International Relations Commons^™

Political Islam And Democracy, Mikellon S. Browne-Michael

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Middle East is a predominately Islamic region. Islam is not only a religion, it is the Muslim way of life and law. The western world follows a more modern system of government, in the form of democracy. Democracy is not modern, as in new, since it was started by the ancient Greeks, but it is modern, because it is the main system being adopted in contemporary times.

Muslims follow the ideals found in the Holy Quran, the book dictated by the prophet Muhammad. The Middle East has had a strong Islamic influence since the mid-seventh century. Islam originated in …

The Wwi Middle East: Western Intervention And Modern-Day Political Conflict, Pauline Park

Global Tides

This paper analyzes three conflicting agreements made by the Allied powers between 1915 and 1917: the Husayn-McMahon correspondence, the Sykes-Picot arrangements, and the Balfour Declaration. It reveals the agreements as demonstrative of deeper patterns of political power and strategy in the Middle East that persist today. This paper moreover compares the Middle East with the European colonization of Rwanda in the 1880s, and how the nation's internal division was caused by external global powers seeking political and economic gain. This analysis seeks to connect global events as part of a wider political agenda propagated by Western powers.

Considering Clausewitz Across Contexts, Laura Salter

Tenor of Our Times

Carl von Clausewitz’s On War has been heralded as one of the most influential theories of war. It has influenced statesmen as diverse as Dwight Eisenhower, Vladimir Lenin, and Adolf Hitler. After having been incorporated into various schools of thought, taught to soldiers and studied extensively, it begs the question: what explains the continuous relevance of Clausewitz’s theory, despite changing contexts and technology? This paper posits that Clausewitz presented war as an extension of politics composed of a trinity of forces, used methodology that would transcend eras, and wrote about war’s very nature. In doing so, On War gained its …

Ethnic Xenophobia As Symbolic Politics: A Cross-National Study Of Anti-Migrant Activism From Brussels To Beirut, Annamarie M. Rannou

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Xenophobia is examined almost exclusively as a prejudice of advanced western nations. I argue that the field of study of xenophobia must be re-conceptualized in order for comparative, cross-regional inquiry to take place. With a new concept of ethnic xenophobia, this dissertation examines the determinants and causal mechanisms of ethnic xenophobic activity across developed and developing countries. I integrate studies of xenophobia and theories of ethnic threat to explain that political elites rely on structural dimensions of threat to convert native anxieties into ethnic xenophobia through the use of anti-migrant myths and symbols. I extend Stuart Kaufman’s theory of …

Rapport Development And Native Language Use Between U.S. Advisors And Afghan Counterparts, Sean Ryan Ryan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Advisory activities form a central element of the U.S. National Security Strategy to mitigate the need for employment of large military formations. The commitment of large U.S. combat formations has resulted in more than 6,000 fatalities since September 11, 2001; poor relationship skills were cited as contributing factors in 51 or more fratricide-murders of U.S. soldiers by Afghan compatriots in 2012. Informed by social exchange theory, servant leadership theory, and role theory, the Army conceptual rapport framework provided a lens for this phenomenological symbolic interactionism study of rapport between Afghan counterparts and U.S. advisors. Participants included 15 English-speaking Afghan soldiers, …

Tapping The Potential Of Sports: Incentives In China’S Reformation Of The Sports Industry, Yu Fu

CMC Senior Theses

Since the 2010s, China’s sports industry has undergone comprehensive reforms. This paper attempts to understand this change of direction from the central state’s perspective. By examining the dynamics of the basketball and soccer markets, it discovers that while the deregulation of basketball is a result of persistent bottom-up effort from the private sector, the recentralization of soccer is a state-led policy change. Notwithstanding the different nature and routes between these reforms, in both sectors, the state’s aim is to restore and strengthen its legitimacy within the society. Amidst China’s economic stagnation, the regime hopes to identify sectors that can drive …

Islamic State Online Recruitment: Narratives And Counter-Narratives, Makella Brems

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis looks beyond the sensationalized coverage of Islamic State and instead utilizes Islamic State materials as a window into the remote radicalization and recruitment process of susceptible English-speaking individuals in the West. This thesis considers Islamic State’s mode of operation in conjunction with the appeals made in its online materials to devise a framework for understanding how Islamic State materials interact with susceptible individuals. The framework lends insight into how the body tasked with creating counter-narratives within the U.S. State Department can more effectively disrupt the remote recruitment and radicalization process.

