International Relations Commons^™

Diffusion Of Renewable Energy Policies, Khatera Alizada

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the global diffusion of renewable energy policies: feed-in tariffs (FIT) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS). Existing studies of policy diffusion have failed to differentiate between four possible mechanisms of policy diffusion: emulation, suasion, learning and competition. To test these competing explanations, the study uses a mixed-method research design that combines statistical analysis of time-series cross-sectional data with an agent-based model of diffusion processes. The findings of the statistical analysis show strong support for the suasion (European Union Membership, Clean Development Mechanisms) and emulation mechanisms (cultural similarity or common language) in the diffusion of FIT. In the diffusion …

The Treatment Of Ethnic Minorities In Democratizing Muslim Countries: The Securitization Of Kurds In Turkey Versus The Autonomization Of Acehnese In Indonesia, Maurizio Geri

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Samuel Huntington , almost half century ago, explained how the state capacity is fundamental to guarantee order in societies in transition. Francis Fukuyama , recently, recuperated this concept arguing that a strong effective state is fundamental for stability of democratizing countries. But strong institutions are not enough to make democracy and political order compatible: institutions need to be also inclusive, to foster participation and respect the freedom of all parts of society, including ethnic minorities.

The main question this study wants to answer is: what factors explain the differences in how democratizing Muslim countries treat their ethnic minorities? Studies of …

Twisting The Tap: Water Scarcity And Conflict In The Euphrates-Tigris River Basin, Samantha Glass

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Is water a target or an instrument of violence? Is it an amplifier of conflict or a means for cooperation, a source of growth or a force of destruction? The purpose of this report is to determine how threats of water shortage and the lack of a trans-boundary management plan has prompted states in the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin to leverage the shared resource as a political weapon to preserve national interests and ascertain regional authority. The scope of this report examines the domestic policies, economic objectives, and foreign-policy interests that compose Turkey, Syria, and Iraq’s national stakes in the trans-boundary …

South-South Cooperation As An Alternative Development Strategy: Rethinking Development Cooperation Through South-South Cooperation In Latin America And The Caribbean- Brazil And Haiti, Karen Elaine Clay

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation examined the South-South cooperation as an alternative development strategy for Southern countries by targeting the collaboration between Brazil and Haiti, two countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Examining development cooperation between Brazil and Haiti could contribute to a better understanding of the central question, why Southern countries engage in South-South cooperation?

In the context of the 2008 financial crisis and the ensuing reduction of aid coming from Global North countries to developing countries, South-South cooperation has become an alternative economic and political arrangement from the more traditional North-South framework. For this reason, South-South cooperation between emerging donors …

Foreign Policy Evaluation And The Utility Of Intervention, Graham Slater

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation identifies and explains the factors contributing to the presence and severity of U.S. foreign-policy blunders, or gross errors in strategic judgment resulting in significant harm to the national interest, since the Second World War. It hypothesizes that the grand strategy of preponderance and the overestimation of military power to transform the politics of other states have precipitated U.S. foreign-policy blunders since 1945. Examining the Vietnam War and Iraq War as case studies, it focuses on underlying conditions in the American national identity and the problematic foreign policy decision-making (FPDM) that corresponds to this bifurcated hypothesis, termed the overestimation/preponderance …

Geopolitical Account Of Iran's Ties With Non-State Actors Under The Shah: 1958-1979, Arash Reisinezhad

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Late in 2004, King Abdullah of Jordan coined a controversial phrase that still dominates the heart of the geopolitics of the Middle East: The Shia Crescent. “If pro-Iran parties or politicians dominate the new Iraqi government, a new ‘crescent’ of dominant Shia movements or governments stretching from Iran into Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon could emerge to alter the traditional balance of power between the two main Islamic sects and pose new challenges to U.S. interests and allies. What the King of Jordan saw as a threat, Iran saw as the bedrock of its newfound regional power. However, what the King …

Contrasting Oil Security Objectives Within A Grand Strategic Framework: The Case Of The United States And China, Ryan C. Opsal

