International and Area Studies Commons^™

Covid-19 Isolation Mandates Decrease Out-Group Hostility In The Mena Region, Annie Gold

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the global economic landscape, leading to unprecedented unemployment spikes, supply chain standstills, and small business shutdowns. From a healthcare perspective, national governments have struggled to provide sufficient care and vaccination to citizens, often requiring strict curfews to remedy the lack of available healthcare provisions. The MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region has especially suffered during the pandemic. However, despite the challenging fiscal climate and underprovision of healthcare services, results from the 2021 Arab Barometer survey indicate that citizens’ tolerance of different ethnic and religious groups has increased since the onset …

Full Issue

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

A Letter From The Editor, Zeke Peters, Editor-In-Chief

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

This past year has proven to be different than expected. The COVID-19 pandemic still looms in the background of a domestic inflation crisis and international peace conflicts throughout EUrope and Asia. Uncertainty is high and the view of what tomorrow will bring consistently shifts, but there are some things that remain constant. Our interactions with one another—whether digitally or in person—matter. Our ability to sympathize and to come together in troubled times is what makes us human.

Harry Redner. Beyond Civilization: Society, Culture And The Individual In The Age Of Globalization. Routledge, 2014., Mariana Tepfenhart

Comparative Civilizations Review

Harry Redner was a reader at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and a visiting professor at Yale University, University of California-Berkeley and Harvard University. His book has three parts: An Overview of History, The Present Predicament of History, and The Future Prospects of Civilization.

The book addresses two major issues affecting our society today. One of them is globalization and its effect on civilization. The topic is analyzed not only from a cultural perspective but also from a political and cognitive standpoint. The second issue is technology and its place in a global society. Redner argues Western civilization’s development of …

Creating A Sense Of Belonging For Latinx Students In Community College: You Matter, You Fit In, And You Belong, Francisco Javier Bataz

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the perceptions of Latinx sense of belonging in a Midwest community college and how their academic and social experiences are impacted. Sense of belonging is meaningful to community college students because Latinx students are historically underserved in postsecondary education. The goal is to better understand the perceptions of Latinx students in a community college setting and to find out what factors impact sense of belonging. This study is significant because Latinx student retention outcomes in higher education are very low. The Latinx population is the fastest growing group in the United States. Therefore, providing support and an …

Letter To An Unknown Hero Of Kiev, Mustafa Ceric

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A letter of solidarity to the besieged in Kiev, from Mustafa Ceric, Ph.D. Grand Mufti Emeritus of Bosnia.

An Appeal Of Covenant, Mustafa Ceric

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti Emeritus of Bosnia, calls on Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious leaders in Russia to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Memory, Trauma, And Religious Identity, Petro Kotliarov, Valentyna Kuryliak, Stefaniia Demchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The so-called ‘memorial turn’ triggered a huge shift in historical studies of the late 20th century. It brought into focus stories of the ‘small people’ previously left out from the ‘grand narrative.’ For post-Soviet countries, the memorial turn can be perceived as an indicator of changes in society associated with the opportunity and interest of previously oppressed social groups and religious movements in finding their "roots," when the reconstruction of personal history becomes the history of the church and strengthens collective identity. In this essay, we attempted at reconstructing the traumatic history of the "little" people in the context of …

Ukrainian Clergy From The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Uoc) Want Patriarch Kirill To Appear Before An Ecclesiastical Court

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"More than 400 clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), who belong to the Moscow Patriarchate, have signed a call, to put Patriarch Kirill before an Ecclesiastical Court. What they have in mind is a gathering of the leaders of the ancient eastern churches, also the heads of the Orthodox churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The heads of the ancient Patriarchates, during church history had exercised numerous times the function of a supreme ecclesiastical court for Orthodoxy."

Translated by Walter Sawatsky

Best Practices In Protestant Aid For Ukrainian Refugees: 2022, Mark R. Elliott

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, dramatically accelerated Moscow’s military campaign against its southwestern neighbor which had begun in 2014. This unprovoked invasion managed to generate an equally dramatic displacement of Ukrainian civilians, some 13.5 million and counting.

"Paradoxically, the humanitarian response has been both phenomenal and inadequate. It has been phenomenal in its prodigious marshalling of resources and in its determination to alleviate enormous human suffering, calling forth impulses of generosity on a massive scale on the part of the UN, the EU, numerous individual European and North American governments, businesses, foundations, relief and development …

Analysis Of The Multi-Confessional Religious Situation In Ukraine In The Period From 2000 To 2021, Valentyna Kuryliak

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This study summarizes information regarding features of religious and church-religious self-determination of citizens of Ukraine for the period 2000-2021. Ukraine’s Western region is traditionally characterized by a high level of religiosity, while the South and East of Ukraine are the least religious. In recent years, the proportion of citizens who do not identify themselves with any of the religions has increased. There is a significant difference between the level of declared religiosity and identification with a particular religious community. As a result of the military events in the East of Ukraine and the war with Russia, the number of believers …

Reconciliation Attempts And The Return To Conflict In The Balkans, 2010-2022 (And Parallels To The Russian War On Ukraine), Vjekoslav Perica

