Political Science Commons^™

Examining The Legality Of The Guantánamo Bay Detention Center According To International Humanitarian Law And International Human Rights Law, Sydney T. Winchester

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this research paper is to examine how international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) are applied to the Guantánamo Bay detention center. This paper was completed through the research of international treaties, court cases, and secondary sources that thoroughly discussed issues pertaining to Guantánamo and international law.

This paper first examines the differences between the two laws by looking at the particular roles each is meant to play in the subject of international law, as well as how the two have been applied thus far to the situation at Guantánamo. Second, the paper discusses …

Water Sanitation And Waste Management In Latin America, Colombia, And Cartagena: A Study Of The Relationship Between Environment, Health, Poverty, And Policy, Andrea K. Sullivan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The objective of this research is to identify the need for stricter environmental standards and regulations in three areas of study. Organized by their level of analysis, these areas are Latin America (at the System-Level-of Analysis), Colombia (at the State-Level-of-Analysis), and the city of Cartagena (at the Sub-National-Level of Analysis). This research was accomplished in two phases. The first involved conducting an exhaustive literature search of sources, germane to the objective, published in Spanish and English. The second featured a site inspection conducted over a 10-day period during the month of May 2016 to Cartagena, Colombia. The purpose of the …

Trafficking Smuggled Migrants: An Issue Of Vulnerability, Rachel A. Hews

Global Tides

This paper analyzes why the UN’s efforts against the sex trafficking of smuggled migrants, specifically regarding the Palermo and Smuggling Protocols, have been inadequate in preventing migrant smuggling. It concludes that the crime-based focus on prosecution overshadows prevention of the crime and protection of the victims, and that a human rights approach addressing the vulnerability of smuggled migrants would be more effective in reducing migrant smuggling long-term. Proposed solutions include decreasing both the “push” and “pull” factors of migration by ratifying existing legislation regarding basic human rights, implementing national policies that increase migrant rights in destination countries, and shifting further …

Women In Higher Education In Iran: How The Islamic Revolution Contributed To An Increase In Female Enrollment, Meredith Katherine Winn

Global Tides

In the three decades following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, rates of female enrollment in higher education increased despite a return to traditional and conservative gender roles. This paper will provide an in-depth analysis of the role the Islamic Revolution played in the changing roles of women in society, particularly as it pertains to education. It will argue a complex interplay of religious, cultural, and political factors emerged as a result of the Islamic Revolution that facilitated an environment where more young women could attend university. Finally, this paper will conclude that the rise in women’s participation in education has …

Miriam Williford Papers - Accession 157, Miriam Williford

Manuscript Collection

The Miriam Williford Papers consist of correspondence, newspaper clippings, lecture and teaching materials, research notes, professional files, rough notes and drafts of publications, copies of historical manuscripts from other repositories, and other Papers, The collection pertains to Willifords’ teaching and publishing activities, and to her involvement with professional organizations and seminars such as the Latin American Studies Association (1975). Her research files include extensive material on Jeremy Bentham and his interest in Latin America, and includes correspondence with Simon Bolivar and other leaders of Latin American independence; papers on the administration of Mariano Galvez, Chief of State of Guatemala from …

The Aesthetics Of Propaganda: Modern Design At The 1959 American National Exhibition In Moscow, Charlotte Hecht

American Studies Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Burning Bridges: American Security Assistance And Human Rights In Mauritania, Isabel Wade

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the intersection between human rights and security assistance in Mauritania. In American security assistance broadly, and within the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership specifically, there has been an over-securitization of “whole of government” counterterrorism policy. While the United States recognizes the need to address the social, economic, and political roots of extremism, it has failed to do so in practice. If the United States continues to support Mauritania with conventional security assistance but does not tackle the root causes of extremism, it will ultimately fail in fighting terrorism in the Sahel. In order to succeed, the U.S. government must …

Lessons In Micropolitical Management: A Case Study Of China's Investment And Political Intervention In Zambia, Eugene Daryl Nandwa

CMC Senior Theses

China continues to invest in natural resources in Africa to fuel its economic growth.China’s expanded presence in Africa has contributed to growing tensions within the Sino-African relationship. This thesis examines a variety of historical factors that have contributed to the increased presence of China in Africa, and how these factors have evolved into the foundations of the tensions observed today.

