Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Autonomy Plan In Morocco: Legal Foundations, Political Dimensions And Prospects For Resolving The Sahara Conflict, Limam Boussif, Jalila Ait Soudane

Journal of Maya Heritage

Summary: The territorial conflict over the Sahara is one of the most enduring territorial disputes in international relations, involving issues of sovereignty, self-determination, and regional stability. In this context, Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Plan is presented as a negotiated framework of self-government under Moroccan sovereignty.

This article analyzes the evolution and consolidation of the Autonomy Plan using a conceptual approach based on self-determination, territorial governance, and conflict resolution theories. It shows that the initiative has progressively evolved from a national proposal into an internationally recognized framework, particularly through growing diplomatic support and developments within the United Nations Security Council, including Resolution …

Les Grands Chantiers De La Transition Énergétique Au Maroc: Le Cas De Dakhla-Oued Eddahab Entre Réalisations, Facteurs De Réussite Et Perspectives, Limam Boussif, Jalila Ait Soudane

Journal of Maya Heritage

Résumé: Cet article examine la dynamique de la transition énergétique au Maroc à travers une analyse descriptive et analytique du cas de Dakhla-Oued Eddahab. Dans un contexte marqué par l’accélération des politiques de décarbonation à l’échelle mondiale, le Maroc s’impose comme un acteur stratégique en matière de développement des énergies renouvelables et de l’hydrogène vert. L’étude met en lumière les principaux chantiers structurants engagés dans la région de Dakhla, notamment le développement des énergies éolienne et solaire, les projets de production d’hydrogène vert, le dessalement de l’eau de mer, ainsi que la réalisation du port Dakhla Atlantique. L’analyse montre que …

Flowing Borders: U.S. Border Externalization In Latin America And The Los Angeles Declaration On Migration And Protection, Magdalena Olvera Hernandez

Master's Theses

In recent years, Latin America has emerged as a central transit region for extracontinental migrants originating from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East who seek to reach North America through alternative routes. This thesis examines the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, among other regional migration governance frameworks that have reshaped migratory flows, state responsibilities, and protection outcomes in the Western Hemisphere. Focusing on the Darién Gap as a strategic chokepoint, the study analyzes the effects of coordinated migration policies, border externalization, and differentiated state roles on extracontinental mobility.

Drawing on official migration statistics from Panama, the United States, …

A Qualitative Study Into The Impact Of Sweeps On Homeless-Serving Mutual Aid Groups In Portland, Or, Clover Javurek-Humig

Dissertations and Theses

Sweeps and land use enforcement are among the most persistent issues impacting unhoused communities. Mutual aid groups in Portland network with unhoused people regularly to mitigate the impacts of sweeps, provide direct aid, and build social capital among encampments. This study aims to understand the impact of policing and sweeps on mutual aid groups working with unhoused communities in Portland, OR. I conducted 18 interviews with mutual aid organizers and 8 months of fieldwork with mutual aid groups in Portland, OR in the years of 2025–2026. Transcripts were analyzed using a general inductive approach. This study finds that 1) Mutual …

Operational Responsibility In Ai Governance: A User-Centric Liability Framework, Zhengyang Chen

Faculty Publications

Who bears responsibility when artificial intelligence systems cause harm? This question has become central to AI ethics and governance. Most existing approaches focus on developers, yet this faces serious practical and theoretical problems. Drawing on tort law, agency law, and philosophy of technology, this paper argues that AI should be understood as an instrument whose outputs remain the responsibility of human operators rather than developers. We call this 'user-centric governance.' Placing accountability with deployers promotes public trust by creating clear lines of responsibility, a concern that governance approaches have often overlooked. It preserves democratic accountability by keeping human actors answerable …

Beyond The Ban: Chhaupadi Abolition And The Governance Of Menstrual Autonomy In Western Nepal, Nikita Paudel

Master in Public Policy Theses

This thesis examines how two decades of efforts to abolish chhaupadi have shaped the everyday conditions under which women and girls experience menstruation in western Nepal. Chhaupadi, commonly understood as menstrual seclusion, has been addressed through Supreme Court directives, national policy, criminal law, municipal implementation instruments, hut demolition campaigns, public health programming, and rights-based advocacy. Yet the practice has persisted, adapted, and in some cases moved into less visible spaces. Rather than treating this as a simple gap between law and practice, this thesis asks how abolition efforts themselves have become part of the regulatory regime through which menstruation is …

Incorporating Principles And Wisdom From Hospital Chaplaincy And Pastoral Ministry To Create A Ministry Model To Address Social Isolation And Loneliness In Black Churches, Albert A. Kemp

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

To address the growing and widespread epidemic of social isolation and loneliness, with special focus on Black churches, this dissertation developed a program with the following areas of application: 1) how healthcare trained chaplains can coordinate with churches to positively impact individuals identified as lonely and socially isolated with better social and physical health, 2) how principles of chaplaincy and pastoral care can mitigate and intervene competently when such people are identified, and 3) how the project’s model can be organized, taught, and incorporated into existing arenas of church ministry.

