International Relations Commons^™

Military Strategy: Theory And Concepts, Randall G. Bowdish

Political Science Department -- Theses, Dissertations, and Student Scholarship

Military strategy was long described as atheoretical—an art that could only be fully comprehended by military genius. This contention is no longer held, as military staffs, comprised of experts and specialists, are able to formulate strategy aided by mini-theories of strategy and a process that takes advantage of collective wisdom rather than singular genius. But the mini-theories of strategy remain underdeveloped and an overarching theory of military strategy does not yet exist. In this dissertation I build a grand theory of military strategy, consisting of a simple two-pole, physical and psychologically oriented framework, mini-theories of military strategy, and additionally ...

Virtual Pakistan 2013: An Agent-Based Modeling Analysis, Quratul-Ann Malik

CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal

This thesis suggests that agent-based modeling provides an effective way to understand and analyze the internal political dynamics of Pakistan. The first section describes Pakistan’s current situation and introduces a study published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) outlining five possible futures the nation could experience. After stating the five futures, I hypothesize that agent-based modeling could enhance this study and provide arguments that social scientists use to justify this quantitative approach. The next portion of the thesis intricately describes all aspects of the model-building process. The experimentation process and metrics are then discussed and finally, the experiment ...

Revolutions In Military Affairs: A Theory On First-Mover Advantage, Andrew Bernard Silverstein

CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal

What determines the length of first-mover advantage in military innovation? In adopting revolutions in military affairs, some first movers benefit from a lengthy advantage while others suffer from a brief advantage. In this paper, I argue that that two factors, leadership and doctrinal congruence, relate to the two relevant actors, a first mover and a secondary actor, to explain the length of a first mover’s strategic edge. The theory is tested on the aircraft carrier, submarine, and intercontinental ballistic missile revolutions.

Peacekeeping And Peace Kept: Third Party Interventions And Recurrences Of Civil War, Barrett J. Osborn

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Civil wars have become more prevalent in modern times and present unique challenges to conflict resolution. Third parties often intervene in civil wars attempting to insure that peace is imposed and will persist. However, the impact of third parties on intrastate conflicts remains incomplete. The civil conflict literature does not sufficiently distinguish how third parties promote peaceful outcomes during a peacekeeping operation and why a state remains stable after the peacekeepers leave. By examining data on third party interventions from 1946-2006 and individually examining the case of Sierra Leone, this research concludes that peacekeeping missions promoting transparency, credible information sharing ...

The Development Of A New Paradigm Of Humanitarian Intervention: Assessing The Responsibility To Protect, Jayne Discenza

Honors Projects

The Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) concept aimed to clarify the relationship between state sovereignty and humanitarian intervention, and its invocation during the recent intervention in Libya provides an opportunity to assess its impact. This project compares the events of Libya with the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina of the early 1990s, examining the framing of these conflicts as well as the perceived role of other states, the engagement of international organizations with the concept, and the effect on operations during the humanitarian interventions themselves. Providing a historical comparison more accurately situates the contributions of RtoP in the re-prioritization of human rights over ...

The Soft Power Of Saudi Arabia, Giulio M. Gallarotti, Isam Yahia Al Filali

Division II Faculty Publications

When people are asked the question, What is the source of Saudi Arabia’s power? Who would cite factors other than oil? This equation of Saudi power exclusively with its oil wealth is mistaken. Historically, a principal and the most consistent source of Saudi power at the domestic, regional and global levels has not been revenues from oil, but the cultural power that inheres in a Kingdom that is both the capitol of the Muslim and Arab worlds. This soft power accounts for as much, if not more, of Saudi influence than even oil itself. To a large extent, this ...

Myanmar Muslims, Lawrence E. Frizzell

Reverend Lawrence E. Frizzell, S.T.L., S.S.L., D. Phil.

I offer this public statement about the tensions between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar (Burma) with hope that the Golden Rule might be applied so that nations would consider the minorities in their own midst.

Book Review: The Next Decade, Robert Weaver

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Utility Of Darkness: Figments Of A State Called The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Aimee M. Mackie

Honors Projects

Since the Heart of Darkness brought the cruelty of King Leopold’s rule of the Congo to the world’s attention, it has been viewed internationally as the locus ofinhumanity. My thesis examines how this perception has excused the role of neocolonial actors in furthering destabilization. After independence, the United States and Belgium, with the assistance of Mobutu Sese-Seko, exploited the nominally sovereign Congo. The weakening of the Congolese state has continued in recent years through a lack of accountability for international interventions brought about by bureaucratic secrecy, popular ignorance, and human rights rhetoric.

Mirebalais, Haiti Planning Initiative, Jack Wiggin, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Mirebalais Planning Initiative (MPI), a joint project of the Urban Harbors Institute at UMass Boston, Boston University, and the University of the West Indies, is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The initiative is a community-based participatory planning process designed to expand community leadership and decision-making capacity among community members in Mirebalais, Haiti.

