National Repository of Grey Literature 216 records found  1 - 10nextend  jump to record: Search took 0.00 seconds. 
2021 Taliban Takeover: Defeat of the Afghan National Security Forces through the lens of proxy warfare theory
Bělohlávek, Dalibor ; Michálek, Luděk (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
The war in Afghanistan conflict represents the longest engagement the United States has ever been involved in, and despite significant resource allocation and loss of life, the nation-building effort eventually failed. The most salient representation of the entire Afghan experience was the rapid collapse of the Afghan National Army. Despite the years of training by the Western forces and the resources poured into it, after the United States withdrew it rapidly collapsed and was defeated by Taliban forces. This thesis aims to examine the relationship between the United States and the Afghan National Army within the context of proxy warfare theory, drawing lessons that can be applied to future conflicts of a similar nature. Firstly, this study delineates the evolving nature of 21st-century warfare and underlines why it is essential for the U.S. to acknowledge these changes, acquiring valuable insights to better navigate future challenges. To this end, the research scrutinizes the Afghan conflict, which is not typically perceived as a classic case of proxy warfare. Using the perspectives of four different proxy warfare theorists, each with distinctive approaches, common characteristics of proxy warfare are distilled and applied to analyze the case of the Afghan National Army and its relationship with...
Georgian Foreign Policy towards the North Caucasus
Purtskhvanidze, Natato ; Aliyev, Huseyn (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
Researching Georgian foreign policy towards the North Caucasus is essential as it offers insights into regional security, cross-border challenges, conflict resolution efforts, and the dynamics of small states' foreign policy behaviour. Understanding Georgia's approach to this strategically significant region can have broader implications for regional stability and cooperation in the South Caucasus and beyond. Against this background, this study seeks to explore the national role conceptions of Georgia in relation to the North Caucasus region as perceived by the leaders of the country over the course of the last three decades. The fact that nowadays in Georgia, there is no tangible foreign policy strategy towards this region seems puzzling, given the significance of the region for the national security of Georgia. In order to observe and identify the national role conceptions as perceived by the presidents of Georgia, this thesis employs the role theory to look for the trends in the foreign policy rhetoric of the leaders of the country. Utilising discourse analysis on various different sources, this thesis came to the conclusion that there were three main roles that presidents perceived for Georgia over the years in relation to the region of the North Caucasus. These are the role of stabiliser,...
Farmers, Framing, and the Far Right: A Content Analysis of Far Right Framing in the case of the Dutch 'Nitrogen Crisis'
van Diemen, Cassandra ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Gillies, Allan (referee)
This study explores the development of Far Right discourse in response to the nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands, examining three case study groups over a six-month period during farmers' protests from June to November 2022. By contrasting the crisis frames put forward by one Far Right group and two farmers' groups, inferences will be drawn regarding the narratives the Far Right has sought to emphasise and de-emphasise in its crisis framing. The study identifies six frames used in the discourse surrounding the nitrogen crisis: anti-institutional, globalist, conspiratorial, limitations of civil liberty, imperilment narratives, and resilience-building frames. Far Right groups emphasize anti-institutional frames, imperilment narratives, and conspiracy theories, revealing their specific discursive strategies to influence public perception and mobilise support during crises. Farmers' groups were found to emphasise resilience-building activities, as well as promote anti-institutional narratives. The study underscores the need for context-specific analyses to counter undermining narratives effectively. The findings provide insights into how Far Right discursive practices can undermine democracy and social cohesion, necessitating a multi- faceted approach to address the challenges posed by their tactics....
the Contribution of Counterterrorism to Islamophobia and Muslim Discrimination in Belgium
Taschner, Anouk Emilie ; Anceschi, Luca (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
Despite the important expansion of counterterrorism in the West as a response to jihadist terrorist attacks, their effect on Islamophobia and Muslim discrimination has mostly been researched in the United Kingdom and only to a limited extent in other countries. This dissertation analyses the contribution of counterterrorism to Islamophobia and Muslim discrimination in Belgium. As Belgium had not been confronted to any major terrorist threats, the Belgian counterterrorism framework is mainly influenced by the European Union's counterterrorism strategy and international cooperation, which is built upon the jihadist threat in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The European Union's counterterrorism measures become increasingly repressive and create an utilitarian value system, in which the security of the majority is prioritised over the freedom of minorities, such as the Muslim one. This qualitative case study assesses Islamophobia and Muslim discrimination in Belgium's legislative framework and policies. It then proceeds with the analysis of the perception of the Islamic threat by the five main federal actors to counter terrorism, namely, The State Security Service (La Sûreté de l'Etat), The Framework for Security (La Note Cadre de Sécurité Intégrale), The Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis...
The European Union's Counter-Terrorism Strategy as part of Education?
