Constructing the external image of the European Union in the post-Lisbon environment: The official discourse of the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy / vice president of the commission

This thesis aims to demonstrate how the institutional actor of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the Commission (HR/VP) contributed to the construction of EU’s external image during the period of January 2010 to July 2013. In order to deliver the research aim, the theory of Discursive Institutionalism (DI) is introduced along with the methodology of Dialectical-Relational Approach (DRA) of Critical Discourse Analysis. DRA foresees a three-level analysis guided by HR/VP-set three priorities for her time in office. After analysing semantic aspects of the six themes/concepts, inductively identified from the texts, the discourse analysis shows that the creation and the functioning of the European External Action Service (EEAS), as both a priority and a theme, became a common denominator with which all the remaining five themes and two priorities could be linked. It was depicted as a prerequisite to considerably enhance EU’s external performance, in fact it was depicted as an institution which delivers EU foreign policy altogether. Consequently, the relationship between the HR/VP discourse and the institutional practice of external representation is explained through DI theory. Firstly, it is argued that in the HR/VP communicative discourse the identified themes/concepts could be taken as the upgraded versions of role conceptions (established images of EU’s role and performance in international system). They were utilised as discursive tools to refrain from bringing attention to role prescriptions, i.e. the still prevalent institutional fragmentation in EU’s external policies the HR/VP is aware of while speaking on behalf of the Union. This makes understandable with which means it was possible to construct the EEAS as a source enabling advancements in the post-Lisbon EU’s external conductions. Secondly, the HR/VP symbolic act of setting three vague priorities in the communicative discourse enabled to depict this institutional actor as one of having true discretionary power to set goals for whole EU’s external action, which in reality is impossible according to institutional rules. Lastly, in the HR/VP communicative discourse links were made between the initially set guiding priorities, the EEAS and the EU’s foreign policy. The latter remains a clear discursive attempt to depict an institutionally inexistent phenomenon as something real and tangible. In sum, all the aforesaid allows to better understand how the EU’s external image was constructed during the period of interest.http://www.ester.ee/record=b4410592~S58*es

Women in fisheries sector and entrepreneurship development: Steps for improvement

Aquaculture now plays a multi-disciplinary role and aims at providing food security generating employment; economic gains the optimum utilization of resources and finally upliftmcnt of the socio-economical status for those who are directly or indirectly connected with exploitation, production and processing of fish. It has vast potential in providing livelihood security as well as fulfilling the nutritional requirements of the growing population. Traditionally, aquaculture in Southeast Asia has been carried out at the household level with family members often contributing to different activities at specific times. In recent years, it has become a commercial activity and easily accessible in peri-urban areas with access to inputs and markets. Improvement in fish breeding and husbandry technologies, as well as the introduction of new or modified species, mainly through government and non-government organization (NGO) helped in increasing production levels through small-scale rural aquaculture

A theoretical analysis of the Law of the Sea negotiation in the context of international relations and negotiation theory

The Law of the Sea negotiation, which was instigated as a response to increased human activities at sea, was an international law making process. The negotiation has been described as the longest, most techncally complex, continuous negotiation attempted in modem times. It was attended by almost all states in the world and contained a series of complex and overlapping issues. It was a remarkably successful process in that it concluded with an agreement, which protagonists with different interests and objectives succeeded in producing after 27 years. This thesis analyses international relations and negotiation theories that relate to the Law of the Sea negotiation, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each body of theory. The work goes on to examine the most importnt aspets of the Law of the Sea negotiation, including why the negotiation started, the core issues and principal actors of the negotiation, the process up until 1980 when the draft Treaty was devised, the American rejection of the Treaty and the process which led to the final agreement of 1994. The work then looks at these individual aspects of the negotiation in the context of the examination of international relations theory and negotiation theory that relates to the Law of the Sea. The thesis concludes by proposing a model that explains the Law of the Sea negotiation. The model questions existing theory on the meaning of the state and states' status in international society

