Political Science Commons^™

Chaos From Order: A Network Analysis Of In-Fighting Before And After El Chapo's Arrest, Darren Colby

Independent Student Projects and Publications

The effect of leadership decapitation—the capture or killing of the leader of an armed group—on future violence has been studied with competing conclusions. In Mexico, leadership decapitation has been found to increase violence and in-fighting among drug cartels. However, the causal pathways between leadership decapitation and in-fighting are unclear. In this article, it is hypothesized that leadership decapitation will weaken alliances between armed actors, lead to greater preferential attachment in networks of cartels and militias, and result in greater transitive closure as cartels seek to expand their power. These hypotheses are tested with a stochastic actor oriented model on a …

Technology Or Taboo?: An Analysis Of Emerging Technology Weapons And Weapon Taboos, Mia R. Wilson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Technology tends to evolve over time, leading over things to evolve with it. One example may be the evolution of weapons with technological advancement. When these weapons change, it changes how war is conducted. This paper seeks to delve into the specifics of this phenomena. With technological advancement, the world has seen new threats such as lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs) and cyber weapons. New weapons have been, at times, too threatening. They have created so much stigma around themselves the international community ultimately decided against their use. These weapons may then receive a weapon taboo, discouraging their use. This paper …

Challenging The Limitations Of Asserting Jurisdiction: A Case Study Of The South China Sea, Joshua Villanueva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The South China Sea dispute challenges the future development of maritime legal order and international law. China’s behavior in the South China Sea challenges widely accepted rules governing maritime jurisdiction worldwide as it tries to expand the limits of its jurisdiction. In China’s view, the Arbitral Tribunal in Philippines v. China also challenged the jurisdiction of the UNCLOS by taking a highly political issue related to sovereignty. This thesis argues that mere rhetorical rejection of China’s actions in the South China Sea will not determine the resolution of the dispute. China’s behavior will be dependent on striking the right balance …

Coming Together Over Table: The Role Of Food In Georgian Conflict Resolution Practices, Raisa Wells

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conflict resolution efforts seek to de-escalate conflict dynamics to bring conciliation and/or reconciliation to a conflict. One strategy to de-escalate a conflict is to use food during conflict resolution efforts. So, what specifically does consuming food and beverage do to break down conflict escalation cycles? Food-sharing brings several aspects to conflict that the literature suggests address how and why conflict escalates. This paper focuses on three prevalent aspects: how food-sharing signals vulnerability and trust building, perceived commonality, and a change in the conflict from competition to cooperation by providing new norms, changing the tone, and shifting frames. Because of the …

From Reform To Resignation: Explaining Why Some Protest Movements Escalate Demands, Sooyeon Kang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the unresolved puzzles in the civil resistance and contentious politics literatures relates to the fact that some movements that begin as reformist (seeking redress in a certain policy space) escalate to maximalist claims (demanding the ouster of a national leader or the entire regime) – a process I call “demand escalation.” For instance, in the summer of 2019, thousands took to the streets of Hong Kong to protest a proposed extradition bill that would allow criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China to face trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party. However, even after Hong Kong’s …

The Institutional Design Of Arms Control: To What Extent Does Institutional Design Increase The Longevity Of Arms Control Agreements?, Jessica Budlong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The technical institutional design of arms control agreements remains a rather unexplored area of arms control. But the increasing uncertainty of future arms control efficacy requires a re-examination of the agreements’ institutional design to determine which components contribute positively to their longevity. This research examines the role of dispute settlement bodies as specific outside consultative bodies, verification regimes, membership as at least one nuclear-armed state party to the agreement, and technology transfer mechanisms in arms control agreements. It found that membership and a lack of technology transfer mechanisms are necessary to positively impact the longevity of an arms control agreement, …

Shapes Of Commitment: Forms Of State Support To Nonviolent Mass Resistance, Maria A. Lotito

