People in refuge face states with a dilemma. This dilemma consists of a wish (or obligation) to help those who need a refuge, and at the same time consider domestic issues such as financial costs and security problems. Thus, there are two perspectives which are important to consider when refugee policies are made. The aim of this paper is to see which perspective the EU had when making their migration policies. The question asked is: which perspective is behind the making of European refugee policy?The theories realism and idealism are used to describe the conflicts in the making of European refugee policies.

AbstractIn this theory-testing case study I will analyze and discuss the Gulf War which took place in the Middle East in 1990-1991 and has become an important topic for discussion among IR scholars in the post-Cold War era. The events that led up to the Gulf War, as well as the war itself, will be analyzed from two different perspectives; Realism and Liberalism. Within these differing theoretical frameworks I have chosen to use elements from, on the one hand, Classical and Structural Realism, and on the other hand, Idealism and Liberal Institutionalism. Focusing on these specific schools of thought I aim to derive essential, ?key?, concepts that will then be tested against empirical fact.The overall purpose of this study is to try to logically explain, through detailed analysis, the actions of the actors involved in the Gulf War and, in addition, why this war ever occurred.

France is committed to its ambition to lift the European Union's arms embargo imposed on China after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989. France is of today the only member state that is acting to lift the arms embargo, evoking questions of motives behind its behavior. The underlying assumption in this essay is that France's actions reflect a need to find new ways of adapting itself and surviving faced with the threats of its decreased international influence. By using three different perspectives ? realism, liberalism and constructivism ? this essay examines three possible models of analysis to explain France's behavior.An analysis of the discourse covering this essay´s topic between 1989-2007 provided the basis of the paper.

The purpose of this study was to examine the incentives behind Sweden?s decision to engagein the Afghanistan conflict.The method used to fulfil the purpose of the study is content analysis. The material that hasbeen used in the study is various books and articles concerning Sweden in Afghanistan,Swedish foreign policy and perspectives in political science.The study is multi-theoretical and thus the analysis explains the incentives from a liberal, arealist and a constructivist point of view.The conclusion of the study is that identity has a great part in explaining the incentives forSweden to engage in Afghanistan, especially because of the transformation in strategy andforeign policy that has taken place since the end of the cold war. Other factors, such as peacebuilding and national interests also are incentives supported by the material used in the study.Yet, perhaps they are first and foremost connected by the constructivist idea of identity..

Abstract   The actions of Sweden during the second world war has been richly discussed over the years. Sweden declared itself neutral in the war between the great powers but did not manage to maintain its neutrality. The nature of neutrality has often been discussed; whether it is of a idealistic or more pragmatic nature. Realism, a theory of international relations, would argue that it is of a more pragmatic nature, hence these two are in opposition. Realism also takes credit in claiming to explain how and why a state chooses to act in a situation. The aim of this essay was to, by examining specific decisions made by the swedish government during the Second World War, come to a conclusion whether or not Sweden?s proclaimed neutrality was of idealistic or pragmatic nature, and thereby possibly coming to a conclusion about neutrality in large.It was also to examine the worth of realism as an explanatory theory by applying it to this specific case; to examine its validity.The study was conducted using a qualitative method; presenting empiric facts and then by using a decision model interpreting the actions and results from a realist perspective. The study concludes that realism has explanatory power, although not a complete one.

This paper studies the Swedish Alien?s Act regulations regarding individuals in need of international protection. The purpose of the essay is to examine the differences between the three grounds of protection that are found in the Swedish Alien?s Act. Central questions have been whether the origins of protection statuses granted in this act are national or international, as the UN convention relating to the status of refugees and also the progress of the European Union?s Common European Asylum System both are affecting the Swedish legislation.

This essay is about the massive Iranian aid to Hezbollah and the Saudi Arabian, likewise, towards the Taliban. The main view is that the two countries aid respective aid to Hezbollah and the Taliban is/were not a gesture of goodwill but rather an economic method of getting influence and controlling the receiver. This view that is based on a theory called; economic statecraft. The economic statecraft theory is used in this paper to investigate why Iran?s influence towards Hezbollah has been successful while the Saudis ambitions with the Taliban have failed.

