Political Science Commons^™

Peace Connector Projects: Bishop Korir's Strategy For Grassroots Peacebuilding, William Kiptoo

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay is a narration of my personal experiences in peacebuilding in the North Rift region of Kenya as a resident of the region, and peace worker from 1995 to date. I draw from my work experiences with the National Council of Churches of Kenya (1995-2005), Catholic Relief Services and the Mennonite Central Committee (2007-2019). Specifically, how connector projects were used as a strategy for grassroots peacebuilding for the conflict-affected communities in the North Rift Valley region. The processes of mobilizing the communities, challenges, and outcomes of reconciliation efforts are discussed. The four connector projects discussed show the rewards attained …

Community Involvement And The Role Of The Church In Peacebuilding In Kenya: Amani Mashinani Approach, Kimeli B. Richard

The Journal of Social Encounters

Amani Mashinani (Peace at the Grassroots) is a model of peace building that demonstrates the importance of community involvement and Church leadership in peacebuilding efforts in North Rift region of Kenya. The role of community members and the Church in working together during times of conflict demonstrates the possibilities of increased opportunities for positive peace and reconciliation. This essay highlights the role Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret played to transform inter-ethnic conflicts. The role of Bishop Korir as a religious leader is acknowledged through his ability to mobilize local warring communities to embrace the …

Amani Mashinani Conflict Transformation Model: Bishop Korir’S Legacy On Peace And Reconciliation, Elias O. Opongo, S.J

The Journal of Social Encounters

This chapter is about the story of the late Bishop Cornelius Kipng’eno Arap Korir who stood up for peace and reconciliation in the midst of numerous interethnic conflicts. Bishop Korir, who was then the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret, lived the experience of inter-ethnic violence between the Marakwet, Pokot, Kikuyu, and the Kalenjin communities. As a person from the Kalenjin ethnic community, he had to learn to distant himself from the abrasive political rhetoric and violent actions and embrace the path of the Gospel of Jesus instead. He started what he called Amani Mashinani (Kiswahili for 'peace at …

Memorializing The Work Of Bishop Cornelius Korir In Advancing Grassroots Peacebuilding In Kenya: Perspectives On Amani Mashinani, Eddah M. Mutua

The Journal of Social Encounters

This special commemoration feature of Journal of Social Encounters focuses on the work of the late Bishop Cornelius Korir in advancing grassroots peacebuilding in North Rift region of Kenya. Bishop Korir is credited for developing a grassroots peacebuilding model popularly known as Amani Mashinani (Peace at the Grassroots) which brings together warring communities to collectively participate in activities geared at promoting peace. In this context, grassroots peacebuilding is understood in the same vein as locally led peacebuilding which is “an approach in which the people involved in, and most affected by, violent conflict work together to create and enact their …

Sport Diplomacy And Uk Soft Power: The Case Of Mount Everest, Richard Woodward

Articles

Sport is widely acknowledged as an important contributor to the United Kingdom’s soft power resources. This article aims to broaden and deepen our understanding of sport and soft power in the United Kingdom through a case study of British expeditions to, and the eventual conquest of, Mount Everest. Based on original archival research, the article demonstrates that British state institutions intervened systematically and strategically to expedite, and massage the story of, the ascent of Everest to burnish British prestige and present a favourable image to the world. In doing so, the article provides evidence that sport has been intrinsic to …

Uniquely Okinawan: Determining Identity During The U.S. Wartime Occupation, Courtney A. Short

History

When the U.S. military landed on the shores of Okinawa in 1945, they faced not only a fierce and battle-tested Japanese force, but also 463,000 Okinawan inhabitants. Larger than any other civilian population encountered by the Americans during previous campaigns throughout the Pacific islands, the people of Okinawa also had a unique and complex historical and political relationship with Japan. Okinawa never experienced subjugation as a colony, yet its acceptance as a prefecture did not yield equal treatment for the people because of their Ryukyuan heritage. As the U.S. military prepared for the Battle of Okinawa, they faced dangerous uncertainty …

Lincoln: A Hidden Refugee Hotspot In The United States, Rhiannon Cobb

UCARE: Research Products

This case study examines refugee integration in Lincoln, Nebraska, one of the 63 identified cities who are promoting integration, improved economic mobility, and enhanced civic participation by immigrants and refugees. The United States settles more refugees than any other country and has created diasporas throughout the country. Lincoln is known for the largest Yazidi population outside of the Middle East. I use two major research strategies (1) a qualitative analysis of refugee resource centers and (2) secondary sources on refugee integration. Information and secondary sources have been collected from archives, newspapers, and published journals. This case study further examines the …

