Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Resource Control And Political Development In Africa: The Cases Of The Democratic Republic Of The Congo And The Republic Of Botswana, Oweka Ime

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Ironically, it appears that the countries with the greatest resource wealth have often had the hardest time achieving political and economic stability. Is there a direct correlation between the way in which natural resources are controlled within a country and its democratic process? How do other factors come into play, such as MNC involvement or the level of natural resource revenue dependency? This study compares and contrasts two resource-rich countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Botswana between 1885 and 2012. To address the problem under investigation, three hypotheses have been formulated: 1) the higher the …

Religious Fundamentalism Vs. Security: What Really Drives Likud's Policies Towards Israeli Settlements?, Claudio Vinicius Santo

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This research challenges the general claim that religious fundamentalist groups exercise great influence in Israeli policies regarding settlements in the Palestinian disputed territory. It proposes an alternate hypothesis that security considerations, rather, are the driving factors underlying the government's decision process. These two propositions are evaluated by assessing three settlement decisions made under a Likud led government - a common factor purposely chosen given the known symbiotic relation between religious fundamentalist groups and the Likud's right wing political movement. Upon assessing the return of Sinai to Egypt, the annexation of the Golan Heights, and the unilateral disengagement from Gaza Strip, …

The Little Brother Syndrome And Nuclear Proliferation, An Exploratory Analysis Of Pakistan And North Korea's Risk Prone Policies, Richard Ellis Hebblethwaite

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The successful pursuit of nuclear weapons technology by Pakistani and North Korean leaders has fundamentally shifted the post war nuclear paradigm that established the monopoly of five nuclear powers over nuclear weapons and supplies of fissile materials under the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). How does one explain the daring nuclear pursuit of Pakistan and North Korea and their success in achieving this capability? Numerous theories have tried to explain both the rationale and the causal factor(s) for nuclear proliferation and specifically nuclear arms. While realism and neo-realism concentrate on the fear of the unknown; i.e., the international system and military power …

The Power Of Perception: Securitization, Democratic Peace, And Enduring Rivalries, Derrick Charles Seaver

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What best explains the democratic peace: empirical indicators of democracy or the mutual perceptions of democracy within a dyadic relationship? This paper will examine three enduring rivalry dyads: the United States-Great Britain, France-Germany, and India-Pakistan, during the course of their respective enduring rivalries (Bennett, 1997; Diehl and Goertz, 2000). Within each of these dyads, I will provide detailed case studies of two conflicts at different phases of democratization - six cases in total - in order to ascertain the answers to three questions: 1) What role, if any, did the democratic character of the individual governments play in the resolution …

Is The Motherist Approach More Helpful In Obtaining Women's Rights Than A Feminist Approach? A Comparative Study Of Lebanon And Liberia, Crystal Marie Whetstone

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The theory that women gain rights during the social upheaval of war has not held universally. While the debate has traditionally centered over women's participation in fighting and entry into the workforce this paper explores the topic from the form of mobilization, motherist or feminist, that women's organizing takes during war through the use of a longitudinal, comparative study of Lebanon and Liberia. Lebanese women's organizations overwhelmingly employed motherist mobilization and tackled practical gender interests that made no attempt to end women's subordination. In contrast, during the Liberian civil war women's groups were more apt to focus on strategic gender …

Al Qaeda's Propaganda War: A War For Hearts And Minds, Jill Hannah Pohl

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Literature on terrorist efforts to win over hearts and minds discusses several influential factors: the politics of the organization, the relationship of the organization to the public, levels of violence, provocation of counterterror responses, and the use of various forms of propaganda. It is my contention that mass media propaganda, which reaches the widest audience, is most influential in the battle for hearts and minds. Al Qaeda has exploited this tool to sustain support.

In spite of this, Arab Public Opinion Surveys show a decline in support for Al Qaeda's anti-Western goals, and fluctuations in support for its methods. They …

Rwanda: (Limited) Effects Of The First Female Parliamentary Majority In The World, Charlene Anita Raman-Preston

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The case of Rwanda provides a laboratory to explore a unique set of circumstances. This thesis builds upon feminist theory, the literature on post-conflict situations and failed states. It finds that although Rwanda's post-conflict situation provided unexpected and historic opportunities for women to enter politics (a record 64 percent of the members of parliament are female), more women in parliament does not mean the end of patriarchy. Since 1994, Rwanda has experienced significant yet limited progress toward gender equality in employment and education. However, much remains to be done and gender dynamics have not changed substantively. Rather, increasing the numbers …

Political Party Transitions In Post-Conflict States: How Political Parties Reacted And Adapted During Democratic Transitions In Cambodia, El Salvador And Mozambique, Rachel L. Miller

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This study argues that political parties in the post-conflict period are adaptable to and capable of changing roles as states transition to peacetime settings. In the aftermath of war in El Salvador, Cambodia and Mozambique and during a democratic transition, changes in political party structures and attitudes, and the influence of external actors emerged as significant factors in the way political parties adapted. National and international political contexts, ideological differences and war time political party origins played a part in incumbent and insurgent political parties' behaviors and electoral successes in the aftermath of war, which has ultimately affected the democratic …