Political Science Commons^™

National Interests And Security Policies In The Arctic Region Among Arctic States, Hilde-Gunn Bye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States, Canada, Russia, and Norway are all Arctic states; however, they prioritize the region to different degrees in terms of investments of security assets and military presence. What explains why some Arctic countries prioritize the Arctic more than others? This thesis explores this question through using an issue-based approach, which looks at the salience of issues as having implications for foreign policy tools and measures. This thesis finds that having interests and stakes in the region of high overall salience contribute to an explanation of why some countries prioritize the region more, while low overall salience is linked …

Cultural Diplomacy And Trade: Making Connections, North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative

FIMS Publications

The North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative’s (NACDI) approach to cultural diplomacy is based on: an expansive and nuanced approach to the term culture; a belief in the necessity of relational, rather than transactional engagement; and an interest in understanding the significance of non-state actors in the current network environment of diplomacy. Rather than seeing the multifaceted nature of cultural diplomacy as a challenge, NACDI points to complexity as a reason to advance nuanced discussions, including the recognition of a wide range of actors and activities, and well-developed indicators that have specific qualitative and quantitative measurements. The report, Cultural Diplomacy and …

Explaining Civilian Attacks: Terrorist Networks, Principal-Agent Problems And Target Selection, Max Abrahms, Matthew Ward, Ryan Kennedy

Department of Political Science

Terrorist groups exhibit variation in their targeting choices. Why do some groups direct their violence against civilians while others limit this occurrence? This study analyzes the network relationships between terrorist groups to elucidate their targeting behavior. Drawing upon insights from the organizational ecology and conflict literatures, we predict that terrorist group affiliates will be significantly more likely than their parent group to attack civilian targets. Our original principal-agent theory consistently outperforms extant explanations in a multi-method analysis of 238 terrorist groups from 1998 to 2005. These results shed new light on why certain terrorist groups are more likely than others …

Human Rights, Sharon Sliwinski

Data and Test Instruments

It is one of the most recognizable passages in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – that slightly oblique, and yet grave reference to the Nazi death camps: ‘Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind…’ These barbarous acts were front-page news in most of the Allied countries in the spring of 1945, at the very moment when the United Nations was founded at a conference in San Francisco. The newsstands were filled with photographs from the newly liberated Dachau and Buchenwald camps. Illustrated magazines such …

Coin Doctrine For The 21st Century Gwot: Improvements For Battling Al Qaeda In The Western Sahel, Caleb Archuleta

Honors Program Theses

This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach in examining the United States role in the conflict in Mali and Niger. As a strategic locale in a region that is plagued with conflict, the U.S. is faced with increasing involvement across Africa, specifically the Western Sahel. With an Al Qaeda that continues to shift, change, and grow, the U.S. is faced with a War on Terror that is increasingly difficult to contain or succeed in. In an effort to shift the narrative to one from counterterrorism to one of counterinsurgency, this paper takes an in depth look at the political, geographical, sociocultural, …

Terrorist Celebrity: Online Personal Branding And Jihadist Recruitment And Planning, Ari Weil

Pomona Senior Theses

Shifts in culture and technology have changed the manifestation of celebrity in modern society, culminating in the practice of internet microcelebrity, where one views followers as fans, produces content consistent with a personal brand, and engages in strategic interaction with devotees. This thesis examines how those effects have also changed how terrorists present themselves and operationalize celebrity status. An original typology of terrorist celebrity is presented: traditional, martyr, and internet micro-celebrity. Two in-depth case studies of terrorist micro-celebrities are analyzed: Anwar al-Awlaki of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Junaid Hussain of the Islamic State. The case studies are …

The Effect Of Unemployment On Democratic Warfare, Andres Rakower

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study was done to see the effects of a war on the economy and the internal politics of the United States. In selecting the engagement, we would study we agreed the Iraq War would be aided by a large amount of sampling of public opinion that was more nuanced than in previous wars. The Iraq War was a very complicated war, as it was controversial from the beginning and became a political issue while continuing to be a war fought by Americans abroad. Based on the literature, there were many starting effects and assumptions that were accounted for such …

