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Articles 481 - 510 of 994

Full-Text Articles in Near and Middle Eastern Studies

The Effect Of Tribalism On Political Parties, Cyrus Lloyd Oct 2019

The Effect Of Tribalism On Political Parties, Cyrus Lloyd

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Tribalism has been the fundamental organizational unit of Middle Eastern Society for thousands of years. Recently however, modern scholars have questioned the viability of tribalism in the burgeoning democratic systems of the region. This study weighs in on this debate, focusing specifically on how tribal loyalties influence the effectiveness of political parties, considered by political science researchers to be the most effective way for the people to impose their will on the government. Focusing specifically on Jordan, this research takes into account information collected from interviews with several prominent members of Jordanian political, social, and intellectual life, including the heads …

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Till Death Do Us Part: Will Longstanding Rivalry Impede The Ethnic Coalition Of Isis And Al Qaeda?, Bianca L. Pergher Sep 2019

Till Death Do Us Part: Will Longstanding Rivalry Impede The Ethnic Coalition Of Isis And Al Qaeda?, Bianca L. Pergher

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

According to Dr. Tricia Bacon’s and Dr. Elizabeth Grimm Arsenault’s, “Al Qaeda and the Islamic State's Break: Strategic Strife or Lackluster Leadership?,”the “strategic differences between Al Qaeda and ISIS were not sufficient to cause the split,” the strife that ensued between al Nusra and ISIS caused this complex alliance to rupture. Osama bin Laden’s effective leadership aligned a terrorist network that amassed rebel groups for the global jihadist cause. Unlike bin Laden’s elitist view to destabilize the West, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi believed the principal enemies of the jihadist movement were Shiites for their false interpretation of Islamic theology and …

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How Does Wasta Bolster Regimes? The Case Of Tunisia, Issrar Chamekh Aug 2019

How Does Wasta Bolster Regimes? The Case Of Tunisia, Issrar Chamekh

Dissertations and Theses

This paper aims to highlight the impact of democratization on wasta by examining the everyday performance of wasta, or the use of connections and informal networks to acquire services. Despite its widespread use, I find that it is understudied as an explanatory variable in the literature on democratization and authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa, with Tunisia as a case study. In this paper, I argue that wasta can potentially have a consolidating effect on regimes. I examine the ways that wasta is encoded in everyday language. Using literature from Pragmatics, specifically Goffman's dramaturgical model, I find that …

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Rafi & Patra, Rafi, Patra, Tsos Jul 2019

Rafi & Patra, Rafi, Patra, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Rafi and his family have been stuck on the border between Greece and Macedonia for almost four months. They made their way from Afghanistan, received certificates in Greece to help them on their journey, but were then stopped at the border of Macedonia. The Macedonians said that they were no longer allowing Afghans into their country. Now all they can do is wait and hope. In Afghanistan,Rafi was a military man. As a young man, he was a part of the Revolution army, but later was made a soldier for the Government Security of Kabul. During that time, he was …

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At The Hands Of Fate: The Political Economy Of Islamic Insurance In Indonesia, Malaysia, And Pakistan, C. 1980 To The Present, Muhammad S. Rahman Jul 2019

At The Hands Of Fate: The Political Economy Of Islamic Insurance In Indonesia, Malaysia, And Pakistan, C. 1980 To The Present, Muhammad S. Rahman

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Why have Islamic insurance systems developed well in some countries, but not in others? Malaysia is considered as Islamic insurance elite due to its relatively large number of operators it houses as well as the sustained growth of Islamic insurance sales within the country, while Indonesia and Pakistan are still in early stages of development. Analyzing the political and social history of Islamization of insurance systems in these three Muslim majority countries in Asia since 1980s, this dissertation demonstrates the development gap between these countries on Islamic insurance results from; firstly, complex bargains made between various groups within each country …

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Media Discourses That Normalize Colonial Relations: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of (Im)Migrants And Refugees, Meng Zhao, Jorge Rodriguez, Lilia D. Monzó Jun 2019

Media Discourses That Normalize Colonial Relations: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of (Im)Migrants And Refugees, Meng Zhao, Jorge Rodriguez, Lilia D. Monzó

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The im(migration) and refugee crisis that are being exacerbated under the Trump administration, is a manifestation of empire-building and the long history of colonization of the Global South. A Marxist-humanist perspective recognizes these as consistent aspects of a clearly racist global capitalism that functions in the interest of multibillion dollar U.S.–based corporations and increasingly transnational corporations. Trade agreements, international economic policy, political intervention, invasion or the threat of these, often secure corporate interests in specific countries and regions. The authors use critical discourse analysis to examine the discourses around Mexican, Central American, and Syrian im(migrants) and refugees as examples of …

