The aim of this paper is to clarify the up till now somewhat shady definition of legitimacy, and to investigate what happens to this concept when it is transferred from the boundaries of the nation state to the realms of the international arena. By creating a model of legitimacy from which an institution can be evaluated, the purpose of this paper is to investigate what legitimacy is and how important it is for the actors within the international society. The next step involves evaluating what makes the UN a legitimate institution and how its foundation is affected by the blatant disregard of its authority by one of its? most influential members.The theoretical framework consists of a summary of what contemporary analysts? views of legitimacy are, which I have incorporated into my own institutional model of legitimacy. The role of institutions is central to all aspects of this study.

The purpose of this composition was to examine which international and Swedish laws exist to govern the protection of asylum seekers claiming persecution on the grounds of sexual orientation. Additionally I wanted to look at what the need for such a right to refuge would be based upon, i.e. why asylum seekers ought to be granted such protection. In order to fulfil my objectives I based my material on international and Swedish laws, comparing these to studies of what negative impact growing up and living as homosexual in an oppressed environment can have on the individual, psychologically and socially. To highlight and exemplify my material I used Iran as a case-study to reflect my facts upon.I found that there has been, and still seems to be a lack of interest in and commitment to the persecution of homosexuals around the world.

Export is a top priority for Sweden's economy but for Swedish companies it may involve uncomfortable risks of exporting without sincere consideration. When the United Nations Security Council puts an embargo against a country, this often mean an import and export restriction. The thought is to push undemocratic regimes into respecting human rights. When the embargo is in force, however, the parties are not able to fulfill their contractual obligations, which practically means that the agreement will be suspended. The problem is what happens when an embargo is in force for a longer period of time.

The United Nations has a responsibility to combat acts of international terrorism, as they constitute a threat to international peace and security. In spite of this, there exists no generally accepted definition of the phenomenom within the UN. By examining resolutions on terrorism, this thesis aims to evaluate the UN?s policy on terrorism since the end of the cold war until 2003. The results show that the UN?s attitude towards terrorism eversince the end of the cold war has been condemning, but that the the events of September 11th 2001 has contributed to an even more firm approach to the problem.

Oilseed rape is an important crop in Sweden and is grown on about 90000 ha today. The interest in oil seed pro-duction is increasing because of growing demand and high prices for oil seed both in Sweden and Europe. However, an increased intensity in the oil seed production can bring higher risk of yield losses due to fungal diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate what different fungi are associated with oilseed rape under field conditions and if their incidence is correlated to crop establishment problems. This study was carried out in three parts: 1) investigations on fungal community structure in roots and rhizosphere soils from young spring- and winter rape plants sampled in failed respectively good establishment patches in four fields, 2) investigations on the pathogenicity of fungi isolated from oilseed rape in controlled environment and 3) investigations on the effect of different fungicide seed treatments on germination and early plant development in a field soil naturally infested with damping off- and Verticillium wilt pathogens. The studies on community structure using a combined approach of standard fungal isolation techniques and DNA based methods revealed a high fungal diversity in three out of four studied fields of spring rape and winter rape. For some unknown reason, very few fungal species were identified from the fourth field.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate possible reasons Sweden might have had to motivate the start and end of its nuclear program during the Cold war. This investigation will be conducted using a qualitative research method and making a comparison between the theories realism and liberalism?s ability to explain the decisions. The question this paper is based upon is as follows: Can Sweden?s creating and shutting down of a nuclear weapons program during the Cold war be explained by the international events and actions that were taking place during this time period? The result consists of liberalism pointing out several failures on the international level that might explain the cynical decision from Sweden to create the nuclear weapons. Realism considers the decision to make perfect sense at this point in time, to protect Sweden on the anarchy that was going on at that time according to this theory.The ending of the nuclear weapons program is being explained largely by the rise of the MAD-concept which renders the acute need of nuclear weapons in Sweden void.  Liberalism on the other hand considers this a logic step due to the better established UN that is playing a larger role now than in the 1940s. In conclusion, realism does a better job explaining the start of the nuclear weapons program, while liberalism explains the end of it more efficiently. The contribution this thesis has to the research of political science can be seen mainly in three areas.

Recent changes in Swedish law suggest new groups of ?desired? labor migrants, which international students is an example of. Despite this, international students in Sweden have received little previous attention in the literature. The current study focused on international master students? experiences of job searching in Sweden and challenges they face in job searching, recruitment, and workplaces.

Uppsatsen omfattar en analys och jämförelse av EU:s och Sveriges målsättningar,strategier och faktiska bistånd för de tre baltiska staterna i tidsperioden 1998/99. Somteoretiskt ramverk har det vidgade säkerhetsbegreppet med Barry Buzans tolkning frånboken People, States and Fear: an agenda for international security in the post- coldwar era. Ur teorin så används de fem sektorerna politiska, ekonomiska, sociala, miljöoch militära detta som ett analytiskt sorteringsverktyg för att sedan överskådligt kunnajämföra och prioritera sektorerna och dess innehåll med varandra. Genom detta så skaett resultat vara möjligheten att se om Sverige koordinerar sitt bistånd med EU:s..

