African Studies Commons^™

New Documents Shed Light: Why Did Peacekeepers Withdraw During Rwanda’S 1994 Genocide?, Emily A. Willard

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Why did the international community decide to withdraw United Nations peacekeeping troops from Rwanda during the 1994 genocide? Analysis of newly released documents and results from an international conference with former U.N. and government officials sheds further light on our understanding of what took place leading up to and during the Rwandan genocide. This article focuses on two key moments: 1) the United States’ reluctance to support the peacekeeping mission from before its mandate began and prior to the killing of U.S. troops in Somalia in autumn 1993; and the United States’ central role pushing the United Nations Security Council …

Morocco: The Intersection Between Intercultural Mediation And Migration, Arianna Diaz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research seeks to understand the intersection between migration and intercultural mediation through a Moroccan context. The increase of undocumented and documented Sub-Saharans flowing into Morocco through the Western Mediterranean route creates an increase in intercultural spaces within Moroccan society. By analyzing Sub-Saharan livelihoods and discrimination in Morocco I address how ineffective intercultural communication creates tensions between Moroccan nationals and Sub-Saharan Migrants. By applying intercultural mediation theory I come to understand how intercultural mediation can be applied between these two cultural groups. I specifically analyze the capacity of Moroccan civil organizations to act as intercultural mediators between Moroccan communities and …

In The Balance: Pathways To Economic Integration For Migrants In Morocco, Kyla Fanning

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores the relationship between migrants seeking socio-economic integration in Morocco, the organizations facilitating that integration, and the Moroccan government, which determines the bounds within which socio-economic integration takes place. A background in government policy on migration and economic integration, as well as previously gathered data on the ways in which migrants integrate into the economy, forms the foundation for the study. Data collection and analysis from three organizations providing programs within Morocco to support migrants' economic integration provides insight into the ways in which policies and migrants' needs influence the programs that NGOs and other community organizations provide …

Comparing U.S. And French Approaches To Counterterrorism In Africa, Alexa Audino

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Although terrorism is typically associated, in the U.S., with the Middle East, there is also a significant presence of terrorist groups in Africa. Both the United States and France are involved in counterterrorism in the Sahel region, where the two states often work together. However, the strategies of the U.S. and France in this region also frequently diverge. This project analyzes the differences in the strategies taken by France and the United States in counterterrorism interventions in the Sahel, specifically studying the ways in which these two countries are fighting Boko Haram, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and Al-Shabab. …

Mineral Warfare: The Dark Side Of Technology And International Mediation, Priyanka Basnyat

Master's Theses

Conflict surrounding the extraction and trade of natural resources is not an uncommon phenomenon. Especially in the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has historically suffered from the negative impacts of the resource curse since their mineral wealth was first discovered by their Colonial administrators. The importance of Congo’s minerals has fluctuated over the years but has peaked during recent times, as their use in technological advancements are becoming more vital. The global demand for these mineral ores have sky rocketed and consequentially, the largely informal trade has benefitted certain rebel groups, playing a pivotal role in …

Political Revolutions And Women's Progress: Why The Egyptian Arab Spring Failed To Deliver On The Promises Of Women's Rights, Anne Song

Master's Theses

The mass participation of women in the 2011 Egyptian Arab Spring began what many thought would be a new feminist movement. As news cycles started showing the central role of women in the Arab Spring, many people including the women who demonstrated believed women’s rights were on the horizon. This study shows why the 2011 Arab Spring did not deliver on the promises of women’s rights in Egypt. Explaining the historical, religious, and societal influences on women’s rights in Egypt, and using data from the Arab Barometer and reports from the World Bank and UN, this study shows that the …

Measuring Vulnerability Interdependence: To What Extent Do Chinese Investments In Africa Make China Vulnerable?, Nurullah Ayyilmaz

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The pace of Chinese investments in Africa accelerated after the 2000s as one of many consequences of China’s “going out” policy. The importance of Sino-African investment relationship has been signified by conveying large-scale tri-annual collective dialogue forum, named Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), first in 2000. It is generally assumed that Africa needs China, mostly due to being recipient of Chinese investments, but what about the opposite and what would that mean for China? This dissertation looks at the bilateral relationship between China and Africa from the perspective of creating vulnerability for the investor party. Accordingly, the research questions …

