Projects

Abstract

The ability of humanitarian organisations to obtain space from political authorities for the performance of their function being directly linked to their power, the project seeks to come to a nuanced appreciation of how they seek to boost that power by using the tools of humanitarian diplomacy (HD). HD is 'the activity of specialised organisations to obtain space from political and military authorities for negotiations and the conscientious performance of their functions, based on the principles of independence, neutrality and fairness' (Minear and Smith 2007). It aims to broker space for the implementation of emergency response essentials such as negotiating for the presence of international humanitarian organisations (IHOs), brokering access to civilian populations, allowing for the provision of relief aid, promoting respect for international norms (Turunen 2022). HD stems from the concept of state diplomacy as 'the infrastructure of global governance' (Sending, Pouliot and Neuman 2015) while shedding light on the growing role of INGOs and non-state actors such as the Red Cross (Constantinou 2023), UN agencies and INGOs (Minear and Smith 2007).

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Kustermans Jorg
• Fellow: Facon Clothilde

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The high-technology sector has become crucial in the production of the emerging digital infrastructure that underlies modern warfare. Yet, its role has often been overlooked within International Relations and security studies. Our research project investigates the growing role of the high-tech sector in warfare to understand how commercial technology companies are shaping use of force practices and with what effects for civilian harm, public accountability and democratic control. Our novel approach is to understand and theorize the power of these companies to shape new practices in warfare through the concept of the "military-commercial complex" and focus on the concrete interactions between the military and the high-tech sector. Investigating these practices and interactions in concrete settings of technology development and deployment across the innovation and operational context of NATO, our project delivers original data on how new military technologies are made and made actionable in recent theaters of war. Working together with civilian society partners, our project also delivers unique insights into the impact of these technologies for civilian harm and democratic accountability. These insights will lead to a set of recommendations on the development and deployment of new technologies in warfare that will be shared among NATO, civil society partners, industry, lawyers and parliamentarians.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Hoijtink Marijn
• Fellow: Avar Fer

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza raise a set of fundamental questions related to the study of what, when and how technologies of armed violence are produced and diffused and with what implications for the global political order. While a key development in both wars is the military use of advanced tech, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), cyber capabilities, unmanned systems, and commercial satellites, existing scholarship has largely failed to anticipate and explain the emergence of new technology in war. This is due to three limitations within the existing literature on the global defense industry and arms production. The first is a strong focus on large, specialized and expensive weapons platforms and the prime contractors that produce them, while future warfare will likely favor numerous low-cost platforms over high-end ones. A second limitation in this literature is that it remains marked by methodological nationalism and a focus on military technology as instruments serving the rationality of states' violence and their strategic objectives in the conduct of war. This limits our understanding of how these technologies – and the people, visions, and practices that come with them – increasingly circulate across different geographies and corporate/military domains. Third, existing scholarship on technologies of armed violence remains largely focused on Western states and arms producers, and their vision of order, even if the production of military technology is increasingly a global (although still uneven) affair. Remedying these limitations, this project sets out to investigate the production, proliferation and use of emerging technologies of armed violence in/from non-western regions, focusing on the case of Turkey. Building on both original and publicly-available data, including military blogs, open-source (visual) material, and observations at military/tech expositions, and adopting a theoretical focus on the circulation of military technology, our project provides new insights into recent transformations in the global production of military technology and implications for political order.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Hoijtink Marijn

