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In the decade from 1998 to 2008, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was witness to one of the most brutal violent conflicts in recent history. Crimes against humanity and large-scale violations of human rights occurred on a regular basis, resulting in the death and displacement of millions of people. The international community responded to this crisis with humanitarian efforts such as the donation of billions of dollars in aid and engagement in diplomatic mediations. However, despite the increasing viability of humanitarian intervention as a policy option for international actors, as well as the ‘groundbreaking’ formal adoption of the Responsibility to Protect at the 2005 United Nations World Summit, no intervention was undertaken. This produces a puzzle: why, despite acknowledgement of the severity of the crisis, did the international community respond with humanitarianism, but stop short of intervening? The answer can be found in an examination of the international normative environment at the time of the conflict. Using a three-stage normative life-cycle model developed by Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, this thesis posits that the reason the international community engaged in humanitarian actions was because the norm of humanitarianism is at stage 2 of its life cycle, making it well-entrenched enough to compel members of the international community to act. However, the norm of humanitarian intervention is only at stage 1 of its life cycle, meaning that it is weak and underdeveloped. Its weakness is exacerbated by the fact that humanitarian intervention often clashes with the highly entrenched stage 3 norms of realpolitik, and specifically the norm of self-interested engagement, which demands that a state only become engaged with another if it is in the first state’s interests to do so. Thus, despite the brutality of the conflict, the norm of humanitarian intervention was not strong enough to provoke an intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo. / Thesis (Master, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-18 02:05:57.536

German foreign policy is in the midst of a far-reaching transformation. Contrary to disciplinary expectations, this process is neither properly captured by descriptions in the liberal tradition („Europeanisation“, „Civilian Power“) nor by Realist expectations that Germany is doomed to „remilitarise“ and/or „renationalise“. However, the key term of foreign policy discourse, „normalisation“, is an unmistakable code, signalling a rediscovery of traditional Realpolitik practices which fit Germany’s current environment. The paper argues that rather than merely playing the role of an obedient disciple of Realpolitik socialisers, Germany ought to rehabilitate the foreign policy tradition of the Bonn Republic in support of an active Idealpolitik transformation of its environment. The article serves as a starting point for a debate on German foreign policy in the upcoming issues of WeltTrends.

How is Sweden manageing the conflict between exporting weapons to SaudiArabia and being a bearer of human rights?  Based on an updated restricted regulation when it comes to armsexport, Sweden seems to value human rights more than the finacial benefits that comes with exporting weapons.  Using ideals and interests as described by Goldmann, Coetzee and Ikegami, an analysis is made to measure to what extent the Swedish Government values human rights over economy.

Swedens exports arms to Pakistan despite the existence of laws and conventions on what specific countries must achieve in order to meet the criteria for being exported to. In a realpolitik perspective, this study will deepen and investigate how the Swdish government can approve an arms export to Pakistan and how human rights are violated in Pakistan. In 2018, a munitions law was added and come into force. The law would include an impediment to exports to countries with a dubious democratic status or where human rights are violated. A determination has made that i conditions are given for the Swedish state to grant a permit for arms to exports to Pakistan that seriously violates human rights, a complete assessment has made and decisions made with meaning that the political interests priorities are valued higher than the interests of human rights.

En suivant la trajectoire de quatre leaders africains au temps des indépendances, Barthélémy Boganda (République centrafricaine), Patrice Lumumba (République du Congo), Félix Moumié et Ruben Um Nyobè (Cameroun), ce travail cherche à explorer par le biais de l’anthropologie historique, de la méthode comparative et à l’échelle de l’Afrique centrale, en quoi l’assassinat politique peut constituer un moyen de réguler les relations internationales et peut être un fondement de la construction nationale de leur pays d’origine. Au fil de l’itinéraire politique de ces leaders, seront évoquées leurs désillusions onusiennes et panafricaines qui resserrent sur eux l’étau mortel d’une Realpolitik entre bipolarisation et néocolonialisme. L’autre hypothèse explorée est la suivante : il serait possible par le biais de l’Histoire comparée de faire émerger des invariants à l’assassinat politique sous forme de processus récurrents comme l’arme judiciaire, l’arme médiatique, l’absence de sépultures décentes, la damnatio memoriae dont ils sont frappés qui aboutit a contrario à une inversion symbolique et iconique. L’étude s’appuie sur de nombreuses sources qui se sont complétées afin de reconstituer l’enchaînement des évènements et de nouvelles interprétations : archives privées inédites, archives publiques dont certaines ont été déclassifiées pour cette étude, sources audiovisuelles et imprimées, témoignages oraux inédits recueillis par l’auteure. / Through a close examination of the trajectory of four African leaders, Barthélémy Boganda (Republic of Central Africa), Patrice Lumumba (Republic of Congo), Félix Moumié et Ruben Um Nyobé (Cameroun), during the independence era, and by means of the historical anthropology, the comparative method and focusing on Central Africa, this study tries to explore to what extent political assassination could constitute a way of regulating international relationships and lay the foundations of the national construction of their country of origins. Along their political career path, their UN-related and Pan–Africanism disillusionment that tightens around them the lethal noose of a Realpolitik caught between bipolarization and neo-colonialism will be referred to. The other hypothesis developed here is as followed : it could be possible through comparative history to bring out invariance within political assassination under the forms of recurrent processes such as the judiciary weapon, the media weapon, the lack of a decent burial place and the damnatio memoriae they’ve been sentenced to which all contrastingly led to a symbolic and iconic reversal. The study relies on numerous sources that complete each other in order to reconstitute the chain of events and allow new interpretations: private exclusive archives, public archives, some of which having been declassified for this purpose, audio-visual and printed sources, exclusive oral narratives collected by the author.

