Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Race And Racial Exclusion In Security Studies: A Survey Of Scholars, Kelebogile Zvobgo, Arturo C. Sotomayor, Maria Rost Rublee, Meredith Loken, Et Al.

Arts & Sciences Articles

Increased attention to racialized knowledge and methodological whiteness has swept the political science discipline, especially international relations. Yet an important dimension of race and racism continues to be ignored: the presence and status of scholars of color in the discipline. In contrast to other fields, there is little research on (under)representation of scholars of color in security studies, and no systematic studies of race and racial exclusion that center their voices and experiences. Building on scholarship that contends with the fundamental whiteness of academia and knowledge creation, we present results from a 2019 survey of members of the International Security …

Why Are Post-Conflict Countries More Inequitable?, Claire Cole

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Why is there continuing socio-economic inequity in post-conflict countries? Post-conflict governments are too weak to prosper and function cleanly, resorting to making deals with and allowing multinational corporations inside its system, resulting in governmental capture. Multinational corporations contribute to the disparity of wealth in post-conflict zones, often ignoring the community and partnering with the government. There is a question of whether Western and European countries actually have a humanitarian interest or self-interest in post-conflict countries. This research includes a comparative study that aims to show how foreign investment shifts during conflict, where each country scores on transparency and corruption; where …

The Eagle’S Eye On The Rising Dragon: Why The United States Has Shifted Its View Of China, Jackson Scott

Baker Scholar Projects

Since 1978, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has long been viewed as an economic trading partner of the United States of America (US). The PRC has grown to be an economic powerhouse, and the US directly helped with that process and still benefits from it. However, during the mid-2010’s, US rhetoric began to turn sour against the PRC. The American government rhetoric toward the PRC, beginning with the Obama administration, switched. As Trump’s administration came along, they bolstered this rhetoric from non-friendly to more or less hostile. Then, Biden’s administration strengthened Trump’s rhetoric. Over the past ten years or …

Centrality And Compliance: Unitary Vs. Federalist Political Systems In The Implementation Of The Kyoto Protocol In Argentina And Uruguay, Aidan Homan

Baker Scholar Projects

When Uruguay and Argentina first gained their respective independence in the early 1800s, they appeared to be following the same path of development As countries that came from the same Spanish colonization, share almost identical agricultural economies, and retain a close relationship, it is logical that they would follow similar trajectories. This assumption proves to be inaccurate in more ways than one, but most prominently within the environmental sphere. One way to analyze this difference in policy implementation lies in compliance with international environmental treaties which contain specific goals and limits for all parties involved. The Kyoto Protocol presents a …

The Development Of Health System Resiliency: How Kenya's Experience With Malaria Impacted Its Reaction To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Zoe A. Ward

Baker Scholar Projects

Public health scholars have recently focused on health system resiliency to explain how previous experiences dealing with public health crises impact the healthcare sector, public behavior, and policy response to novel crises. However, it is unclear how resiliency develops. This study contributes by testing whether a health system’s experience with a health emergency and significant interventions impacts the response to a novel crisis. This research asks, “How has Kenya’s experience with malaria impacted its response to COVID-19?” Using the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS), I develop a malaria adherence score to measure county-level compliance …

Does Electoral Proximity Influence Commitment To International Human Rights Law?, Nolan Ragland

Baker Scholar Projects

The core international human rights treaties from the United Nations have been signed and ratified by varying groups of states, and much of previous research has been dominated by a desire to explain ratification of international human rights law (IHRL) through the democratic lock-in effect and states’ economic and political ties to one another. In this paper, I seek to understand when states are ratifying IHRL, testing whether the presence of elections influences commitment to three of the nine core international human rights treaties: the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of …

The Eagle’S Eye On The Rising Dragon: Why The United States Has Shifted Its View Of China, Jackson Craig Scott

Baker Scholar Projects

Since 1978, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has long been viewed as an economic trading partner of the United States of America (US). The PRC has grown to be an economic powerhouse, and the US directly helped with that process and still benefits from it. However, during the mid-2010’s, US rhetoric began to turn sour against the PRC. The American government rhetoric toward the PRC, beginning with the Obama administration, switched. As Trump’s administration came along, they bolstered this rhetoric from non-friendly to more or less hostile. Then, Biden’s administration strengthened Trump’s rhetoric. Over the past ten years or …