AbstractTitle: DREAMING OF A UNITED ?NORDEN? (The North)? Four central Nordic actors about the progress and extent of Nordic cooperationThe Nordic cooperation are often spoken as in terms of a peaceful international cooperation that is built upon a wide range of similarities among its members, such as a common culture, language similarities and a related kind of political system etc. But in spite of the fact that these so called propitious factors are present, many of the attempts that has been made trying to bring the states of the North (Norden) closer together has turned out unsuccessfully. Therefore no far-reaching Nordic cooperation has come to be implemented. The aim of this essay is to find out what the main reasons could be why this has been the case.I have chosen to take a closer look at the motives given by the former Nordic Prime ministers Tage Erlander (Sweden), Karl August Fagerholm (Finland), Einar Gerardsen (Norway) and Mauno Koivisto (Finland).

The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is since its recent establishment and increasing density a controversial species in Sweden. But the attitudes towards the wild boar are poorly documented so far. To improve this knowledge, a questionnaire was sent out to chosen people (n=400) connected to the management and/or land use activities. The study got 162 replies (reply frequency 40,5%) and the results show varying attitude trends among organizations and individuals, with some aspects coherent within groups and some not. Farmers and their organization showed the most negative attitudes towards wild boars, which was expected due to the practical and economic problems they suffer from this species. People involved with forestry were more positive to wild boars, probably because the species does not affect forest growth etc severely, and may even promote plant establishment by the rooting.

The world becomes more globalized for each year that passes by due to economical, political and technological processes. The globalization process leads to increased contacts with people from different cultures and therefore intercultural communication occurs.Intercultural and strategic communication is significant to accomplish successful establishments and effective communication for companies. The export from Sweden abroad increases every single year and today there are about 1500 Swedish companies around the world and 350 established in Russia. The purpose of this study has therefore been to analyze the factors that affect the establishments of Swedish companies in Russia.Material to our study has been collected through qualitative interviews and a seminar focusing on these questions. Our interviewees all have experiences on working with Russia, as most of the interviewees work for Swedish companies in Russia or are consults that help companies to succeed with their establishment.The material has been evaluated and analyzed in relation to our main theories in intercultural- and strategic communication using theorists and theories such as Hofstede and his five cultural dimensions, Goffman?s staging and Habermas communicative action theory.Our theories have been put in relation to our collected information and complemented by earlier research and the result indicates that you need intercultural competence to manage an establishment of a Swedish company and the strategic communication in Russia because of the intercultural differences that the respondents experience..

Purpose:The purpose of this study is to describe and explain the international music company reports of its intangible assets to examine whether similar methods can be applied to the Swedish market.Method:The study was based on a qualitative and abductive research approach. Collected data is mainly from secondary sources in the form of auditor approved consolidated financial statements.Conclusion:The Swedish music companies activate their intangible assets only partially or not at all, despite the fact that assets in the form of music catalogs, rights, contracts and advances are those that generate revenue for the companies. The study has resulted in a description of how the companies are doing on an international level with the IASB and FASB's regulation. With this report, we have found flaws in the way the Swedish companies prepare their accounts according to the current regulations. In the analysis, these shortcomings are highlighted and to what extent these international standards can be applied in the Swedish companies to take a step towards a more accurate picture and a harmonized and comparable accounting..

The Brussels I-Regulation, often referred to as the Jurisdiction Regulation, is said to be the matrix of the European judicial cooperation system within the area of international private law. The Regulation states how jurisdiction is to be determined in an international dispute. The aim of the Regulation is to ensure that parties in a dispute within the EU have access to justice.The Regulation is considered to be working well in general, and have been since it came in-to force in 2007. Although it is held to be well functioning it does not exclude that some improvements might be needed. The commission ordered a review of the Regulation and the result was that some deficiencies were identified.

AbstractUniversity of Växjö, School of Social SciencesCourse: PO 5363, Political Science 41-60Title: US and UN, cooperation or conflict?Author: Charlotta BjuvlingSupervisor: Lennart BergfeldtDate: Autumn 2007The international society changed a great deal after the end of the cold war. It gave the United Nations a new oppertunity to act after the deadlock during the war, and it gave the United States a new hegemone role in the world politics. The aim of this paper is to investigate wheter the United States foreign policy action have been accordence to a realistic way of thinking since the end of the cold war. I will do this with the help of my research questions:? Have the United States followed the guidelines of the United Nations in their foreign policy?? Are there signs that show of a change, either towards more or less cooperation between United Nations and the United States?To answer these questions I will use the theories realism and Hedley Bulls concepts of fairness and his ideas of an international system in his book ?An Anarchical Society?.

The National Libraries task to save and preserve the national cultural heritage has turned to a new challenge in a digital world. The preservation of born-digital material for future use requires not only saving the digital object itself but also information about the object, preservation metadata. This is a relatively new issue and the library community has very little experience in this area. It has become evident that international cooperation is necessary to solve the task and that the development of international standards is of fundamental significance. This thesis investigates what has been done to meet the problems with the fast obsolescence of digital material with the focus on metadata.