Digital Commons Network^™

Review Of Barry Allen, Vanishing Into Things: Knowledge In Chinese Tradition, Alan Kam Leung Chan

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Vanishing into Things: Knowledge in Chinese Tradition. By Barry Allen. Cambridge, MA and London, England: Harvard University Press, 2015. Pp. viii + 289.This book is about conceptions of knowledge in Chinese philosophy, but it also does more than that. It raises new possibilities for comparative philosophy and points to ways in which philosophy as an academic discipline could be reinvigorated to help address the global challenges of the twenty-first century.

Women In The Machinery Of War: Gender, Identity & Resistance Within Contemporary Middle Eastern Conflict, Nana-Korantema A. Koranteng

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis seeks to explore the ways in which gender and identity are imagined in times of war especially in the cases of women who participate in armed struggle within the Middle East. I focus particularly on how US and UK media's framing of these women's lives and experiences distort the ways in which we understand conflict within the contemporary Middle East. Through the case studies of female militants or supports of militancy in Palestine and the Islamic State I seek to highlight women's stories and lived realities in an attempt to understand what drives them to use particular model's …

The Implementation Of Governance To Counter Islamist Militancy In Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, David Robert Diorio

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Militancy inspired by Islamists is escalating globally, and government action is necessary to protect vulnerable populations. Security professionals generally agree that governance may complement the use of force to defeat militants; however, current doctrine does not address the concurrent integration of governance in a comprehensive strategy. This interpretive case study explored Pakistan's application of governance during the 2009 Khyber operation in Swat Valley, code-named Operation Rah-e-Rast. The central research question focused on how governance activities were integrated with military operations to subdue militancy. Data were collected through interviews with 6 planners, Pakistani secondary source survey data, and government artifacts. Data …

Exploring Ghana's Strategies For Stability:Lessons For Postwar Reconstruction, Wilmot Nah Adekoya

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Between 1990 and 2005, the state of affairs in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, including Liberia, remained fragile due to continuous civil unrest and war. Although peace initiatives were initiated, progress toward peace has remained minimal. Ghana, one of the nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, has continued to demonstrate significant stability and progress in the midst of civil and political conflicts in the sub-region. Currently, little research exists on how Ghanaians managed to remain stable, while countries in the sub-region continued to experience civil unrests and wars. Using Eisenstadt's theory of sociological modernization as the theoretical foundation, the purpose of this holistic …

The German Army At A Crossroads Of Modernization, Sarah E. Liebig

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the German civil-military relationship and the challenges the country is facing amidst modernizing reforms to the German armed forces. Over the last quarter of a century, new international security threats have manifested and continue to transform requiring Germany to adapt its military and defense policies in order to effectively protect itself and serve as a capable ally to other member states of international organizations such as NATO and the EU. The adaptations and reforms required of Germany have led to concern that the cornerstone civil-military relationship concepts are at risk. In this thesis I identify the major …

Brandishing The Cybered Bear: Information War And The Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Azhar Unwala, Shaheen Ghori

Military Cyber Affairs

Russia’s use of cyber power against Ukraine offered renewed insight to Russian cyber strategy and capabilities. This article dissects the Russia-Ukraine conflict by analyzing Russia’s strategic doctrine, tactical maneuvers, and capabilities in the information realm. Understanding the Russia-Ukraine conflict in this manner can inform and strengthen U.S. cyber policy and strategy. In particular, U.S. strategic planners and cyber professionals should consider internalizing Russian strategic thinking regarding cyber power and promote tactical improvements in resilience, intelligence, and information among itself and its allies.

