Political Science Commons^™

[Introduction To] Paradoxes Of Care: Children And Global Medical Aid In Egypt., Rania Kassab Sweis

Bookshelf

Each year, billions of dollars are spent on global humanitarian health initiatives. These efforts are intended to care for suffering bodies, especially those of distressed children living in poverty. But as global medical aid can often overlook the local economic and political systems that cause bodily suffering, it can also unintentionally prolong the very conditions that hurt children and undermine local aid givers. Investigating medical humanitarian encounters in Egypt, Paradoxes of Care illustrates how child aid recipients and local aid experts grapple with global aid's shortcomings and its paradoxical outcomes.

Rania Kassab Sweis examines how some of the world's largest …

Military Industry And The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Military Aid, Technology, And Barriers To Peace, Brandon A. Sandoval

Dissertations and Theses

This study reviews the current US and Israel militarized response to Palestine, the negative impacts on the Palestinian and Israeli people that result from this policy, and the military-industrial complex that benefits from the US-Israel relationship. I also note that the military industry profits from the Israel-Palestine conflict and, thus, has an incentive for the conflict to continue. I argue that despite billions of US dollars that have been appropriated by the U.S. Congress for Israel’s security, the US and Israel have failed to build peace in the region, ultimately wasting funds and exacerbating current conflicts. I also argue that …

Ethnic Conflict In Côte D’Ivoire, Ayouba Doumbia

Dissertations and Theses

Since the early days of independence, the African continent has been the theatre of many ethnic conflicts. While people, in general, assume these conflicts to be political and blame the conflicts on authoritarian regimes, they dismissed the fact that conflict between ethnicities is a phenomenon that has occurred for hundreds of years and in all corners of the Earth. Entire countries have been devastated by years of ethnic strife. Once ethnic conflict breaks out, it is difficult to stop. Conflicts in the Balkans, Rwanda, Chechnya, Iraq, and Darfur are among the deadliest examples from the late 20^th and early …

Viral Jihad: A Genealogy Of Al-Qaeda And Isis' Propaganda, Renee Perper

CMC Senior Theses

For the past twenty years, the United States has been at war. Yet, while invocations of war often evoke images of soldiers on the battlefield, the war the U.S. has been fighting looks far different. In the past two decades, the U.S. has attempted to curb the impact of terrorist organizations’ media usage. This paper explores the genealogy of that media battle through a case study of al-Qaeda and ISIS’ media apparatuses. It argues that, often overlooked, is the role that media plays as a foundational element in both groups’ organizational structures. Moreover, this paper will demonstrate how ISIS has …

The Sri Lanka-China-India Triangle: A Regional Power Transition, Nandeeni Patel

CMC Senior Theses

In 2016, China became the largest importer of Sri Lanka goods and services, surpassing India. Since then, the Chinese government has signed significant trade, development, and security deals with the island nation. This thesis argues that Sri Lanka's domestic politics, centered around its decades-long civil war and consequent human rights concerns, have served as the crux of its triangular relations with two regional powers: India and China. The human rights issue, in tandem with Sri Lanka's agency as a small state, has drawn Sri Lanka to China. The China-Sri Lanka relationship and has now expanded to developing security and development …

‘It’S Like Baking A Cake’: An Analysis Of Conscience Voting In The New Zealand House Of Representatives Since The Introduction Of The Mixed-Member Proportional System In 1996, Harrison Hosking

CMC Senior Theses

Conscience voting in the New Zealand House of Representatives offers a unique opportunity to assess Sam Peltzman’s ‘Principal-Agent Theory’ as outlined in his 1984 paper, Constituent Interest and Congressional Voting.

This thesis begins with a brief assessment of the principal-agent model (and other literature regarding parliamentary representation) before looking at the New Zealand Parliamentary system and the phenomenon of private member’s bills and how they aid the legislative process. This is followed by an exploration of a constructed dataset of conscience votes that have occurred since the inception of the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system in 1996. An analysis …

Community-Based Disaster Risk Management And Covid-19: How Local Ngos In Latin America Adapted To The Pandemic, Emily Pugh

CMC Senior Theses

The global COVID-19 pandemic posed new challenges for communities across Latin America: lack of access to potable water and food, loss of jobs and lack of access to technology now needed for children to attend school. By interviewing different leaders of NGOs throughout the continent, I was able to find out how local NGOs were adapting their typical activities to help their communities face these new and worsening challenges. While the NGOs in this study do not primarily focus on disaster relief, each adapted their initiatives to deal with the current needs of the community they serve. Some were able …

Making The Connections: Gender Quotas, Representation, And Critical Mass In Latin America, Katherine O'Neill

