This bachelor thesis is a study of the European Union as a role model in the world. Its main focus is to answer the question ?In what respects did the European Union (EU) work as a model at the establishment of the African Union (AU) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR)?? By doing so it hopes to shed some light on how other unions in the world contemplate the EU. The method is partly theoretical and partly empirical. In the theoretical part, the thesis discusses in what respects the African Union and the Union of South American Nations might and might not be similar to the European Union.

The union organization rate has continuously diminished since the mid 90's. The aim of this essay is to investigate non-members approach to the union. Central questions are what personal experiences the respondents have of the union and how they view the union as a phenomenon. According to previous research the main cause of the great decline in membership to LO are the increased membership fees to the union and the unemployment insurance funds (UIF) in 2007. The increased fee led to a greater accumulated cost for those who were both union- and UIF -members, which had a negative effect on the membership numbers for the union.

The aim of this essay was to examine whether 10 Swedish newspapers editorial pages and their leader writers changed their view on Mikhail Gorbachev before, during and after the August Coup in 1991. Moreover, the aim was also to see if the editorial pages used the same sources when they wrote about Gorbachev.In this essay four main questions were asked:- How is Gorbachev described before the August Coup?- How is Gorbachev described during the August Coup?- How is Gorbachev described after the August Coup?- What sources did the editorial pages use when they wrote about Gorbachev?Ten newspapers and their editorial pages from the period of 1-31 August and 1-6 September, as well as 10-31 December 1991 and 1 January 1992 were examined. It was discovered that most of the editorial pages changed their view from being negative in August to being more positive in December.As a conclusion it can be stated that the examined editorial pages did not write much about Gorbachev in the beginning of August and if they did mention him it was in a negative tone. One of the reasons for the lack of mentioning during the August Coup could be that the leader writers were not sure whether Gorbachev would return back to power.

Landlocked Tajikistan is situated in Central Asia and is not only the smallest republic of Central Asia, but it is also one of the most mountainous with some of Central Asia?s highest peaks. Tajikistan is currently and historically the most financially disadvantaged country within Soviet Union/Russian territories. Agriculture is the main occupation for more than half of the country?s population. Unfortunately, however, only 7% of Tajikistan is arable land and the agriculture productivity is low.

Today it is mandatory for every college or university student to pay a union fee to their student?s union. The fee is mandatory and is a payment for writing examinations, receiving grades. The fees purpose is also intended to secure the education quality and student influence. In the presence of the abolishment of the union fee the Swedish student?s unions stand before an uprising competition between themselves and most likely a decrease in membership.

Today it is mandatory for every college or university student to pay a union fee to their student?s union. The fee is mandatory and is a payment for writing examinations, receiving grades. The fees purpose is also intended to secure the education quality and student influence. In the presence of the abolishment of the union fee the Swedish student?s unions stand before an uprising competition between themselves and most likely a decrease in membership.

AbstractSince democracy was developed in the ancient Greece it has come to be used within a small city state, within the national state and as today used within a bigger perspective. After the end of the second world war political leaders wanted to make sure that there would never be a war between European countries again. Now, about 60 years later this type of cooperation now involves 27 of the European countries and goes under the name of the Euroapean Union. This means that democracy is no longer used just within the nation state, but within a big organisation that is responsible for almost 500 million Europeans lives. This also means that the European Union need to make some institutional reforms to be able to handle all the future challenges.

Today it is mandatory for every college or university student to pay a union fee to their student?s union. The fee is mandatory and is a payment for writing examinations, receiving grades. The fees purpose is also intended to secure the education quality and student influence. In the presence of the abolishment of the union fee the Swedish student?s unions stand before an uprising competition between themselves and most likely a decrease in membership.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain the European Union was challenged partly by an institutionalized organization of the union, as well as by a socio-psychology awareness concerning the meaning of the European Union. The increase in European integration has generated a political collaboration where national understandings in identities are constantly being exposed for reconstruction. This results in a collective European identity where states are united in diversity.National identities are created when boundaries are set up in a relation to other states. In these identity constructions there are thoughts and questions raised such as who we are and who we are not. Ukraine and the European Union has, during a long time, had diversified preconceptions concerning who has been the others.

It is the curriculum and the syllabus for history that decides what the classbooks will include. The intention with this paper was to found out what Swedish and Norwegian classbooks writes about the union between Norway and Sweden in 1814-1905. The result has been compiled from a study with teaching materials. Two Norwegian and two Swedish books which was written for the elementary school was used in the study. The text in these books has been analysed from a number of questions.

One of the big challenges for the European Union today lies in finding a common foreign policy for its 27 sovereign member states with their divided interests, experiences and traditions. New objectives set requirements on the Union to develop and intensify its military ability. The European Union´s view on when military force can be utilized sets concepts like sovereignty and intervention in focus. Can sovereignty be limited and if so can an intervention be justified? How did the Union argue regarding its participation in the intervention in Afghanistan, 2001? The Just War Theory gives the essay a normative framework against which to assess the Union´s view and guidelines for the use of military capabilities.

This Masters thesis is a historiographic study, which aim is to investigate how the Brezhnev administration 1964-82 describes the events taking place during the soviet cultural struggle 1917-32. The investigation is limited to how some of the literary groups, organisations and currents as well as a small number of Russian writers are viewed by the administration. The third and last edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, which is considered as equivalent with the soviet official view, is used as source. The analysis made in this thesis is divided in two parts; the text analysis of the writers biographies is compared with the result of a discourse analysis, whose target is some of the literary groups, organisations and currents during the topical period. The discourse analysis is a pre-analysis, but its conclusions also have a value in itself.

With a base in Ian Manners? theory about Normative Power Europe ? that the European Union is to be seen as a normative power instead of a civilian or military ? this paper seeks to contribute to the discussion about identity by examine the normative elements of the union?s policies towards Russia between 1997 and 2013. Which norms are most important and how does the diffusion look? The findings show that democracy, rule of law and respect of human rights are among the most diffused norms, and this is more than often done by using the Russian interest in economic progress. Over time the European Union has taken on a more critical approach against Russia, while still appreciating their prosperous relation when it comes to trade and energy.

Ever since the nation-state has existed identity has been a big deal, it is told that identity is a tool needed to be able to receive consensus from the people concerned on a certain matter. As the European Union is continuously shaped and reshaped due to changing geographical borders, as a consequence of new member-states the aim to integrate the Union equally across its surface has not been an easy task to solve. A lack of trust from the inhabitants in the European Union is a fact, and therefore the main duty of the Union has become to rebuild the trust from beginning to end, creating a Union which easily can be identified with. Since the process of national identity relies upon an excluding-including process and the use of the Other, the identification process on an European level has indeed had fierce effects on the inhabitants within and outside the Union.One of many things that this essay aims at showing is how mythmaking has become a way used by the elite in the Union to integrate a European identity, the myths refer back to a Golden Age when Europe was prosperous and in bloom. Among other tools used to integrate and create a European identity we find such as; unity in diversity, a cultural inheritance based on common denominators such as Christianity and Latin traditions, symbols and a European citizenship.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how propaganda has been used by two dictatorships, namely Nazi Germany and The Soviet union under the leadership of Josef Stalin. By examining a number of propaganda posters and paintings, we aim to find similarities as well as differences in how the two nations attempted to create imagined communities amongst their people. While conducting this examination of the propaganda material, we have acquired and used some of the ideas of Benedict Anderson, who has coined a concept that he calls ?Imagined Communities?. In conclusion, it is established that the most obvious similarity is that both leaders are heavily included in their propaganda material, both pictured and mentioned in text.