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Marta, Marta, Tsos Jun 2019

Marta, Marta, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Marta is a member of the support community for Central American refugees arriving in the southwest US. In this interview, Marta shares her own story of crossing the border at a young age with her daughter and her life in the US. Marta was self-employed for many years and later went on to serve in the US Army in Iraq. For the last 9 months, she and her husband Israel and son Josue have worked tirelessly to help make sure the current refugees arriving are cared for after they are released from detention centers and begin their lives in the …

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Forced Migration: A Syrian Exodus To Germany, Taylor Witt May 2019

Forced Migration: A Syrian Exodus To Germany, Taylor Witt

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The Syrian Civil War has killed over 500,000 people and displaced over 12 million since it began in 2011. The conflict has resulted in forced migration on a massive scale. Syrian people have been displaced within Syria, to the surrounding Arab states and to Europe. This has led to an immigration crisis in some parts of the European Union. Germany has become a primary destination for these refugees, but nationalist, xenophobic forces have started pushing back against what is perceived to be an invasion of foreigners into their land and their borders. This project examines the sentiments of German citizens …

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Analyzing The United States’ Limited Response To The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Carolina Romero May 2019

Analyzing The United States’ Limited Response To The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Carolina Romero

Political Analysis

The Syrian refugee crisis can be described as one of the biggest, if not largest, humanitarian crisis of the 21st century. The crisis is a result of an ongoing civil war between rebel groups and the government forces of the Assad regime. Since the beginning of the war in 2011, over 400,000 have been killed and a combined 11 million have been displaced either internally or externally from their homes (Human Rights Watch, World Report 2018). The United Nations and the international community have openly expressed discontent with the dealings of the Assad regime, and as a result, have attempted …

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Regime Change, Deferred: Regarding United States’ Foreign Policy In Syria, Rosa Mazza–Hilway May 2019

Regime Change, Deferred: Regarding United States’ Foreign Policy In Syria, Rosa Mazza–Hilway

Political Analysis

In 2011, President Obama proclaimed, “the time has come for President Assad to step aside” (“President Obama”). The question then becomes: why has the United States failed to act upon this declaration and been unsuccessful in achieving regime change in Syria? While there is evidence to suggest regime change is the ultimate goal in Syria, there has been a lack of action taken to facilitate the deposition of Assad. In this paper, there will be an emphasis on the policies and rhetoric that indicate the desire to catalyze a shift in governmental power through the disposal of the Assad regime. …

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Radicalization Through The Internet: How Isis Became So Successful And Why The United States Needs To Catch Up, Ana Sofia Florez May 2019

Radicalization Through The Internet: How Isis Became So Successful And Why The United States Needs To Catch Up, Ana Sofia Florez

Senior Theses

It is no secret the Islamic State of Syria, otherwise known as ISIS, has become one of the most dangerous and brutal terrorist organizations in recent history. In recent years the Islamic State has been gaining strength and followers from around the world. Individuals from other countries will leave their homes and families after contact through social media to travel to Syria and fight alongside the organization. This thesis provides insight on the dangerous implications ISIS’s perfection on online recruitment and their successful radicalization tactics has. It will also provide an explanation as to why nations, specifically the United States …

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Post-Civil War Peace Durability: The Role Of Domestic Infrastructure And Military, Alexandra Wilson May 2019

Post-Civil War Peace Durability: The Role Of Domestic Infrastructure And Military, Alexandra Wilson

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since 1945, approximately half of the world’s states have been engaged in some type of civil conflict. The aim of this research is to understand why some post-civil war states fail to establish peace durability while others thrive. Through quantitative research of civil wars globally and a qualitative analysis of Iraq, this thesis argues for the necessity of post-civil war policy to focus on the renewal of domestic infrastructure in addition to military investment which suppresses grievance-driven violence. A logistical regression model of all civil wars since 1945 shows that variables, such as healthcare, are evidently associated with more durable …

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Arab Spring In North Africa: An Analysis Of Foreign Influence And Revolutions In Egypt, Libya, And Tunisia, Trevor Eck May 2019

Arab Spring In North Africa: An Analysis Of Foreign Influence And Revolutions In Egypt, Libya, And Tunisia, Trevor Eck

