International Relations Commons^™

Civic Activism Of Refugee Community Organizations And Their Effectiveness In Supporting Refugees, Anis Zaman

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

The development and governance architecture of migration policy often lacks migrants' perspectives. Thus, in most cases, migration policies generate conflicts between migrants and host communities. In this regard, refugee-led community organizations (RCOs) offer solutions by promoting collective action among refugees. RCOs play a vital role in fostering collective action by refugee communities to alleviate suffering and assert refugee rights. However, RCO’s operations and interactions in the host country are challenging and are shaped by the nature of migration governance and the host government’s tolerance for refugee activism. The nature of migration governance dictates the spaces for refugee civic activism. This …

Reconfiguring Dependency: China's Belt And Road Initiative And Development In Ethiopia And Nigeria, Alexander Freund

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Africa through the frameworks of dependency theory, postcolonial theory, and neo-colonialism. As China's global economic influence has expanded throughout the twenty-first century, the BRI has emerged as a major source of infrastructure financing and development across the Global South, particularly in Africa. While critics frequently portray the initiative as a form of "debt-trap diplomacy," supporters argue that Chinese investment offers an alternative to the neoliberal conditionality historically associated with Western-led International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. This study addresses two central research questions: …

Analyzing National War Propaganda Through Comparison Of Diverse Case Studies, Ike Sugitani

Dissertations and Theses

In the build-up to war, national governments utilize propaganda to gather public support for the war effort. In some instances, propaganda campaigns are conducted but war does not occur. This begs the question as to why war follows propaganda campaigns in some cases, but not in others. I argue that propaganda efforts that lead to war can be generally characterized through three major strategies based on a patriotic participatory social structure, a claim to moral authority, and the blending of individual concepts of the state, government and nation. In this study, I analyze the major historical case studies of the …

How The U.S. Can Protect Taiwan In The 21st Century, Zachary Surmacz

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

What U.S. policy would deescalate cross-strait tensions, while maintaining Taiwan’s security? This article is supported by the information and perspectives received from 12, one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with a variety of thought leaders in Taiwan. The goal of this proposal is to provide policymakers in the United States with a path for protecting Taiwan, while responsibly managing the U.S.-China relationship. The paper begins with a short background of the complex policy problem facing Taiwan and a review of the current official U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity." The article then provides an evaluation of the U.S. policy by comparing its stated goals …

The Failure Of The Annan Plan And Suggestions For Peace In Cyprus, Haley Grace Morrow

Dissertations and Theses

The following study explicates the conflict in Cyprus between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots. The conflict began around 70 years ago and came to its height in the 1970s when a Greek coup occurred, and subsequently, Turkey invaded the northern part of the island. This drove the two parties apart physically and mentally. The Annan Plan, a UN peace plan in 2004, attempted to bring peace to the island by reunifying the two parties into a bi-communal federation. However, this plan failed as the Greek Cypriots voted against it. The failure of the plan was primarily due to …

Book Review Of, Form Follows Fever: Malaria And The Construction Of Hong Kong, 1841-1849, Shawn Smallman

Politics and Global Affairs Faculty Publications and Presentations

Book Review of: Form Follows Fever: Malaria and the Construction of Hong Kong, 1841-1849. By Christopher Cowell. (Shaw Tin, NT., Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2024. 320 pp.)

Trump And China: The Rocky Road Ahead, Mel Gurtov

Politics and Global Affairs Faculty Publications and Presentations

China’s consistent message to the U.S. since Donald Trump’s election is the need for deeper cooperation. But Trump and his hawkish advisers and Congress members seem bent on a trade war and closer ties to Taiwan. His strategy is that once the Middle East and Ukraine are “solved,” he will be positioned to force Xi Jinping’s hand. But the Chinese have options for dealing with U.S. economic pressure. Still, Trump might bargain on U.S. security ties if he can get a deal on trade. The most likely outcome is more tension in U.S.-China relations and a further drift toward Cold …

Climate Hazards And Human Migration: Literature Review, Anna Ivanova, Deepti Singh, Pronoy Rai, Claire Richards, Hugo Vasconcelos, Michael Goldsby

