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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Brandishing The Cybered Bear: Information War And The Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Azhar Unwala, Shaheen Ghori Dec 2015

Brandishing The Cybered Bear: Information War And The Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Azhar Unwala, Shaheen Ghori

Military Cyber Affairs

Russia’s use of cyber power against Ukraine offered renewed insight to Russian cyber strategy and capabilities. This article dissects the Russia-Ukraine conflict by analyzing Russia’s strategic doctrine, tactical maneuvers, and capabilities in the information realm. Understanding the Russia-Ukraine conflict in this manner can inform and strengthen U.S. cyber policy and strategy. In particular, U.S. strategic planners and cyber professionals should consider internalizing Russian strategic thinking regarding cyber power and promote tactical improvements in resilience, intelligence, and information among itself and its allies.


Energy As A Factor For Turkish - Russian Rapprochement, Saltuk Bugra Karahan Oct 2015

Energy As A Factor For Turkish - Russian Rapprochement, Saltuk Bugra Karahan

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation started with a simple question: What was the main source of Turkish-Russian rapprochement seen generally after the end of the Cold War, specifically within the last 15 years (2001-2015)? A review of the literature on the subject revealed three explanations for Turkish-Russian rapprochement: (1) Perception of the U.S. as a threat in the Black Sea and Caucasus region, (2) Deterioration of Turkey’s relations with the West, and (3) Turkey’s need for energy. Thus came the main question for this work: To what extent does Turkey’s need for energy play a role in Turkish-Russian rapprochement? Although each of the …


Gustavo GutiéRrez – Liberation Theology & Marxism, Todd Cameron Swathwood Jr Jul 2015

Gustavo GutiéRrez – Liberation Theology & Marxism, Todd Cameron Swathwood Jr

The Kabod

Since 1968, liberation theology has emerged as a prominent feature of religion and politics, particularly in South America. Originally stemming from the writings of Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez, this at-once theological and overtly political ideology decries the institutionalized violence of the world’s capitalist society on the poor and oppressed, and argues that God is particularly concerned with the plight of the suffering masses. Christians should therefore make assistance of these poor souls their highest priority, and advocate for any and all methods of alleviating suffering, especially those that work from the premise that society must be toppled and rebuilt for …


Ukraine At The Fulcrum: A Nuclear House Of Cards, Natalie Manaeva Rice, Dean P. Rice, Howard L. Hall Jul 2015

Ukraine At The Fulcrum: A Nuclear House Of Cards, Natalie Manaeva Rice, Dean P. Rice, Howard L. Hall

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The foundation of preserving and enhancing global nuclear security rests on three fundamental pillars: nuclear disarmament; preventing further proliferation of nuclear weapons; and international cooperation aimed at safeguarding nuclear materials. Today, experts argue that the recent decision of Russian president Vladimir Putin to cut cooperative efforts to secure nuclear materials are placing in peril the future of international efforts to promote global nuclear security. We argue that in addition to the clear erosion of the third pillar of nuclear security, there are more threatening ramifications resulting from the recent actions of Russia in Ukraine.

The aggressive actions of Russia in …


Crimean Tatars From Mass Deportation To Hardships In Occupied Crimea, Karina Korostelina May 2015

Crimean Tatars From Mass Deportation To Hardships In Occupied Crimea, Karina Korostelina

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The article begins with a description of the deportation of Crimean Tatars. It provides a brief review of the Nazi Occupation of Crimea, examines the negative images of Crimean Tatars published in Soviet newspapers between 1941-1943 and the explicit rationale given by the Soviet authorities for the deportation of Crimean Tatars, and reviews the mitigation of hostilities against Tatars in the years following the war. The article continues with accounts of the attempts to repatriate Crimean Tatars after 1989 and the discriminative policies against the returning people. The conclusion of the article describes current hardships experienced by Tatars in occupied …


A Double Dispossession: The Crimean Tatars After Russia’S Ukrainian War, Stephen Blank Apr 2015

A Double Dispossession: The Crimean Tatars After Russia’S Ukrainian War, Stephen Blank

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Genocide and genocidal political processes have been used by the Russian state for decades—if not centuries—as a technique of self-colonial rule intended to eliminate “dissident” ethnic identities. Within this context, the historical fate of the Crimean Tatars is surely a unique one. Despite Soviet obstructions, the Crimean Tatars eventually returned to their homeland in Crimea after suffering forced deportations and genocide at the hands of the Soviet government. Now, 70 years after their deportation and genocide by Stalin, the Crimean Tatars are still fighting for justice. Defined as an autonomous group in their own land under the Ukrainian government, the …


The Future Of Sino-Russian Cooperation: A Rough Road Ahead, Cassidy Henry Apr 2015

The Future Of Sino-Russian Cooperation: A Rough Road Ahead, Cassidy Henry

Ex-Patt Magazine

After spending two semesters on the Chinese-Russian border, Henry reflects on the future of Sino-Russian relations and whether the West should worry.


Russia's Islam: Discourse On Identity, Politics, And Security, Simona E. Merati Mar 2015

Russia's Islam: Discourse On Identity, Politics, And Security, Simona E. Merati

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the long history of Muslims in Russia, most scholarly and political literatures on Russia’s Islam still narrowly interpret Muslim-Slavs relations in an ethnic-religious oppositional framework.