The Impact Of Security Crises On Political Development: An Analysis Of CôTe D’Ivoire, Guinea, And Senegal, Zoe King

CMC Senior Theses

This paper explores the relationship between security concerns and political development in three case studies: Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Senegal. It first analyzes the foundations of political institutions within the three states by exploring the creation of nationalist leaders in the pre-independence era, and how their personal development within these years affected their governance style after independence. Afterwards, the discussion separates into the three distinct case studies. The purpose of this analysis is to first outline the major developments within each country in the political field, highlight the major security concerns within the country, and then analyze how these two …

The Ecclesiology Of Pope Francis And The Future Of The Church In Africa, Bradford E. Hinze

Journal of Global Catholicism

A consideration of the future of African Catholicism in light of the ecclesiology of Pope Francis. The article explores how themes in Francis's ecclesiology work together to challenge centralization, clericalism, and triumphalism in the church by promoting practices of synodality and how these elements support the church’s mission to work against forms of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and the most fundamental matrix of colonial power by advancing radical democracy in society

Constitutional Reform: Decolonization In The Comoros Islads, Nicholas A. Daou

Capstone Collection

Since its independence in 1975 the Union of Comoros has seen a great deal of political upheaval as a part of its decolonization process. This study examines the period between 1975 and 2001 with special emphasis on the 1997 Secession Crisis and the methods by which that crisis was resolved. The literature review is composed of predominantly native Comorian authors, supplemented by several French authors and information from international organizations. The events and literature are also examined through the lenses of the psychoanalytical group identity theory of Vamik Volkan and the Conflict Transformation work of Johan Galtung. Data regarding attitudes …

Strategic Culture In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Divergent Paths Of Uganda And Tanzania, Kevin Frank

Dissertations

Strategic culture is a concept accepted by scholars and practitioners, but with problematic applicability to states newly independent or emerging from conflict. The elements that comprise strategic culture in the developed world are not always present in emerging states. This research addresses the pertinency of strategic culture in Uganda and Tanzania, and then tests the operationalization of the concept using the case of participation in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The African Union and the international community expected Uganda and Tanzania to contribute troops to AMISON in 2007. In the event, Uganda did and Tanzania chose another path. …

Providing Refuge: A Regime Analysis Of Legal Protections For Displaced Persons In Sub-Saharan Africa, Natasha Bennett, Hannah K. Brown

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

While refugees are entitled to the right of asylum vis-a-vis the U.N. 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the subsequent 1967 Protocol, which includes rights of a legal resident in the host country, African states vary in their domestic implementation of refugee rights.

Sub-Saharan Africa host approximately 29 percent of the world’s refugees and as such represents a key region for understanding the dynamics of refugee rights and protections. With 45 member states having ratified (another 4 having signed) the Organization of African Unity’s 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa (OAU …

A Comparative Case Study Of American And Ugandan Refugee Policies, Anna Feins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research was conducted in order to expand upon current understandings of the policies affecting refugees in Uganda and the United States (U.S.). Appreciating both policies and implementation strategies for each country is critical in providing the ability to fully grasp the reality of the refugee crisis faced by countries all over the world.

This study employed field-based research, including observations, focus groups, and interviews with refugees and those who implement refugee policies. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and implementing partners of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Uganda were interviewed, along with officers and commandants in the Office …

Language, Race, And Integration: A Comparative Exploration Of The Sub-Saharan Migrant Experience In Morocco, Madeline Davison

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper uses a qualitative approach to explain the divide between local and migrant populations in the Moroccan context. This divide is primarily influenced by “feelings of otherness” and is triggered first and foremost by differences in physical appearance—easily identifiable differences upon first impression. Though inspired by a nearly instantaneous arrangement, this divide is fueled further by an inconsistency of language usage between groups. Because there is a wide variety of migrant experiences in this context, it is important to identify some of the differences between these lived experiences. Upon observation, the question, “What are the fundamental differences between migrants’ …

We Create The Path By Walking: The Involvement Of Small Christian Communities (Sccs) In Peacebuilding In Eastern Africa, Father Joseph Healey

The Journal of Social Encounters

Small Christian Communities (SCCs), a key pastoral priority of the Catholic Bishops in the Association of Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), officially started in major ecclesial meetings in 1973 and 1976. The SCCs in the AMECEA region have been evolving in response to the developments in the region – they “create the path by walking” and are becoming more involved in peacebuilding activities. A recent study on the SCCs finds that there are over 180,000 SCCs in the nine countries of the AMECEA region. An estimated 45,000 SCCs are spread throughout Kenya’s 26 Catholic dioceses. This essay discusses the …

