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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Political Science

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Doctoral Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

International conflict

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Autocracies As Mediators In Conflicts, Jonathan A. S. Honig May 2022

Autocracies As Mediators In Conflicts, Jonathan A. S. Honig

Doctoral Dissertations

It is puzzling why autocracies, which typically are not renowned for their human rights record or their observance of international norms related to human rights and are frequently inured in their own violent conflicts, would choose to take on the seemingly humanitarian role of peacemaker as often as democracies in the conflicts of other states in the absence of such things as a former colonial relationship or shared geographic proximity with them. I argue that autocracies will offer more often to mediate when they are subjected to international scrutiny, sanctioning, and/or condemnation, as well as materially and immaterially benefitting from …


Deciding To Divert: Domestic And International Sources Of Constraints On Leader Decision-Making, Norris Thomas Feeney Dec 2012

Deciding To Divert: Domestic And International Sources Of Constraints On Leader Decision-Making, Norris Thomas Feeney

Doctoral Dissertations

Domestic unrest is a constant feature in the international system. Aside from the impact unrest has on domestic populations, political turmoil also has consequences for other states in the international system. A long-held belief, backed by anecdotal evidence, is that leaders use aggressive foreign policy to divert public attention in periods of declining domestic political fortunes. However, consistent evidence for this pattern of behavior has not emerged across large-N analyses in the extant diversionary literature. This dissertation advances the search for evidence of diversion by assessing the likelihood leaders of various regime types will divert, comparing not only non-democracies with …