CMC Senior Theses

Using Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico as case studies, this paper examines how women’s collaboration influences the effects of gender quotas on women’s representation. The efficacy of gender quotas in increasing the numerical representation of women and improving gender equality outcomes is well-researched, but questions remain about the precise linkages between the numerical representation of women and the substantive representation of women. This thesis analyzes previously identified linkages alongside actions by women’s organizations in national legislatures and civil society to better understand women’s roles as critical actors in making gender quotas successful. The findings suggest that women’s collaboration is crucial …

Ai Weiwei And The Global Art Of Politics, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In the past decade, Ai Weieiwei has burst out from his limited role of a Chinese artist to become an artist-activist who has “gone global.” Ai first gained international fame as the consultant for Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” Olympic stadium, which was designed by the Swiss architectural firm Herzog and de Meuron. Just before the 2008 Olympics, however, Ai became infamous for denouncing the stadium as China’s “fake smile” to the world. In October 2010, Ai fascinated the art world with his Sunflower Seeds exhibit at London’s Tate Modern art gallery; before the exhibit closed in May 2011, Ai became a …

"The Refugees Are Better Off Than We Are": Evaluating The Impact Of Syrian Refugees On Jordanian Labor Markets, Maggie Dougherty

Senior Independent Study Theses

This thesis analyses the labor market impacts associated with hosting Syrian refugees in Jordan through the Syrian conflict. We provide a critical analysis of the sentiment that ‘the refugees are better off than we are.’ This sentiment derives from the perception that the poor economic conditions are the fault of refugees, because they take jobs from native citizens, or because of the international humanitarian aid that refugees receive. We suggest that this perception is a ‘false narrative’ which does not accurately describe the many causes of economic hardships in Jordan, thereby misplacing blame on refugees. The article analyzes the structural …

The Great Upheaval: Women And Nation In Postwar Nigeria, Judith A. Byfield

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

This social and intellectual history of women’s political activism in postwar Nigeria reveals the importance of gender to the study of nationalism and poses new questions about Nigeria’s colonial past and independent future.

In the years following World War II, the women of Abeokuta, Nigeria, staged a successful tax revolt that led to the formation first of the Abeokuta Women’s Union and then of Nigeria’s first national women’s organization, the Nigerian Women’s Union, in 1949. These organizations became central to a new political vision, a way for women across Nigeria to define their interests, desires, and needs while fulfilling the …

Important Not To Let Hsr Termination Hobble Further Cooperation, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Strong people-to-people ties can help temper political histrionics, moderate negative impact on political ties. The tantalising prospect of being able to leave Singapore and arrive in Kuala Lumpur in just 90 minutes remains a pipe dream after the High Speed Rail (HSR) agreement was terminated last Friday, along with what could have been an important confidence booster to bilateral ties between Singapore and Malaysia.

The Rise Of Self-Interests: How Shifting Political Goals Changed The Effectiveness Of Dutch Official Development Aid To Bangladesh From 2005 Until 2016, Thomas L. Oomen

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

Aid effectiveness has been situated in the central debate of development studies and, particularly, among foreign aid policy making community. As the Netherlands was one of the unique countries which focused extensively on the needs of its recipient, it is important to investigate the Netherlands’ recent practice of its development aid, particularly to Bangladesh and the associated goal ambiguity. This article attempts to answer the question, “to what extent does goal ambiguity in Dutch development aid affect the effectiveness of Dutch development aid given to Bangladesh?” This analysis is based on independent assessments of Dutch official development aid (ODA) to …

Indonesia’S Trade Diplomacy Through Fta: Analysis On Actors, Processes, And Goals Of Diplomacy, Pantri Muthriana Erza Killian

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

The purpose of this article is to examine the various FTAs that Indonesia has been involved in within the last 15 years by looking at the three core elements of trade diplomacy: actors, processes, and goals of FTAs. Based on these elements, this research finds that Indonesia’s FTA diplomacy tends to be dominated by foreign policy interests compared to economic ones, which can be observed through several elements. First, Indonesia’s FTA diplomacy is dominated by state actors and foreign policy players with little involvement from economic players and non-state actors. The numerous FTAs signed through ASEAN also reinforced this domination …

The Quality Of Peace In Post-Conflict Situation: A Comparative Study Between Armed Conflicts In Aceh And Bangsamoro, Ikhwan Rahmatika Latif, Dyah Mutiarin, Achmad Nurmandi

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This article investigates the quality of peace in armed conflicts that occurred in the Southeast Asia region. The authors compared the cases of Aceh, where the armed conflict between the Free Aceh Movement or GAM and the government of Republic Indonesia ended peacefully with the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding, with the conflict in the southern Philippines, where a peace agreement, the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, was successfully achieved between the government of Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. This research employed document analysis to analyse the peace settlement documents of both parties and the derivative laws of the …

