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Full-Text Articles in International Relations

France In The Middle East: A Democratic Justification For Military Interventions In Iraq And Beyond., Nicolas Demeure, Brice Tseen Fu Lee Dec 2023

France In The Middle East: A Democratic Justification For Military Interventions In Iraq And Beyond., Nicolas Demeure, Brice Tseen Fu Lee

Journal Of Middle East and Islamic Studies

How did France’s refusal to take part in the war on Iraq in 2003 has created the conditions that legitimizes its future military interventions abroad? In this paper, a discourse analysis of the official French Foreign Policy Discourse is done to show why saying no to war in 2003 paradoxically allows France to carry out military interventions in 2015. This paper argues that France, while perpetrating an existing discourse of democracy opposing the civilized against the uncivilized that legitimates Foreign policy as a security tool, by its refusal, transformed military intervention a latent policy andlegitimized the French Self as …


Cardinal Cahal Daly: A Vatican Ii Bishop Seeking The Kingdom Of God, Maria Power Mar 2023

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 …


Solidarity For Myanmar: #Milkteaalliance Indonesia’S Transnational Activism In Pressuring The Government Of Indonesia And Asean, Muhammad Anugrah Utama Nov 2022

Solidarity For Myanmar: #Milkteaalliance Indonesia’S Transnational Activism In Pressuring The Government Of Indonesia And Asean, Muhammad Anugrah Utama

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

The military coup in Myanmar on February 1, 2021, carried out by the Tatmadaw against top officials from the newly elected-government–in which National League for Democracy (NLD) Party made the majority–brought strong backlashes from civil society, one of which was the Milk Tea Alliance. This paper discusses the activism of Milk Tea Alliance Indonesia in pressuring the Indonesian government and ASEAN, especially during the ASEAN Special Summit. This paper is based on qualitative method using literature review on the case study of Milk Tea Alliance activism in Indonesia. By referring to the ‘Boomerang pattern’ framework on transnational advocacy network, this …


The Role Of Recognition In Kelsen's Account Of Legal Obligation And Political Duty, David Ingram Sep 2022

The Role Of Recognition In Kelsen's Account Of Legal Obligation And Political Duty, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Kelsen’s critique of absolute sovereignty famously appeals to a basic norm of international recognition. However, in his discussion of legal obligation, generally speaking, he notoriously rejects mutual recognition as having any normative consequence. I argue that this apparent contradiction in Kelsen's estimate regarding the normative force of recognition is resolved in his dynamic account of the democratic generation of law. Democracy is embedded within a modern political ethos that obligates legal subjects to recognize each other along four dimensions: as contractors whose mutually beneficial cooperation measures esteem by fair standards of contribution; as autonomous agents endowed with equal rights; as …


Disembedded Liberalism: The Global Pressure On Democracy, Hallie Spear Jan 2022

Disembedded Liberalism: The Global Pressure On Democracy, Hallie Spear

CMC Senior Theses

The international political order is at a crossroads with divergent paths. Liberal democracy is once again threatened on the international stage. What's more troubling is that the most stable and influential democracies, the United States, those in Europe and India, seem to be vulnerable to the autocratic wave sweeping through the world. This thesis completes a critical analysis to understand the root causes of the recent disruption to democracy the world has observed. Focusing on three established, diverse, and populous democracies, this thesis investigates the economic conditions at play that made each nation vulnerable to populism. Neoliberal economic policies implemented …


Revolution, Regime Change, And Rosewater: The United States’ Role In The Arab Spring, Grace Lewis Jan 2022

Revolution, Regime Change, And Rosewater: The United States’ Role In The Arab Spring, Grace Lewis

Capstone Showcase

This thesis seeks to determine which international relations theory best explains the United States involvement in the Arab Spring, and to ascertain if the goals set by those theories were met. Through the literature, I determine that two theories offer reasonable yet competing explanations of US involvement, and that these theories are first, defensive realism, and second, democratic peace theory. I employ the analytic method of pattern matching to compare each theory against the empirical record. In my analysis, I match empirical data from five affected countries to determine the strategic importance to the United States of the outcome of …


Responsiveness, Representation, And Democracy: A Critical Conceptual Analysis And Its Implications For Political Science, Joshua Beck Apr 2021

Responsiveness, Representation, And Democracy: A Critical Conceptual Analysis And Its Implications For Political Science, Joshua Beck

