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Articles 1 - 19 of 19
Full-Text Articles in Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Syrian Perspectives On The U.S. Intervention Against Isis: Analysis Of Youtube Videos, Nelson Cleveland
Syrian Perspectives On The U.S. Intervention Against Isis: Analysis Of Youtube Videos, Nelson Cleveland
Honors Theses
This thesis investigates Syrian public opinion surrounding the 2014 U.S.-led military intervention against ISIS through critical discourse analysis of Arabic-language YouTube videos. In light of the renewed interest and continued presence of U.S. troops in Syria following the Assad regime’s collapse in 2024, the study examines how Syrians originally responded to the coalition strikes and political context in which they occurred. Drawing on four primary videos including street interviews, protest recordings, and discussions from expert panelists, the analysis uncovers recurring themes of distrust towards the U.S. and other states who engaged in intervention, condemnation of perceived collusion and exploitation, and …
Afghanistan: An Analysis Of U.S. Foreign Policy’S Effect On Afghan Terrorism Rates, Katelyn E. Tinsley Foust
Afghanistan: An Analysis Of U.S. Foreign Policy’S Effect On Afghan Terrorism Rates, Katelyn E. Tinsley Foust
Honors Theses
While the term ‘terrorism’ was first coined and widely used in the late 1700s regarding the French Reign of Terror, its popularity has grown dramatically around the globe in the last few decades. Advancements in things like technology and news reporting have made these attacks more popular and have given terrorists an easier outlet to be recognized around the world. One such area we hear about often is the Middle East and the Levant. Countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Israel, and more, are routinely discussed in our news cycles here in the United States, especially since the terrorist attacks on …
Lasting Impact: Analyzing The Relationship Between Colonialism And Proxy War Onset, Sydney Rehm
Lasting Impact: Analyzing The Relationship Between Colonialism And Proxy War Onset, Sydney Rehm
Honors Theses
Proxy wars are a very specific subset of war that have increased in frequency. Researchers have studied why proxy wars occur, but there are less studies specifically on to what extent, if any, colonialism has on the onset of proxy wars. To fill this gap, I write a historical analysis of past proxy wars—specifically the Vietnam War (1955-1975), Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), and Yemeni Civil War (2014-present)—to examine the effects of colonialism. Furthermore, I utilize my case studies to assess my argument’s limitations. I also utilize statistical analysis to determine the probability of proxy war if a country has a …
Aftermaths Of Opposition: Effectiveness Of Repression Against Reformist Islamists In Saudi Arabia, Londyn Lorenz
Aftermaths Of Opposition: Effectiveness Of Repression Against Reformist Islamists In Saudi Arabia, Londyn Lorenz
Honors Theses
Saudi Arabia has long been considered a religious, political, and economic hub of the Middle East and North Africa as the home of the two holiest cities in Islam: Mecca and Medina. The kingdom’s leaders, the Al Saud family, have relied on their Islamic clout to remain in power since the 1700s, but their Islamic credentials were called into question following their allowance of American troops on Saudi soil and alliance with Western ideals during and following the Gulf War of the 1990s. Islamist outrage against the throne poured out across the nation, bringing demands for political change and increased …
Finding Aid For The Evelyn Uhrhan Irving Collection (Mum00146)
Finding Aid For The Evelyn Uhrhan Irving Collection (Mum00146)
Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids (alphabetical)
Correspondence of modern language professor Evelyn Uhrhan Irving with various public officials and media outlets on foreign policy and domestic matters.
Why Did The Camel Cross The Road?: The Use Of Camel Racing And Military Pageantry In Unifying Oman Through Nationalism Racing, Elizabeth Williams
Why Did The Camel Cross The Road?: The Use Of Camel Racing And Military Pageantry In Unifying Oman Through Nationalism Racing, Elizabeth Williams
Honors Theses
In 1970, Sultan Qaboos bin Said seized power from his father Sultan Said bin Taimur in a bloodless coup with backing from the British. Prior to this, bin Taimur led with policies that left Oman open to foreign involvement and internal divisions between the interior and exterior of the country. After coming to power, Qaboos undertook several progressive policies to modernize and unite the country. This paper examines how two cultural symbols- camel racing and military pageantry- were used to develop ethnic nationalism into civic nationalism.
