International Relations Commons^™

The Foundations Of Civilian Supremacy: Civil-Military Relations During The American Civil War, Riley Callahan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The American Civil War was the defining event that shaped civil-military relations in the United States. This master's thesis explores the multifaceted dynamics between civilian and military leadership during this crucial period in American history. It examines the relationship between civilian political authority and the military establishment, while incorporating the related roles of Congress, public opinion and international influences. The research explores the decision-making processes, the balance of power, and the impact of leadership styles and personalities on civil-military interactions during times of armed conflict.

This thesis explores in particular the significance of President Lincoln's leadership, his ability to manage …

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 …

Missed Exits: Causal Mechanisms Influencing Militarized Interstate Dispute Escalation In Latin America, Colton Arciniaga

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Research on militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) and the reasons for their escalation to interstate war is sparse at the global level and the regional level in Latin America. This thesis contributes new research on militarized interstate dispute escalation in Latin America. In this project, I ask: how do differences in conflict escalation indicators between states affect whether a Latin American country will participate in a Militarized Interstate Dispute that escalates to the use of force? To answer this question, I conduct a case study utilizing the most similar cases analysis approach to compare the cases of the 1995 MID between …

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 …

The Olympic Truce: Symbolic Gesture Or Effective Tool In Preventing And Ending International Conflicts?, Vincent Pandey

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

A modern model for peace is the “Olympic Truce,” a United Nations General Assembly resolution that calls for the pausing and prevention of new conflicts from one week before the Olympic Games through one week after the Paralympic Games. Olympic Truce scholars have focused on identifying cases that demonstrate effective implementation of the Olympic Truce and have come up with mixed results. Some argue that the symbolic nature of the Truce allows it to create moments of peace in conflicts, while others argue that it is nothing more than a gesture of goodwill that has not actually been used for …

The Treasury Of Stories: Policy Narratives Of Anti-Illicit Finance, Paul Christopher Kemp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores how the US government identifies and responds to the problem of illicit finance, specifically, why the US Treasury utilizes certain approaches over others. I employ a comparative case study of three relatively recent, non-traditional approaches in the Treasury’s anti-illicit finance repertoire: targeted financial sanctions (a case of strong policy action), anti-money laundering in real estate (a case of tentative policy action), and the proposed demonetization of high denomination notes (a case of policy inaction). While considering a wide range of plausible explanations for this variation in policy action, I argue that the Treasury’s decision to either …

The Evolution Of Global Competition: The Creation Of A Soft Power Escalatory Dilemma, Hunter M. Willis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As relationships between actors have become much more important for security in a globalized world and raw capabilities have become less important, the security landscape has fundamentally changed. When looking at the modern competition between the United States and European Union against China, global infrastructure investment has become a new arena to compete within. When examining each actor’s global infrastructure initiatives, China with the Belt and Road Initiative, the European Union with its Global Gateway, and the United States heading the G7’s initiative dubbed the Build Back Better World initiative, competition is deemed to be present within the global system. …

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, …

Gender And Disability: An Exploration Of Reflective Practice For Protection And Access Amid Complex Emergencies, Lindsey A. Mandolini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gender and Disability: An Exploration of Reflective Practice for Protection and Access Amid Complex Emergencies is a qualitative research project exploring under what conditions and in what ways disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) effectively protect and provide access to women and girls with disabilities amid complex emergencies. The study upheld a participatory approach and rights-based framework, emphasizing that authentic inclusion requires centering disabled voices in research. Drawing on extant research, grey literature, and data collected from online practitioner questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, the study conducted a multi-phased reflexive thematic analysis. The research findings culminate in a composite narrative that brings to …

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, …

Buddhist Nationalism: Rising Religious Violence In South Asia, Eva Chappus, Benjamin Nourse

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Buddhist nationalism has contributed to expanding religious violence in many South Asian countries. The roots of this violent form of nationalism are complex and multi-faceted, making a clear solution difficult to achieve. Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Burma are some of the most pressing and violent case studies in South Asia today and can illustrate the reliance of Buddhist nationalists on ethnoreligious identities to relegate non-Buddhists to second-class status, to the point of massive acts of violence and aggression. This paper seeks to illuminate the complex social history driving the rise of Buddhist nationalism in these countries, particularly strong military-religion relationships, …