The Effect Of Language On Voter Opinion: Results From A Survey Experiment In Thailand, Jacob I. Ricks

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Politicians have long engaged in marketing themselves by employing distinct speaking styles to signal social standing, competence, or a shared background with their audience. What effect does this use of different language appeals have on voter opinion? Utilizing a survey experiment in Thailand, I test a set of hypotheses about the effect of language on respondent opinions. Relying on three distinct treatments, a formal language register, an informal language register, and an ethnic language, I demonstrate the multiple effects of language on political appeal. The use of a formal register has mixed effects, signaling both high education as well as …

Hybrid Warfare Nato’S Next Headache, Erika Simpson

Political Science Publications

The article discusses the rising challenge of hybrid warfare for NATO, which combines military and cyber attacks. All 29 NATO allies pledged at the 2014 Wales Summit to prepare for such threats, which can target critical infrastructure like banks, businesses, and government systems. Examples include Russia's alleged cyber attacks on Georgia and China's hacking of Equifax. NATO is enhancing its defenses by developing rapid-reaction cyber-defense teams and improving intelligence sharing. However, the complexity of attributing cyber attacks complicates the response. The article underscores the importance of resilience among member states and NATO's efforts to create common guidelines to counter these …

Unipolarity And Foreign Policy: An Examination Of The Unipolar U.S And Its Subsequent Foreign Policy Constraints, Madeleine Smith

University Honors Theses

The current unipolar system is undeniable, but also undeniably going to shift in the future. Yet as unipolarity has persisted, the U.S has made many foreign policy and grand strategy decisions based on the structural constraints and flexibilities of being the unipole. This trend may not be an advisable one should a shift in power occur. My question is, should the system return to bi or multipolarity, how will U.S foreign policy be able to accommodate these changes peacefully after it has so long been centered around maintaining the unipolar system and its current status? Additionally how will the U.S …

Eu Diplomacy 2.0: The European Union’S Exercise In Soft Power In The Philippines Through Facebook, Manuel R. Enverga Iii

European Studies Department Faculty Publications

Digital diplomacy, also referred to as e-Diplomacy or Diplomacy 2.0, is a form of public diplomacy that entails the pursuance of foreign policy objectives using the Internet and social media. It is one of the ways that actors in contemporary global politics can exert soft power, thereby shaping a host country’s perceptions, agendas, and policies. The increasing use of digital diplomacy exemplifies a shift in diplomatic from purely government-to-government (G2G) relations, to one in which communication is directed towards publics (G2P), and can even encourage citizens to interact with one another (P2P). One actor that has become increasingly active in …

A Partnership At Risk, Simon Serfaty

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

The article focuses on issues regarding transatlantic partnership with urgency of climate change, sharing the impact of a growing migrant crisis, regulating the cyber anarchy, digging out of massive imbalances, and more. It mentions U.S. President Donald Trump's approach about the world is four-dimensional and improbable promise of a bilateral trade agreement with Great Britain. It also mentions Trump's consensus to re-embrace the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with the expectation of a broader round of multilateral negotiations with Iran; a return to the Paris Treaty on Climate Change, with shared goals of further progress in many of its …

Goals Of Actors Within The Bds Movement, Julian Kritz

Augsburg Honors Review

The Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement (BDS) is receiving growing attention from the general public and academics alike. Yet much remains unknown about the goals of actors within this dispersed international movement. This paper contributes to a growing body of scholarship examining BDS by attempting to answer the guiding research question: what relationship exists between the goals of the actors within the BDS movement? It analyzes both the statements and activities of the Palestinian BDS National Committee, the central coordinating nucleus of the movement, and local Twin Cities organizations working on behalfofthe cause. The paper concludes that parallel goals exist between …

Nonstate Actors And Anti-Access/Area Denial Strategies: The Coming Challenge, Jean-Loup Samaan Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

This monograph explores the emerging challenge of nonstate actors’ anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) strategies and their implications for the United States and its allies by looking at two regions, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, with case studies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen, and separatist groups in Ukraine. The historical monopoly of states over precision-guided munitions has eroded, and this evolution eventually challenges the ability of the most advanced militaries to operate in specific environments. As they gain greater access to advanced military technology, some nonstate actors increasingly lean toward …

Conceptualizing And Measuring Patriarchy: The Importance Of Feminist Theory, Lindsay J. Benstead

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Why do we know so little about gender and politics in the Middle East? Most obviously, few women were elected to office in the Arab world until recently, limiting the study of women in formal politics. In Morocco, the first female was elected to the lower house in 1993, while in Saudi Arabia, women first ran for office—in municipal elections—in 2015. Systematic data on politics has also been historically scant, making the study of women’s informal participation, such as voting and civil society activities, also difficult. The Middle East tends to contribute less to comparative politics than have other regions, …

