Digital Commons Network^™

The Parallel Security Apparatus: Examining The Cases Of Baathist Iraq, Syria, And Iran, Donald Utchel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation examines the phenomena of the parallel security apparatus in the cases of Baathist Iraq, Syria, and Iran. Parallel security structures are often limited to books and articles published on secret police organizations in the broader security literature. Their research often focuses on one branch of the parallel security apparatus rather than examining all the parallel security institutions of that particular regime. This body of research attempts to bring further light to this particular phenomenon by examining all the parallel security institutions in a particular case and to connect and trace the various parallel security institutions to see if …

External Voting In Developing Countries: Strategic Bargaining And The Role Of Remittances, Hafthor Erlingsson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study and numerous prior works have argued that remittances increase the likelihood that states will implement external voting. However, quantitative studies have generally failed to find a relationship between reliance on remittances and the adoption and implementation of external voting. In this study it is argued that the pooling of observations from developed and developing countries as well as autocracies and highly consolidated democracies has altered previous results. Most studies have also not investigated possible non-linearities in the relationship between remittances and external voting. The results of this study illustrate the non-linear influence remittances have on non-autocratic developing countries …

The Peaceful Transition Of Spain: How Authoritarianism Became Democracy, Emma Haiser

Honors Theses

The peaceful transition from authoritarianism under Francisco Franco to a democratic constitutional monarchy after Franco’s death stands as a critical juncture in modern Spanish history because of the uniqueness of the historical event. The transition occurred without direct foreign intervention to manipulate Spanish politicians into passing democratic legislation; instead, the transition was initiated by Francoist leaders who willingly enacted the regime’s change which undermined their initial place in society. The Spanish transition was caused by three main factors: societal opposition to the Francoist regime, democratic international influence, and progressive leaders taking office after Franco’s death. This paper will explore the …

The End Of The World: Fear Of The Apocalypse, Hannah Richardson

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Predicting the end of the world has been a practice for thousands of years. In recent years, it was seen in 1891 with the Mormon Armageddon, 2000 with Y2k, and 2012 when the Mayan calendar was believed to have ended. While these moments in history are often seen as entertainment by the greater population, there are many groups of people that support and live by the idea that the world will end in their lifetime or the near future. This paper will develop ideas of why people form a fear of the world ending, and the public opinion around this …

Information Outlook, November/December 2019, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2019

Volume 23, Issue 6

Social Media, Journalism And Crisis: Twitter Representation Of #Syrianrefugees In Western News Media, Ahmad Khaled Alshallal

Dissertations

Generally, there have been conflicts in the world regarding media coverage especially on #SyrianRefugees in Western media. It is undebatable that the Western states have political stability and peace; thus, they remain better hosts for asylum seekers and other refugees who come in search of greener pastures. However, current trends have hindered such countries from being ideal hubs because citizens have basic fears including those related to national security. Refugee situations have attracted lots of controversies over the years to the point that the concern is evident in the media. This dissertation explores the crisis of Syrian refugees and the …

Winning Public Hearts And Minds: Security And Development Aid In The 21st Century, Mohammad Ashraf

Dissertations

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, foreign aid has focused on winning public hearts and minds in the aid recipient states as a hedge against insecurity and means to achieve progress in the “war on terror.” Western donors, especially the United States, argue foreign aid is an effective tool to expand government capacity and control over territory, win public hearts and minds, and ultimately mitigate the need and significant military costs of deployment to counter insecurity, extremism, and terrorism in weak, fragile and failing states.

This dissertation uses case studies to explore the …

Removing Embedded Corruption: Development Mechanisms And Case Studies In East Africa For Ending Graft, Keith Newcomer

Dissertations

Removing embedded corruption depends on 12 state characteristics and mechanisms that reduce patronage network influence and protection. This reduction cannot happen swiftly and requires staged and strategic planning to prevent state collapse, and generally prioritizes petty corruption shifts before grand corruption. Two foundational characteristics are necessary for nations to enact serious reforms: the existence of a core anti-corruption ideology group that controls the government, and political will to enforce said ideology at the state level. Without these two, anti-corruption efforts are half-hearted and ineffective and leads to state perpetuation of graft. This core group and leadership is responsible to enact …

Progression Magazine, 2019 Fall/Winter, Coastal Carolina University

Progression Magazine

Magazine of the College of Science at Coastal Carolina University.