Seed Aid: The Importance Of Local Decision-Making, Eva Chappus

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

This policy paper focuses on the disconnect between donor and recipient states regarding seed aid and the implications of seed aid on local agricultural sovereignty and sustainability; it proposes that a reevaluation of international seed aid policies is needed. International food security organizations and food aid donors should prioritize local seeds for seed aid purposes to support local biodiversity and food sovereignty, and the stability and sustainability of local agricultural systems in the long term. Making adequate and accurate assessments of situations is crucial, and sourcing locally is an integral aspect of supporting local seed systems. The fundamental problem with …

Du Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, And Creative Works, Caitlyn Aldersea, Justin Bravo, Sam Allen, Anna Block, Connor Block, Emma Buechler, Maria De Los Angeles Bustillos, Arianna Carlson, William Christensen, Olivia Kachulis, Noah Craver, Kate Dillon, Muskan Fatima, Angel Fernandes, Emma Finch, Colleen Cassidy, Amy Fishman, Andrea Francis, Stacia Fritz, Simran Gill, Emma Gries, Rylie Hansen, Shannon Powers, Jacqueline Martinez, Zachary Harker, Ashley Hasty, Mykaela Tanino-Springsteen, Kathleen Hopps, Adelaide Kerenick, Colin Kleckner, Ci Koehring, Elijah Kruger, Braden Krumholz, Maddie Leake, Lyneé Alves, Seraphina Loukas, Yatzari Lozano Vazquez, Haley Maki, Emily Martinez, Sierra Mckinney, Mykaela Tanino-Springsteen, Audrey Mitchell, Kipling Newman, Audrey Ng, Megan Lucyshyn, Andrew Nguyen, Stevie Ostman, Casandra Pearson, Alexandra Penney, Julia Gielczynski, Tyler Ball, Anna Rini, Christina Rorres, Simon Ruland, Helayna Schafer, Emma Sellers, Sarah Schuller, Claire Shaver, Kevin Summers, Isabella Shaw, Madison Sinar, Claudia Pena, Apshara Siwakoti, Carter Sorensen, Madi Sousa, Anna Sparling, Alexandra Revier, Brandon Thierry, Dylan Tyree, Maggie Williams, Lauren Wols

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

DU Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Works

Dr. Debak Das, Elijah Kruger

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

An interview of Dr. Debak Das by our Editor at Large, Elijah Kruger.

Trade Wars, Covid-19, Usmca, And Protectionism: Exogenous Factor Influence On U.S- Mexico Supply Chains In The Automotive Industry, Maria Bustillos

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This research explores what the impacts of COVID-19, the U.S-China trade war, and the implementation of North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as the United States, Mexico Canada (USMCA) Trade Agreement, have had on U.S.-Mexico trade relations, focusing on the automotive industry. With rising trends of protectionism in international trade, this research focuses on the language that Tesla and General Motors company sites in Mexico used from 2021 to March 2023 in their released articles to the public and how frequently the variables of COVID19, the U.S China trade war, USMCA, and protectionism were discussed. Articles in both Spanish and English …

The Impact Of Foreign Aid On Internal Stability: A Case Study Of Costa Rica And Venezuela, Sierra P. Tanner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the relationship between foreign aid and the internal stability of recipient countries. Foreign aid programs have been an important tool through which countries can receive support in development efforts. Through extensive case study and process tracing analysis of twelve foreign aid projects in Venezuela and Costa Rica, this thesis examines the question: Does foreign aid impact the internal stability of the recipient state? Although Costa Rica and Venezuela have different levels of internal stability, patterns emerge associating different types of aid projects with outcomes in both countries. The research finds that the impact of foreign aid on …

Famines, Poverty And Intergenerational Mobility In Developing Countries, Monishankar Sarkar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The famine has not ended yet. Though much has been done, famine is still visiting some parts of the globe, ravaging economies, taking lives, and compelling people to experience acute hunger, starvation, and associated diseases. Deadly famines have impacted parts of Asia and the Pacific at different times. China has experienced the most lethal famine in history in terms of severity and fatalities. Africa is still facing famine. There are many countries worldwide, across continents, whose population is still facing hunger and starvation on an alarming scale. Thus, famine is still relevant today.