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Platform companies such as Alphabet-Google, Meta en Amazon are central to recent transformations affecting our social relations, business transactions and governmental decisions. These same companies are also increasingly affecting how our wars are 'thought', fought and lived. However, their exact role within warfare remains poorly understood. My project introduces the novel concept of "platform wars" to theorize how platform companies propel new ways of thinking about and organizing political violence. Through my conceptualization of platform wars, I investigate how these emerging corporate-military networks produce new and shared ways of (i) thinking about, (ii) practicing, and (iii) regulating political violence. My project produces innovative conceptual knowledge, but it also delivers rich empirical knowledge on the social interactions between corporate and military actors, and how these shape new technologies and practices of warfighting. This knowledge is highly relevant from a political and ethical-legal perspective and crucial in order to intervene in the future regulation of these technologies and their use in armed conflict.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Hoijtink Marijn
• Co-promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Platform companies such as Alphabet-Google, Meta en Amazon are central to recent transformations affecting our social relations, business transactions and governmental decisions. These same companies are also increasingly affecting how our wars are 'thought', fought and lived. However, their exact role within warfare remains poorly understood. My project introduces the novel concept of "platform wars" to theorize how platform companies propel new ways of thinking about and organizing political violence. Through my conceptualization of platform wars, I investigate how these emerging corporate-military networks produce new and shared ways of (i) thinking about, (ii) practicing, and (iii) regulating political violence. My project produces innovative conceptual knowledge, but it also delivers rich empirical knowledge on the social interactions between corporate and military actors, and how these shape new technologies and practices of warfighting. This knowledge is highly relevant from a political and ethical-legal perspective and crucial in order to intervene in the future regulation of these technologies and their use in armed conflict.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Hoijtink Marijn
• Fellow: Hoijtink Marijn

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Technology, in its multiple forms, influences security and conflict. From older technologies, such as railroads and radio, to emerging ones, such as 'smart' border systems or drones, technology has profound repercussions on how wars are fought and peace is made, how conflict erupts or can be avoided, and how security is imagined and practiced. At the same time, throughout history, security and conflict have always been major drivers for technoscientific innovation, enabling and accelerating the development of technologies such as nuclear energy, the computer or GPS technology. The ongoing war in Ukraine underwrites this point. While this war is still marked by traditional heavy weaponry causing widescale destruction, it has also become a testbed or 'living lab' for the use of new technologies, including military applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or the use of repurposed 'low-cost' drones alongside military ones. In recent years, the study of technology and its entanglements with security and conflict has become increasingly prominent within International Relations (IR) and cognate disciplines, including (critical) security studies, conflict studies, peace research, surveillance studies and law. The growing focus on technology in these fields has also led to a highly productive research dialogue with Science and Technology Studies (STS), which in turn has brought much closer attention to the importance of technoscientific knowledge and practices of development, experimentation and regulation than hitherto existed within the field of International Relations. A number of scholars working in Belgian universities have been at the forefront of these debates. Their research investigates, for instance, the role of data and algorithms in border security, policing and conflict; the politics of the development and use of new technologies of warfighting, such as drones and autonomous weapons; or ways of contesting, mitigating or regulating the impact of technology on civilian harm, international stability, or democratic values. However, while there is strong expertise on technology, security and conflict present within Flanders and Belgium, the potential for collaboration on these issues across Flanders and Belgium has remained largely untapped, notably due to institutional and disciplinary boundaries and the lack of a common platform. The main objective of the Belgian Research Network on Technology, Security & Conflict therefore is to provide a platform for the collaboration and coordination of high quality and multidisciplinary research on technology, security and conflict across Flanders and Belgium. More specifically, the Belgian Research Network on Technology, Security & Conflict aims to: 1. Promote a new and collaborative research agenda on technology, security and conflict in Flanders and Belgium. Our network takes a broad perspective to technology, focusing both on highly politicized technologies (e.g. AI, 'smart' borders, drones, and nuclear weapons), and more mundane ones (standards, protocols and database interoperability). Similarly, the network takes a broad perspective to security and conflict, combining analytical vocabularies and methodologies from across a variety of disciplines, including International Relations, critical security studies, conflict studies, criminology, law and Science and Technology Studies. 2. Foster mutual learning and training, with a specific focus on methodological training and exploring new methods and methodologies to study technology in secret and (semi-)closed contexts. 3. Increase the international visibility of research on technology, security and conflict in Flanders and Belgium. 4. Contribute to public and policy debates on technology, security and conflict, their relations and their socio-political implications.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Hoijtink Marijn

