Strategic Sea Lines of Communication - China’s South China Sea policy and the Copenhagen School of Security Studies

The issue of Chinese assertiveness has become a big focus area for International Relations scholars in recent years due to China’s growing global and regional impact in Asia, which is increasingly challenging USA’s hard and soft power in the region. The purpose of this thesis is to nuance the realist interpretation of the Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea by applying a Copenhagen School theory of Security Studies theoretical framework to uncover underlying motives and incentives for China’s actions. The study highlights how important the aspect of political security is for China’s South China Sea-policy as the sea is a key factor in China’s continued economic development. The study furthermore shows how cautious China is to not securitise the dispute, which partially can be explained by wariness toward audience costs created by future nationalist protests

Oärliga mål och spoiling - En kritisk analys av privata aktörers förehavanden i resurskonflikter

This essay’s objective is to problematize the presence of private actors in protracted conflicts in resource rich states. Constructive engagement is a term that has justified the presence of private actors in war-torn states and functions as a political shield for private actors, something the essay is critical towards. Through the use of critical spoiler-theory and theory-testing process tracing the essay seeks to understand to what length a private actor can affect a conflicts length and intensity by obstructing peace. The essay studies the actions of two private actors during the context of civil war, the private actors are Chevron and Lundin Petroleum. The process tracing of the actions of these actors is analyzed and traced to an outcome for the peace process in the conflict where they operate. The conclusions that can be drawn from the study shows that private actors can affect the outcome of conflicts in some cases, if the necessary motives exist

Korruptionens påverkan på Afrikanska stater - en komparativ studie mellan Angola och Botswana

Export av naturresurser och de inkomster detta skapar behöver inte nödvändigtvis vara bra för låginkomstländer. Teorin om ”resursfällan” säger att de här inkomsterna på olika sätt innebär något negativt för de här länderna. Syftet med uppsatsen är att kolla närmare på korruptionens roll i hämmandet av länders ekonomiska, sociala och politiska utveckling. Uppsatsen är en komparativ studie mellan två länder – Angola och Botswana - som idag befinner sig i olika stadier i sin utveckling, men utåt sett har liknande förhållanden och förutsättningar. Länderna kan idag sägas vara kontraster, vad gäller bekämpandet och förekomsten av korruption, då Angola ses som ett av världens mest korrupta länder och Botswana hyllas för hur de har tacklat sina problem. Uppsatsen försöker ge klarhet i varför situationerna idag ser så olika ut i de respektive länderna

Utvecklingsbistånd som ett utrikespolitiskt verktyg: en granskning av USA:s och Brasiliens biståndspolitik

Uppsatsen undersöker i vilken utsträckning utvecklingsbiståndet kan sägas vara ett utrikespolitiskt verktyg i länders utrikespolitik för att främja sina egna nationella intressen. Vi har närmare granskat brasilianskt och amerikanskt biståndspolitik, för att ta reda på om man kan se samma tendenser i biståndsanvändandet hos de två länderna, som har olika erfarenhet av biståndsgivande. USA representerar här den traditionella modellen, där biståndet rör sig i en nord-syd riktning i det sociopolitiska systemet. Medan Brasilien står för en ny modell av biståndsgivande, där biståndet rör sig mellan länderna i syd. Den här modellen ska ses i kontext av en växande vilja att utveckla de här syd- samarbetena. Vi har använt oss av David Baldwins teori om economic statecraft som fastslår att bistånd är ett effektivt sätt för ett land att utöva ekonomisk makt. Syftet med uppsatsen är därmed att pröva om man kan hävda att utvecklingsbistånd används som ett utrikespolitiskt instrument oavsett om detta givande sker genom nord-syd eller genom syd-syd. Vår tes är att vi ska finna liknande tendenser hos både USA och Brasilien som bidragsgivare, det vill säga att de agerar utifrån Baldwins teori om economic statecraft

Label-free nanofluidic scattering microscopy of size and mass of single diffusing molecules and nanoparticles