The effects of famine have been the …

3 Essays On Protests, Repression, And Signaling, Dogus Aktan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on conceptual development across multiple questions of political contention, with a focus on informational processes. In the first paper, I examine the interaction of informational and disruptive effects of protests with a formal model. The model shows that repression can have a screening purpose. Governments use coercion to set the terms of contention so that they only have to accommodate sufficiently aggrieved and salient groups, while filtering out the rest. The model also demonstrates that decreased cost of mobilization makes repression indirectly cheaper for governments, leading to more repression. In the second paper, I examine why governments …

Study Abroad And The Global Public Good: A Developmental Evaluation Of The International Business Major, Sara Barbier Bularzik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Study abroad, for any length of time and in any location, is widely recognized in higher education as a positive educational activity. While individual benefits of study abroad have been explored for decades, recent research has pushed the field to consider benefits for the local and global community. This program evaluation contributes to this line of inquiry by asking international business majors about the influences on their study abroad program choice process and the involvement of the university’s mission to positively impact the public good. Using developmental program evaluation and UNESCO’s global citizenship education theory, this study found that students …

Du Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, And Creative Works: Abstracts, Emma Aggeler, Elena Arroway, Daisy T. Booker, Justin Bravo, Kyle Bucholtz, Megan Burnham, Nicole Choi, Spencer Cockerell, Rosie Contino, Jackson Garske, Kaitlyn Glover, Caroline Hamilton, Haley Hartmann, Madalyne Heiken, Colin Holter, Leah Huzjak, Alyssa Jeng, Cole Jernigan, Chad Kashiwa, Adelaide Kerenick, Emily King, Abigail Langeberg, Maddie Leake, Meredith Lemons, Alec Mackay, Greer Mckinley, Ori Miller, Guy Milliman, Katherine Miromonti, Audrey Mitchell, Lauren Moak, Megan Morrell, Gelella Nebiyu, Zdenek Otruba, Toni V. Panzera, Kassidy Patarino, Sneha Patil, Alexandra Penney, Kevin Persky, Caitlin Pham, Gabriela Recinos, Mary Ringgenberg, Chase Routt, Olivia Schneider, Roman Shrestha, Arlo Simmerman, Alec Smith, Tessa Smith, Nhi-Lac Thai, Kyle Thurmann, Casey Tindall, Amelia Trembath, Maria Trubetskaya, Zachary Vangelisti, Peter Vo, Abby Walker, David Winter, Grayden Wolfe, Leah York

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Abstracts from the DU Undergraduate Showcase.

Rule 50 And Its Discontents: Athletes’ Right To Protest, Walker Shumock-Bailey, Timothy Sisk

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

This issue brief discusses the debate surrounding Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter and athletes’ right to protest emphasizing the current importance of the matter concerning the recently concluded Tokyo 2021 Games. First, it discusses those who argue for the rule such as the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the IOC itself, and athletes such as Feyisa Lilesa, Gwen Berry, and Race Imboden. Next, the brief turns to the cases against Rule 50 with an examination of scholarship on the matter as well as two case studies of Lilesa, and Berry/Imboden. These case studies examine three instances of …

How Racialization Shapes Work Conditions For H2a Migrant Farmworkers: Literature Review, Zoi Johns

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Scholars have argued that an existing gap between the idealization of American prosperity and actualization of American exploitation occurs on account of racialization. Racialization refers to the process in which subsets of people are reduced to a set of occupational practices, beliefs, or narratives that work to define their low position within societal hierarchy (Garcia 2014). This concept distinguishes itself from racism as it focuses on the conditions that exist in order for the reproduction of racism and oppression to occur (Gonzalez-Sobrino and Goss 2019). Thus, it will be argued that the reproduction of these tenants occurs capitalistically and perpetually. …

Ukip’S Use Of Valence Issues To Impact Attitudes Towards Eu Membership, Madeline Kincaid, Lisa Conant

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

In the book Brexit: Why Britain Voted to Leave the European Union, Clarke, Goodwin, and Whiteley suggest that certain valence issues, or issues “on which there is a broad agreement among the people and parties about what the policy should be,” are the determining factors that drove and continue to drive attitudes towards EU membership within the United Kingdom (Clark 2017, 68). These two main valence issues, public perceptions on economic conditions and immigration, are the central factors that determined whether or not UK citizens wanted to remain or leave the EU. Understanding these two main issues, the United Kingdom …