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The purpose of A Genealogy of Peace: Change and Continuity in a Ritual Practice is to trace the evolving understanding of peace and its associated practices, and to develop an explanation for that evolution. It identifies three key moments in which the Western understanding of peace was articulated: during the early Middle Ages, in early modernity and during the early nineteenth century. The project hypothesizes a shift from "peace as care" via "peace as restraint" to "peace as intimacy". It seeks to document that evolution through a detailed account, for each period, of the ritual gestures associated with peacemaking, of the conceptualization of peace in the work of the major thinkers, and of how the doing of peace was practically enacted and by whom. The project also seeks to develop an empirically grounded, theoretical interpretation of the doing of peace which draws out the implications of its highly ritualized character.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Kustermans Jorg

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The goal of this project is to analyse how organizations deal with the danger of insider threat for employees (= after care), and providing recommendations to improve the existing practices, both in general and for specific organisations, taking into account the existing legal framework. The research includes a literature analysis about security culture with a specific focus on insider threat; listing good practices from the literature; collecting data in specific organisations; comparing the literature with the collected data; providing recommendations for a better insider threat policy of specific organisations, and more in general; publishing the research conclusions.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

European governments have agreed to source European defence equipment in the form of ad-hoc procurement programmes as well as EU-level initiatives. However, the European defence market is also characterised by inter-state competition. Hence, it is riddling that we end with a curious mix of cooperation and inter-state competition: sometimes we get ad hoc inter-state military programmes, and in other instances we get EU-level policies. Why? To solve this riddle in this research project, we plan to focus on state-level variation between public versus private governance of industrial suppliers. Indeed, EU countries can be characterised by a public or private governance system of their defence industries. Countries where the state governs defence firms are likely to take part in EU-level projects bringing narrow benefits for their own industries. By contrast, we hypothesize that countries with a private governance system are more likely to participate in inter-state collaboration, because they can realize larger macro-economic and military benefits. To explain the curious mix of European defence cooperation and competition, we will for the first time conduct a network analysis of the interpenetration of political and industrial actors in four major European countries, and combine this with a comparative case-study of European collaborative initiatives in this field.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Bièvre Dirk

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to examine how states make use of humanitarian diplomacy to achieve a position of authority in the international community. The Marshall plan – a American program of aid, offered to European countries after the devastation of the Second World War, which contributed strongly to the legitimation of American power – constitutes a well-known early example. Grateful for the generous gift, the recipient countries endowed the United States with political authority in the form of international leadership. More recently, other states have developed a similar strategy, with Norway being a well-known example of a country investing heavily in humanitarian aid and reaping the benefit of above average moral authority in world politics. Other contemporary examples are China, with its Belt and Road Initiative being supported by significant humanitarian programs, and also a number of regional powers in the Islamic world that appear sometimes to be involved a humanitarian bidding competition.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Kustermans Jorg
• Co-promoter: Melissen Jan
• Fellow: Facon Clothilde

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Lethal autonomous weapons (LAWS), or "killer robots," have become the subject of much debate. On the one hand, proponents of LAWS see advantages in increasing the level of autonomy in weapons, because they believe this would make war more precise and reduce human casualties. On the other hand, opponents have argued that weapons that can select and attack targets without human involvement are immoral and incompatible with international humanitarian law. What has been overlooked in the current debate are the processes underpinning the design of LAWS. This is problematic, because, in the absence of any current international restrictions on LAWS, how LAWS operate and with what effect is largely defined by artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics engineers in the design process. I investigate how decisions about who can be killed, when, and with what effects are made by weapon engineers in the process of designing LAWS. First, I deliver empirical knowledge about the technological foundations of LAWS, and their creation over time and in leading research and development (R&D) institutions in AI and robotics today. Building on a science and technology (STS) approach, my second objective is to foreground the otherwise implicit political decisions that engineers make in the design process. Third, I extend insights from STS to the discipline of International Relations (IR) by theorizing how technoscientific knowledge about LAWS acquires broader relevance in current international political debates. My project makes a conceptual contribution at the intersection between IR and STS. In addition, my project is methodologically innovative, because it conducts fieldwork-based research in a domain that is often obscured. I build on a set of qualitative methods, including archival research, semi-structured interviews with engineers, and observations at military trade fairs, to map the design of LAWS and to study the substantive practices and judgements of weapon engineers.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Hoijtink Marijn