By exploring the historical patterns of the Sino-Zambian relationship, this thesis will shed light on the foundations of the underlying tensions between the two countries. With the Zambian election of 2006 as a focal point, China faced a political crisis …

Maternal Mortality: A Policy Comparison Between Nigeria And India., Rachel Quarles

Dissertations and Theses

A staggering number of women die from preventable deaths each year from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. India hosts the greatest number of actual maternal deaths in the world, although Nigeria’s ratio of maternal deaths to live births is greater than India’s. This thesis focuses on the experience of these two countries in order to determine if India’s governmental policies, level of government corruption, and traditional practices directly lead to its comparably better maternal health statistics. India has demonstrated lower ratios of maternal mortality and more consistent improvement in maternal health indicators than Nigeria as a result of stronger …

Restauración De La Diplomacia Y Sus Implicaciones: Los Próximos Pasos En Las Relaciones Entre Los Estados Unidos Y Cuba, Emily Chambard

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the implications of the recent restoration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. Through historical analysis and discussion of the ‘Cuban Thaw’ beginning in 2009, it proposes certain courses of immediate and long-term action for both nations, but specifically the United States, to guarantee future collaboration and mutual gain. Its conclusions emphasize the unique nature of current circumstances, which have opened a window of opportunity never before seen in the history of US-Cuban relations. The causes are one, the succession of Fidel Castro by his brother, Raúl, who has already demonstrated more progressive policy action …

Responses To Change In The Global Political Economy Of Innovation – The Role Of Sub-National States In Industrial Transition, Dan Herman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation seeks to explore how sub-national levels of the state promote the development of new industrial sectors. To do so this dissertation builds on a series of theoretical perspectives on the role of the state in the economy and develops a unique view of how sub-national states coalesce and contrast within these perspectives. It does so through a series of empirical case studies focused on sub-national jurisdictions in North America that highlight diverse varieties of state actions that contribute, if not lead, industrial transitions and the development of new innovation-oriented industrial sectors. In so doing, the dissertation presents a …

Agents Of Change: The Role Of Foreign Financial Institutions In China’S Financial Transformation Since The Early 1990s, Anton Malkin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

What role have foreign financial institutions (FFIs) played in China’s financial evolution since the early 1990s? My research finds that FFIs, which include foreign commercial and investment banks, as well as private equity (PE) firms, have played a role in China’s financial evolution in three respects. First, US financial institutions have leveraged their influence in the US government, their ties to other business groups, and mobilized connections with the Chinese elite, to help China to join the World Trade Organization in 2001. This outcome created a relatively open formal, legal environment to foreign actors—helping in the cause of liberalizing China’s …

Book Review Of Pierre De Charentenay, S.J., The Philippines: An Asiatic And Catholic Archipelago, Benjamin T. Tolosa Jr

Political Science Department Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cyberwar, International Politics, And Institutional Design, Daniel Abebe

Faculty Scholarship

In the United States, the breadth of the president’s warmaking authority has been governed by the Constitution, the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, and, over time, historical practice; in short, the president’s powers are constrained by a well-developed body of US foreign relations law. But the prospect of a new kind of conflict — cyberwar — potentially challenges the existing regulatory regime, which rests on assumptions that are common to traditional, conventional war. For some, the complexities of cyberwar generate new foreign relations–law questions about the president’s authority to engage in offensive cyberoperations, and they thus necessitate a new regulatory framework. For …

Evolution Of The Gulf, U.S.-Gulf Relations, And Prospects For The Future, Matthew D. Scott

CMC Senior Theses

The focus of this thesis is the establishment and evolution of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Furthermore, analyzing the U.S. relations with the GCC multilaterally and the Gulf States bilaterally. The final phase is to analyze the prospects of future relations between the U.S. and GCC collectively and individually.

