Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Peace-Building And Stability After Civil Wars: The Cases Of Angola And The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Ali Elsharkawy

Theses and Dissertations

Why do some rebel groups successfully establish stable and sustainable states after civil wars, while others fail? Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are two African countries that experienced long and bloody civil wars. Despite the commonalities, the two cases strongly diverged in the political outcomes after civil war. Angola successfully made the transition to stability and prosperity, while the DRC slipped back into violence. This thesis compares and contrasts between the two peace- building processes in both countries. The results illustrate that two main variables made the difference between the two cases, the geography of the capital …

Vladimir Putin’S Leadership Traits Over 11 Years: A Longitudinal Study Of Putin’S Third Term In Office Using Leadership Trait Analysis, Payton J. Casteel

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

While an abundance of literature has studied the actions and behaviors of Vladimir Putin, the most extensive area involves leadership analysis (Semenova and Winter 2020). Various methods within political psychology have used analyses to study Putin throughout his time in office. However, no published research has studied Putin using leadership trait analysis, nor have any published works studied his changes in leadership leading up to the invasion of Ukraine. Using a mixed methods longitudinal study design on Vladimir Putin from 2012 to 2023, five periods in his third term were identified, with speeches taken and coded using the seven LTA …

Refugees Insertion And Labor Market Outcomes And: An Analysis Of The Egyptian Context, Salma Ebrahim

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the association between the inflow of refugees to Egypt and labor market outcomes during the period 2012-2018, using data from the Egyptian Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS). By applying Difference-in Differences and Probit models, the study compares labor market outcomes between Greater Cairo, characterized by high refugee inflow, and the Suez Canal region, which has a very low inflow. The labor force outcomes analyzed wages, formality and labor force participation. The results indicate that the refugee influx is associated with a decline in wages for both formal and informal workers in the treatment group compared to the …

Comparing The Us Response To The Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan And The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine: Learning From The Past And Planning For The Future, Zachary Hogan

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

As the Russo-Ukrainian war continues to rage, the decisions of the present are of paramount importance. In order to make the most positive and well-supported decisions in this ongoing conflict, it would be wise to look to past instances of similar situations. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is such an instance. The parallels between the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the past Soviet invasion of Afghanistan are extensive and, more importantly, informative for U.S. foreign policy. It is with this lens that this paper will pursue a historical foreign policy analysis of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, its circumstances and …

Discourse And Controversy In The Israel-Palestine Conflict - A Review Of The Literature, Irteza Atique

Major Papers

The Israel-Palestine conflict has been ongoing for more than 75 years and has many historical, geographical, religious, and ethnic components. Despite several attempts at resolution, the war persists, resulting in continued violence, human misery, and regional instability. This study dives into the highly contentious dispute over labelling Israel as an apartheid state, a subject that has prompted heated debate in academic literature, college campuses, the media, and diplomacy. Using a wide range of scholarly literature and trustworthy news sources, we investigate the origins of the war, important historical events, and the numerous factors that have shaped the current conflict. Beginning …

Applied Theatre For Peacebuilding: Exploring The Value Of Embodied Practice, Emily Machin-Mayes

Capstone Collection

Arts, storytelling, theatre, and drama have been woven into strategic approaches to peacebuilding after conflict to engage with people’s experiences and emotions, share silenced stories, and build trust and empathy. Applied theatre challenges audience members to take a more active role, either through participating in the storytelling or acting itself or through dialogue and reflection activities. This collaborative art form has been used for community-building, reconciliation efforts as well as in post-conflict settings. This study examines the impact and value of an intensive applied theatre workshop, using participant-observation, and semi-structured interviews. Some of the qualitative findings include the value participants …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

Print Media Coverage Of Conflict Among Pastoral Communities In Northern Kenya: A Case Study Of Nation And The Standard Newspapers., Faith Sudi Wamalwa

Theses & Dissertations

Media coverage of conflict is central to public interpretations of these conflicts. This public comprises policymakers who, among key of their mandates, is developing policies that protect the masses' lives and properties. Conflicts among pastoral communities have been endemic for decades. Media as a channel through which the masses get informed has been found by research worldwide to have an effect on conflicts through coverage. This media influence is mirrored through how it frames stories of conflict and who it quotes in those stories. Frames and sources used to determine how the audience perceives and interprets those conflicts. This study …

From The Barrel To The Border: Exploring The Roots And Ramifications Of Gun Trafficking From The United States To Mexico, Alexandra Punishill

