International Relations Commons^™

Till Death Do Us Part: Will Longstanding Rivalry Impede The Ethnic Coalition Of Isis And Al Qaeda?, Bianca L. Pergher

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

According to Dr. Tricia Bacon’s and Dr. Elizabeth Grimm Arsenault’s, “Al Qaeda and the Islamic State's Break: Strategic Strife or Lackluster Leadership?,”the “strategic differences between Al Qaeda and ISIS were not sufficient to cause the split,” the strife that ensued between al Nusra and ISIS caused this complex alliance to rupture. Osama bin Laden’s effective leadership aligned a terrorist network that amassed rebel groups for the global jihadist cause. Unlike bin Laden’s elitist view to destabilize the West, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi believed the principal enemies of the jihadist movement were Shiites for their false interpretation of Islamic theology and …

Becoming A Superpower: China’S Rise And The Belt And Road Initiative In Latin America, Garrett Bullock

History Summer Fellows

Is China a Superpower? Will it become one? After half a century of establishing a strong international military presence, thriving economic growth, domestic/international political authority, and considerable cultural “soft power”, the PRC has emerged as a hegemon capable of competing in international geopolitics. Nevertheless, these questions remain unanswered. For this reason, this research explores what it means to be a superpower, whether China is or will be a superpower, and, importantly, what impact China’s rise has on the world. To do this, this research explores existing debates surrounding China’s current global status, the historical emergence of the PRC as a …

At The Hands Of Fate: The Political Economy Of Islamic Insurance In Indonesia, Malaysia, And Pakistan, C. 1980 To The Present, Muhammad S. Rahman

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Why have Islamic insurance systems developed well in some countries, but not in others? Malaysia is considered as Islamic insurance elite due to its relatively large number of operators it houses as well as the sustained growth of Islamic insurance sales within the country, while Indonesia and Pakistan are still in early stages of development. Analyzing the political and social history of Islamization of insurance systems in these three Muslim majority countries in Asia since 1980s, this dissertation demonstrates the development gap between these countries on Islamic insurance results from; firstly, complex bargains made between various groups within each country …

There And Back Again: What The Cold War For Southeast Asia Can Teach Us About Sino-Us Competition In The Region Today, Wen-Qing Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Expert commentary today typically focuses on the agendas and actions of the two big powers, the United States and China, which misses the bigger picture. During the Cold War, leaders of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) played a critical role in containing Chinese influence, shaping the terms of Sino-U.S. competition and rapprochement, and deepening the U.S. presence in Southeast Asia. The legacy of ASEAN’s foreign relations during and since the Cold War militates against the popular notion that Chinese hegemony in Asia is inevitable.

Aggression, Information, And Economics: Reinterpreting The Hermit Kingdom In The Era Of Kim Jong-Un, Margaret Pence

Master's Projects and Capstones

North Korea has been the most isolated country on the planet for the past sixty years. Due to its isolation, the Hermit Kingdom has naturally become mysterious, resulting in a common narrative that describes Pyongyang as aggressive and driven by nuclear weapons. Missing from this narrative is what motivates North Korea and its young leader, Kim Jong-un: survival. However, Kim Jong-un has a lot more than the outside world to contend with, as the North Korea he has inherited is much different than that of his predecessors. In response, Kim Jong-un has subtly shifted away from the state ideology of …

How Black Lives Matter Has Influenced And Interacted With Global Social Movements, Arelle A. Binning

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a chapter-based and member-led organization created out of grief by three queer black women. This thesis examines the international impact of BLM. I conducted telephone interviews with activists and advocacy organizations who have organized activist networks and/or won struggles against institutional racism outside of the United States. These activists are located in Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, Australia, India, Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Paris. I conclude that BLM has inspired the creation and supported the continued development of organizations advocating for national and transnational social and racial justice on a global scale. BLM in spite …

The Wealth Of Nations And The Advancement Of Collective Security, Kerry Daniel Good

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis will address the economic development of countries from the strategic perspective of the United States, and consider how this development will progress overlaid in the context of the Chinese framework for the projection of national power. Using an inter-disciplinary approach, this research will synthesize sources on national security policy and economics, while seeking a Christian apologetic framework to answer these questions: How can the United States promote the economic development of countries in the Asia-Pacific region using a biblical economic-development model, as a part of its national strategy? This thesis focuses on some of the political and socio-economic …

India’S Surgical Strikes: Response To Strategic Imperatives, Karthika Sasikumar

Faculty Publications

In September 2016, militants who were allegedly backed by Pakistan attacked an Indian Army camp in Uri. The government in New Delhi was facing important regional elections. It faced intense public pressure to muster a military response. Such a response, however, ran the risk of triggering a nuclear exchange. Ten days after the Uri attack, India reported that it had carried out ‘surgical strikes’ on terrorist training camps in Pakistan-controlled territory. The paper examines this specific episode in India–Pakistan deterrence dynamics, focusing on the nomenclature ‘surgical strikes’. The paper argues that the choice of the term itself is new and …

