American Politics Commons^™

Invitation: Duval County Democratic Party. An Afternoon With Madeleine Albright, March 25, 2008

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

A luncheon for Madeleine Albright on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 from 12 Noon to 2 p.m. at the River Club of Jacksonville. Sponsored by the Duval County Democratic Executive Committee and National Security Network. Box 4, Folder 9

Hispanic Citizenship, Registration, And Voting Patterns: A Comparative Analysis Of The 2000 And 2004 Presidential Elections, Debora Upegui

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines citizenship, registration, and voting patterns among Latinos in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: There is no doubt that the Hispanic population in the United States has consistently grown in the last two decades and continues to be the largest growing minority group within the United States. According to the 2004 census, …

Wars Against Civilians Are Unjust Wars, Richard A. Falk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

For those of us old enough to recall the anti-war testimony of Vietnam vets during the early 1970s, reading the chilling report by Hedges and Al-Arian on the attitudes of Iraq war vets is shocking, and yet not surprising. It is shocking because of the eyewitness confirmation of cruelty and lethal brutality on a regular basis in the interactions between the coalition army of occupation and Iraqi civilian society. Sadly, it is not shocking because of the nature of the violent resistance to occupation being encountered by American forces in Iraq, giving rise to a Vietnam-style mentality of counterinsurgency in …

Bad Apples Or Bad Policies?, Daniel J. Whelan

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In a scene from the Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters, the haughty and cantankerous character Frederick (Max von Sydow) is telling his girlfriend (Barbara Hershey) how he spent the evening flipping through channels on television. Ever the arrogant social critic, Frederick remarks,

You missed a very dull TV show on Auschwitz. More gruesome film clips. And more puzzled intellectuals declaring their mystification over the systematic murder of millions. The reason they can never answer the question: “How could it possibly happen?” is that it’s the wrong question. Given what people are, the question is: “Why doesn't it happen …

September Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness” by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian. The Nation, July 30, 2007.

Occupational Hazard, Michael Goodhart

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“The Other War” describes how the patrols, supply convoys, checkpoints, raids, and arrests, which make up the daily routines of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, sometimes involve degrading and abusive treatment of Iraqi civilians. Through interviews with some of those soldiers, the article portrays the everyday tragedy of the Iraq war and demonstrates how the very policies used to “secure” the country are creating greater insecurity and sparking Iraqi resentment of the occupation. The authors’ main point is that such abuses are inevitable under what they call “misguided and brutal colonial wars and occupations” like Iraq, “the French occupation of Algeria… …

Facing Up To The Truth, Susan E. Waltz

Human Rights & Human Welfare

American GIs who liberated Dachau from the Nazis in April 1945 exist in our collective memory as iconic representations of the American soldier-hero: competent and capable, disciplined, principled and fundamentally good. From their collective example, we expect American soldiers to reveal, report, and excoriate war crimes. This makes it difficult to acknowledge that Americans may also commit war crimes—and on a regular basis.

Mercenaries And Other Ways Of Breaking The Law: Why Our Blood Should Boil, Judith Blau

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Among the many consequences of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the absence of investigative journalism and critical reflection in the U.S. is, perhaps, the most troubling; though we are now seeing a reversal of this trend. Jeremy Scahill has been one of the brightest and best examples of this reversal, relentlessly pursuing a trail of wrongdoing involving the U.S. government and private corporations.

Can The Next American President Switch The Tracks?, Harry Kreisler

Human Rights & Human Welfare

For decades the Washington mantra has been privatization. As Secretary of Defense in Bush 41’s administration and as CEO of Haliburton, Dick Cheney was influential in the application of this idea to defense policy. Now as Vice President of the United States, he and his coterie of followers have taken the idea to a new level. According to Jeremy Scahill, the United States has reached a tipping point in waging the Iraq war, with dire consequences for defense policy, democratic accountability, and the global perception of who we are and what we stand for.

Private Military Industry And The Laws Of War, Mahmood Monshipouri

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The “war on terrorism,” according to Jeremy Scahill, has led to the most privatized war in the history of the United States of America: the war in Iraq, waged partially by private security contractors who are, for the most part, accountable to no higher legal-political authority. This brings us to an obvious question: Is this type of warfare an imperative part of counterterrorism?

Rooting The Privatization Of War In A Broader Political Context, Ali Wyne

Human Rights & Human Welfare

On the issue of military outsourcing, I think that it would be valuable to place Jeremy Scahill’s research and critique in a broader context.

July Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Outsourcing the War ” by Jeremy Schaill. The Nation. May 28, 2007.