CMC Senior Theses

Nowhere is the discussion surrounding gun violence more prominent than in the United States, with the impacts of our gun-friendly culture being felt around the world. This thesis analyzes the dynamics of gun trafficking from the United States to Mexico and sheds light on its role in fueling the epidemic of gun violence south of the border. It is argued that the particular system of federalism adopted by the United States has led to a variety of state-level gun regulations that have shaped domestic gun policy and have had an international impact. Despite Mexico’s persistent efforts to combat the gun …

Exploring The Factors That Influence Female Offending In The U.S. And Mexico, Dana Villasenor

CMC Senior Theses

Hollywood has painted a picture of the criminal woman as a sexy, sneaky, and often psychotic female fatale. This is because men run Hollywood. Much like movies, research on why women offend had historically focused on men as their stellar. However, towards the turn of the century and with the disproportionate rise in female incarceration, literature caught up to the fact that women and men do not experience the same socialization, standards, or reality and, therefore, have different reasons for and ways of offending. This research explores those reasons for women in the U.S. and Mexico and paints the picture …

From Allies To Co-Conspirators: Unveiling The Many Faces Of Solidarity In Contemporary Racial Justice Social Movements In The U.S., Nashay Lowe

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

Scholars and practitioners often have different understandings and interpretations of allyship in the social movement context. There are conflicting expectations of allies, making it difficult to clearly identify their role and relationship to the overall movement and membership. The result can be confusion, unmet expectations, and disappointment. This research addresses this challenge by examining allyship as a means of solidarity in racial justice social movements. To achieve this, the study utilized multiple methods, including (a) a synthesis analysis of literature on the subject; (b) semi-structured interviews with activists, allies, and scholar-practitioners involved in racial justice causes ranging from Black Lives …

Exploring Policies & Practices For The Private Sector To Advance Women’S Economic Empowerment And Prevent Gender Based Violence In Post-Conflict Countries, Amina Helal

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to investigate the role of the private sector in advancing women’s economic empowerment and gender-based violence prevention with a focus on post-conflict countries. It explores challenges facing them, and opportunities to be seized by governments and other stakeholders in this regard. The study also sheds light on the gap in the private sector’s awareness and commitment to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to implement the UN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in post-conflict countries. It explores the different possible engagements of the private sector in response to the research question. The thesis also …

Inscribing Violence: Quantifying The Impact Of World Heritage Site Inscription On Direct And Structural Violence., Anne Chance

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

The World Heritage Program and nomination process have undergone considerable criticism regarding their impact on host nations. These critics have often described violence as an unintended side-effect of heritage sites, but this research has lacked a systematic analysis of types of violence associated with the inscription of sites. The background to this study explores the application of Galtung’s Triangle of Violence, which considers the symbiotic dynamics of cultural violence, structural violence, and direct violence. In so doing, I constructed the Measures of Structural Violence matrix by which to examine direct and structural violence in states that host heritage sites.

Using …

Navigating Complexity Of Serving Displaced Communities: A Study Of Yemeni Community-Based Organizations In Egypt, Alya Mohammed Al-Mahdi

Theses and Dissertations

Forced displacement is a global crisis that poses challenges for nations like Egypt. Despite international NGO support, escalating displaced individuals have overwhelmed existing capacities. Refugee Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) have emerged as a natural response from the communities themselves to bridge the gap between the state and NGOs and the refugee community. However, CBOs in Egypt face challenges that impact their operation and continuity. Through qualitative research, this study aims to explore the experience of the Yemeni CBOs. Through interviews with seven people from six CBOs conducted through field visits and online calls, this research uncovers the dynamics of Yemeni CBOs …

Using Community Organizing Best Practices To Redesign The Dart Organizers' Institute, Anna Long

Capstone Collection

This Training-of-Trainers Course-Linked Capstone project explores three approaches to community organizing from three different scholar-practitioners. It begins with the father of grassroots organizing, Saul Alinsky’s, neighborhood-based and congregation-based approach. Alinsky’s approach is followed by Alicia Garza’s approach; Garza is the founder of the international Black Lives Matter movement. It ends with author and organizer adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy approach. This paper will synthesize all three approaches, ultimately identifying four recommended approaches to community organizing: power, motivation, emotion, and centering impacted voices. The four recommended approaches will be used to evaluate the new organizer training (Organizers’ Institute) for the Direct …

On Occupying: Women's Representation In The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Emma Hillstead