Time For Change: Aid, Ngos, And Transitional Justice In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Arnaud Kurze

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This article examines Scandinavian donor practices in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) with regards to post-conflict justice activities. BiH has been a laboratory of reconstruction, peace-building and transitional justice processes since the end of the war in 1995. While issues related to rebuilding and developing war-torn societies and their economies have attracted extensive scholarly attention, the question of international aid practices in transitional justice contexts remains widely understudied. Although the influence of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in reconciliatory transitional justice work has been growing, the relationship between international donors and local NGOs involved in these projects remains very limited. The objective of this study …

When Words Are Worse Than Bullets: A Study Of Corruption As An Unintended Consequence Of Threats Of Sanctions, Aleksei Balanov

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This research contributes to the debates on the efficacy of economic sanctions as a tool of international diplomacy. It focuses on corruption, one of the potential unintended consequences of sanctions. Using multiple regression on a custom cross-sectional time series dataset of more than a thousand observations, this research finds the correlation between threats of sanctions and level of corruption statistically significant. The model suggests each new round of threats translates into a 1.25% increase in corruption for relatively clean states and a 5% increase for already corrupt states. The resulting policy implications are examined in this thesis.

Laughing In The Face Of Oppression: The Nature Of Political Satire Under Different Types Of Political Regimes, Victoria Villavicencio Pérez

Honors Program Theses

This research examines how different types of political regimes shape the nature of the political satire produced under them. Unlike traditional journalism, the sly character of political humor may enable it to operate with more freedom than other forms of media while still providing social critique. This research examines three different case studies: the United States (democracy), Venezuela (semi-authoritarian), and Cuba (authoritarian) and evaluates their satire on how openly critical it is and what type of censorship it suffers. Through extensive content analysis of satirical work produced within the country, as well as a historical research into the censorship of …

Why Did China Do This? An Analysis On China's New Gasoline "Price Floor" Policy, Youhan Ding

Scripps Senior Theses

Why did China choose certain policy over others that would achieve similar impact? Because China has a significant presence in the modern international community, it is difficult yet critical to understand the policy implications of the Chinese government under its unique political and socioeconomic context. This thesis shows the impact of a specific “price floor” policy China chose to employ in its oil and gasoline market, and identifies the factors concerning the Chinese regime that it took into consideration in the decision making process, through analysing data and official statements released by the government. After different parties affected by this …

The Rise Of The Far Right: Explaining Popularity And Potential Influence, Vanessa Rosato

Scripps Senior Theses

The 2016 election cycle has shown a dramatic radicalization of the right, featuring elements such as out-group demonization, law and order rhetoric, and populist strategies that have not been so prevalent in the US since the rise of Nixon’s Silent Majority in the 1970s. The UK has experienced a similar ideological shift, though its emergence has perhaps not been so notoriously outspoken. All the same, the fervent anti-statist and anti-elitist narrative employed by the Leave Campaign is starkly similar to language historically associated with the populist rhetoric of the Far Right. Drawing on analyses of economic, socio-cultural, and geopolitical trends …

Improv In International Diplomacy: Creating A Cooperative Narrative, Preston J. Eberlyn

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The utilization of improvisation theatre in businesses and organizations to revolve conflict began to be used at the turn of the century. This new and growing tool has helped with company mergers and internal disputes. Thus, why not use these same improv theatre elements in international conflicts? The analysis of three distinct cases of track two diplomacy and improv theatre has shown the possibility of a new tool for diplomacy mediators to utilize.

