Master's Thesis from the year 2004 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: 2 (B), University of Kent (Brussels School of International Studies), 64 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Although the world stood united behind America when the dust of the collapsed twin towers of the World Trade Centre settled, differences between the United States and Europe soon became apparent. Europe might have supported the US in Afghanistan, both politically and militarily, but diverging interests already became apparent when the US sidelined NATO and preferred to lead 'Operation Enduring Freedom' itself. The dispute escalated over the US plans to continue the war on terror in Iraq. Here, it emerged that the US and Europe do not share the same world view. While the US seem to perceive the world in Hobbesian terms, and believe that military strength is the only means to achieve security, Europe appears to understand security in the Kantian sense and believes that 'perpetual peace' can be achieved. The question that divided Europe and the US over Iraq then is more than a simple difference of opinion but reflects a deep philosophical division: Can global security be achieved by force or through sustained dedication to a set of normative principles implemented by the world community? Consequently, the counterterrorism strategies formulated in Europe and the US are of a fundamentally different nature, which cannot be explained merely by the discrepancy in military capabilities. If that would be the case, Europe would have begun to build up its military potential by now. Acknowledging that "terrorism has become one of the most pressing political problems," (David Whittaker) the aim of this paper is to compare the US and the European approach to global terrorism, establish reasons for the differences and evaluate which approach might be more effective. As September 11, has changed our perception of secur

Essay from the year 2004 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Western Europe, grade: 2+ (B), University of Kent (Brussels School of International Studies), language: English, abstract: Six years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed and after a promising, although troubled start of the institutional framework it has put in place, Northern Ireland is, following the suspension of devolution on 14 October 2002, yet again under direct rule from Westminster. Centuries of conflict, decades of violent troubles and diametrically opposed demands of the groups involved make the Northern Ireland question to one of the most difficult conflicts of our time. Nevertheless, there was genuine optimism both among the parties involved and the international community that the Agreement would succeed and resolve the conflict. However, in the political reality of Northern Ireland, the Agreement soon reached its limits, and people realised that it takes more than an assembly and a power-sharing executive to overcome Ulster's deep-rooted sectarian divisions. Internal disagreement in the unionist and nationalist camps over the direction the Agreement is likely to take them and the still unresolved question of IRA weapons decommissioning leave the future of the Agreement in serious doubt. The Agreement has been widely acknowledged as being consociational and consistent with the four principles of power-sharing identified by Lijphart. This paper will thus also discuss the theoretical foundation of the Agreement. Here, it will particularly focus on the role of the voting system (Single Transferable Vote) employed for the Assembly elections, which is unusual for consociational models. This paper will conclude that the Agreement is undeniably a major breakthrough. Even if the Agreement itself does not solve the conflict, by creating a prolonged period of peace in which political dialogue can take place, it could be a vital step towards a future settlement. But is the

Essay from the year 2003 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: 1 (A), University of Kent (Kent Law School), 12 entries in the bibliography, language: English, comment: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 and international law in the justification of the Iraq war., abstract: International law provides for a general prohibition of the use or the threat of use of force to settle international disputes. Only very few exceptions from this rule exist and are clearly defined in the UN Charter. The question must thus be, if resolution 1441 constitutes such an exception of the rule and thus authorises the use of force against Iraq. A close examination of the resolution shall therefore be the starting point of this discussion. However, it must be said that the wording of any Security Council resolution is subject to individual interpretation. A second step must thus be to apply rules for the interpretation of Security Council resolutions if such rules exist at all. It appears that only very little authoritative guidelines to the interpretation of Security Council resolutions exist and that thus the only reliable source of guidance is previous interpretations. Those promoting direct intervention in Iraq without a further resolution refer to NATO bombings of Kosovo. Similarly to the present situation in Iraq, the Security Council did not explicitly authorise the use of force in that case either. Later, the international community claimed that because no agreement could be reached in the Security Council, military action without Security Council authorisation was necessary in order to prevent genocide. The argument being of course, that a legitimate aim could justify the use of illegal means. The question whether direct intervention in Iraq can be legitimate on the basis of resolution 1441 seems to be a much broader question, which embraces moral and ethical considerations, too. Unfortunately, a discussion of the moral and et

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2003 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Miscellaneous, grade: 1 (A), University of Kent (Department of Politics and International Relations), 35 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Numerous societies who are in a transition period between an authoritarian regime and democracy face the question of how to deal with their past. In most cases the option to forget what has happened and to concentrate only on the future is neither possible nor desired by the people. For many the choice is between setting up a truth commission and dealing with the perpetrators of gross human rights violations in special or conventional courts. Before discussing the South African and the German examples, part one of this paper examines the different concepts of justice proposed by the two mechanisms of dealing with the past. Part two then focuses on the South African experience to deal with the atrocities of the apartheid regime by means of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission's approach on how to deal with the past will be discussed alongside both its achievements and shortcomings. The controversial debate about the TRC's policy to grant amnesty for perpetrators of gross human rights violations in return for the truth shall be a central feature of this part. The German experience and the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg are the topics of part three. One of the most important achievements of the IMT certainly was its impact on international law. For the first time in history, although this was not the primary aim of the tribunal, 'crimes against humanity' were part of the allegations against the defendants. On the other hand, the IMT was criticized heavily for constituting victors' justice and therefore its judgement was argued to be illegitimately imposed. Finally, part four compares the two mechanisms, truth commissions and trials or military tribunals, and seeks to point out th