Deterrence Under Nuclear Asymmetry: Thaad And The Prospects For Missile Defense On The Korean Peninsula, Inwook Kim, Soul Park

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The 2016 decision to deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) to South Korea has generated multitude of intensely politicized issues and has proved highly controversial. This has made it challenging to alleviate, let alone clarify, points of analytical and policy tensions. We instead disaggregate and revisit two fundamental questions. One is whether THAAD could really defend South Korea from North Korean missiles. We challenge the conventional “qualified optimism” by giving analytical primacy to three countermeasures available to defeat THAAD–use of decoys, tumbling and spiral motion, and outnumbering. These countermeasures are relatively inexpensive to create but exceedingly difficult to offset. …

She Who Laughs Loudest: A Meditation On Zen Humor, Andrew Whitehead

Andrew K. Whitehead

Articulating a Zen Buddhist perspective on humor, this paper examines the Japanese Zen Buddhist response of humor in the face of the suffering of situated existence and the motivations for this response. The examination will take the school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism as its exemplar. I argue that in order to appreciate the function of humor in Zen a number of cultural and historical influences must be considered: correlative ontology; the Buddhist notion of emptiness; the impotence of language; sense and nonsense; and the senselessness of transgression.

Public Interest Litigation & Women’S Rights: Cases From Nepal & India, Jordan E. Stevenson

2019 Symposium

As a complex, diverse and dynamic region with diverging, constantly changing constitutional and jurisprudential contexts as well as lasting legacies of patriarchy, South Asia’s traditions of public interest litigation are one of the most well-studied institutions by Western audiences due to their contradictory progressive and innovative nature. Particularly in India, where public interest litigation gives ordinary citizens extraordinary access to the highest courts of justice, questions have been raised as to the effectiveness of public interest litigation as a tool to address gender disparities across the region. Although Supreme Court justices have been a key ally in eliminating legal barriers …

Given Today's New Wave Of Protectionsim, Is Antitrust Law The Last Hope For Preserving A Free Global Economy Or Another Nail In Free Trade's Coffin?, Allison Murray

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Japan’S Relations With Muslim Asia: Trans-Continental Normativity And Policy, B. Bryan Barber Iv

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2006, Japanese Foreign Minister Asō Tarō outlined a new pillar of Japan’s foreign policy across Asia he called the ‘Arc of Freedom and Prosperity.’ The Arc would become the most lucid case for values-based diplomacy elaborated by Tokyo in the postwar era. It is a significant change from what was both a constrained and myopic approach for a state of such global economic influence and substantial diplomatic potential. In practice, however, is Japan’s values-based diplomacy actually working? How is Tokyo grappling with reconceptualizing an Asia inclusive of Muslim societies in a time when the global metanarrative is to protect …

Forced Labor In Hong Kong, Kylan Rutherford

Marriott Student Review

Domestic workers are among the most exploited groups, composing 24% of the estimated 45.8 million forced laborers worldwide. The market for domestic workers has expanded especially rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region; in Hong Kong alone, there are currently 360,000 domestic workers—about 10% of Hong Kong’s workforce—mostly originating from the Philippines and Indonesia (Hincks, 2017). 94% of these workers show signs of exploitation or forced labor (Kang, 2017). The nature of their work in a foreign country limits their access to government protection, forces them to comply with illegally high recruitment fees, and can push them to submit to abuse in …

International Institutions And Inertia: Unsc Behavior On Myanmar’S Internal Ethnic Conflicts, Matthew Peerboom

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Since the resurgence of Rakhine State's conflict in 2017, and the resulting 750,000 refugees, Myanmar has received increased scrutiny by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). However, some of Myanmar's ethnic conflicts have been continuous since independence in 1948, and thus begs the question: what explains the difference in attention? Three analytical lenses will be utilized to examine UNSC behavior: Bureaucratic Institutionalism, Geopolitics, and the null hypothesis of sheer Magnitude. In the end, it appears Institutionalism has come out as the strongest driver of Council action escalation on Myanmar. For Kayin’s low action period, it met two of the conditions …

Treatment And Evolution Of Digital Rights: A Comparative Analysis Of China, Russia, The United States, And Germany, Karina Barbesino

Honors Program Theses

The internet and digital technologies allow for the recognition, advocation, and protection of human rights. People around the world have access to faster and exponentially more information than ever before. The possibilities for education, politics, healthcare, work, and equality have greatly expanded. The internet provides new opportunities for the progression of humanity, but not without a cost. The transformative power of the internet to both empower and infringe on human rights has not been lost on states. As a relatively new domain, the policies in cyberspace remain in their trial periods. Each state is implementing, redacting, and implementing again policies …

Ua35/11/1 Chinese Flagship & Confucius Institute, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Chinese Flagship program and Confucius Institute.

Reviewer_Report.Pdf, Mark Reisinger

Mark Reisinger

Syllabus Inr 3227 (Rvc): International Relations Of South Asia (Fall 2019), Lukas K. Danner

Dr. Lukas K. Danner

No abstract provided.