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All Infrastructure Projects Lead To Beijing : How The Belt And Road Initiative Has Influenced China's Regional Policy, Katherine Grof

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

What are Beijing’s intentions behind the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)? China’s foreign policy efforts between 2010 and 2017 are analyzed by comparing five indicators to BRI project spending to understand the goals driving the initiative. Five indicators are used to compare how China’s interest between Belt participants and Road participants: image building, economic volatility, public opinion, energy resources, and geostrategic location. These indicators are applied to four case study BRI participants to rate China’s interest and then compare that to overall BRI project spending. The four case studies are Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan from the Belt portion of BRI and …

Evaluating The Impact Of Culture On Customer Satisfaction For Fms Projects, Yaquari A. Adams Ii

Theses and Dissertations

The cost, time, and quality pillars of the iron triangle in project management are often considered the most important factors for managers to consider when striving to achieve project success. However, recent literature suggests customer satisfaction and end-user benefit are the most important elements to prioritize during project development. This research analyzes the Air Force Security Assistance Center Construction Division and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) joint construction operations in relation to two Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) knowledge areas, project stakeholder management and project risk management. Project stakeholder management is addressed by identifying the relationship between cultural competency and …

Un Crime Contre L'Humanité : Une Analyse De Quelques Journaux Algériens Et Français, La Mémoire Collective Et Les Relations Franco-Algériennes, Olivia Gustafson

Honors Theses

Cette thèse fait une étude de l’histoire des relations franco-algériennes et et de la façon dont cette histoire influence les relations présentement. Avec l’élection d’Emmanuel Macron en 2017, quelques journaux ont dit que cette présidence commencera une nouvelle ère pour les relations franco-algériennes. Ainsi, cette étude pose-t-elle la question de comment les médias français et algériens représentent ces relations et cette histoire, et comment les tragédies qui se sont passées pendant la colonisation vont être réparées par l’État français. Brièvement, j’affirme que ces articles représentent une tension entre Macron, qui veut réparer les blessures du passé en passant à l’avenir, …

Cuba After Fidel: Economic Reform, Political Liberalization And Foreign Policy (2006–2014), Arturo Lopez-Levy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation discussed Cuba's processes of economic reform and political liberalization, and their impact on Cuba's foreign policy's adaptation to the post-Cold War. The first part of the dissertation explains economic reform and political liberalization from the perspective of partial reform equilibrium as a result of the Cuban Communist Party's focus on domestic stability and international legitimacy. The second part of the dissertation focused on Cuba's foreign policy dynamics associated to the domestic reform, the changes in the international system after the end of the Cold War and the asymmetric conflict between Cuba and the United States.

Shaping American Foreign Policy A Game Theoretic Analysis Of The United States'--North Korean Relationship, Kimberly Michelle Ganczak

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Over the past two decades, international relations researchers have developed increasingly nuanced game theoretic models to analyze interstate interactions. This study is a modem, case-specific Bayesian analysis that aims to make contributions to the scholarly analysis of conflict while offering practical advice to policymakers interested in relations between the United States and North Korea.

This study develops a new model of United States - North Korea relations in order to develop insights useful for understanding and hopefully refining, management of this relationship. This study utilizes the extensive form of a signaling game to model the interactions between both states. This …

The Role Of Agricultural And Land Policies In The Failure Of The British Mandate For Palestine, Beth Ann Lynk

History Theses & Dissertations

This study follows the thread of chronic land loss for small and subsistence Arab farmers in Palestine and the key solution repeatedly advocated by the British of intensive agriculture and how it routinely failed only to fuel increased tensions and violence between Arabs and Jews contributing to the reversal of the goal of a unified Palestine under the Mandate. A variety of primary and secondary sources were used to identify the main social patterns and laws during the Ottoman Empire which set up the dynamic of agricultural debt leading to land sales to Jewish immigrants. This pattern is then traced …

Croatia Joins Europe, Nikola Kovač

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

On 1 July 2013 the Republic of Croatia will officially become the 28th member of the European Union. History of Croatia has always kept it on the brink of Europe. The case study of this enlargement examines the relations between Cr9atia and the European Union since Croatia became independent in 1991. This relation is divided into two eras, one of mutual distancing and the other of mutual rapprochement. The thesis aims to identify the dimensions of Croatian road to the EU membership which differ it from other accessions. Now, in the eve of enlargement both Croatia and the European Union …

Department Of Defense Resource Allocations And Progress Toward U.S. Foreign Policy Objectives In Latin America, Melissa Rene Rodriguez

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This research addresses the issue of insufficient or stagnated progress toward U.S. foreign policy objectives for Latin America through an analysis of Department of Defense resource allocations toward the region. These resources are critical to achieving progress toward U.S. foreign policy objectives because the relationships and engagements the DOD establish with Latin American partner nations largely precede and characterize the role of the U.S. in the region.

