Digital Commons Network^™

Exploiting Vulnerability: Human Trafficking As A Tool Of Genocide, Madison Bryant

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This thesis examines the relationship between human trafficking and genocide, arguing that when trafficking is used with the intent to destroy a targeted group, it should be understood and prosecuted as an act of genocide. While international law traditionally treats genocide and human trafficking as distinct crimes, historical and contemporary evidence reveals significant overlap in their mechanisms, motivations, and outcomes. Through a thematic analysis of three case studies, this research demonstrates how trafficking has been systematically employed to further genocidal objectives, including displacement, exploitation, cultural erasure, and the destruction of communities. The case studies are the genocide of Indigenous peoples …

Cunning Commies, Dumb Democrats, And Exiled Germans: A Holistic Postmortem Of The 1948 Czechoslovak Coup D'État, Douglas Joys

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

The role played by the post-WWII expulsion of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia in catalyzing the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état has been underexplored in favor of the traditional narrative of an East-West clash between Czechoslovak democratic and communist parties backed by the United States and Soviet Union, respectively. Scholarship on the expulsion and the coup has on occasion brought up connections between the two events, albeit briefly and only as a small part of larger examinations of one of the two. The Eastern and Western forces at play in Czechoslovakia were undoubtedly key factors in the coup’s outcome: the end of …

Transitional Justice: Understanding The Impact Of The Initiatives In Bosnia-Herzegovina And Guatemala, Rachel Bienstock

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This thesis examines the impact of transitional justice initiatives on reconciliation and healing in regions that have experienced mass atrocities, with a focus on Guatemala and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). While transitional justice processes aim to address the legacies of human rights violations and foster sustainable peace, their impact varies significantly depending on the context and the mechanisms employed. By analyzing existing scholarship and using a case study methodology to gather in-depth data about each instance, this research explores how different approaches to transitional justice can serve a diverse group of communities and how different factors contribute to their success. …

Narrating The New Cold War: Investigating Chinese Cyber Propaganda And Sino-American Tensions On Bilibili, William G. Highfill

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This thesis examines Bilibili, a Chinese video-sharing platform originally known for its anime, comics, and gaming (ACG) content, as a critical site for the formation and circulation of nationalist discourse in the context of a “New Cold War” between the United States and China. As ideological rivalry increasingly shifts from traditional state media and military posturing to decentralized digital platforms, Bilibili offers a unique case study in how propaganda evolves in participatory online spaces. Through a combination of digital ethnography and discourse analysis, this research explores how Bilibili’s algorithmic infrastructure, comment culture (弹幕), and remix-oriented design allow users to not …

Tensions In The Arctic: Avoiding Escalation, Emma Loeber

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

The Arctic has long been considered a place of peace and scientific cooperation largely unaffected by international tensions. In the past decade, however, climate change has made the Northern Sea Route (NSR) increasingly navigable, and its status as an important trade route in a time of recurring great power rivalry has increased tensions in the Arctic. Coupled with the Arctic’s strategic location for both Russia and the United States, this has led to the militarization of the region and fears of a security dilemma that could lead to escalation and conflict. This paper will focus on the eight Arctic states …

Workshop On The Epr Of Aqueous Samples, Gareth R. Eaton

TeachEPR Submissions

The problem with water and other materials that absorb microwave energy are described. Dielectric properties are described as a function of frequency.

Workshop presented at the 25th International EPR Symposium on July 28, 2002.

Digital Information Technologies And International Humanitarian Law: New Opportunities And Challenges, Jonathan Hafetz

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

Digital technologies are transforming the nature and role of information during armed conflict. They have exponentially increased the amount of information about armed conflict and the speed with which it can be disseminated. Digital information technologies present both opportunities and challenges for International Humanitarian Law (IHL). They can help minimize harm to civilians, document IHL violations, and provide evidence for investigating and prosecuting atrocity crimes. Digital technologies, however, bring risks as well. They make it easier to misuse and manipulate information, which can increase risks to civilians, conceal IHL violations, and spread disinformation about the causes and conduct of war. …

Legitimacy Of International And Hybrid Criminal Tribunals: Political, Normative, Economic, And Sociological Perspectives, Suhong Yang