Cette thèse aborde le sujet du conservatisme britannique, notamment le conservatisme de1979 jusqu’à 1990, la période qui correspond aux mandats de Margaret Thatcher. Ce travail vise à démontrer que la continuité a été l’aspect déterminant du parti conservateur depuis les XVIIIe et XIXe siècles. Les valeurs premières du conservatisme ont continué à être appliquées avec l’avènement de Margaret Thatcher au pouvoir même si elle incarnait, pour beaucoup de gens, le changement. Ceci apparait dans les discours que Margaret Thatcher tenait quand elle était leader de l’opposition. Le changement était nécessaire selon elle car la société britannique était stagnante. En effet, Thatcher ne pouvait pas accepter ce qu’elle considérait comme étant une « société oisive ».Dès son jeune âge, elle avait appris que travailler dur était à la fois une responsabilité et un plaisir. Ce plaisir-là émane des principes d’indépendance et de persévérance auxquels elle a toujours cru très profondément. Dans ce sens, le changement signifie essentiellement la remise en question du consensus de l’après-guerre, conçu pour aider le pays et ses habitants à se reconstruire. Margaret Thatcher était déterminée à démanteler la social-démocratie keynésienne qui avait imprégné la politique britannique depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale à cause des circonstances changeantes. L’originalité de sa politique réside dans l’abandon du consensus de l’après-guerre largement basé sur l’état providence et l’intervention de l’état ainsi que l’encouragement des membres de la société à être autonomes et indépendants en plus d’une économie forte et capable de s’autoréguler sans avoir besoin d’intervention de la part du gouvernement. La liberté, l’individualisme et l’autonomie sont les conséquences ultimes de la dérégulation. Ces valeurs étaient les valeurs premières du conservatisme et leur application durant les années quatre-vingt n’étaient que retour au vieux parti conservateur. La continuité du parti conservateur, qui a été interrompue par le keynésianisme du parti travailliste, a été alors rétablie. Pour prouver de cette continuité, un nombre de documents d’archives ont été étudiés au Churchill Archives Centre à Cambridge; des archives telles que les procès-verbaux des réunions du parti conservateur et les discussions qui se sont déroulées entre conservateurs. Par ailleurs, savoir comment les conservateurs eux-mêmes définissent le conservatisme britannique élucide la nature du conservatisme. Pendant longtemps, le parti conservateur a été considéré comme étant le parti monolithique par excellence. Mais le retour en force d’autres partis, comme le parti travailliste après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, a poussé les conservateurs à réfléchir davantage, à innover, à créer des thinks tanks et à ne plus avoir peur d’exprimer leurs opinions diverses. Désormais, ils ne craignent plus le changement, partant du principe que « les choses doivent changer pour qu’elles restent identiques » (The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa). Une large partie de cette thèse porte sur la politique économique. La variable de la politique économique constitue peut-être le critère de réussite le plus visible notamment du fait qu’il est aisément quantifiable, et révèle que l’économie a toujours été une priorité chez les conservateurs. Selon Margaret Thatcher par exemple, le keynésianisme de l’après-guerre avait échoué et devait être abandonné. Pour Thatcher, le problème majeur à résoudre n’était pas le chômage mais l’inflation. La dichotomie entre continuité et changement sera analysée non seulement dans les discours publics de Margaret Thatcher mais aussi dans les discussions internes du parti conservateur. La pléthore de définitions et opinions pose également la question de l’héritage de la dame de fer, à travers son successeur John Major et des événements contemporains tels que le Brexit. / This thesis focuses on the dynamics of continuity and change within the Conservative Party from 1979 to 1990, the period of Margaret Thatcher’s premierships. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that continuity had been the defining feature of the Conservative Party since the 18th and 19th centuries. The implementation of the primary values of early Conservatism continued with the advent of M. Thatcher to power although she represented, for many people, the epitome of change. This was all the more obvious in Margaret Thatcher’s public speeches when she was Leader of the Opposition. Change was, to her, necessary since British society was stagnant. In fact, Mrs. Thatcher could not accept what she considered as an “idle society.” When she was very little, Mrs. Thatcher learned that working hard was not only a duty but also an enjoyment. These feelings emanated from the values that she dearly cherished such as independence and perseverance. In this sense, therefore, change only meant the questioning of the postwar consensus. The policies implemented during the consensus period aimed at helping Britain and her citizens reconstruct. Margaret Thatcher was determined to dismantle the Keynesian social democracy that had permeated British politics since World War Two because of changing circumstances. The novelty of her politics lay in getting rid of the postwar consensus, broadly based on the welfare state and government intervention and encouraging a society whose members should be self-reliant and independent in addition to a strong economy capable of self-regulating without the need for regulation from the government. Freedom, individualism and autonomy were the ultimate consequences of deregulation. These values were the original values of Conservatism and their implementation in the 1980s was nothing but a return to Old Tory Conservatism. The continuity of the Conservative Party, which was interrupted by the politics of Keynesianism of the Labour Party, had therefore been reestablished. In order to trace this continuity, a number of archival material have been studied in the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge; archival material such as the minutes of the Conservative Party or the discussions that took place among Conservatives. Besides, how members of the Conservative Party themselves define British Conservatism sheds light on the nature of Conservatism. The Conservative Party has been considered to be the monolithic party par excellence but as a result of the increasing influence of other parties, notably the Labour Party after World War Two, Conservatives became more aware of the need to think more, innovate, create thinks tanks and express their distinct opinions more widely. They were no longer afraid of change given that “Everything needs to change, so that everything can stay the same” (The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa). An important part of this thesis deals with the economy. The variable of economic policy is perhaps the most visible criterion of success namely because it is easily quantifiable. It also reveals that economy has always been a priority among Conservatives. For Margaret Thatcher for instance, the Keynesianism of the postwar era had failed and should be abandoned. According to Thatcher, inflation was the problem to solve, not unemployment. The dichotomy between continuity and change will be analyzed not only in the public speeches of Margaret Thatcher but also the internal discussions of Conservatives. This plethora of definitions and opinions also concerns the legacy of the Iron Lady mainly through her successor, John Major, in addition to contemporary events such as the Brexit.