International & Global Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Human populations are migrating as a result of climate change. We conducted a systematic literature review examining the relationship between several climate hazards and migration flows. We reviewed 58 empirical studies between 2010 and 2023 that examined current and future migration related to acute and long-term climate hazards. The results indicate that the relationship between climate hazards and migration is diverse and depends on a range of socio-economic factors. Droughts and rising temperatures have a major impact on both international and domestic migration. Our review also reveals that multiple climate hazards collectively tend to intensify domestic migration toward urban areas, …

Lawfare As A Policy Tool In Sino-American Relations: The Case Of Huawei Cfo Meng Wanzhou, Zachary S. Souders

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

Competition between the United States and China is at an all-time high. Despite decades of diplomacy between the East and West, recent trends suggest the two powers are drifting further apart. To understand US-China relations, it is critical to understand major developments as they occur. This paper examines the geopolitical significance of United States v. Meng (2020), an extradition case in which US authorities requested the transfer of Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou to American jurisdiction. Despite US policymakers declaring Meng and Huawei to be threats to national security, the eventual dismissal of all charges Meng faced presents a puzzle …

The Arab Spring Uprisings In Geopolitical Context, Jake Alan Rutledge

Dissertations and Theses

The question of why revolts, civil wars, and social unrest occur is central in the field of political science. This paper asks that question in the specific context of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings as a revolutionary wave. Many theories of revolution and social unrest locate their causes in the internal characteristics of the country where they take place, such as the country's demographics or level of economic development. This paper examines the external situation of a country: its relationships with other states and the international community. This paper examines eighteen Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa …

The Impetus Of International Security In European Integration: The Nature Of Eu Common Security And Defense Policy, Osman Goktug Tanrikulu

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the complicated relationship between security considerations and the European integration process. The research uncovers specific security factors that have shaped the EU integration process. Applying policy alignment and collective efforts for governance, this study offers a methodological improvement to the conventional status quo satisfaction concept within power transition theory.

Findings indicate that external militarized actions targeting European nations only occasionally disrupted integration in the short term. Instead, inner coordination among member states vis-à-vis external actors, promoted integration. During the early stages of integration, alignment with the EU collective was crucial, while aligning with regional leader Germany became …

Network Tango: Examining State Dispositions Toward Attribution In International Cyber Conflict, Robert Riley Turner

University Honors Theses

Cyberspace is an environment of international conflict often sought out due to its ability to create significant effects at little cost, and obfuscating the ready attribution of hostility. One avenue toward streamlining the attribution of hostile actions in cyberspace is the introduction of a due diligence of data transparency amongst states. This level of data transparency must somehow be incentivized. The following study surveys the geopolitical dispositions of three major powers that utilize cyberspace as a venue of conflict: The United States, China, and Russia; in order to determine how each nation might interact with an international due diligence of …

The Collapse Of The Afghan State And Its Relation To Us Policy, Omar Saradi

University Honors Theses

The main inspiration for this has been down to my curiosity of my heritage. The events described, particularly in the 1970's, were things that were contemporary to my family, and the escape from Afghanistan as refugee was an experience that was firsthand for my dad--who escaped in 1979 to Pakistan to claim refugee status in the US. One of the things that struck me the most in his story of escaping on foot with a group of villagers, was that the centers for refugees in Pakistan were not the cleanest and housed a crowded room of people who were stuck …

Women Parliamentarians In India Since 1991: Challenges And Opportunities, Vatsala Bhusry

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

India gained a new economic orientation in 1991 following the policy of economic liberalization. It offered the opportunities to close the gender gap in various fields including the political field as visualized in the original goal of the Indian constitution. However, there is an acute underrepresentation of women at the national political level and there is a lack of evidence-based research studies to analyze this gap. This study maps the political trajectories of 13 elected women leaders holding offices at the national level since 2019. To better understand the challenges and opportunities at both macro and micro levels they came …

Global Climate Governance: Does Bilateral Cooperation Matter?, Nataliya Stranadko

Dissertations and Theses

The international relations literature looks at the climate regime from a perspective of power distribution, state interests, institutions, and multilateral negotiations. The international law literature focuses on legal analysis and design of international climate agreements. The transnational governance literature examines the participation of transnational actors at different levels of governance. However, each of these disciplines overlooks the trend in bilateral cooperation between national and subnational actors in a multilateral setting, which arises as part of the construction of the international regime. Why do national and subnational public actors in global climate governance cooperate bilaterally when multilateral cooperation already exists? What …

Comparative Foreign Aid Analysis: Replacing The Competition Between Donors With Complementary Aid Policies, Emily Melinda Baker

