Political History Commons^™

'Here We Start And In Jerusalem We Meet:' The Motivational And Organizational Influences Of Israel's Statehood Ontransnational Salafi Jihad, Charlotte Armistead

Honors Theses

The Israeli occupation of Palestine and its impact on the proliferation and longevity of transnational Salafi jihad is largely underestimated in current literature. In this thesis, I argue that Palestine, defined as both the nation and physical borders before the Balfour Declaration, largely contributed to the twentieth century revival of transnational Salafi jihad and is used by both Al Qaeda and ISIS as liberation and annihilation movements, respectively. In order to assess the motivational and organizational influences of the Israeli occupation of Palestine on transnational Salafi jihad, I examine the works of Abdullah Azzam, a selection of Osama Bin Laden’s …

Coming And Going: Identity, Institutions, And The United Kingdom's Resistance To The European Union, Lauren Bruning

Honors Theses

In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, a decision widely known as ‘Brexit’. This analysis compares two competing theories – institution and identity – to explain why. Four historical events, chronologically ordered from 1945 to 2016, are examined with both identity and institution analysis to explain British integration and its subsequent withdrawal from the European Union. Through this analysis, one can conclude the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw in 2016 stemmed from a variety of reasons, but each of these can be explained by identity (a sense of nationalism), or institution (EU relationships).

Nationalism around …

The Meridian House Speech And Academic Influence On U.S. Policy In The Middle East, Shant Eghian

Honors Theses

This paper will examine United States foreign policy in the Middle East Post Cold War through the lens of the Meridian House Speech, an influential speech given in 1992 that has shaped the United States’ foreign policy framework for the past twenty-five years. It will examine the work of Edward Said and John Esposito, two influential academics whose work heavily influenced the content of the speech. Finally, this paper will give a critical analysis of the speech and the implications it has had for our foreign policy in the Middle East.

Iran; Nicaragua; Cuba; An Analysis Of Revolutions, Neil Moynihan

Honors Theses

Can these revolutions be explained by the withdrawal of the United States? It seems not. Can all three revolutions fit under any one theory of revolution? The answer here will probably also be: no; each theory, however, gives valuable hints about what aspects of each revolution one should analyze.