The North American Arctic: Themes in Regional Security

he North American Arctic addresses the emergence of a new security relationship within the North American North. It focuses on current and emerging security issues that confront the North American Arctic and that shape relationships between and with neighbouring states (Alaska in the US; Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada; Greenland and Russia). Identifying the degree to which ‘domain awareness’ has redefined the traditional military focus, while a new human rights discourse undercuts traditional ways of managing sovereignty and territory, the volume’s contributors question normative security arrangements. Although security itself is not an obsolete concept, our understanding of what constitutes real human-centred security has become outdated. The contributors argue that there are new regionally specific threats originating from a wide range of events and possibilities, and very different subjectivities that can be brought to understand the shape of Arctic security and security relationships in the twenty-first century. The North American Arctic provides a framework or lens through which many new developments are assessed in order to understand their impact on a changing circumpolar region at different scales – from the level of community to the broader national and regional scale

Cultural Impacts on Business Negotiations in Emerging Markets : Cases of Norwegian Enterprises in Indonesia

Master's thesis Business Administration BE501 - University of Agder 2018The main topic of this thesis is the cultural impact on successful business negotiations in emerging markets, with focus on Norwegian companies operating in the Indonesian market. The research problem is stated as: How do cultural differences influence Norwegian managers’ business negotiations in Indonesia? Historically, there have been several studies conducted on cross-cultural business negotiation. However, a study on what cultural factors impact Norwegian enterprises’ negotiation with Indonesian actors has not previously been done. Therefore, this thesis seeks to contribute to explore the topic and provide a deeper understanding of the challenges Norwegian managers encounter in business negotiation processes in Indonesia. The findings could be of interest to other Norwegian enterprises operating in Indonesia, as well as to those planning on conducting business through negotiations there in the future. The research method used in this thesis is a qualitative case study from a primary sample of four Norwegian companies with experience of operating in the Indonesian market. A secondary case study organisation was included to provide external viewpoints and relativity. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with people in current or previous managerial positions from each company. Finally, there are some personal observations from one of the researchers. With a structural basis in the framework of international business negotiations by Ghauri and Usunier (2003) and Salacuse (1999), supported by other theory, the main findings in this thesis were that there indeed exist many cultural differences of impact. The business environment is arguably very complex, and culture is complicating the various types of negotiations among the participants. Findings suggest that the cultural impacts on negotiations must be viewed in the contexts of background, atmosphere, process and strategy, which are all dynamic and interrelated. Central results from the case study participants were differences in communication, collectivism versus individualism, power distance, hierarchical structures, time management and emotionalism. Above all, establishing trusted, personal relationships with the other negotiation party was found absolutely critical to business negotiation success. As negotiating in Norway might be an exercise in reasoning, negotiating with the Indonesians might be an exercise in harmony management

How to Get Beyond the Zero-Sum Game Mentality between State and Non-State Actors in International Environmental Governance

This paper examines the participation of stakeholders in environmental policy formulation and implementation. After a short discussion of the main functions and challenges of environmental governance the paper addresses the issue of stakeholder participation and the claim of “democratic deficits” in international environmental governance. It stresses that while non-state actor involvement does not necessarily increase democratic legitimacy, it may nevertheless increase the quality of the environmental policy processes. It will then argue that certain international processes such as the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) have led to an unsatisfactory situation of non-state actor involvement where excessive formalization and proceduralization impede active interaction and input of expertise from non-state actors. It seems that the interaction between state and non-state actors in some of today’s international processes, such as the CSD, has led to a zero-sum gamewhere no party is really benefiting from the contributions of the other. This paper will suggest several changes to get beyond this zero-sum game mentality, including de-formalization of participation, replacement of generalist non-governmental organizations with those that specialize in specific fields, and reformation of the relationship between state and non-state actors so that each might come to see the other as a partner, not as a competitor. It will conclude by arguing that neither the alleged lack of an authoritative, effective central institution addressing the main environmental problems, nor the so-called “democratic deficit” is the main challenge to today’s international environmental governance, but the lack of political will. Political will, however, is not an absolute; it can and has to be stimulated. And this may be one of the most productive contributions that non-state actors can make