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"Hopefully there will be soon peace in Ukraine, and another attempt at reconciliation in Western Balkans. Even as mostly symbolic and commemorative practices, these endeavors proved that they improve social trust and reduce interethnic tensions. There still remains the question about the purpose and long-term goals of such reconciliation efforts. In my 2021 book, Reconciliation and Last Days, published in Belgrade, Serbia, I argue that postwar reconciliation projects make sense, provided there is a new beginning for wartime enemies, that is, the peoples, faiths, and states in the region. In other words, the purpose of a longer period of peace …

Appeal To The World Council Of Churches On Russian Terroristic Attacks On Ukrainian Civilians: Statement Of Ukrainian Council Of Churches And Religious Organizations, - Ukrainian Council Of Churches And Religious Organizations

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Officers' Perceptions Of The Ontario Provincial Police Framework For Police Preparedness For Indigenous Critical Incidents, Armand P. La Barge

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractResponding to First Nation occupations and protests is one of the most challenging duties that police officers in Canada undertake. Over the last 30 years, these types of incidents have resulted in deaths and injuries to police and protesters, and millions of dollars’ worth of damage and financial loss. After the 1995 shooting death of an unarmed Indigenous protester by police at the Ipperwash occupation, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) introduced an unconventional operational approach for protests known as the OPP Framework policy. That approach was built on the concepts of peacekeeping, patient negotiation, mutual respect, and the minimal use …

Nurses’ Knowledge Of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy As A Treatment For Schizophrenia, Iwalola Stella Omojola

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Existing evidence indicates that medications alone are not able to fully manage the psychotic symptoms associated with schizophrenia. Inadequately treated schizophrenia not only affects a patient's physical and mental health but also can lead to the onset of more complex issues such as substance and alcohol abuse disorders, homelessness, family conflicts, and violent behavior. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can assist in bridging the gaps associated with the use of medications in the treatment of schizophrenia. The purpose of this project was to increase the knowledge of nurses working at a private healthcare facility regarding the effective utilization of CBT as …

Integration Of Cape Verde In The Ecowas Subregion: Challenges And Viability, Silvestre De Pina Rosa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was created on May 28th, 1975, with the intent of fostering the economic growth of its 15 member-states. In the process of implementing its policies and institutions, the ECOWAS faced decisive challenges, including internal conflicts, asymmetries, migrations and mobility. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact these factors have on the integration of the Republic of Cape Verde, which is the smallest member-state, and formulate conclusions and recommendations that would help the organization to find a path to success. Through the lenses of the dependency theory, this research involved …

From A “Cheli” In Nepal To A “Khadama” In The Arabian Gulf Countries: The Local-Global Entanglements And Gendered Labour Migration Governance, Hari Kc

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation explores: In what ways does gender operate as a governing code in Nepal’s labour migration governance? This question is answered in three specific ways. First, it explores how the gender codes in the Nepali society conjoin global forces to create structural conditions for women’s transnational labour migration. Second, it examines how the Nepali state – within the regional/global geopolitics – embraces the gendered labour migration policy to produce, reproduce, and perpetuate the gender codes. Third, it explicates the ways in which women migrating for domestic work in the Arabian Gulf countries resist and subvert the gender codes while …

Producing Industrial Pigs In Southwestern China: The Rise Of Contract Farming As A Coevolutionary Process, Forrest Qian Zhang, Hongping Zeng

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The literature on contract farming (CF) has to date focused on how outside capital uses CF to vertically integrate non-capitalist producers into agro-industrial value chains. We argue that in places where multiple dynamics of capitalist growth co-exist, CF relationships can also emerge between different types of capitalist producers that are already in capitalist production using other organizational forms. In this situation, the well-studied drivers that fuel the spread of CF become less consequential; the emergence of CF is instead more contingent on the complex interactions between producers and the specific conditions and events in the local environment. We conceptualize the …

Journey With Ting Peng Liang In Pacific Asia Information Systems Field, J. Lee, J. Jiang, P. Chau, A. Kankanhalli, M. Nelson, W. Huang, K. Wei, C. Sia, D. Vogel, M. Myers, G. Gable, N. Shen, C. Wei, S. Hung, Keng Siau, D. Liang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Our respectful old friend Professor Ting-Peng Liang (in short, TP) whom we loved suddenly passed away on May 20, 2021. But we cannot forget his smile and passion, and his inerasable footprints in PACIS, PAJAIS, and AIS Community. He was the founder of PACIS, founding editor-in-chief of PAJAIS, and past president of AIS to list just a few. He was the pioneer who received the first AIS Fellow and the first LEO Award from Asia Pacific. That is why the leaders of the information systems field organized the first ever special tribute session in PACIS 2021 in memory of TP

China Rising, 2000-2010, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Research On The Economic And Trade Relations Between China And Asean Rcep, Meng Li