What "Context" Can Justify Walter Rodney's Assassination?, Rohit Kanhai

Groundings

Like water crashing over the seawalls, there has been a rush of explanations, based on “context” to justify the shifting political sands, as it swirls with the waves. The “sands of time” seems to have shifted the “line in the sand” so much so, that all commonsense seems to have deserted the land of Guyana. In the midst of this debate are Walter Rodney and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA). The debaters are WPA members and supporters. The debate itself would make such identities questionable. There are hints of George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 in terms of the rewriting …

Beyond The Mato Oput Tradition: Embedded Contestations In Transitional Justice For Post-Massacre Pajong, Northern Uganda, David-Ngendo Tshimba

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

Human beings to a great extent are what community stories narrate about them. This paper is informed by an ethnological field research carried in one of the remotest villages of Mucwini Sub-county in Kitgum district, northern Uganda, scrutinizes people’s stories as they echo concerns about justice from different perspectives of victimhood in the aftermath of a Lord’s Resistance Army-commanded massacre which claimed the lives of 56 people in a night, the majority of whom (21) were from the Pajong clan. After a decade, all direct violent confrontations have no doubt ceased, however, the search for peace still is utterly skewed …

Groundings Volume Two, Issue Two

Groundings

This is the full issue of Groundings Vol. 2, Iss. 2. It includes a wrap of both the 12th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium and the 3rd Annual Walter Rodney Speakers Series; a piece by Jesus Chucho Garcia that honors the late Norman Girvan; the official Save the Date for the 13th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium; information on the republication of The Groundings with My Brothers; a photo-narrative by Julian Plowden on the student protests at the Atlanta CNN Center; we then have 3 pieces surrounding the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry by Wazir Mohamed, Anne Braithwaite, and Rohit Kanhai, …

Private Military Contractors, Security Forces, And Mercenaries, Naomi Pearson

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry And Stable Isotopes In Assessing Ancient Coastal Peruvian Diets, Theresa Jane Gilbertson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores a cross-cultural analysis of the dietary signatures of four coastal cultures of prehistoric Peru. A combination of elemental analysis based on portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF), testing trace elements presented in 209 individuals’ skulls representing the Nazca (38), Cañete (33), Lima (40), and Moche (98) valleys and/or cultures of the first millennium AD, is weighed in conjunction with isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) to analyze human bone collagen and bone apatite derived from a portion of the individuals represented in the Nazca, Cañete, and Lima cranial samples.

Evidence from the results of both tests are weighed using …

Islamism And Islam, Dale Stover

International Dialogue

This book offers a concerted effort to provide a comprehensive and unmistakable definition for Islamism, whereas the other term in the title, Islam, is simply what is traditional or classical or taken for granted since little attention is given to defining it. The author lays out six features he considers to be characteristic elements of those contemporary Muslim movements associated with extremist beliefs and behaviors. A separate chapter is devoted to each of these six features of Islamism. They are described by the author in the preface as “its deeply reactionary vision of the world political order, its embrace of …

Contemporary Daoist Tangki Practice, Margaret Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Since 1979, China has seen a renaissance of indigenous belief systems, including Daoist tangki spirit-medium practice. Tangki traditions have Neolithic roots. The founding myth is of a man who magically battled flood demons to save China. In imperial times, ordinary people, disenfranchised by the state religion and pawns of dynastic wars, created a soteriology of self-empowerment. Ordinary people would transform through spirit pos-session into warrior gods who would save the community. Millennia-old tangki traditions have diffused into the modern Chinese quotidian. With a remote Central Committee of the Communist Party recalling distant emperors, village temples, many led by tangkis, have …

Waging War On The Citizen: State Sovereignty, Citizen Death And The War On Terror, Lina Nasr El Hag Ali

The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development

One of the defining features of the contemporary era is the occurrence of non-localized warfare, in which the enemy can be considered fluid and always changing. The above quote reminds us that history has provided multiple examples of how wars are apt to change and shift the foundations of states; but there is something unique to be said about the qualities of modern war and the change it has prompted. A military technological revolution has culminated in the unprecedented use of drones as primary agents of war (specifically in the “War on Terror”), which has in turn shifted the traditional …

Overview Of The Diplomatic Landscape, Patrick Bratton

The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development

This essay outlines a so-called paradigm shift that is occurring in regard to diplomacy and global politics in general. This is a paradigm shift away from the nation-state towards both non-state actors and individuals, and towards regional and global movements and organizations. In terms of diplomacy, this is seen as moving away from the images of old men in striped pants at formal summits to social movements uniting through social media, sometimes called “citizen diplomacy” or “digital diplomacy”. This inaugural issue, with contributions from AGS students and faculty, will explore and problematize many of these issues. To put the issues …

Inaugural Issue Introduction, Eileen Servidio

The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development

The American Graduate School in Paris is introducing its inaugural issue of the Journal of International Relations, Peace & Development Studies.

