International and Area Studies Commons^™

Power Of Connection: China’S New Paradigm For Open S&T Cooperation Via Global Networks Of Young Scientists, Meng Wang, Shaoshan Liu, Siok Yee Chan, Chunbo Gao, Francesco Maurelli, David Govoni

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

As China rises in the global innovation landscape, relying solely on attracting talent back home (“bringing in”) is no longer sufficient to meet the demands of the new stage of S&T development. Greater emphasis must be placed on “going out” to strengthen the influence in international rules and standards. Early-career scientists, at the peak of creativity and international mobility, are the pivotal group driving this transition. This study proposes a four-in-one framework, Talent–Open Source–Standards–Scenarios, which highlights leveraging global youth science networks to transform engineering practices into contributions to international rule-making. In terms of implementation, the study takes the Global Young …

Religious Visitors’ Spiritual Values And Their Relative Importance: Evidence From Chinese Buddhist Tourism Contexts, Zhiqing Wang, Keji Huang, Jiankang Zhang, Yunyun Fan, Ge Zhang

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Spiritual values are affected by diverse factors with different roles and influence daily life in various ways. Using Mount Jiuhua and Mount Putuo, two mountains in Mainland China with great importance in Buddhism, as examples, this study explores the specific dimensions of religious visitors’ spiritual values. Through a survey study, five factors of these spiritual values were extracted and their relative importance was measured. The identified factors were transcendence, general connectedness, inner balance, positive life direction and special religious feelings. According to factor importance analysis, these spiritual values can be categorised into three levels: fundamental, reflective and surpassing. This study …

A Qualitative Case Study On The Negative Impact The Global Pandemic Had On The Oil And Gas Industry, Sarah Denise Hagans

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this flexible-design single-case study was to expand the understanding of the reasons behind the negative impact the global pandemic had on international trade in the oil and gas industry. The research was critical to understanding the turbulent period for the oil and gas industry during the global pandemic. The study was essential because the possible negative effects of the global pandemic on the oil and gas industry were not fully determined or understood because of the volatility in upstream, midstream, and downstream production. The research aimed to determine the driving factors and explanations for how the negative …

Ethics Under Siege: The Conflict In Tigray Through The Lens Of Just War Theory, Daniela Widya Purba

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

This research article explains the ethical principles of the conflict in Tigray based on the Just War Theory. By using the descriptive qualitative methodology, this research article draws data from secondary sources which includes; academic journals, news reports, as well as international legal instruments to analyze the moral trajectory of the conflict. This research begins with jus ad bellum, to assess Ethiopia’s government justification in declaring conflict within Tigray. While the government fulfilled the criteria of just cause and legitimate authority, the question stands on the ambiguous political intentions and the failure to enact peaceful alternatives before resulting in waging …

Presidential Visits As Foreign Policy Instruments: U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy In Trump’S Second Term, Atar Thaung Htet

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Through an analysis of President Donald Trump's October 2025 travel to Asia, this study investigates the consequences of U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy under his second-term diplomacy. The paper examines three significant diplomatic encounters—the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, bilateral meetings in Japan, and the APEC Summit in South Korea—using a qualitative case study methodology based on role theory and foreign policy analysis. The results show that alliance-centered security cooperation, strategic balancing toward China, and selective economic engagement were U.S. Indo-Pacific goals. Through extremely transactional and bilateralized relations, presidential diplomacy allowed the United States to fulfill a number of foreign policy responsibilities, such …

International Student Athletes And The Covid-19 Global Pandemic: Disruption, Uncertainty, And Coping, Isabella M. Franks, Trent A. Petrie, Whitney G. Moore, Carmyn Hayes

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

COVID-19 and its ripple effects (e.g., social distancing, sport cancellations, quarantining) negatively affected the careers of collegiate student-athletes. The disruption to university systems and collegiate athletics and the stress and uncertainty felt globally likely increased international student-athletes' (ISAs) risk for distress. Yet, ISAs also possessed unique characteristics and were immersed within supportive sport environments, which may have shaped their psychological responses in distinct ways. The COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity to understand how ISAs, as individuals navigating both athletic and international identities, responded and coped. To date, no study has examined the initial coping experiences of international collegiate athletes, even …

Patent Regime Shift And Firm Innovation Strategy: Evidence From The Second Amendment To China's Patent Law, Tony W. Tong, Wenlong He, Liang Chen, Zi-Lin He, Jiangyong Lu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Research Summary: While changes in intellectual property rights (IPR) protection significantly shape firm innovation, the mechanisms driving firms' responses remain poorly understood. Leveraging the Second Amendment to China's Patent Law, which strengthens appropriability particularly for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), as a natural experiment, we show that stronger IPR has mixed effects on SOEs' innovation. While SOEs increase the rate of innovation subsequent to the Amendment, they shift the direction of innovation toward more familiar areas in which they face a lesser need to adjust existing routines. This directional change suggests a quality decline in SOEs' innovation that may be attributed to …

