Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Syria As A Factor Of The Political Transformation Of The Middle East, Abdullayev Nodir

Uzbekistan Journal of Oriental Studies

At the moment, the Middle East remains one of the most explosive regions in the world. Today, Syria has become a kind of center for the global political crisis. This article explores the political prerequisites for the emergence and development of a regional problem, reveals its features, and analyzes the external factors that have had and are affecting the evolution of the Middle East problem. The preconditions for the growth of conflict potential and the intensification of the struggle for influence in the Middle East are studied. The role of Syria in the framework of the rivalry of leading Arab …

Cooperation Or Conflict: Using Alliance Theory To Explain The Current Gulf Cooperation Council Crisis, Pierre Aguirre

Honors Scholar Theses

What caused the current diplomatic crisis between countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council? I analyze this question through the lens of alliance politics. In the past, scholars have used these different theories to explain the formation and sustainability of certain alliances, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Specifically, I test Walt's theory of the Balance of Threat against others to see which can best explain the Council's downfall. Using a case study research design, I disaggregate the alliance into three notable periods: formation, sustained cooperation, and discord. My findings reveal that Walt’s theory lacks certain …

Sexual And Gender-Based Violence Against Arab Women Refugees: Yazidi Minority In Northern Iraq, Amanda Solomon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In addition to being at risk of violence from war and conflict, Arab refugee women also have an increased vulnerability to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Aspects inherent to the refugee experience such as a breakdown of the legal system, camp environments, and economic challenges exacerbate the already-pervasive phenomenon of SGBV. This human rights violation is physically, mentally, socially, and economically harmful to women. This thesis utilizes a case study specifically looking at the Yazidi ethnoreligious minority population in northern Iraq, which has been targeted for genocide by Islamic State forces since August 2014. To address the continuing trauma and …

Moving Away From The West Or Taking Independent Positions: A Structural Analysis For The New Turkish Foreign Policy, Suleyman Senturk

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper focuses on understanding and explaining the change of Turkish foreign policy,particularly in the last decade. Many observers have expressed a suspicion that Turkey is abandoning its Western-centric alignment and gradually shifting its axis. The thesis argues that rather than a shift, Turkey is taking an independent position. It maintains that the end of the Cold War and the change in the international structure from bipolarity to unipolarity has provided incentives for countries with some degree of material capabilities to pursue independence from the U.S. policy preferences. This study analyses structural effects on the behavior of Turkey.

Later it …

Silenced Bodies: (En)Gendering Syrian Refugee Insecurity In Lebanon, Jessy Abouarab

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While there has been a shift in security studies from the security of states to that of people, realpolitik still takes place under the banner of an emerging discourse of ‘refugee crisis.’ Refugee insecurities are (en)gendered and experienced where their depth and breadth pose significant challenges to asylum seekers, neighboring host-states, and humanitarian agencies. To this end, this research captures the unique dynamics of a South-South refugee crisis in Lebanon, in which Syrians residents make up nearly one-third of its population. It applies a transnational feminist framework to trace how refugee security norms get defined, are managed, and how they …

The Role Of Regional Media In Shaping Political Awareness Of Youth: Evidence From Egypt, Amany Khodair, Mostafa Aboelsoud, Mahmoud Khalifa

Political Science

This is an exploratory study that aims to answer the question of whether and to what extent regional media are influential in shaping political awareness and its role in influencing public opinion, especially that of young people. We examined regional media in Egypt, more precisely in the Suez Canal Region. To ensure the validity of our results, we deployed a number of different data collection methods: the collection, analysis, and integration of quantitative and qualitative research. The results reveal that regional media have the potential to contribute effectively in raising youths’ political awareness of the public policy-making process. The recommendations …

Seeds Of Suspicion: The Perpetual Cycle Of Anti-Muslim Stereotypes, Middle East Intervention, And Terrorism, Christopher Ledford

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

The central theory guiding my research is that interstate conflict, at least as covered in mass media, leaves residual cultural attitudes that can shape the political context in which elites formulate policy. Specifically, U.S. interventionism in the Middle East has given rise to fundamental hostilities, founded on misguided biases, that shape involvement in the region today. I focus on one step within that broader theory, to test it empirically: the hypothesis that anti-Muslim stereotypes, when activated, will shape an individual’s foreign-policy preferences. I begin by considering competing accounts that link 1) ethnocentrism or 2) targeted stereotypes with support for the …

Foreign Intervention And The Process Of State Failure Case Study On Libya, Islam Mohamed Goher Mohamed

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis investigates the relationship between foreign intervention and state failure. I argue that even an ideal international multilateral humanitarian intervention in a weak state will lead to deepening state failure if the intervention was biased and driven by material rather than ethical interests, focusing on achieving military victory of one party of the internal conflict rather than a negotiated settlement between all conflict parties and ignores the responsibility to rebuild in the aftermath of the intervention.

In making this argument, I developed a conceptual framework to analyse the impact of intervention motives, patterns, forms and instruments on strengthening or …