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U.S. Foreign Policy In Pakistan: Bringing Pakistan Into Line With American Counterterrorism Interests, Henry E. Appel Jan 2015

U.S. Foreign Policy In Pakistan: Bringing Pakistan Into Line With American Counterterrorism Interests, Henry E. Appel

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis is a review of U.S. foreign policy in Pakistan through a realist lens. It critiques the current state of U.S. policy and recommends that the United States prioritize national security interests, particularly with regards to counterterrorism, over building Pakistani democracy and running civilian aid programs. It then further recommends ways for the United States government to account for ground level dynamics in Pakistani politics in crafting foreign policy aimed at bringing Pakistan into line with U.S. counterterrorism priorities.


The Tragedy Of American Supremacy, Dante R. Toppo Jan 2015

The Tragedy Of American Supremacy, Dante R. Toppo

CMC Senior Theses

Why has the United States, given its status as the sole remaining superpower following its Cold War victory, been unable to translate its preponderance of power into the outcomes it desires? The system established by the United States over the course of the Cold War does not effectively translate its power into influence in the post-Cold War world. In fact, the way US-Soviet competition shaped global affairs created systemic problems, weak and failing states, terrorism, autocracy and human rights abuse, that cannot be solved by the mechanisms of influence the US relied upon to win the Cold War. However, precisely …


Interrogating The "Collapse" Of The Roman Empire: Historiography And Instruction, Jon Pesner Jan 2015

Interrogating The "Collapse" Of The Roman Empire: Historiography And Instruction, Jon Pesner

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

No abstract provided.


Perpetrator And Victim Constructions Of Justice, Forgiveness And Trauma Healing: Results Of A Thematic Narrative Study Of Intra-Group Conflict In Colonial Central Kenya, 1952-1962, Daniel Njoroge Karanja Jan 2015

Perpetrator And Victim Constructions Of Justice, Forgiveness And Trauma Healing: Results Of A Thematic Narrative Study Of Intra-Group Conflict In Colonial Central Kenya, 1952-1962, Daniel Njoroge Karanja

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigated how the Gikuyu people of central Kenya understood justice, forgiveness and trauma healing or their absence during a decade of intra-group reciprocal violence. This qualitative research study employed the narrative research method utilizing the "Williams Model" (Riessman, 2008). Field interviews were guided by a primary research question: What do the narratives of perpetrators and victims in reciprocal violence reveal about their understanding of justice, forgiveness and trauma healing or their absence? Fourteen research participants aged 78 to 92 years shared their full narratives. Current conflict analysis literature overwhelmingly centers on the victims and less on perpetrators. The …


Gaming And Aggressive Tendencies: The Effects Of Conflict Simulations On Behavior And Political Decision-Making, James Gilmore Jan 2015

Gaming And Aggressive Tendencies: The Effects Of Conflict Simulations On Behavior And Political Decision-Making, James Gilmore

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Simulations and war games have seen increasing use not only in the military, but various other agencies throughout the United States Federal Government as well. There seems to be a gap in the relevant literature examining if there are any effects on foreign policy decision-making after participating in these games, however. I deployed a survey at a local paintball place, to test for any noticeable effect on people's foreign policy preferences after they take part in a conflict simulation. The results of my research demonstrated a greater need to examine the effects of conflict simulations on decision-making processes. Some of …


An Analysis Of The Predictive Ability Of Political Psychological Theory: A Case Study Of President Clinton’S Behavior In Bosnia, Madeline Ary Jan 2015

An Analysis Of The Predictive Ability Of Political Psychological Theory: A Case Study Of President Clinton’S Behavior In Bosnia, Madeline Ary

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Why does the U.S. sometimes choose to intervene in international conflicts? Can the political decisions of a leader be profiled? In order to address these questions, this study analyzes the case study of the Bosnian civil war and the decisions President Bill Clinton made to escalate intervention measures in the region until the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995. To accomplish this analysis, the psychological theory of international relations, specifically operational code theory, will be applied. Overall, this analysis concludes that the psychological and instrumental beliefs held by President Clinton had an impact on U.S. foreign policy pertaining to Bosnia.