Nanofluidic scattering microscopy enables label-free, quantitative measurements of the molecular weight and hydrodynamic radius of biological molecules and nanoparticles freely diffusing inside a nanofluidic channel. Label-free characterization of single biomolecules aims to complement fluorescence microscopy in situations where labeling compromises data interpretation, is technically challenging or even impossible. However, existing methods require the investigated species to bind to a surface to be visible, thereby leaving a large fraction of analytes undetected. Here, we present nanofluidic scattering microscopy (NSM), which overcomes these limitations by enabling label-free, real-time imaging of single biomolecules diffusing inside a nanofluidic channel. NSM facilitates accurate determination of molecular weight from the measured optical contrast and of the hydrodynamic radius from the measured diffusivity, from which information about the conformational state can be inferred. Furthermore, we demonstrate its applicability to the analysis of a complex biofluid, using conditioned cell culture medium containing extracellular vesicles as an example. We foresee the application of NSM to monitor conformational changes, aggregation and interactions of single biomolecules, and to analyze single-cell secretomes

The Doughnut for Urban Development:Manual, Appendix and Database

With the Doughnut for Urban Development we are using doughnut economics as a model for urban development and construction for the first time. Doughnut Economics has previously been used with great success globally and for urban strategies ranging from Amsterdam to Copenhagen.We have developed the Manual to provide the entire industry with a practical tool to evaluate the sustainability of their projects and what they can do to make them even more sustainable. The manual embraces both social and planetary sustainability and incorporates both local and global dimensions.The Doughnut for Urban Development is an open-source project and all the following resources can be downloaded for free:- The Manual- A scientific Appendix providing background for the Manual- A Database of impact areas used in the manual- A tool to assess a project's biodiversity impacts throughout its life cycl

A multi-proxy reconstruction of spatial and temporal variations in Asian summer temperatures over the last millennium

To investigate climate variability in Asia during the last millennium, the spatial and temporal evolution of summer (June–July–August; JJA) temperature in eastern and south-central Asia is reconstructed using multi-proxy records and the regularized expectation maximization (RegEM) algorithm with truncated total least squares (TTLS), under a point-by-point regression (PPR) framework. The temperature index reconstructions show that the late 20th century was the warmest period in Asia over the past millennium. The temperature field reconstructions illustrate that temperatures in central, eastern, and southern China during the 11th and 13th centuries, and in western Asia during the 12th century, were significantly higher than those in other regions, and comparable to levels in the 20th century. Except for the most recent warming, all identified warm events showed distinct regional expressions and none were uniform over the entire reconstruction area. The main finding of the study is that spatial temperature patterns have, on centennial time-scales, varied greatly over the last millennium. Moreover, seven climate model simulations, from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), over the same region of Asia, are all consistent with the temperature index reconstruction at the 99 % confidence level. Only spatial temperature patterns extracted as the first empirical orthogonal function (EOF) from the GISS-E2-R and MPI-ESM-P model simulations are significant and consistent with the temperature field reconstruction over the past millennium in Asia at the 90 % confidence level. This indicates that both the reconstruction and the simulations depict the temporal climate variability well over the past millennium. However, the spatial simulation or reconstruction capability of climate variability over the past millennium could be still limited. For reconstruction, some grid points do not pass validation tests and reveal the need for more proxies with high temporal resolution, accurate dating, and sensitive temperature signals, especially in central Asia and before AD 1400

Artificial Intelligence Adoption – Is it more than just hype?

Artificial Intelligence is a term which recently has gained increased traction both within academia and business context. The availability and accessibility of AI is increasing, the forecasted AI-market growth is exponential and the expectations of the technology is simultaneously at its peak. Yet, many organizations seem to lack a clear rationale and strategy when adopting AI, which has been proven to be a difficult technology to master. Therefore, this study aims to explore what factors influence organizations when they decide to adopt AI, and provide insights into their rationalization of the decision. By examining previous research regarding adoption of technological innovation, the TOE-framework was chosen and adapted as a means to answer the research question. The adaptation of TOE concluded on eight factors which could influence the adoption of AI. Five interviews with organizations that has adopted AI were conducted. The study concludes that only two out of eight factors can be deemed influential in relation to the adoption of AI, Presence of champions and Top management support. Three factors were found uninfluential, and the last three proved to be inconclusive regarding their influence on AI-adoption