Challenging The Limitations Of Asserting Jurisdiction: A Case Study Of The South China Sea, Joshua Villanueva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The South China Sea dispute challenges the future development of maritime legal order and international law. China’s behavior in the South China Sea challenges widely accepted rules governing maritime jurisdiction worldwide as it tries to expand the limits of its jurisdiction. In China’s view, the Arbitral Tribunal in Philippines v. China also challenged the jurisdiction of the UNCLOS by taking a highly political issue related to sovereignty. This thesis argues that mere rhetorical rejection of China’s actions in the South China Sea will not determine the resolution of the dispute. China’s behavior will be dependent on striking the right balance …

Violence After Victory: Explaining Variation In State Repression Following Contentious Politics, Christopher Wiley Shay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

If conflict onset leads to increases in human rights abuse, how can these abuses be curbed once conflicts have ended? To answer this question, researchers have traditionally focused on a country’s regime type and leaders’ incentive structures. This is insufficient, I argue, because many regimes with obvious incentives to curb repression (especially democracies) fail to do so. In addition to regime-type, therefore, the answer depends on whether a given regime can count on the cooperation of its military and law enforcement institutions, which I refer to collectively as the security apparatus. This is because security agents’ prior experiences usually create …

Coming Together Over Table: The Role Of Food In Georgian Conflict Resolution Practices, Raisa Wells

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conflict resolution efforts seek to de-escalate conflict dynamics to bring conciliation and/or reconciliation to a conflict. One strategy to de-escalate a conflict is to use food during conflict resolution efforts. So, what specifically does consuming food and beverage do to break down conflict escalation cycles? Food-sharing brings several aspects to conflict that the literature suggests address how and why conflict escalates. This paper focuses on three prevalent aspects: how food-sharing signals vulnerability and trust building, perceived commonality, and a change in the conflict from competition to cooperation by providing new norms, changing the tone, and shifting frames. Because of the …

From Reform To Resignation: Explaining Why Some Protest Movements Escalate Demands, Sooyeon Kang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the unresolved puzzles in the civil resistance and contentious politics literatures relates to the fact that some movements that begin as reformist (seeking redress in a certain policy space) escalate to maximalist claims (demanding the ouster of a national leader or the entire regime) – a process I call “demand escalation.” For instance, in the summer of 2019, thousands took to the streets of Hong Kong to protest a proposed extradition bill that would allow criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China to face trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party. However, even after Hong Kong’s …

The Institutional Design Of Arms Control: To What Extent Does Institutional Design Increase The Longevity Of Arms Control Agreements?, Jessica Budlong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The technical institutional design of arms control agreements remains a rather unexplored area of arms control. But the increasing uncertainty of future arms control efficacy requires a re-examination of the agreements’ institutional design to determine which components contribute positively to their longevity. This research examines the role of dispute settlement bodies as specific outside consultative bodies, verification regimes, membership as at least one nuclear-armed state party to the agreement, and technology transfer mechanisms in arms control agreements. It found that membership and a lack of technology transfer mechanisms are necessary to positively impact the longevity of an arms control agreement, …

Shapes Of Commitment: Forms Of State Support To Nonviolent Mass Resistance, Maria A. Lotito

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nonviolent mass movements are an important and increasingly ubiquitous element of interstate politics in the 21st century. Diverse states - democratic, autocratic, rich, and developing – all have supported movements in some form. Explaining the convergence of such state actors on support for usually pro-democratic mass resistance challenges our existing scholarly frameworks. Using a new dataset, I reconcile the differing explanations of foreign assistance to movements that political science would offer with deep descriptive analysis pursued inductively. First, I propose a conceptual foundation for external support, couching an individual state’s support as the manifestation of an outcome-oriented foreign policy and …

The African State: An Illusory Vestige Of Colonialism, Muhammad K. Otaru

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a 2006 Interview, prominent Nigerian author, and social commentator, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said; “…Nigeria was set up to fail. The only thing we Nigerians should take responsibility for is the extent of the failure….”1. Such a view about colonialism and the states it arbitrarily created is widely shared by many on the African continent, who have come to understand that the very creation and existence of the African state are largely to blame for the seemingly countless socio-economic and political issues faced on the continent.

1 Kimber, Charlie, Interview: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The Socialist Review. (Online, October …