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

PROTRUST's aim is to investigate the effect of the politicisation of EU competition and "antitrust" cases on citizens' trust in the European Commission competition authority as well as citizens' trust in the firms involved in these cases. Postdoctoral research fellow Elena Escalante-Block will use this one-year grant from the University of Antwerp Research Fund ('opvangmandaat') to further develop a research project on this topic. The project proposes to use an innovative combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, including a frame analysis of media coverage of antitrust cases and survey experiments based on these frames. The project intends to address how a) antitrust cases can become subject to politicisation, and b) the different frames which may or may not help the EC and firms in terms of obtaining citizens' trust. After a very positive appraisal of a Marie Curie Sklodorowska application (MSCA) for a postdoctoral research fellowship, Elena Escalante-Block will apply again for an FWO postdoctoral fellowship as well as an EU MSCA at the ARENA Institute of the University of Oslo. With her PROTRUST research project, she intends to contribute to the literature by addressing three main gaps. First, it builds a bridge between politicisation and trust. Second, it advances knowledge on politicisation in the field of competition policy. Third, it provides a novel analysis on the impact of news frames in relation to antitrust. In the framework of this, she will also propose to rely on the support of a secondment institution, Lund University (LU) with Associate Professor Stefan Larsson. The present one-year grant from the University of Antwerp Research Fund (BOF) thus enables to apply for several research grants, improve skills in teaching and supervision as well as widen and deepen skills to conduct research through a variety of methodological approaches. Altogether, PROTRUST, if funded for several years, would fill a major scientific gap through its interdisciplinary approach, combining media analysis and survey experiments for a political analysis of legal cases, enhance future career prospects through the obtainment of new theoretical and methodological knowledge, and address an absolutely timely and pressing topic, the impact of politicization on citizens' (dis)trust in public authorities and large companies in the digital age.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Bièvre Dirk
• Fellow: Escalante Block Elena

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The general objective of this research project is to analyze the insider threat in sensitive sectors in our country and to provide some recommendations to deal more adequately with this threat. Thousands of employees are yearly screened on trustworthiness. Due to the terrorist attacks in our country, the numbers of employees to be screened will increase substantially. One of the problems is that radicalization can happen rather quickly, also after a security clearance has been given. As a result, there is need for a better "after care".

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Although European governments have agreed to ad-hoc joint defence procurement programmes and EU-level initiatives to source material from the armaments industry, the European defence market remains characterised by a curious mix of inter-state competition and European cooperation. Why do European countries sometimes engage in European defence cooperation, sometimes in ad hoc inter-state military programmes, and in other instances in the form of EU-level policies? I focus on state-level variation between public versus private governance of industrial suppliers. Whether EU countries are characterised by a public or private governance system results from the interplay of the degree of industry's government protection, the degree of interpenetration between public and private sectors, and the degree of autonomy of the procurement agency from the industry's influence. Countries with public governance of defence firms are likely to take part in EU-level projects inter-state collaboration bringing narrow benefits for their own industries, while private governance systems are more likely to participate in inter-state collaboration in which they can realize larger macro-economic and military benefits. I will combine an innovative mixed-method approach with network analysis and comparative case-study research design, to explain British, French, German and Italian preferences towards European defence cooperation.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Bièvre Dirk
• Fellow: Calcara Antonio

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The goal of this project is to describe the nuclear disarmament debate in Southern Europe ('Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta), since the conclusion of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (2017)

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The diversity monitor examines the diversity of people shown in TV-programmes of the public broadcaster VRT. Diversity involves people's sexual preferences, their gender, ethnic background... The Monitor is carried out regularly and is sponsored by the VRT.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Swert Knut
• Co-promoter: Walgrave Stefaan

Research team(s)

• International Politics
• Media, Movements and Politics (M2P)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The Jean Monnet Network on Transatlantic Trade Politics studies the politicization of international trade with a particular focus on trade relationships across the North Atlantic. The network brings together five universities, from Europe and North America (Carleton, Ottawa; Antwerp; Salzburg; Bates College, Maine; Warwick), whose scholars possess recognized expertise on European and international trade. The Jean Monnet Network engages in a broad range of activities to further research, teaching, and outreach to non-academic constituencies. In addition, by establishing scholarly connections between researchers and shared educational environments for students, the network will promote scholarly knowledge on the politics of international trade, particularly in the EU, and will help shape a new generation of experts, who will be in a position, both inside and outside academia, to promote transatlantic understanding in their future teaching, research and professional careers. https://carleton.ca/tradenetwork/