Australian Strategic Culture: A Case Study, Eric Begue

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This examines the relationship between a country’s history and its actions on the international stage through the prism of the "strategic culture" theoretical framework created in works by Alistair Ian Johnston, Elizabeth Keir, Jack Snyder, and others. The central question of the study will be whether or not an understanding of a state’s past actions, rhetoric, and/or cultural obligations can provide an accurate predictor of future action and the primary thesis is that national “strategic culture” has a causal effect on national policy decisions. Towards this end, I have chosen to conduct a case study to ascertain the impact and …

Regional Power Politics: The Behavior And Motivations Of Regional Powers In Settings Of Conflict And Coalition, Cagla Mavruk Cavlak

Wayne State University Dissertations

After the Cold War, International Relations has seen a resurgence of interest in the study of regional powers. Scholars have been paying increasing attention to regional powers as important actors in world politics and studying their foreign policy, but few if any studies have discussed the behaviors of regional power comprehensively and comparatively. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of regional power foreign policy strategies and behaviors by analyzing them comprehensively and comparatively. Unlike previous studies on cooperation and conflict within regions, this study focuses on the reasons for the strategic tendencies and motivations of …

Mao Zedong And Xi Jinping: A Trait Analysis, Dan Douglas

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This study uses Margaret Hermann’s Leadership Trait Analysis (LTA) to compare Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping and see if they have the same style. Through a content analysis of a leader’s speeches, researchers can gain insight into a leader’s motivation for obtaining office and power. In the course of this research, 167 speeches by Mao, and 79 Speeches by Xi were inputted into the content analysis program Profiler+ (Hermann, 2003). The analysis showed that Mao and Xi have some similarities in their LTA results, but the differences in their scores indicate different approaches to leadership. An analysis of the context …

Assessing The Conditions For Post-Cold War Conflict Interventions, Daniel Wesley Clark

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This research seeks to understand the reasons regarding why states intervene in conflicts? This study utilizes all European states who are a member of NATO and seeks to understand their reason for intervening in 14 post-cold war conflicts. Specifically, this study seeks to address whether the involvement of the United States, their NATO membership, and the humanitarian extent of the crisis play a role in their intervention decision. To answer these questions, this study uses an ordered probit statistical study to tests the hypothesis. The results show that the United States involvement in a conflict, and the European states membership …

Mao Zedong And Xi Jinping: A Trait Analysis, Dan Douglas

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This study uses Margaret Hermann's Leadership Trait Analysis (LTA) to compare Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping and see if they have the same style. Through a content analysis of a leader's speeches, researchers can gain insight into a leader's motivation for obtaining office and power. In the course of this research, 167 speeches by Mao, and 79 Speeches by Xi were inputted into the content analysis program Profiler+ (Hermann, 2003). The analysis showed that Mao and Xi have some similarities in their LTA results, but the differences in their scores indicate different approaches to leadership. An analysis of the context …

Governed By Guerrillas: When Armed Insurgents Become Political Leaders, Megan Patsch

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

When an internal conflict ends, many states are faced with a choice of whether or not the insurgents they were fighting against should become political figures they govern beside. Increasingly, peace settlements involve the proposed evolution of guerrilla groups into political parties, yet little is known about rebel groups' long-term effectiveness in governing (Vines and Oruitemeka, 2008). However, the recurrent interest in converting guerrillas to politicians calls for a clear understanding of the chances of success. What makes a guerilla group more or less successful in governance? I hypothesized that a state with formerly armed insurgents would produce fewer pieces …

Post Arab Spring Examination Of American Foreign Aid: Libya And Egypt, Andrew Robert Dickerson

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Every year, the United States uses foreign aid as a foreign policy tool. The Arab Spring gave the United States an opportunity to achieve a historically difficult task in the Middle East: promoting and establishing democracy across the Middle East. This study examines United States foreign aid, primarily military and economic aid, and the success it has on the ruling governing bodies in Libya and Egypt. Does American foreign aid lead to stability of the recipient government? The majority of published works regarding foreign aid effectiveness utilize a large-n case study over several decades without thoroughly examining each case. The …