Metal Storytellers: Reflections Of War Culture In Silverplate B-29 Nose Art From The 509th Composite Group, Terri Wesemann

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Most people are familiar with the Enola Gay—the B-29 that dropped Little Boy, the first atomic bomb, over the city of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Less known are the fifteen Silverplate B-29 airplanes that trained for the mission, that were named and later adorned with nose art. However, in recorded history, the atomic mission overshadowed the occupational folklore of this group. Because the abundance of planes were scrapped in the decade after World War II and most WWII veterans have passed on, all that remains of their occupational folklore are photographs, oral and written histories, some books, …

The Bureaucratic Politics Of The Federal Bureau Of Investigation, Cooper Hearn

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This is a comprehensive study of how the administrative powers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have evolved in response to external political forces. To analyze the changes made to FBI administrative powers, this project will assess theories of public administration, bureaucratic politics, various congressional statutes, court rulings, and executive policies that have affected the bureau’s capacity to perform investigations and intelligence operations.

Friends In The Making: The Contextual Framing Of Jerā- Relationships Among Marshall Islanders, Laurence Marshall Carucci

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Legacy- December 2019, South Carolina Institute Of Archaeology And Anthropology--University Of South Carolina

SCIAA Magazine - Legacy & PastWatch

Contents:

New Evidence that an Extraterrestrial Collision 12,800 Years Ago Triggered an Abrupt Climate Change for Earth…p. 1

Director’s Notes…p. 2

A Tribute to Roland C. Young…p. 5

Award to Explore for Shipwrecks Offshore Port Royal Sound…p. 8

CSS Pee Dee Cannons Installed in Florence, South Carolina…p. 10

Three-Dimensional Photogrammetric Modeling Program…p. 14

Reconstructing Lowcountry Plantation Waterfronts…p. 16

Underwater Archaeology Film Track Debuts at 7^th Annual Arkhaios Cultural Hertiage and Archaeology Film Festival in Columbia, South Carolina…p. 18

The Mysterious Island Fort in Charleston Harbor: Breaking Ground at Castle Pinckney…p. 20

Archaeology on the Widdicom Tract at Hobcaw Barony…p. …

China's Maritime Grand Strategy, Sarah Quan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

China’s goals in the South China Sea are twofold: to expand sovereignty while keeping the peace. I argue this is accomplished through rhetorical strategic ambiguity and military clarity, which have characterized China’s maritime grand strategy since 2010. Using confusion and clarity—two seemingly opposite strategies—allows China to simultaneously expand sovereignty and maintain peace. This paper first introduces the literature and theory behind grand strategy and strategic ambiguity. It then demonstrates how China’s intentions are made clear through military actions, then shows that China’s rhetoric is ambiguous to members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by weighing evidence that China is …

Case Study Analysis Of Shared Visual Arguments And Propaganda Techniques Of Russian Propaganda Posters And Russian Internet Memes, Cindy D. Vasquez

Communication Theses - Archive

Rhetoric, the study of argument using logic, has been studied for centuries. However, there is some disagreement among scholars on whether or not argumentation can be applied to visual imagery. Images are noted to have more emotional appeal than text does. Visual propaganda was mass produced in the form of propaganda posters, most popularly in the early 20th century. In more recent times, the sharing of images has moved to social media, popularly through memes. This paper analyzes two Soviet propaganda posters produced by one Soviet publishing house, Litizdat, and two memes created by the Russian organization the Internet Research …

Globalization And The Diffusion Of Military Capabilities, Eddie Stokes

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

I analyze the effects of economic and informational globalization on the diffusion of military capabilities in the 20th and 21st centuries. To test these relationships, I use the KOF Swiss Economic Institute’s data on economic and informational globalization and the Correlates of War data on National Material Capabilities for all states of the international system from 1970 to 2011. Using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression of all states with standard errors clustered at the state-level, I find that economic globalization negatively correlates with increases in military capabilities; while informational globalization positively correlates with increases in military capabilities. These findings …

Vol. 42 No. 3 (2019): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Land Groups, Land Registration, And Economic Development Projects On Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, Tarcisius Kabutaulaka