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Bièvre Dirk

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project website

Project type(s)

• Education Project
• Research Project

Abstract

The goal of this project is to find out to what extent the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (2017) that will enter into force in January 2021 has already impact in NATO member states like Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and France.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This SEP grant constitutes the fourth year of a PhD-trajectory, subsequent to a three year EU grant in the framework of the Innovative Training Network PLATO on the Post-crisis Legitimacy of the European Union. This 4th year extension grant has several significant benefits for the research already conducted, the further career plans of the PhD researcher Philipp Lausberg in question, and for follow-up research project applications to the benefit of the University of Antwerp. The timetable of a three-year ITN scholarship which finishes in December 2020 is extremely tight, to the point that it is hardly possible to go into as much depth in research as would be desirable. The prolongation thus serves to produce an even better-researched and more extensive thesis, improving career prospects in the academic world and beyond, as well as improving publication output in the interest of the university. The additional year will serve to plan next career steps more thoroughly, namely write an FWO junior postdoctoral grant proposal, as well as apply for other such opportunities. Within the current, tight timeframe, it is nearly impossible to produce a comprehensive application realizing the potential at hand, since all-time needs to be invested in finishing the PhD thesis in time. Strategically planning this kind of application also includes publishing journal articles. Currently, we are awaiting the acceptance of a co-authored article submitted to the highly ranked Journal of Common Market Studies and for the publication of a single authored book chapter in an edited volume (edited by Chris Lord, Dirk De Bièvre, Ramses Wessels and Peter Bursens) destined for the prestigious ECPR Press. The SEP grant will allow to prepare a postdoc application with these two pieces already published. Moreover, it will provide time to produce a further article for publication in a top journal. The novel approach of analyzing several post-crisis institutions of economic and financial governance in the EU using a collective goods perspective lends itself very well to such a publication strategy. Finally, the additional year of funding will also be used to submit grant and research project proposals together with other faculty at the University of Antwerp. Recently, the Politics and Public Governance research group became part of one the Centers of Excellence with a focus on 'Trust and Distrust in Multi-level Governance'. GOVTRUST will perform cutting-edge and cross-disciplinary research at international frontier domains. Research expertise on institutional reforms in EU governance and their legitimacy fits well within the scope of the Centre. Hence, a cooperation could be highly stimulating and beneficial for both sides. Grant proposal writing in cooperation with this Centre of Excellence will therefore constitute the third activity to be developed in this 4th year of PhD funding by the University of Antwerp Special Research Fund, not least because GOVTRUST could provide the context to apply for larger-scale collaborative European research programs.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Bièvre Dirk

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In times of Brexit and Trump, trade policy has become the subject of public attention. Moreover, trade negotiations of the world's largest trading entity, the European Union, have become subject to unprecedented polarisation and contestation by civil society actors, as was the case with negotiations with Canada (CETA) and the United States (TTIP). Surpisingly though, such politicization did not occur across the board. Negotiations with Japan or Vietnam for instance did not cause any public stir and sailed through largely uncontested. This research project proposal outlines (1) how the politicization of EU trade agreement negotiations varies considerably across different negotiations (and across EU member states); (2) why some seemingly obvious explanations for this observed variation are logically and/or empirically problematic; and (3) outlines a new research strategy to parse out necessary and sufficient conditions for politicization in a mixed method research design, combining so-called Crisp Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with in-depth, controlled case comparisons. By shedding light on structural conditions under which civil society actors are able to engage in politicization, this project aims to bring together the literature on EU trade politics with the literature on interest groups, civil society, and public opinion formation, and sets out a course for training-through-PhD-research.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Bièvre Dirk