The Convenient Alliance: President Reagan And Pope John Paul Ii, Cold Warriors, Tighe P. Flatley

Senior Honors Projects

Historians and non-scholars alike have long regarded the work of President Reagan and Pope John Paul II to be a tremendous force in helping to end the Cold War. In 1992, Time Magazine cited the relationship as a “Holy Alliance”, a political partnering of two men who, after surviving separate assassination attempts merely six weeks apart, saw their role in global politics as a divine signal to promote the free world and take down communism internationally. By the time the President and the Pope first met at the Vatican in 1982, the two were privately discussing Cold War politics. They …

Globalization And The Deepening Indian-U.S. Partnership In An Age Of Entrenched Anti-Americanism, Geoffrey Kain

Publications

“One of the topics often debated in the larger context of globalization is whether or not globalization is fundamentally a new-colonialist/neo-imperialist force (this view might be regarded as the Noam Chomsky school), or whether it is better represented as more of an open-access, competitive landscape on a truly global scale (this view might be regarded as the Thomas Friedman school)…”

South Goes South: American Perspectives On Southern Immigrants To Brazil, Ernest R. Rheaume

Senior Honors Projects

Reconstruction following the American Civil War led to conditions in the South that caused upwards of 20,000 Americans to go into exile. Of these, approximately 2,500 to 3,500 made the trip to Brazil and established settlements of varying success. One hundred forty one years later descendents of the original settlers, known as the Confederados, still populate the areas of Americana and Santa Barbara D’Oeste, Brazil. Extensive studies have been conducted on the history of the migration and the resulting settlements, yet conflicting perspectives of the Confederados exist within American society. These include different understandings of the Confederate Battle Flag, the …

A Comparison Of Western And Chinese Propaganda Tactics As Revealed In Pre-War Rhetoric Of Bushs' Presidencies, Pei-Ling Lee

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the differences in the propaganda tactics employed by Western and Chinese cultures, as informed by ancient Chinese philosophies and Western propaganda research. Specifically, this thesis focuses on developing 14 Chinese strategic propaganda tactics by using creative transformation approach. Thereafter, using textual criticism, these tactics are applied to the pre-war rhetoric of the immediate former President of the U.S., George H. W. Bush and the current President of the U.S., George W. Bush in order to test the validity of the rhetorical taxonomy. The results of this thesis demonstrate that George H. W. Bush preferred positive rather than …

Trends. Commentary On “The Influence Component Of Counterterrorism: A Systems Approach, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the guiding principles for and challenges to a conceptual framework for deterring terrorism against the United States and its interests as presented by Paul Davis and Brian Jenkins in the Spring 2003 issue of Rand Review.

Lying And Logic On Iraqi Weapons Of Mass Destruction And Linkages To Al Qaeda, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author examines the following question in this article: Did the Bush administration lie in asserting that Iraq had operational weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and linkages to al Qaeda?

An Apocryphal Discourse: Iraqi Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article contests a global, public discourse wherein the United States Government’s (USG) foreign policy credibility will be severely damaged without the discovery of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) developed by the Saddam Hussein government.

Trends. Personalities, Motivations, And Capabilities: The Iraq-North Korea Distinction, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses and evaluates the handling of public affairs and justifications for military intervention in Iraq by the United States Secretary of State.

Hispanic Citizenship, Registration, And Voting Patterns In Comparative Perspective During The 2000 Presidential Elections, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines citizenship, registration, and voting patterns of Latinos during the 2000 presidential elections.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: The participation rates among potential Hispanic voters who were citizens of the U.S. 18 years of age and older were the lowest of any of the major racial/ethnic groups in the nation during the 2000 presidential elections as well as …

American Consul In Jerusalem 1856-1896, Eric Vaughn Lowe

Dissertations and Theses

The Europeans were the first ones to establish Consuls at Jerusalem. They used their consular offices to establish permanence and extend their influence in the region. Under the guise of citizen and religious protection they extended their power and influence in the Ottoman territory. The United States established its consulate in Jerusalem in 1853. In comparison with the European consuls the American Service was-new, inexperienced, and lacking professionalism. This American outpost was plagued with complexities that were distinct to the office at Jerusalem. The consul reports from 1856-1896 reflect the mission and difficulties faced at this seemingly remote outpost.

Limited …

Trends. The Ghost In The Machine: Is Bill Clinton Running Us Policy On China, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses aviation safety and the continuity of use/misuse of words by U.S. administrations, regardless of political affiliation.

Sanctions That Work: The Bush Perspective On Iraq, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some implications of United States (US) President Bush's comments on "sanctions that work" in the context of US foreign policy towards Iraq.

Turks, Armenians, And Genocide: Is Genocide Foreign To Foreign Policy?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes difficulties in forging foreign policy consensus on preventing, attenuating, or intervening to stop genocide.

Mirror Imaging And Ideology In Palestine, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies ideological mirror imaging on the part of most United States (US) policymakers concerning the political cognitions of many Palestinian National Authority leaders, PNA supporters, and Arab and Islamic supporters and exploiters of the construct of Palestinian self-determination.

Nationalism In The People's Republic Of China: A Consequential Chameleon, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes how nationalism among political leaders in the People's Republic of China (PRC) can be the linchpin of divergent views on the desirability of the PRC's future in a globalized economy.

The Need For Racial Profiling: Negative Fallout Of The Wen Ho Lee Case, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes a counterproductive theme within public discourse on racial profiling, as the Wen Ho Lee case has been resolved.

Drugged Or Old Drugs In New Bottles: United States Drug Policy And Colombia, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes a psychology that seems to pertain to United States (US) policy towards decreasing the export of illicit drugs from Colombia.

Trends. Why The United States Still Hasn't Shaken Its Vietnam Syndrome: The Case Of Iraq, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the the lingering presence of the Vietnam Syndrome - the idea that military successes seem to have little impact on the hearts and minds of large segments of a given country's population - in the United States' Operation DESERT STORM in Iraq.