Irgc And Iranian Soft And Hard Power Influence Within The Middle East, Daryl F. Urbina

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The IRGC, or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Iran have utilized soft power to increase their influence within the Middle East. By using military superiority; ideological influence; and trade, both the Iran and the IRGC established dependency between themselves and patron states. Of these patron states, the research focuses on Iraq; Syria; and Yemen, and how Iran and the IRGC affect them through soft power. This research suggests that Iran and the IRGC is using the disability of the aforementioned states to increase their own influence by making them dependent on Iranian military supplies; cultural indoctrination to align with …

Corruption: Brazil's Everlasting Parasite, Patricia Vilhena

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore corruption in Brazil, how it has endured for so such a long period, and the effects it has in the country. Understanding the history of Brazil, how the government was established, and how the branches operate is crucial to comprehend the rooting causes of the Brazilian corruption. The focus is not just about what corruption is and the effects it has on education, economy, and infrastructure, but also on the factors that contributed to its expansion and the circumstances that allowed it to sustain until today. Brazil is a country known for …

A Content Analysis Of Jihadist Magazines: Theoretical Perspectives, Catalina M. Udani

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During its violent spread across the Middle East, the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) amassed both a local and international following in large part due to its usage of emergent media distribution. Beginning in 2014, ISIS’s Ministry of Media published an English-language magazine, Dabiq, disseminating its issues through online platforms. Dabiq and its successor Rumiyah both serve as propagandistic recruitment material for ISIS’s international community as well as broadcasting the message of the jihadist movement to ISIS’s enemies. This study analyzed ISIS’s publications using a qualitative content analysis in order to identify jihadist recruitment strategies through the perspectives …

Free Trade, Fair Trade, And Selective Enforcement, Timothy Meyer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Media Coverage Of Human Rights In The Us And Uk: The Violations Still Won’T Be Televised (Or Published), Shawna M. Brandle

Publications and Research

This article analyzes American television and American and British print news coverage of human rights using a combination of manual and machine coding. The data reveal that television and print news cover very few human rights stories, that these stories are mostly international and not domestic, that even when human rights are covered, they are not covered in detail, and that human rights issues are more likely to be covered when they are not framed as human rights. This suggests that human rights is simply not a frame that journalists employ, and provides support for government-leading-media theories of newsworthiness.

Ali, Ali, Twila Bird

TSOS Interview Gallery

At eighteen fate placed Ali and his family in the center of hostilities in northern Afghanistan. Warring militant factions killed hundreds of people in his village. Ali helped identify and bury dozens of his friends and neighbors in a mass grave.

We spent days and nights in the mountains and blocked on the borders. I crossed the mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan walking with my handicap. Then it took us another sixteen hours to cross the border between Pakistan and Iran, also in very high mountains of more than 2500 meters. The Iranian police were killing people on the …

Sigma: Journal Of Political And International Studies

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Who Is My Neighbor? Identifying Epistemic Peers Among Polarized Communities, Alex Hoagland

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Jeanusnat, Jeanusnat, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Jeanusnat’s father, who was chief of a Nigerian community, was murdered by an enemy community. The murderer intended to kill Jeanusnat and his mother as well, but they fled to neighboring Niger. There, Jeanusnat parted ways with his mother, who stayed at the church with a family, and Jeanusnat crossed into Libya in the back of a truck. But once in Libya, danger persisted. He was confronted by some robbers who stabbed him with a knife and beat him, leaving injuries on his legs and shoulder. In Tripoli, a man offered him temporary refuge, where Jeanusnat stayed until he decided …

Strategic Nationalism: Deciphering Chinese Strategy In The South China Sea, William Levesque

Honors Theses

Over the last two decades, the South China Sea has become an international flashpoint and site of frequent Chinese aggression. Chinese naval, coast guard, and militia vessels frequently sail the natural-resource rich waters, and China has undertaken a massive campaign of island building to support its claims. The motivations behind China's aggression and their choice of strategy, however, remain ambiguous and the topic of major academic discussion. This Honors Thesis provides a new hypothesis, strategic nationalism, which is capable of explaining China's recent actions in the South China Sea.