First 'efficiency' is defined, and then U.S. foreign policy objectives for the region and the regional issues are outlined. Next, Department of Defense resources are characterized and their posture and allocations in the …

The Voice Of The Other: Representations Of The United States In Egyptian Popular Discourse, Sara Pulliam

Theses and Dissertations

The Egyptian-American relationship is complex and problematic on many levels and, similar to Arab-American relations as a whole, often draws the attention of policy makers and academics within political science and its subfield of international relations. Previous analyses of this topic have focused on the dimensions surrounding US policies in the Middle East and the consequences of these policies on both the US and the Arab region. These studies range from being scathingly critical, such as Gregory's The Colonial Present, to advocating for a US foreign policy that is based in rational pursuit of interests that overlooks the discontent of …

Ungendering Power Relations: Stateswomen, Agency And Foreign Policy In Jordan, Catherine Guzzi

Theses and Dissertations

Feminist international reFeminist international relations theory argues that womenâ s marginalization in world affairs both results from and is sustained by a gendering of international relations in which the norms of power, aggression, and self-help typically associated with masculinity dominate IR theory and practice. While gender has become an accepted topic within international relations, a coherent argument for how gendered relationships of power exist within and outside states and how they affect international relations has yet to be made. Little effort has been made to move beyond theory and examine the ways in which gender affects particular cases and issues. …

Good Governance In The Treaty-Making Process And Its Democratic Dilemma, Wanaporn Techagaisiyavanit

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of Thailand’s treaty reform has not only brought change to its legal landscape, but also significant social, political and economic implications within the governing process. While it is political and social in the sense that the mechanisms introduced under Section 190 of the 2007 Constitution (treaty clause) are intended to secure greater accountability and transparency in the public administration through the increased involvements of the public and the institutional branches, the economic dimension derives from the fact that this provision directly deals with the scope of the executive’s authority in the conduct of international relations, trade and investment …

Alliance Management Of Post-Cold War Us-Israeli Relations, Wun Liong Chau

Lingnan Theses

There is always a controversial debate on why the US-Israeli relationship can enjoy lengthy endurance (even after the end of the Cold War). Scholars have traditionally offered explanations through either the strategic role of Israel to the US, or domestic factors including the Jewish lobbies in the US, or the cultural affinities between the two states. However, they tend to emphasize the significance of only one particular dimension, marginalizing possible insights from competitive dimensions.

This research aims to offer a different approach to study US-Israeli relations through alliance management theories. Although there are no formal military treaties between the US …

Managing Complexity And Change In International Relations: The Case Of Yemen, Michael J. Culton

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Matters of war and peace may be as old as civilization itself but the definitions and practices of each are constantly evolving. Innumerable theories and models have been developed over the past few centuries, which are designed to explain modern international politics. As academics and policymakers debate their assumptions regarding conflict and cooperation, current events challenge their intellectual foundations and may even serve to overturn them. The scholars and practitioners of foreign policy may have reached the point where the traditional explanations of political behavior can no longer account for the pressing issues of the day. In such an age …

The Security Dilemma In Sino-Japanese Relations, Yu Pan Lee

Lingnan Theses

Even though economic relations between China and Japan have improved in recent decades, their security relations raise the prospect of clashes due to the perceived incompatibility of their interests, as manifested for example in territorial claims and rivalry for energy resources. This thesis analyzes the two states’ security relations using the “security-dilemma” and “constructivist theories” of international relations.