Dissertations and Theses

Foreign Aid has been a topic of study for decades with few concrete findings on whether it is effective or not. Contemporary foreign aid is divided into two camps: the West and China, with little cooperation and plenty of politics between them. In this thesis I analyze the effectiveness of Western aid and Chinese aid in twelve sub-Saharan African states using annual HDI scores and GDP. I find there is a strong correlation between Western aid and the development measures used as well as cases where Chinese aid is more effective than Western aid. With these findings, I argue that …

Same Game, Different Rules: Pointillist Imperialism And The New Cartography Of Great Power Competition, Andrew Jesse Shaughnessy

Dissertations and Theses

For centuries, "Great Powers" competed for global hegemony not only through building up military strength and amassing wealth, but through the formal acquisition of distant lands, conquered and folded into their borders. Today, core states continue to vie for global power, but no longer exert formal control or sovereignty over less powerful states. So how has the nature of great power competition in peripheral states changed? Most scholars studying great power competition measure power in terms of military and economic resources, often failing to account for a third, crucial dimension in international power politics: the impact of distributed networks of …

Global Governance Or Global Government? An Examination Of Anarchy Vs. Hierarchy, Global Civil Society And International Governmental Organizations, Grace R. Purvis

University Honors Theses

The goal of this paper is to argue that we currently have a system of global government rather than global governance. To prove this, It examines two main areas, international hierarchy and global society. In terms of hierarchy, it considers the existence of hierarchy among nations as well as a practical hierarchy in global decision making and functioning. This is shown via an examination of American Empire, Power Transition Theory, the Washington Consensus, the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The second major focus, global society, considers how nations utilize international organizations and technology to allow for the …

Trump's Legacy In The Middle East: Strategic Shift And The Geopolitics Of American Foreign Policy In The Region, Bilel Kriaa

Dissertations and Theses

The last six months of the Trump administration witnessed interesting developments regarding its legacy in the Middle East. The normalization of ties between four Arab states and Israel constituted major breakthroughs not only in the regional inter-state relations but also for the American foreign policy in the region.

In this context, this thesis offers insights into how to understand and evaluate the administration's approach towards these developments. Based on systematic and empirical research, I analyze a corpus comprised of Trump-era foreign policy documents regarding the Iranian and Israeli-Palestinian questions. I find, firstly, that the Trump administration pursued a strategic shift …

Globalizing Noncitizen Detention, Jaye Balentine

Anthós

This inquiry seeks to establish that the global expansion in regimes of noncitizen detention represents a contemporary expression of imperial subjectification under Western liberalism and that such regimes serve a key role in maintaining the capitalist social order. While several efforts have been made to explain the globalization of noncitizen detention practices stemming from the United States, there exists serious shortcomings in the proposed analyses. Namely, existing literature on the subject has failed to adequately account for the history of Western imperialism and the centrality of liberalism as a political ideology in this imperial project. By intervening in the existing …

Scratch A Desert, Produce A Garden: The American Failure To Facilitate A Two-State Solution, Sophie Myers Concannon

University Honors Theses

A majority of Americans support a two-state solution with an independent Palestinian state for the first time since 2012, according to Gallup polling data from February 2020. In February 2021, Gallup found that the majority was maintained at 52%, indicating a momentous shift in American public opinion. Through careful examination of the historical precedent between the United States and Israel, culminating in a shared American-Israeli narrative that has permeated public opinion for decades, I investigate why this shift has occurred, as well as why this shift has not been reflected in foreign policy objectives and party platforms.

The European Union: Data Protection For Economic Competition And Regional Security, Matthew D. Wurst

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

The collection and use of personal data is being increasingly scrutinized by governments and the European Union (EU) has been attempting to handle the development of data protection based progressive protections to protect its citizens data and right to privacy. With the reemergence of Russia in challenging the state of affairs within Europe, their illegal seizure of the Crimea from Ukraine demonstrated the lengths Russia will go to in order to preserve its sphere of influence. Furthermore, Russia’s use of cyber tactics and hybrid warfare has caused many in Europe to become more concerned for their security. When viewed through …

The Lasting Effects Of U.S. Intervention In Guatemala, Katherine A. Gaffey

University Honors Theses

Guatemala today faces a national femicide, exceedingly high rates of human trafficking and drug trafficking, as well an increase in migration to the U.S. This paper attempts to understand the current situation in Guatemala through a historical analysis of Guatemala’s tumultuous relationship with the U.S. Specifically, it looks at the role of the 1954 CIA backed coup and the United Fruit Company as key causal factors in fostering the Guatemalan Civil War and the implications of that war for ongoing crime and instability in Guatemala today.

