Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Peacekeeping For Peace: Effectiveness And Impacts, Santosh Sapkota
Peacekeeping For Peace: Effectiveness And Impacts, Santosh Sapkota
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
This dissertation examines three aspects of peacekeeping research within the overall framework of peacekeeping effectiveness and its impacts on troop-contributing countries (TCC). This dissertation comprises three different papers that employ three different methodological approaches. The first paper investigates why the military failed to achieve its primary mandate of the protection of civilians (POC) in the wake of continued killings of civilians despite the presence of peacekeepers. The general expectation from the military is to contain or eliminate violent incidents and civilian deaths in areas of responsibility (AOR). Utilizing a case study of Beni, DRC —a highly violent and militarized area …
Exploring Regional Dynamics: States, International Civil Society, And Regional Interstate Cooperation, Ozgur Kayaalp
Exploring Regional Dynamics: States, International Civil Society, And Regional Interstate Cooperation, Ozgur Kayaalp
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Regional cooperation is widely acknowledged as a crucial element in fostering peace and prosperity among nations, yet few systematic studies have investigated the forces that promote and sustain it. This dissertation examines regional cooperation through the lens of states, state-led institutions, and non-state actors. In order to achieve this, the study first aims to undertake a systematic analysis of the correlates associated with regional cooperation, using country pairings to analyze where cooperation takes place. Second, I explore the role of international civil society in promoting regional cooperation. To gauge international civil society, a new dataset on International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) …
The Direct And Indirect Effects Of Strategic Displacement On Territorial Control In Conventional Civil War, Jennifer Hudson
The Direct And Indirect Effects Of Strategic Displacement On Territorial Control In Conventional Civil War, Jennifer Hudson
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Which strategies contribute towards a belligerent's ability to shift territorial control in its favor more quickly than others? This dissertation advances a theory of territorial control dynamics in conventional civil war that places the civilian population at the center of the analysis. Existing scholarship explaining territorial control in conventional civil war has emphasized the role of relative military capabilities, direct military confrontations aimed at territorial conquest, and the existence of established zones of control, with civilians generally residing in areas clearly dominated by one party or another, not in contested areas. As such, theory holds that this makes the civilian …
Struggling For Security: The Complexity Of Nato Burden-Sharing, Tad Schnaufer Ii
Struggling For Security: The Complexity Of Nato Burden-Sharing, Tad Schnaufer Ii
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Since the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), US administrations have criticized their European allies for not meeting security burden-sharing goals. This study aims to gain insight into what factors motivate alliance members to contribute to the burden-sharing objectives they have agreed to achieve. From a US perspective, the need for its European allies to reach these goals will allow the United States to shift resources to more pressing strategic challenges like the rise of China. Informed by Mancur Olson's theory of collective action and Glenn Snyder's concept of the security dilemma in alliances, this project tests the …
Decentralization And Violence, Alexander Norat
Decentralization And Violence, Alexander Norat
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
How does the political environment that a group operates affect whether they engage in terrorism? My research is concerned with how political opportunities, which I conceptualize in terms of political decentralization, affect how groups engage with the state, and whether they will engage in terrorism. Previous research has indicated that decentralization can reduce violence but can pose stability problems in other countries. I hypothesize that states with higher levels of decentralization will have lower levels of violence. I believe this works by allowing minority groups more access to power. Because they have access to political power, there is less incentive …
Trauma, Resilience, And Empowerment: Post-Genocide Experiences Of Yezidi Women, Tutku Ayhan Ergin
Trauma, Resilience, And Empowerment: Post-Genocide Experiences Of Yezidi Women, Tutku Ayhan Ergin
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Under what conditions do women become more resilient and empowered in post conflict settings? Utilizing data from multi site fieldwork in northern Iraq, Germany, and the U.S. involving over 160 in depth interviews, this dissertation addresses this question by studying the experiences of Yezidi women who were subject to genocidal violence by the Islamic State in Iraq in 2014. By adopting an intersectional approach, it contributes to feminist research on post conflict dynamics and suggests that how women cope with trauma and achieve positive changes in their lives depends on a variety of factors. Age, history of sexual violence and …
Small Intrusions, Powerful Payoff: Shaping Status Relationships Through Interstate Intrusions And Responses, Logan Kerschner
Small Intrusions, Powerful Payoff: Shaping Status Relationships Through Interstate Intrusions And Responses, Logan Kerschner