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The trade cooperation between China and ASEAN has endured for nearly three decades, coinciding with a period of rapid global economic development and significant transformations among nations. Despite encountering numerous challenges, the collaboration between China and ASEAN has remained unwavering, leading to remarkable growth in both economies. Meanwhile,the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) signed by China and ASEAN can also more effectively promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation. However, with the changes in the international geopolitical situation, the acceleration of the reconstruction of the global value chain, and the intensification of the strategic game between major powers, there are more uncertainties …

Chinese Cultural Symbols In Thailand : A Study Of Mazu Belief In The Chinese Community In Bangkok Chinatown, Tongtong Xu

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The overseas Chinese living around the world constitute a unique and far-reaching social group in the development of modern human history. While seeking survival and development in foreign lands, they also spread Chinese culture to the world, creatively integrating Chinese culture, territorial culture, and other cultures, forming a distinctive culture of overseas Chinese. Due to the historical environment, geographical conditions, and background factors of transportation, Southeast Asia now has the largest number of overseas Chinese in the world. Among them, overseas Chinese living in Thailand have long been integrated into the mainstream of their economy, politics, and culture. Many Chinese …

The Asean Way : A Study Of Its Evolution And Contemporary Relevance, Yanmei Zhou

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The "ASEAN way" does not have a unified definition; it can be seen as a series of codes of conduct formulated by ASEAN to adjust intra-regional conflicts and cooperation. The "ASEAN way" takes the principle of non-interference as its core, and as a process it is based on consultation and consensus. Its main features are informality, weak institutionalization and non-confrontation. This paper attempts to use a long-term historical perspective to study the development and changes of the"ASEAN Way". Through a general review of the history of ASEAN, the paper identifies some typical cases that are more relevant to the "ASEAN …

Examining The New Asean Regional Order Shaped By Us-Chinese Strategic Competition-Through The Lens Of Health Security, Yichao Yang

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The strategic competition between China and the United States in the 21st century has changed the regional order in Asia, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as an important region in Asia, has also been affected. Since the end of the Cold War, global politics has begun to consider non-traditional security, including security issues related to the environment, public health, and culture. To understand how US-China competition affects ASEAN, this article will focus on public health security, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper analyzes some ways in which China and the United States cooperate and confront the …

Study On China-Myanmar Relations After The Myanmar’S Democratic Transformation, Yingting Guo

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Myanmar has a special geographical location, connecting East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. It is located at the intersection of China, India and ASEAN,facing the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) in the west and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean) in the east, which has significant geostrategic significance. For China,Myanmar is an vital part of its neighborhood diplomacy and an essential country along the Belt and Road Initiative. Therefore, in the context of Myanmar's"democratic" reform, it is of great significance to analyze Myanmar's policy towards China and the test of changes and unchanging relations between China and Myanmar. Since the …

China's Influence On Laos' Infrastructure Investment And Lao People's Views On It - The Case Study Of China-Laos Railway, Ziying Cheng

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This paper addresses the following question: "Given that China's economic contribution to the China-Laos Railway project is greater than Laos', will China have greater influence in the project than Laos?" In recent years, China and Laos have developed increasingly close relations. In addition, the China-Laos railway has been completed by the end of 2021 as a result of China's continued implementation of its "One Belt, One Road" policy. In the first section of the article, this context is described in detail. Laos has always been the only landlocked nation on the Indo-China Peninsula, and the construction of railways within its …

East Asia’S Soft Power Competition In Southeast Asia: A Case Study Of Public Diplomacy Efforts In Promoting Japanese, Chinese, And Korean Language Learning In Thailand Since The 2000s, Nala Han

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Japan and China are major superpowers in Asia with historically and economically close relations to Southeast Asia, while Korea remained relatively invisible until the 19th century. The different historical ties of these three countries with Southeast Asia have resulted in different approaches to the region. This study examines how Japan, China, and Korea have expanded their presence in Southeast Asia, focusing on their use of soft power. Soft power, a concept introduced by Joseph Nye Jr. in the 1990s, has become essential in understanding the power dynamics of the international community. The research specifically looks at the efforts of the …

The Emergence Of The Non-Aligned Foreign Policy Of Burma From The End Of The Second World War To Bandung Conference, Aung Kyaw Min

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Burma has been practicing non-aligned foreign policy since its independence. Most of the literature studied on Burma's foreign policy argued that Burma's non-aligned foreign policy was initiated around 1950. As Burma became a colony under the British Empire from 1886 to 1948, the experience of colonialism might also play an essential role in foreign relations in Burma. After independence, Burma also faced numerous challenges, such as insurgency problems. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to examine the emergence of the ideological foundation of the non-aligned foreign policy of Burma after the Second World War. Moreover, this study will …

Street Protests In Thailand During 2019 To 2022, Wending Zhang

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The Covid-19 pandemic was adversely affecting Thailand amidst strong attacks especially by the youth groups on the government. The main force of Thai youth protests has made street protests in Thailand different from those of the past. By problematizing this emerging phenomenon, this paper proposes to tackle two research questions. How are the protests in Thailand during the Covid-19 pandemic different from those the past? How does the massive outbreak of protests generate implications for present and future Thailand? Therefore, this paper combines the theories of Radical Politics, Digital Activism and Contentious Politics, adopts qualitative research and quantitative research, mainly …