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

This article examines the legitimacy of international and hybrid criminal tribunals that try atrocities crimes in post-conflict situations. It addresses legitimacy from political, normative, economic, and sociological perspectives. Political legitimacy focuses on the creation of authority. Normative legitimacy emphasizes the criteria for justifications, considering justice, independence, fairness, legality, and effectiveness as metrics. Economic legitimacy explores the cost, i.e., time and money, to address cases, as delayed or expensive justice suffers. Sociological legitimacy reflects the acceptance of the institution by the public, focusing on audiences’ perceptions of legitimacy. Multi-layered audiences make determinations about an institution’s legitimacy based on their cognitions, which …

Vol. 53, No. 1: Full Issue, Denver Journal Of International Law & Policy

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Outbidding With Ontology: Routine, Rebel Justice, And The Competition For Legitimacy, Patrick A. Schmidt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Civil wars upset the everyday routines and relationships of ordinary people. Though recent research into civil wars has significantly increased the degree of study into non-conflict activities of rebel groups, particularly in rebel governance, rebel groups have not yet been seen as ontological security providers, capable of developing and reinstating some form of normalcy for civilian populations. This thesis seeks to promote this view of rebel groups, theorizing that rebel justice systems serve as a distinct space for insurgents to routinize interactions with civilians and signal their desire and ability to serve as capable providers of ontological security. Further, I …

Military, Political, Cultural, And Societal Implications Of The Islamic Republic Of Iran’S Passive Defense Strategy, Aaron R. Pilkington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Why did the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) adopt a passive defense strategy? This dissertation is the first to trace the institutional development of the IRI’s passive defense strategy and its two Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-led executive bodies: the Permanent Committee for Passive Defense (PCPD) and the National Passive Defense Organization (NPDO). Passive defense can be defined simply as defense without weapons, which includes all precautionary actions other than using weapons to minimize the effects of enemy hostile operations that increase deterrence, reduce vulnerability, sustain essential activities, promote national stability, and facilitate crisis management in the face of enemy …

Vladimir Putin’S Leadership Traits Over 11 Years: A Longitudinal Study Of Putin’S Third Term In Office Using Leadership Trait Analysis, Payton J. Casteel

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

While an abundance of literature has studied the actions and behaviors of Vladimir Putin, the most extensive area involves leadership analysis (Semenova and Winter 2020). Various methods within political psychology have used analyses to study Putin throughout his time in office. However, no published research has studied Putin using leadership trait analysis, nor have any published works studied his changes in leadership leading up to the invasion of Ukraine. Using a mixed methods longitudinal study design on Vladimir Putin from 2012 to 2023, five periods in his third term were identified, with speeches taken and coded using the seven LTA …

Comparing The Us Response To The Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan And The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine: Learning From The Past And Planning For The Future, Zachary Hogan

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

As the Russo-Ukrainian war continues to rage, the decisions of the present are of paramount importance. In order to make the most positive and well-supported decisions in this ongoing conflict, it would be wise to look to past instances of similar situations. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is such an instance. The parallels between the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the past Soviet invasion of Afghanistan are extensive and, more importantly, informative for U.S. foreign policy. It is with this lens that this paper will pursue a historical foreign policy analysis of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, its circumstances and …

Natural Resource Conflict And Socioenvironmental Resistance In Arctic States: Assessing Domestic Risks To Circumpolar Security, Jen Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How does climate change contribute to domestic natural resource conflict and socioenvironmental resistance in the Arctic? The literature assumes that developed Arctic nations possess sufficient state capacity to overcome risks of domestic conflict and unrest posed by regional development and environmental change. Arctic policy correspondingly focuses on natural resource competition, disputes, and conflict at the international level. The mechanisms and processes of domestic natural resource conflict and socioenvironmental resistance in the Arctic have thus been largely ignored in the literature, even though 27 cases of contention have occurred since the ‘shock’ sea-ice melt of 2007.

In this study, I draw …

The Olympic Truce: Symbolic Gesture Or Effective Tool In Preventing And Ending International Conflicts?, Vincent Pandey

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

A modern model for peace is the “Olympic Truce,” a United Nations General Assembly resolution that calls for the pausing and prevention of new conflicts from one week before the Olympic Games through one week after the Paralympic Games. Olympic Truce scholars have focused on identifying cases that demonstrate effective implementation of the Olympic Truce and have come up with mixed results. Some argue that the symbolic nature of the Truce allows it to create moments of peace in conflicts, while others argue that it is nothing more than a gesture of goodwill that has not actually been used for …

Military Masculinities And Honorary Men: A Comparative Analysis Of United States And United Kingdom Approaches To Iraq Security Sector Reform, Caitlyn C. Aldersea