The purpose of the project was to create a ministry …

Variations In Moral Decision Making: In Morally Ambiguous Scenarios, Riley N. Eaton, Victoria Kempton, Edward Lansing, Troy R. Welker

Aurora

People are tasked with making decisions that often come with consequences, whether it be for someone else or themselves. Due to this, there is an ambiguity in understanding what is “right” and “wrong” in a given scenario. However, limited research has examined how interpersonal relationships and intensity of the punishment may affect this decision-making process. This study examines the effect of interpersonal closeness and punishment intensity on moral decision-making, defined in terms of fairness and empathy. Participants (N = 54) from a midwestern university were randomly assigned to one of three interpersonal closeness conditions (close friend vs. close friend, close …

Red, Blue, And Bordered: Factors Influencing Immigration Attitudes, Estefania Morales Vilchis

Political Science Student Papers and Posters

The paper will explore the various social and individual variables that will impact how people perceive immigration as either beneficial to society or a societal threat. Some of the primary variables that will be examined in detail are one’s political affiliation, age, and geographical location; this will address the profound "why" behind our current beliefs on newcomers. The study will particularly address the "Contact Hypothesis" versus "Group Threat Theory" through the lens of how one's personal experiences with immigrants, or lack of, will shape public opinion. The study will focus on the rising psychological issue of "demographic anxiety", specifically, fears …

Welcome Tilly Norwood: Forecasting Hollywood’S Ai Policy Futures, Samuel P. Rooker

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

In late 2025, weekly trade publication Variety Magazine reported on the announcement of a new acting talent in Hollywood: Tilly Norwood. Norwood is an industry outsider and the pet project of Eline Van der Velden, who unveiled the actress’ existence to the world at the Zurich Film Festival. The announcement quickly gained media coverage while Van der Velden has since faced cyclical backlash from Hollywood trade unions, which does not seem entirely without reason. Tilly Norwood is a digital persona, a generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) program, designed by Van der Velden’s novel AI talent studio, Xicoia, to become the next …

Hammurabi’S Laws: Ancient Traditions Of Violence, Aaron Secrist

The Confluence

The tradition of enforcing private property through violence is truly ancient, and goes back thousands of years to the first civilizations. There exists a prevailing attitude that contemporary culture is more “civilized” than the first organized societies – and while it’s true in some ways, our laws are still remarkably similar to those practiced in antiquity. In the following essay, I analyze the Law Code of Hammurabi and examine its parallels to the way laws function today. First, I will provide context for the technological advances that made the first city-states possible, then give a cultural and economic overview of …

Revolution At A Snail’S Pace: Lessons From Chiapas, Adil Khan

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

On Knowledge As An Act, Zakaria Al Shmaly

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Weapons Of Mass Construction, Pia Baas

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Experience As A Site Of Knowing, Daphne Nicolaidis Saunders

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Maurizio Lazzarato. War And Money: The Imperialism Of The Dollar. New York, Ny: Verso Books, 2025. 216 Pp., Victor Stout

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Resilience Otherwise: Ambivalence, Care, And The Cultural Politics Of Endurance Under Neoliberal Capitalism, Vered Ben David

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

Over the past two decades, resilience has emerged as a central cultural keyword circulating across psychology, public policy, education, labor, and popular culture. Frequently celebrated as a marker of strength and adaptability, resilience has also become entangled with neoliberal forms of governance that relocate responsibility for managing insecurity onto individuals and communities. This analysis offers a critical cultural account of resilience as an ambivalent formation that operates simultaneously as a lived capacity for adaptation and as a normative demand that responsibilizes subjects under conditions of structural precarity. Drawing on scholarship in developmental psychology, political economy, and critical cultural theory, the …

Thinking Life: The Question Of Reproduction In Marx. Translated By James Chamberlain, Isabelle Garo

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Comparative Environmental Jurisprudence: A Multi-Country Analysis Of Rights Of Nature Applications, Lillian C. Johns

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

This thesis examines three distinct cases, Ecuador, the United States, and India, in their conceptualization and implementation of the Rights of Nature and environmental jurisprudence. Although the Rights of Nature have gained global traction as a response to accelerating ecological degradation and as a potential legal mechanism for addressing it, issues with implementation and enforcement consistently arise. The outcomes in each case are largely shaped by institutional design, political context, and legal cultures. Ecuador’s constitutional recognition of the Rights of Nature, the United States multilevel recognition, and India’s judicial assertions of ecological personhood represents divergent pathways for articulating environmental rights. …

Treatment Of Different Non-State Actors In Detention: A Legal, Moral, And National Security Analysis, Alison P. Raedel

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

This thesis analyzes state behavior regarding the treatment of non-state actors through three major frameworks: international law, ethical theory, and national security. Two cases are compared: the treatment of al-Qaeda detainees by the United States after the attacks of September 11th, 2001, and the treatment of the Angolan liberation movements by the Portuguese during the Angolan War of Independence. These cases were chosen to assess how the three frameworks apply across different non-state actors, which include terrorist organizations and liberation movements. International law provides a baseline for rights and protections, but it is often selectively interpreted. Just war theory gives …

From The Editor In Chief, C. Anthony Pfaff

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Summer 2026 issue of Parameters, which consists of two In Focus special commentaries, three forums (Indo-Pacific, Strategy, and Historical Studies) and the Strategic Competition Corner.