Developing A Cyberterrorism Policy: Incorporating Individual Values, Osama Bassam J. Rabie

Theses and Dissertations

Preventing cyberterrorism is becoming a necessity for individuals, organizations, and governments. However, current policies focus on technical and managerial aspects without asking for experts and non-experts values and preferences for preventing cyberterrorism. This study employs value focused thinking and public value forum to bare strategic measures and alternatives for complex policy decisions for preventing cyberterrorism. The strategic measures and alternatives are per socio-technical process.

Are Indigenous Peoples Better Off Under Evo Morales? Towards Understanding The Effects Of Decolonization Policy On Social Inclusion In Bolivia, Cailin Campbell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This undergraduate thesis examines how to measure the influence of the Evo Morales administration’s decolonization policies on the social inclusion of indigenous peoples in Bolivia. Given the ongoing colonial legacy of exclusion of indigenous peoples in Bolivia, the Morales administration has created a national agenda to decolonize the state and improve conditions for the marginalized, oppressed, and excluded indigenous peoples. In examining the nacionalización de los hidrocarburos, the ley de la reconducción comunitaria y reforma agraria, the plan nacional de desarrollo, the ley de la educación, the ley de deslinde, the ley de marco de …

From Bottle Rockets To Tomahawks : The Production Of Anti-Ship Missiles, Land Attack Cruise Missiles, And Short-Range Ballistic Missiles, Nolan Fahrenkopf

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

What explains the variation in the sophistication of states military production capabilities? This dissertation analyzes this broader question by looking at the development of production capabilities of an arms sector that has required constant innovation—anti-ship missiles (ASMs), land attack cruise missiles (LACMs), and short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs). I theorize that military innovation is driven by a combination of supply-side factors involving scientific and technical (S&T) human capital and demand-side factors including security, economic, and normative motives. This dissertation explores the factors associated with the proliferation of ASMs, LACMs, and SRBMs as part of a three-essay dissertation. The chapters on ASMs …

The Responsibility To Prevent : Neocolonialism, Poverty And Mass Atrocity Crimes In Africa, Eileen Brino

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Responsibility to Protect principle was founded on the premise that sovereignty requires responsibility. The principle establishes the responsibility of states to protect their citizens from mass atrocity crimes and shifts the responsibility to the international community if states fail. This thesis explains how former colonies have had particular difficulty in meeting this responsibility and often fail to protect their populations from things like severe poverty and human rights abuses including mass atrocity crimes. In former colonies the matter of responsibility is complicated by the residual effects of colonial policies that often leave former colonies impoverished, dependent, socially fragmented and …

The United States, Mexico, And The War On Drugs In The Trump Administration, James M. Cooper

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the war on drugs as persecuted by the United States and how it has been exported to Mexico. It also explores the increased efforts in the drugs war that the Trump administration, through the U.S. Department of Justice, is pursuing at a domestic level. Part I of this Article provides an outline of the dynamics in the quickly evolving and highly tense relationship between the United States and Mexico. Part II of this Article details the historical background of the U.S.-Mexico border region and demonstrates that the border has long been a contested site. Part III provides …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Plsc 2001 (The U.S. In The Age Of Globalization), Anh Tran

Open Educational Resources

How does globalization shape U.S. politics and society today? How does the U.S., in turn, steer the course of globalization throughout the rest of world? In this class, we seek answers to these broader questions through in-depth explorations of the nexus between globalization and security, identity, trade, migration, protest, and other pressing contemporary issues. We will survey mainstream and marginalized debates on globalization and evaluate their logics, assumptions, and empirical merits. We will situate processes of globalization in their national- historical and global-historical contexts, examining how globalization has evolved over time and in different spaces. Most importantly, we will assess …