Associated with Arcadia University’s M.A. program in Peace and Conflict Resolution, this journal aspires to encourage discourses that promote non-violence in all aspects of international affairs. Nevertheless, keeping with AGS’s standard of respecting and listening to “the other”, all articles that meet AGS’s high standards of research will be considered for publication, no matter the opinion.

Flight From The Fight? Civil War And Its Effects On Refugees, Paul D. Lowry

Student Publications

Civil war dominates conflict in the modern era. An effect of this is a large number of refugees, who flee from war-torn countries in favor of lands where they can live in safety. This paper examines the extent to which the number of these refugees is affected by the number of civil wars a country has had in a year. Previous literature suggests that civil wars increase destruction in a state and threaten people’s lives, which encourages migration out of a warring country. Based on this, this paper hypothesizes that increasing the number of civil wars in a country will …

Accord Internship: A South African Ngo’S Approach To Peacekeeping In 2015, Jimmy Bromley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since the fall of apartheid and the forty quarters of subsequent growth under Thabo Mbeki, South Africa has been recognized as an emerging global power and one of the most powerful countries in Africa. Because of its relatively newfound power and the way in which South Africa negotiated its own peace and freedom, it has taken a leading role in conflict resolution and peacemaking on the continent. The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) assists South Africa in its dedication to diplomacy and conflict management. The biggest conflict resolution non-governmental organization in Africa, ACCORD works to peacefully …

China's Nine-Dashed Map: Continuing Maritime Source Of Geopolitical Tension, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The South China Sea (SCS) is becoming an increasingly contentious source of geopolitical tension due to its significance as an international trade route, possessor of potentially significant oil and natural gas resources, China’s increasing diplomatic and military assertiveness, and the U.S.’ recent and ongoing Pacific Pivot strategy. Countries as varied as China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and other adjacent countries have claims on this region’s islands and natural resources. China has been particularly assertive in asserting its SCS claims by creating a nine-dash line map claiming to give it de facto maritime control over this entire region without regard to …

John Keegan, The First World War, Laina Farhat-Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Power, Corruption And Dissent: Varieties Of Contemporary Croatian Political Catholicism, Vjekoslav Perica

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"Two decades after the major Balkan war in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina 1991-1995, the dynamic of feuding ethnic nationalisms has shifted from the initially strongest Serbian to the currently dominant Croatian nationalism. The two strongest nationalisms of the (post)Yugoslav region are comparable to each other in many respects including the ethno-confessional nationalistic ideology amalgamated with religion and crucial roles for the churches as national institutions allied with nationalistic parties. The relative advantage for Croatian Catholicism is the outcome of several factors such as the following:..."

Gustavo GutiéRrez – Liberation Theology & Marxism, Todd Cameron Swathwood Jr

The Kabod

Since 1968, liberation theology has emerged as a prominent feature of religion and politics, particularly in South America. Originally stemming from the writings of Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez, this at-once theological and overtly political ideology decries the institutionalized violence of the world’s capitalist society on the poor and oppressed, and argues that God is particularly concerned with the plight of the suffering masses. Christians should therefore make assistance of these poor souls their highest priority, and advocate for any and all methods of alleviating suffering, especially those that work from the premise that society must be toppled and rebuilt for …

Subcontinental Nuclear Instability: The Spiralling Nightmare, Vijay Shankar

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The scheme that carved world order during the Cold War was a pitched battle for 'containment' against burgeoning communism. In turn, rationality gave way to the threat of catastrophic nuclear force as the basis of stability. If at all there is a historical lesson to be learned from that experience then it is that stability begins with serious and sustained dialogue between leadership; the alternative being what Kennedy termed "the peace of the grave." An appraisal of the contemporary global state of nuclear affairs will suggest that the three pillars of nuclear stability, namely, non-proliferation, control of fissile material production, …

