 2014. For the purpose of being able to contribute to these, my thesis explores the underlying problems causing this most recent conflict in the modern history. The research will demonstrate that the freedom of religion and the freedom of the media are being held hostage for the political purposes, while causing a deeper social trauma in a form of polarization and identity crisis. The international actors, particularly the EU and NATO are examined along with their efforts, as the blame for the responsibility of the conflict is often put on them. The questions of sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of the nation are challenged in the chapter overseeing the legislative framework of the parties to the conflict. The methodology used for this research is the analysis of texts and reports with the aim to challenge the Western and Eastern prerogatives, respectively. The findings of the research show a clear and deep relation between the issues of identity, religion and language, while proving their undoubtable influence over the conflict and the struggle between Ukraine’s path forward, specifically choosing between the Western path towards modern democracy or Eastern return to traditional values. The results show that the connection between the national identity and the conflict is important and can bring us to further understand not just the roots of the conflict, but also the possible way out of it.

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The flow of political aid into civil society organizations has sparked extensive debates and controversies surrounding the impact of foreign aid on the efficacy of said organizations in recipient countries. These discussions explore foreign aid through theoretical and empirical lenses, investigating its implications on global, regional, and national levels of analysis. Consequently, fundamental notions of geopolitics, development, and normative considerations within the realm of International Relations (IR) have been called into question. By employing the theory of hegemony and the concept of agency, this paper aims to enhance our understanding of the interplay between the agency of civil society organizations and foreign aid. It addresses the question of What analyzing the agency of civil society organizations in Lebanon reveals about the possibilities for transforming the hegemonic relationships within foreign aid? The examination of Robert Cox’s contextualization of Gramsci's theory of hegemony in IR, combined with James C. Scott’s observation of peasant resistance in rural Malaysia, lays the foundation for this study. This study calls attention to the often-overlooked ability of civil society organizations to not only challenge but reshape the prevailing hegemonic dynamics of foreign aid. More importantly, this study instigates a nuanced exploration of agency, resistance, and the transformative capacity of CSOs derived from local perspectives and the subculture and values of the civil society in Lebanon

Just twenty years after its entry into the World Bank and IMF, China had joined over 50 international organizations (IO) and had become involved with 1,275 international non-governmental organizations (INGOS). Previously one of the least connected states in the world, China is now one of the most connected on the measure of IO membership. Importantly, China’s behavior within IOs has “varied from symbolic to substantive” at various stages in its global participation. Consequently, China has exhibited a dichotomy of puzzling behavior in its interaction in IOs. Sometimes it complies when doing so appeared counter to internal interests, while other times it has undermined organizations it has greatly benefited from. These patterns have not always been consistent either since its participation has varied over time within different organizations. Why does China’s behavior within these organizations vary? Why does China join or create new IOs when it is already a member of a similar organization? I build upon a diverse body of political science research arguing that China looks beyond the satisficing aspect of whether the IO is good enough, and more to how its behavior can optimize achieving its desired interests. My theory posits that in the context of relative shifts in power, variation in China’s IO behaviors is predicated by the extent to which IOs conform to China’s national interests. This rational behavior approach (RBA) outlines four strategies: rule-taking, rule-breaking, rule-changing, and rulemaking. Furthermore, I argue that as an emerging state’s relative power increases over time, so does its bargaining power, leading to a more assertive rule-changing behavior as it attempts to adapt the organization to allow its ascendancy as a rule-maker. My research explores 40 years of the PRC’s participation within the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund drawing from semi-structured, in-depth interviews with WB China directors, IMF China directors, the Chief Counsel for AIIB’s establishment, a WB president, Department of Treasury and State representatives, and Chinese nationals who have held key positions in both WB and IMF staff. This research also includes reviews of secondary literature exploring China’s interaction within these organizations and analysis of 40 years of annual reports, consultations, and transcripts obtained from archived organizational records. / Political Science