University Honors Theses

Scholars of peace and conflict studies have begun to investigate the impact the inclusion of women has on the success of peace talks that seek to resolve violent conflict. Many of these scholars have found that when women are included at the negotiating table, the likelihood for the conflict to come to a peaceful conclusion increases. With the historical, religious, and cultural nuances, this paper seeks to apply the existing research on this subject to that of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This paper first analyzes the positionality of women within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, specifically looking at access to power, then applies …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Military Masculinities And Honorary Men: A Comparative Analysis Of United States And United Kingdom Approaches To Iraq Security Sector Reform, Caitlyn C. Aldersea

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

The 2003 Iraq War marked the first time in wartime that the United States and United Kingdom deployed female-specific units in support of combat operations. As manifestations of changing gendered norms within defense institutions, these Team Lioness units became symbolic of military transitions to a more diverse fighting force. Following the Iraq War, the US and UK were authorized as governing entities over the post-conflict Security Sector Reform process. Despite growing internal awareness on the importance of gender-inclusive policies, US-UK Coalition Forces instead focused reconstruction efforts on addressing immediate security needs of Iraq. While prior feminist literature has criticized the …

Why Democracies And Autocracies Go To War: Comparing The Cases Of Iraq And Ukraine, Ketevan Chincharadze

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

History shows that both democratic and nondemocratic countries wage wars to advance their strategic interests. This study has comparatively analyzed two conflicts – the 2003-2011 U.S. invasion of Iraq and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine – to identify the trends that motivate both democratic and autocratic leaders to behave similarly by launching an invasion. The interpretive research of various memoirs, books, interviews, academic articles, news reports, and speeches, has uncovered that personal biases, particularly confirmation biases, play a significant role in motivating leaders to start a war. Leaders’ confirmation biases are often shaped by three prominent factors – historical memory, …

Legitimacy In Conflict Contexts: Shifting Rebel Engagement In Sierra Leone And The Presence Of Private Contractors, Anne Lauder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The growth of non-state actors has significantly changed the nature of conflict. Rebel groups increasingly challenge state rule while private military and security companies (PMSCs) increasingly enter conflict spaces on behalf of a variety of actors, including states seeking to suppress insurgencies. This case study of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during Sierra Leone’s civil war between 1991-2002 contributes to emerging work on rebel behavior by examining how rebel’s legitimacy-seeking behavior might evolve when PMSCs enter a conflict context. I explore the ways that PMSCs can shift perceived incentive structures surrounding insurgents’ interpretations of and engagements with legitimacy during conflict, …

Pandemic Collaborative Governance Facilitation: A First Look At Covid-19'S Impact On Collaborative Governance, Amelia Webb

University Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on Collaborative Governance Facilitation, prompting a need to examine continuing impacts and repercussions. This study investigates the effects of COVID-19 on Collaborative Governance Facilitation by exploring the perspectives of facilitators who worked through this period. Using a qualitative approach, and incorporating elements of Grounded Theory and Phenomenology, a focus group was conducted with facilitators operating in the greater Pacific Northwest that identified several emerging themes and patterns in the facilitators' pandemic experiences. The analysis revealed significant insights in several key areas: the assessment phase, pace and productivity, equity and demographic differences, building …

The Politics Of The Northern Ireland Question: From The Good Friday Agreement To Brexit, Nora A. Hayes

Senior Theses

The Northern Ireland question still remains unanswered in 21st century politics in the British Isles. While the 1998 Good Friday Agreement largely brought an end to the decades long sectarian conflict known as the Troubles, the ethno-national debate still heavily underscores the region’s politics. After the Agreement, a period of normalization of the Irish-British-Northern Irish relationship began guided by the Agreement’s new system of government. However, the Brexit referendum of 2016 posed a new challenge for Northern Ireland and Ireland as the possibility of a return to a hard border between the two regions threatened decades of fragile peacebuilding. The …

Weaponization Of Religion: The Manipulation Of Religion In The Pursuit Of Political Power In Yugoslavia And Syria, Kathryn Echele

Senior Theses

Religious conflict has played an important role in shaping human history, particularly in the last few decades with the proliferation of ethno-religious violence. This paper examines the development of the relationship between religion and politics, then analyzes how leaders manipulate religion to gain political power. Two case studies—Yugoslavia/Yugoslav Wars and Syria/Syrian Civil War—are used to demonstrate this ability religion has to spur conflict when coopted for political means. Yugoslavia and Syria make ideal case studies because both countries have a deeply rooted and seemingly inseparable link between ethnicity and religion. Methods of cooptation include using religious mythology and symbolism, influencing …

