International Relations Commons^™

Intercultural Competence: A Journey To Understanding And Assessing, Conducted By The Intercultural Development Inventory, Nicole Ryks

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to first identify the most accurate definitions of intercultural competence by the examination of other representative works on the topic, then to elaborate on the different characteristics and articulate the theoretical underpinnings of the intercultural development inventory (IDI) used to assess intercultural competence. Strategies for implementation of information learned from the IDI instrument are presented along with results of the writers own assessment in order to create a more personalized, detailed study. This study was a first step in the process of understanding intercultural competence and the IDI was used as a starting point …

Providing Aid To Fragile Or Failed States: A Short Argument For Moderation, Anthony H. Miller

Pepperdine Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Egypt Wrestles With Democracy: Expectations Versus Realities, Melody Harvey

Pepperdine Policy Review

No abstract provided.

United States' Strategy In Afghanistan From 2001 To Today, Haley Stauss

Pepperdine Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Edzia Carvalho On Human Rights In The Global Political Economy: Critical Processes. By Tony Evans. Boulder, Co: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011. 232pp., Edzia Carvalho

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights in the Global Political Economy: Critical Processes. By Tony Evans. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011. 232pp.

Lina Acalugaritei And Karen Mingst On From Human Trafficking To Human Rights: Reframing Contemporary Slavery. Edited By Alison Brysk & Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick. Philadelphia, Pa: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. 280pp., Lina Acalugaritei, Karen Mingst

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

From Human Trafficking to Human Rights: Reframing Contemporary Slavery. Edited by Alison Brysk & Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. 280pp.

A Reply To David Richards’ Review Of Measuring Human Rights, Todd Landman, Edzia Carvalho

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Professor Richards highlights, in his generous review of our book Measuring Human Rights that one of the aims of the book is to bring to the forefront the importance of conceptualization before operationalization – that conceptual clarity (or lack of it) is at the heart of the problems concerning the measurement of human rights. He draws out three key issues from the book as the springboard for further discussion on measurement of the concept – a) the “Respect, Protect and Fulfill” (RPF) framework, b) the lack of reliable data sources, and c) the conceptual links between human rights, human development, …

International Organization And Poverty Alleviation, William F. Felice, Diana Fuguitt

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The World Trade Organization and Human Rights: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Edited by Sarah Joseph, David Kinley & Jeff Waincymer. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. 2009.

and

Global Poverty, Ethics and Human Rights. By Desmond McNeill & Asunción St. Clair. New York, NY: Routledge. 2009.

and

Hypocrisy Trap: The World Bank and the Poverty of Reform. By Catherine Weaver. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2008.

Confronting “Indivisibility” In The History Of Economic And Social Rights: From Parity To Priority And Back Again, Roland Burke

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Indivisible Human Rights. By Daniel Whelan. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 2010. 269pp.

Making Peace Or Pacifying?, Therese O'Donnell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Notions of a culture of impunity surrounding the violence perpetrated by the Brazilian police have lingered ever since the largely unsuccessful prosecutions of those suspected to be involved in the notorious Candelária massacre of 1993. Eight young people, six of whom were under eighteen, were killed by an adult group comprised of several members of the police. Despite the security forces coming under increasing scrutiny ever since, the 2005 Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee on Brazil's Periodic Report made disheartening reading. The Committee expressed its continuing concerns regarding the widespread use of excessive force by Brazilian law enforcement …

January Roundtable: Crime And Human Rights In Brazil: The Police Pacification Units, Introduction, Claudia Fuentes Julio

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Brazil slum raids impress, but what's the impact?” By Bradley Brooks. Huffington Post, November 14, 2011.

German Views Of Amazonia Through The Centuries, Richard Hacken

Faculty Publications

An exploration of German conquistadors, missionaries, explorers, empresses, naturalists, travelers, immigrants and cultural interpreters who were conspicuous among Europeans over five centuries fascinated by the biodiversity and native peoples of the incomparably vast Amazon basin stretching from the Andes to the Atlantic, from the Guiana Highlands to Peru and Bolivia, from Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador to the mouth of the Amazon at the Brazilian equator.

