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University of Central Florida

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Central Asia

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

An Examination Of Central Asian Geopolitics Through The Expected Utility Model: The New Great Game, Corey Stutte Jan 2009

An Examination Of Central Asian Geopolitics Through The Expected Utility Model: The New Great Game, Corey Stutte

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The New Great Game is a geopolitical competition between regional stakeholders over energy resources in Central Asia. The author seeks to use the expected utility voting model based on Black's median voter theorem for forecasting the New Great Game in Central Asia. To judge the external validity of the voting model, the author uses data from the Correlates of War project data set, to formulate three distinct models based only on the numbers in 1992 and 1993. Capabilities and alliance data were used to develop balance of power positions and compare the outcome of 100 simulations to the actual outcome …


The Caspian Sea Region's Key Position In The Rise Of Militant Islam, Graham Cage Jan 2008

The Caspian Sea Region's Key Position In The Rise Of Militant Islam, Graham Cage

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Researchers and policy experts point to key issues and groups such as the Palestinian/Arab Israeli Conflict, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Saudi exported Wahhabism, and, in more recent times, the Iraq wars as being the source of militant Islam in this day in age. However, this perspective ignores key issues and ideals in to how this new form of Islam has emerged in recent decades. For instance, with all the conflicts that have occurred in recent decades, except for the 1979 Revolution in Iran, why have they not yielded Shari'a inspired Islamic states in Yemen, Lebanon, the Occupied Territories and …


Turkey In The Caspian Sea Region, Seyma Akkoyunlu Jan 2008

Turkey In The Caspian Sea Region, Seyma Akkoyunlu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will determine the influence of Turkey's domestic resources on Turkey's foreign relations with the five Turkic states in the Caspian Sea Region. The spheres analyzed in this study are the common ties, which are history, culture, religion and language, with the regional countries, pan-Turkism, Turkey's initial interactions as well as ongoing constructive policies in the region. Findings showed that both Turkey and the five Turkic republics were enthusiastic to carry their relations in every field to future cooperation following the break up of the Soviet Union. However the Turkic Republics' interest in Turkish development model gradually declined starting …


Facade Democracy: Democratic Transition In Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan, Robin Nicole Merritt Jan 2004

Facade Democracy: Democratic Transition In Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan, Robin Nicole Merritt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the reasons behind the stagnation in the transition to democracy in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. According to their constitutions, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are democracies. In actuality, however, there is little evidence to support that these are democratic systems. These states' post-Soviet constitutions outline them as democracies - yet they lack a free press; freedom of association is suppressed; religious freedom is limited; and free speech is constrained as well. While these two countries hold popular elections, much of their electoral processes are under the control of the executive branch of government - calling into question whether or not …