A City Divided: A Gis-Informed Study Of Urban Planning In Amman, Jordan, Ella Lawson
A City Divided: A Gis-Informed Study Of Urban Planning In Amman, Jordan, Ella Lawson
Honors Theses
Amman, the capital of Jordan, faces an impending infrastructure crisis. The city is plagued by water shortages, a lack of affordable housing, extreme traffic congestion, and dwindling open space. Over the past seventy-five years, several urban planning commissions have attempted to address these issues through policy change and other municipal directives. These plans help illustrate the different forces at play in constructing the city—whether they be the residents themselves, city officials, or international consultants. All the plans use neighborhoods as a primary metric for measuring need and organizing development. Likewise, all the plans focus on the importance of green and …
The Role Of The Kurds In U.S. Foreign Policy, Davis Mccool Iii
The Role Of The Kurds In U.S. Foreign Policy, Davis Mccool Iii
Honors Theses
The Kurdish people in the Middle East have played a valuable role in furthering U.S. policy interests in the region. The U.S. has aligned itself with various Kurdish groups in a series of strategic partnerships dating back to the early 1970s, yet has never considered the Kurdish nation an ally. As such, the U.S. has reneged on multiple different pacts with the Kurds and opened the door for state-sponsored conflict against a supposed ally, despite mutual interests between both groups. This thesis aimed to assign a formal role to the Kurds within U.S. foreign policy, and to analyze the function …
On The Basis Of Sex: Personal Status Law Reforms And Economic Growth, Kylie Bring
On The Basis Of Sex: Personal Status Law Reforms And Economic Growth, Kylie Bring
Honors Theses
The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how law reform toward gender equity has an impact on economic growth in Arab countries in the Middle East. Personal status law reform granting women economic, social, and personal freedoms is spreading across the region and showing substantial change. Using case studies of major PSL reforms in Tunisia and Morocco, this thesis outlines qualitative and quantitative evidence to support the case that gender equity benefits the economic growth of the given country.
Thank You For Considering Me Such A Huge Threat: A Critical Analysis Of Iran's Foreign Policy, Liza Boyer
Thank You For Considering Me Such A Huge Threat: A Critical Analysis Of Iran's Foreign Policy, Liza Boyer
Honors Theses
The United States has long held the idea that Iran poses a threat to our interests as well as global stability, implying that Iran is irrational and makes decisions rooted purely in ideology. After creating an independent framework based on rational choice theory, descriptive decision theory, and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I determined four possible ways to describe Iran’s foreign policy: rational-constitutional, irrational-constitutional, rational-unconstitutional, and irrational-unconstitutional. I then apply this framework to six cases which I have identified to be vital to understanding Iran’s foreign policy: Iraq, Israel, United States of America, China, the nuclear program, …
Mind Your Youth: Youth Unemployment And Islamic Radicalization, Caleb Ray
Mind Your Youth: Youth Unemployment And Islamic Radicalization, Caleb Ray
Honors Theses
This study examines the potential existence of a correlation between youth unemployment and Islamic Radicalization in the MENA using data from the World Bank, the Global Terrorism Database, and the Arab Barometer. It aims to add to the current body of research regarding socioeconomic drivers for radicalization and terrorism.