The Forum For Cities In Transition: An Initiative Of The Moakley Chair Of Peace And Reconciliation, Padraig O'Malley

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

FCT is an international network of mayors, councilors, municipal officials, business people, and representatives of the voluntary and community sector. The Forum works on the principle that cities that are in conflict or have emerged from conflict (divided societies) are in the best position to help other cities in similar situations. The Forum for Cities in Transition was founded by Professor Padraig O’Malley as an initiative of the John Joseph Moakley Chair of Peace and Reconciliation at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Center For Governance And Sustainability: Policy Impact Through Rigorous Analysis, Center For Governance And Sustainability, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Maria Ivanova, Craig Murphy, Michael Denney

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Three main functions define the center:

• Serves as an information hub
• Provides rigorous analysis
• Acts as an honest broker

We collect and manage data on governance and sustainability across scales, apply diverse analytical models grounded in empirics, and create dialogues among scholars, practitioners, and the public.

Center For Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters: Partnerships In Teaching And Research, Adenrele Awotona, Center For Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

CRSCAD assists local, national, and international agencies as well as the victims of disasters to develop practical, sustainable, and long-term solutions to the social, economic, and environmental consequences of disasters.

We also host international conferences and workshops at UMass Boston to provide a space for partners to network, exchange ideas, and share best practices.

Robin Hood Or Villain: The Social Constructions Of Pablo Escobar, Jenna Bowley

Honors College

Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord and leader of the Medellin Cartel which at one point controlled as much as 80% of the international cocaine trade. He is famous for waging war against the Colombian government in his campaign to outlaw extradition of criminals to the United State and ordering the assassination of countless individuals, including police officers, journalists, and high ranking officials and politicians. He is also well known for investing large sums of his fortune in charitable public works, including the construction of schools, sports fields and housing developments for the urban poor. While U.S. and ...

“Normalizing” Japan?: Contestation, Identity Construction, And The Evolution Of Security Policy, Daisuke Minami

Honors Projects

In this thesis, I address two puzzles regarding Japan’s security policy: (1) its minimalist military posture despite its economic power during the Cold War and (2) the recent shift from this minimalist security policy to an assertive one marked by a strengthening of its international security role and military. I argue that although many IR scholars, mainly from the realist camp, claim that the formation of the original security policy (puzzle 1) and subsequent transformation (puzzle 2) is driven by the state’s rational response to external conditions in the international security environment, it can more adequately be explained ...

The Presence Of Coups D'État Within Revolutions: Effects On Population Health, Rose E. Facchini

Master Theses

The present study is a comparative approach to revolutions and their effect on population health during the post-conflict period. Specifically, it attempts to determine whether revolutions that are accompanied by a coup d'état have a significant negative impact on post-revolution population health. Degree of revolutionary violence, governmental structures, and pre-revolution health systems is of particular interest as relevant variables. The study focuses on the Latin American countries of Nicaragua and Chile due to their similar region and timeframe. The revolutions and accompanying coup d'état in both of these countries do not demonstrate different patterns on public health in ...

Groundbreaking Strides Without Transformational Change: The Integration Of Gender Perspectives Into Us Department Of State Peacebuilding Strategy Under Secretary Clinton, Jessie M. Durrett

DWA Student Scholarship

Although peacebuilding aims to address root causes of conflict, while constructing stable institutions and social relations, conventional peacebuilding’s negligence of gender in post-conflict societies and peace processes has restricted its potential. Most actors that contribute to peacebuilding efforts have participated in this ignorance, causing an outburst of feminist literature highlighting the severe need to integrate gender perspectives into peacebuilding. However, existing literature provides few specific recommendations and insufficiently examines mechanisms for integrating gender into state-led peacebuilding. Major actors, such as the United States, have recently embarked on attempts to incorporate gender perspectives into peacebuilding, creating large scopes of policy ...

Contemporary Russian International Relations, Joshua A. Burnett

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Explaining Conflicts In Japanese-South Korean Relations, Jonathan James Ence

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports

South Korea and Japan usually cooperate but occasionally experience periods of conflict that disrupt their relationship. This paper seeks to explain those sporadic periods of conflict using a dynamic theory. This theory posits that South Korean leadership power status coupled with Japanese action on sensitive issues will lead to a period of conflict. President Kim Dae Jung’s administration serves as the case study for this paper.

The Past, Present And Future Of Transnational Conflict In Jordan: A Study Of Syrian Refugees In The Hashemite Kingdom, David F. Becker

Capstone Projects – Government and Politics

In this paper I am considering the numerous effects that hosting refugees can have on a host country. These effects can be seen when examining a host country’s health, economic, educational, and security sectors. In addition, many cases of refugee flows are associated with conflict contagion, which may cause a refugee population to become militarized. After reviewing the relevant literature on these topics, I study how these possible effects unfold in the context of the Syrian refugees currently escaping to Jordan from their civil war. The Kingdom of Jordan and its people are significantly affected by the increased stresses ...