Oil Pollution on the High Seas: The Establishment of an International Regime to Deal with Public International Law and Private Law Issues and the Role of Non-State Actors in Their Resolution Prior to and at the 1969 International Legal Conference on Marine Pollution Damage (“Brussels Conference”)

On March 18, 1967, the Torrey Canyon, an oil tanker flying the flag of Liberia and carrying thirty million gallons of crude oil, smashed onto rocks off the coast of the United Kingdom. The oil spill metastasized into an environmental catastrophe, and this event became the first major environmental disaster of the electronic media age. As a direct result of the Torrey Canyon catastrophe, two treaties were signed in November 1969, at a conference in Brussels sponsored by the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO), a United Nations Specialized Agency. The first treaty (the public law treaty) dealt with the right of a State to intervene on the high seas in the event of potential damage from an oil spill, while the second treaty (the private law treaty) dealt with the issue of financial liability of the owner (or charterer) of a ship to those damaged by an oil spill. The second treaty was and remains unique in that the participants agreed to a legally enforceable compensation scheme in an amount of up to fourteen million dollars per incident (subsequently raised over the years to several hundred million dollars) to damaged parties. Moreover, the Brussels system of legal liability and mandatory compensation, despite the growth of the environmental movement in the second half century after the Torrey Canyon incident, has not been replicated by other proposals or treaties (e.g., the Paris Climate Accords). Therefore, the central question for analysis is to explain and trace the factors that produced the treaty and its compensation scheme, and further, to explain the relevance of these processes to regime theory and regime formation. Accordingly, this dissertation examines the intense bargaining among States, IMCO, and Non-State Actors in the establishment of the international regime at Brussels. Particular emphasis is placed on the roles of the Non-State Actors, primarily shipping interests, international insurance companies, and oil companies, in attempting to safeguard their sectoral interests during the regime formation process. Further, individuals who held leadership positions in some of these Non-State Actors also had professional relationships that overlapped with their roles as members of State delegations and their official roles within IMCO. These interactions are examined through concepts in interest group theory as developed by political scientists, especially clientism, regulatory capture and non-decisions. The bargaining process itself is analyzed through the neoliberal approach to regime formation, which emphasizes negotiations and bargaining among the parties. This is in contradistinction to a realist approach, which would center on a solution being imposed by the strongest party. This approach also differs from the cognitivist approach, which would emphasize that the participants were using a knowledge-based strategy, such as working to develop a solution to marine pollution based on a common belief that the environmental integrity of the oceans represents the highest good. The dissertation further examines the impact on regime resilience of exogenous events, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, which, for all practical purposes, resulted in the United States abandoning the multinational approach created at Brussels in favor of unilateral domestic legislation, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The American unilateral approach, the Brussels structure, and the alternate independent entities established by Non-State Actors (the Tanker Owners Voluntary Agreement Concerning Liability for Oil Pollution representing shipping interests, and the Contract Regarding an Interim Supplement to Tanker Liability for Oil Pollution representing oil interests) all combined to form a regime complex with multiple power centers. Finally, on a broader theoretical basis, this study relies on a critical case study. While the utility of critical case studies has been debated for decades among social scientists, its usefulness as a tool in analyzing the regime complex first established a half century ago at Brussels is crucial to understanding why and how this regime developed

Mediterranean transformations: From the security of mercantilist trading empires to a modern security regime.

