International Relations Commons^™

After Deterrence: Policy Choices During Crises Of Conventional And Nuclear Direct Deterrence Failure, Yang Gyu Kim

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite a plethora of research on the conditions of successful deterrence, the literature has been remarkably silent on the aftermath of its possible failure. Especially in the situation of direct deterrence where the defender’s people and territory are at stake, the defender experiences tremendous pressure and stress when a challenger defies the former’s threat. Due to the high interest at stake, direct deterrent threat is regarded as the most credible type of deterrence and, according to the literature, is most likely successful. How could an intrinsically credible threat fail? What should the defender do when direct deterrence fails and its …

Understanding The Motivations And Pathways Of Women And Girls' Involvement In Terrorism In Nigeria, Peculiar M. Awa

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the experiences of 20 women and girls who lived in the Boko Haram camp in 2014-2018 and had varying levels of engagement in the organization's activities. The study employs a qualitative phenomenological in-depth interview methodology. Semi-structured interviews conducted in Nigeria and the United States yielded data on the experiences of the respondents before, during, and after their lives with Boko Haram. Based on the analysis of interview responses and field notes, several themes emerged. Overall findings suggest that family and community dynamics play a significant role in terrorism in Nigeria. The study found that early child marriage …

Theory And Practice In Political Economy: Explaining Continuity In South American Socioeconomic Conditions, Diego Zambrano

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The socioeconomic history of South America has been traditionally marked by the chronic problems of poverty and inequality. South American states and societies have commonly failed to address these issues effectively, which continue to characterize the region’s socioeconomic outlook today. The persistence of poverty and inequality has created social and political pressures on those designing economic policy, prioritizing short-term “alleviating” mechanisms rather than long-term structural solutions. These same conditions, combined with historical experiences, have created a singular cyclical dynamic in the political economy of the region. In this context, this dissertation explores the underlying causes behind the continuity of such …

How The Balance Of Power Conditions International Trade Agreements: A Comparative Case Analysis, Kevin Modlin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explains how the balance of power influences the incidence of international trade agreements. It shows the interaction of factors from the disciplines of Economics, Politics, and International Relations. Specifically, it shows the influence of the balance of power within three cases of trade agreements. The following cases illustrate how states, when negotiating agreements, respond to power competition. This influence of power within state relations is a social interaction but also one where individual states respond. Some of those responses include trade agreements with other states. Systems influence the decisions of negotiators involved in trade agreements. As the cases …

Drug Policy In An Era Of Normative Change: Prohibition And Harm Reduction In Uruguay, Ecuador, And Peru, Nicolas A. Beckmann

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present dissertation investigates how the advocacy and contestation of international norms related to the production and use of psychoactive substances affected drug policy decisions in South America since 1971. The goal is to provide a more complete account of why most states in the region are sticking to prohibitionist policy models, despite their evident failure and an international context that has become more favorable to the exploration of alternative policies. At the same time, it seeks to detect some of the factors that enabled countries to move towards a framework of harm reduction, prohibition’s main competitor in international drug …

Revising The Status Quo Of Revisionism, Grand Strategy, And International Order, Onur Erpul

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines a type of variance in state behavior pertaining to international conflict and cooperation. Rather than confining this discussion to a binary understanding of state behavior, between revisionism and status-quo seeking, it endeavors to provide a nuanced discussion of the type of grand-strategic orientations states undertake in pursuit of their interests. It poses the question, “under what circumstances do states aspire to uphold, seek to reform, or challenge international order?” In doing so, the study helps to understanding the gamut of behaviors that purportedly satisfied or revisionist states display.

System-level material opportunities that are filtered by elite-preferences and …

Silenced Bodies: (En)Gendering Syrian Refugee Insecurity In Lebanon, Jessy Abouarab

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While there has been a shift in security studies from the security of states to that of people, realpolitik still takes place under the banner of an emerging discourse of ‘refugee crisis.’ Refugee insecurities are (en)gendered and experienced where their depth and breadth pose significant challenges to asylum seekers, neighboring host-states, and humanitarian agencies. To this end, this research captures the unique dynamics of a South-South refugee crisis in Lebanon, in which Syrians residents make up nearly one-third of its population. It applies a transnational feminist framework to trace how refugee security norms get defined, are managed, and how they …

Japan’S Relations With Muslim Asia: Trans-Continental Normativity And Policy, B. Bryan Barber Iv

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2006, Japanese Foreign Minister Asō Tarō outlined a new pillar of Japan’s foreign policy across Asia he called the ‘Arc of Freedom and Prosperity.’ The Arc would become the most lucid case for values-based diplomacy elaborated by Tokyo in the postwar era. It is a significant change from what was both a constrained and myopic approach for a state of such global economic influence and substantial diplomatic potential. In practice, however, is Japan’s values-based diplomacy actually working? How is Tokyo grappling with reconceptualizing an Asia inclusive of Muslim societies in a time when the global metanarrative is to protect …