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The “Trump Effect?” Challenges To The United States Hegemony In Higher Education Cross-Cultural Exchange: A Case Study Of International Students At Old Dominion University, Raven Alexandra Showalter

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Scholars and politicians today fear that international student enrollment at U.S. institutions of higher education may be declining. While some attribute potential enrollment decline to domestic politics, others believe that globalization may be allowing student flows to diversify across many nations, thus limiting the U.S.’s share of students and soft-power influence. To assess the extent to which U.S. hegemony in cross-cultural higher education is being challenged, I trace the origins of educational exchange at Western colleges and universities from their earliest incarnations in the Medieval Era to the present. I also draw a parallel between the Bush administration after 9/11, …

Which Wars Spread? Commitment Problems And Military Intervention, Zachary C. Shirkey

Publications and Research

This article argues that wars caused by commitment problems are more likely to experience outside military intervention than are wars with other causes. Wars caused by commitment problems are more likely to draw in outside states because they tend to be more severe and produce larger war aims. These larger stakes create both threats and opportunities for non-belligerent states thereby prompting military intervention. The greater stakes also generate incentives for belligerent states to seek outside aid. This relationship between commitment problems and intervention implies that while certain types of wars may be more likely to experience intervention, the same causes …

Rebel Governance In Civil War: Variations In Rebel Governance - A Case Study Analysis., Harriet Ann Sellers

LSU Master's Theses

Insurgent groups vary in how they interact with civilians. Some insurgent groups perform government functions to further their political objectives during civil war, whilst other rebel groups use solely violent means. Why do some insurgent groups perform governance functions to further their political objectives, whilst others interact very little with the local population? I seek to explain the variation in rebel governance, which I argue is motivated by the objective of the insurgency. More specifically, I argue that secessionist insurgencies are more likely to implement governance structures than non-secessionist insurgent groups. Using an in-depth case study analysis, I found varying …

Strategic Negligence: Why The United States Failed To Provide Military Support To The Syrian Resistance In 2011-2014, Konrad J. Trautman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The US military’s culture, structure, and process for providing advice to the president and his national security decision-making team are flawed due to the marginalization of unconventional warfare (UW) expertise -- UW is the military’s doctrinal term for support to resistance activities and movements. This marginalization results in inadequate consideration for applying UW as a strategic option for the nation.

Through a qualitative methods case study analysis utilizing macro- and micro-level process-tracing with a conceptual framework based on Niklas Luhmann’s Systems Theory, the author shows that viable and acceptable resistance elements existed in Syria in March 2011 to June 2014 …

The Viability Of Democratic Governance In De Facto States: A Comparative Case Study Of Iraqi Kurdistan And Syria Rojava, Chelsea Vogel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following comparative case study of Iraqi Kurdistan and Democratic Federation of Northern Syria-Rojava seeks to fill a gap in literature on the viability of democracy in cases of de facto statehood. There is yet to be an assessment of the potential influence of support from patron states on the degree to which democratization in de facto states is possible. This research expands upon on the argument that the decision to recognize de facto states is at least partially dependent upon the national interests of influential third party states. Syria Rojava has relied heavily on the strength of its internal …

Using The Syrian Civil War To Measure Hierarchy: Regional Power Transition In The Middle East, Eric Michael Clary

Dissertations and Theses

In 2018, the Syrian Civil War will enter into its ninth year of conflict. From an international relations perspective there are few, if any, studies on state actors in regional sub-state systems. What can an intrastate conflict teach us about future dynamics of the regional interstate hierarchy? It is worthwhile to examine The Syrian Civil War for three reasons. First, Syria lies in the heart of the Middle East lending proximity to regional actors. Second, the breakdown of order in Syria represents a microcosm of the global anarchic environment. Third, Syrian Civil War is an intrastate war that encapsulates both …

Introduction: The Puzzle Of War Duration, Zachary C. Shirkey

Publications and Research

Why do wars last as long as they do? Why do some rage for years, while others last only a few months or days? This piece introduces a symposium that addresses that question from rationalist, psychological, neurological, and domestic politics perspectives. The symposium also considers the challenges of researching war duration and the implications of understanding war duration on theories of war in general.