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nonviolent mass movements are an important and increasingly ubiquitous element of interstate politics in the 21st century. Diverse states - democratic, autocratic, rich, and developing – all have supported movements in some form. Explaining the convergence of such state actors on support for usually pro-democratic mass resistance challenges our existing scholarly frameworks. Using a new dataset, I reconcile the differing explanations of foreign assistance to movements that political science would offer with deep descriptive analysis pursued inductively. First, I propose a conceptual foundation for external support, couching an individual state’s support as the manifestation of an outcome-oriented foreign policy and …

Violence After Victory: Explaining Variation In State Repression Following Contentious Politics, Christopher Wiley Shay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

If conflict onset leads to increases in human rights abuse, how can these abuses be curbed once conflicts have ended? To answer this question, researchers have traditionally focused on a country’s regime type and leaders’ incentive structures. This is insufficient, I argue, because many regimes with obvious incentives to curb repression (especially democracies) fail to do so. In addition to regime-type, therefore, the answer depends on whether a given regime can count on the cooperation of its military and law enforcement institutions, which I refer to collectively as the security apparatus. This is because security agents’ prior experiences usually create …

Shurooq, Shurooq, Brandi Kilmer, Sherianne Schow, Nicole Taylor, Sasha Sloan

TSOS Interview Gallery

Shurooq fled Iraq and came to the United States when she was 12. Iraq was a beautiful place full of family and celebration. Her brother passed away from leukemia 1 1/2 years prior to coming to the States. Prior to his death, their father took him to Syria to for treatment. He passed in Syria. Although the family had applied for a medical visa to the United States, upon Shurooq’s brother’s passing, they received threats and knew they could not stay. The call came for the visa and all but her mother were able to come. Thankfully her mother arrived …

Investing In Entrepreneurship: The Sustainable Solution To Tunisia’S Youth Unemployment Crisis?, Hussein Noureldin

All Reports

Since the Jasmine Revolution of 2011, Tunisia’s youth unemployment crisis has worsened. As of 2020, it has the tenth highest youth unemployment rate in the world at 36.5%. Experts have long identified this as the main challenge to overcoming Tunisia’s economic woes, and reform – from the education and vocational training systems on the supply-side to the job market on the demand-side – must follow the democratic gains achieved since 2011. The failed approach in reducing regional inequality under Ben Ali had an adverse effect, creating unemployment disparities between Tunisia’s affluent coastal cities and its poorer interior regions. As such, …

Bengal Rising: Why Bangladesh & Pakistan’S Growth Trajectories Are Diverging, Sartaj Javed

All Reports

50 years after Henry Kissinger derided the nascent state of Bangladesh as an economic basket case, the country has emerged as the newest claimant to the mantle of being an Asian tiger economy. Borne out of a genocidal civil war with Pakistan, Bangladesh’s rise and Pakistan’s decline over a tumultuous half-century period necessitates a review of foreign policy orthodoxy as South Asia’s populace starts to assert its economic and political might.

Transnational Surfistas And The Development Of Nicaragua’S Emerald Coast, Jason R. Old

Selected Faculty Publications

This article weaves together data from the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (INTUR), online mainstream media sources, and surfing magazines, to tell the story of the development of the Emerald Coast, a historically overlooked periphery in southwestern Nicaragua that evolved into one of the country’s most high-profile and sought-after tourism destinations. The argument is that it is impossible to effectively explain the development of the Emerald Coast without first understanding the role surfing played in this phenomenon. This also serves to contextualize these foreign surfers as part of another wave of transnational engagement with Nicaragua, a country that has long been …

U.S. Foreign Policy For The Middle Class: Perspectives From Nebraska, Salman Ahmed, Allison Gelman

Yeutter Institute Publications

U.S. foreign policy has not come up often in the 2020 presidential campaign. But when it has, candidates on both sides of the aisle frequently have stressed that U.S. foreign policy should not only keep the American people safe but also deliver more tangible economic benefits for the country’s middle class. The debate among the presidential contenders is not if that should happen but how to make it happen. All too often, this debate takes place within relatively small circles within Washington, DC, without the benefit of input from state and local officials, small business owners, community leaders, local labor …

