Political Science Commons^™

Hannah Arendt In A Global Age: Political Evil And International Theory, Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Political Evil in a Global Age: Hannah Arendt and International Theory. By Patrick Hayden. New York: Routledge, 2009. 145 pp.

Review Of Daniel Mockli's "Strategic Trends 2012: Key Developments In Global Affairs, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This review essay describes and analyzes the content of this annual compilation of international affairs essays published by the Zurich-based Center for Strategic Studies.

International Security Crisis Negotiations : Finding The Balance Between Engagement And Confrontation, Mark Cozza

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

When faced with an international security crisis, the policymakers of great powers are forced into difficult circumstances in a short period of time. The states that embroil the great powers in these crises force upon those policymakers tough decisions in regards to finding an acceptable resolution to the crisis. The decision making process must be quick, as excessive deliberations could have negative effects on the outcome of the crisis. Therefore, policymakers are left with two stark policy options: to either choose a policy of conciliatory engagement or a policy of confrontation. Each strategy comes with its own merits as well …

The International Criminal Court, The United States, And What Next., Alexandria Russell

The Corinthian

The International Criminal Court was set up in order to dissuade state officials from participating in behaviors that are considered war crimes and crimes against humanity. The U.S. is a major super power but not a pivotal character in the ICC institution. This fact has had negative effects on U.S. international policy. This paper explores first what the ICC is and how it came to be, and then addresses the weaknesses of the institution, U.S. relations with the ICC and how they effect U.S. international relations, and finally what policy changes need to be made in order to make the …

Turning Away From Your Slavic Brother: The Effects Of Identity On Relations Between Russia And Belarus, Matt Matejka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On September 24, 2011, it was announced that Putin would run for president once again in 2012. The reaction in the West was that ―the more things change, the more they stay the same.‖ The Western conception of the post-Cold War Russia is often one of remarkable consistency since the turn of the century. This Western narrative focuses on an autocratic Putin reigning over his resurgent and confrontational Russia. Does this narrative tell the story of Russia today, or does it instead obscure it? To answer this I have elected to analyze Russian identity and how it relates to Russia‘s …

Not-So Splendid Isolation: An Ipe Study Of Iranian Sanction Busting, Ryan Christopher Rilea

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes the US sanction regime imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran. This single case study assesses its weaknesses and shortcomings in order to present a preliminary conclusion of the character of Iranian policies to bust the US sanctions regime. In charting the evolution of the US sanction regime through three distinct "waves" of sanctions the study highlighted the general shortcomings of the regime. First, the US sanction regime has failed to impose significant costs on Iran. Second, the slow pace of unveiling each new wave of sanctions failed to bring the necessary immediate pressure on Iran. Third, …

Security Cooperation Poorly Defined, Nathan L. Fenell

Master's Theses

Security cooperation is a vital component to the national security of the United States. Despite this fact, insufficient military or academic attention has been applied to the subject. The academic and professional void created by this inattention has led academic, journalistic, and military professionals to misuse the term security cooperation, and stray from its doctrinal description as defined by the Department of Defense Dictionary and Associated Military Terms. The academic rigor required to properly express the concept of security cooperation as a peace-time strategy has been absent from both the Department of Defense, and the Department of State, and …

Cuban Medical Internationalism: A Case For International Solidarity In Foreign Policy Decision Making, Eric James Fiske

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the beginning of the Revolutionary government in Cuba, a comprehensive foreign policy involving medical personal and equipment has been implemented worldwide. Known as medical internationalism, thousands of doctors have been sent to developed and less developed nations in the spirit of solidarity and humanitarian aid. Even more, thousands of students have been given free medical education in Cuba at its world renowned university, the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). Often, no monetary or direct political gain is made by Cuba and the doctors simply receive their normal government salary. While the success of Cuba's medical internationalism is well …

Sell Unipolarity? The Future Of An Overvalued Concept, Jeffrey W. Legro

Political Science Faculty Publications

For at least the past thirty years, scholarship on international relations has been bewitched by a simple proposition: the polarity of the international system is a central cause of great power strategies and politics. The number of "poles" (dominant countries) in the system is like an invisible fence that shapes states as if they were dogs with electronic collars or a Skinner box that conditions national "rats." States can choose to ignore the fence or box, but if they do, they must pay the consequences. The polarity of the international system as defined by the number of great powers - …

Building An Asia-Pacific Security Community: A Role For Australia?, Jonathan K. Chen

Political Science Honors Projects

Australia’s foreign policy has recently shifted from great-power dependency towards self-reliance in the Asia-Pacific. In light of this shift, there have been calls for the creation of a regional security community. This project looks at two existing security communities, the OSCE and ASEAN, to ascertain the necessary conditions for building a security community. From there, I examine whether or not these conditions exist in the Asia-Pacific, and investigate Australia’s ability to produce the remaining conditions. I conclude that Australia does not have the diplomatic power to overcome regional competition, and that rivalries amongst regional powers mitigate against the community’s creation.