The "Double Standard" Of Nonproliferation: Regime Type And The U.S. Response To Nuclear Weapons Program, Alina Shymanska

International Journal of Nuclear Security

There is no doubt that the NPT regime is far from being equal for all states involved. As the predominant hegemonic power since WWII, the United States plays a major role in deciding the fates of non-great power proliferators. This article tries to find the logical explanation of the phenomenon whereby some nuclear proliferators are absolved regardless of their active accumulation of nuclear arsenals while others are labeled as “rogue states” and ordered to disarm. The article suggests that a particular proliferator’s political regime could affect the way in which its state is approached by the U.S., known for its …

The Politics Of United States Army Doctrine, David C. Rasmussen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The US Army made four significant shifts in the content of its capstone operations doctrine, Field Manual (FM) 100-5 / FM 3-0, along a spectrum of war since the end of WWII: 1) in 1954 it made a shift from a doctrine focused almost exclusively on mid-intensity conventional warfare to a doctrine that added significant emphasis to high-intensity nuclear warfare; 2) in 1962 it made an even greater shift in the opposite direction toward low-intensity unconventional warfare doctrine; 3) in 1976 it shifted back to an almost exclusive focus on mid-intensity conventional warfare content; 4) and this is where Army …

Ukraine At The Crossroad In Post-Communist Europe: Policymaking And The Role Of Foreign Actors, Ryan Barrett

Dissertations

As the mounting protests from Maidan Square in Kyiv led to the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovich, Ukrainians found themselves at an unavoidable fork in the road in their history. For years the country had become a new frontier of Western influence, forcing a decision between tightening economic and cultural ties with Western countries or with Russia. The basic question many Ukrainians now faced included choosing between their Soviet past or a potential liberal democratic future. Furthermore, the Russian takeover of Crimea became the first major invasion of a European country since 1968. This military maneuver stunned the international community …

Government And The Intelligence Community: A Case Study On Russia And The United States Government's Effect On Intelligence Systems, Jessica M. Lago

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The United States and Russia are two major superpowers with governments that are run in different manners. Central to a government's and country's defense is their intelligence systems. The intelligence systems of these two countries are run as part of the government and are integral to its functioning. The purpose of this thesis is to discuss how both the governments and intelligence systems are structured and do they coincide with their respective systems. Using a case study on the United States and Russia, their intelligence systems and governments a comparison was drawn. While looking at the history of both governments …

Before The Peace: Ceasefire Durability In Ethnic Civil Wars, Justin Winokur

Government and International Relations Honors Papers

Why do some ceasefires last for days, while others last for months or years? Previous research on ceasefires has not directly considered the question of ceasefire durability, or has focused solely on the dynamics of ceasefire durability in interstate war. In order to address these knowledge gaps, this study explores the question of ceasefire durability in the context of ethnic civil wars. It is hypothesized that ceasefire durability is related to belligerents’ territorial satisfaction, relative power, and actor cohesion. Analyzing two ceasefires from the Bosnian civil war, the study finds that durability is a function of the interaction between territorial …

National Interests And Security Policies In The Arctic Region Among Arctic States, Hilde-Gunn Bye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States, Canada, Russia, and Norway are all Arctic states; however, they prioritize the region to different degrees in terms of investments of security assets and military presence. What explains why some Arctic countries prioritize the Arctic more than others? This thesis explores this question through using an issue-based approach, which looks at the salience of issues as having implications for foreign policy tools and measures. This thesis finds that having interests and stakes in the region of high overall salience contribute to an explanation of why some countries prioritize the region more, while low overall salience is linked …

Coin Doctrine For The 21st Century Gwot: Improvements For Battling Al Qaeda In The Western Sahel, Caleb Archuleta

