EU counter-terrorism: security, justice, democracy and opportunity for all?
The European Union (EU) has been engaged in the fight against terrorism as far back as the 1970s, triggered by attacks at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. The EU’s counter-terrorism plans call for the vigorous promotion of security, justice, democracy and opportunity for all. But to what extent have such aims proved compatible and consistently pursued?
Algeria: The Obstacles to Democracy
The past is present in Algeria. Although the country is an authoritarian state, it technically exhibits a civilian-run government led by an independent politician. Is there a chance for democracy? Not if Algeria can return to an effective authoritarian state as it was in the 1960s and 1970s because it will then be able to appease its population with education, jobs, houses, and rising living standards.
The CNN Effect and Somalia
The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the influence of the media on the U.S. decision to withdraw from humanitarian operations in Somalia in 1994. The conclusion highlights the limits of the CNN effect as a theoretical framework for explaining media influence on foreign policy decisions. It instead emphasises the unique situational factors which influence policy.
India’s Nuclear Restraint and the Peaceful Nuclear Explosion
India’s nuclear trajectory does not match the realist logic that characterised many of the original nuclear powers. India has followed a uniquely Indian path towards nuclear development. By accepting the constructed-ness of foreign policy, it is possible to find explanations for India’s nuclear policy in the dominant understandings of Indian identity, science and modernity constructed primarily by Nehru.
Non-Traditional Security Issues: Should HIV/AIDS be Securitized?
Realism leaves little place in order to study broader fields such as health security that states may face, and therefore does not take into account HIV/AIDS as a threat to human, national or international security. However, scholars have recently emphasised the growing negative effects of HIV/AIDS on core pillars of states, receiving ever more attention by policy-makers as a potential threat to national security.
Mexico City’s Water Crisis and Community Activism
Mexico City’s urban water crisis is the result of a long history of poor resource management and negligible citizen activism on water governance. Viewing water as a human right, rather than an economic good, could form the basis for community involvement and improve access and affordability.
Can Terror work? The Case of the Palestine Liberation Organisation
Despite its initial success, the Palestine Liberation Organisation was never able to achieve its ultimate political objective by using terrorist tactics. The PLO’s turn to global terror tactics, and the immense amount of media exposure that move generated, only magnified their inability to move away from their formerly violent agenda.
Economic Revival of West Germany in the 1950s and 1960s
The economic revival of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the two decades following the second world war saw a period of unprecedented growth. This impressive leap in growth figures, which bought about greatly increased living standards for the populace, found its roots among underlying economic conditions, foreign influences and the domestic drive towards competition and consumerism.
Assessing the Success of Self-Reliance: North Korea’s Juche Ideology
The continued survival of the Kim regime at the head of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been somewhat of a mystery to international scholars. The Juche ideology employed by the regime is at the heart of North Korea’s longevity and its success in providing continued internal legitimacy for the regime.
Iran: What is the Nuclear Crisis?
The notion of popular sovereignty stands in contrast with Iran’s religious lineage. This dichotomy makes it difficult for the state to materialize its diplomatic goals, which only isolates it from the international system, fueling the need to expand its nuclear program in an effort to ensure national security. It is virtually impossible for Iran to forge successful international relations when it suffers from the national clashing principles of Islamic rule and popular sovereignty.