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Intrusions are the intentional unauthorized violation of a state's sovereign territory or claimed space (e.g., air defense identification zone, exclusive economic zone) by assets controlled by another state. Intrusions are one of the most common military interactions between major powers. Yet, intrusions are poorly understood by security studies scholars. To the extent that they are addressed in the literature, they are usually understood through the lens of coercive signaling. However, most intrusions lack the requisite components for this coercive signaling such as competing political objectives, associated demands, and the necessary risk to demonstrate resolve. As a result, most intrusions are …
Between Fighting And Serving: How Existential Motivations Shaped Combat Participation In The Donbas War In Ukraine, Miroslav Shapovalov
Between Fighting And Serving: How Existential Motivations Shaped Combat Participation In The Donbas War In Ukraine, Miroslav Shapovalov
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
The project studies enlistment into Pro-Government Militia groups (or PGMs) in the context of modern armed conflicts. While PGMs as armed groups are getting an increased attention, very little insight has been generated regarding the circumstances under which pro-government combatants choose to join PGMs over the army. I develop survey tools, a survey experiments and a series of semi-structured interviews to study individual-level factors affecting recruitment dynamics in Ukraine, the country that successfully employed PGMs to defend itself against Russian hybrid aggression. The inquiry tests for the role of such factors as trust in the army, emotions, and subjective individual …
Group Level Cues And The Use Of Force In Domestic And Foreign Policy Contexts, Zlatin Mitkov
Group Level Cues And The Use Of Force In Domestic And Foreign Policy Contexts, Zlatin Mitkov
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
To what extent do elite and social group cues affect the public's willingness to embrace their leader's actions during domestic and international security crises? Studies traditionally have focused on top-down elite cue-driven models to study how the public's attitudes are influenced during international and domestic security crises, largely disregarding the bottom-up effects social peer groups can have on individuals' attitudes. This is problematic as the public is regularly exposed to cue messages from elites and social peer groups, both of which are expected to help determine how successful leaders will be in mobilizing public support on a tactical level. To …
An Illusional Nuclear Taboo: Mechanisms Of Domestic Attitudinal Patterns For Extreme Methods Of War, Doreen Horschig
An Illusional Nuclear Taboo: Mechanisms Of Domestic Attitudinal Patterns For Extreme Methods Of War, Doreen Horschig
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
This dissertation studies public attitudes toward nuclear weapons. When do people become more willing to endorse a preemptive nuclear strike against a foreign country? Utilizing theoretical insights from international relations, comparative politics, and social psychology and original experimental survey data from Israel and the U.S., this dissertation aims to answer these questions. Influential strands of scholarship argue that both the public and political elites have internalized anti-nuclear norms. The critics, however, assert that the moral nuclear taboo lacks robustness. The dissertation joins this debate by offering a novel theoretical framework informed by terror management theory (TMT) and suggests that people …
Food, Familiarity, And Forecasting: Modeling Coups With Computational Methods, Joshua Lambert
Food, Familiarity, And Forecasting: Modeling Coups With Computational Methods, Joshua Lambert
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Military coups are the most consequential breakdown of civil-military relations. This dissertation contributes to the explanation and prediction of coups through three independent quantitative analyses. First, I argue that food insecurity is an important determinant of coups. The presence of hunger can generate discontent in society and subsequently alter coup plotter opportunities. Furthermore, I show that the presence of chronic hunger can condition the effect of increasing development. While increasing levels of development have been shown to limit coup proclivity, a state experiencing chronic hunger will recognize the fundamental failure of basic needs provision. As development increases, the presence of …
Improving Foreign Militaries -- The Effects Of U.S. Military Aid In The Form Of International Military Education And Training Programs, Sandor Fabian
Improving Foreign Militaries -- The Effects Of U.S. Military Aid In The Form Of International Military Education And Training Programs, Sandor Fabian
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Great powers have often sought to achieve their strategic goals through the allocation of military aid. The United States is no exception, as it has frequently used military aid to influence the policies and military capacity of its allies and partners. However, our understanding of the effects of US military aid on the conflict behavior of recipient states - and especially the mechanisms underlying these effects - remains poorly understood. The results of previous studies of U.S. military aid are often contradictory, and are mostly based on over-aggregated, country-level data. In this dissertation, I argue that examining the individual-level effects …
Cute Panda Or Evil Dragon? Market Economy, Conflict Behavior And China's Peaceful Rise, Xiongwei Cao
Cute Panda Or Evil Dragon? Market Economy, Conflict Behavior And China's Peaceful Rise, Xiongwei Cao
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
China has two contrasting images in the West: a cute panda and an evil dragon. In recent years, a near-consensus seems to be forming among policy makers in Washington that the People's Republic of China (PRC) is more of an evil dragon than a cute panda, using "sharp power" to threaten U.S. interests and world peace. The PRC is regarded by the current U.S. administration as a "strategic competitor," and a new Cold War seems to be looming between the world's two largest economies. Is the rise of China destined to cause conflicts or even war? After analyzing the conflict …