Honors Program Theses

This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach in examining the United States role in the conflict in Mali and Niger. As a strategic locale in a region that is plagued with conflict, the U.S. is faced with increasing involvement across Africa, specifically the Western Sahel. With an Al Qaeda that continues to shift, change, and grow, the U.S. is faced with a War on Terror that is increasingly difficult to contain or succeed in. In an effort to shift the narrative to one from counterterrorism to one of counterinsurgency, this paper takes an in depth look at the political, geographical, sociocultural, …

Terrorist Celebrity: Online Personal Branding And Jihadist Recruitment And Planning, Ari Weil

Pomona Senior Theses

Shifts in culture and technology have changed the manifestation of celebrity in modern society, culminating in the practice of internet microcelebrity, where one views followers as fans, produces content consistent with a personal brand, and engages in strategic interaction with devotees. This thesis examines how those effects have also changed how terrorists present themselves and operationalize celebrity status. An original typology of terrorist celebrity is presented: traditional, martyr, and internet micro-celebrity. Two in-depth case studies of terrorist micro-celebrities are analyzed: Anwar al-Awlaki of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Junaid Hussain of the Islamic State. The case studies are …

The Effect Of Unemployment On Democratic Warfare, Andres Rakower

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study was done to see the effects of a war on the economy and the internal politics of the United States. In selecting the engagement, we would study we agreed the Iraq War would be aided by a large amount of sampling of public opinion that was more nuanced than in previous wars. The Iraq War was a very complicated war, as it was controversial from the beginning and became a political issue while continuing to be a war fought by Americans abroad. Based on the literature, there were many starting effects and assumptions that were accounted for such …

Sigma: Journal Of Political And International Studies

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Strategic Nationalism: Deciphering Chinese Strategy In The South China Sea, William Levesque

Honors Theses

Over the last two decades, the South China Sea has become an international flashpoint and site of frequent Chinese aggression. Chinese naval, coast guard, and militia vessels frequently sail the natural-resource rich waters, and China has undertaken a massive campaign of island building to support its claims. The motivations behind China's aggression and their choice of strategy, however, remain ambiguous and the topic of major academic discussion. This Honors Thesis provides a new hypothesis, strategic nationalism, which is capable of explaining China's recent actions in the South China Sea.

Developing A Cyberterrorism Policy: Incorporating Individual Values, Osama Bassam J. Rabie

Theses and Dissertations

Preventing cyberterrorism is becoming a necessity for individuals, organizations, and governments. However, current policies focus on technical and managerial aspects without asking for experts and non-experts values and preferences for preventing cyberterrorism. This study employs value focused thinking and public value forum to bare strategic measures and alternatives for complex policy decisions for preventing cyberterrorism. The strategic measures and alternatives are per socio-technical process.

Just War: New Customary International Law To Combat Violent Non-State Actor Groups?, Lisa Marie Holz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The issue that this study focused upon was the legitimacy of military interventions by a state against a violent non-state actor group located within another state's territory. The research sought to answer how interventions by the United States and its allies have evolved during the post 9/11 era. It additionally explored if the justification for military interventions had changed. This study used data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program and the United Nations Security Council to create a hybrid data-set and analyzed the data for the location and number of states participating in operations against violent non-state actors ("VNSAs"). This …

An Investigation Of The Violation Of Human Rights In Yemen, Abigail Watson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research paper aims to investigate the persistence of human rights violations in Yemen from 2008 to 2018. It examines whether this persistence of human rights violations is related to Yemen’s regime type, external actors such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Iran, and the United States, Yemen’s state of wealth and economic growth, and civil wars. This research paper uses data from various sources to examine different propositions related to the investigation of human rights in Yemen. The findings of this paper include that Yemen’s regime type, external actors such as the GCC, Iran, and the United States, Yemen’s …

Place Over Politics: Power, Strategy, Terrain, And Regime Type In Interstate War Outcomes, 1816-2003, Connor Joseph Sprayberry Sutton