International Competition For Satellite-Based Navigation System Services, Robert F. Donnelly

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The goal of this work is to review the current state of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) development and its potential impact on the social, economic, and political dynamics of the various states fielding the systems. The most recognizable GNSS is the US GPS. It is the only operational system functioning at the time of this writing and has become part of the global commons. GPS, by virtue of its uniqueness, is considered the 'gold standard' of satellite based positioning, navigation, and timing systems. This uniqueness has also enabled the US to fully capitalize on the sizable economic dividends gained …

Do International Corruption Metrics Matter? Assessing The Impact Of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, Omar Elemere Hawthorne

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the impact of Transparency International's (TI), Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and whether or not the CPI and hence TI matter. It examines the impact of TI's CPI on policymakers. It explores three areas: world's political and economic responses and Jamaica's policy responses to the CPI. Jamaica is selected for a case study due to TI's high corruption perceptions index rating for the country: a country that legally has strong anti-corruption laws but, nonetheless, sees its CPI ranking worsen almost yearly.

This study comprises mixed methodologies, using both qualitative and quantitative measures to assess the impact of the …

Why Open Borders, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The present contribution offers a defence of open borders. It presents a critique of the idea that the state has a justified claim to regulate themovement of people because they reflect the collective endeavours of the members of the state to pursue a shared project of self-rule or self-determination. Itargues that this view rests on an indefensible understanding of the nature of thestate, which should be viewed less as a collective endeavour than as a productof conflicts among political elites. There is a strong prima facie case for freemovement that suggests there should be a presumption in favour of open …

The Security & Development Nexus, Manizha Sayar

Dissertations and Theses

In the 21st century the need for conflict and post-conflict reconstruction efforts have increased since a number of conflicts in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe necessitated the building of newly-democratized states while aiming to achieve security and promoting development. The difficulties that arise when helping to reconstruct states that have failed or those approaching a “failed state” status is that they are neither stable nor have a secure environment which prevent the opportunity for economic development, despite reconstruction efforts. These are the most difficult of situations due to the interconnectedness and direct correlation of the two significant criterions for established …

The "Europeanization" Of The Western Balkans; Is European Conditionality Fostering Democracy?, George Kostakis

Dissertations and Theses

"This thesis analyzes the current model of European Union conditionality toward the Western Balkans, which based on a dual approach through the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP). Through SAP, the European Union (EU) is trying to stabilize the Western Balkans, while at the same time associating them with EU policies and supporting them in taking over the EU acquis. My hypothesis is that in order to promote democracy and the rule of law, the EU's policy of stabilizing and integrating should be reformed to better strengthen and clarify conditionality. In order to test my hypothesis, I focused on the three …

Does Democratic Peace Theory Apply To Small Powers? A Case Study Of Turkey And Israel, Robert Lattin

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis hypothesizes that shared democratic values and institutional constraints, proposed as explanations by Democratic Peace Theory (DPT), should in theory prevent small powers from engaging in physical conflict. However, because these democracies are small and developing, these constraints may not influence outcomes in the same way as they do in larger and more developed powers. To test this hypothesis, a dyadic case study was conducted of the relationship between Turkey and Israel. Specific focus was given to two related events, both of which could have resulted in a physical conflict between the two countries: the May 2010 Flotilla incident …

Female Leaders And Women's Empowerment; 3 Case Studies, Nicole Dimarco

Dissertations and Theses

"The issue of women’s empowerment and gender equality is a global issue and one that, in many parts of the world, is in dire need of attention. It is for this reason I have decided to examine whether women in positions of power facilitate the enactment of gender-oriented measures or whether they continue to focus on the traditional national security interests, or interests of another kind, of their countries. My hypothesis is that women in power are not significantly more likely than men to pursue gender-specific policies while in office. Instead, much depends on environmental factors and individual personality. Sometimes …

National Sovereignty V Regionalism; Toward A Common Fisheries Policy For Caricom, Andrea Chambers

Dissertations and Theses

The hypothesis which guides this thesis is that successful integration cannot be achieved so long as member states of a regional grouping are unwilling to subordinate the individual interest to the collective interest. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) – which is the second oldest regional institution in the Western Hemisphere – is the central focus of the work. In order to assess this hypothesis, the study first discusses the relevant integration literature, and then addresses the issue of individual vs. collective interests in CARICOM overall. Next it examines the specific functional area of fisheries which effectively illustrates the complexity of this …