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

The 2003 Iraq War marked the first time in wartime that the United States and United Kingdom deployed female-specific units in support of combat operations. As manifestations of changing gendered norms within defense institutions, these Team Lioness units became symbolic of military transitions to a more diverse fighting force. Following the Iraq War, the US and UK were authorized as governing entities over the post-conflict Security Sector Reform process. Despite growing internal awareness on the importance of gender-inclusive policies, US-UK Coalition Forces instead focused reconstruction efforts on addressing immediate security needs of Iraq. While prior feminist literature has criticized the …

Why Democracies And Autocracies Go To War: Comparing The Cases Of Iraq And Ukraine, Ketevan Chincharadze

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

History shows that both democratic and nondemocratic countries wage wars to advance their strategic interests. This study has comparatively analyzed two conflicts – the 2003-2011 U.S. invasion of Iraq and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine – to identify the trends that motivate both democratic and autocratic leaders to behave similarly by launching an invasion. The interpretive research of various memoirs, books, interviews, academic articles, news reports, and speeches, has uncovered that personal biases, particularly confirmation biases, play a significant role in motivating leaders to start a war. Leaders’ confirmation biases are often shaped by three prominent factors – historical memory, …

The Evolution Of Global Competition: The Creation Of A Soft Power Escalatory Dilemma, Hunter M. Willis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As relationships between actors have become much more important for security in a globalized world and raw capabilities have become less important, the security landscape has fundamentally changed. When looking at the modern competition between the United States and European Union against China, global infrastructure investment has become a new arena to compete within. When examining each actor’s global infrastructure initiatives, China with the Belt and Road Initiative, the European Union with its Global Gateway, and the United States heading the G7’s initiative dubbed the Build Back Better World initiative, competition is deemed to be present within the global system. …

Du Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, And Creative Works, Caitlyn Aldersea, Justin Bravo, Sam Allen, Anna Block, Connor Block, Emma Buechler, Maria De Los Angeles Bustillos, Arianna Carlson, William Christensen, Olivia Kachulis, Noah Craver, Kate Dillon, Muskan Fatima, Angel Fernandes, Emma Finch, Colleen Cassidy, Amy Fishman, Andrea Francis, Stacia Fritz, Simran Gill, Emma Gries, Rylie Hansen, Shannon Powers, Jacqueline Martinez, Zachary Harker, Ashley Hasty, Mykaela Tanino-Springsteen, Kathleen Hopps, Adelaide Kerenick, Colin Kleckner, Ci Koehring, Elijah Kruger, Braden Krumholz, Maddie Leake, Lyneé Alves, Seraphina Loukas, Yatzari Lozano Vazquez, Haley Maki, Emily Martinez, Sierra Mckinney, Audrey Mitchell, Kipling Newman, Audrey Ng, Megan Lucyshyn, Andrew Nguyen, Stevie Ostman, Casandra Pearson, Alexandra Penney, Julia Gielczynski, Tyler Ball, Anna Rini, Christina Rorres, Simon Ruland, Helayna Schafer, Emma Sellers, Sarah Schuller, Claire Shaver, Kevin Summers, Isabella Shaw, Madison Sinar, Claudia Pena, Apshara Siwakoti, Carter Sorensen, Madi Sousa, Anna Sparling, Alexandra Revier, Brandon Thierry, Dylan Tyree, Maggie Williams, Lauren Wols

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

DU Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Works

Vol. 51, No. 2: Full Issue, Denver Journal Of International Law & Policy

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Neutrality And Non-Belligerency: International Support Of Ukraine Against The Russian Invasion, Dallas Bates

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

Since the Hague Conventions of 1907, the Law of Neutrality has been an important part of international law. In the 20th and 21st centuries, States have provided varying degrees of support to beligerent States while claiming to not be parties to the conflict. Using the example of the current war in Ukraine, this Article considers the viability of non-belligerency as a status between strict neutrality and participation in the conflict. State practice seems to indicate that non-belligerency is a legitimate path to support a victim State against the use of force by an aggressor State. As such, based on overwhelming …

Promoting Democracy And Penance: The United States, Western Europe, And German Memory Of The Holocaust, Mathew Greenlee, Elizabeth Campbell

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

This research, using the writings of German and international intellectuals, journalists, and politicians, explores the late-twentieth-century German memory of the Holocaust and demonstrates the ways it was influenced by the international community. The path of this development was rocky and uncertain, with historical revisionism, denialism, and unchallenged taboo, but also sincere historical engagement. Reflecting a broader trend in the field of history, this work emphasizes the influence of the transnational in cultural shifts; rather than depict the German collective memory as static, or solely domestic, it seeks to demonstrate the influence of international actors, beliefs, and ideas at major inflection …