A l’edat moderna, les relacions dels estats europeus amb l’Imperi otomà i el món mediterrani es caracteritzaven per una complexa xarxa de consolats que gaudien de privilegis atorgats mitjançant capitulacions pel sultà o els deys i beys nord-africans. La qüestió de la «seguretat» era sobretot entesa com a tranquil·litat en la pràctica lliure dels negocis i del comerç. La transformació d’aquesta situació entre finals del segle XVIII i fins aproximadament 1840 es caracteritza per una complexa superposició de continuïtat i ruptura entre les realitats de l’època moderna i les de la contemporània: la infraestructura del sistema consular va persistir durant molt de temps, mentre que la invasió d’Egipte (1797), les guerres napoleòniques, la guerra d’independència grega (iniciada el 1822) i la invasió d’Algèria (1830) van canviar profundament la regió. «Seguretat», de la manera que la van concebre polítics liberals com Chateaubriand, Benjamin Constant i Jeremy Bentham, es va convertir en un terme central per ordenar les noves realitats emergents en termes de política nacional i internacional. Al mateix temps, mentre la invasió de Grècia pels aliats europeus podria ser concebuda com la primera intervenció humanitària moderna, un tipus d’intervenció militar semblant a Algèria es concep com el primer acte modern de colonització amb ús de forces militars per part de França. Aquesta dialèctica entre les dues cares de l’intervencionisme sota diferents etiquetes com a excepció en les regles del sistema de relacions internacionals posteriors al Congrés de Viena produïa noves concepcions sobre la seguretat dins i fora del Mediterrani.In early modern times, European international relationships with the Ottoman Empire and in the Mediterranean were characterized by a complex system of consular networks privileged by the sultan or the North-African deys and beys by way of capitulations. Security was mostly addressed in terms of safety for the free practice of trade and commerce. The transformation of this situation between the late eighteenth century until around 1840 is characterized by complex entanglements of continuity and rupture between early modern and modern realities: the infrastructure of the consular system persisted for a long time, while the invasion of Egypt (1797), the continental Napoleonic Wars, the Greek War of Independence (starting 1822) and the invasion of Algeria (1830) were profoundly changing the region. «Security», as conceived by liberal men of politics like Chateaubriand, Benjamin Constant and Jeremy Bentham, became a central term to order the emerging new realities in terms of state and international politics. At the same time, while one conceives of the European allies’ invasion of Greece as perhaps the first modern humanitarian intervention, more or less the same type of military intervention in Algeria is conceived of as France’s first modern act of colonization by military forces. This dialectic of the two-sided face of interventionism under different labels as an exception from the rules of the post-Vienna system of international relations was producing new conceptions of security in and of the Mediterranean.En la Edad Moderna las relaciones de los Estados europeos con el Imperio otomano y el mundo mediterráneo se caracterizaron por una compleja red de consulados que gozaron de privilegios otorgados mediante capitulaciones del sultán o de los deys y beys del norte de África. La cuestión de la «seguridad» era entendida sobre todo como tranquilidad en la práctica libre de los nego- cios y del comercio. La transformación de esta situación entre principios del siglo XVIII hasta aproximadamente 1840 se caracterizó por un complejo entre- lazamiento de continuidad y ruptura entre las realidades de la época moderna y las de la contemporánea: la infraestructura del sistema consular persistió durante un largo tiempo, mientras que la invasión de Egipto (1797), las guerras napoleónicas, la guerra de independencia griega (iniciada en 1822) y la invasión de Argelia (1830) cambiaron profundamente la región. «Seguridad», tal como la concibieron hombres de política liberales como Chateaubriand, Benjamin Constant y Jeremy Bentham, se convirtió en un término central para ordenar las nuevas realidades emergentes en términos de política nacional e internacional. Al mismo tiempo, mientras que la invasión de Grecia por los aliados europeos podría ser concebida como la primera intervención humanitaria, una intervención militar parecida en Argelia se concibe como el primer acto de colonización con uso de fuerzas militares por parte de Francia. Esta dialéctica entre las dos caras del intervencionismo bajo diferentes etique- tas —como excepción en las reglas del sistema de relaciones internacionales posteriores al Congreso de Viena— produjo nuevas concepciones de la seguridad dentro y fuera del Mediterráneo