Webs Of War In The Congo: The Politics Of Hybrid Wars, Conflict Networks, And Multilateral Responses 1996-2003, Tatiana Carayannis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since 1996, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been the battleground for was within wars, where networks of conflict interact to produce patterns of local resource extraction and patterns of local and regional violence, resulting in one of the most devastating, yet surprisingly understudied, humanitarian disasters of our day. This dissertation explains the complex political sociologies of the three Congo wars and tests key assumptions in the new war literature through empirical observation of the wars and a case study of the Mouvement de Liberation du Congo (MLC), one of the principal rebel movements in these wars.

This project challenges …

Book Review: International Responses To Mass Atrocities In Africa: Responsibility To Protect, Prosecute, And Palliate, Shannon Zimmerman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This is review of Kurt Mills' most recent book, International Responses to Mass Atrocities in Africa: Responsibility to Protect, Prosecute, and Palliate. In this book Mills looks at international responses to instances of mass atrocities in Africa. Mills utilizes a three part framework encompassing protection, prosecution and palliation to provide holistic account of international responses. By detailing the different types of responses side by side in four case studies Mills is able to show how each type of response both helps and hinders the effectiveness of other responses.

Sustainable Mining For Long Term Poverty Alleviation In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Ellen Perfect

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the poverty alleviation and peace-spoiling power of the mineral extraction sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to arrive at a set of strategic goals for the country moving forward. Although subterranean minerals are often a source or perpetuator of violence, the potential to lift the country’s rural communities out of extreme poverty makes the mining industry an essential part of the nation’s development strategies. Lessons from Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Uganda and Sierra Leone to arrive at best practices for increasing the multiplier effect of large-scale mining, formalization, beneficiation, capital …

The Power Of The Periphery: Aid, Mutuality And Cold War U.S-Ghana Relations, 1957-1966, Moses Allor Awinsong

Masters Theses

This project interrogates how economic self interest motivated periphery states such as Ghana to use foreign policy as a vehicle to attract improved development assistance from superpowers, in this case the United States. While the United States viewed its aid program in Ghana in stringently Cold War terms, Kwame Nkrumah and his advisors were less inclined to get deeply concerned about Cold War ideology. This project shows that Ghanaian agency was manifested in the Cold War through the new state's construction of a foreign policy image that made it a prominent African voice globally. It then examines how that image …

Can International Criminal Law Deter Rebel Groups? The Case Of Uganda, The Lord's Resistance Army, And The International Criminal Court, Julia Reilly

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

How does a state’s commitment to international criminal accountability mechanisms affect the tactics of rebel groups fighting against it? I examine the conflict between Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army, spanning four phases from 1996 until 2015, and parse out whether Uganda’s stance on the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court affected the LRA’s propensity to target civilians. I use descriptive statistics of civilian and military casualties and qualitative case studies, drawing largely on newspaper and NGO reports of events in the conflict. I find that the affect of Uganda’s signaling on justice on the LRA’s civilian targeting is …

Book Review: Conflict In The Nuba Mountains: From Genocide-By-Attrition To The Contemporary Crisis In Sudan, Alan J. Kuperman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Dealing With Migratory Trauma: Mental Health Stressors And Coping Mechanisms Among Sub-Saharan Migrants In Rabat, Morocco, Dominique Defreece

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Interviews, surveys, and participant observation was used to study the mental health of Sub-Saharan migrants residing in Rabat, Morocco. These data collection methods were used to explore the various experiences migrants had pre-migration, during their migration journey, and post-migration. The migrants portrayed many negative, traumatic, and painful experiences. These experiences have caused a significant amount of pressure on the mental psyche of the migrants, manifesting itself in many physical and psychological problems. One common problem was a sense of disillusionment or lack of control over their bodies and situations. However, many of them do not seek the help of mental …

China And Africa’S Peace And Security Agenda: The Burgeoning Appetite, Oita Etyang, Simon Oswan Panyako

