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From Reform To Resignation: Explaining Why Some Protest Movements Escalate Demands, Sooyeon Kang
From Reform To Resignation: Explaining Why Some Protest Movements Escalate Demands, Sooyeon Kang
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
One of the unresolved puzzles in the civil resistance and contentious politics literatures relates to the fact that some movements that begin as reformist (seeking redress in a certain policy space) escalate to maximalist claims (demanding the ouster of a national leader or the entire regime) – a process I call “demand escalation.” For instance, in the summer of 2019, thousands took to the streets of Hong Kong to protest a proposed extradition bill that would allow criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China to face trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party. However, even after Hong Kong’s …
Restive Subjects: Russian Protest, 2007–2013, Carey C. Neill
Restive Subjects: Russian Protest, 2007–2013, Carey C. Neill
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation develops and evaluates a structural theory of protest onset, applied to the Russian case. Russian stability has become a pressing international political concern, as Putin has annexed the Crimea, fomented one war, in Ukraine, and become a major player in another, in Syria. In December 2011, thousands of Russians gathered in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and other cities for the largest set of protests since the fall of the USSR. Waves of protest have reappeared sporadically since. Each time, events create islands of dissent, spread widely, but unevenly, throughout the country - in a picture reminiscent of the pre-collapse …
Everyday Indivisibility: How Exclusive Religious Practices Explain Variation In Subnational Violence Outcomes, Joel Kieth Day
Everyday Indivisibility: How Exclusive Religious Practices Explain Variation In Subnational Violence Outcomes, Joel Kieth Day
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This project explores the puzzle of religious violence variation. Religious actors initiate conflict at a higher rate than their secular counterparts, last longer, are more deadly, and are less prone to negotiated termination. Yet the legacy of religious peacemakers on the reduction of violence is undeniable. Under what conditions does religion contribute to escalated violence and under what conditions does it contribute to peace?
I argue that more intense everyday practices of group members, or high levels of orthopraxy, create dispositional indivisibilities that make violence a natural alternative to bargaining. Subnational armed groups with members whose practices are exclusive and …
Immortal Stalemate: U.S.-Iranian Relations & The Diversionary Theory Of War, Namdar Hosseinzadeh
Immortal Stalemate: U.S.-Iranian Relations & The Diversionary Theory Of War, Namdar Hosseinzadeh
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Plagued by diverging security interests, the United States and Iran have been unable to formally reestablish diplomatic relations since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Since 1989, the political environment in Iran underwent drastic changes with the passing of Ayatollah Khomeini. For the next sixteen years Iranian presidents attempted to normalize relations with the U.S. through various political, economic and social initiatives. It appeared as though the hostile relationship between the two countries was slowly becoming friendly. With the emergence of controversial populist president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the years of diplomatic progress between the U.S. and Iran were quickly reversed. In this …
Turning Away From Your Slavic Brother: The Effects Of Identity On Relations Between Russia And Belarus, Matt Matejka
Turning Away From Your Slavic Brother: The Effects Of Identity On Relations Between Russia And Belarus, Matt Matejka
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
On September 24, 2011, it was announced that Putin would run for president once again in 2012. The reaction in the West was that ―the more things change, the more they stay the same.‖ The Western conception of the post-Cold War Russia is often one of remarkable consistency since the turn of the century. This Western narrative focuses on an autocratic Putin reigning over his resurgent and confrontational Russia. Does this narrative tell the story of Russia today, or does it instead obscure it? To answer this I have elected to analyze Russian identity and how it relates to Russia‘s …
Not-So Splendid Isolation: An Ipe Study Of Iranian Sanction Busting, Ryan Christopher Rilea
Not-So Splendid Isolation: An Ipe Study Of Iranian Sanction Busting, Ryan Christopher Rilea
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This study analyzes the US sanction regime imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran. This single case study assesses its weaknesses and shortcomings in order to present a preliminary conclusion of the character of Iranian policies to bust the US sanctions regime. In charting the evolution of the US sanction regime through three distinct "waves" of sanctions the study highlighted the general shortcomings of the regime. First, the US sanction regime has failed to impose significant costs on Iran. Second, the slow pace of unveiling each new wave of sanctions failed to bring the necessary immediate pressure on Iran. Third, …
Divided Government And Congressional Foreign Policy A Case Study Of The Post-World War Ii Era In American Government, David Eric Feinman
Divided Government And Congressional Foreign Policy A Case Study Of The Post-World War Ii Era In American Government, David Eric Feinman
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of American federal government, during periods within which these two branches are led by different political parties, to discover whether the legislative branch attempts to independently legislate and enact foreign policy by using “the power of the purse” to either appropriate in support of or refuse to appropriate in opposition to military engagement abroad. The methodology for this research includes the analysis and comparison of certain variables, including public opinion, budgetary constraints, and the relative majority of the party that holds power in one …
Role Expectations And State Socialization: Germany's Rediscovery Of The Use Of Force 1990–1995, Thorsten Spehn
Role Expectations And State Socialization: Germany's Rediscovery Of The Use Of Force 1990–1995, Thorsten Spehn
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation engages the question of why German political elites accepted the use of force during the 1990s and started to commit the country's armed forces to multilateral peacekeeping missions. Previous governments of the Federal Republic had opposed foreign deployment of the military and Germany was characterized by a unique strategic culture in which the efficacy of military force was widely regarded as negative. The rediscovery of the use of force constituted a significant reorientation of German security policy with potentially profound implications for international relations.
I use social role theory to explain Germany's security policy reorientation. I argue that …