Why The Taliban Have Been Successful In Afghanistan, Donovan Fox

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study is to attempt to solve why the Taliban have been successful in Afghanistan. In an attempt to solve why, I develop and test a theory on the Taliban's success against the U.S. in Afghanistan. My theory claims that the Taliban have been successful due to U.S. forces committing wrongdoings towards Afghan civilians. These wrongdoings, in turn, pushed civilian support away from the U.S. and its allies in this war. Afghan civilians would side with the Taliban, as they sought protection from the invading forces in their country. As a result of this gain in support, …

Understanding Variation In Sexual Exploitation And Abuse In Un Pkos: The Role Of Military, Police, And Civilian Peacekeepers, Gabriella Cuber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Apart from perpetuating human rights violations in fragile contexts, sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs) reduces the international community's ability to pursue peacebuilding missions, threatens the legitimacy of ongoing missions, and undermines gender equality efforts in the host country. While previous research has investigated patterns of SEA violations by peacekeepers, most studies limit their focus on abuses by military and police personnel. This study expands on these studies by examining SEA violations committed by civilian peacekeepers in addition to military and police personnel, as well as separately. I argue that several other determinants beyond military attributes …

The United Nations' Responsibility To Protect (R2p): Policy, Preference, Or Politics, Carl Ruth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a three-pillar document that was unanimously approved and adopted at the 2005 World Summit Meeting by members of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to serve as a guideline for addressing mass atrocity crimes. The research problem concerned the successful implementation of the third pillar, a key fixture of R2P, which allows the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to use forceful measures, as a last resort to address mass atrocity crimes. However, a climate of division within the UNSC has led to inaction. Using the R2P doctrine as a theoretical framework, the purpose of …

Post-Conflict Transition In Chile: Considerations For Dealing With A Resistant Armed Forces, Patrick Paterson

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Compliance and control of the Chilean armed forces, a powerful and politically influential organization, is critical to a healthy democracy in the country. The period of the transition to democracy, from the end of the 17-year military government in 1990 to the consolidation of a liberal democracy in 2010, was marked by tension and strained relations between Chilean military officers and civilian elected officials. Chilean civilian government officials – outside military circles – need to understand the reasons for military institutional resistance to identify constructive negotiation techniques. The research question is: “what negotiation techniques of civilian leaders worked best to …

International Cooperation Networks And Economic Sanction Effectiveness, Gargi Vyas

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

An economic sanction issued by a group of states can impose large costs on a target state and induce a change in its behavior. However, there is considerable variation in the success of multilateral sanctions. I argue that multilateral sanctions will be more effective with higher cohesion within the sender network. This is because linked senders can use the threat of withdrawing cooperation on other issues to encourage their partners to enforce sanction laws domestically. I contend that the likelihood of sanction effectiveness increases with higher cohesion within the sender network and test this argument using social network analysis. Results …

The Transnational Diffusion Of Human Trafficking Policy, Glenn M. Harden

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Globalization has promoted the transnational diffusion of public policies. Recognizing that policies of one country are shaped by policies of others, scholars have developed several theories to explain policy diffusion. Because empirical evidence for these theories is contested, this study evaluates the relative explanatory power of the major theories of policy diffusion for human trafficking policies. To test competing theoretical claims, this study uses quantitative methods on an original, cross-national data set to analyze how human trafficking policies diffused. The results reveal that for the diffusion of human trafficking policies coercion and constructivist theories have robust support, while support is …

Ukip’S Use Of Valence Issues To Impact Attitudes Towards Eu Membership, Madeline Kincaid, Lisa Conant

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

In the book Brexit: Why Britain Voted to Leave the European Union, Clarke, Goodwin, and Whiteley suggest that certain valence issues, or issues “on which there is a broad agreement among the people and parties about what the policy should be,” are the determining factors that drove and continue to drive attitudes towards EU membership within the United Kingdom (Clark 2017, 68). These two main valence issues, public perceptions on economic conditions and immigration, are the central factors that determined whether or not UK citizens wanted to remain or leave the EU. Understanding these two main issues, the United Kingdom …

Intent And Impact: How State And International Policy Affects Internally Displaced Peoples In African Countries, Kyana Burgess

Spectrum

No abstract provided.

