Nonviolent action is a historically pervasive, yet misunderstood phenomenon. Despite its success stories, of which Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. remain the most famous examples, nonviolent action has been overlooked in literature, especially by peace and conflict scholars. Adopting Vinthagen’s novel theoretical framework on the case of nonviolent action in South Sudan, this paper aims at contr

The paper is based on an online field study, investigating Ukrainian civil society actors' perceptions of the peace processes regarding Donbas. The study builds on the premise of civil society's importance for peace processes. The study, therefore, investigates civil society perceptions by analysing frictional encounters between the civil society and international and local actors as seen

Research on norm internalization and local ownership in peace processes has not often been combined in peace and conflict studies. This paper sets out to see on the one hand, to what degree liberal democratic norms has spread in Liberia since the ending of the civil war, and on the other hand, if the peace process, –characterized by hybridity – could explain the norm internalization process. Throu

Small states are vulnerable to disrupting occurrences in the international system, for example, conflicts. A way to counter bate this is by controlling the policy environment, which can be done by having a strong soft power. There are many ways one can gain soft power, one of which is via sports. Therefore, has this thesis set out to explain and examine Sweden’s sport diplomacy role on soft power.

På grund av ökat miljö- och klimatmedvetande har det under senaste tiden lagts stor kraft på forskning och utvecklingen av byggnaders miljöpåverkan. Betong där för stora andelar av koldioxidutsläppen och för att kunna minska betongmängden som används krävs mer arbete kring optimering av konstruktionsdelar med hänsyn till klimatavtrycket. Forskningen kring klimatoptimering av både husstommar och bjDue to increased environmental and climate awareness, great emphasis has been placed on both research and development of environmental impact of buildings. Scientific research on climate optimization of both structural frames and floors is well developed. However, equally large environmental improvements have not yet been made for foundations of large buildings. There are still no obvious alternat

The world stands often in the face of moral contentions, determining certain people or events as worthy of security whilst ignoring others. The conscience of watching silently as the genocide in Rwanda unfolded has weighed heavily on the international community’s shoulders, seemingly not heavy enough to refrain from repeating the same mistake however. The role “the visual” plays in framing securit

The name dispute between Greece and North Macedonia was a 27-year-long diplomatic battle over the name of the latter state. In this thesis, a narrative analysis is applied to discern each state's official conflict narrative during the period 2008–2020 in order to examine (1) how they differ from each other, (2) how they develop over time and (3) how they affect the conflict itself. Building on

Tidsberoende effekter, såsom krypning, krympning och stålrelaxation, är ofta svåra att prediktera när det kommer till förspända betongkonstruktioner. Krypning som ett fenomen är komplicerat och förenklas därför i gällande byggnormer (Eurocode), för att underlätta konstruktörens arbete. När det gäller etappvis spännarmerade betongbroar har dessa förenklingar visat sig ge felaktiga prognoser av de tLong-term effects, such as creep, shrinkage, and steel relaxation, are often difficult to predict for prestressed concrete structures. Creep as a phenomenon is complicated to describe and is therefore simplified in the current building standards, to better accommodate the designer. When dealing with segmentally constructed prestressed concrete bridges, these simplifications have shown to provide i

The field of research on military intervention is usually based on grand theories in international relations. This thesis argues that understanding can be created through a narrower approach where narratives and discourses are examined. Therefore, this study intends to examine how strategic narratives are used at the political level to justify international military operations. The thesis bases it

On a global scale, the modern food supply systems enabled a consistent supply of goods thanks to the technological advances. However, the continued urban growth led to an increase in demand in terms of food supply, and the displacement of food cultivation away from the cities to rural land. The consequent production and supply systems largely contribute to several challenges like carbon imbalances

Studiens syfte var att uppnå ökad förståelse för unga vuxnas syn på relationer i familjen, sin egen självkänsla och psykologiskt mående. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med åtta personer som befann sig i vuxenblivandefasen och som ansåg sina relationella erfarenheter som avgörande för personlig utveckling. I en tolkande fenomenologisk analys identifierades sex teman. Viktiga resultat var The purpose of the study was to achieve an increased understanding of young adults’ views regarding relationships in the family, self-esteem and psychological state. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight people who were in emerging adulthood and considered their relational experience as crucial for personal development. Six themes were identified in an interpretive phenomenological

In 1994 Rwanda experienced a genocide that took an estimated 800.000 lives in the course of 100 days. This essay takes the form of a case study that examines Rwanda’s transitional justice process that followed and its abilities to create a gender-just peace. The study is based on a theoretical framework that links a feminist reading of transitional justice and gender-just peace together with gende

We are currently living in the information age. Our social media news feeds are constantly filled with updates from our friends and family, but also with news and findings from all around the world. With these massive information flows, it is becoming harder to fact check. Actors, such as Russia, have used the new information environment to their advantage, by spreading disinformation campaigns. S

Food insecurity is increasing globally again after declining for decades, and in Nigeria alone 13 million people are experiencing food insecurity. Particularly in North-East Nigeria food insecurity has reached emergency levels. Because of intrastate conflict between the Nigerian state and Boko Haram it has been difficult to mitigate food insecurity, even though Nigeria ranks in the top ten in worl

Civil wars continue to prevail, and the number of causalities increase in the last decade, while socioeconomic disparities within countries steadily widen in many parts of the world. Yet, the understanding of the potential correlations between these two trends remains incomplete. This thesis aims to probe this relationship by studying what effect socioeconomic inequality has on conflict intensity.

This thesis focuses on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) processes and its theorized potential to transform gender relations. Increased scholarly attention has been paid to female combatants in non-state armed groups, as they have been frequently visible on frontlines of wars. Because of the contrasting gender roles within many groups with a prevalence of female ex-combatants, fe

Ever since it was created, the Eurovision Song Contest has functioned as an arena for nation branding and nation building. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the field of cultural diplomacy and political storytelling through studying how participation in the Eurovision Song Contest can contribute to a country’s international image. This thesis has studied how the Russian entries betwee

While violent conflicts are perceived to be the primary driver of food insecurity globally, the degree to which people are affected by both violent conflicts and food crises vary greatly, mainly depending on gender, age and socio-economical position. With this as a background, the aim of this thesis is to investigate how FAO and the WFP address gender dimensions of food insecurity in their humanit

Nowadays it has become relevant for scientists to understand the impact of tropical forest structure on the Global Carbon Cycle. Dynamic vegetation models have been developed to pursue this issue, specifically by improving algorithms that could analyze the allometry, biomass content and mortality rate of each singular simulated plant individual and how this responds to climate change, management aCompetition between neighbouring trees has a big impact on their growth. Trees have different strategies to deal with competing neighbours. Some grow quickly and tall, overshadowing neighbouring trees, but die young (Georges K., 2015). Others grow more slowly, but outlive the fast-growing ones and cast shade on them over a longer period. These interactions have a strong influence on the dynamics o

During 2020 and 2021, the world has been experiencing a pandemic. In correlation to social distancing, the digital divide is more visible than ever since such a great part of our lives have moved to platforms like “Zoom”. Peacebuilding organisations has adapted to the changing context, using information and communication technologies (ICTs) within their activities. This thesis investigates local p