Patsikouridi, Maria ; Hardman, Helen (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
After 2015, the EU Counter-terrorism strategy focused on preventing radicalisation into violent extremism (PVE). In this process, education was given the task to prevent radicalisation and strengthen resilience. The rapid growth of PVE programmes in primary schools makes it imperative to issue educational perspectives on the radicalisation discourse. The present case study analyses and defines how and to what extent PVE can be incorporated in primary school. Documentary analysis of the RAN Collection of Approaches and Practices (2019) and semi-structured interviews with the RAN Youth and Education working group practitioners got applied to collect the data. The qualitative content analysis of the data showed that PVE can be incorporated into primary school by using specific strategies and under certain conditions. The research concludes that the educational reality calls on using educational theories to examine the matter and create a joint framework under which PVE practices and programmes will function. Furthermore, approaching primary prevention as part of the educational system's bone structure and not as an additional programme to be implemented for a time period; would set up the idea of a "Resilient Union". Key-words: primary prevention, radicalisation, extremism, violence, education,...
Western women and violent jihad: analysis of ISIS' gendered propaganda and UK's counterterrorism strategies
Bulferetti, Emanuela ; Anceschi, Luca (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
This dissertation examines the migration of Western women to ISIS-held territories, aiming to evaluate which strategies and narratives ISIS has exploited to convince them to make this decision. After tracing the phenomenon of radicalisation and women's participation in jihadi organisations, the research employs critical discourse analysis and qualitative content research to examine the language used by ISIS in its magazines, namely Dabiq, Rumiyah, and in the Manifesto for Women. The research highlights that there are three gendered narratives exploited by ISIS to recruit women and make them migrate. First, women are solicited to perform hijrah because it is honourable and because women's help in building the Ummah is fundamental. Secondly, women are called to hijrah to carry out violent jihad and to help in the establishment of the Islamic State. The third gendered entails leveraging women into the conviction that living in the Caliphate will allow them to escape from the corruption of the Western world and to live a pious and pure Islamic life. Migrating to ISIS-held territories is therefore fundamental to make women pure again, and to distance them from the ideas of emancipation and freedom. Thanks to the single case study in the framework of policy analysis, it is clear that the importance of...
Radicalised Masculinity: Ontological Insecurity, Extremist Ideologies and the Rise of Andrew Tate
Leeming, Megan Cait ; Kay, Rebecca (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
The rise of online extremism is a well-documented phenomenon with real-world implications; a growing number of hate crimes and mass violence events all have their roots in the complex, multi-faceted and intertwined online communities of the misogynistic Manosphere and the far- right. While some prefer to think of these communities as characteristic of the fringes of the internet, the presence of key individuals such Andrew Tate on mainstream social media platforms demonstrates that this is no longer the case. The overwhelming popularity of this individual on TikTok is indicative of a growing acceptance of misogyny and misogynistic extremism in the mainstream lexicon. This dissertation worked to explore how the TikTok content of Andrew Tate aligns with misogynistic extremist ideologies within a framework of ontological (in)security theory. The research methods used consisted of a broad literature review of relevant background materials, coupled with thematic analysis of TikTok content featuring Andrew Tate. The latter was based on a dataset of 100 videos gathered from the platform. The findings of this research demonstrate that the TikTok content featuring Andrew Tate creates themes of insecurity and security through narratives that align with ontological (in)security and hegemonic masculinity....
Inside the Lions' Den: Ideological Differentiation in the Palestinian Militant Landscape
Ott, Nathanael ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Rivetti, Paola (referee)
This dissertation deals with the impact of ideological differentiation on intra-field rebel competition. Existing research on rebel competition focuses on violent forms of rivalry. However, many armed groups deploy non-violent strategies to gain popularity, recruits, and patron support rather than fighting against contenders. One example is the Lions' Den, a Palestinian armed group that emerged in 2022 in Nablus. This dissertation explores to what extent ideological differentiation helped the Lions' Den to successfully compete against established armed groups in the West Bank. This is achieved through an in-depth case study using process-tracing. Thereby, a causal mechanism is developed to track the effect of ideological differentiation on competitive success using empirical evidence from Telegram channels, semi-structured expert interviews, and media sources. The findings show that the Lions' Den differentiated itself ideologically from competing militant groups by adopting a cross-factional stance. Moreover, the evidence indicates that this differentiation allowed the group to gain popularity across political camps, mobilise recruits from various parties, and attract support from otherwise opposing patrons. Thus, ideological differentiation was a decisive factor in the Lions' Den's success. In...
The Motivations of Foreign Fighters: The Case of the Chechen Diaspora in Ukraine
Grogan, Eilis ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Aliyev, Huseyn (referee)
The purpose of this dissertation was to identify whether the custom of blood revenge is a motivation for the Chechen diaspora to act as foreign fighters in the war in Ukraine, 2022- present day. The custom of blood revenge is not unique to the Chechen society and has existed for centuries in communities across the world. For this reason, blood revenge as a motivation for foreign fighter participation should not be overlooked and could prove helpful when developing strategies of disengagement. The following research question, along with three objectives, was analysed: "What is the motivation for Chechen foreign fighters to fight against Russia in the war in Ukraine?". Alongside this research question were three objectives: A) What were the main pull factors for joining this conflict in particular? B) Are Chechen customary laws or 'Adats' a driving factor for mobilisation and if so, should researchers put more emphasis on blood revenge (Ch'ir) when discussing Chechen foreign fighters? C) What level of influence does the practice of blood revenge (Ch'ir) still hold in the diaspora's society today? This research was conducted using qualitative analysis of secondary sources in both English and Russian to provide diversity of sources and perspectives. Due to this topic being under researched, an...

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