Wayne State University Dissertations

While the study of war occurrence is among the primary considerations of the field of international relations, only recently has attention turned towards the study of war outcomes. This attention is best represented by the democratic victory proposition, which suggests that democracies win the majority of their wars by virtue of being democratic. However, elements of this study are currently incipient. In turn, this dissertation generates a novel set of variables to measure the impact of terrain on war outcomes, including measures of spatial extent, topographic heterogeneity, and land cover heterogeneity. These metrics are generated for all 94 interstate wars …

Policy Implications Of News Media Coverage Of The Islamic State Of Iraq And Syria., Godfred A. Ababio

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) garnered global news media attention in Summer 2014 when it seized a significant section of land in Iraq and Syria. The group then mishandled and executed its captives. There is a lack of consensus among the international community, led by Russia and the United States, on how best to address the threat posed by ISIS. An understanding of the function of Russian and U.S. news media coverage of the ISIS threat is an appropriate research topic. The purpose of this qualitative content analysis study was to explore how the U.S, Russian, and …

Nationalism, Soft Annexation And Hybrid Warfare: Putin's Recipe For Russian Resurgence, Brian E. Szlenk Straub

Dissertations and Theses

Over the last decades since the fall of the Soviet Union, The Russian Federation has struggled to reclaim its grasp over Eastern Europe and re-establish itself as a major player on the international scene. Increased NATO expansion towards its borders, and the “Westernization” of Eastern Europe has led to the country feeling it has been boxed into a corner. The feeling that the Russian nation has been encroached upon by the Western world has led to the rise of Vladimir Putin as President of Russia, and the marked rise in nationalism within the country. In this Master’s Thesis, I intend …

Applying Psychological Theories Of Personality, Identity, And Intergroup Conflict To Radical Violence: A Case Study Of Extremist Behavior, Sydney Flynn

CMC Senior Theses

This paper aims to address possible psychoanalytical explanations for the heinous acts in which terrorists, particularly ISIS, engage. It focuses on Harold D. Lasswell’s principles of the id, ego, and superego as well as Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory. Within the framework of these two theories, relevant psychological and social psychological theories are discussed in order to explore a possible connection between the psyche of violent perpetrators and their actions. By exploring these connections, I find that there may be more nuanced psychological explanations for these violent acts, which could lead to new methods of weakening perceived biases, intergroup …

Popular: The Monopoly Of Force And Iraq’S Popular Mobilization Units, Travis Birch

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Under Pressure: Explaining Backlash Against Civil Society In The Andean Community, Noah Anders Levine

Pomona Senior Theses

In this thesis, I consider the trend of increasing backlash against civil society around the world. I focus on Ecuador and Peru, both democratic countries that have placed restrictions on NGOs receiving foreign funding. I examine both countries in terms of changes over time in the regulatory environment for NGOs. I ask: What factors motivated these changes? I analyze the countries with respect to three possible explanations: defending sovereignty against foreign powers, stifling internal dissent, and seeking rents. In answering this question, I draw upon the laws in question, press releases, and news reports as well as interviews with NGO …

Dangerous Delegation: Explaining The Rationales And Outcomes Of State Sponsorship Of Terrorism Through The Principal-Agent Framework, Jeremy M. Berkowitz

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

State sponsorship of terrorism, where a government deliberately provides resources and material support to a terrorist organization, is common in the international system. By conceptualizing state sponsorship as a relationship between a principal and agent, I develop a consistent theoretical model that explains why states pursue this foreign policy strategy, as well as how they rationally attempt to minimize the inherent risks of delegating to violent non-state actors. I test my model by using a novel dataset on sponsorship behaviors that improves on the range, detail, and temporality of previously used measurements. My dissertation is organized into three distinct papers, …

