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International and Area Studies

Selected Works

2015

Articles 91 - 117 of 117

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Transnational Activism And World Politics, Engin Erdem Dec 2014

Transnational Activism And World Politics, Engin Erdem

ENGIN I ERDEM Dr.

Transnational activism has become increasingly salient dynamics of world politics in recent decades. Thousands of transnational actors -advocacy networks, social movements, non-governmental organizations and other activists- work for various causes regarding human rights, environment, women’s rights, development, peace and etc. Overall, transnational activism challenges the fundamental characteristic of the modern nation-state system: sovereignty. As a result, the increasing quantity of transnational activism has led to controversies in the field of international relations (IR) theories. While realist theories look them skeptically, neoliberal institutionalism gives them some role in world politics. Constructivism takes them seriously as carries of norms and challengers of …

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Beyond Exile: The Ramayana As A Living Narrative Among Indo-Fijians In Fiji And New Zealand, Kevin Miller Dec 2014

Beyond Exile: The Ramayana As A Living Narrative Among Indo-Fijians In Fiji And New Zealand, Kevin Miller

Kevin C. Miller

Drawing on the themes of collective memory, cultural ideologies, and narrative constructions, this chapter proposes to examine the narrative of the Ramayana epic, its exegesis through performance, and its continued relevance to identity formation among Indo-Fijian Hindus both within Fiji and its Pacific Rim diaspora. Based on the recasting of the “twice-migrated” Indo-Fijian as the “twice-banished” by certain observers, we might expect the meaning of the Ramayana in the lives of Indo-Fijian Hindus in New Zealand to shift towards the theme of Rama’s exile, just as it did for the indentured laborers who made the original journey to Fiji. Nevertheless, …

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Avrupa Birliği Sürecinin Türk Demokrasisine Etkisi, Engin Erdem Dec 2014

Avrupa Birliği Sürecinin Türk Demokrasisine Etkisi, Engin Erdem

ENGIN I ERDEM Dr.

The book chapter examines Turkey's EU accesion process with regard to its repercussions on Turkey's democracy.

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A Short History Of Wire Service Photography, Zeynep Gürsel Dec 2014

A Short History Of Wire Service Photography, Zeynep Gürsel

Zeynep Devrim Gürsel

No abstract provided.

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"On Translating Taiji", Joseph Adler Dec 2014

"On Translating Taiji", Joseph Adler

Joseph Adler

No abstract provided.

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Regional Integration And Democratic Conditionality: How Democracy Clauses Help Democratic Consolidation And Deepening, Gaspare Genna, Taeko Hiroi Dec 2014

Regional Integration And Democratic Conditionality: How Democracy Clauses Help Democratic Consolidation And Deepening, Gaspare Genna, Taeko Hiroi

Gaspare M Genna

How effective are democracy clauses of regional integration organizations (RIOs) in promoting democratization and democratic consolidation among member-states? RIOs are increasingly adopting "democracy only" clauses in their treaties, requiring democracy and political stability as a condition of membership. Stable democracy is a collective good for RIO members; without political stability, uncertainty regarding economic exchange increases, undermining the promise of integration. The presence of powerful countries may be necessary for the RIOs to legalize democratic conditionality. In this book, the authors argue that once established democracy clauses exert an independent influence in promoting and defending democratic norms and institutions within the …

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Image Brokers: Visualizing World News In The Age Of Digital Circulation, Zeynep Gürsel Dec 2014

Image Brokers: Visualizing World News In The Age Of Digital Circulation, Zeynep Gürsel

Zeynep Devrim Gürsel

No abstract provided.

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Citizenship And Identities In The Czech And Slovak Republics, Nadya Nedelsky Dec 2014

Citizenship And Identities In The Czech And Slovak Republics, Nadya Nedelsky

Nadya Nedelsky

No abstract provided.

