International Relations Commons^™

"Don't Be Afraid, Just Take It Easy": Genocide And Destruction In Bosnia, Thomas Sarsfield

Undergraduate Research Symposium

During the twilight hours of the Cold War, Yugoslavia was thrown into a full-blown political and economic crisis that resulted in its dissolution. Long-simmering ethnic tensions boiled over as former Yugoslav republics began declaring independence. After its secession from Yugoslavia in 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina rapidly descended into a brutal war between Bosnian Muslim, Croat, and Serb ethnic groups. Serb troops engaged in widespread atrocities against Bosnian Muslims and Croats including mass murder, rape, and forced expulsion, which collectively amount to genocide. While UN peacekeepers were dispatched to establish safety zones in Bosnia and Herzegovina, their efforts were stymied by …

Art Of Community, Nayely Furcal Marte

Global Studies Student Scholarship

Nayely Furcal Marte ’23
Major: Business Economics and Global Studies
Faculty Mentor: Nicholas Longo, Global Studies

Art has been used to create a spacious place for many people and has been a way to express themselves differently without using communication. There are many ways to do art: art can be painting, sculpture, literature, agriculture, cinema, music, or theater, no matter how individuals use it to help release emotions. Creating art as the artist or using it as the audience can help lift depression and positively heal mental health. Using art as a way of healing has represented patients and individuals …

Estimating The Xi Effect: How Chinese Aid Affects Economic And Political Institutions, Mackenzie Owens

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Under Xi Jinping, China has expanded its aid allocation worldwide and has introduced global infrastructure projects to connect itself to countries everywhere. With such ambitious aid allocation, China has been the recipient of both admiration and scorn on the international stage. This paper assesses these concerns using data from 2000 to 2017 to determine how Chinese aid affects recipient states’ economic and political institutions. Specifically, this research looked to ascertain if there is a measurable Xi Effect in recipient states. The quantitative analysis shows the Xi Effect is small and positive on economic institutions and political institutions, signifying Xi Jinping’s …

A Fake Future: The Threat Of Foreign Disinformation On The U.S. And Its Allies, Brandon M. Rubsamen

Global Tides

This paper attempts to explain the threat that foreign disinformation poses for the United States Intelligence Community and its allies. The paper examines Russian disinformation from both a historical and contemporary context and how its effect on Western democracies may only be exacerbated in light of Chinese involvement and evolving technologies. Fortunately, the paper also studies practices and strategies that the United States Intelligence Community and its allied foreign counterparts may use to respond. It is hoped that this study will help shed further light on Russian and Chinese disinformation campaigns and explain how the Intelligence Community can efficiently react.

3201g: London Cycle Link, Alec M. Gelz

Community Engaged Learning Final Projects

No abstract provided.

Views Of Judaism And Jewish People In Jordan: Political, Social, Historical, And Religious Considerations, Thalia Gustina

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this research was to find out what the general view of Judaism and Jewish people is within Jordan and what factors play into these views. There were a few aspects of this topic that were specifically focused on in this study. The impact of Israel on the way that Jewish people are perceived was one of the main topics explored. Part of this was looking at the history of Judaism and Jewish people in the Arab World and how the relationship between them and their non-Jewish neighbors changed after the creation of Israel. As a majority Muslim …

Bigger Is Better? Re-Evaluating Nato Enlargement In The Post-Cold War Period, Matthew Mccracken

Senior Honors Theses

Since the end of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has grown substantially from its pre-1990 boundary between the two Germanys to encompass 15 new members with its border pressing eastward toward the former Soviet states and up to Russia proper. At the same time, East-West relations have sunk from a high point in the 1990s to a new low unseen since the Cold War culminating in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Top-ranking officials on both sides of the Atlantic cautioned successive U.S. administrations against heedlessly seeking to admit new members into NATO for fear that it …

Eu Migration Policy: Analyzing The Coercive Responses Of Transit Countries Within The Eu’S Framework Of Externalization, Emily Swan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper seeks to analyze the intersection between the EU’s increasingly securitized and externalized policies towards migration, and instances of the weaponization of migration on the EU’s external borders. Although scholars have analyzed cases in which states harness migrants as political weapons, depoliticized most depictions apply a moralistic lens that frames these cases as aberrant, decontextualized, and political events. This paper will complicate understandings of the weaponization of migration by analyzing how EU policies of externalization and securitization systematically shape the environment in which it becomes politically advantageous for leaders, such as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Alexander Lukashenko, to resort …