The security dilemma is a condition in which states’ attempts to increase their own security, out of the mutual fear and suspicion, results a decrease in security for all. The constructivist theories suggest that the identities of actors, social norms, states’ interests …

Understanding As The Ultimate Medium To Resolve Mistrust : Re-Imagining A New Narrative Between The United States And Iran, Ali Goldoust

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

America New China Policy : The Hedgagement Approach, Cheong Wai Yuen

Lingnan Theses

In the past few decades, the rise of China has shifted the political landscape in the Asia Pacific region. China has succeeded in economic development since the reform in 1979. It is transforming its growing economic strength into military power by substantially increasing military expenditure. According to the estimation of Global Trends 2025, by 2025 China will be the second largest economic and military power if current trend persists. The emergence of China has inevitably altered its international role when it is becoming the great power. With increasing economic interdependence and the anti-terrorism, the Sino-U.S. relations have become more complicated …

The Return Of Russia: Energy's Superpower Or Potemkin Village?, Greg R. Bayes

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

George Kennan's prediction of the Soviet Union's downfall may have, in retrospect, jinxed Russia on the one aspect that had historically worked in its favor: time. The confluence of time and space--brought about by an emphasis on territorial expansion-had greatly aided Russia when difficulties had rendered the variable of time indispensable. When confronted by the likes of Napoleon and Hitler, for example, Russia had at its disposal the luxury of always trading space for time. Although deprived of its empire, the issue of space is not an overarching concern for a Russia that today still spans from Vladivostok to St. …

Drawbridge Diplomacy: Romanian-American Relations, 1963-1968, Brett A. Jerasa

History Theses & Dissertations

Entering the White House in 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson pursued a policy of "bridge building" to Eastern Europe, finding agreement on small issues of economics and foreign relations in order to decrease tension between East and West. Johnson targeted Romania as the show case for bridge building because of its growing autonomy from the Soviet Union. Romania's policies of rapid industrialization and foreign policy independence offered potent possibilities. However, Johnson's bridge building faced many difficulties. His administration pursued a dual Cold War policy: he fought communist belligerency in Vietnam while affirming the positive behavior of Eastern European satellites. Despite the …

Self-Righteous Beneficence : American Diplomats And Missionary Perceptions Of The Ottoman Empire, 1908-1914, Ella M. Frantantuono

Honors Theses

At first glance, President Taft's praise of the Ottoman Empire's transformation seems to reflect optimism about the state of the Turkish Empire and America's role in the world. Still, the very source of this optimism, Turkey's evolution from "retrograde" to "constitutional," reveals Taft's assumption that progress for Turkey was based on adopting the "modem policies" of what he believed to be a superior culture. Taft was not alone in thinking that the event he described, the inauguration of the second Constitutional era of the Ottoman Empire, signified a tremendous improvement in the world or in linking that change to the …

The United States Information Agency And The "New Look": France And India, 1953-1961, Leanne Alicia Sutton

History Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the creation of the United States Information Agency (USIA) under the guidance of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and looks at the place of the Agency in the "New Look." The US Information Agency was an important "soft" tool in the American struggle with the Soviet Union for preponderant influence around the world and played a part in the American effort to maintain the balance between the Communist and Free worlds. This study takes a deeper look at the work of the Agency in two case studies, which examine the work of the USIA in France, a reluctant …

From Condemnation To Conformity: Carter And Reagan's Foreign Policy Towards The Argentine Junta, 1977-1982., William Houston Gilbert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how the administrations of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan responded to the widespread human rights abuses committed by the Argentine military during the country's Dirty War between 1977 and 1982. The objective is to gain a broader understanding of the policies pursued by both administrations. Under Carter, who brought human rights to the forefront of American foreign policy, Argentina was heavily targeted and sanctioned with the anticipation that such measures would enhance the human rights status in Argentina. Ultimately, such policies resulted in open hostility in bilateral relations, culminating in Argentina's refusal to support Carter's proposed grain …

The Free World Confronted: The Problem Of Slavery And Progress In American Foreign Relations, 1833-1844, Steven Heath Mitton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Enacted in 1833, Great Britain’s abolition of West Indian slavery confronted the United States with the complex interrelationship between slavery and progress. Dubbed the Great Experiment, British abolition held the possibility of demonstrating free labor more profitable than slavery. Besides elating the world’s abolitionists, always hopeful of equating material with moral progress, the experiment’s success would benefit Britain economically. Presented evidence of the greater profits of free labor, slaveholders worldwide would find themselves with compelling reason to abandon slavery. Likewise, London policymakers would proceed with little need—and no economic incentive—to promote abolition in British foreign policy. British hopes foundered on …

Russian Supply Efforts In America During The First World War, Dale C. Rielage

History Theses & Dissertations

The Russian government entered the First World War unprepared for the strains that modern warfare would impose on its industrial resources. As a result, Russia turned to foreign suppliers, most significantly the United States, and made extensive purchases largely financed by British loans. These foreign supply efforts involved both the Tsarist government and representatives of the newly emerging civil elements in Russian society.