Offensive Cyber Operations: An Examination Of Their Revolutionary Capabilities, Madelyn Wardle

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Since the cyber realm has become a prevalent area in society, states have been developing ways to use this realm to their advantage. Popular literature asserts that cyber attacks are equalizing, frequently-occurring events that make them “revolutionary” tools of warfare; however, this study hypothesizes that cyber operations are not as revolutionary as the literature asserts. This study examines the revolutionary capabilities of offensive cyber operations by studying documented cases of state-sponsored offensive cyber operations from 2005-2019. By utilizing statistical methods, first the paper examines the documented cases and analyzes which states conduct most of these operations. Then, the paper will …

U.S. Government And Politics In Principle And Practice: Democracy, Rights, Freedoms And Empire, Samuel Finesurrey, Gary Greaves

Open Educational Resources

This book is written for students early in college to provide a guide to the founding documents and structures of governance that form the United States political system. This book is called American Government and Politics in Principle and Practice because you will notice that what has been inscribed in law has not always been applied in practice-particularly for indigenous peoples, enslaved peoples, people of color, women, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, those formerly incarcerated, immigrants and the working class within U.S. society. In designing this book, we have two goals. First, we want you to know what the founding documents …

Ziba, Ziba, Sherianne Schow, Brandi Kilmer, Heather Oman

TSOS Interview Gallery

Ziba, a promising medical student, fled Afghanistan in 2018 due to instability and for her safety. Life was difficult upon arrival in the United States. In Afghanistan Ziba was involved in national and international poetry, math and science competitions. Ziba went from having everything to starting completely over in a new country. Her anxiety and depression became extremely difficult to deal with She reminded herself who she was, what her passions were and in January 2019 started medical school while working part time as a cashier. Her hope for future arriving refugees is to have a mental health network established …

Should We Pool Or Should We Nationalize? A Quantitative Assessment Of The Role Of Sovereignty In Brexit, Alexa K. Urmaza

Honors Theses

The announcement of Brexit on June 23, 2016 shocked Europe as well as the greater global community. Political scientists continue to debate the causes of Brexit, but this paper argues that the debate over sovereignty, particularly the tension between national and pooled sovereignties, played a substantial role in the outcome of the referendum. This paper evaluates the extent to which the Brexit referendum was a rejection of pooled sovereignty and a reprioritization of national sovereignty. This paper conducts a discourse analysis on 4109 sources from the Leave and Remain campaigns, which were all assessed for the use of nineteen terms …

Assimilating The Dominican Tourist: What Maps Tell Tourists In Puerto Plata About The Processes Of Capitalism And Imperialism, Amy Duncan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The tourism industry in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic is dominated by foreign enterprise. Given the history of colonization in the Dominican Republic, the social dynamics in the tourism industry are imperialist by nature. This thesis seeks to understand how tourist maps are used to assimilate tourists into the social dynamics of Puerto Plata. To do this, it unravels existing literature on tourism in the Caribbean, the nature of the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic as well as its foreign benefactors, and foundational works on the sociological aspects of tourism.

The findings of this paper are that tourist maps seek …

The Politics Of The Visible/Invisible Border: Canada's Responses And (In)Actions Towards Refugee Claimants' Protection, Monica Romero

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis explores Canadian responses towards unexpected arrivals of asylum seekers at their borders. Grounded in critical and feminist geopolitics, it aims to unveil hidden and concealed policies that are implemented behind a narrative of humanitarianism. In particular, it takes the land border crossings from the US to Canada that occurred after the implementation of restrictive asylum policies in the US in 2017 and following years. Although migratory movements can be attributed to several factors, this displacement was triggered by Trump’s anti-immigrant narratives and policies aimed to decrease refugee and immigrant arrivals to their territory.