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Pakistan, India And China In Afghanistan After Us Drawdown, Rabia Akhtar Dec 2014

Pakistan, India And China In Afghanistan After Us Drawdown, Rabia Akhtar

Rabia Akhtar, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

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Engaging Students In Disaster Relief Training Exercises, John Fisher, Muhaedin Bela Dec 2014

Engaging Students In Disaster Relief Training Exercises, John Fisher, Muhaedin Bela

Dr. John R. Fisher

Training and exercises are commonly used among first responders to prepare them for disasters and other emergency situations. Emergency management students from Utah Valley University in the United States shared what they have learned about disaster preparedness and response with university students in the Balkans. The six students divided into teams of two and taught three groups of 15 students each. The Utah Valley University students trained 45 Macedonian students about disaster response principles, search and rescue, triage, and emergency medical care. The training was followed by three simulated exercises. The American students were interviewed about their experience. They reported …

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Aging Out Of Care In Ethiopia: Challenges And Implications Facing Orphans And Vulnerable Youth, Julia Pryce Dec 2014

Aging Out Of Care In Ethiopia: Challenges And Implications Facing Orphans And Vulnerable Youth, Julia Pryce

Julia Pryce

This interpretive study examines the experiences of 54 Ethiopian emerging adults who had aged out of institutional care facilities. Findings are derived from interviews and focus groups in which questions and activities focused on the challenges faced by participants and the supports they relied on throughout the transition process. These young adults reported facing many chal- lenges upon leaving care, including difficulty finding gainful and interesting employment, a lack of many basic life skills, difficulty finding a support network, and significant stigma in the community due to their background in care. These challenges led to problems in creating any security …

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Teaching Progress: A Critique Of The Grand Narrative Of Human Rights As Pedagogy For Marginalized Studentsitle, Mikaila Arthur, Robyn Linde Dec 2014

Teaching Progress: A Critique Of The Grand Narrative Of Human Rights As Pedagogy For Marginalized Studentsitle, Mikaila Arthur, Robyn Linde

Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur

With the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, education about human rights became an important focus of the new human rights regime and a core method of spreading its values throughout the world. This story of human rights is consistently presented as a progressive teleology that contextualizes the expansion of rights within a larger grand narrative of liberalization, emancipation, and social justice. This paper examines the disjuncture between the grand narrative on international movements for human rights and social justice and the lived experiences of marginalized students in urban environments in the United States. Drawing on …

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Self-Censorship In Conflicts: Israel And The 1948 Palestinian Exodus, Rafi Nets-Zehngut Dec 2014

Self-Censorship In Conflicts: Israel And The 1948 Palestinian Exodus, Rafi Nets-Zehngut

Dr. Rafi Nets-Zehngut (Israel)

The typical collective memories of societies involved in intractable conflicts play a major role in the eruption and continuation of the conflicts, whereas the positive transformation of these memories to being less self-serving promotes peacemaking. A major factor that inhibits such transformation is self-censorship. Self-censorship, prac- ticed by members of a society’s formal institutions, inhibits the dissemination of alternative, more accurate narratives of the conflict that may change dominating biased conflict-supporting memories. Despite the importance of formal self-censorship in maintaining collective memories of conflicts, little empirical and theoretical research has examined this phenomenon. The present study addresses this omission. It …

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Policy Change And Coups: The Role Of Income Inequality And Asset Specificity, Taeko Hiroi, Sawa Omori Dec 2014

Policy Change And Coups: The Role Of Income Inequality And Asset Specificity, Taeko Hiroi, Sawa Omori

Taeko Hiroi

Building on the models developed by Boix, Acemoglu, and Robinson on the relationship between economic structures and regime change, we develop a theory that emphasizes structural characteristics of societies and the effects of policy change in such circumstances. We posit that significant policy change in an unequal or asset-specific society induces coups against the incumbent political leader by the losing faction of the elites seeking to prevent or cut losses associated with the policy shifts. Our empirical analysis indicates that the risk of a coup rises considerably during a period of a significant policy change in a society with a …

