Thesis topic proposals of the Department of International Relations
(In addition to the given topics, it is possible to choose a different topic after consultation with the thesis supervisor.)
Update: 03.10.2022
Thesis topic proposals of the Department of International Relations
Dr. Judit Andrea Buday-Sántha PhD
College associate professor
D. II. 4. e-mail: buday-santha.andrea@uni-bge.hu
Dr. Pál István Gyene PhD
College associate professor
D. II. 8. e-mail: gyene.palistvan@uni-bge.hu
1. Measuring democracy. Perspectives of democratization in a certain region or country (e.g. Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Middle East etc.)
2. Covid pandemics, and counter-epidemic measures in western democracies and eastern autocracies (possible case studies: China, USA, Germany, Sweden etc.).
3. Regional integrations and terrirtorial separatism int he post soviet region (possible case studies: eurasian Union, Transnistria, Crimean crisis etc.).
4. Ethnic separatism and secessionist movements in Europe (possible case studies: Scotland, Catalonia, Flanders etc.).
5. „Failed states” case studies (Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia etc.)
6. The Middle East after the „Arabic Spring”. Political islam and jihadist terrorism. Terrorism and migration.
7. Right-wing and left-wing populism populism in USA, Europe or in Latin-America (possible case studies: UK and Brexit, Brazil, USA etc.)
8. Rentier-states and „resource course”. „Dutch disease” effects in oil and mineral exporter economies. Rentierism and authoriter exercising of political power (possible case studies: Gulf monarchies, post-soviet Central Asian states, Venezuela, Nigeria etc.)
9. Surveillance states and survelliance capitalism. Political polarization and social media regulations.
Transnational networks of illegal drug trade. „Narco state” case studies (Mexico, Colombia, Afganisthan etc.).
Prof. Dr. Endre Marinovich CSc
Professor Emeritus, visiting lecturer
D. II. 5. e-mail:marinovich.endre@uni-bge.hu
Dr. Bence Péter Marosán PhD
Senior lecturer
D. II. 8. e-mail: marosan.bencepeter@uni-bge.hu
- Religion as a social phenomenon and praxis
Recommended literature:
Eliade, Mircea (1987): The Sacred and the Profane. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Wright, Robert (2009): The Evolution of God. Little, Brown and Company
2. Sustainability, environmental ethics and protection. Ecological problems and their social effects in the 21st Century.
Recommended literature:
Homer-Dixon, Thomas F. (2001): Environment, Scarcity, and Violence. Princeton University Press
Wackernagel, M. and W. Rees. (1996): Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers
3. Narrative types in the cinema and other arts
Recommended literature:
Bíró Yvette (2008): Turbulence and Flow in Film. Indiana University Press
Bordwell, David (1985): Narration in the Fiction Film. University of Wisconsin Press
Kovács András Bálint (2008): Screening Modernism: European Art Cinema, 1950-1980 (Cinema and Modernity). University of Chicago Press
4. Role of institutions in the evolution of democracy
Recommended literature:
Acemoglu, Daron – Robinson, James A. (2013): Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. Crown Business, New York
Fukuyama, Francis (2012): The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution. Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Fukuyama, Francis (2015): Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux
5. Formation of national and cultural identity
Recommended literature:
Geary, Patrick (2003): The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe. Princeton University Press
Assmann, Jan (2012): Cultural Memory and Early Civilization: Writing, Remembrance, and Political Imagination. Cambridge University Press
Fukuyama, Francis (2018): Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Dr. László Nyusztay László PhD
Professor Emeritus, visiting lecturer
D. II. 28. e-mail: nyusztay.laszlo@uni-bge.hu
- Evolution and specialisation of diplomacy in the recent decades. Traditional and new branches of diplomacy. Enlargement of the circle of actors and agenda, renewal of instruments and their impact on international relations.
- Issues of multilateral diplomacy. Evolution and reforming efforts of international institutions and organisations in the recent decades.
- Political aspects of European integration and Euro-Atlantic cooperation. Institutions of European security architecture (outside EU), NATO, OSCE, the Council of Europe, sub-regional groupings.
- International policy aspects of socio-economic transition in the East-Central European region. Possibilities and recent experiences of the international role of the Visegrad countries: activities of Visegrad Four (V4) as a sub-regional initiative in the region.
- Evolution of Italy’s foreign policy in the post-bipolar world order
- Development of foreign policies of two regional powers in Africa and Asia, the Arab Republic of Egypt and India, in the recent quarter of a century.