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The principle of non-discrimination – the central pillar of the post-World War II trading system – has recently come under threat due to the increasing use of country-specific trade restrictions by members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). These measures significantly distort global trade flows and lead to an unequal distribution of the benefits of trade. It is, therefore, surprising that we know so little about what is driving the choice between discriminatory and non-discriminatory trade barriers. This research project aims to answer this eminently political question by investigating how contemporary trends in international trade (e.g. globalisation of production) affect the position of domestic firms and/or industries vis-à-vis (non)discrimination, and how these preferences translate into trade policies pursued by governments. Starting from an innovative conceptual framework, I derive several testable hypotheses that challenge the conventional wisdom in the literature on trade policy. Moreover, I propose a sequential mixed-methods explanatory design that comprises two stages. First, I will perform a regression analysis of data from seven key members of the WTO (1995-2015). Second, I will conduct eight in-depth case studies, involving document analysis and interviews with political and societal stakeholders.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Bièvre Dirk
• Fellow: Van Ommeren Emile

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In times of Brexit and Trump, trade policy in general and the external trade policy of the European Union (EU) in particular has increasingly become the subject of public attention. Moreover, some trade negotiations conducted by the EU, the world's largest trading entity, have recently become subject to unprecedented politicization. Not only has attention for them increased, opinions about their desirability and content have also become more polarized, and more actors have participated in that political process than in the past. Strikingly however, negotiations with Canada (CETA) and the United States (TTIP) were far more controversial than similar trade agreement negotiations with Japan or Vietnam. In fact, while some particular trade deals have been marked by a high degree of polarized public input from a broad range of actors, many similar and even more comprehensive trade deals seem have to escaped detection. A scholarly consensus is emerging in terms of how to define and measure politicization but no systematic undertaking has thus far been applied to the various trade deals pursued by the EU since it lifted its moratorium on bilateral trade negotiations ion 2005. The purpose of this project is to fill this research gap by mapping the extent to which these trade deals have become politicized – geographically as well as temporally. Combining state-of-the-art social listening algorithms with traditional media analysis, this project will contribute to the study of politicization by presenting an empirical comparison of all cases in this particular field with regard to their salience, the degree of polarisation of opinions about issues in them, and the (amount of) actors involved in that process. The project thus seeks to do the empirical groundwork and pave the way for further future research on how different structural factors could be said to contribute to this phenomenon. Furthermore, the geographic and temporal aspects will give valuable original insights into how the dynamic process of politicization occurs and is autoreferentially amplified through new-media cycles.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Bièvre Dirk
• Fellow: Hamilton Scott

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The general objective of this research project is to analyze the insider threat in sensitive sectors in our country and to provide some recommendations to deal more adequately with this threat. Thousands of employees are yearly screened on trustworthiness. Due to the terrorist attacks in our country, the numbers of employees to be screened will increase substantially. One of the problems is that radicalization can happen rather quickly, also after a security clearance has been given. As a result, there is need for a better "after care".

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The general objective of this research project is to analyze the insider threat in sensitive sectors in our country and to provide some recommendations to deal more adequately with this threat. Thousands of employees are yearly screened on trustworthiness. Due to the terrorist attacks in our country, the numbers of employees to be screened will increase substantially. One of the problems is that radicalization can happen rather quickly, also after a security clearance has been given. As a result, there is need for a better "after care".

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The objective of this research project is threefold: 1) to analyse the threat of nuclear transports in Belgium; 2) to describe how this threat is communicated towards the general public; 3) to do further suggestions to improve the communication in this regard.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The multilateral trade regime of the World Trade Organization represents one of the most 'judicialized' or 'legalized' international institutions. Multilateralism in trade matters has recently come under threat from several sides: states' increasing reliance on preferential trade agreements, the contestation of trade policy by NGOs, and the increasingly widespread protectionist rhetoric in political debates within key international trading players. The rule-based WTO system of liberalization commitments and their enforcement is generally seen as contributing to a level playing field, where stakeholders have equal opportunities to get their rights enforced through legal means. Whereas existing analyses have largely focused on actual disputes, they have largely overlooked that these are only the tip of the iceberg of potential disputes. This research project aims to bring to the surface and analyse the origins of potential cases out of which governments select topics that lead to the filing of WTO disputes, by investigating how five key members of the WTO - the EU, the US, South Korea, Japan, and Brazil - select their targets in WTO litigation. To that end, we propose to (1) construct an original dataset of potential WTO disputes (1995-2016), and (2) assess the explanatory power of several hypotheses regarding governments' decisions to initiate WTO disputes by adopting a mixed-method approach based on a combination of statistical analyses and in-depth case studies.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Bièvre Dirk