Relationship Building And Unethical Behavior In The Hospitality Industry, Sharron Lee Koch

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Relationship building is a fundamental component to develop successful businesses, although corrupt purchasing executives pay bribes in excess of $1.5 trillion dollars annually. The participants for this case study consisted of 10 national sales managers who have successfully implemented strategies to train suppliers in relationship building in a hotel in Greensville, South Carolina. The resource dependence theory grounded the study. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies a hotel owner in Greenville, South Carolina used to train managers on relationship building. Collection of data included 8 semi-structured telephone interviews and 2 video interviews that were audio …

Exploring Small Business Strategies To Comply With The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, John Palmer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. aerospace companies are estimated to lose more than $25 billion in international contracts per year due to bribery. These losses create Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance strategy challenges for U.S. aerospace companies' management. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that U.S. aerospace small business leaders use to comply with the FCPA. The conceptual framework for this study was the regulatory compliance conceptual model, which suggests that small business leaders must gain deeper insight into how corporate compliance policies address the FCPA requirements. The target population for this study was leaders of a small …

The Corporatization Of Justice: Clashes Between International Arbitration And National Environmental Regulations, Scott Novak

Honors Program Theses

In light of the controversies surrounding international arbitration systems and the growing threat of global climate change, this paper aims to answer the following questions: Do international trade arbitration mechanisms undermine national environmental regulations and initiatives, and if so, in what ways does this happen, and how might these mechanisms be reformed? By applying four different theoretical models of international arbitration to four cases studies illustrating how state environmental policies have clashed with private interests in the past, I develop a comprehensive power-based model of arbitration that provides insight into international arbitration systems' current inequities and how these systems may …

Crackdown And Consent: China’S War On Terror And The Strategic Creation Of A Public Discourse In The U.S., Kehaulani R. Jai

Scripps Senior Theses

Scholars have extensively detailed China’s conflation of the Uyghur issue in Xinjiang with the international war on terror following September 11, 2001. Less studied is how the U.S. responded to China’s framing of the Uyghur as terrorists, and of the Chinese government’s characterization of Xinjiang as a region fraught with violence and extremism. On the whole, scholars who have addressed this latter issue conclude that China successfully coopted the U.S., and consequently cracked down on Xinjiang without substantial international outrage. On the basis of a review of official U.S. documents before and after 9/11, I argue that the U.S. response …

How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take To Change The Financial System? Economic Ideas And Financial Regulation, 1846–2007, Michael Lee

Publications and Research

Ideas may impact economic policy change, but their specific effects are difficult to untangle. Material factors may influence both ideational change and policy change. In order to study these complex interrelationships, this article looks at the impact of both ideational change (the rise and fall and rise of free-market economics) and material factors (competitive pressure, crises, and domestic politics) on financial regulatory change and on one another in the United Kingdom and United States since 1846. Using a vector error correction model, I find that elite ideas influenced regulation in Britain, but not the United States. Material factors exhibited more …

Explaining Anti-Americanism In Turkey: A Study Of The Patterns Of Anti-American Sentiment Among Turkish Citizens, Rachel Thacker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper will compare the characteristics among citizens in Turkey who have anti-American views and attitudes. The paper will review of the current literature on what is anti-Americanism, and its consequences, and the chronology of anti-Americanism in Turkey from 2001 to 2013. Next, the paper will explain the political left and right in Turkey, and Turkish Islamic identity, that is, observant Muslims in Turkey. The findings of this paper suggests that Muslim identify has not correlation with levels of anti-Americanism. Rather, there is a correlation between having a leftist political ideology and a higher level of anti-Americanism. The research being …

Support For Suicide Terrorism In Egypt, Matthew J. Pastoria

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Evaluating the factors that affect support for suicide terrorism in Egypt based upon the PEW Research Center's Global Attitudes Project data from 2014.

An Unrelenting Past: Historical Memory In Japan And South Korea, Hannah Elisabeth Collins

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Every population maintains collective memories which provide meaning and identity for members (Langenbache, 2003). Elites have exerted influence on what is being remembered and the interpretation of the remembrances for specific objects, through the concept of historical memory. Wang (2012) has shown that authoritarian governments leverage historical memory to increase legitimacy. Similarly, Bernhard and Kubik (2014) have demonstrated that transitioning democracies also benefit from elite use of historical memory for consolidation. The lack of studies concerning consolidated democracies' use of historical memory raises many questions, including whether consolidated democracies manipulate historical memory for the purpose of legitimacy? I contend that, …

Hiv/Aids Health Policy, Feminism, Backlash, And Anti-Lgbt Attitudes In Uganda, Michael Andrew Wilson

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

As LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community organizing becomes increasingly common internationally, backlash also increased in frequency. This research examines the observed increase in violence against the Ugandan LGBT people from 2006-2014 as well as how this violence was exacerbated by international pressures in response to HIV/AIDS and local actors. This research also focuses on how those pressures from international agents affected the successes of the Ugandan feminist movement.