Booms And Busts: Russia And Its Oil, 1970 To 2011 And Beyond, Cliff Gaddy

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

For 40 years Russia’s domestic economic and political development and its foreign policy ambitions have been driven by the varying fortunes of its oil and gas wealth. The story continues to play out today, with crucial global consequences. Russia remains the world’s largest producer of oil and gas. It holds the third largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. Understanding the role of Russia’s energy wealth is key to understanding what role the country may play in world energy security and geopolitics in the years ahead.

Introduction: Navigating The Unknown, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro

Political Science Faculty Publications

On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. Hardly anyone had foreseen this event. When President Ronald Reagan had challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in June 1987 “to tear down this wall,” he never anticipated that Berliners themselves would have the opportunity and courage to bring about such dramatic change. We now know that the Wall came down as a result of accidental circumstances, a series of mistaken statements and understandings among officials of the German Democratic Republic. No one had planned for this to happen, and no one had plans to deal with a new landscape that might …

Conclusion: Strategy In A Murky World, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro

Political Science Faculty Publications

Making national strategy is a byzantine business in the best of times. When dramatic events happen, when the international arena is complex and changing, when threats and opportunities are uncertain, leaders struggle to understand and react effectively. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the attacks of 9/11 opened vistas that were unfamiliar and complicated. How did U.S. leaders manage those transitions?

Uncoiling The Modern Sino-American Relationship, Amanda Mcatee

Psi Sigma Siren

For this particular paper I seek to qualify the true nature of the Sino-American relationship as it has developed over the last quarter of the twentieth century. To more fully appreciate the complex relationship that evolved between such seemingly antithetical nations, I will critically review both James Mann‘s About Face: A History of America’s Curious Relationship with China, From Nixon to Clinton and Margaret MacMillan‘s Nixon and Mao: The Week that Changed the World. This paper will specifically focus on evaluating the similarities and inconsistencies between Mann‘s and MacMillan‘s theses, elucidate the structural differences between each author‘s arguments, and …

Rising Asian Powers And Changing Global Governance, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

International Relations (IR) scholarship is directly in the path of two simultaneous tidal waves. The first is the rise of China and India in the traditional IR terms of military and economic power. The second is the expanding nature of what IR scholarship needs to address, as global integration transforms the nature of the issues to be addressed and numerous trends expand the number and types of relevant actors. Neither theory nor practice is yet coping well with the profound implications of these fundamental changes. Investigating what kind of a world order might emerge from these two simultaneous tsunamis will …

I Will Survive, Robert Funk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Academics do not often quote 70s disco tunes. At least not in print. But if there is one thing that has been striking about the events in Libya in recent weeks—and indeed looking back over decades—it is the sheer ability of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to survive. He is, perhaps with Fidel Castro, the world’s greatest survivor. He has indeed learned how to carry on.

Divided Government And Congressional Foreign Policy A Case Study Of The Post-World War Ii Era In American Government, David Eric Feinman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of American federal government, during periods within which these two branches are led by different political parties, to discover whether the legislative branch attempts to independently legislate and enact foreign policy by using “the power of the purse” to either appropriate in support of or refuse to appropriate in opposition to military engagement abroad. The methodology for this research includes the analysis and comparison of certain variables, including public opinion, budgetary constraints, and the relative majority of the party that holds power in one …

Fall From Grace: South Africa And The Changing International Order, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Post-apartheid South Africa has gone from being a good international citizen to defending a number of authoritarian regimes and obstructing various international initiatives aimed at strengthening the global human rights regime. This article presents this slide as a move from a ‘liberal’ foreign policy to a ‘liberationist’ one and emphasises the external sources of this shift, particularly the influence of the rest of Africa and a rising China.