Why Terrorist Networks Maintain Viability Within Today’S Modern Society., Cade Resnick Ph.D., Amy Guimond Ph.D, Heather Wellman Ph.D., Shawna Resnick M.S.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

Common concepts of terrorism refer to acts which are intended to create a system of fear. The ideological argument for terrorism relates to a politically and emotionally charged scenario in which terrorism is necessary. The development of a terrorist organization requires an environment that is ripe with social degradation and has idealistic minded people who are able to believe in a cause. The organization utilizes a social system to maintain its own stability and to retain the people who are involved within its self-contained community. Suffering oppression from its own government or an-other nation is a crucial component in fostering …

Path Dependence In Intrastate Conflicts: Resources, Regimes, And Interventions, Ivan Medynskyi

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the patterns of path dependence in intrastate conflicts. It is motivated by three research questions: What factors determine a particular outcome of a civil war? How strong is their impact? What are the causal mechanisms in play? To examine these questions, this study introduces a theory of path dependence to the study of intrastate conflicts that bridges the gap between analyses of the phases of contention.

First, it examines the broad understanding of path dependence that highlights the impact of initial conditions on civil war outcomes. Then, this dissertation explores the narrower notion which focuses on the …

Orthodox "Imagined Communities" In The Ottoman Balkans, James R. Payton Jr

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

As a young scholar being trained in Early Modern European history, I imbibed unstated assumptions along with the canons of western historiography. My teaching and research career, though, soon moved eastward, to focus on Byzantium, the Balkans, and the Eastern Christianity which permeated both. With this transition, I became uneasily aware of how little attention western scholarship has given to these fields, or to the momentous developments which took place in the eastern half of the European continent. Some of these developments challenge and undermine some hallowed scholarly perspectives; among them is the assessment commonly held among western scholars about …

Kaset Rojananil [Thailand, Royal Thai Armed Forces], Kaset Rojananil

Digital Narratives of Asia

Kaset Rojananil was the Supreme Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces during the Black May riots of 1992 and was involved in the 1991 coup to overthrow the government of Chatichai Choonhavan. He gives DNA his take on those events as well as what it takes to be a leader in the military.

Getting On The Agenda: The Influence Of Local Civil Society Organizations During Pre-Negotiation, David R. Andersen-Rodgers

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This article examines the types of strategies that different local civil society organizations use to get their issues addressed during a peace negotiation. Previous research has shown that the inclusion of civil society groups in a negotiation improves the likelihood for a durable peace. This paper argues that during conflict civil society organizations make a number of strategic choices that then affect their ability to get their societal interests placed on the agenda. These strategies are partially dictated by when and why the civil society group organized, the levels and types of advocacy that they choose to engage in during …

Analyzing Reproductive Policy: Patriarchal Legitimization And Women In Latin America, Shannon C. Magni

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper examines the way in which gendered violence is carried out as a way for the formal state and the Catholic Church to negotiate power. While examples of a much larger trend, three Latin American countries are discussed in detail. The first case occurred in Nicaragua, where a 9-year-old victim of rape was denied an abortion by both the state and the Church. The second case examined is the use of rape as a torture tactic by the military junta in Argentina during the Dirty War from 1976 to 1983. The final case examined is that of the forced …

Diplomatic Normalization Between The Us And Cuba In Light Of Recent Changes In Us Foreign Policy More Generally, Ethan Zawatsky, Ashley Gemma

Senior Honors Projects

We analyze normalization of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba. We first examine the causes of previous normalizations with Vietnam and China. From these cases, we identify factors that are key to the normalization process. These include political turnover, economic interests, other special interest groups, public sentiment, and what we refer to as the Lawnmower Effect. This effect is observed when one or both nations attempt to reopen diplomatic ties only to continually fail to establish relations due to the endurance of underlying political issues. We use the Multiple Streams Framework (a policy formulation theory) in order to evaluate …