Fashion Industry: Analysis Of Strategies And Roles Of Stakeholders To Realize Indonesia As The Center Of Global Halal Fashion, Hanna Abimafy Mawaddatunnisa, Nur Fatwa, Nurwahidin Nurwahidin

Journal Of Middle East and Islamic Studies

Indonesia, through the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH), has launched the Indonesia Global Halal Fashion (IGHF) initiative in collaboration with the textile industry and fashion designers during Indonesia Fashion Week 2024. This initiative aims to position Indonesia as a global hub for halal fashion—distinct from general Muslim fashion by incorporating halal principles throughout the entire production chain. Despite its vast potential, the development of halal fashion in Indonesia still faces challenges, particularly in capturing consumer preferences and defining comprehensive regulatory standards. This study adopts a qualitative approach, integrating SWOT analysis, STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning), and the Quadruple Helix framework to …

Social Innovation In The Peacebuilding Sector, Michelle Helman, Phd, Katherine Ronderos, Mariafernanda Burgos-Ariza

Peace and Conflict Studies

Social innovation is an expanding practice in the peacebuilding sector. In this article, three peace scholar-practitioners reflect on our experiences as peacebuilders and consider the utility, tensions, and possibilities for peace and social innovation in theory and in practice. We draw insights gleaned through a focus group workshop with peacebuilding colleagues and highlight three case study examples from Colombia, the Philippines, and Kenya, each demonstrating the challenges and opportunities of social innovation in the peace sector. In doing so, we offer a reimagining of- and recommended action steps to engage innovation through a collaborative, feminist design approach. This article contributes …

Pipelines And Power: Governance, Conflict, And Hybrid Political Orders In Nigeria's Niger Delta, Nkasiobu Wodu

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Many conflict-affected states in the Global South can be described as Hybrid Political Orders—governance arrangements where informal authority and formal state institutions coexist, overlap, and contest for power. In Nigeria's Niger Delta, this phenomenon is clearly evident. In this context, the exercise of governmental authority extends beyond the Weberian State. Local and non-state actors such as ethnic-based organizations, former combatants, and traditional authorities routinely perform government-like functions within their spheres of influence.

This study analyzes how extractive corporations, informal authorities, and the Nigerian state co-produce governance and shape patterns of conflict and cooperation in the Niger Delta. Its central …

A Stadium In Our Backyard: Community Participation In Stadia Redevelopment Projects, Sofia Zazueta

Master's Theses

The Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain and the Chase Center in San Francisco, California are two stadium redevelopment projects that exemplify the stakeholder dynamics that come into play when developers pitch a multipurpose stadium located a few blocks away from people’s backyards. Urban development patterns must be in constant evolution to meet the needs and demands of the current generations. In cities, stadia redevelopment projects have entered the picture to reimagine the role that these structures once played. The stadium once used for the sole purpose of holding matches has become a venue that now hosts different events such as …

Jadughar: The House Of Magic, Dhruvi A. Shah

Masters Theses

Jadughar or the House of Magic is what people call a 'museum' in parts of South Asia. The practice of museum making, at its origin, is the act of collecting, preserving, interpreting and representing a culture’s tangible and intangible heritage to make it accessible to diverse audiences. Since the early 19th century such practices have been performed at various kala bhandars (art centers) in India, without the need of a formal or institutional organisation. The British introduced the model of a ‘museum’ in South Asia, with the aim of not only preserving ethnographic collections, but also showcasing their power and …

The Offense-Defense Balance And The Modern System In Ukraine, Daniel Hogestyn

Master in Public Policy Theses

This thesis evaluates whether the Russo Ukrainian war represents a revolution in military affairs (RMA) by testing Stephen Biddle’s "modern system" theory of battlefield outcomes against recent combat operations. Applying Biddle’s formal model to the 2023 Ukrainian offensive in Zaporizhia, the thesis finds that the offensive's failure conforms closely to Biddle’s causal logic, with force employment variables drawn from 20th century combat sufficient to account for the outcome. Biddle's model in military power argues that force employment has explained victory and defeat since World War I, rather than technology or numerical preponderance alone. Many commentators claim that proliferation of small …

Towards Critical Agency: A Case Study Of Japanese Peacebuilding And Development In The Bangsamoro, Hana Soma

Master in Public Policy Theses

Asking “In what ways have anthropological methods been part of Japan's peacebuilding and development interventions in the Bangsamoro?”, this research hopes to make a contribution to the study of anthropology and development and their practical application by exploring the possibilities of the role of an anthropological approach in making sense of modern-day development programs, particularly through the case study of Japan’s peacebuilding-through-development efforts in the Bangsamoro. After outlining the research question as well as the design and methodology used to answer it and an overview of the histories of dispossession and the Japanese relationship to Mindanao, the essay …