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Beyond Contractualism tackles the problem of how to sustain an international order when power is redistributing itself and when a normative consensus among states can no longer simply be assumed. Recourse to violence cannot solve the problem of order durably and neither can recourse to reasoned persuasion or contractual pacts. Between violence and reason lies the concept of authority and deference to authority has indeed often been presented as the solution to the problem of order, including of international order. But if authority is the solution, it nonetheless begs the question: how does international authority become established and how is it maintained. This project addresses these questions through a comparison of how the Achaemenid Empire, Medieval Christendom, and today's Global International Society have each grappled with their 'problem of international authority.'

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Kustermans Jorg

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This report is drafted in the framework of the ISF-funded project 'PoMigra' (= Politically motivated crime in the light of current migration flows). It provides a systematic literature review of the research published between 2012 and 2017 on different types of politically biased crime in Belgium, and what research stated about the data collection methodologies on these crimes by law enforcement agencies in Belgium. To be precise, we have collected and analysed research publications related to (a) Salafist/jihadist crimes, (b) xenophobic crimes, (c) extremist crimes and (d) inter-migrant crimes. This report thereby enables a better understanding about contemporary research on these topics in Belgium, which is essential in better understanding its challenges, threats, and links to the issue of migration. It first became clear that the theme Salafist/jihadist crime accounts for the bulk of research on politically motivated crimes in Belgium. Different forms of politically biased crime – such as xenophobic crime and extremism – receive substantially less attention by researchers in Belgium. Moreover, it became clear that there is hardly any work published on left-wing extremism, and inter-migrant crimes with an political bias. These are substantial knowledge gaps in the literature on this theme. Second, the available research tends to focus on describing the nature and causes of these phenomena. It did, however, became clear that neither of these two issues is an easy task. The conceptual and practical ambiguity of different forms of politically biased crime complicate this endeavor. This impacts assessments on the size and causes of this phenomenon (especially with respect to xenophobic and extremist crimes). There are few objective datasets available. Some of the overarching lessons that are often drawn by research on this topic, however, focus on the importance of a locally embedded, comprehensive and inclusive approach in preventing these types of politically motivated crimes. Finally, with respect to the data collection methodologies by law enforcement authorities, it comes as no surprise that we did not found a lot of research on the data collection methodologies with respect to these themes. In general, it became clear that it is hard to define and grasp the phenomenon of politically biased crime empirically. Both law enforcement authorities and research grapple with this problem.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The project wants to approach the Humanitarian Initiative with respect to nuclear elimination from the theoretical perspective of framing. More in particular it wants to find out how and why the effectiveness of the rhetorical frame of the Humanitarian Initiative around nuclear disarmament on public opinion differs between the UK and the US.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The project wants to find out to what extent current migration flows influence the communication about crime and terrorism: 1) in the Belgian media (journals in the 2012-2016 timeframe); 2) in political party programs; 3) and on websites of some specific extremist organisations. Case-study: Belgium. The project (on demand of OCAD-OCAM) is part of the European project Pomigra.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project wants to find out how stigmatization can help in delegitimizing nuclear weapons and the role they play in the current defense policies of the nuclear weapon states. Assuming that norms play a significant role in international politics, the project will focus first of all on how stigma (in general) can play a role in changing policy. Different reactions by those who are stigmatized can be listed. In its last part, the project implements the notion of stigmatization to the current Humanitarian Initiative that aims to delegitimize the role of nuclear weapons, including in the form of a Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. The hope is that by stigmatizing nuclear weapons and their possessor states, a societal and political debate inside the Nuclear Weapons States will be started up that may end up in changing their defense policy fundamentally.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