Pacific Studies

Neoliberal economic development requires that land boundaries and land groups be identified and registered, creating property rights and titles that can be bought, sold, and transferred. Registration makes land and land groups legible, thereby allowing states to exercise control and make land accessible to potential investors. This process of commodification creates changes that are often socially traumatic. In many Melanesian societies, individual and group rights to land are traditionally fluid and dynamic. Registration, however, freezes them. This paper examines how the process of land registration not only identify but also create land groups and influences how they respond to economic …

The Rise Of Anti-Immigration Populist Radical Right Parties: The Effect Of The Syrian Conflict On Refugee Resettlement And Migration Policies In Germany And Austria, Sara Kouchehbagh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The effects of Syrian migration in Europe have revolutionized refugee resettlement globally. Most immigration and refugee problems have historically been settled similarly post WWII, however, Syria is the largest refugee crisis since WWII. It is important to learn how to respond to future conflicts with displacement and resettlement affecting Western countries that are unprepared to respond to a conflict of such magnitude. This thesis will compare previous conflicts and the Syrian conflict, while highlighting the resilient political momentum of reactionary new political groups in European states, particularly Germany and Austria.

The research and results from this study will include data …

American And Iraqi Prose Fiction Of The Iraq War: Traumas Of The Self, Traumas Of The Nation, Ghyath Manhel Alkinani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

War is so omnipresent in our contemporary world that the story of war is too important to be left to fiction writers to frame and give meaning for. This dissertation provides an analysis of two dominant patterns in contemporary Iraqi and American prose fictional representations of the Iraq War: the individualistic trauma hero narrative and the nationalistic, collective narrative. I argue that the trauma hero myth that dominates American representations of the Iraq War psychologizes and de-politicizes war experience alienating the victim of trauma by decontextualizing their experience and negating the Other. On the other hand, the sweeping nationalistic narrative …

Towards A Theory Of Human Mobility And Wall-Building: A Comparative Analysis Of Hadrian's Wall And The Iron Curtain., Timothy Heine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis contributes a theory on human bordering practices that encompasses diverse types of borders and border experiences. In order to flesh out the factors underlying human wall-building, it is vital to first understand the mobile nature (both as an innate characteristic and adaptive strategy) of our species. A clearer appreciation of the biology of human mobility elucidates the seemingly counterintuitive process of the establishment of cultural boundaries. Such an inquiry into the available inter-disciplinary literature on the topics of human mobility and wall-building reveals much about the manner in which humans interpret and utilize space, the variety of walls …

An Evaluation Of Unmanned Aerial Systems And Structure-From-Motion For Fluvial Large Wood Sensing And Risk Assessment, Daniel Gerke

Masters Theses

This research aims to show Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) and Structure-from-Motion (SfM) technology can, in combination, improve on traditional large wood (LW) monitoring techniques. More temporally and economically efficient data collected at a finer spatial resolution and greater spatial extent will increase the effectiveness of management plans and risk assessment for LW by providing decision-makers with a complete picture of the river.

Contemporary practices are too inefficient in time and labor for large-scale monitoring of fluvial LW with anything more than the most general management or risk assessment in mind. The paradigm of river research, the river continuum concept (RCC), …

Preface For Special Section On Archaeoparasitology: A Global Perspective On Ancient Parasites And Current Research Projects, Jong Yil Chai, Min Sea, Karl Reinhard, Dong Hoon Shin

Karl Reinhard Publications

Archaeoparasitological research has rapidly developed in recent years, entering a new stage of improved understanding of our ancestors’ parasitic infections across the world. This progress is based on a variety of recently developed research techniques. During a period of rapid innovation since 2016, there has been no much opportunity for parasitologists to gather and share in-depth views about this novel research field. This was remedied by the 14th International Congress of Parasitology (ICOPA) held in Korea (Aug. 19-24, 2018; EXCO, Daegu). For archaeoparasitologists, ICOPA provided a unique opportunity to gather and exchange research and ideas. The participation was unprecedented in …

Pinworm Infection At Salmon Ruins And Aztec Ruins: Relation To Pueblo Iii Regional Violence, Karl Reinhard, Morgana Camacho