The Trade-Security Nexus And U.S. Policy Making In Critical Minerals, Yujia He

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

The United States increasingly relies on import to meet its demand for critical minerals. Using the case of rare earth elements (REEs), this paper analyzes the conditions and the strategies for the U.S. government to address import dependence. The paper finds that market factors, including the lack of comparable and sufficient substitutes and recycling, the high ratio of import relative to consumption, the high concentration of import supply by country, and regulations from the major supplier country, were insufficient to prompt intervention. Significant policy action only occurs when changing circumstances turn import dependence into perceived national security threats to the …

Polar Opposites: Assessing The State Of Environmental Law In The World's Polar Regions, Mark P. Nevitt, Robert Percival

Faculty Articles

Climate change is fundamentally transforming both the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions. Yet these regions differ dramatically in their governing legal regimes. For the past sixty years the Antarctic Treaty System, a traditional “hard law” international law treaty system, effectively de-militarized the Antarctic region and halted competing sovereignty claims. In contrast, the Arctic region lacks a unifying Arctic treaty and is governed by the newer “soft law” global environmental law model embodied in the Arctic Council’s collaborative work. Now climate change is challenging this model. It is transforming the geography of both polar regions, breaking away massive ice sheets in …

An Economic Framework Of Collective Action During The Korean War, Nicole C. Ruiz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Collective action, the coordinated effort between multiple actors, continues to play a role in the international community. In an increasingly complex operational environment, understanding the dynamics of these coordinated efforts is necessary for intelligence analysts. This research seeks to address the question: How can economic methodology be used to understand collective action during the Korean War for future use in intelligence analysis? The Korean War consisted of two different collective action groups going against each other militarily and ultimately diplomatically, which is why it is a suitable case study for understanding the nature of collective action. The research provides an …

Europe's Parallel Media Universe: Cross-National Analysis Of Populist Media Oppression In The Eu, Csongor Bajnoczki

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This research is to show that populist parties in the European Union attempt to oppress the traditional established media as soon as they come in to power. The multiple regressions test the hypothesis of a negative relationship between the political power of populist parties and degree of media freedom. For the assessment and clarification of the relationship between the level of media freedom and the political power of populist parties, political rights and civil liberties country scores from Freedom House's Freedom in the World reports, GDP per capita from World Bank, corruption perception indexes from Transparency International, and Grigorii V. …

Outlaw Heaven: Why States Become Tax Havens, Charles A. Dainoff

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

It is the argument of this dissertation that states become tax havens as a conscious economic development strategy. These states – more properly referred to as "jurisdictions" because some lack the sovereignty of the traditional Westphalian state – do not have the natural resources or the population to pursue more traditional economic development strategies, but they do have the ability to write or implement laws that create a virtual resource: banking secrecy. These jurisdictions are able to carry out this strategy because they tend to be well-governed, stable, and relatively wealthy, making them attractive partners for the international banking, legal, …

Things Fall Apart: The Determinants Of Military Mutinies, Jaclyn M. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Military mutinies are occurring more frequently in the last two decades than ever before. Mutinies impact every region of the world. Given that they are occurring more frequently, impact every region, and often have disastrous implications, scholars must answer the foundational question: why do mutinies occur? What are the proximate domestic conditions that give rise to military mutinies? This project makes three contributions. First, I set out to formally define mutinies and collect a new dataset that will allow scholars to examine mutinies empirically. Second, I present a theoretical framework that explains when and why mutinies will occur. Finally, I …

Nato Enlargement: Poland, The Baltics, Ukraine And Georgia, Christopher M. Radcliffe

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Over the past two decades, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has enlarged several times to include a number of new countries. The first two case studies that are analyzed within this paper include key countries that were added in the 1999 and 2004 rounds of NATO enlargement: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The third case study takes a closer look at two countries, Ukraine and Georgia, that sought to become members of NATO but were denied Membership Action Plans (MAPs) because of Russian discontent and military intervention. It is questionable if Russia will use military force to disrupt the …