จีนกับการใช้เครื่องมือทางเศรษฐกิจในการเจรจาต่อรอง: ศึกษากรณีญี่ปุ่นและไต้หวัน, ชินดนัย ธีระพันธุ์พิเชฏฐ์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การศึกษาชิ้นนี้นำเสนอการใช้เครื่องมือทางเศรษฐกิจของจีนในการต่อรองระหว่างประเทศ ซึ่งมีคำถามสำคัญคือจีนใช้เครื่องมือทางเศรษฐกิจในการต่อรองระหว่างประเทศในเชิงผลประโยชน์หรือเชิงยุทธศาสตร์อย่างไร และการใช้เครื่องมือนี้ส่งผลอย่างไร โดยจะชี้ให้เห็นว่าในเบื้องต้นจีนได้ใช้เครื่องมือทางเศรษฐกิจเพื่อพัฒนาประเทศไปสู่การเรืองอำนาจโดยสันติ การพัฒนานี้ทำให้จีนกลายเป็นมหาอำนาจทางเศรษฐกิจในภายหลัง และยังสร้างคุณูปการทางเศรษฐกิจกับชาติต่างๆทำให้ชาติต่างๆเข้ามาพึ่งพาทางเศรษฐกิจกับจีน เมื่อเกิดการพึ่งพาที่ไม่เท่าเทียมกันเช่นนี้ จีนได้ใช้เครื่องมือทางเศรษฐกิจเพื่อต่อรองเมื่อเกิดความขัดแย้งกับประเทศคู่พิพาท การศึกษาชิ้นนี้ได้หยิบยกญี่ปุ่นขึ้นมาเป็นกรณีศึกษาโดยชี้ให้เห็นว่าการที่เศรษฐกิจญี่ปุ่นพึ่งพาสินแร่ที่มีธาตุโลหะหายากจากจีนนั้น การพึ่งพาที่ไม่เท่าเทียมกันได้ทำให้จีนใช้เครื่องมือทางเศรษฐกิจในการต่อรองเมื่อเกิดข้อพิพาทเกาะเซนกากุ/เตียวหยูเพื่อให้ญี่ปุ่นปฏิบัติตามข้อเรียกร้องของจีน การศึกษาชิ้นนี้ยังหยิบยกไต้หวันขึ้นมาเป็นกรณีศึกษาโดยชี้ให้เห็นว่าจีนพยายามที่จะใช้เครื่องมือทางเศรษฐกิจภายหลังการเลือกตั้งไต้หวันปี 2000 และปี 2004 และจีนยังให้ประโยชน์ทางเศรษฐกิจแก่ชาติต่างๆ อันเป็นเครื่องมือในการแข่งขันการแย่งชิงความสัมพันธ์ทางการทูตระหว่างจีนกับไต้หวัน ดังนั้น การพึ่งพาทางเศรษฐกิจกับจีนจึงเป็นทั้งประโยชน์และโทษที่รัฐพึ่งพิงจะต้องระวัง อย่างไรก็ตาม การใช้เครื่องมือทางเศรษฐกิจของจีนก็ไม่ได้ประสบผลสำเร็จตามที่จีนต้องการเสมอไปเพราะการใช้เครื่องมือทางเศรษฐกิจนี้ไม่เพียงก่อให้เกิดทัศนคติที่ไม่ดี แต่ยังชี้ให้เห็นถึงความย้อนแย้งระหว่างการสร้างความหวาดระแวงกับการเรืองอำนาจโดยสันติด้วย

Defence In Depth: An Anatomy Of Containment From Quarantine To Resilience, Jessica West

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation investigates the logic of resilience as a prevailing mode of national security. Struck more by its familiarity than its novelty, I turn my attention to public health as a way of better understanding what resilience does and how it works. Using interpretive methods to read resilience theoretically as a function of complex systems and concretely as a set of homeland security policy practices in the United States, I situate the emergence and implementation of resilience as a redeployment of long-standing motifs and modes of “containment,” recast as an immune system. Specifically, I claim: 1) containment is a spatial …