International Relations Commons^™

Where The Border Ends: How Reactive Policies To Terrorism Became Conduits For Drone Technology And The Enclosure Of Wealthy Nations, Arron Mitchell

PPPA Paper Prize

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (1996) and the USA PATRIOT Act (2001) are two key examples of reactive policies enacted in response to terrorist attacks on American soil. Expedited passage of both pieces of legislation were reliant on the public’s support for government action in wake of recent atrocities. These acts gave particular attention to securing the nation’s borders, directing an increase in funding for Border Patrol in order to prevent future terrorist attacks. This essay will connect the increased funding for border security directed by Congress with the defense industry’s pursuit of funding and outlets for drone …

Sino-Us Great Power Conflict From A Realist Perspective, Sean Carver

Global Honors Theses

The purpose of this paper is to examine the rising tensions and potential for conflict between China and the US through the lens of the realist theory of international relations. This paper will begin by explaining the theoretical framework, after which it will discuss how China appears to be pushing for regional hegemony by showing a change in military power, economic clout, and political pressure within the East Asia region and globally. Finally, this paper will recommend ways in which the US and its allies can restrict the rise of China while preventing generalized conflict. These recommendations center around managing …

Virtual Wastelands: Reframing Nuclear Representation In Video Games, Francesca Crocker

Global Honors Theses

This thesis utilizes a comparative textual analysis of two popular video games series that feature heavy nuclear themes and representation of nuclear weapons/war in combination with applied critical theory to build a framework of game design elements that lead towards more thoughtful and considerate representation of this particular real, active, and global threat. The analysis of these two series in particular -- Fallout and Metal Gear Solid -- provides a comparative look at how nuclear politics in popular media is represented and consumed in both the United States and Japan, with consideration of history, regulation, and audience interactivity.

Bridging Gaps Between Constituents And Policymakers In Climate Policy In Washington State, Rebecca Dickson

Global Honors Theses

Climate change is one of the preeminent concerns of our time. As nation-states around the world face rising sea levels, pollution, political instability, and a rise of national security concerns due to climate instability, greater international cooperation is needed in order to target and adapt to cross-border issues. However, international political action is often reliant upon a national support for that action, especially when national officials rely on the support of their citizenry, such as in democracies, like the United States.

In order to understand how countries such as the United States make decisions on the domestic and international level, …

Disease Prevalence And Politics- A Study Of Chagas Disease In Bolivia, Rebecca Dickson

Access*: Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Research and Scholarship

Reducing disease prevalence within South America is critical for reaching global health goals and increasing life expectancy of vulnerable populations. Chagas disease, often referred to the “the New HIV/AIDS of the Americas,” is a prevalent cause of disability and death within Bolivia (Hotez et al. 1). The Plurinational State of Bolivia, a large South American nation-state, is a crucial player in promoting global health outcomes. However, intra-state political turmoil and historical tensions often affect its healthcare systems, which in turn affect individual health outcomes. This paper traces these connections within the Bolivian healthcare system- first by identifying political and cultural …

The Rhetoric Is On The Wall: A Multimodal Study Of The U.S. – Mexico Border Through Image Narratives, Kristoffer Mason

Global Honors Theses

This paper applied social semiotics and systemic functional theory to study visual narratives related to President Trump’s border wall project and U.S. immigration policy. The images were selected by new articles posted by The New York Times using search parameters “border wall” and “undocumented immigration” between the dates of March 13 – April 13, 2018. Images were selected and categorized based on visual themes related to the border wall and policy enforcement. Of these categories, two images were selected for vertical perspective, vector patterns, and gestures to discover the narratives. Analysis of the images showed that social power and hierarchical …

No Lost Generations: Refugee Children And Their Human Right To Education, From The Holocaust To The Syrian Civil War, Jessica Warner

MAIS Projects and Theses

International law protects the right to education for refugee children, as is stated in multiple treaties and documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951), the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990). The purpose of this research is to highlight the historical development of education for refugee children, through programs led by Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs), as well as to emphasize the importance of education as part of current humanitarian interventions. This thesis examines a past example …

The Survival Of Authoritarianism And The Syrian Identity Crisis: Explaining The Resilience Of Assad's Ruling Bargain, Joshua Vasquez

PPPA Paper Prize

The Arab Spring was a regional social mobilization that unrevealed ruling-bargains in the Middle East, which have been resilient since the early 1950s. In Tunisia, Ben Ali was ousted in about three weeks and fled to Saudi Arabia. After two weeks of demonstrations in Egypt, Mubarak resign from the presidency because the police failed to quell the uprising and the military refused to come to his aid. Following his resignation, he was arrested by the military and is currently awaiting trial for killing demonstrators, embezzlement of state funds, etc. In Libya, Qaddafi was ousted in an eight month civil war …

International Creations: The Case Of Iraq, Syria, And Jordan, Brittany Hale

PPPA Paper Prize

This paper compares and contrasts Syria, Jordan, and Iraq, in terms of history and international policy.

Predicting Social Change: Transforming Victims Of Child Sex Trafficking In India And The United States, Kristie A. Weisert

Global Honors Theses

Human trafficking is a huge global issue that is highly linked to issues of poverty, physical abuse, and psychological control, culminating in the buying and selling of human beings, or what we call “modern day slavery.” For my Global Honors thesis, I applied a fairly optimistic philosophical human rights theory to an unimaginable human rights issue that is taking place all over the world. This paper focuses on domestic child sex trafficking in the U.S. and India along with the unique socioeconomic, political, and cultural factors that contributes to trafficking in these countries. I found that the international community, non-profits, …