Thesis (doctoral)--Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

This MA thesis titled as - India-U.S. Relations in the Late 1960s and in the First Half of the 1970s - focuses on mutual relations of the U.S. on one side and India on the other. It elaborates various events, which influenced these relations during the late 1960s and in the first half ot the 1970s. The result of this work is the confirmation that the U.S., in its foreign policy strategy, strictly followed the principle of realpolitik. Thanks to that their interests, however, often collided with those of India. Its effort of rapprochment with the PRC, during which Pakistan played an important role as the main communication channel between both countries, was a 'thorn in the side' of India's top officials, including its Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The U.S. foreign policy, which was mainly in hands of the National Security Advisor of President Richard Nixon Henry Kissinger, had to logically prefer an alliance with Pakistan. This, of course, was not welcomed by India because these two Asian countries waged several wars against each other and had strained relations since their birth. Thus, in spite of the fact that India might seem as the best American partner, given its strong democratic principles, the opposite was true. Nixon/Kissinger, in defiance of all obstacles, did not relent and remained firm...

This study is concerned with the drafting process of the 1948 Genocide Convention, specifically the deletion of the article regarding so called ”cultural genocide”. Sweden was one of the states who voted to delete the article, and this study asks the question why. Previous research on the article has concluded that the majority of the states voting to delete it were doing so to avoid being criminalized themselves due to their assimilationist policies towards minorities, and colonial governing. During negotiations Sweden explicitly referred to the Christianization of the Sami people, which further begs the question if Sweden were also acting because of those reasons. The study finds that, even though Sweden argued that cultural genocide was not as serious as the other forms of genocide, and that it was a better fit for a convention on human rights or minority protection, there is a real plausibility that the country were trying to avoid having a legally recognized genocide in its history. However, because of the vast amount of material available for interpretation of Sweden’s actions, more research is needed to make an even more certain conclusion.