CURCE Annual Undergraduate Conference

This paper examines the role foreign influence had on the outcomes of the 2011 Arab Spring Revolutions in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. Foreign influence primarily came from the US, European states such as the UK and France, and Gulf States such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE. Influence includes but is not limited to financial assistance, diplomatic pressure, and in Libya’s extreme case military intervention. Outcome of the revolution is determined by examining the state of each government before and after the 2011 revolutions. This paper studies why each of these three states had different levels of foreign influence throughout …

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Constructing And Destructing The Peace: Models Of International Engagement In Post-Conflict States, Colin Churchill May 2019

Constructing And Destructing The Peace: Models Of International Engagement In Post-Conflict States, Colin Churchill

Political Science Honors Projects

Variance in the stability of post-conflict states presents an interesting predicament. What causes this variance in states two or three decades removed from civil conflict? In this paper, I argue that the type of engagement that international actors take towards post-conflict states explains differences in stability. I draw out four distinct models of international engagement from three case studies of Lebanon, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Northern Ireland that present the different ways that international actors have constructively and destructively engaged in these states. Furthering this analysis is an examination of the transition or possible transition between models in the cases.

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Syrian Crisis Representation In The Media: The Cnn Effect, Framing, And Tone, Savannah S. Day May 2019

Syrian Crisis Representation In The Media: The Cnn Effect, Framing, And Tone, Savannah S. Day

Venture: The University of Mississippi Undergraduate Research Journal

Over the past seven years of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian refugees have been painted in a negative light by news media outlets around the world. History of media coverage regarding global humanitarian crises shows that with various tools and processes, media can shape public opinion and policy in whichever direction it desires, and oftentimes policymakers and the public are quick, as well as emotional, to react. In this paper, my objectives are to analyze specific examples of this CNN Effect phenomena within news coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis, as well as generally explain the negatively correlating relationship between …

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Watering The Desert: Azraq, Public Opinion, And Environmental Post-Materialism, Wesley A. Gerard May 2019

Watering The Desert: Azraq, Public Opinion, And Environmental Post-Materialism, Wesley A. Gerard

Venture: The University of Mississippi Undergraduate Research Journal

This article focuses on physical, socioeconomic, and political changes in the community of Azraq, Jordan. Azraq, a small town in northeastern Jordan, sits atop a large aquifer that has been heavily pumped by the government for several decades in response to an increasing nationwide demand for water. This has led to large-scale transformations in not only the physical landscape surrounding the aquifer, but also in the daily lives, economic statuses, and political opinions of the people living there. My research thus fits the case of Azraq into larger academic discourse on groundwater governance, resource access, and environmentalism. I use a …

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Refuge In A Place Without Refugees, Jane Roarty Apr 2019

Refuge In A Place Without Refugees, Jane Roarty

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The question of who should be given legal status as a refugee has consistently been veiled in discussions of ‘practicality,’ political motives, and inaction. Centered in these discussions tend to be state officials, international organization officials, and academics. More importantly, typically excluded from this assembly of decision makers and the thinkers are those actually and personally affected by the specifics of the term. In Jordan, this discussion is particularly interesting because the government does not legally recognize refugees since the United Nations refused to recognize Palestinians under the 1951 Convention definition. This paper aims to unpack the term refugee: both …

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Syrian Refugee Camps In Jordan: An Assessment, Athena-Rose Jennings Mar 2019

Syrian Refugee Camps In Jordan: An Assessment, Athena-Rose Jennings

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Syrian Refugee Camps in Jordan: An Assessment explores how and why the Government of Jordan created camps to house its 670,000 Syrian refugees. Examining Jordan’s four Syrian refugee camps, Jennings considers to what extent their different operating models are effective and why. Metrics of camp effectiveness include degree and type of support from non-Government of Jordan humanitarian actors, the availability of education and medical care in the camps, and the degree to which camp residents themselves engage in the camp communities. She posits that using the camp model affords Jordan greater internal security, and influence over refugee matters internationally by …

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Shamshur, Shamshur, Tsos Mar 2019

Shamshur, Shamshur, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Shamshur has been in Cox’s Bazaar for 8 months and works in Hope Hospital (the camp hospital) as a traditional birth attendant. In addition, she makes house calls to pregnant women throughout the camp who are fearful of hospitals due to past trauma and sexual torture. Shamshur has nine children and a husband who is in prison.

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Modina, Modina, Tsos Mar 2019

Modina, Modina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Modina fled Myanmar after experiencing and witnessing extreme violence, including the destruction of her village and the violent murder of her uncle by soldiers. She arrived in Bangladesh by boat after paying smugglers a large sum.

