International Relations Commons^™

People's War In Cyberspace: Using China's Civilian Economy In The Information Domain, Kieran Richard Green

Military Cyber Affairs

China is identified as posing a key challenge to US national security interests in cyberspace. These threats are incurred across the spectrum of conflict, ranging from low-level crime, to network penetration, to cyberattacks that have the potential to cause major physical destruction. Thus far, the majority of strategic assessments of China’s cyber capabilities have focused on the role of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which is officially tasked with undertaking offensive operations in cyberspace.[1] However, China does not employ its cyber capabilities in isolation. Rather, it considers cyber to be part of the “Information Domain.” In Chinese doctrine, controlling …

Cultural Awareness In Nuclear Security Programs: A Critical Link, Al-Sharif Nasser Bin Nasser, Jasmine Auda, Katherine Bachner

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Nuclear security programs that offer training and capacity building opportunities to practitioners working in nuclear facilities play a central role in strengthening the global nuclear security architecture. There is often a significant divide, however, between both the development of these programs and their implementation, and between the programs’ intended and actual outcomes. As this article will argue, this disconnect can often be attributed to an absence of cultural awareness and an inability for internationally-designed programs to effectively resonate with local audiences. Accordingly, the importance of the role of cultural awareness in implementing nuclear security programs will be assessed, and its …

Across Systems: Preventing, Countering, And Defusing Violent Extremism—A Discussion Of Strategy, Policy, Practice, And Theory, Keenan Powers

Capstone Collection

This paper explores today’s landscape of violent conflict in the context of the now 15-year-old “War on Terror” and its defining trait of strengthened, nimble, and networked violent extremist non-state militant groups. Through an exploration of primarily United Nations and United States strategies, policies, and programming the concepts of Countering Violent Extremism and Preventing Violent Extremism are melded into a discussion of the shifting frameworks and broadening notions of what it takes to create human security. This paper is particularly concerned with how the traditionally at odds fields of Counter Terrorism, Military Security, Development Assistance, and Peacebuilding practice are co-thinking …

Disaster Capitalism: Empirical Evidence From Latin America And The Caribbean, Ransford F. Edwards Jr.

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Natural disasters are uniquely transformative events. They can drastically transform physical terrain and the lives of those unfortunate enough to be caught in their wrath. However, natural disasters also provide an opportunity to reflect on past failures and, at times, a clean slate to correct those shortcomings. This project takes a political economic approach and recognizes natural disasters as occasions for agenda-setting on behalf of transnational commercial enterprises and market-oriented policy elites. These reformers often use the post-disaster policy space to articulate long-term development strategies based on market fundamentalism, and, more importantly, advance a set of policies consistent with their …

The Fate Of Armed Resistance Groups After Peace, David C. Williams

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Linkage To The West: What Authoritarian Stability In Singapore Tells Us, Su-Mei Ooi

Su-Mei Ooi

Recent regime change literatures compellingly assert that linkage to the West has been a significant factor in democratisation where the organisational capacity of authoritarian incumbents has overwhelmingly weakened pro-democracy forces. Detailed case studies confirming these findings have not included Singapore although high levels of linkage to the West suggest that democratisation should have taken place there. This qualitative case study fills the empirical and theoretical gap by explaining why linkage has so far failed to raise the cost of authoritarianism for Singapore's government. By eschewing the current structural approach, which conceptualises linkage as mere channels of external pressure or influence, …

“Bracketing” Foreign Policy From Domestic Affairs: A New Paradigm For International Negotiation And Decision-Making, Scott Gerschwer Ph.D.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

This paper argues that geo-political negotiators must separate domestic issues from their calculations and consider only strategic goals and international concerns when working through issues with other global leaders. The impetus for this paper is a recent poll that shows that 52% of Americans want to bomb Iran, apparently without considering the consequences. I will give some history, present some recent cases and attempt to create a mechanism for separating international and domestic issues to relieve a source of pressure on negotiators.

