Efter den 11 september 2001 har det i väst blivit mer accepterat att göra negativa uttalanden om islam och muslimer i diskurser. Vår tes är att ledarsidorna i Jyllandsposten är ett exempel på en sådan diskurs där muslimer framställts som de Andra och ses som fundamentalt olika "danskarna". Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka diskursen om islam/muslimer på Jyllandspostens ledarsidor år 2000-2005. Detta görs genom en kritisk diskursanalys, utifrån postkolonial teori. Vi undersöker även om diskursen kan sägas vara en rasifierad diskurs, och hur diskursen har förändrats sedan år 2000.

Iran och Nordkorea tillhör båda gruppen av skurkstater, även kallat ?ondskans axelmakter?, på grund av deras kärnvapenambitioner. Skäl för att tillförskaffa kärnvapen domineras av säkerhetspolitiska skäl. Vi skall här genom en jämförelse mellan två av världens ?skurkstater? utröna om skälen för ett potentiellt införskaffande härrör från säkerhetspolitiska skäl.

This thesis aims at analysing conflicts between different ideals of democracy, using the example of a newly implemented citizen´s initiative reform. This reform gives citizens the right to make policy proposals to Swedish municipal councils. The proposals are to be handled in the same way as proposals from the municipal council members. An ideology analysis of various government documents as well as of an official state study (SOU) is carried out to identify and discuss the ideals of democracy that underpin the reform. The analysis is based on participatory democracy and electoral democracy theory and Arnstein's Eight Rungs on the Ladder of Citizen Participation is used to discuss different types of participation by the citizens.

The aim of this theoretical study is to explain how the notion of the Other and Otherness affect individuals possibilities to form multiple, personal identities. This is done by the use of the theory of the Other and the construction of identities. In my analysis I will be using the power perspective presented by Lukes. The purpose of my study is also to investigate whether a focus on similarity over difference between groups can change the situation for individualsMy study shows that otherness affect individuals identity constructions through stereotyping and categorising. This is made possible by the use of power from outside and inside different groupings.

This thesis explores the validity of feminist poststructuralist theory in relation to gender and culture. Within the theoretical frame¬work of Judith Butler, combined with insights from the field of post-colonial theory, different perspectives of the dilemma of universalism are discussed. Primary sources for the study are policy documents from the Swedish government, literary texts and newspaper articles. The results show a number of paradoxes which need to be continually and critically kept unsolved. This does not mean an end to feminist engagement in other contexts than one's own but rather the need for theoretical awareness and self reflection.

Since 2003 Saudi Arabia is under attack from domestic Al Qaida-cells which, by random shootings of westerners and bombings of compounds and official state buildings, is trying to challenge the stability of the royal regime. According to Al Qaida, the Royal family is attacked because of their friendly relations to the US and for not implementing Islam in the Saudi society as profound as they ought to. Political analyst finds it obvious that the Islamic Al Qaida-cells by terrorism is trying to erode the stability in the kingdom.An important foundation for stability for any government is legitimacy. The aim of this thesis is to examine the royal legitimacy strategy in the state bureaucracy of Saudi Arabia. The question at issue is: how has the royal family constructed the civil, military and religious bureaucracies to maintain and promote stability and legitimacy?The thesis focuses on the on three different units within these three bureaucracies and it surveys the way they are staffed and organized to strengthen and maintain legitimacy for the royal family.

The aim of this thesis is to ascertain if women are discriminated in the European Parliament, and if so, how it is expressed. Our hypothesis is that female members of the parliament suffer a kind of double discrimination. The European Parliament consists of roughly one third women, but nevertheless the discrimination does not end there. According to our hypothesis women do not have the same opportunity to influence as their male colleagues, hence the double discrimination.The results of this thesis show that women are discriminated, mainly by not gaining access to the European Union's important issues, whilst the female dominated issues are scheduled on late evening and at the end of a session week. Another unsatisfactory issue was that even though half of the reports were given by women, they only received one third of the references to their reports while men received two thirds of the references.

Nigeria är ett av världens mest etniskt mångfaldiga länder. Landet har under senare år, trots ett alltmer demokratiskt styre, erfarit ett uppsving av etniska konflikter. Med en konstruktivistisk syn på etnicitet är orsaken till konflikterna inte given, utan kan elimineras. De nigerianska ledarna har dock inte lyckats med detta, utan snarare gjort problemen än mer komplicerade. Därför syftar denna fallstudie till att analysera civilsamhällets möjligheter och hinder att få bukt med de etniska konflikterna.Genom tillämpande av teorier om inter- och intraetniskt civilsamhälle samt socialt kapital finner vi att civilsamhället, som genom en bred definition är livfullt och heterogent i Nigeria, i dagsläget är för svagt och fragmenterat.