Pawns And Paranoia: Baltic-American Anxiety Over Russian Aggression, Leila Roos Dec 2014

Pawns And Paranoia: Baltic-American Anxiety Over Russian Aggression, Leila Roos

Capstones

Existential anxiety runs deep for Baltic-Americans. It began with the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian refugees from the Soviet Union who strove to preserve their nations in exile. Post-independence, anxiety over Russian aggression may seem like leftover Cold War paranoia. For many members of the stateside émigré communities, however, fear of Russian expansionism is instead a sober assessment of reality. Looking at what they see as President Putin’s undeclared and unimpeded invasion of Ukraine, they worry that EU and NATO membership may not be enough to ensure the safety of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. This article examines Baltic-American anxiety over Russian …


Has Adam Gadahn Forsaken The Lawful Jihad For Anti-Americanism? A Case Study Of Ideological Contradictions, Paul Kamolnick Dec 2014

Has Adam Gadahn Forsaken The Lawful Jihad For Anti-Americanism? A Case Study Of Ideological Contradictions, Paul Kamolnick

ETSU Faculty Works

Despite his importance as a senior Al-Qaeda spokesman, no detailed examination exists of Adam Yahiye Gadahn’s employment of fiqh al-jihad—that branch of Islamic jurisprudence regulating the lawful waging of jihad—to condemn or condone violence committed in the name of Al-Qaeda. This article first provides a detailed exposition of Gadahn’s sharia-based critique of affiliates’ conduct deemed by him in violation of Islamic law and involving the commission of major sins. Second, Gadahn’s conception of fiqh al-jihad is contextualized and contrasted with the comprehensive fiqh al-jihad-based critiques produced by respected militant Islamist scholars. A key finding here is that Gadahn (unlike these …


The Effect Of The Okavango River On Angola's Economic Stability And The Effect Of Its Policy On Surrounding Countries, Loren Marie Stoehr Dec 2014

The Effect Of The Okavango River On Angola's Economic Stability And The Effect Of Its Policy On Surrounding Countries, Loren Marie Stoehr

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This study examines natural resources as a source of international conflict. Without proper management of these resources, conflict will continue to occur. An overview of natural resources and how they pertain to conflict is examined using examples from different parts of the world. Then water conflicts are focused upon and how proposals and resolutions through legal framework and guidance from outside entities can help provide better usage practices. Furthermore, the Okavango River is researched and how Angola’s use of the water effects the countries of Namibia and Botswana. In addition, future proposals to move forward and increase international water security …


Refugee Resettlement And Family Reunification In Canada, Yohannes Kenningd Woonssi Sawassi Ys Sawassi Dec 2014

Refugee Resettlement And Family Reunification In Canada, Yohannes Kenningd Woonssi Sawassi Ys Sawassi

Master's Theses

This thesis addresses the plight of Sub-Saharan Africans who are now Canadians and are trying to settle in a new country in order to reunite with their family members. However, rather than assisting with process of resettlement, current Canadian policy has the opposite effect. It appears to create a route by which people can sponsor their loved ones, but in reality the nature of the process is arduous and filled with time delays, regulatory and processing issues and other kinds of difficulties. Consequently, what therefore appears as a hopeful situation ends up creating despair. This situation is particularly hard for …


Army, Russian (1991-), Bert Chapman Dec 2014

Army, Russian (1991-), Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a history of the Russian Army from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 until the "annexation" of Crimea in 2014. Places emphasis on this force's strengths and weaknesses, military operations during this period, and emerging security challenges.