Imperialism: A Case Study Of America's Neorealist Domination Of Power, Hannah Daniels

University Honors Theses

The international policy of the United States has been historically characterized by the promotion of democracy and freedom. However, historical analyses of U.S. policies and intervention in countries such as Iran, Chile, Guatemala, Syria, Brazil, and Nicaragua demonstrate that American aid more often than not ends in a military dictatorship replacing a democracy. This paper investigates the discrepancies between these values that the United States claims to uphold and the actual operation efforts carried out, proposing that U.S. international politics are defined by a neorealist framework rather than the liberal structure that is commonly thought of as the basis for …

Global Corporate Social Responsibility And Policy Evolution In The Garment Industry: A Case Study From Bangladesh Using A Multiple-Streams Approach And Punctuated Equilibrium Theory, Tamar Maisashvili

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research offers a new way to show how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy decisions are made in complex international settings. A theoretical framework based on Baumgartner and Jones’ Punctuated Equilibrium Theory and John Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Approach is used to explore the development of the Accord on the Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh as a proposed independent and legally binding agreement governing garment factory conditions in that country. The Accord led to a series of audits aimed at reforming a large part of Bangladesh’s garment industry, hence there has been a shift in a working environment ensuring the …

The U.S. Approach To Peacebuilding In Afghanistan: A Comparative Analysis Of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, And Donald Trump Administration Policies In Afghanistan, Mohammad Rasouli

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research paper addresses the efforts of the U.S. to achieve some level of reconciliation with the Taliban after more than 18 years of war in Afghanistan. It deals with the history of U.S.-Taliban negotiations and the U.S. initiatives to engage with the Taliban, as well as outlining the challenges to these initiatives and determining how effective they have been. In addition, the prospects of the U.S.-Taliban peace talks are assessed.

Since the 2001 U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, the first two U.S. administrations under consideration—those of George W. Bush and Barack Obama—justified intrusive interventions into the political, economic, and social …

Whose War Is It Anyway? How Afghanistan Became A Battlefield Over Global Hegemony During The Cold War, Kathryn Shapiro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Traditional scholarship depicts the Cold War, which began immediately after World War Two and ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, as a battle of freedom and democracy over communism and authoritarian control. Cold War propaganda cartoons often show an Uncle Sam figure facing off against the Soviet Union, or a Soviet Bear reaching out to grab and control Western Europe. While this may have been popular Cold War discourse, a close look at internal documents from the United States Government at the time reveals that the United States was more interested in protecting resources and their …

The Social Construction Of Digital Multimedia Technology And Creation Of Political Hyper-Realities In Indonesia And Malaysia, Basa Alim Tuelaka, Burhan Bungin

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The development of media technology nowadays displays rapid progress, particularly the mainstream media that is developing towards digital media, which makes the social construction power even more flawless. This progress is very beneficial to the development of society, but it can also be used by political interests for control over powers. Against their political opponents, political parties can use this advanced mass media technology to attack and block off counterattacks through social construction or deconstruction. This study uses a narrative qualitative approach and interview method, by interviewing the informants to explore the understanding of the social construction of media in …

Ottawa Should Ditch F-35, Buy Better-Suited Super Hornets For Rcaf, Erika Simpson

Political Science Publications

The article discusses the Canadian government's consideration of replacing its aging CF-18 fleet with new fighter jets, evaluating options such as Lockheed Martin's F-35 and Boeing's Super Hornet. The F-35 is criticized for being a single-engine aircraft, which poses risks for Arctic patrols and has faced issues with reliability, maintenance, and cost. In contrast, the Super Hornet is presented as a more suitable option due to its twin-engine design, economic benefits, and better alignment with Canada's defense needs. The article advocates for the purchase of the Super Hornet, highlighting its advantages in terms of maintenance cost savings and economic benefits …

Factors Supporting Turkey’S Policy To Purchase Russian S-400 Anti-Air Strike Defense Units, Chendika Yonanda, Maryam Jamila, Zulkifli Harza, Ilman Syarif Masri

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Turkey is a member of the NATO military alliance since 1952, as a member of NATO, cooperation between Turkey and Russia invites counterparts from other NATO alliance countries. But even with criticism, Turkey continues purchasing S-400 from Russia . Therefore, this study aims to analyze the factors that support Turkey's policy on purchasing S-400.This research is a descriptive research through internet-based literature.Turkey's policy in purchasing S-400 analyzed using the concepts of Arms, Alliances and Security Tradeoffs proposed by James D. Morrow. James stated that there are three factors that influence the state to conduct arming; economic & military technological factors, …

Lessons Learned: Edwin (Ted) Truman, Yasemin Sim Esmen

Journal of Financial Crises

Insights on fighting financial crises from Ted Truman, an expert in responding to the international dimensions of financial crises. Topics include the initial US response to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009 and the utiltiy of issuing Special Drawing Rights (SDR).