Ambigú Trashumante Barra De Café Ambulante Ambigú Trashumante Barra De Café Ambulante, Augusto Martin Rivero

Master's Projects and Capstones

Ambigú Trashumante Barra de Café Ambulante is an applied research project which took shape over the course of a calendar year from May 2022-2023. A six-person team evolved including the personified project itself, united as one communal entity in collaboration. The project entailed creation of a bicicargo, or cargo bike–useful art becoming a mobile coffee bar and literal vehicle embodying justice through coffee offered freely in México, as facilitated through decolonized ethnography and Mesoamerican Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR). The project’s theoretical framework centers on Bruguera’s (2012) arte útil conceptualization. Five core patterns emerged, including the right to thrive in …

Cuban Embargo: An Insufficient Measure To Encourage Us Foreign Policy Interests, Esme Jm Prowse

Major Papers

This major paper examines the Cuban embargo as an ineffective hard power policy and explores the potential of soft, hard, and smart power as alternative approaches to resolve the failures of the 60-year-old blockade. The paper analyzes the historical context and rationale behind the embargo and assesses its impact on Cuban-American relations, regional stability, and U.S. national interests. The study argues that the embargo has failed to achieve its intended goals and has instead perpetuated a cycle of hostility, isolation, and human rights abuses. By drawing on the theoretical frameworks of soft, hard, and smart power, the paper presents policy …

"Proventing" Intimate Partner Violence-Related Attitudes Through Arts-Based Peace Education: A Sequential Explanatory Study Of Dancing Classrooms Alumni, Cody Wehlan

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

Research links intimate partner violence (IPV) to socialized, and often gendered, power-over attitudes that view abuse, control, and physical violence against, or by, an intimate partner as acceptable and appropriate in various contexts. While many IPV prevention programs emphasize education for reducing intimate partner violence-related attitudes (IPVA), most programs respond after violence has occurred and are often ineffective. Presenting an innovative form of proactive prevention, or “provention”, this dissertation combines arts-based peace education, youth IPV prevention, and intergroup contact theory (ICT) to outline how youth-focused social dance may effectively provent IPVA risk factors by teaching young people collaborative, power-with social …

Tourism's Power To Promote Peacebuilding In Post-Conflict Societies - A Northern Ireland Case Study, Margaret Walker

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the capacity of tourism to promote peacebuilding in post-conflict societies, specifically focusing on Northern Ireland. This study assesses the current state of conflict tourism in Northern Ireland by analyzing two tourist sites and considering variables that may impact peacebuilding in the greater Northern Ireland community. It measures the success of the Northern Ireland approach by comparing the effects of tourism in other post-conflict and conflict societies. This study culminates with the presentation of certain strategies that Northern Ireland should implement to positively impact peacebuilding through tourism. Curators must portray history in a balanced, sensitive manner that avoids …

Tied Together, Eiko Nishida

Theses and Dissertations

The paper is about a site-specific installation that questions a viewer’s norms and perspectives, through the use of multilingual newspapers as a sculptural material.

The Civil War Conflict Between Anglophones/Francophones In The Northwest And Southwest Regions Of Cameroon, Myriam Jeter

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The Civil War conflict between Anglophones and Francophones, also known as the Ambazonia war, is a long-standing issue that continues to plague the people living in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon. This paper explores the colonial history of the nation, the cause of the ongoing conflict, the reasons for its escalation, and how it gave rise to the Ambazonian separatists who want to have a separate nation called the Ambazonia Republic.

This study contributes to conflict understanding in two ways. First, it sheds light on the cultural and economic impacts of internally generated crises in a country. Second, …

Brutality Behind Bars: A Look At Prison Violence In Ecuador, Zulema Alejandra Palacios Jaramillo

Graduate Masters Theses

Prisons are frequently perceived as spaces where those unwanted by society are placed. Thus, they are often purposefully ignored and left under-served. This is the reality of prisons and inmates in Ecuador, where violence has reached unprecedented levels, raising concerns about its causes. As this thesis shows, violence inside prisons is not an isolated incident only provoked by the restrictive nature of detention centers, or the character of inmates, but rather a manifestation of a complex mix of institutional, organizational, criminological, and social factors at play in the country. This thesis aims at understanding, from a conflict resolution perspective, what …