The End Of An Era: The Cancer Stem Cell Hypothesis And Its Therapeutic Implications, Emily Paton Dec 2014

The End Of An Era: The Cancer Stem Cell Hypothesis And Its Therapeutic Implications, Emily Paton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cancer, a leading cause of death in many developed countries, has become a global health burden. Much of the drain on healthcare systems has resulted from the high cost and ineffectiveness of conventional cancer treatments, which often lead to cancer relapse or metastasis. The failures of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery have been elucidated by the cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis, which postulates that a small percentage of tumor cells drive tumorigenesis. These cells can sustain cancer through their capacity to self-renew and differentiate into specialized tumor cell types, similar to how healthy stem cells maintain healthy tissues. Conventional cancer treatments …


Improving The Effectiveness Of Sanctions: A Checklist For The Eu, Anthonius W. De Vries, Clara Portela, Borja Guijarro-Usobiaga Nov 2014

Improving The Effectiveness Of Sanctions: A Checklist For The Eu, Anthonius W. De Vries, Clara Portela, Borja Guijarro-Usobiaga

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The increasingly frequent imposition of sanctions by the EU over the past decade has notbeen accompanied by a thorough pre-assessment and contingency planning stage, which hasled to the formulation of suboptimal sanctions regimes. This paper argues for establishing apre-assessment and contingency planning of sanctions, departing from the ‘ad hoc-ism’ ofcurrent decision-making on sanctions. To this end, it proposes the development of a‘checklist’ composed of key questions that need to be tackled to optimise the design ofsanctions. These questions include the identification of resources linked to the objectionablepolicies; the leverage of the EU; the costs to the EU; the legality of …


Martin Heidegger And The First World War, David A. White Nov 2014

Martin Heidegger And The First World War, David A. White

International Dialogue

The subtitle of this work is “Being and Time as Funeral Oration.” This addition helps a reader to appreciate that the book functions on various levels: scholarly, to the extent that it offers a reading of selected details in Heidegger’s first major work; historical, in that Altman asserts with great vigor that Being and Time should be seen as a “funeral oration” for those who died in World War One; biographical, in that we read much about Heidegger’s personal actions in political and academic contexts leading to and during both WWI and a decade after the conclusion of the “Great …


Citizen Ai: Warrior, Jester And Middleman, William A. Callahan Nov 2014

Citizen Ai: Warrior, Jester And Middleman, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Ai Weiwei is famous for crossing boundaries, especially the boundary between art and politics. To appreciate the often contradictory nature ofAis work, this essay employs multiple narratives: " Ai the Heroic Warrior" who cńticizes the Chinese government; " Ai the Court Jester " who plays with the Chinese state and Western media; and "Ai the Middleman " who acts as a broker between China and the West, between young and old people, and between civil society and the state in the PRC. The essay concludes that afourth narrative can bńng together these three stones in a multicoded understanding ofAis work: …


Religion Misused By Serbs And Croats, Maja Torlo Nov 2014

Religion Misused By Serbs And Croats, Maja Torlo

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This research concentrates on the Christian and Orthodox religion among the Serbs and Croats in former Yugoslavia and how it contributed to the outbreak of the Serbo-Croat war in 1992. This is done by assessing the main ways in which religion was abused and twisted to raise anger, fear, and enmity between Croats and Serbs by both nationalistic leaders and Church leaders in the period from the communist rule to the outbreak in 1992. Therefore, first, the following things are assessed: the consequences of (1) identification and grouping of people along religious and ethnic lines, (2) mass religious events, which …


China's Nine-Dashed Map: Maritime Source Of Geopolitical Tension, Bert Chapman Oct 2014

China's Nine-Dashed Map: 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 …


Working Towards A Globalized Minority: Regional German-Kurdish Cultural Organizations And Transnational Networks, Drew A. Hoffman Oct 2014

Working Towards A Globalized Minority: Regional German-Kurdish Cultural Organizations And Transnational Networks, Drew A. Hoffman

Student Publications

German-Kurdish cultural organizations and the Kurdish Diaspora they represent offer an example of a new type of actor in defining globalization. This paper examines how such organizations act as the lynchpin in transnational networks and how such organizations give a voice to Berliner-Kurds. These relationships are explored at the national, regional, and organizational level, in order to paint a comprehensive perspective. It argues that despite experiencing discrimination, the convergence of a global diaspora and local actors has contributed to the reinvention of the German-Kurdish community as a globalized minority. Such a concept is important for understanding how migrant communities can …


Memories Of An Editor, Laina Farhat-Holzman Oct 2014

Memories Of An Editor, Laina Farhat-Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.