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Petronation? Oil, Gas, And National Identity In Russia, Peter Rutland Dec 2014

Petronation? Oil, Gas, And National Identity In Russia, Peter Rutland

Peter Rutland

Based on survey research, elite interviews, and an analysis of media treatment, this article explores the place of oil and gas in Russia’s national narrative and self-identity. Objectively, Russia’s economic development, political stability, and ability to project power abroad rest on its oil and gas resources. Subjectively, however, Russians are somewhat reluctant to accept that oil and gas dependency is part of their national identity. This is particularly true of the elites who play a crucial role in defining the dominant national narrative. Ordinary Russians generally have quite positive attitudes about the role of Gazprom and Russia’s emergence as an …

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Nuclear Learning In South Asia, Rabia Akhtar Dec 2014

Nuclear Learning In South Asia, Rabia Akhtar

Rabia Akhtar, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

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Inclusive And Catholic: Challenging The Myth With Reality, Nasser A. Razek Dec 2014

Inclusive And Catholic: Challenging The Myth With Reality, Nasser A. Razek

Nasser A Razek

This qualitative study explored the multifaceted issue of cultural and religious challenges for an international Muslim group at a Catholic research institution. Measures employed by university community to assert the friendliness of campus to students from other religions and student perceptions of the effectiveness of these measures are surveyed to reveal the inclusion of students from several religious affiliations, especially Muslim
students. The study was based on several data collection methods including, surveys, content analysis of religious prayers performed at university functions, and in depth interviews with Muslim students. However, this report is mainly focused on the interview findings. Data …

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German Foreign Fighters In Syria And Iraq, Daniel H. Heinke, Jan Raudszus Dec 2014

German Foreign Fighters In Syria And Iraq, Daniel H. Heinke, Jan Raudszus

Dr. Daniel H. Heinke

Description of socio-demographic data on German Islamist fighters for the "Islamic State"/ISIL in Syria and Iraq; discussion of governmental countermeasures.

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The 2014 Presidential And Legislative Elections In Bolivia, Miguel Centellas Dec 2014

The 2014 Presidential And Legislative Elections In Bolivia, Miguel Centellas

Miguel Centellas

No abstract provided.

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Syllabus Inr 3061 (U01): Conflict, Security, And Peace In International Relations (Fall 2015), Lukas K. Danner Dec 2014

Syllabus Inr 3061 (U01): Conflict, Security, And Peace In International Relations (Fall 2015), Lukas K. Danner

Dr. Lukas K. Danner

War and peace are two intermittent outcomes of the continuous and dynamic nature of social interactions in world politics. In turn, these social events are connected by social conflicts that may, or may not degenerate into a crisis situation and war. Thus, this course will explore the genesis of social conflicts, their possible resolution, or their ultimate degeneration into crisis and war. Since the conflict-crisis-war cycle is born out and nurtured during times of “peace,” we will focus on that tract of time in order to understand the nature of social conflicts, the evolution into crisis, and the conditions for …

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Cost-Oriented Agile Innovation For Mechatronics Management In Less Developed Regions, Edmond Hajrizi, Muzafer Shala, Valmir Hoxha, Larry Stapleton Dec 2014

Cost-Oriented Agile Innovation For Mechatronics Management In Less Developed Regions, Edmond Hajrizi, Muzafer Shala, Valmir Hoxha, Larry Stapleton

Edmond Hajrizi

Cost-oriented automation has a long tradition in IFAC and attracts a lot of attention in literatures associated, for example, with business process improvement. Whilst process-oriented cost reduction (such as LEAN for example) have been widely disseminated, in recent years practical cost-oriented solutions for automatic processes have not been reported so much in the literature. This is surprising given the increasing constraints upon, for example, manufacturing organisations in less developed peripheral regions. This paper re-energises the cost-oriented automation discourse by presenting projects which have used low-cost digital solutions to achieve potentially excellent results. The main contribution of the paper is to …