That democracies do not fight large scale wars among each other has largely become established as an empirical fact. It would also appear that their shared democratic nature is at least part of the reason why democracies do not engage in mutual war. Much less is known about just how a shared democratic nature leads to war avoidance and, more particularly, about just how democracies actively maintain – imagine and perform – peace among each other. The little that is known about these processes suggests that the 'democratic peace' did not and does not result mechanistically from a favourable concatenation of factors, but that it is always a work-in-progress and the outcome of political efforts; that it must be imagined and maintained and will often become compromised indeed. The 'democratic peace' is at once more meaningful and more fragile than accounts which interpret it as a 'brute fact' can fathom. This research furthers our understanding of its meaning and fragility by means of a historicizing analysis of the 'democratic peace' as a particular way of doing peace.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Kustermans Jorg

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Assignment: writhing a visionary document about Flanders and the future of the European Union, based upon information and data provided by the Flemish ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cabinet of the Minister-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Geert Bourgeois.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Criekemans David

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand FANC. UA provides FANC research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Substate diplomacy questions our assumptions with the nature and the dynamics of the international system. Especially the territorial framework of the international system can be questioned. Some scholars speak of "the end of territory", but it can be assumed that the arrival of subnational entities on the international scene has, beside a process of deterritorialization, also started a dynamics of reterritorialization. Reterritorialization can be defined as "developments which occur when certain territorial entities loose their importance, in favor of other territorial configurations" . The central question entails the interaction between geopolitics and substate diplomacy. It will be examined in the case of the Mediterranean area. The central question is twofold; (1°) how and to what extent is the diplomacy of substate entities in this region "influenced" by environmental variables (e.g. physical-geography, human-geography, spatial setting), and (2°) how and to what extent do these actors re-shape their environment by means of their diplomacy? Or, to reformulate the latter dynamics: do the diplomatic activities of substate entities constitute motors of "reterritorialization"? These questions will be operationalized as follows: based on the research traditions and methods of traditional and cognitive geopolitics, the "influence" of geopolitical factors on the diplomacy of substate entities will be examined. A second (opposite) movement will start from the research tradition and methods of the critical geopolitics. The way in which substate entities try to redefine and restructure the space in which they operate by means of their diplomatic activities and foreign policy discourse, will be evaluated. The choice is made to apply this framework of substate diplomatic practices in a particular geographical area, namely the Mediterranean. During the last years, an increasing number of substate diplomatic initiatives have been taken in the Mediterranean, notably by the ambitious Catalan Generalitat.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Melissen Jan
• Co-promoter: Criekemans David

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The aim of this research project is to analyse the motivations of states that are interested in acquiring nuclear weapons (or not). In the past, most research focussed on the supply side (safeguards of IAEA). More research is needed with respect to the demand side. More in particular, the following research questions will be dealt with: 1. Why do states want to acquire nuclear weapons ? 2. Why do states decide to halt their nuclear weapons programs, or why do states not pursue nuclear weapons programs in the first place ? 3. Are there patterns of decision-making that can be detected inside those states that are relevant to the questions above ? 4. Which non-technical indicators can be detected that can be useful in predicting proliferation ? 5. What policy recommendations can be drawn from the outcome of this analysis ? After working out a theoretical framework based on the existing literature, the objective consists of building a model with non-technical indicators that can be used for predicting proliferation. Both the theoretical framework and the model will be tested and further adapted thanks to the detailed study of a few case-studies (Belgium, Sweden, Argentina, South-Africa).

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research project seeks to reflect on the meaning of peace, and on the role of peace education in bringing about international peace. We will suggest an understanding of peace as 'disciplined order' as opposed to its conventional definition (in IR theory) as the 'absence of war.' Inspiration is drawn from classical political theory, strands of which have highlighted the role of education in shaping virtuous citizens, and consequently in bringing about a peaceful society. The empirical validity of the model will be tested in the case of the reigning North-Atlantic peace.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom
• Fellow: Kustermans Jorg

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project seeks to elucidate the meaning of peace. It is hypothesised that education and power are central concepts and practices for understanding the establishment and consolidation of peace. Support for this claim will be sought at three levels: political theory, international relations theory, and history. European peace and security will be our case-study.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Sauer Tom

Research team(s)

• International Politics

Project type(s)

• Research Project