Essay: The Great Literary Utopias Have A Nightmarish History, Laina Farhat-Holzman Oct 2014

Essay: The Great Literary Utopias Have A Nightmarish History, Laina Farhat-Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.


Clothing And Social Movements: The Politics Of Dressing In Colonized Tibet, Dicky Yangzom Oct 2014

Clothing And Social Movements: The Politics Of Dressing In Colonized Tibet, Dicky Yangzom

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the relationship between clothing and social movements. Taking the case of Lhakar in the Tibetan Freedom Movement, it explores how Tibetans in Tibet and those in exile imagine national belonging. Second, it delineates how the multiple uses of clothing, both by the colonizing state and the colonial movement articulates its importance in serving as a symbolic boundary in nationalist identity formation. Lastly, using methods of visual analysis, the research explains how the convergence between clothing, social movements, and social media creates a non-violent transnational social movement.


Leadership In An Egalitarian Society, Christopher Von Rueden, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Jonathan Stieglitz Sep 2014

Leadership In An Egalitarian Society, Christopher Von Rueden, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Jonathan Stieglitz

ESI Publications

Leadership is instrumental to resolution of collective action dilemmas, particularly in large, heterogeneous groups. Less is known about the characteristics or effectiveness of leadership in small-scale, homogeneous, and relatively egalitarian societies, in which humans have spent most of our existence. Among Tsimane’ forager-horticulturalists of Bolivia, we (1) assess traits of elected leaders under experimental and naturalistic conditions and (2) test whether leaders impact collective action outcomes. We find that elected leaders are physically strong and have more kin and other exchange partners. Their ranks on physical dominance, kin support, and trustworthiness predict how well their groups perform, but only where …


Linking Trade And Security: Evolving Institutions And Strategies In Asia, Europe, And The United States By Vinod K. Aggarwal And Kristi Govella, Henry S. Gao Sep 2014

Linking Trade And Security: Evolving Institutions And Strategies In Asia, Europe, And The United States By Vinod K. Aggarwal And Kristi Govella, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Trade and security, while seemingly unrelated, have had a long and complicated relationship. On the one hand, trade has often been used as a means to enhance the security of the state. For example, the famous Silk Road was created and maintained by the Han Dynasty to seek allies to help defend itself against the Huns. On the other hand, security has been deemed as an important safeguard to trade, as is shown by the prevalence of the ‘Gunboat Diplomacy’ in the nineteenth century


Relasi Sipil-Militer Dalam Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Papua, Syafrudin Tippe Jul 2014

Relasi Sipil-Militer Dalam Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Papua, Syafrudin Tippe

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

This research attempts to show that active role of agencies allows an adequate civil–military relation to be established despite of some constrains to the relationship between the two. Employing qualitative approach to assess civil–military cooperation in empowering Papuan society, the case study shows how the military and civilian collaborated to subdue the social tension in a territory prone to conflict. The result suggests that military component took pivotal role in maintaining peace and national security in Papua. Through its history, Indonesian government planned Papua development with military’s involvement on one side, yet without any attempt to embrace the subject of …


Burma’S Mass Lay Meditation Movement : Buddhism And The Cultural Construction Of Power, Ingrit Jordt Jul 2014

Burma’S Mass Lay Meditation Movement : Buddhism And The Cultural Construction Of Power, Ingrit Jordt