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The Contemporary Ethnic Minority In China: An Introduction, Margaret Maurer-Fazio, Reza Hasmath Dec 2014

The Contemporary Ethnic Minority In China: An Introduction, Margaret Maurer-Fazio, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

This article introduces the historical context behind the practice of fixed ethnic identification currently employed in the People’s Republic of China. Notwithstanding the major problems to clearly delineate the boundaries of many ethnic groups in the Chinese context, the article contends there was a strong pragmatism for officially classifying ethnic minority groups rather than adopting the self-identification method used in many Western nations. Finally, the article poses the query whether ethnic minority status continues to hold a meaningful category of analysis in contemporary China.

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Syllabus Cpo 3103 (U02): Comparative Politics Of Western Europe (Fall 2015), Lukas K. Danner Dec 2014

Syllabus Cpo 3103 (U02): Comparative Politics Of Western Europe (Fall 2015), Lukas K. Danner

Dr. Lukas K. Danner

This course is a comparative introduction to the governmental systems and current political issues in Europe, with a concentration on Western Europe. The focus will be on a selection of European states and the European Union (EU) as overarching integration project. Through a comparative approach, domestic politics and policymaking, structures and functions of political institutions and political transitions will be analyzed with particular attention to political culture, governance and political parties. The course will include a combination of lecture and discussions as well as active learning exercises.

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(2015) "Changing Rural Markets In India: A Place Of Possibilities And Opportunities For Rural Development", Dr. Mohammad Muqeet Khan Dec 2014

(2015) "Changing Rural Markets In India: A Place Of Possibilities And Opportunities For Rural Development", Dr. Mohammad Muqeet Khan

Dr. Mohammad Muqeet Khan

No abstract provided.

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Elders Leading The Way To Resilience, Emi Kiyota, Yasuhiro Tanaka, Margaret Arnold, Daniel P. Aldrich Dec 2014

Elders Leading The Way To Resilience, Emi Kiyota, Yasuhiro Tanaka, Margaret Arnold, Daniel P. Aldrich

Daniel P Aldrich

The theory of change behind this project draws on multiple constructs, including elder empowerment, ibasho, community bonding, social capital, and community resilience. 1. Empowering elders changes the way they feel about their role in their community 2. Creating the Ibasho Café (both physical and social infrastructures) with elders in a leadership role increases the community bonding among the members of all ages 3. A strong sense of community bonding increases the level of social network and community participation, enhancing the sense of belonging and trust, and developing reciprocity between neighbors 4. An enhanced sense of social capital strengthens the community’s …

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The Aspirational State: State Effects In Putumayo, Winifred L. Tate Dec 2014

The Aspirational State: State Effects In Putumayo, Winifred L. Tate

Winifred L. Tate

At the turn of the millennium, conditions in the Putumayo region of Colombia challenged
virtually every aspect of the standard narrative of the relations between state, society, territory,
citizenship, and rights. The normative ideal of modern state-society relations assumes territorial
control via a state apparatus capable of guaranteeing citizens’ rights and the rule of law when
threatened by illegal activities, armed actors undermining the state’s monopoly of force, or
interference from other nation-states. In Putumayo, however, it was not the national state
apparatus that attempted to safeguard the rights of citizens but rather a criminalized population of
smallholding cocaleros (coca …

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An Unnecessary War: The Geopolitical Roots Of The Ukraine Crisis, Peter Rutland Dec 2014

An Unnecessary War: The Geopolitical Roots Of The Ukraine Crisis, Peter Rutland

Peter Rutland

To a large degree, the tragic events that unfolded in Ukraine in 2013-14 were driven by developments beyond Ukraine’s borders. Of course, domestic factors also played a crucial role, and Ukrainian political actors at all points across the political spectrum must share in the blame for what transpired. But it was Ukraine’s ambiguous geopolitical position, and the clumsy interventions of competing outside powers pursuing their own self-centered agendas, that pushed Ukraine’s log-jammed domestic politics over the brink into violent civil war.

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