Browsing by Subject "World politics--1989-"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Open Access
Approaches to the root causes of state failure and collapse
(2012) Yumlu, Seda
In the aftermath of the Cold War, failed states have increasingly been viewed as a cause for concern for the international system due to numerous humanitarian and security challenges they created. Since then, a variety of international responses have been attempted and proposed by the international community to address state failure. The ongoing nature of the phenomenon of state failure and security threats they cause prove that state failure is an entrenched problem for the 21st century. This thesis focuses on the analysis of root causes of state failure in the literature and examines different approaches to it. In doing so, it aims to make a comprehensive literature review categorized by historical, global political, individualcentered and critical approaches.
Open Access
Duration of civil wars from a world-systems analysis perspective : the cases, of Angola, The Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone
(2011) Boitsova, Anastassia
Since the end of the Second World War, civil conflicts emerged as one of the major threats to security not only in their respective regions but also for the whole world, especially for powerful states. With the demise of the Soviet Union, the number of new intrastate wars decreased, but the existing wars increased in duration. This thesis examines this phenomenon from Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-systems analysis perspective by arguing that the flow of capital from the periphery states to the core countries that takes place during the conflict increases the duration of the respective civil war. The main objective is to shed light on the causes of the entrenched civil warfare in Sub-Saharan Africa. This research uses theory building case study method, looking at civil wars in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. The evidence presented in the cases suggests that the powerful core states and firms located in these countries affect the duration of civil conflicts through engaging in activities aimed at increasing their capital. These states carry out international trade in illegally extracted natural resources, most notably ‘blood diamonds’, which provides funding for the warring factions. In addition, private security firms or mercenaries drain both money and resources from war-torn states under the covert support from the core states. This thesis contributes to the theoretical framework of Wallerstein’s world-systems analysis and to the literature on civil conflicts
Open Access
Soft power in Turkish foreign policy under the AKP governments : 2002-2009
(2010) Alpaydın, Utku Ali Rıza
The concept of soft power has turned out to be one of the agenda-setting terms in the field of international relations upon its inception in the early 1990s. Despite its widespread usage, the inherent nature of the concept could not been grasped to a great extent. The increasing references to soft power in many of the analyses about Turkish foreign policy during the ruling Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP, (Justice and Development Party, JDP) era has created a need to present the notion of soft power as a proper theoretical concept and to discuss the foreign policy of the Turkish state conducted by the AKP governments in the light of such a theoretical background. Therefore, this thesis intends to present a refined theory of soft power embracing all the relevant points of the existing literature on soft power theory in order to make it utilizable for all cases and to implement this proposed theory to the case of Turkish foreign policy in a comparative manner by examining pre-AKP period and the period during the AKP has been in rule. Out of these explanations, the research question of this thesis emerges as such: “To what extent has soft power increased its influence in Turkish foreign policy under the AKP governments?” The main argument of the thesis can be put forward in the following manner: “The soft power of Turkish state has increased during the AKP term, although there has been some degree of soft power culture in the history of Turkish Republic.”