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2012 im Fachbereich Politik - Internationale Politik - Region: Naher Osten, Vorderer Orient, Note: 2,00, Universitat Passau (Lehrstuhl fur Politikwissenschaft), Veranstaltung: PS Innenpolitik Israels, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Die vorliegende Arbeit soll Theorie und Praxis der Wasserversorgung in Israel und den Palastinensischen Autonomiegebieten vergleichen und deren Konfliktpotenzial abschatzen. Hierbei gilt es, die Hypothese zu uberprufen, dass die aktuelle Vorgehensweise Israels in der Wasserpolitik in mehrfacher Hinsicht Konfliktpotenzial fur die Zukunft in sich birgt. Als theoretischer Rahmen dieser Arbeit soll hierbei die Kategorisierung der Konfliktkategorien in der Wasserpolitik von Kurt R. SPILLMANN dienen, welcher drei Typen von Wasserkonflikten unterscheidet.1 Dem folgt eine geologische Beschreibung der Wasservorkommen auf israelischem Gebiet2 und deren Nutzung durch Israel und die Palastinensischen Autonomiegebiete. Anschliessend wird die gultige Rechtslage im Umgang mit den Nachbarstaaten und in Bezug auf das Westjordanland und den Gazastreifen erlautert, um im Folgenden die Kennzeichen israelischer Wasserpolitik aufzuzeigen. Darauf aufbauend werden die Folgen des Wassermangels in den Palastinensischen Autonomiegebieten fur beide Seiten aufgezeigt, um Ruckschlusse vom Wasser- auf den Nahostkonflikt zu ziehen. Schlussendlich wird die Gefahr eines Wasserkrieges knapp diskutiert

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2011 im Fachbereich Romanistik - Spanische Sprache, Literatur, Landeskunde, Note: 1,00, Universitat Passau (Professur fur Romanische Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft), Veranstaltung: PS Ausgewahlte Phanomene der spanischen Grammatik, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Die vorliegende Arbeit hat zum Ziel, die zumeist auf Einzelaspekte des Themas fokussierten Darstellungen in der Literatur zu bundeln, um sowohl eine verstandliche und geordnete Ubersicht uber die Anredepronomen im peninsularen Spanisch zu geben, als auch tiefer ins Detail zu gehen als dies die meisten Standardgrammatiken leisten. Daher soll im Folgenden zunachst eine Ubersicht uber das der Anrede zugrunde liegende Pronominalsystem gegeben und anschliessend dessen historische Entwicklung aufgezeigt werden. Kernstuck dieser Abhandlung ist die Frage nach der Verwendung der Pronomen, also nach Situationen, in denen typischerweise geduzt oder gesiezt wird. Zudem werden in diesem Zusammenhang Faktoren aufgezeigt und systematisiert, welche diese Entscheidung beeinflussen sowie knapp regionale Besonderheiten erlautert. Schlussendlich soll die Frage beantwortet werden, ob es eine richtige" und eine falsche" Verwendung der Anredepronomen in der spanischen Sprache im Sinne einer abschliessenden Normierung gibt. Hierbei wird der Fokus der Untersuchungen jeweils auf dem Spanischen der iberischen Halbinsel liege

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2012 im Fachbereich Politik - Internationale Politik - Thema: Frieden und Konflikte, Sicherheit, Note: 2,00, Universitat Passau (Lehrstuhl fur Politikwissenschaft), Veranstaltung: HS Internationaler Terrorismus, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Die vorliegende Arbeit soll der sicherheitspolitisch bedeutsamen Frage nachgehen, ob die funf zentralasiatischen Staaten nach dem Abzug der ISAF aus Afghanistan selbst in der Lage sind, fur die Sicherheit der Region zu sorgen. Hierbei soll ausgehend von der Hypothese, dass die zentralasiatischen Staaten einen fruchtbaren Nahrboden fur islamisch-fundamentalistische Bewegungen bieten, eine Analyse der Merkmale zentralasiatischer Staatlichkeit erfolgen. In einem ersten Teil wird der islamische Fundamentalismus ideologisch mithilfe dessen zentraler Elemente eingeordnet. Anschliessend wird die Bedeutung des Dschihad als Element der muslimischen Glaubenspflichten dargestellt. Dem folgt die ideologische Genese des gewaltbereiten Islamismus bis zu seiner heutigen Dschihad-Ideologie. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit befasst sich analytisch mit den Kennzeichen zentralasiatischer Staatlichkeit, um das Potenzial der funf Staaten fur gewaltbereite islamistische Bewegungen abzuschatzen. Ein erster Teil befasst sich mit ungelosten Regionalkonflikten in und zwischen den zentralasiatischen Staaten und der schwierigen Beziehung zum angrenzenden afghanisch-pakistanischen Grenzgebiet. Dem folgt eine Darstellung der fragilen Staatlichkeit der Prasidialsysteme, welche exemplarisch anhand des System Karimov" in Usbekistan aufgezeigt und auf die anderen Staaten transferiert wird. Hierbei wird auch die Rolle der Staatlichkeit bei der viel zitierten islamischen Wiedergeburt" nach dem Ende des Sowjetkommunismus dargestellt und hierbei auch speziell auf das Ferghana-Tal als Zentrum der Region eingegangen. Abschliessend werden die Elemente zentralasiatischer Terrorismusbekampfung erlautert, um zu uberprufen, wie effektiv