Art Of Community, Nayely Furcal Marte

Global Studies Student Scholarship

Nayely Furcal Marte ’23
Major: Business Economics and Global Studies
Faculty Mentor: Nicholas Longo, Global Studies

Art has been used to create a spacious place for many people and has been a way to express themselves differently without using communication. There are many ways to do art: art can be painting, sculpture, literature, agriculture, cinema, music, or theater, no matter how individuals use it to help release emotions. Creating art as the artist or using it as the audience can help lift depression and positively heal mental health. Using art as a way of healing has represented patients and individuals …

How Texas Migration Patterns Changed During The Pandemic, Pia M. Orrenius, Madeline Zavodny

Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center Research

The Covid-19 pandemic led to changes in where Americans work and live. The pandemic also affected international migration as borders were closed to nonessential travel and consulates shut down, slowing visa processing. These changes had implications for Texas, a state that has traditionally experienced large-scale domestic and international migration. This project also talks about the factors that positioned Texas to benefit from pandemic-induced changes in domestic migration patterns.

Fuelling Transition Or Entropy?, Sarah El-Shaarawi

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

When Consensus Is Reached, Miguel Ruiz Cabañas

Faculty Journal Articles

The outcome of the UN climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh gives hope for climate justice, but leaves behind many challenges for the upcoming COP28 in Dubai.

The Analysis Of Wartime Rape Using Postmodern Feminism In The Conflicts Of Sierra Leone 1991, Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992, Darfur 2003, Allyssa Sabelle Chua

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

This research examines how patriarchal institutions weaponize the act of rape in times of conflict. Rape is understood and conceptualized through the language of masculinity, especially the dominance of the masculine recognized and practiced in various cultures. Postmodern feminists argued that a woman or femininity is regulated, constructed, and defined by men through gender roles and symbols. As such, a woman does not exist as her own individual, but follows a constructed identity given by patriarchal institutions. In the theater of war, when a man rapes a woman, she is not only a victim of this violation, but further, the …

Paved With Good Intentions? A Geopolitical Analysis Of The Belt And Road Initiative In Central And Eastern Europe, Vincent Zhang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this analysis is to reveal the geopolitical and geoeconomic significance of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to the region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Launched in 2013 as a proposal for increased economic interconnectivity between China and Kazakhstan, the BRI has since grown to encompass hundreds of countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe. The region of CEE is of note as it is coterminous with important regional groupings like the 14 + 1 Cooperative Framework between China & CEE and a point of overlapping interests from actors like the European Union (EU), North Atlantic Treaty …

Geopolitics Of Semiconductor Supply Chains: The Case Of Tsmc, Us-China-Taiwan Relations, And The Covid-19 Crisis, Aditya Sehgal

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As the demand for more advanced forms of technology continues to grow, so does the global importance and reliance on semiconductors. This research paper examines the impact of semiconductor shortages on both consumer and military production, as well as the geopolitical implications embedded within the global supply chain.

The paper begins by providing an overview of semiconductors, the global semiconductor market, and the impact of COVID-19 on the industry’s supply chain. It also discusses the importance of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in the industry and its role in addressing semiconductor shortages.

Next, the paper discusses the impact of …

Strengthening Collaboration Between Washington State And British Columbia, Ginny Broadhurst, Laurie D. Trautman

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

There are a variety of benefits that arise from collaboration across the Canada-US border. In some sectors, the value of collaboration is measurable. For example, travel or trade volumes can be equated with specific economic benefits. This is the case with tourism and supply chain networks. There are traceable benefits associated with cross-border business integration and the development of a shared ‘innovation ecosystem’. However, how does one measure the value of having good relations with neighbors? Or the benefits that result from developing more resilient environmental and economic conditions that are created by joint responses to shared natural disasters? The …

Bigger Is Better? Re-Evaluating Nato Enlargement In The Post-Cold War Period, Matthew Mccracken