Indonesia's Involvement In The Afghanistan Peacebuilding Process, Fabian Nur Farizan, Dudy Heryadi

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This article aims to understand and analyse Indonesia's involvement in ensuring peace, especially in peacebuilding efforts in Afghanistan. Indonesia’s commitment to improve its peace efforts in Afghanistan was expressed by President Joko Widodo during his visit to Kabul in 2018. This research used Lederach’s pyramid model of peacebuilding as the primary analysis tool. Lederach’s pyramid model identifies three approaches to peacebuilding, along with the main actors in the population affected by the conflict—namely top leadership, middle range leadership, and grass-root leadership. The results of the study show that Indonesia's involvement in Afghanistan in peace efforts has been carried out at …

Catalan Identity And Paradiplomacy Strategy In Catalonia’S Independence Movement, Windy Dermawan, Akim Akim

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This article seeks to analyse how Catalan identity, within the context of its conflict with the Spanish government, contributes to its foreign relations with the global public through paradiplomacy. This article uses qualitative research method with literature study. It finds that Catalonia, as one of Spain’s autonomous regions, have a distinct history, language, and culture from other Spanish regions. To protect their identity, there have been an emergence of movement for greater Catalan autonomy, even independence. This conflict reached climax on 1 October 2017 when the Catalan government initiated an independence referendum amongst Catalan people, with the majority voted for …

The Moderation Of Frente Farabundo Martí Para La Liberación Nacional’S Economic Orientation In El Salvador, 2009-2019, Petrus Putut Pradhopo Wening

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

Frente Farabundo Martí Para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) was a Marxist guerrilla group, known for its activities in the 1980s and 1990s to seize El Salvador’s government through war. Post-peace accords, FMLN transformed into an electoral political party and successfully won to lead the government of El Salvador in 2009-2019, but then they compromised their economic policies to suit neoliberalism. This article uses Gill and Law’s conceptualisation of the theory of direct and structural power of capital to explain the causes of FMLN’s neoliberalism-compromising economic policy adjustment in 2009-2019. This article finds that El Salvador’s social and political-economy historical dynamics, …

The Role Of Global Civil Society At The Local Level In Climate Change Mitigation: A Case Study Of Earth Hour’S Activities In Malang, Najamuddin Khairur Rijal

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This study examines the role of global civil society at the local level in climate change mitigation. Climate change issue is one of the global issues that is responded at the local level, as the impact of the problem concerns the universal livelihood of the world’s population. This study focuses on Earth Hour’s activities in the Malang region as a part of a global civil society. This research uses global civil society and its role in environmental governance as the analytical framework. The data are collected through documentation studies and interviews. The results show that Earth Hour Malang’s activities have …

Youth As A Leading Power Of Uzbekistan, Mukhtor Nazirov

The Light of Islam

The article examines the features of effective interaction between government agencies, NGOs, and other civil institutions on youth issues. State youth policy in Uzbekistan considers revealing the potential of young people and promoting their effective socialization. The article shows the importance of modern education and upbringing, social support of young people in Uzbekistan. The political activity of youth is an indicator of the processes taking place in modern society. The article considers youth policy, the UN international legal documents regulating the youth sphere. The urgency of the youth issue is growing in connection with the deepening of globalization. The solutions …

The Influence Of Information Power Upon The Great Game In Cyberspace: U.S. Wins Over Russian Meddling In The 2018 Elections, Joseph H. Schafer

Military Cyber Affairs

The 2018 U.S. pivot in information and cyberspace degraded Russian operations in the 2018 election. Following pervasive Russian information power operations during the U.S. 2016 elections, the United States progressed from a policy of preparations and defense in information and cyberspace to a policy of forward engagement. U.S recognition of renewed great power competition coupled with Russia’s inability to compete diplomatically, militarily (conventionally), or economically, inspires Russia to continues to concentrate on information power operations. This great game in cyberspace was virtually uncontested by the U.S. prior to 2017. Widespread awareness of Russian aggression in 2016 served as a catalyst …

Deported Veterans: The Unintended Consequences Of “Good Moral Character”, Jonathan Deras

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research is to argue that U.S. immigration policy, specifically the 1996 IIRIRA (also known as IIRAIRA), needs to change regarding the legal treatment of immigrant U.S. military veteran deportees due to the following concepts. The first concept is to articulate how the criminalization of immigration, and how the military system intersects to facilitate the Deportation of U.S veterans. A key concept in this analysis is the standard of “good moral character” set by the U.S. government that enlistees need to meet to be accepted into the military; this standard is also used against immigrant veterans during …

The Evolutionary Global Vision Of Chinese Political Philosophy; China's Socio-Economic Transformation In The 21st Century, Meryem Gurel