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

China and Africa have had contacts since time immemorial. It is, however, in the last two decades that China vastly increased its engagement with Africa, following the first Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that took place in 2000 and the Beijing Summit held in 2006. China has skillfully utilized its international strategy of multipolarity and non-interference to champion its economic interests as well as its hegemonic quest. It is undeniable that China has heavily invested in Africa through Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), and infrastructure development. China has also increased its appetite on matters peace and security. …

The African Group On The United Nations Human Rights Council: Shifting Geopolitics And The Liberal International Order, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

During the early years of the United Nations Human Rights Council, formed in 2006, the African Group obstructed efforts to scrutinize and improve human rights in specific countries, notably in the cases of Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, in recent years the African Group has become willing to address country-specific human rights violations, particularly in Côte d'Ivoire, Libya, and Eritrea. This article documents the African Group's shift and asks why it occurred. Against the backdrop of debates about whether the liberal international order can survive a decline in American dominance, the study of the African Group's …

The South African Elderly: Neglect, Social Contribution And The Hiv/Aids Epidemic, Alessia Frisoli

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With a slowing fertility rate and an increasing longevity, the world population is aging. Both developed and developing countries have seen their elderly become more numerous with an increasing burden on their financial, medical and social system. Many scholars have suggested immediate change of policies to contain the predicted crisis that will affect the health care and the pension schemes in the next decades. However, few have investigated the positive role that the seniors play contributing to society, beyond the complications caused to the economy and welfare system. This thesis will support the argument that the elderly, if appropriately cared …

Human Rights In North Korea - The Pump Don't Work Cause The Vandals Took The Handles, Steven Gariepy

International Human Rights Law Journal

Many cynics of the universality of international human rights point to persistent large-scale human-rights abusing regimes, such as the Democratic Republic of North Korea, as proof that there is nothing at all universal about human rights. This essay is an attempt to root out the implications of internal national policies on the suitability of international human rights whilst reinforcing their universality. The author of this essay, a military lawyer, reaches the conclusion that the pump of universal human rights don't work within the North Korea cause the vandals took the handle.

A Proposed Enhancement To Un Treaty Enforcement: Regular Recommendations To Civil Society, Benjamin Bloomer

International Human Rights Law Journal

The UN treaty body system is an imperative component in the enforcement of international human rights law, but it currently does not have the mechanisms sufficient for the effective internalization of international human rights law standards. One of its current mechanisms, namely, concluding observations, are by their nature of being addressed to states insufficient to ensure enforcement in state parties not politically, economically, socially, or culturally inclined to obey the recommendations. This article proposes a new publication that will better foster communication between civil society organizations and treaty bodies, allowing for a more highly coordinated effort of civil society in …

Black Hole In The Rising Sun: Japan And The Hague Convention On Child Abduction, Paul Hanley

International Human Rights Law Journal

Japan has long been criticized for its failure to address the issue of international child abduction. In response to international pressure, Japan adopted the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Abduction in April 2014. Despite its ratification of the treaty, great concern remains whether Japan is willing to comply with the legal obligations imposed by the Convention. This article examines Japan’s struggle with the issue of international child abduction, analyzing its traditional approach to family matters such as its “divorce by conference” system, which permits couples to negotiate issues of child custody and visitation without any judicial …

Breaking The Legacy: Recognizing And Prosecuting Sexual Violence As A Violation Of Human Rights In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Miranda L. Weinstein

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper aims to outline the existing policies aimed at providing protection for sexual abuse survivors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In an attempt to provide justice for the survivors of sexual abuse, an analysis of the 1992-1995 Bosnia and Herzegovina post-conflict reconstruction is included. In particular, prosecution of sexual violence and rape as a weapon of war will be provided in order to weigh the benefits and weaknesses of international criminal law. The conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo witnesses widespread and systematic sexual violence abuses. With over 60 armed groups at any given day, …

Why The U.S. Government Failed To Anticipate The Rwandan Genocide Of 1994: Lessons For Early Warning And Prevention, Matthew Levinger

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

During the months leading up to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, cognitive biases obstructed the capacity of U.S. government analysts and policymakers to anticipate mass violence against the country’s Tutsi minority. Drawing on recently declassified U.S. government documents and on interviews with key current and former officials, this essay shows that most U.S. government reporting on Rwanda before April 1994 utilized a faulty cognitive frame that failed to differentiate between threats of civil war and genocide. Because U.S. officials framed the crisis in Rwanda as a potential civil war, they underestimated the virulence of the threat to Tutsi civilians and …