International Relations Commons^™

Thawing Interests: The Arctic In U.S. Grand Strategy, Benjamin S. Murray

MSU Graduate Theses

The thawing Arctic is subject to increasing activity, attention, and a renewal of interests in the region from around the globe. National interests have compelled strategic planning in the Arctic region and are connected to global geopolitics. A concept of grand strategy is distilled from theories of past authors, understood within the modern context. That concept includes a terminological framework consisting of interests and threats to inform an ends, ways, and means design of strategy, composed of all instruments of state power, blending policy with strategy, and across the peace-war continuum. Then fundamental precepts of existing U.S. grand strategy are …

“Time Is A-Wasting”: Making The Case For Cedaw Ratification By The United States, Rangita De Silva De Alwis, Melanne Verveer

All Faculty Scholarship

Since President Carter signed the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (the “CEDAW” or the “Convention”) on July 17, 1980, the United States has failed to ratify the Convention time and again. As one of only a handful of countries that has not ratified the CEDAW, the United States is in the same company as Sudan, Somalia, Iran, Tonga, and Palau. When CEDAW ratification stalled yet again in 2002, then-Senator Joseph Biden lamented that “[t]ime is a-wasting.”

Writing in 2002, Harold Koh, former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, bemoaned America’s …

The Softer Sex? Women Legislating War, Shanil Verjee

CMC Senior Theses

There is a long-standing assumption in feminist international relations theory that women are more peace-oriented than men, and that, therefore, if more women were put in positions of power, there would be less war. This paper explores whether this assumption holds true in the United States federal legislature by examining the voting and congressional records of women in Congress over time, in both the Republican and Democratic parties, and comparing them to the records of male members of Congress to determine whether women exhibit a significantly different legislative approach to war.

The New “Duck-And-Cover” — School Security As Contemporary Civil Defense And Mimetic Of The National Security State, Justyn C. Díaz

Senior Projects Spring 2020

The purpose of this project is to interrogate the parallels between school and state security policies. The project also positions these similarities ultimately as part of the program of schooling that seeks to create citizens in the interest of national security through the mimicry of the state security practices, inculcating a fear in students across the country that serves to constitute state power.

International Law In The Obama Administration's Pivot To Asia: The China Seas Disputes, The Trans- Pacific Partnership, Rivalry With The Prc, And Status Quo Legal Norms In U.S. Foreign Policy, Jacques Delisle

All Faculty Scholarship

The Obama administration’s “pivot” or “rebalance” to Asia has shaped the Obama administration’s impact on international law. The pivot or rebalance has been primarily about regional security in East Asia (principally, the challenges of coping with a rising and more assertive China—particularly in the context of disputes over the South China Sea—and resulting concerns among regional states), and secondarily about U.S. economic relations with the region (including, as a centerpiece, the Trans-Pacific Partnership). In both areas, the Obama administration has made international law more significant as an element of U.S. foreign policy and has sought to present the U.S. as …

The Right Side Of The Coin: Focus On The Human Rights Of People, Not The Failure Of States, Brooke Ackerly

Human Rights & Human Welfare

US policy toward failed states should focus on strengthening civil society and social movements so that people are better able to hold their leaders accountable.

The language of “failed states” disassociates foreign policy from international dialogue about human rights. Instead, “failed states” is a contemporary sound bite that connotes a lack of sovereignty, suggesting that intervention would not violate national sovereignty because in a failed state, there is none. Of course, we could have a similar cynicism about the use of human rights concerns to justify invasion. Certainly, states have tried to choose when to reference international human rights norms …

Spot Off: The Gao Takes On The Tsa’S Behavior Detection Program, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recently Issued Efforts to Validate TSA’s Passenger Screening Behavior Detection Program Underway, but Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Validation and Address Operational Problems (May 2010, GAO-10-763). This IBPP article will describe and comment on the main GAO findings and additional data on which the findings are based. The article will end with some basic challenges to behavior detection as a useful security measure.

Trends. Espionage And Sex: A Commentary On Personnel Security Criteria, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses one aspect of sexual orientation – homosexuality - in a security and intelligence context.

Trends. Disclosure Of Post-9-11 Arrestees And Maslow’S Hierarchy Of Needs, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the Maslowian hierarchy of needs in the context of 9-11 terrorist attacks and the relationship between executive and judicial branches of American government.

Trends. Border Security Legislation, Terrorism-Sponsoring Nations, And Evil, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The IBPP editor discusses limiting temporary visas for visitors from alleged terrorism-sponsoring nations as a way of "tightening" the security of national borders.

A Textual Analysis Of Security: The Republican Platform As Propaganda, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article comments on international security appraisals and pledges contained in the United States (US) Republican Party platform at the 2000 Republican National Convention.

Trends. Wanted: Russian Nuclear Security And A Primer On Russian Psychology, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses whether or not the United States Government (USG) tax payer's dollars-if any-should be expended towards nuclear security in Russia.

Blowing Smoke: Tobacco Companies, Anti-Tobacco Tax Policies, And International Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article illustrates how governmental tax policymakers are an insignificant threat to tobacco companies. Security implications are alluded to--viz., company relationships with illicit trafficking organizations, the health of populations, and tax policies towards illegal drugs if the last were to become legal.