Defining International Terrorism: Historical Reality And The African Experience, Kwame B. Antwi-Boasiako

Faculty Publications

Violence is terror and terror is violence. Liberators, freedom fighters, revolutionaries and terrorists have all become labels of convenience. Terrorism, historically, has been institutionalized by some governments to their advantage. Academicians and politicians fail to agree on the issues surrounding terrorism hence defining terrorism has become an academic puzzle. The ambiguity in its definition has also contributed to lack of any universal comprehensive acceptable theory. The literature on terrorism by and large accused weaker nations of supporting terrorism. This paper argues otherwise by using the African experience, slavery and colonization, to question the literature on terrorism. Nations throughout history have …

Turkey: Politics At The Crossroads Of Civilizations, Maia Carter Hallward

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This article discusses how Turkey is often under-studied due to the fact that it does not fit neatly into the analytical "boxes" used to discuss international politics. Not only does Turkey straddle Europe and Asia, but it is one of few Middle Eastern countries that was not ruled by Western empires (and, in fact, controlled parts of Europe). It is a non-Arab secular democracy currently governed by a Muslim-oriented party. Because of these unique characteristics, scholars and policy makers have much to learn from Turkey and its approach to challenging issues of regional concern.

To Fight Or Not To Fight: Examining Violence As An Organizational Choice, Jayson Kratoville

Political Science

Non-governmental organizations have become a key concern for international relations theorists and comparative thinkers. While most NGO’s promote their social, political, and economic interests through peaceful means, some use violence; this study seeks to understand why. I assert that the use of violence is a tactical decision made at the dyadic level in consideration of resources that are vital to the organization’s survival. This investigation uses principles from the theory of resource dependency to analyze cases where one NGO uses violence in the same ‘system’ as another that does not. I conclude that organizations dependent on social actors for vital …

The Final Fight: The 2008 Battle Of Sadr City, Geoffrey Ensby

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

Iraq following the US invasion in March of 2003 was a dangerous place, and one in which the national government struggled to maintain control while unsanctioned and unauthorized strongmen and their militias controlled wide swaths of territory. This analysis will thus look at the 2008 Battle of Sadr City between the militia of radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the military forces of Iraq and the US conducting the operation in concert. Utilizing a number of newspaper accounts and editorials, journal articles, recent books, and freelance journalists’ writings, several key aspects will be considered regarding how Iraq was changed for …

Edzia Carvalho On Human Rights: Politics And Practice. Edited By Michael Goodhart. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 455pp., Edzia Carvalho

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights: Politics and Practice. Edited by Michael Goodhart. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 455pp.

Hidetoshi Hashimoto On International Law (Sixth Edition). By Malcolm Shaw. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 1542pp., Hidetoshi Hashimoto

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

International Law (Sixth Edition). By Malcolm Shaw. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 1542pp.

Richard Burchill On Synergies In Minority Protection: European And International Law Perspectives. Edited By Kristin Henrard And Robert Dunbar. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 462pp., Richard Burchill

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Synergies in Minority Protection: European and International Law Perspectives. Edited by Kristin Henrard and Robert Dunbar. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 462pp.

A Fateful Year For Climate Change, William J. Antholis

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Since 1979, 20% of the polar ice cap has melted away. While the public is aware of climate change, the urgency to action is not there. Climate change is also an issue of national security, but enforcement of the the Kyoto and Copenhagen treaties is hampered.

Islamic-Catholic Relations: A Local And Global Comparison, Matthew Hoppler, Jennifer Bell, Ruth Donaghey

Global Studies Student Scholarship

In our modern world, religion remains one of the most important aspects of an individual’s life, no matter what faith they choose to celebrate. Given the world’s increasing interconnectedness and continuing globalization, members of different faiths are becoming more exposed to communities of one another. In modern times, the disagreements between faiths continue just as they have in the past; however there are more efforts on each side to overcome differences and establish a peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding. Two of the most prominent faiths in today’s world are Catholicism and Islam, which have many differences between them. As Americans, …

Role Expectations And State Socialization: Germany's Rediscovery Of The Use Of Force 1990–1995, Thorsten Spehn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation engages the question of why German political elites accepted the use of force during the 1990s and started to commit the country's armed forces to multilateral peacekeeping missions. Previous governments of the Federal Republic had opposed foreign deployment of the military and Germany was characterized by a unique strategic culture in which the efficacy of military force was widely regarded as negative. The rediscovery of the use of force constituted a significant reorientation of German security policy with potentially profound implications for international relations.

I use social role theory to explain Germany's security policy reorientation. I argue that …

Jessica Burley On Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles. By Richard Dowden (New York: Public Affairs, 2009). 592 Pp., Jessica Burley

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles. By Richard Dowden (New York: Public Affairs, 2009). 592 pp.

Marten Zwanenburg On International Peacekeeping Edited By Boris Kondoch. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007. 578pp., Marten Zwanenburg

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

International Peacekeeping edited by Boris Kondoch. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007. 578pp.