Master's Projects and Capstones

Evolving relations of East Asia due to trade liberalization raised the search for financial stability for institutional development. It also increased the importance of China integrating the global economy into renewing its political philosophy in the new century. This capstone project aims to examine why China has transformed its socio-economic structure by generating outward investments and how it has affected international political relations in terms of the role of the economic institution Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Quantitative methodology aims to examine the impact of China’s export trade on income distribution and economic growth through linear regression analysis for the …

My Own Distinguished People: An Analysis Of Carpatho-Rusyn Autonomy Movements, Alexandra S. Benc

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

What factors must a stateless nation possess in order to gain political autonomy? This question is explored through the perspective of Carpatho-Rusyns, an East Slavic stateless nation with a largely unknown, yet rich and distinct, history and culture. Throughout modern history, the Rusyns have made three significant attempts to gain political autonomy and become a semi-independent entity. I argue that stateless nations that possess high levels of the elements of political opportunity structure, cultural maintenance, and economic functioning are more likely to succeed in their efforts to gain political autonomy than those stateless nations who do not. Each of these …

Unprecedented Immigration: The Ramifications On Japan’S Party Politics, Keiko Hirano-Lee

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Although the immigration discourse is a taboo subject in Japan, the aging demographics and the need for workers has brought the topic into discussion. Part of the OECD community, Japan remains the eldest liberal country who up till recently avoided immigration to maintain its unique image. This thesis builds on Japanese and immigration scholarship to examine how new pro-immigration policies of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party may affect their electoral standing. By looking at official statements, newspaper polls, and the wording of policies, it will help examine new spaces of contestation that have yet to be studied. As a forward …

Who Upholds Your Human Rights When You Are “Stateless?” Why Couldn’T The Un Protect The Rohingya’S Human Rights?, Hyochan Lee

Student Theses and Dissertations

In 2017, genocide in Myanmar took place against the stateless minority Rohingya Muslims. Why couldn’t the UN protect the Rohingya’s human rights? The international community's efforts to oppose these violations against the stateless people have been only passive. Then, who upholds your human rights when you are stateless? Using chronology, historical institutionalism, and process tracing analyses, this thesis (1) evaluates the UN’s legal regime’s systemic design and capabilities in protecting human rights; then (2) identifies the design flaws of our international human rights regime; and lastly, (3) develops a recommendation to protect all people, stateless or not. Based on both …

How Palestinian Aid Organizations Adapt To The Possibility Of Further Annexation And Rights Abuses In The Wake Of "The Deal Of The Century", Nadia L. Wiggins

Capstone Collection

This research explores the question, “To what extent has the ‘Deal of the Century’ impacted Palestinian aid organizations, and how might it impact them in the future?” The significance of this question lies in the fact that the “Deal of the Century” claims to solve one of the longest and most complex conflicts, yet it has not been sufficiently analyzed from a Palestinian perspective nor a humanitarian perspective. Furthermore, by presenting scholarly critiques of the deal and aid worker’s concerns, my hope is that an American audience may be convinced of the complicity of our government in devising a failed …

The Yakuza: Organized Crime In Japan, Darlene N. Moorman

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Examining organized crime groups should not be purely economic; in other words, the culture, social structure, political contexts, and so on, are also critical in an insightful analysis of any organized crime group. For this paper, the Japanese yakuza are considered both in an economic viewpoint, such as how they make money, but also in other areas, such as its syndicates' notable cultural contributions and specific social characteristics. Moreover, this paper explores the dynamic changing of the organization overtime, especially in regards to its shifting relationship with the Japanese government.

Health Care And Education Access Of Transnational Children In Mexico, Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, Laura Juarez

Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center Research

Between 2001 and 2018, more than 5.5 million Mexican migrants were removed from the United States or returned to Mexico with their families as immigration enforcement escalated. Learning how this transition affected the access to health and education services of their children –also referred to as “the invisibles”– is a policy-relevant topic for both the United States and Mexico. Using representative data on 7.6 million Mexican and U.S.-born children from the 2015 Mexican Intercensal Survey, we provide evidence on the education and health care access gaps between these two groups and on the factors potentially responsible for the barriers encountered …

Brazil, Big Hydro, And A Beautiful Monster: “Green” Energy Generation In The Xingu River Basin, Ian F. Hirons

Student Works

Brazil is quickly becoming an influential actor on the world stage of geopolitics. The nation has achieved global economic and environmental recognition due to the extensive development of its hydrological resources in the form of hydroelectric power plants. As the world’s second greatest generator of hydroelectricity, Brazil has proven a staunch adherence to building dams in the large-scale. Though these dams have brought electricity to millions of people across the country, the socio-ecological toll inflicted by their construction has been devastating to natural biomes and local inhabitants. This article traces Brazil’s proclivity for large-scale hydropower to four motivational categories often …