Masters Theses

Over forty years ago, Hanna Pitkin expressed concern that social scientists were failing to give concepts the attention which they needed (Pitkin 1972, 277). This thesis takes up the same theme, asking how the concept of responsiveness is treated by political scientists. The goal to reveal confusion that surrounds widely used concepts such as responsiveness. The analysis offered in this thesis has significance for the discipline of political science in three ways. First, it highlights confusion surrounding the concept of responsiveness itself. Responsiveness is a widely utilized concept employed throughout the social sciences; however, as this thesis shows, there is …


An Implicit Hypothesis: Revisiting The American Tradition Of Covert Regime Change In The Context Of The Democratic Peace, Rex Edward Collins Jan 2021

An Implicit Hypothesis: Revisiting The American Tradition Of Covert Regime Change In The Context Of The Democratic Peace, Rex Edward Collins

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.


Democracy In The Mena, Alexandria Petrof Jan 2021

Democracy In The Mena, Alexandria Petrof

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

There is not sufficient evidence that the Middle East will be able to democratize effectively. First and foremost, most attempts of implementing democracy have failed. The landscape and lack of industrialization also plays a role in the inability to apply democratic systems into this area. Lastly, the educational system, or lack thereof, struggles to educate their children and citizens as a whole and education is one of the biggest factors in the success of democracy.


The Origin Of Usurpation And Tyranny: Nonagentic Anti-Imperialism Of The Twenty-First Century And The Legacy Of Chavismo, Juan Bustillo Aug 2020

The Origin Of Usurpation And Tyranny: Nonagentic Anti-Imperialism Of The Twenty-First Century And The Legacy Of Chavismo, Juan Bustillo

International Studies (MA) Theses

As Venezuela’s Chavista regime presides over the country’s descent into Latin America’s worst refugee and humanitarian crisis in modern times, a mass exodus of nearly five million Venezuelans since 2015, the rhetoric of Western anti-imperialists and the regime itself has absolved it of any responsibility for the crisis and the increasing authoritarianism that led to it by abdicating the regime's agency to act according to its own free will. This paper develops the discursive concept of nonagentic anti-imperialism, a rhetoric that effectively absolves self-declared anti-imperialist regimes, from Castro’s Cuba to Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka, of human rights abuses and democratic erosions …


Political Accountability And Determinants Of Governance Under Principal-Agent Theory, Matthew Bluem May 2018

Political Accountability And Determinants Of Governance Under Principal-Agent Theory, Matthew Bluem

Dissertations

This study examines the theory that quality of governance is largely dependent upon political accountability, and that the effect of political accountability on governance varies based on three main determinants: level of democracy, level of information available to the public, and diversification of the economy (Adserà et al. 2003). With quality of governance, represented by the World Bank’s World Governance Indicators (WGI), as the dependent variable, this study considers how these three independent variables, and several control variables, affect governance quality. Incorporating data from 2010 – 2015 for 143 countries in both cross-sectional OLS and fixed effects panel regression analysis, …


Is “This Guy” A Dictator? On The Morality Of Evaluating Russian Democracy Under Vladimir Putin, Amir Azarvan Jan 2018

Is “This Guy” A Dictator? On The Morality Of Evaluating Russian Democracy Under Vladimir Putin, Amir Azarvan

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Is it morally defensible to single Russian president, Vladimir Putin, out as a dictator? The popular impression that he is a dictator has been used to legitimize a dangerously adversarial policy towards what a U.S. Army general described as “the only country on earth…that could “destroy the United States.” I argue that this perception is in some ways misleading, and has contributed to escalating tensions with Russia, which is both unnecessary and harmful both to Russia and the U.S.


Starting A War: Neoconservatism, Human Rights Rhetoric, And The Push To Democratize Iraq, Dylan Edward Long Jan 2017

Starting A War: Neoconservatism, Human Rights Rhetoric, And The Push To Democratize Iraq, Dylan Edward Long

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.