The dissertation’s central argument is …

The Combined Transitions Of Great Power Politics And The Global Energy System A Comparative Analysis Of China, The United States And Russia, Roger Boyd

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The objective of this study is to provide a framework that allows for a holistic and integrated analysis of what will become, if they are not already, the two most significant determinants of foreign policy – the need for a fundamental change in the global energy system and the nature of major power competition within the international system. It specifically rejects the eco-modernist framing of the required energy transition as simply a technocratic challenge, and instead accepts the large-scale nature of the social, political and economic changes and disruptions that will be required. By framing these changes within the dynamic …

การแก้ไขปัญหาโจรสลัดในช่องแคบมะละกา: สิงคโปร์กับรัฐที่อยู่นอกกรอบอนุสัญญาระหว่างประเทศว่าด้วยการปราบปรามการกระทำที่ผิดกฎหมายต่อความปลอดภัยของการเดินเรือ ค.ศ. 1988, ภูภัฎ โรจน์ตระกูล

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาการดำเนินการและความร่วมมือในการจัดการปัญหาโจรสลัดและการปล้นเรือของสิงคโปร์ร่วมกับรัฐชายฝั่งในช่องแคบมะละกา จากการศึกษาด้วยการวิเคราะห์เอกสารและใช้กรอบแนวคิดเกี่ยวกับระบอบระหว่างประเทศในฐานะที่เป็นจุดประสานความร่วมมือเพื่อบรรลุเป้าหมาย ถึงผลประโยชน์ร่วมกันของรัฐ และงานวิจัยได้ข้อค้นพบดังนี้ ประการที่หนึ่ง ปัญหาโจรสลัดเป็นปัญหาที่ประเทศใดประเทศหนึ่งไม่อาจแก้ไขให้สำเร็จได้ถ้าหากไม่ได้รับความร่วมมือจากประเทศอื่น ๆ เพราะโจรสลัดและการปล้นเรือใช้ทะเลที่เป็นน่านน้ำระหว่างประเทศเป็นเส้นทางปฏิบัติการต่อเป้าหมาย ระบอบระหว่างประเทศที่เรียกว่า อนุสัญญาระหว่างประเทศว่าด้วยการปราบปรามการกระทำที่ผิดกฎหมายต่อความปลอดภัยของการเดินเรือ ค.ศ. 1988 (SUA Convention) จึงได้จัดตั้งขึ้นมาเพื่อวางกรอบประสานความร่วมมือระหว่างประเทศสำหรับแก้ไขปัญหาดังกล่าว และประการที่สอง ประเทศที่ตั้งอยู่ในช่องแคบมะละกา มีเพียงสิงคโปร์ที่เป็นภาคีอนุสัญญาฯ ในขณะที่อินโดนีเซีย มาเลเซีย และไทย มิได้เข้าร่วมเป็นสมาชิกของระบอบระหว่างประเทศดังกล่าว เพราะกังวลว่าอาจกระทบต่ออธิปไตยและอัตตาณัติในการดำเนินนโยบายของตน แต่สิงคโปร์สามารถประสานความร่วมมือกับรัฐชายฝั่งเหล่านี้ได้ ในรูปแบบข้อตกลงระดับทวิภาคี และระหว่างหน่วยงานฝ่ายปฏิบัติของสิงคโปร์กับของรัฐชายฝั่งแต่ละประเทศ ประการที่สาม แม้ระบอบระหว่างประเทศจะไม่ได้มีผลบังคับต่อประเทศที่มิได้เป็นสมาชิก แต่ประเทศที่เป็นสมาชิกสามารถปรับหลักการ บรรทัดฐาน และมาตรการดำเนินการหลายอย่างที่ระบอบระหว่างประเทศวางไว้เป็นกรอบอันเป็นที่ยอมรับในระดับนานาชาติ มาเป็นแนวทางประสานความร่วมมือกับประเทศที่มิได้เป็นสมาชิก ดังเช่นที่สิงคโปร์สามารถประสานความร่วมมือเพื่อแก้ไขปัญหาดังกล่าว

Is Climate Change A Threat To International Peace And Security?, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

This article argues that climate change’s destabilizing impacts require us to look at existing international governance tools at our disposal with fresh eyes. As such, Council climate action cannot and should not be dismissed out-of-hand. As conflicts rise, migration explodes, and nations are extinguished, how long can the Council remain on the climate sidelines? Hence, my call for a re-conceptualized “Council 3.0” to meet the climate security challenges this century.

This article proceeds as follows. In Part II, I describe and analyze the current state of climate science and the climate-security threats facing the world. This includes an analysis of …