Silicon Rivalry: Understanding The U.S.-China Ai Competition In Southeast Asia, Daniel Christopher Kent

Master in Public Policy Theses

In the rising global strategic competition between China and the United States, artificial intelligence (AI) has taken on a special significance given its potentially transformative impact upon economics and security. Yet while the dialogue around the “AI race” is typically centered on foundational model capability enhancement, application in security contexts, and chip design and manufacturing, there is much less attention paid to its impact on geopolitics. In particular, AI diplomacy—the work of a state to spread its model of AI governance, evangelize its AI companies, and develop critical AI interdependencies and linkages around the world—is far less studied. Nowhere is …

Not Retirement, But A Rewiring And Fresh Perspectives Post-Dbs, Says Piyush Gupta [Interview With Business Times], Su Shyan Lee, Piyush Gupta

Oral History Collection

In an interview with The Business Times, SMU Chairman Piyush Gupta discussed topics ranging from meditation and conservation to the future of education. On his role at SMU, he emphasised his desire to help shape tertiary education and noted that the rise of AI makes it critical to rethink how we learn. Mr Gupta believes that in an AI-driven world, students must move beyond domain knowledge to focus on interpreting information, "connecting the dots," and engaging others with genuine empathy. He is supportive of a more experiential curriculum at SMU — one that focuses on regional exposure through internships and …

Understanding Challenges Faced By Refugee Women And Women With Experiences Of Forced Migration In Entrepreneurship In The Midwest Region Of The United States, Ritu Jadwani

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The labor market participation of refugee women was only 6%. The United States had the maximum employment rate for the refugee women population, which was 40%, as compared to 6% in Germany, Lebanon, and Jordan (Kabir & Klugman, 2019). Refugee women faced many challenges in labor force participation and especially in entrepreneurship. As demonstrated by Desai, Naude, and Stel (2020), refugees faced challenges like cultural integration, language barriers, level of education, and acceptance of education merits. This eventually led to disparities in income generation. Thus, many either remained in low-paying jobs or started their own business (Desai et al., 2020). …

The Smallholder’S Dilemma In Agroecological Transitions: The Diseconomy Of Agroecology For Small Farmers In Industrial Agriculture, Qian Forrest Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A scalar contradiction exists between agroecology's three goals: while ecological sustainability is best pursued at the landscape scale, social equity and livelihood goals often require organizing production at the small scale of family farms. In China's ‘industrial agriculture of small farmers’, ecological farming practices became economically unviable at small farmers' minuscule scales. Agroecological transitions almost always first go through a scale expansion, a process fraught with tension. The empirical analysis focuses on three ‘ecological farms’ that enjoyed favorable conditions unattainable to smallholders. Yet, lock-ins across five dimensions have either made their operations economically unsustainable or forced compromises in agroecological principles.

Statement From The Indiana Academy Of The Social Sciences And Board Of Directors

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor-In-Chief's Note, Surekha Rao

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Volume 28, Issue 2 Full Contents

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Mission And Editorial Policy

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

The Unsovereign Citizen: The Reconfiguration Of Rights And Belonging In Fascist Italy, Roberta Pergher

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Modern political thought tends to associate citizenship with democracy, equality, and political participation. This article demonstrates that citizenship can be profoundly important also for authoritarian rule. In Fascist Italy, citizenship remained central to political life, not as a vehicle of democratic participation, to be sure, but as a category through which the regime redefined belonging, hierarchy, and sovereignty. Drawing on citizenship legislation, imperial ordinances, racial laws, police reports, and ministerial commentary between 1912 and 1943, this article shows how the dictatorship hollowed out liberal citizenship within the peninsula, stratified it across imperial territories, consolidated it across diasporic populations, and ultimately …

The Courts Closest To The People: The Battle Between Populism And Democracy In The U.S. District Courts, Shruti Rana

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The U.S. district courts have emerged as a critical site of contested terrain amid the chaos and controversies consuming American law and politics since the start of the second Trump administration. This article examines these frontline courts through the theoretical lens of populism, arguing that they have become a critical institutional flashpoint in the populist assault on constitutional democracy in the United States. As the courts closest to the people, the district courts occupy a unique structural position: They are the fact-finding courts, the most geographically dispersed and professionally diverse tier of the federal judiciary, and often the first institutional …

Author Biographical Notes

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Reviewers And Referees

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Editorial History

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

George C. Roberts Award Recipients

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Call For Papers: 97th Annual Conference Of The Indiana Academy Of The Social Sciences

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Why Publish With Mssj?

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.