Poland And The Ukraine War: A Geopolitical Analysis, Thomas Pitney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Poland’s geopolitical role has enhanced since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. As such, Poland’s ambitions have increasingly important implications for regional, European, and global security. The paper attempts to address this phenomenon by posing the following research question: how does Poland pursue its interests in the Ukraine War? Employing qualitative methods on data collected from three formal interviews, one virtual interview, one informal interview, four statements from Poland’s leaders, and a variety of secondary sources, the study aims to answer this question modeling Gyula Csurgai’s (2019) geopolitical analysis framework. The research question is addressed in two ways. …

Kowtowing And Paying Tribute To China: How China’S Self-Perception And The Mandate Of Heaven Shapes China’S Foreign Policy, Brock Bellinger

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Throughout the course of history, the ancient Chinese notion of the Mandate of Heaven has played a fundamental role in guiding China’s foreign relations. The Mandate of Heaven is based upon the idea that the ruler of China has the authority to reign from Heaven. However, the Mandate of Heaven could be revoked if the Chinese leader did not adhere to strict moral guidelines, as evidenced by the fall of numerous dynasties throughout China's history. To better understand 21^st century foreign relations with China, it is instructive to explore and recognize how China views itself historically. Through an improved …

Review Of Against War: Building A Culture Of Peace, William J. Collinge

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Root Of War: Thomas Merton’S Advice To Peacemakers, Jerry Kendall

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of We Are The Voice Of The Grass: Interfaith Peace Activism In Northern Uganda, J.J. Carney

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of Social Defense, Eli Mccarthy

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Bishops Of Peace, Daniel Philpott

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Our New Moment: Renewing Catholic Teaching On War And Peace, Robert W. Mcelroy

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

The Autobiography Of An American Peace Bishop, Jens Mueller

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Cardinal Cahal Daly: A Vatican Ii Bishop Seeking The Kingdom Of God, Maria Power

The Journal of Social Encounters

Cardinal Cahal Daly (1917-2009) was the only member of the Catholic hierarchy in Ireland to hold office from the beginning of the conflict there in 1969 to the paramilitary ceasefires in 1996. He was well known for his pronouncements on the causes of the conflict and his use of Catholic social teaching to offer solutions. Political structures have played a key role in stabilising Northern Ireland since 1998 and Daly used Catholic concepts of democracy and statecraft to explore alternative possible futures for Northern Ireland in the years prior to their implementation. This article will show how much of his …

Peace Bishops: Ugandan Catholic Archbishop John Baptist Odama, John Ashworth

The Journal of Social Encounters

Archbishop John Baptist Odama of the Archdiocese of Gulu is widely known for his courageous efforts to bring an end to the Lord's Resistance Army conflict in northern Uganda through the interfaith Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, and increasingly for his participation in the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative and his willingness to share his experience with others. This essay explores not only these aspects of his life, but also earlier influences and experiences of ministry which helped to form him as a “peace bishop” who values the life and dignity of a human being above everything.

‘No Longer A European Export’: How The Church Became Truly Global, John T. Mcgreevy

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Essays On Peace Bishops, Ron Pagnucco

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Peace Studies And The Limits To Growth, Selina Gallo-Cruz

The Journal of Social Encounters

150 Peace Studies and the Limits to Growth Selina Gallo-Cruz Scientists have issued increasingly dire warnings about the present and future danger posed by ecological overshoot. Peace scholars’ entrée into this discourse is often through a concern over extractive politics, a central locus for how conflicts are bound up in environmental destruction at the hands of the same industries responsible for ecological decline. Policy and practical responses to the urgent need to scale down production lag behind reality, however, and a global growth-based economy continues to prevail. Here, I explore the dilemmas faced by peace studies scholars who may want …

Subsidiarity: A Central Principle For Justice, Peace, And Sustainability In Mining, Caesar A. Montevecchio

The Journal of Social Encounters

The Catholic social teaching principle of subsidiarity states that problems should be dealt with at the lowest level possible, but the highest level necessary. It attempts to create structures of social power that can best protect the dignity of individuals and families and promote their human flourishing. In the case of mining, subsidiarity would say that the communities impacted by mining need to be centered and empowered to the greatest extent possible, but that the national, regional, and/or global nature of the issues at stake, like climate change, violent conflict, or economic justice, mean that community goals and decisions need …