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Nidar, Nidar, Tsos Mar 2019

Nidar, Nidar, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Nidar has been in Cox’s Bazaar for 8 months and works in Hope Hospital (the camp hospital) as a traditional birth attendant. In addition, she makes house calls to pregnant women throughout the camp who are fearful of hospitals due to past trauma and sexual torture. Nidar has two children and a husband who fell victim to war.

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Asma, Asma, Tsos Mar 2019

Asma, Asma, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Asma is a teenager who fled from Myanmar after the army killed her uncle and her village was destroyed. She is now living in Cox’s Bazaar, married, pregnant, and trying to cope in a world where violence and rape are all too common.

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Shobika, Shobika, Tsos Mar 2019

Shobika, Shobika, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Shobika escaped Myanmar amid widespread chaos. After being separated from her husband and experiencing the kidnap of her two children, she was raped by soldiers and became pregnant. Her husband now rejects this child.

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Januka, Januka, Tsos Mar 2019

Januka, Januka, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

After being raped by a soldier in Myanmar, Januka fled to Bangladesh with her father and later found out she was pregnant. She fears no one will want to marry her because she has been raped.

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Rohima, Rohima, Tsos Mar 2019

Rohima, Rohima, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Rohima was brutally raped and tortured by soldiers during an attack. After witnessing other women receive the same treatment, she fled Myanmar for Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Once there, she got married while pregnant as a result of the rape.

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The Jihadist Marketplace: Understanding Competition Between Al Qaeda And Isis, Hristo Voynov Feb 2019

The Jihadist Marketplace: Understanding Competition Between Al Qaeda And Isis, Hristo Voynov

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

ISIS and al Qaeda are the world’s preeminent transnational jihadist organizations. Following a public schism, the two started competing, even though they previous cooperated to accomplish their shared goals. This split divided the movement, which was previously united under the leadership of al Qaeda. Now the two must compete with one another for the limited resources of the global jihadist movement as the loser of the competition risks losing their standing within the movement, which may lead to irrelevancy, or even organizational demise, for the loser. This competition requires study because it is necessary to explain why the two would …

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Societal Rather Than Governmental Change: Religious Discrimination In Muslim-Majority Countries After The Arab Uprisings, Yasemin Akbaba, Jonathan Fox Jan 2019

Societal Rather Than Governmental Change: Religious Discrimination In Muslim-Majority Countries After The Arab Uprisings, Yasemin Akbaba, Jonathan Fox

Political Science Faculty Publications

This study examines shifts in governmental religion policy and societal discrimination against religious minorities in Muslim-Majority states after the Arab Uprisings by using the Religion and State round 3 (RAS3) dataset for the years 2009-2014 and by focusing on 49 Muslim-majority countries and territories. We build on threads of literature on religious pluralism in transitional societies to explain the changes in governmental religion policy and societal discrimination against religious minorities after the Arab Uprisings. This literature predicts a rise in all forms of discrimination in Arab Uprising states as compared to other Muslim-majority states, and an even more significant rise …

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Evaluating The Relationship Between Conditionality And Foreign Aid Reliance, Rory Ann O'Neil Jan 2019

Evaluating The Relationship Between Conditionality And Foreign Aid Reliance, Rory Ann O'Neil

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

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Effect Of Religious Legislation On Religious Behavior: The Ramadan Fast, Hannah M. Ridge Jan 2019

Effect Of Religious Legislation On Religious Behavior: The Ramadan Fast, Hannah M. Ridge

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

State laws compelling citizens to comply with elements of religious law – also known as religious legislation – are globally pervasive. Previous research has well documented the incidence of myriad examples of religious legislation. These laws’ practical effect on citizens’ behavior, however, has been less examined. This article looks at the effect of one piece of religious legislation: state laws enforcing the Ramadan fast. It demonstrates that the use of state power to sanction violations of religious law significantly increases citizens’ compliance with this religious law.

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Nationalism And Multi-Dimensional Identities: Ba'ath Propaganda During The Iran-Iraq War, Jennie Matuschak Jan 2019

Nationalism And Multi-Dimensional Identities: Ba'ath Propaganda During The Iran-Iraq War, Jennie Matuschak

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I examine the content of and mechanisms of disseminating propaganda originating from Saddam Hussein’s regime during the Iran-Iraq War. This research specifically looks at how and why the regime targeted Iraqi Shi’as during the war, and how that contributed to the ways in which the regime engaged with rhetoric. Moreover, this thesis attempts to make sense of the diverse, and sometimes seemingly opposing, amalgam of the rhetoric’s subject matter and methods of circulation. More broadly, it speaks to the difficulty of fostering an environment that can produce patriotism and lead to the construction of a strong national …

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