Research is a time-consuming endeavor which requires appropriate tools to manage often vast amounts of information. Militarization 2.0 is a research project aiming to explore Militarization in social media. The aim of this project is to design a user interface for supporting researchers in projects involving large amounts of data in qualitative studies. The project will follow the design process of the first version of the Militarization 2.0 research database interface. The design process involves user studies, interviews and design and testing of paper and digital prototypes.

Container Security Initiative was launched in 2002 by the US Customs and Border Patrol in order to secure the global flow of containers destined for USA. This thesis attempts to analyze Container Security Initiative in relation to a possible future scenario made by the weapons industry where the state's global traderoutes are being subject to militarization. A development which is partly based on the threat posed by global illegal trade. The latter is discussed and defined based on current research made by Carolyn Nordstrom, Moíses Naím and theories on the cosmopolitan perspective made by Ulrich Beck. Strategy documents concerning Container Security Initiative are then analyzed in terms of discourse to try to say something about what the program indicates.

The senior essay examines the geographical imaginations, notions of Self and community that were mobilized in the media and by the government in conjunction with an event, namely, the space voyage of Christer Fuglesang ? the first Swedish astronaut in space on December ___ 2006. The study is a critical investigation of media discourses, representations of space, and geographical imaginations that were triggered by the event. The specific issues addressed by this study are (a) which representations of Sweden were mobilized in narrating the event? (b) In what ways has Fuglesang´s space voyage influenced the image of Sweden? (c) How was the event rallied vis-à-vis discourses of entrepreneurial culture and neoliberal growth by the government? (d) Which themes and clichés were mustered in the media dramaturgy of the event? (e) Which topics were excluded in media narratives and representation of the event? (f) Have familiar geographical imaginations, notions of Self and community been reconfigured? If so, how?The present study analyzes narratives of the event in the two largest newspapers in Sweden - Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter, as well the two biggest TV-channels ? Swedish Television and TV4.

This comparative case study, which is based on a most similar system design,investigates why the Chávez government has attained a lower degree of democracy than the Kirchner and the Lula governments. In order to develop asupplementary theory about why governments in general achieve various degrees of democracy I compare these governments and examine what policies that differ them and why. My results show that these governments? policies differ concerning the rule of law, militarization, and negotiations with economic groups and anti-regime parts of civil society. I have found numerous answers to why some of these governments (and governments in general) have democratic policies within these four areas and why some do not.