Slavery And Freedom In Theory And Practice, David Watkins

David Watkins

Slavery has long stood as a mirror image to the conception of a free person in republican theory. This essay contends that slavery deserves this central status in a theory of freedom, but a more thorough examination of slavery in theory and in practice will reveal additional insights about freedom previously unacknowledged by republicans. Slavery combines imperium (state domination) and dominium (private domination) in a way that both destroys freedom today and diminishes opportunities to achieve freedom tomorrow. Dominium and imperium working together are a greater affront to freedom than either working alone. However, an examination of slavery in practice, …

Can The International Criminal Court Deter Atrocity?, Hyeran Jo, Beth A. Simmons

All Faculty Scholarship

Whether and how violence can be controlled to spare innocent lives is a central issue in international relations. The most ambitious effort to date has been the International Criminal Court (ICC), designed to enhance security and safety by preventing egregious human rights abuses and deterring international crimes. We offer the first systematic assessment of the ICC's deterrent effects for both state and nonstate actors. Although no institution can deter all actors, the ICC can deter some governments and those rebel groups that seek legitimacy. We find support for this conditional impact of the ICC cross-nationally. Our work has implications for …

Hostage At The Table By George Kohlrieser: A Critical Book Review, Bimal Dahal, Muhammad Ilyas, Erika Krajcovicova, Myriam Marcuello-Lopez, Abdulah Saleh, Shadi Sheikh Saraf

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

Being a hostage impedes. One must strive to get out of the hostage mindset and situation to realize peace. This review analyzes George Kohlrieser's approaches from peacebuilding perspective.

George Kohlrieser is a professor of leadership and organizational behavior, psychologist, and veteran hostage negotiator. In his book Hostage at the Table, he contends that conflict resolution is not difficult if we understand how human self-esteem operates. He believes that deep within humans reside slumbering powers that most of us do not even activate. These latent powers can revolutionize our lives if aroused and put into action.

In the following pages, …

The West And The Rest Of Us: Islamic Militancy, Refugee Crisis And The Migration Wave Towards Europe, Simeon Onyemachi Hilary Alozieuwa Ph.D.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

The recent migration wave to Europe from the Arab world thrusts to the fore for serious discourse, an issue the world has hitherto shied away from: the gradual Islamization of the world beginning with the west. The issue is not the Islamic faith itself. Certain elements of the faithful are imbued with hegemonic-domination tendencies marked by the excessive obsession to obliterate others’ cultures. This paper views the Euro/West-ward movement of the Muslim Arab refugees/migrants as a grand strategy for the Islamization agenda; the smuggled Islamists militias are its foot-soldiers. The West needs to interrogate its overextended human rights regimes.

The Ombatse Crisis In Nigeria: Background, Recent Developments And Possible Solutions, Simeon Onyemachi Hilary Alozieuwa Ph.D.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

This paper focuses on the hegemonic politics between the Eggon and Hausa/Fulani ethnic groups in Nasarawa, North-Central Nigeria, which eventually erupted into the Ombatse crisis of May 2013- a precursor to the 2015 general elections. It addresses four research questions seeking to unravel whether or not: (1a) the crisis truly reflects a spiritual revivalist agenda as projected by the Ombatse promoters or merely espouses Eggon rejection of Muslim-Hausa/Fulani ethnic hegemony- mirroring broadly the identity, hegemonic and exclusionary politics in the area cum the larger Nigerian society;(b) the Eggon-Hausa-Fulani feud has the potential to exacerbate the sectarian strife in Nigeria’s northern …

Predicting Genocide And Mass Atrocities, Ernesto Verdeja

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article examines several current risk assessment and early warning models to predict genocide and mass atrocities. Risk assessment (RA) concerns a country’s long­-term structural conditions (regime type, state-led discrimination, etc.) that determine overall risk for atrocities. Early warning (EW) focuses on short/midterm dynamics that can serve as triggers. The article evaluates contemporary RA and EW forecast modeling, and asks: How well can we predict mass atrocities and genocide? What are the strengths and limitations to current predictive modeling? Part I examines several quantitative (statistical) RA models and identifies several strengths and limitations in current research. Part II investigates a …