In my work, I examine Russia’s discourse on Islam to argue that, in fact, the role of Islam in post-Soviet Russia is complex. Drawing from direct sources from academic, state, journalistic, and underground circles, often neglected by Western commentators, I identify ideational patterns in conceptualizations of Islam and reconstruct relational networks among authors. To explain complex intertextual relations within specific contexts, I utilize an analytically eclectic method that appropriately combines theories from different paradigms …


Assassination Of Boris Nemtsov, Mark Mccarthy Mar 2015

Assassination Of Boris Nemtsov, Mark Mccarthy

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Understanding the death of Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia."

Posting about the assassination of Boris Nemtsov from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/the-assassination-of-boris-nemtsov


War, Fields, And Competing Economies Of Death. Lessons From The Blockade Of Leningrad, Jeffrey K. Hass Feb 2015

War, Fields, And Competing Economies Of Death. Lessons From The Blockade Of Leningrad, Jeffrey K. Hass

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

War can create a massive amount of death while also straining the capacity of states and civilians to cope with disposing of the dead. This paper argues that such moments exacerbate contradictions between three fields and “economies” (logics of interaction and exchange) – a political, market, and moral economy of disposal – in which order and control, commodification and opportunism, and dignity are core logics. Each logic and economy, operating in its own field, provides an interpretation of the dead that emerges from field logics of normal organization, status, and meanings of subjects (as legal entities, partners in negotiation, and …


The Role Of Great Powers In China's Grand Strategy, Lukas Danner Jan 2015

The Role Of Great Powers In China's Grand Strategy, Lukas Danner

Lukas K. Danner

No abstract provided.


Spatial Transgressions, Anxiety, And The Discourse Of Pussy Riot's "Punk Prayer, Katherine Schroeder Jan 2015

Spatial Transgressions, Anxiety, And The Discourse Of Pussy Riot's "Punk Prayer, Katherine Schroeder

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

The 2012 performance of Pussy Riot’s “Punk Prayer” in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, their subsequent release of an extended and edited video, and their ultimate arrest for committing “hooliganism” generated a large amount of interest both within Russia and on an international scale. While Western accounts and analyses were marked by their tendency to frame the political content, Russian responses were framed by references to tradition and history. Significantly, there was disagreement amongst the latter with regard to the activist value of Pussy Riot. I argue that this ambiguity arises from a profound socio-spatial anxiety that …


Nation-State Personality Theory: A Qualitative Comparative Historical Analysis Of Russian Behavior, During Social/Political Transition, Mark George Bound Jan 2015

Nation-State Personality Theory: A Qualitative Comparative Historical Analysis Of Russian Behavior, During Social/Political Transition, Mark George Bound

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The study theorizes that a nation-state can manifest a condition similar to that of personality commonly associated with humans. Through the identification of consistent behaviors, a personality like condition is recognizable, and the underlining motivations dictate national policy independent of any current social/political influence. The research examines Russia during two historical periods examining the conflict events and social/political transitions of the period, to identify common behavioral characteristics, which indicate the existence of any independent personality like trait.

The study focuses on two historical periods: the Monarch Period of Peter I (The Great), and the Post-Soviet Union period of Vladimir Putin, …


Coming In From The Cold: Recommendations For United States Arctic Policy, Aseem Chipalkatti Jan 2015

Coming In From The Cold: Recommendations For United States Arctic Policy, Aseem Chipalkatti

CMC Senior Theses

The purpose of this policy report is to elucidate the current Arctic strategies and capabilities of the major Arctic nations – Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States – with the aim of identifying American shortcomings in the region and potential policy suggestions to correct these failings. The report first illuminates the potential for resource gain in the Arctic, specifically with respect to oil and natural gas and the potential for commercial growth represented by new Arctic shipping routes. The report also discusses the difficulties associated with reaping the rewards of the Arctic, specifically the lack of maritime infrastructure, …


“Repackaging The Patriarchy”: A Comparative Analysis Between Soviet And Contemporary Russian Reproductive Health Policies And Ideologies, Bella S. Mazzetti Jan 2015

“Repackaging The Patriarchy”: A Comparative Analysis Between Soviet And Contemporary Russian Reproductive Health Policies And Ideologies, Bella S. Mazzetti

Senior Projects Spring 2015

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College.


Projecting Power In The Arctic: The Russian Scramble For Energy, Power, And Prestige In The High North, Shane C. Tayloe Jan 2015

Projecting Power In The Arctic: The Russian Scramble For Energy, Power, And Prestige In The High North, Shane C. Tayloe

Pepperdine Policy Review

The Arctic is currently the setting for a high stakes power play between the liberal, Western order and a revisionist Russian state, that desperately seeks great power, claiming nearly half the Arctic in a ploy for energy, power, and ultimately prestige. In recent years geography has jumbled previously staid geopolitical dynamics with substantial implications on sea trade, energy, and security. This article explores the motivations of expansionary Russian foreign policy and U.S. responses to it.


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 …


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.