Basel Iii G: Shadow Banking And Project Finance, Christian M. Mcnamara, Andrew Metrick

Journal of Financial Crises

The Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR), a liquidity standard introduced by Basel III, seeks to promote a better match between the liquidity of a bank’s assets and the manner in which the bank funds those assets. The NSFR requires banks to maintain a minimum amount of funding deemed “stable” by the Basel framework based on the liquidity of the banks’ assets and activities over a one-year timeframe. One of the areas seen as most affected by this development may be bank participation in project finance for infrastructure development. Since the global demand for infrastructure development remains robust, the shadow banking …

Basel Iii D: Swiss Finish To Basel Iii, Christian M. Mcnamara, Natalia Tente, Andrew Metrick

Journal of Financial Crises

After the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) introduced the Basel III framework in 2010, individual countries confronted the question of how best to implement the framework given their unique circumstances. Switzerland, with a banking industry that is both heavily concentrated and very large relative to the size of its overall economy, faced a special challenge. It ultimately adopted what is sometimes referred to as the “Swiss Finish” to Basel III—enhanced requirements applicable to Switzerland’s “too-big-to-fail” banks Credit Suisse and UBS that go beyond the base requirements established by the BCBS. Yet the prominent role played by relatively new contingent …

Basel Iii B: Basel Iii Overview, Christian M. Mcnamara, Michael Wedow, Andrew Metrick

Journal of Financial Crises

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2007-09, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) faced the critical task of diagnosing what went wrong and then updating regulatory standards aimed at preventing it from occurring again. In seeking to strengthen the microprudential regulation associated with the earlier Basel Accords while also adding a macroprudential overlay, Basel III consists of proposals in three main areas intended to address 1) capital reform, 2) liquidity standards, and 3) systemic risk and interconnectedness. This case considers the causes of the 2007-09 financial crisis and what they suggest about weaknesses in the Basel regime …

Basel Iii A: Regulatory History, Christian M. Mcnamara, Thomas Piontek, Andrew Metrick

Journal of Financial Crises

From the earliest efforts to mandate the amount of capital banks must maintain, regulators have grappled with how best to accomplish this task. Until the 1980s, regulation had been based largely on discretion and judgment. In the wake of two bank failures, the central bank governors of the G10 countries established the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and in 1988, the BCBS introduced a capital measurement system, Basel I. The system represented a triumph of the fixed numerical approach, however, critics worried that it was too blunt an instrument. In 1999, the BCBS issued Basel II, a proposal to …

Incorporating Macroprudential Financial Regulation Into Monetary Policy, Aaron Klein

Journal of Financial Crises

This paper proposes two insights into financial regulation and monetary policy. The first enhances understanding the relationship between them, building on the automobile metaphor that describes monetary policy: when to accelerate or brake for curves miles ahead. Enhancing the metaphor, financial markets are the transmission. In a financial crisis, markets cease to function, equivalent to a transmission shifting into neutral. This explains both monetary policy’s diminished effectiveness in stimulating the economy and why the financial crisis shock to real economic output greatly exceeded central bank forecasts.

The second insight is that both excess leverage and fundamental mispricing of asset values …

Changing The Paradigm In Armenia-Diaspora Relations: State-Centered Institutions And Transnational Governance, Nerses Kopalyan

Political Science Faculty Research

Nation-states that encompass large Diasporas are faced with the wider responsibility of accounting for two types of members: citizens that live within the territory of the state and members of the broader nation that reside in the Diaspora. In the Armenian case, legally speaking, an Armenian is a citizen of the Republic of Armenia; but, at the same time, a diasporan Armenian is equally qualified as an Armenian, even if they do not live within the legal boundaries of the state.

Prenatal Care For Undocumented Immigrants: Implications For Policy, Practice, And Ethics, Rachel Fabi

Population Health Research Brief Series

Nearly 250,000 babies are born each year to undocumented immigrant parents in the U.S. These babies are U.S. citizens, but undocumented immigrants are ineligible for most public insurance, making it difficult for them to access prenatal care. This research brief describes restrictive policies related to prenatal care for undocumented immigrants and discusses how these policies affect health care providers and the care they are able to offer pregnant immigrant women.