The Hermeneutics Of International Trade Conflicts: U.S. Punitive Trade Policy Towards China And Japan, Barry F. Murdaco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation analyzes punitive trade conflicts between the U.S. and two trading partners: China and Japan. Punitive trade conflicts can be defined as trade wars between two states, retaliatory tariffs, or other forms of conflict, e.g. preventing the acquisition of foreign assets or sanctions for an undervalued exchange rate. I will examine several trade conflicts between the U.S. and Japan in the 1980s and several trade conflicts between the U.S. and China from 2001 to the present. This study is situated within a larger debate concerning the resolution of four theoretical "puzzles" in political science. The first concerns the dispute …

Can Deliberative Democracy Work In Hierarchical Organizations?, Jason Pierce, Grant Neeley, Jeffrey Budziak

Grant W. Neeley

Some measure of equality is necessary for deliberative democracy to work well, yet empirical scholarship consistently points to the deleterious effect that hierarchy and inequalities of epistemological authority have on deliberation. This article tests whether real-world deliberative forums can overcome these challenges. Contrary to skeptics, it concludes that the act of deliberation itself and the presence of trained moderators ameliorate inequalities of epistemological authority, thus rendering deliberative democracy possible, even within hierarchical organizations.

Religious Origins Of Democracy & Dictatorship, Theocharis Grigoriadis

Theocharis Grigoriadis

Weber considered the Protestant work ethic the foundation of modern capitalism. I extend Weber’s theory by arguing that states with predominantly Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Muslim populations have had a stronger inclination toward underdevelopment and dictatorship than states with Protestant or Jewish majorities. This is the case because their respective religious collectives (monastery, tariqa) promote the hierarchical provision of common goods at the expense of market incentives. I define the aforementioned three religions as collectivist, in contrast to Protestantism and Judaism, which I define as individualist. I provide a historical overview that designates the Jewish kibbutz as the collective …

Lessons In Micropolitical Management: A Case Study Of China's Investment And Political Intervention In Zambia, Eugene Daryl Nandwa

CMC Senior Theses

China continues to invest in natural resources in Africa to fuel its economic growth.China’s expanded presence in Africa has contributed to growing tensions within the Sino-African relationship. This thesis examines a variety of historical factors that have contributed to the increased presence of China in Africa, and how these factors have evolved into the foundations of the tensions observed today.

By exploring the historical patterns of the Sino-Zambian relationship, this thesis will shed light on the foundations of the underlying tensions between the two countries. With the Zambian election of 2006 as a focal point, China faced a political crisis …

Explaining Anti-Americanism In Turkey: A Study Of The Patterns Of Anti-American Sentiment Among Turkish Citizens, Rachel Thacker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper will compare the characteristics among citizens in Turkey who have anti-American views and attitudes. The paper will review of the current literature on what is anti-Americanism, and its consequences, and the chronology of anti-Americanism in Turkey from 2001 to 2013. Next, the paper will explain the political left and right in Turkey, and Turkish Islamic identity, that is, observant Muslims in Turkey. The findings of this paper suggests that Muslim identify has not correlation with levels of anti-Americanism. Rather, there is a correlation between having a leftist political ideology and a higher level of anti-Americanism. The research being …

Rethinking Linkage To The West: What Authoritarian Stability In Singapore Tells Us, Su-Mei Ooi

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Recent regime change literatures compellingly assert that linkage to the West has been a significant factor in democratisation where the organisational capacity of authoritarian incumbents has overwhelmingly weakened pro-democracy forces. Detailed case studies confirming these findings have not included Singapore although high levels of linkage to the West suggest that democratisation should have taken place there. This qualitative case study fills the empirical and theoretical gap by explaining why linkage has so far failed to raise the cost of authoritarianism for Singapore's government. By eschewing the current structural approach, which conceptualises linkage as mere channels of external pressure or influence, …