Fixing Prior Consultation For Indigenous Empowerment, Marcela Torres-Wong, Elia Méndez-García

The Journal of Social Encounters

Over the last three decades, extractive conflicts in Latin America have become increasingly violent. Hundreds of Indigenous activists have been murdered for defending their land against extractive interests. The international formula for addressing this type of conflict is for governments to conduct prior consultation procedures with Indigenous communities before affecting indigenous territories. However, the misuse of consultations by governments and companies to legitimize ecologically destructive projects has led a sector of Indigenous organizations to reject prior consultation, while others continue advocating for free, prior, and informed consent. We compare two cases of Indigenous communities from Oaxaca and Yucatán in Mexico …

Extractivism And Conflict: Comparative Study Of Serbia And The Drc, Borislava Manojlovic, Espoir Kabanga

The Journal of Social Encounters

This study explores how populations in Serbia and the DRC have been affected by and responded to natural resource extraction. Specifically, protests and other activist engagement were examined by surveying social movements’ participants from civil society and academia. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of inquiry were used. Data was collected from multiple sources, including academic and online sources pertaining to the topic of extractivism, and a survey of 71 participants. The results indicate that both Congolese and Serbian participants have grave concerns about extractivism and its impact on the environment, peace, stability, health, and well-being but differ in their ability …

Environmental Accountability Of Extractive Industries And Community Resistance In The Wamuzimu Chieftaincy In Eastern Congo, Christian Cirhigiri

The Journal of Social Encounters

Throughout the Congo wars, the pervasive activities of extractive industries have deepened economic inequalities and eviscerated the ecological rights of victimized communities while perpetuating a tragic legacy of gross human rights abuses in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo . Increasingly, however, affected communities are carrying out violent and nonviolent campaigns against mining companies and other extractive industries whose activities jeopardize community livelihoods. Using the analytical framework of collective participation and drawing on qualitative data from 20 semi-structured interviews with community activists in the chieftaincy of Wamuzimu in 2022, this paper argues that community resistance against extractive industries is a …

Displacement Of The Rohingyas Of Myanmar, Land Grabbing, And Extractive Capital, Afroza Anwary

The Journal of Social Encounters

Research on the displacement of the Rohingya from their property has paid little attention to how the government’s land policies encourage various actors to seize that land and extract resources. This research is based on interviews with Rohingya refugees, reports from the United Nations and humanitarian agencies, and published academic work. Economic, social, and political factors are responsible for the displacement of Rohingyas. To argue that a single factor is responsible for their displacement would be incorrect, as research reveals a more complicated interaction of social forces. However, this paper considers the unique dynamics of land grabbing, land laws, ethnic …

The Multiple Paths Of Extraction, Dispossession, And Conflict In Mozambique: From Tete’S Coal Mines To Cabo Delgado’S Lng Projects, Ruy Llera Blanes, Ana Carolina Rodrigues, Euclides Gonçalves

The Journal of Social Encounters

When it comes to extractive processes, conflict, and peacebuilding, the case of Mozambique has recently taken center stage due to the emergence of an Islamic insurgency movement in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in its northern province of Cabo Delgado. This is but one part of a complex process of highly conflictual extractivist projects unfolding in the country. In this article, we argue that, beyond the specific case of LNG, there is a logic of continuity and accumulation regarding extraction-related grievances that, over the years, has generated community resentment in natural resource rich areas. Multiple accumulating forms of dispossession …

Introduction - Volume 7, Issue 1, Selina Gallo-Cruz

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Daoism And Design: Mapping The Conflict In Syria, Ned Beechinor Marsh, Heather S. Gregg

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

In contemporary military operations, some problems are so complex they do not give way to linear solutions but require problem management instead. Combining the fundamentals of Dao De Jing philosophy with the US military design process offers a new perspective to analyze complex security problems, devise management strategies, and plan military operations. Applying this new approach to the complex security environment in Syria allows for a nonlinear mapping of long-term goals and a new perspective on relationships between key actors, environmental factors that restrict changes in the security environment, and where planners should focus their attention.