At the end of the 1940s and the early 1950s, the question whether or not to rearm West Germany was a fiercely and hotly debated topic in Europe. The Americans suggested doing this by integrating the Federal Republic in NATO. However, many Europeans feared the resurgence of German militarism. Nowhere …

„Der Druck auf die alliierten und deutschen Autoritäten, den Transfer von Kapitalerträgen aus Deutschland zu erlauben, darf den Versuchen, die Exporte nach Deutschland zu erhöhen, definitiv nicht untergeordnet werden“, schrieb der niederländische Ökonom P. J. van den Burg in der ökonomischen Wochenzeitschrift …

After the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich in May 1945, Germany no longer existed as a sovereign, independent nation. It was occupied by the four Allied powers: France, Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union. When it came to the postwar European recovery, the biggest obstacle …

This thesis describes the history of the Soviet Union, the enlargement of the EU and NATO and the possible factors that have influenced Russia’s decision to commit the invasion of Georgia in 2008 and to annex the Crimea in 2014. The central question of the research compares the two responses from the …

The purpose of this research is to document research conducted on the topic of statelessness in the European Union. The main question of this research is: How can the European Union succeed in eliminating statelessness in the European Union member states? In order to answer this question, different research …

The 3rd of September, 2015 marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Despite 70 years of peace in the Asia-Pacific, the memories of World War II are still the most evident obstruction in the Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations. Moreover, other issues, such as the dispute regarding the ownership …

The main objective of this report was to show the economic similarities and differences after the Second World War up until the end of the Cold War between the ‘leader of Europe’, Germany, and the upcoming country, Poland. The report focused on researching the Polish endeavours which helped the country …

The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. Yet in 2012, it was estimated that around 87 Christian wedding officiants continued to refuse to marry gay couples due to their religious beliefs. Even though municipalities were allowed to hire these so-called …

The inland shipping industry contributes substantially to the trade relations between the Netherlands and Germany. The industry is different from other transport modes (rail, road and air) in that ships are more environmentally friendly and cost-effective. Yet, it faces many structural problems that …

The European Commission’s Fitness Check exercise, as part of the Better Regulation agenda is a very hot topic at the moment and has already covered six policy areas since 2010. At the moment, a Fitness Check is being performed on the Birds & Habitats Directives, which can be seen as the most controversial …