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement: Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power describes a transformation in Buddhist practice in contemporary Burma. This revitalization movement has had real consequences for how the oppressive military junta, in power since the early 1960s, governs the country.
Drawing on more than ten years of extensive fieldwork in Burma, Ingrid Jordt explains how vipassanā meditation has brought about a change of worldview for millions of individuals, enabling them to think and act independently of the totalitarian regime. She addresses human rights as well as the relationship between politics and religion in a country in which …


Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Impediments And Challenges In The Process Of Sustainable Reconstruction And Development In Post-2014 Afghanistan, Mohammad Ilyas Payab Jul 2014

Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Impediments And Challenges In The Process Of Sustainable Reconstruction And Development In Post-2014 Afghanistan, Mohammad Ilyas Payab

Open Access Theses

Armed conflicts have left numerous marks on the history of mankind and still continue to do so. They have resulted in considerable damage to the social and physical fabric of the society. Millions of people both in the past and present have been suffering from the consequences of this unfortunate man-made disaster. Yet we see a continuing trend that seems to be resistant to any change despite efforts on a global level. This study sets out to understand the nature of reconstruction and development after armed conflicts with a focus on Afghanistan. After more than a decade of expended …


Compositional Variability In Nasca Ceramics From The Las Trancas Valley, Nasca, Peru, Marcela Poirier Jul 2014

Compositional Variability In Nasca Ceramics From The Las Trancas Valley, Nasca, Peru, Marcela Poirier

Open Access Theses

The Goal of this MS thesis is to contribute to the understanding of compositional variability in ceramics of the Southern Nasca Region. A total of 99 ceramic sherds from two las Trancas Valley sites (Santa Luisa and Higosñoc) underwent INAA. This study brings temporal depth to previous compositional studies and adds new information that helps with the understanding of the political economy of this region. The hypothesis proposed is that there will be compositional variability before and after Early Nasca, during the Early Intermediate period (1-750 CE). The theoretical approaches used to inform my hypothesis include political economy and behavioral …


The Puzzle Of Mainstream And Deviant Globalization, Jawed Ahmed Qureshi, Amanat Ali Jalbani Jul 2014

The Puzzle Of Mainstream And Deviant Globalization, Jawed Ahmed Qureshi, Amanat Ali Jalbani

Business Review

This probe examines the puzzles or challenges of globalization to developing as well as developed countries. Indeed this study is undertaken in nexus with another enquiry of the authors about the challenges confronted and strategically tackled to globally operating and expanding companies based in Pakistan. Globalization offers both opportunities and threats and embodies merits and demerits for people of the world. Mainstream globalization is recognized as acceptable or idealistic part of it, whereas deviant globalization is recognized as unacceptable or dark part of it. The investigation isqualitative in type and nature. From the extant literature, it extracts various theories and …


Is Virtual Reality Changing The Nature Of War?, Robert J. Bunker Jun 2014

Is Virtual Reality Changing The Nature Of War?, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

In responding to the prompt “Does the rise of virtual reality change the nature of war?” the answer must be that it all depends on how you define the ‘nature of war’ and view the impact of ‘virtual reality.’


Countering Radicalization And Recruitment To Al-Qaeda: Fighting The War Of Deeds, Paul Kamolnick Jun 2014

Countering Radicalization And Recruitment To Al-Qaeda: Fighting The War Of Deeds, Paul Kamolnick

ETSU Authors Bookshelf

This Letort Paper proposes that actions, policies, and deeds—those of the U.S. Government and al-Qaeda—be leveraged as a means of delegitimizing al-Qaeda terrorist propaganda. Two chief fronts—changing deeds and challenging deeds—is proposed. Changing deeds requires that the United States carefully and systematically examine its own foreign and military policies and their specific consequences for the Arab and Muslim world. Challenging deeds comprises systematically countering with evidence and fact al-Qaeda’s two greatest propagandistic fabrications: that the United States is a crusader at war with Islam, and that al-Qaeda is the vanguard defender of a besieged and oppressed Muslim Umma. Provocative at …