Senior Honors Theses

Since the end of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has grown substantially from its pre-1990 boundary between the two Germanys to encompass 15 new members with its border pressing eastward toward the former Soviet states and up to Russia proper. At the same time, East-West relations have sunk from a high point in the 1990s to a new low unseen since the Cold War culminating in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Top-ranking officials on both sides of the Atlantic cautioned successive U.S. administrations against heedlessly seeking to admit new members into NATO for fear that it …

Investigating The Detriment Of Development Assistance: A Geopolitical Analysis Of Sino-Djibouti Relations Through The Lens Of China’S Belt And Road Initiative, Elizabeth Elenwo-Roger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research paper will evaluate Africa’s past with debt accumulation, focusing on the role of the Washington Consensus spearheaded by the Bretton Woods Institutions in its failed attempts to relieve the continent’s debt distresses and further aggravate Africa’s already fractured relationship with the West. It will highlight the goals of the Belt and Road Initiative, assessing China’s South-South cooperation approach to its relations with Djibouti and the Horn of Africa. Specifically, it will investigate claims of China engaging in debt-trap diplomacy and the extent to which this term infringes upon the agency of African leaders. The general research question investigates …

Views Of Judaism And Jewish People In Jordan: Political, Social, Historical, And Religious Considerations, Thalia Gustina

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this research was to find out what the general view of Judaism and Jewish people is within Jordan and what factors play into these views. There were a few aspects of this topic that were specifically focused on in this study. The impact of Israel on the way that Jewish people are perceived was one of the main topics explored. Part of this was looking at the history of Judaism and Jewish people in the Arab World and how the relationship between them and their non-Jewish neighbors changed after the creation of Israel. As a majority Muslim …

A Transition Point: The Role Of The Global Power Shift In Facilitating Saudi Internal Reforms, Aidan Aguilar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The increasing political and economic influence of China represents a pivotal point within international relations. This paper aims to explore the implications of this global power shift on Saudi Arabia’s attempted economic reforms. The Kingdom’s reliance on oil has created an unsustainable economic model, and this model is intrinsically linked to Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States. Its growing relationship with China could create change. As such, this paper analyzes the intersection of economics and security in relation to the Saudi Vision 2030. I argue that, not only does China serve as an important source of the investment necessary …

Eu Migration Policy: Analyzing The Coercive Responses Of Transit Countries Within The Eu’S Framework Of Externalization, Emily Swan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper seeks to analyze the intersection between the EU’s increasingly securitized and externalized policies towards migration, and instances of the weaponization of migration on the EU’s external borders. Although scholars have analyzed cases in which states harness migrants as political weapons, depoliticized most depictions apply a moralistic lens that frames these cases as aberrant, decontextualized, and political events. This paper will complicate understandings of the weaponization of migration by analyzing how EU policies of externalization and securitization systematically shape the environment in which it becomes politically advantageous for leaders, such as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Alexander Lukashenko, to resort …

Poland And The Ukraine War: A Geopolitical Analysis, Thomas Pitney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Poland’s geopolitical role has enhanced since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. As such, Poland’s ambitions have increasingly important implications for regional, European, and global security. The paper attempts to address this phenomenon by posing the following research question: how does Poland pursue its interests in the Ukraine War? Employing qualitative methods on data collected from three formal interviews, one virtual interview, one informal interview, four statements from Poland’s leaders, and a variety of secondary sources, the study aims to answer this question modeling Gyula Csurgai’s (2019) geopolitical analysis framework. The research question is addressed in two ways. …

"I Want You The Feel The Fear That I Feel Every Day": An Analysis Of How Climate Change Affects Youth Political Participation, Kristina Norbury

Honors College

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the connection between climate change and youth political participation. Using data from a large, cross-national survey done by the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, this project analyzed young people’s emotional responses to climate change. This project synthesized and brought together two threads of scholarly literature in order to make claims about how emotional responses to climate change may be influencing youth political engagement. The line of scholarship explores how emotions traditionally influence political behavior. This research indicated that emotions such as anxiety can have a debilitating effect on people and …