International Migration, Development, And Policy: Reconsidering Migration Transition Theory—A Way Forward, Karin A. C. Johnson

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

Migration transition theories have been contested as they informed immigration policy in the Global North, which—based on assumptions that immigrants from developing countries may be a threat to social stability and economic opportunity—aimed to diminish emigration from the South. Development policies were proposed that could produce a “migration transition” in the South, where it was assumed that improved economic development would act as a substitute for migration and lead to minimal emigration, thus reducing overall immigration to the Global North. However, policies did not result in a migration transition. Acknowledging problematic rhetoric and contradictory policy and outcomes, this paper addresses …

Friendship Projects Within Embargo: Peacemaking And Power Between Us And Cuban Quakers 1987-2019, Jade Souza

University Honors Theses

This paper analyzes Quaker friendship projects between US and Cuban Quakers within the embargo period, with friendship construction being looked at as creative act within a contact zone. How are these intercultural friendships formed and sustained within communities from two countries in conflict? How do they relate to larger social dynamics such as intractable conflict and tourism? How do the friendships change the dynamics within these communities? Two examples of friendship projects are looked at in terms of the strategies they employ to navigate the dynamics of conflict and social inequality between the two states.

Unipolarity And Foreign Policy: An Examination Of The Unipolar U.S And Its Subsequent Foreign Policy Constraints, Madeleine Smith

University Honors Theses

The current unipolar system is undeniable, but also undeniably going to shift in the future. Yet as unipolarity has persisted, the U.S has made many foreign policy and grand strategy decisions based on the structural constraints and flexibilities of being the unipole. This trend may not be an advisable one should a shift in power occur. My question is, should the system return to bi or multipolarity, how will U.S foreign policy be able to accommodate these changes peacefully after it has so long been centered around maintaining the unipolar system and its current status? Additionally how will the U.S …

Conceptualizing And Measuring Patriarchy: The Importance Of Feminist Theory, Lindsay J. Benstead

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Why do we know so little about gender and politics in the Middle East? Most obviously, few women were elected to office in the Arab world until recently, limiting the study of women in formal politics. In Morocco, the first female was elected to the lower house in 1993, while in Saudi Arabia, women first ran for office—in municipal elections—in 2015. Systematic data on politics has also been historically scant, making the study of women’s informal participation, such as voting and civil society activities, also difficult. The Middle East tends to contribute less to comparative politics than have other regions, …

Imperialism: A Case Study Of America's Neorealist Domination Of Power, Hannah Daniels

University Honors Theses

The international policy of the United States has been historically characterized by the promotion of democracy and freedom. However, historical analyses of U.S. policies and intervention in countries such as Iran, Chile, Guatemala, Syria, Brazil, and Nicaragua demonstrate that American aid more often than not ends in a military dictatorship replacing a democracy. This paper investigates the discrepancies between these values that the United States claims to uphold and the actual operation efforts carried out, proposing that U.S. international politics are defined by a neorealist framework rather than the liberal structure that is commonly thought of as the basis for …

Interview With Mel Gurtov, Mel Gurtov, Jacob Hutchins

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Professor Mel Gurtov was interviewed on May 21, 2020, by Jacob Hutchins in Portland, Oregon.

In this interview, Gurtov discusses his career trajectory and history, detailing his involvement with release of the Pentagon Papers and his work studying the Vietnam War for the government. He explains how he came to teach political science and international studies at Portland State University, and his part in building and implementing the Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution program. He gives his views on the nature and value of political science regarding international conflict, and answers questions about his shifting political position during the war …

Interview With Tom Hastings, Tom Hastings, Patricia A. Schechter

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Professor Tom Hastings was interviewed by Professor Patricia Schechter on May 8, 2020, in Portland, Oregon.

In this discussion, Dr. Hastings recounts his professional development as a scholar and practitioner of nonviolence. The first half of the story involves his youth, early activism, and college training in Wisconsin. The second half involves his move to Portland, Oregon in 2000 and his growing involvement with Conflict Resolution at PSU.