A Call For Congressional Action: Revisiting Universal Jurisdiction In The United States, Alida Soileau

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

This Comment examines the United States' failure to invoke universal jurisdiction, even when doing so would likely have net positive effects in the foreign policy sphere. Instead, when war criminals turn up in the United States, the government may charge them with immigration offenses relating to their failure to disclose information about their past. Unless the accused is a United States citizen or there is a nexus between their crimes and the United States, the government will not prosecute jus cogens offenses--offenses so egregious that all of humanity has a duty to prevent and prosecute them, like genocide--unless strict jurisdictional …

Settling The Genocide V. Ethnic Cleansing Debate: Ending Misuse Of The Euphemism Ethnic Cleansing, Jennifer Kirby-Mclemore

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

Since the term "ethnic cleansing" appeared on the world stage in the early 1990s, it has spurred many legal debates. This article engages the debate between those who believe the term is legally distinct from genocide and those who believe it is a euphemism for genocide. Weaving through a linguistic, criminological, and legal analysis, this article supports the latter of those beliefs and demonstrates how journalists, governments, and NGOs use the euphemism to avoid triggering effective responses to genocide. In an effort to thwart further harm to genocide prevention and prosecution, the article class for an end to the term's …

Developing Effective Intervention: A Case Study Of Genocidal Moments In Srebrenica And Kosovo, Caleb Bryan

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Despite numerous treaties and international agreements aimed at stopping genocide, genocidal mass killings continue to take place within the current international system. In order to better understand how to best combat genocide, scholars have developed two main approaches: intervention and prevention. The interventionist approach argues genocide can be stopped in its tracks through use of military force and targeted diplomacy, while the preventionist approach argues pre-emptive action is needed to truly stop genocide. Both approaches, however, have relied too heavily on hypothetical analysis of how past genocides could have turned out differently given certain factors. This study instead aims to …

Shapes Of Commitment: Forms Of State Support To Nonviolent Mass Resistance, Maria A. Lotito

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nonviolent mass movements are an important and increasingly ubiquitous element of interstate politics in the 21st century. Diverse states - democratic, autocratic, rich, and developing – all have supported movements in some form. Explaining the convergence of such state actors on support for usually pro-democratic mass resistance challenges our existing scholarly frameworks. Using a new dataset, I reconcile the differing explanations of foreign assistance to movements that political science would offer with deep descriptive analysis pursued inductively. First, I propose a conceptual foundation for external support, couching an individual state’s support as the manifestation of an outcome-oriented foreign policy and …

Tradition And Service: Jordan L. Bear, Laurel Schlegel

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Veterans Legacy Program - Jordan L. Bear

Strategic Competition And Escalation Management In The 21st Century: Russian Hybrid Warfare And China’S Rise, Raymond L. Reilly Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) and the unclassified version of the U.S. National Defense Strategy (NDS) both focus on China and Russia as preeminent challenges for the United States. The NDS states specifically, “Long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia are the principal priorities for the Department [of Defense].”¹ This paper focuses on the strategic challenges that these two nations pose and provides recommendations for U.S. strategy and policy. Globalization and the rapid advancement of technology has changed the utility of force in the 21st century. The utility of force has evolved, resulting in a shift in the …

An Economic Analysis Of Cyber Warfare Governance Models, Kevin M. Kelleher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Allusions to death delivered by bits and bytes have been in vogue since the Reagan administration. Yet, as the internet and its connected devices have since proliferated, cyber violence remains far more fiction than fact. Nevertheless, prominent U.S. officials have all but assured the eventuality of a devastating attack. In anticipation, political, legal, and industry experts are now seeking to codify and inculcate international norms to govern acts of war prosecuted via cyberspace. Two of the most prominent governance models to emerge are the Tallinn Manual and Microsoft’s Digital Geneva Convention. The driving thesis of this research argues that within …

Shoulder To Shoulder Yet Worlds Apart: Variations In Women's Integration In The Militaries Of France, Norway, And The United States, Kyleanne Hunter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women have become an essential part of Western militaries. Particularly concerning the experience of NATO militaries in Afghanistan, there has been much public attention on the role of women in the military. While Western militaries are often studied as a whole with regards to military operations, there is variation in both how women are employed in the military and the experience they have as service members. This dissertation seeks to understand the cause of this variation by examining three critical cases: France, Norway and the United States.

In this dissertation, I argue foundational beliefs about gender equality affect the institutional …