North Korea is considered to be the most autocratic dictatorship in the world today. Its citizens are denied their most basic human rights and North Koreas ambition to pursue nuclear weapons is looked upon with great fear from the international community and the US in particular. Some experts say that the threat from North Korea is far greater than the one possessed by Saddam Hussein. Although North Korea seems to inhabit all the necessary criteria for an US military intervention the United States has openly declared its diplomatic ambitions with the state. Why?With the use of realist and social construction theory this study will bring clarity to why the United States prefers diplomacy instead of a military intervention.

This Bachelor Thesis is entitled "WTO-spelarena för utvecklingsländer? En studie om avgörande faktorer för utvecklingsländers förmåga att implementera sina regimpreferenser". Through our empirical results in conjunction with realist theories, this Bachelor thesis attempts to answer the questions: (1) How does the decline in American power, the nature of existing institutional structure and Third World unity, influence the ability of developing countries to secure its preferred regimes? (2) What function do informal meetings in the WTO have? (3) How does access to informal meetings influence the ability of developing countries to secure its preferred regimes? The paper makes use of case studies from the Ministerial meetings in the Doha development round.The conclusion is that access to these meetings is an important variable to explain the extent to which the Third World can be able to secure its preferred regimes. The degree to which developing countries can secure their preferred regimes is therefore a function of four variables: the nature of existing institutional structures; Third World unity, the attitude and power of the United States and foremost access to informal meetings..

The aim of this paper is to map out the purposes of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. This is done in order to see if humanitarian tendencies have been an increasingly cause for the UN to initiate an intervention with military means. This paper uses the time period from the end of the cold war until today, since that historic occurrence increased the U.N.?s involvement in peacekeeping. By using this time span it enables the survey to indicate changes in the mapping of humanitarian interventions.

Det finns både skillnader och likheter mellan Stanislavskij och Brecht. En av de tydligaste är att de har olika ismer i grunden, Stanislavskij är naturalist och Brecht är realist. Dessa ismer gränsar till varandra i det att de båda vill ge en så realistisk bild av verkligheten som möjligt, men tar olika vägar i synen på verkligheten och hur denna ska avbildas på bästa sätt. Där Stanislavskij vill ha total inlevelse vill Brecht fjärma och hålla distans. Där Brecht bara låter skådespelaren ge utlopp för sina känslor i det inledande repetitionsarbetet låter Stanislavskij känslan vara med som en röd tråd genom hela processen från rollskapande till färdig föreställning.

The formation of sovereign states in regional blocks has become an essential feature in the world system. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate which motives and driving forces that affect the creation of projects of regional integration outside Europe and the Western World. By choosing the Latin American project of integration ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas) as a case of regional integration outside Europe and the Western World, the study investigates the motives expressed by the most prominent actors of the project, Venezuela and Cuba. ALBA is chosen as a representative and a unique case and through the consumption of the gramscian and the realist approaches, the essay defines two motives that affect the creation of projects of regional integration. As a way of investigating the actors? motives, the paper studies political statements, especially those of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, and official positions expressed in central documents and declarations.

In the post Cold-War era, world politics was transforming itself through its emerging complex issues such as terrorism and influential and interdependent actors such as the European Union. In this new era, the European Union was developing its Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar both to present a coherent and unified EU policy and to prove its political potent in order to become an influential actor on world politics. On the other side, security environment was also transforming its content through emerging actors and issues. As one of the most prominent actors of the world politics, the EU was influenced by the transformation of security environment, whose economic ?soft power? proved necessary but insufficient for being a global power in this emerging security environment.

SammanfattningVi har undersökt hur kreditprocessen påverkas ur kredithandläggarens perspektiv, av att det kreditsökande småföretaget använder sig av en extern rådgivare eftersom tidigare forskning tyder på att det blivit svårare för dessa företag ett erhålla finansiering från banker. Ändringen i förmånsrättslagen 2004 är en bidragande faktor till småföretagens prekära situation eftersom det försämrade bankens utdelning vid en eventuell företagskonkurs. När en småföretagares kunskaper inte räcker till, kan en extern rådgivare konsulteras för vägledning i kreditprocessen. Vårt syfte med uppsatsen var att beskriva kredithandläggarnas uppfattning om den externa rådgivarens olika funktioner i kreditprocessen samt att analysera hur kreditprocessen påverkas av att en extern rådgivare agerar i småföretagets intresse. Vi har genom en kvalitativ undersökning och studerat fyra kredithandläggare i fyra olika banker med erfarenhet av vårt ställda problem och fångat deras respektive betraktelser.