Karl Reinhard Publications

The study of coprolites has been a theme of archaeology in the American Southwest. A feature of archaeoparasitology on the Colorado Plateau is the ubiquity of pinworm infection. As a crowd parasite, this ubiquity signals varying concentrations of populations. Our recent analysis of coprolite deposits from 2 sites revealed the highest prevalence of infection ever recorded for the region. For Salmon Ruins, the deposits date from AD 1140 to 1280. For Aztec Ruins, the samples can be dated by artifact association between AD 1182-1253. Both sites can be placed in the Ancestral Pueblo III occupation (AD 1100-1300), which included a …

Imaginary Conquests: Folktales, Film, And The Japanese Empire In Asia, Richard M Davis

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article highlights three family-targeted films made under the wartime Japanese empire: Yamamoto Kajir ō ’s musical comedy Songokū (1940) and Seo Mitsuyo’s animated Momotarō films, Sea Eagles (1943) and Divine Warriors of the Sea (1945). Significantly, these films are based on two fantastical premodern stories—the Chinese novel Journey to the West and the Japanese Momotarō legend, respectively—whose quest narratives map onto Japan’s contemporaneous military expansion into mainland China and the islands of the South Pacific. Despite the films’ seeming alignment with ultranationalist ideology, I argue that the geopolitical trajectories of their narratives are rendered ambiguous by their various reception …

Human Rights And Justice Rights Approaches To Gender-Based Violence (Gbv): The Case Of Kenya’S Sexual Offenses Act (Ksoa), Maryanne W. Kamunya

Graduate Masters Theses

Sexual violence produces detrimental and long-lasting physical and psychological trauma that deters a victim’s ability to fully participate in the economic, political and social development of their community and nation-state (Legal Action Worldwide, 2014). To fight this crime, the UNDP has developed an International Sexual Violence Protocol. This Protocol recommends consolidation of sexual violence legislation into one document called the Sexual Offense Act. These laws tend to use a justice through rights approach to effectively criminalize and prosecute sexual violence within a comprehensive human rights-based model. By using a justice over human rights-based approach; Kenya’s Sexual Offense Act (KSOA) deviated …

Finding Foreign Friends: National Self-Determination And Related Norms As Strategic Resources During The Biafran War For Independence, 1967–1970, Christopher Brucker

New England Journal of Public Policy

The study analyzes how the government of the Republic of Biafra used international norms to win foreign support during its 1967–1970 campaign to secede from Nigeria. Secession conflicts occur at the intersection of international and domestic politics. For independence movements, support from outside is crucial. But, as Bridget Coggins has asked, how can secession movements find “friends in high places”? International support for unilateral secession attempts is strictly prohibited. Domestic and international asymmetry are limiting secessionist foreign policy instruments to intangible means. Legitimacy is a central concept to illuminate the phenomenon. In international politics, legitimacy depends on the external perception …

Full Issue - Jgi V. 14, N. 2

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Full issue of Journal of Global Initiatives volume 14, number 2.

Comparative Processes Of Sociopolitical Development In The Foothills Of The Southern Maya Mountains, Amy Elizabeth Thompson

Anthropology ETDs

Human behaviors and settlement decision-making can be evaluated through an assessment of settlement patterns. This dissertation examines the human behaviors that guide settlement selection, first through an analysis of settlement patterns to assess intra-site social communities, and second how communities develop over time. Three case studies examine settlement structure and what influences settlement selection within archaeological and modern contexts from the same region, southern Belize. Specifically, this dissertation focuses on two Classic period (250-800 CE) Maya centers, Uxbenká and Ix Kuku’il, and more than 50 modern Maya villages. Extensive survey and excavations were conducted to compare the development of settlements …

Discussion Of War And Rights: The Impact Of War On Political And Civil Rights, David Rousseau

Campus Conversations in Standish

How does warfare impact the political and civil liberties of men, women, and minorities? Hintze (1906) and Lasswell (1941) argue states facing a severe security threat are likely to reduce rights in order to minimize domestic opposition to the war and maximize mobilization potential. Downing (1992) and Klinkner and Smith (1999) argue that under certain circumstances mobilization for war can unintentionally lead to an expansion of rights. This presentation explores these arguments with finding from historical case studies (e.g., Imperial Russia, Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy, African Americans in World War I and II, and Tirailleurs Senegalese in World War I).