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Energy is a critical component of a state’s national security and economic considerations, and beginning in the 20th century, this focus has been acutely centered on oil. Having evolved globally, consisting of well-developed financial markets and maritime and pipeline routes traversing the world, the oil market provides massive amounts of crude to countries on a daily basis. However, not all states simply rely on the market for oil security, and instead take additional steps to secure their respective supplies. Oil supply security is a critical driver for large, consuming states, and merits further study. And, in terms of demand on …

The Nixon Administration And American Foreign Relations, Luke A. Nichter

Presidential Studies Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Assessments of President Richard Nixon’s foreign policy continue to evolve as scholars tap new possibilities for research. Due to the long wait before national security records are declassified by the National Archives and made available to researchers and the public, only in recent decades has the excavation of the Nixon administration’s engagement with the world started to become well documented. As more records are released by the National Archives (including potentially 700 hours of Nixon’s secret White House tapes that remain closed), scholarly understanding of the Nixon presidency is likely to continue changing. Thus far, historians have pointed to four …

Degree And Patterns Of Formal Ngo Participation Within The United Nations Economic And Social Committee (Ecosoc): An Appraisal Of Ngo Consultative Status Relative To Political Pluralism, Barry D. Mowell

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United Nations (UN) has invested increasing levels of effort in recent decades to cultivate a more effective, diverse and democratic institutional culture via the inclusion of and interaction among international civil society organizations (CSOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to supplement the traditional role of states as the primary transnational actors. The principle vehicle for the UN-civil society dynamic is the consultative status (CS) program within the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), wherein a diverse range of nearly 5,000 transnational organizations ostensibly participate.

This research examined patterns of participation and the nature/level of CSO/NGO involvement within the UN, with particular …

Joining By Number: Military Intervention In Civil Wars, Zachary C. Shirkey

Publications and Research

Understanding why and when states militarily intervene in civil wars is crucial. Intervention can increase civil wars’ severity and the strategies employed in civil wars are shaped by the possibility of military intervention. This article argues that potential military interveners react to information revealed about warring parties’ intentions and relative power. Without revealed information, potential military interveners are unlikely to reconsider their initial decision to remain out of the war. Revealed information causes non-belligerent states to update their expectations about the trajectory of the civil war causing them, at times, to change their calculus about the benefits of belligerency and …

Building Military Helicopter Capacity: Influences On Process And Effectiveness, Rudy Goff

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

In 2016, the National Military Strategy of the United States of America listed building the capacity of partner nations as a key priority. By building military capacity, partner countries can become better equip to fight ongoing insurgencies, transnational terrorist organizations, and other threats to the U.S. themselves, allowing the U.S. to shift focus and resources towards other areas that need attention. In today’s battlefield, mobility and firepower are of the utmost importance. One capability that can address both of these areas is helicopters, which can greatly increase the effectiveness of a military and reduce the required number of ground troops …

Standing Up For Standing Rock: Environmental Racism In Modern America, Lizzy Lebleu

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

In this essay, I explore the implications of environmental racism among our national and global neighbors.

Cracking The Toughest Nut: Colombia's Endeavour With Amnesty For Political Crimes Under Additional Protocol Ii To The Geneva Conventions, Marie-Claude Jean-Baptiste

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

After years of negotiations, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia have reached an unprecedented peace agreement. The agreement, rooted in transitional justice, contains a strong and nuanced focus on political amnesty for rebel forces. The scope and nature of the agreement has garnered international attention and praise. Of particular interest is whether the amnesty provision under the peace agreement is compatible with international law. This legal brief tracks the contours of existing international law on amnesty for political crimes—specifically under Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions—to analyze this compatibility. The conclusion is that all relevant …