Iran; A Nuclear Super Power? Understanding Nuclear Ambitions, Lindsey Sera

Dissertations and Theses

"Iran is a nation in flux, with a history of political strife and revolution. The everchanging political atmosphere in the nation has made Iran an unpredictable political actor. It is a nation coping with a new governing system, just a few decades out from a revolution from the reign of the Shah of Iran. The fall of reformism has left the nation politically isolated from the international community. Iran is a nation on the brink of nuclear weapon capabilities and with strained relations there is little comfort in sight for an amicable solution. The conservatives of today's Iran seek independence …

The United Nations And Gender-Mainstreaming; International Conferences On Women And The Development Of Gender Mainstreaming Policies In Caribbean States, Camasita Campo

Dissertations and Theses

"International conferences, especially UN-sponsored summits, are popular venues for political coalition around various issues of global concerns, mobilizing large audiences consisting of state representatives, NGO groups and other interested parties. Many small states participate at leading international summits. Some of these states for many obvious reasons are preoccupied with economic survival. Their limited resources are expended on economic priorities and little or none is left for the implementation of social development programs. As a result, these small states are constrained from defining contours of social development, without the cooperation of the international community. They must therefore depend on external actors …

The Effects Of Social Media On Democratization, Melissa Spinner

Dissertations and Theses

"Within the past decade people around the world have become progressively more aware and interested in the new uses of digital technologies in movements for political change. The technologies have given more people and groups access to information and the tools needed to increase productivity and communication than in the past. As a result of these new digital technologies, the number of people contributing to their civil societies has radically increased. My thesis questions: What is the value of digital activism in the process of democratization around the world? How did those that succeed successfully use these new technologies as …

The One State Solution An Alternative Vision For Ending The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Abdul Yousef

Dissertations and Theses

"The debate for a two state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing for decades. However, given the current circumstances and realities on the ground, this approach has become more implausible with each passing day. Therefore, many have come to argue the real solutionwould be a single state that would afford equal rights for both Israeli and Palestinian citizens regardless of ethnicity, religion, or racial background. Considering the troubled history of the region, many would view a state where Israelis and Palestinians living together, sharing land, and engaged in a peaceful democratic process to be an unattainable fantasy. This …

The Impact Of Design On The Compliance Of States With International Agreements, Jakub Walko

Dissertations and Theses

This work tackles the question of the importance of design of international agreements on the compliance they elicit on all levels of the global trade regime. Discussing the international legal theories that underpin the different perspectives on this issue and scrutinizing case studies of both large and small treaties this thesis establishes the impact that elements of an agreement's structure have on its aggregate success. A case study of the GATT/WTO system illustrates the challenges of scale and diversity of trade issues while the study of the OILPOL and MARPOL environmental pollution regimes presents a lens on the practical implementation …

Brazil As A Regional And International Leader, Justin Ferber

Dissertations and Theses

Brazil's critical role in South American integration and political crisis management in Latin America, as well as its increasing power in international trade, finance, and security underscorethat Brazil influence over regional and international affairs.This thesis argues that Brazil has leveraged its economic strength and soft power—which it derives from its successful domestic social policies and distinguished diplomatic history of promoting international cooperation and peaceful conflict—to project regional and international leadership.

Unveiling The Headscarf Debate; A Study Of Multiculturalism, Zaineb Malick

Dissertations and Theses

"Thanks to the deepening of globalization, we live in an increasingly diverse world. International migratory patterns bring people of different, often less familiar, cultures to other parts of the world, including the West. For some, assimilation into a dominant culture and broader national identity seems appropriate; for others who want to preserve their unique identity, there is a struggle in accommodating to the new norms and behaviors of their host country. This paper attempts to survey the challenges of multiculturalism; more specifically, it reviews the difficulty in integrating non-western norms into western culture. As I will discuss in greater detail, …

A Strategic Model For Ingo Accountability Systems, Sarah Elizabeth Wardwell

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis reconstructs the concept of International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO) accountability to beneficiaries through the development of a strategic model for INGO accountability to beneficiaries. It works through the history and arguments surrounding the rise of the debate around whether INGOs should be held accountable to their beneficiary populations. Unique definitions are developed for the terms and concepts related to this topic and a framework for understanding the strategic model for INGO accountability to beneficiaries is outlined: Accountable to whom? Accountable for what? Accountable how? A practical example of an internal assessment for measuring an INGO's accountability to beneficiaries is …