The Neighbor Before The House: Jordan's Internal And External Drivers Regarding The Refugee Crisis, Katherine G. Levingston
The Neighbor Before The House: Jordan's Internal And External Drivers Regarding The Refugee Crisis, Katherine G. Levingston
Honors Theses
Jordan has the second highest number of refugees in the world per capita next to Lebanon and relies very heavily on aid from the global community, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the European Union (EU). Furthermore, they lack a legal framework regarding the high amount of refugees that inhabit the country. This raises the question: What are the drivers of Jordanian refugee policy? I argue that the drivers of Jordan’s current refugee policies are their internal pressures, which are Jordan’s ongoing water crisis, unemployment, and education, as well as external funding that comes from …
Syrian Crisis Representation In The Media: The Cnn Effect, Framing, And Tone, Savannah S. Day
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 …
Watering The Desert: Azraq, Public Opinion, And Environmental Post-Materialism, Wesley A. Gerard
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 …
Watering The Desert: Azraq, Public Opinion, And Environmental Post-Materialism, Wesley Gerard
Watering The Desert: Azraq, Public Opinion, And Environmental Post-Materialism, Wesley Gerard
Honors Theses
In this thesis, I analyze the physical, political, and societal transformations in Azraq, Jordan, caused by over-exploitation of the town’s aquifer. I also connect the changes I and others have observed in Azraq to two main theories: postmaterialism and its counterarguments, and the tragedy of the commons. In short, postmaterialism argues that societies that have advanced so that citizens do not have to devote their time and money to survival will have larger rates of environmentalism; the tragedy of the commons details the negative consequences of environmental degradation on those living around a common resource. In conducting the study, I …
Sons Of The Sāqiya: Grassroots Water Politics In Southeastern Morocco, John Chappell
Sons Of The Sāqiya: Grassroots Water Politics In Southeastern Morocco, John Chappell
Honors Theses
This study examines the informal institutions that govern the sāqiya and khettāra irrigation system in southeastern Morocco. I frame those institutions using literature concerning politics of irrigation, governing the commons, and North African political culture. While interviewing farmers in agricultural communities near the Morocco-Algeria border, five themes emerged as key aspects of sāqiya and khettāra governance: the definitions of irrigation communities, the methods of water distribution, the institutions for selecting leaders, and those leaders’ authorities and responsibilities. Institutional arrangements and management practices associated with those themes show that sāqiya and khettāra governance is rooted in the democratic values of consensus …
Commodity Fetishism And Performative Identity: Studying The Effects Of Neoliberal Reform On The Work Of Non-Governmental Organizations In Cairo, Cynthia N. Bauer
Commodity Fetishism And Performative Identity: Studying The Effects Of Neoliberal Reform On The Work Of Non-Governmental Organizations In Cairo, Cynthia N. Bauer
Honors Theses
This paper explores the economic dimension of identity politics, exemplified in the case study of the NGO Safarni in Cairo, Egypt. In doing so, I argue that neoliberal economic reform has led to an expansion of the capitalist mindset to include new subjectivities, one of which is the categorization of identity. By teaching values of "diversity" and "openness," and getting significant international funding to do so, Safarni is participating in a system that is creating a new type of labor and laborer, and where this labor is one in which the self objectifies itself.
The Holy See And The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Study Of The Catholic Church's Soft Power, Lauren A. Newman
The Holy See And The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Study Of The Catholic Church's Soft Power, Lauren A. Newman
Honors Theses
The Syrian Migrant and Refugee Crisis has created 5.6 million refugees who have fled outside of Syria and 6.1 million internally displaced peoples within Syria. Undoubtedly, it is one of the largest humanitarian crises of the modern day. The Catholic Church joins governments and NGOs in responding to the conflict, but modern scholarship has not focused heavily on its role. This paper seeks to investigate how the Catholic Church interacts in the secular field of international relations by looking at its response to the Syrian Migrant and Refugee Crisis. In order to analyze the Church’s response, this paper looks at …
Renewables & Refugees: A Solution For Jordan, Lauren Burns
Renewables & Refugees: A Solution For Jordan, Lauren Burns
Honors Theses
As the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan continues to host the third largest Syrian refugee population in the world, the state’s infrastructure and its people are taking a toll. Before the war in Syria began, Jordan was already suffering from a weak economy, resource scarcity, and an enormous population boom. Since accepting nearly 2.5 million refugees, these issues have compounded year after year—nearly reaching a breaking point. I propose an unconventional solution to some aspects of the refugee crisis: renewable energy. Renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels, consume less water in electricity generation, emit fewer greenhouse gases, and promote job creation …