Republican Nationalism: Nations, Cultures, And Politics, Bojan Ratkovic Apr 2016

Republican Nationalism: Nations, Cultures, And Politics, Bojan Ratkovic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This project deals with the ongoing importance of nations, cultures, and politics in the modern world, and with the complex and layered relationships between them. Despite the expanding phenomenon of globalization, which promises to open up borders and tear down the boundaries between peoples, nations remain the most important actors in international politics and nationalism continues to be a potent force throughout the world. This project explores the significance of nations and cultures for politics, with special emphasis on the importance of nationalism and nationalist theory in the twenty-first century. I argue that there are significant gaps in the literature …


Reconciling Positivism And Realism: Kelsen And Habermas On Democracy And Human Rights, David Ingram Oct 2013

Reconciling Positivism And Realism: Kelsen And Habermas On Democracy And Human Rights, David Ingram

David Ingram

It is well known that Hans Kelsen and Jürgen Habermas invoke realist arguments drawn from social science in defending an international, democratic human rights regime against Carl Schmitt’s attack on the rule of law. However, despite embracing the realist spirit of Kelsen’s legal positivism, Habermas criticizes Kelsen for neglecting to connect the rule of law with a concept of procedural justice (Part I). I argue, to the contrary (Part II), that Kelsen does connect these terms, albeit in a manner that may be best described as functional, rather than conceptual. Indeed, whereas Habermas tends to emphasize a conceptual connection between …


Reconciling Positivism And Realism: Kelsen And Habermas On Democracy And Human Rights, David Ingram Jan 2013

Reconciling Positivism And Realism: Kelsen And Habermas On Democracy And Human Rights, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

It is well known that Hans Kelsen and Jürgen Habermas invoke realist arguments drawn from social science in defending an international, democratic human rights regime against Carl Schmitt’s attack on the rule of law. However, despite embracing the realist spirit of Kelsen’s legal positivism, Habermas criticizes Kelsen for neglecting to connect the rule of law with a concept of procedural justice (Part I). I argue, to the contrary (Part II), that Kelsen does connect these terms, albeit in a manner that may be best described as functional, rather than conceptual. Indeed, whereas Habermas tends to emphasize a conceptual connection between …


The Role Of The King In The Democratic Transition In Thailand, Elizabeth A. Van Buskirk Jan 2012

The Role Of The King In The Democratic Transition In Thailand, Elizabeth A. Van Buskirk

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the traditional role of a monarchy in processes of democratization. This thesis evaluates this theory by examining the case of the democratization process in Thailand and the role of the current King in that process.


Populism And Human Rights In Theory And Practice: Chavez's Venezuela And Fujimori's Peru, Joseph P. Braun Jan 2011

Populism And Human Rights In Theory And Practice: Chavez's Venezuela And Fujimori's Peru, Joseph P. Braun

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Despite ample literature on the topic of populism itself, much less has been written on the specific relationship between populism and human rights. First, I discuss the relationship between populist ideology and human rights in theory. I argue that populism is inconsistent with human rights accounts because of its rejection of pluralism and vilification of the ‘other.’ Second, I explore the relationship between populism as a political strategy and its impact on human rights under two Latin American regimes. I argue that despite its tendency to produce short-term gains in economic and social development, a review of the two cases …


Politics And Democratic Consciousness In Modern Iran, Huss Banai Dec 2010

Politics And Democratic Consciousness In Modern Iran, Huss Banai

Huss Banai

No abstract provided.


A Just Zionism (Book Review) (In Hebrew), Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler Dec 2008

A Just Zionism (Book Review) (In Hebrew), Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler

Dr. Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler

A book review of Tel Aviv University Professor Chaim Gans' book ‘A Just Zionism: On the Morality of the Jewish State’ (OUP 2008)


Profiles Of Key Democracy And Good Governance Ngos/Agencies, Aaron Stuvland Jan 2007

Profiles Of Key Democracy And Good Governance Ngos/Agencies, Aaron Stuvland

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

Often referred to as an infrastructure or a‘democracy bureaucracy’, the worldwide net- work of democracy promotion and good governance non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations (IOs), and bilateral agencies is immense and multi- faceted. Although they share a general mission of promoting democracy, each operates with varying goals and foci ^ and somewhat different definitions of democracy. Nevertheless, they share many common ends: free and fair elections, a responsive and participatory citizenry, rule of law, and transparent institutions.


The Democratic Fatwa: Islam And Democracy In The Realm Of Constitutional Politics, Noah Feldman Jan 2005

The Democratic Fatwa: Islam And Democracy In The Realm Of Constitutional Politics, Noah Feldman

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.


Democracy And Violence: A Review Of "The Democratic Experience And Political Violence", Ibpp Editor Aug 2001

Democracy And Violence: A Review Of "The Democratic Experience And Political Violence", Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article is a book review of The Democratic Experience and Political Violence. The book was co-edited by David Rapoport, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles and Leonard Weinberg, Foundation Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Reno.