33 referendum has taken place in european states regarding the European Union since the fall of the Berlin wall. This thesis aims to initialy identify potential patterns in this group of referenda to launch and test a theory/hypothesis anchored in this pattern.The european states are differing in nature and the standard of living is chosen as the factor that can potentially have affected the outcome of the referenda held. The carrying thought here being that the voters in states with considerably lower standard of living than the european average would have a more positive attitude towards a deepened cooperation among european states.To try this connection between standard of living and how european citizens have placed their votes a main and principal quantitative test is undertaken. It is followed by discussion and arguments about the result of the test.The argumentation goes from being hopefull of the strenght of the hypothesis, to a more ciritical view of its' strength. The thesis is wrapped up in some argumentation about how and why it fails to explain what it was initially intended to do.

This is an examination of how interdependence affects the behaviour of politicians and their ability to govern the way they want to. I analyze the memoirs of two Swedish prime ministers, Tage Erlander and Ingvar Carlsson to explore their experiences. I focus on how the increasing interdependence affects the politicians with regards to security, welfare, and financial policies. Sweden had a special position between Soviet and NATO during the cold war. This meant Sweden gave priority to it's neutrality policy during the cold war, compared to increased trade cooperation.

In this thesis, I discuss the impact Swedish national culture may have on Swedish diplomats. This is a qualitative study and I have used theories from studies of international negotiations to compare the oppositional results of those scientists with my interview material. With the help of my interview material from seven Swedish diplomats and five foreign diplomats I have compared their perceptions of Swedish culture, Swedish diplomats and their thoughts about the existence of an international diplomatic culture with well known sceientists of international negotiations. My main question is whether there is an international diplomatic subculture, without any national impact, or not. The mission is to base the thesis with earlier science and then compare and contrast with my interview material.

Samuel P. Huntingtons bok The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order har ända sedan utgivningen 1996 varit föremål för en stor debatt inom flera akademiska fält. I samband med attackerna mot World Trade Center i september 2001 och USA:s krig mot Irak som inleddes på våren 2003 pånyttföddes intresset för Huntingtons bok.Jag har utifrån en diskursteoretisk utgångspunkt jämfört Huntingtons bok med Bushadministrationens uttalanden i samband med krigsutbrottet med syftet att undersöka vilka likheter som finns dem emellan samt vad dessa likheter kan ha inneburit för västerländska och muslimska identiteter. Mina resultat visar att de skiljer sig åt i sina respektive identitetskonstruktioner, där Huntington strikt fokuserar på religionens roll medan Bush skapar en västerländsk identitet kring begreppet frihet och en motidentitet kring begreppet terror, men att de har en gemensam nämnare i deras fiendebilder, där grova generaliseringar präglar deras framställningar..

In this thesis I have used post-colonial theory to analyze the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority group located in Xinjiang province in the Northwest of China, and their identity shaping process in relation to the dominating Han Chinese. I have analyzed the possibilities to use the power perspectives in post-colonial theory, especially Edward Said's Orientalism and the creation of the Other in a new context, where the main focus is on the Uyghurs through the eyes of Han Chinese. I have argued that Han Chinese, with colonial tendencies, have created two generalizing pictures of the Uyghurs; one romantic picture to use as an exotic tourist attraction and one threatening picture that portray Uyghurs as Islamic terrorists to win support in international politics. The thesis is a qualitative single case study with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding for the Uyghurs as well as examine possibilities of widening the analyze areas for post-colonialism. My conclusion is that the power perspectives in post-colonial theory are usable implements also for non-western contexts and in this case function as a way to understand the identity shaping process for the Uyghurs and their relation to Han Chinese..

Under mer än 800 år har en bitter konflikt utkämpats mellan främst Irland och Storbritannien. De senaste 50 åren har denna konflikt primärt handlat om Nordirlands varande eller icke varande i unionen med Storbritannien. Den komplexa historien till trots kunde ett avtal tecknas mellan de inblandade parterna 1998. Denna uppsats fokuserar främst på USA som inbegrips i konflikten i början på 90-talet, först som 3: e part och senare som medlare. Frågan författarna ställer sig lyder: Hur såg USA: s agerande som tredje part i förhandlingarna ut, hur påverkade detta agerande desamma, och hur kan detta förklaras med hjälp av teorier kring medling och konfliktlösning? Uppsatsens slutsatser dras utifrån den fallstudie som genomförs med hjälp av medlings- och konfliktlösningsteoretiska ramverk.

1945 bildades FN i kölvattnet av andra världskriget enligt principen att ingripa i mellanstatliga krig eller om den internationella säkerheten hotades. Sedan dess har konflikter fått mer komplicerad karaktär och krigföring ändrat skepnad. På så sätt är FN inte anpassat till dagens konflikter eftersom organisationens konflikthantering i grunden bygger på att konflikter är mellanstatliga. Den uppfattningen överensstämmer med realismens perspektiv där stater ses som den viktigaste aktören ? det vill säga att statens suveränitet inte får kränkas.