Central to the experience of Russian purchasing in the United States was the Russian Supply Commission in America. Established in October 1915 as a coordinating body, the Supply Commission was noteworthy in that it included representatives of …

United States - Indonesian Relations, 1945-1949: Negative Consequences Of Early American Cold War Policy, Robert Earl Patterson

Master's Theses

From 1945 to 1949, Indonesian nationalists struggled for independence against their Dutch colonial rulers. For most of the period, American foreign policy favored the Netherlands in its desire to reign once again over the archipelago. American foreign policy strategy advocated a "Europe first" position, and possessed finite resources to contain Soviet expansion in the developing cold war. State Department policy planners sided with European powers as they attempted to resume the status quo ante in Southeast Asia following World War II. Colonies were considered essential to the recoveries of Western European powers economically, politically, and psychologically.

The United States And The Netherlands: A Study Of Early Cold War Cooperation, Michael R. Hirman

History Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the policy that the United States utilized between 1945 and 1950 to enlist Dutch support for post-war European organizations and the place of this relationship within United States overall Cold War policy. The Netherlands willingness to cooperate and further United States objectives significantly contributed to the development of economic reconstruction and military security in Western Europe. In addition the United States unprecedented vision for a multilateral defense treaty came to fruition in part through Dutch support and compliance. However, the Dutch also had to make some historic changes. The United States opposed the Dutch attempt to retake …

Difficulties In Diplomacy: A Case Study Of Relations Between The United States And The Republic Of Congo, 1960-1965, James R. Hawn Jr.

History Theses & Dissertations

As he took office, President John F. Kennedy articulated new policies sympathetic to African independence movements, but his policies turned out to be conditional. Aid continued to be granted to resource rich, pro-Western governments.

When the Republic of Congo gamed its independence, it retained its pro-Western cultural and economic ties with its former colonial power, France. Lacking natural resources and an industrial base, this country sought large amounts of economic aid from the West to sustain itself. France and the United States failed to live up to the Congo's expectations. Accusations of massive corruption sealed the fate of the government …

Deja Vu In 1946: Reinterpreting The Origins Of Containment, Jonathan Barry

Honors Theses

For nearly fifty years, mainstream Cold War historians have credited George Kennan with ushering in a new age in foreign policy. Kennan did, after all, send a "Long Telegram" from Moscow on February 22, 1946 that crystallized for the US government a policy of "containing" the Soviet regime. Kennan, a State Department official and expert on Soviet affairs, submitted to Secretary of State James Byrnes an 8,000 word telegram depicting a communist government bent on upholding the expansionist tradition of the Russian czars. He further claimed that "all Soviet efforts on... [an] international plane will be negative and destructive in …

Eisenhower And Khrushchev At The Paris Summit: Anatomy Of A Failure, Vincent Michael Kapral

History Theses & Dissertations

Although it seemed at the time that the destruction of a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over Soviet territory, slightly over two weeks prior to the Four-Power May 1960 Paris Conference had ended the summit, more deeply rooted historical differences ensured the meeting's failure. While President Dwight Eisenhower sought to ensure a national policy of defense sufficiency via his New Look strategy, he faced many internal and external critics who over-stepped or underutilized their positions. These included Allen Dulles, Christian Herter, Richard Bissell and Charles De Gaulle. Nikita Khrushchev faced internal division over his desires to achieve a new peaceful coexistence as …

Serbo-American Relations, 1903-1913, Jason C. Vuic

Master's Theses

Of the available studies concerning pre-World War I Serbia, few have shown more than a passing interest in that country's relations with the United States. Indeed, no books have appeared on the subject, while only four articles examine Serbo-American affairs during the kingdom's most dynamic decade, from 1903 to 1913. Though each is in some way valuable, these works fail to give an adequate account of the relations existing between Serbia and the United States. Therefore the following chapters explore Serbo-American affairs from the death of King Alexander I Obrenovic in June 1903, to the conclusion of the Second Balkan …

Russia's China Policy Under Yeltsin And Its Effect On The Korean Peninsula, Jong Dyuk Lim

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis studies current developments in Russia's China policy and their effect on the Korean Peninsula. This thesis asks these questions: how has the Russia's China policy changed since Gorbachev era, what are the determinants of Russia's current China policy, what is the effect of this policy on the Korean Peninsula, and what is the prospect for Russo-Chinese relations? Russia's China policy has been profoundly influenced by a series of domestic Russian institutional changes. Russia may be developing a political-economic system more consistent with "Eastern" notions of democracy and capitalism than those of the West. The result has been a …