Where The Border Ends: How Reactive Policies To Terrorism Became Conduits For Drone Technology And The Enclosure Of Wealthy Nations, Arron Mitchell

PPPA Paper Prize

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (1996) and the USA PATRIOT Act (2001) are two key examples of reactive policies enacted in response to terrorist attacks on American soil. Expedited passage of both pieces of legislation were reliant on the public’s support for government action in wake of recent atrocities. These acts gave particular attention to securing the nation’s borders, directing an increase in funding for Border Patrol in order to prevent future terrorist attacks. This essay will connect the increased funding for border security directed by Congress with the defense industry’s pursuit of funding and outlets for drone …

All Bark And No Byte: A Case Study On Nuclear Weapons' Role In Cyber Deterrence, Phuc Nguyen

Honors Theses

In what some scholars consider a marked departure from its traditional policy, the U.S.' 2018 Nuclear Deterrence Posture Review declared that the U.S. would consider the use of nuclear weapons in response to "significant, non-nuclear strategic attacks." However, despite real-world examples of the type of significant cyberattacks on U.S., allied, or partner civilian population or infrastructure alluded to in the Review, the factors that might trigger multidomain escalation remain underexplored, which creates a credibility gap in the U.S.' deterrence policy. This paper explores these factors by providing a case study of the North Korean WannaCry and Russian NotPetya cyberattacks and …

Climate Change And Darfur: A Holistic Security Approach, Salma Sakr

Capstone and Graduation Projects

Climate change is a non-traditional security issue that has evolved into an existential global security threat through its transnational nature. It has direct human security implications that through time turns into indirect traditional security ramifications, which results in higher rates of intrastate conflicts along with regional spillover impacts that destabilizes the geopolitical landscape. Through a comparison of the contexts in Darfur in 1983 and 2003 along with the repercussions that Darfurians face nowadays, I argue that climate change, as a threat multiplier, is the main driver of armed conflicts in Darfur through inter-communal competition over the scarcity of resources that …

Tea As A Motivator For British Imperialism In China, Grayden R. Varisco

CAFE Symposium 2023

This poster is based on a research paper that sought to find out what influence the tea trade had on developments in Sino-British relations in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Through research, the paper concluded that the strong British desire for tea influenced British attempts to change its relationship with China, as a more "open" China would lead to more and cheaper tea for Britain. Ultimately, this desire led to Britain flooding China with addictive, illicit opium, and waging the imperialistic Opium Wars against China.

Utilization Of Propaganda Throughout The Great War: A Revolutionary Experience, Andrew R. Thibaudeau

CAFE Symposium 2023

This project delves into the impact of propaganda on countries and citizens throughout World War I. It shows how the impacts of this bloodless revolution still resonate in society today, and how it has changed the world eternally, especially with the modern usage of the internet.

Two Responsibilities To Protect, Patrick Quinton-Brown

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The purpose of this paper is to re-theorize the evolution of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) in the UN through to 2011, the apogee of liberal interventionism in the post-Cold War period. Contrary to a common argument in existing literature, and notwithstanding the adoption of the concept as an annual agenda item of the General Assembly, international contestation is not about implementation as neatly separated from meaning, but rather definition or interpretation. To better understand the boundaries of intergovernmental understanding, we need to interrogate the language or terms of the debate, particularly the ways in which those terms have been …

U.S. Energy Information Administration Information Resources, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Provides information about the resources produced by U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. These resources cover energy statistics for U.S., states, the United States, and foreign countries. They also cover energy products as varied as coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, petroleum, and renewable energy.

Arlen Specter: How A Jewish Boy From Kansas Became A Mediator For Middle East Peace, Georgia G. Skuza

Arlen Specter Center Research Fellowship

Amongst all the things Senator Arlen Specter had accomplished in his thirty years as a United States Senator, one of the most fascinating is that of the late Senators work on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The long-held debate of the borders surrounding Israel & Palestine has made politicians and people chose sides. As a Jewish individual, Senator Specter had to set aside his religious and personal beliefs to affectively pass legislation in the state of Pennsylvania and United States Congress. One of Senator Specter’s largest areas of study was Middle East Diplomacy. His Pro-Israel stance led him to have an aura …