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Instability and political repression are two reasons why many states in Africa are unable to develop. African regional organizations have the potential to encourage democracy, stability and development within their regions if they have the right tools. Using case studies of two major interventions by African regional organizations this thesis will determine what those tools may be. Both the intervention of ECOWAS into Liberia and the SADC into the DRC were rife with problems but they were able to bring some stability and even democracy to states in crisis. This thesis finds that African regional organizations can promote democracy and stability, but the focus is always on stability for the region. With strong institutions and mandates, policy agreement and strong leadership, African regional organizations can bring stability, development and even democracy to their regions.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) is a crucial international decision-making body that deals with a range of conflicts requiring consideration. However, its formal issue consideration has remained stagnant, with only a few new conflicts being added to the list. This project aims to investigate the conditions under which the Council members opt for informal governance settings instead of formal ones to address global crises and argues that the official UNSC agenda is not solely shaped by the preferences of powerful states but is influenced by the Council's operational methods. To explore this, the project combines two strands of scholarship on informal governance in international organizations and introduces a rational choice framework to analyze the factors influencing governance choices. The study employs a multi-method approach, including a multinomial regression model and a case study analysis of the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar from 2017 to 2022. The findings suggest that member states select the most suitable meeting type based on Council homogeneity, information availability, and issue urgency while considering their preference for formal consideration. The Council's yearly changing membership and fluctuations in information availability prompt states to strategically shift issue consideration between formal and informal, public and private settings. Contrary to criticisms, the Council does not overlook specific crises but often discusses urgent matters informally. Should member states' preference for formal issue consideration align with issue urgency that the Council shifts to formal meetings at the horseshoe table. This project sheds new light on the functioning of the UNSC and contributes novel insight into how member states' meeting choices early in the policy-making process significantly influence agenda-setting and decision-making outcomes. / Political Science

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 the sixty-three years of the United Nations' existence the international stage has evolved significantly, and the world today is different from that when the original United Nations Charter was drafted. Therefore, it is only natural to expect the organization to evolve, in order to fully embrace the changes in the international community and to be able to address these changes efficiently. However, reform to the United Nations has been slow. This lack of change is due to various factors, particularly the lack of cohesiveness among member states and the inability of these to reach an agreement. Member states are unwilling to provide the organization with the power and respect it needs in order to carry out its mandates, therefore, the United Nations becomes an organization with a big to do list, and no way to carry it out. The United Nations may be outdated; however, it is far from being obsolete since it is an important player in the international community and serves endless imperative missions and mandates. It is up to the international community to decide what direction they want the United Nations to take and what the organization will become in the upcoming years. IN the meantime, this study will discuss the possibilities of reform regarding UN budget, the Secretariat and the Security Council. The United Nations is constantly underfunded which is a great limitation on what the organization can do and how well it can do it. Member states expect the organization to function while being starved of funds. Underfunding can be attributed to various issues, particularly the withholding of payments from members states, lack of alternative resources and the high operating costs of the organization. The United Nations works under the guidance of the United Nations Secretariat, which can be considered the organization's administration. Administrative reform is imperative to create a more efficient Secretariat, particularly the areas of staff qualification and the selection and role of the Secretary General; both areas play an essential role in promoting an efficient Secretariat. The Security Council was formed with special privileges to the five superpowers at the time of the Charter's drafting. However, as the international community evolved and power shifted, these privileges had been maintained. Security Council reform should redistribute power accordingly in order to represent the realities of the world today. This study will address the main areas of criticism within the organization: the Budget, the Secretariat and the Security Council, and match them with reform proposals introduced to the organization to address these specific criticisms. Once these criticisms have been matched to reform proposals this study will analyze the reasons why these reforms have failed to materialize over the years and how this has affected the organization. Furthermore, it will address the reasons for lack of action by member states and the possibilities of these reforms taking place in the near future. The goal of this study will be to further understand the reasons why the United Nations has come short of its expectations and how lack of reform is to blame.

Over the past few decades Brazil has become a huge player in the international trading scene. Historically being a main exporter of sugar and coffee, the nation has recently exploded in the production of soy as well, making it the second largest exporter of soy in the world. This case study will exemplify how the Brazilian soy industry has caused the exploitation of indigenous and local communities, and of the natural environment in the nation. It will explore the historic political and economic development of Brazil as a nation, the development of its soy industry, the aforementioned negative externalities of its soy industry, and both the historic and contemporary significance of state and nonstate actors on those negative externalities. Through the lens of three competing theoretical frameworks - Mercantilism, Liberalism, and Marxism - the significance of state and non-state actors will be analyzed in terms of how they historically have and continue to affect the negative externalities of the Brazilian soy industry. Depending on the theoretical perspective, these international political entities - the independent variables in study - impact the negative externalities of the Brazilian soy industry, or dependent variables in the study, which are the exploitation of the indigenous peoples and local communities of Brazil, and the destruction of its natural environment.