Inter-Organizational Networks Among Intergovernmental Organizations In Peace Operations, Isil Akbulut

Wayne State University Dissertations

Notwithstanding the growing consensus on benefits associated with collaborations among intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) in peace operations, academic research has thus far neglected pressing questions of why and how IGOs collaborate within a network context in peace operations and how these inter-organizational collaborations among IGOs, IGO networks, might account for the success/failure of these operations. More specifically, this dissertation concentrates on how structural properties of IGO networks, such as the extensiveness of ties between network partners, and the cohesiveness of such networks, may account for peace operations’ performance in accomplishing their core goals: violence abatement, conflict containment and conflict settlement (Diehl …

Determining The Significance Of Alliance Pathologies In Bipolar Systems: A Case Of The Peloponnesian War From 431-421 Bce, Anthony Lee Meyer

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The literature proposes that bipolar systems and international systems with nuclear weapons will not have significant issues with alliance pathologies. But are alliance pathologies really insignificant in Bipolar Systems? The problem is that the literature only describes bipolar systems with nuclear weapons, so one cannot discern whether bipolarity or nuclear weapons alone are responsible for the insignificance of these alliance pathologies. So to solve this problem, this paper will examine a bipolar system in Classical Greece during the time of the Peloponnesian War to isolate any possible influence that nuclear weapons may have on alliance pathologies. This will be done …

Feminist International Relations And “Epistemic Blank Spots”: Entrenching Hegemony?, Jasmine Underwood

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Feminist International Relations (IR) theory and literature critiques the traditional theoretical foundations of international politics, policy, and academia. Viewing the world as a dynamic set of socioeconomic systems and structures, feminists look at the foundations of these institutions, their interactions, and how they impact marginalized groups. Although given that a few of the most prominent feminist International Relations scholars share some of the same socioeconomic and regional roots as their counterparts within mainstream IR, these feminist theorists may have their own sociocultural epistemological issues. Using a critical discourse analysis, this study analyzed if—and how—the background of several leading feminist IR …

The Importance Of The Prioritization Of Human Development Through Governmental Policies, Barbara Marie Fertitta

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the prioritization of human development through governmental policies. Education and gender equality are two of the most fundamental indicators of human development that have far reaching impacts on other human development indicators. This thesis uses the case studies of Ghana and Pakistan to compare and contrast how each respective government has prioritized different aspects of human development and the impact it has had on their country as well as their security. I propose that higher levels of human development increase levels of security and that when there is low physical security, human development levels are also low. …

Successful Regional Integration In The European Union Through Vision And Planning, Joshua Berliner

Dissertations and Theses

The community of Europe today is at a crossroads. Recent pressures, many of them external, are severely testing the integrity of the European Union, as well as the long-standing regional cooperation. Widespread inconsistencies in national policies across member states, especially with regards to economic culture and fiscal policy, have presented the EU with an existential crisis. My hypothesis is that successful regional integration in Europe, however gradual, was not a spontaneous reaction to acute external pressures. Instead, I argue that successful regional integration was the result of a shared vision and careful planning by policy makers and negotiators, who never …

Epistemic Communities And Proliferation: The Implications Of Nuclear Knowledge, David Ayar Roze

Dissertations and Theses

How do epistemic communities facilitate nuclear proliferation? The nuclear nonproliferation regime contains numerous actors exerting varying levels of influence on policy outcomes and state behavior. Neoliberal institutional theory emphasizes the role of sub-national groups play in forming policy preferences; one under-researched group is epistemic communities. Existing literature tends to consider only the nonproliferation action of epistemic communities, however this study aims to examine how these communities can facilitate and lower the cost of undertaking nuclear weaponization, effectively encouraging proliferation. It is especially ironic that the literature has ignored the facilitation effect, given that America’s decision to investigate nuclear weapons began …