Turning Tactical Victories Into Strategic Success: Counterinsurgency In The Irish Civil War, 1922–23, Gareth Prendergast, John A. Nagl

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The fundamentals the Irish National Army used in the Irish Civil War (1922–23) are a model for the successful application of a classic counterinsurgency which, if understood earlier, could have made a difference in the United States’ most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Irish Civil War has not been examined in-depth through the lens of modern counterinsurgency doctrine. This article draws on military history and recent counterinsurgency doctrines to provide US policymakers and military practitioners practical guidance for how counterinsurgent forces can foster trust and use appropriate tactics that lead to strategic success.

Parameters, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

A New Security Framework For Nato’S Eastern Flank, Matthew J. Kukla, Anna Batta

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article argues for a NATO-EU–led security strategy to achieve long-term deterrence in Ukraine after the end of the Russia-Ukraine War. Unlike existing analyses, this article straddles the strategic level of deterrence, outlining an operational road map. Its historical example of the Iraq War shows that long-term security requires the development of plans before a conflict ends, long-term commitments, and multilateral—not unilateral—security efforts. The proposed solution provides strategic planners and policymakers with a low-risk, high-reward approach that leverages burden sharing through a multinational framework.

Rethinking Power: E. H. Carr’S Enduring Lessons For Modern Strategists, Brian J. Hasse

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article argues E. H. Carr’s classic conception of power provides enduring lessons for national security, but these lessons are easily lost in application. Unlike much of the existing literature, this article emphasizes how modern conceptions of power convey an illusion of balance, while the national security bureaucracy constrains the effective synchronization of power. The analysis leverages both historical and contemporary case studies to identify what a balanced conception of power looks like in practice, with the hope of informing US national security strategy and policy in today’s complex security environment.

Geopolitical Chessboard: How Vietnam Shapes American-Chinese Competition, Kiet H. Lê, Hiep X. Trần

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Vietnam’s geostrategic position—bordering China and commanding key South China Sea maritime routes—makes it a pivotal actor in shaping great-power competition in Southeast Asia. This article argues that the United States should support Vietnam’s neutrality and strategic autonomy as a means of countering Chinese influence. Unlike prior studies that portray regional states as passive players, this analysis highlights Vietnam’s active role in influencing regional dynamics. Through comparative analysis with the Philippines, using historical case studies, geographic assessments, and policy reviews, the article offers practical insights for military and policy practitioners on how geography shapes alliance formation and strategic competition.

Key Themes In Sino-American History, David J. Lorenzo, Ian Murphy

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article examines how historical narratives shape the messaging of the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China, particularly regarding Sino-American relations. It identifies three key historical themes—trade, discriminatory policies, and Taiwan—that are frequently invoked in China’s statements and information campaigns. By contextualizing these themes, the article argues that military and national security professionals need a deeper understanding of Sino-American history to interpret China’s messaging correctly and counter its influence effectively. The article advocates for the integration of Sino-American historical content into professional military education curricula to enhance strategic awareness and policy formulation.

How Is Going To War Like Buying A Car?: The Bargaining Model Of War, Richard R. Johnson

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The bargaining model of war, a popular, yet complex international relations theory, emphasizes how nations communicate signals regarding military strength, resolve to fight, and foreign policy goals. Since the military plays a major role in communicating these signals, its leaders should understand this theory, despite its complexities. This article explains the model and its components through the used car sale bargaining process and supplements the analogy with real-world examples of international events. This article will help military and foreign policy professionals easily grasp the concepts of the model.

Is Health Deserved? Personal Autonomy, Framing, Ethical Intimidation, And The Politicization Of Healthcare In The United States V. Japan, Ava C. Azucenas

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Is health deserved? Is your health owed to you? What does this mean, and whose responsibility is it? I argue that American culture’s use of  personal autonomy, “framing”, and ethical intimidation has stunted the improvement of both political and legal structures. This is evident in the politicization of the ‘for-profit’ healthcare system in the United States. American policymakers frequently weaponize moral foundations in order to coerce voters into supporting or opposing certain healthcare policies derived from the principle that some people are more "deserving" of health than others. This calculated “framing” of health concepts has deeply politicized such an ethical …

The Supreme Court And Climate Law: A Qualitative Analysis, Tanner Blackington

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper seeks to explore the Supreme Court’s understanding of climate justice and its evolution over time. I begin with an explanation of the context on climate law, climate change, and the Supreme Court as an institution. I situate the study in the literature on judicial restraint, institutional barriers, and the powers of the Supreme Court as focal points. Then, drawing on a sample of 20 Supreme Court opinions issued between 2007 and 2025, I offer an empirical analysis which reveals the Supreme Court’s feelings of confinement within the boundaries of federalism and balancing power with the Legislative and Executive …