Kim Was Korea And Korea Was Kim: The Formation Of Juche Ideology And Personality Cult In North Korea, Bianca Trifoi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Juche ideology, created by founder Kim Il-Sung, governs all aspects of North Korean society. This thesis attempts to answer the questions of why and how Juche ideology and the cult of personality surrounding Kim Il-Sung were successfully implemented in North Korea. It is a historical analysis of the formation of the North Korean state that considers developments from the late 19th century to the late 20th century, with particular attention paid to the 1950s-1970s and to Kim’s own writings and speeches. The thesis argues that Juche was successfully implemented and institutionalized in North Korea due to several factors, including the …

The Growth Of Isis Extremism In Southeast Asia: Its Ideological And Cognitive Features—And Possible Policy Responses, Kumar Ramakrishna

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article examines the radicalization of young Southeast Asians into the violent extremism that characterizes the notorious Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). After situating ISIS within its wider and older Al Qaeda Islamist ideological milieu, the article sketches out the historical landscape of violent Islamist extremism in Southeast Asia. There it focuses on the Al Qaeda-affiliated, Indonesian-based but transnational Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network, revealing how the emergence of ISIS has impacted JI’s evolutionary trajectory. The article surveys major explanations of how radicalization into violent extremism (RIVE) occurs, setting the stage for the ensuing discussion of two features of …

What Is The Colombian Peace Process Teaching The World?, Andrés Ucrós Maldonado

New England Journal of Public Policy

For more than five decades Colombia has suffered a relentless and devastating war that has taken a greater toll than that of many major wars around the world. For the past four years the Colombian government and the left-wing guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People’s Army (FARC-EP) have been engaged in peace talks with the aim of putting an end to the armed struggle. During the negotiation, the two parties have developed innovative strategies and techniques that are informing debates on security, human rights, peace making, peace building, and international law at the regional and global levels. The aim of …

Why We Have The Center For The Resolution Of Intractable Conflict In Oxford, John, Lord Alderdice

New England Journal of Public Policy

The Center for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict (CRIC) was formally established at Harris Manchester College by a decision of the Governing Body of the College in 2013 to facilitate research, teaching and training, seminars and conferences, and direct engagement in situations of political violence and long-standing community conflict in various parts of the world.

The CRIC is a very young institution, but already it is having an impact out of proportion to its size and modest resources. This is because the issues we are addressing have a heightened public profile and also because of the quality and leading-edge of …

A Policy-Oriented Framework For Understanding Violent Extremism, Wael Haddara

New England Journal of Public Policy

Violent extremism represents a serious challenge to open and democratic societies. This article presents a framework for understanding violent extremism in the context of “lone-wolf” attacks in Western societies. The framework combines social, political, and psychological factors and highlights the importance of integrating the available evidence from multiple disciplines to develop cogent, effective policy. Specifically, in addition to a broad survey of motivational factors, the article draws on terror management theory to provide insight into the interaction between religiosity and violence.

Counterextremism programs are most successful at mitigating the risk of violence when they are focused on behavior, rather than …

Suicide Terrorism: Performance Violence As Public Plunge, Gregory Saathoff

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article explores the relationship between the social psychology of the individual and the final abyss of suicide terrorism. The boy on the high dive is a metaphor for the fearful pause before the leap. For a young child, the dive is exciting and dangerous: the fearful pause is somewhat analogous to thoughts and feelings before the terrorist’s catastrophically destructive contemplated homicidal/suicidal behavior. If we think about the leap itself, there may be a better analogy. Is there any corollary to a specific group of suicide completers? What can be learned from others who have contemplated and undertaken perhaps the …

The Apocalyptic Imagination And The Fundamentalist Mindset, Charles B. Strozier

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article explores the psychological meanings of the apocalyptic imagination in what I call a fundamentalist mindset. That mindset has its own long history but is newly relevant in the nuclear age. We no longer need God to bring about ultimate destruction. There are many facets of the fundamentalist mindset (for example, its intense literalism), but the focus in the article is on two: its kairotic sense of time and its rampant paranoia. These two facets interact synergistically around violence that is experienced by those who revel in it as moral in a totalistic sense. Killing becomes healing. The evil …