Work And Women's Empowerment: An Examination Of South Asia, Kathryn Elise Chaney

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

"What contributes to the differences in women's economic empowerment" To investigate this problem, a large N statistical analysis set up this comparative case study of Bangladesh and India that evaluates the relationship between women's access to employment in the formal labor market and women's access to ownership of accounts in banks and other financial institutions. The large N statistical analysis results illustrate a global pattern that the percentage of women working in the formal labor market is associated with a greater percentage of women having accounts in banks or other financial institutions. Neither Bangladesh nor India fit this pattern, and …

นโยบายของญี่ปุ่นต่อโครงสร้างอำนาจใหม่ในเอเชีย-แปซิฟิก: ศึกษาการเข้าร่วมความตกลงหุ้นส่วนยุทธศาสตร์เศรษฐกิจเอเชีย-แปซิฟิกของญี่ปุ่น, กนกวรรณ เชาวกิจ

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

วิทยานิพนธ์ฉบับนี้มุ่งศึกษาการเข้าร่วมความตกลงหุ้นส่วนยุทธศาสตร์เศรษฐกิจเอเชีย-แปซิฟิก (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement: TPP)​ ของญี่ปุ่น ค.ศ. 2013 โดยใช้แนวคิดการเข้าร่วมเป็นพันธมิตร (Alliance) และแนวคิดการคานอำนาจ (Balance of Power) ซึ่งเป็นกรอบแนวคิดที่สำคัญของการศึกษาด้านความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างประเทศ โดยงานวิจัยชิ้นนี้มีสมมติฐานว่า ญี่ปุ่นคาดหวังว่าจะใช้ข้อตกลง TPP เป็นเครื่องมือในการกระชับความสัมพันธ์กับสหรัฐฯ ในเชิงยุทธศาสตร์ความมั่นคง เพราะการที่สหรัฐฯ สามารถคงอิทธิพลในภูมิภาคเอเชีย – แปซิฟิกผ่านนโยบายการหันความสนใจมาสู่เอเชีย (Pivot to Asia) เป็นการคานบทบาทและอิทธิพลของจีนและกลุ่มความร่วมมือระหว่างประเทศที่มีจีนเป็นผู้ขับเคลื่อนไม่ให้มีบทบาทครอบงำในภูมิภาคเอเชีย - แปซิฟิก จากการศึกษาพบว่า ญี่ปุ่นประกาศความสนใจที่จะเข้าร่วมเจรจาข้อตกลง TPP ตั้งแต่เดือนตุลาคม ค.ศ. 2010 ซึ่งรัฐบาลพรรค DPJ ต้องเผชิญกับการคัดค้านภายในประเทศและปัญหาภัยพิบัติแผ่นดินไหว ค.ศ. 2011 ทำให้ต้องเลื่อนการเข้าร่วมเจรจาข้อตกลง TPP ออกไป แต่ในสมัยรัฐบาลพรรค LDP สามารถผลักดันข้อตกลง TPP และโน้มน้าวประชาชนให้เห็นด้วยกับข้อตกลง TPP จนสามารถประกาศให้ญี่ปุ่นเข้าร่วมข้อตกลง TPP อย่างเป็นทางการได้เมื่อวันที่ 23 กรกฎาคม ค.ศ. 2013 ทั้งนี้พบว่าปัจจัยสำคัญที่ทำให้ญี่ปุ่นต้องการเข้าร่วมการเจรจาข้อตกลง TPP เนื่องด้วยญี่ปุ่นต้องการใช้ข้อตกลง TPP เป็นเครื่องมือในการกระชับความสัมพันธ์กับสหรัฐฯ โดยแสดงให้เห็นว่าระบบพันธมิตรระหว่างญี่ปุ่นและสหรัฐฯ ยังคงมีความเข้มแข็งอยู่ โดยข้อตกลง TPP ช่วยสนับสนุนนโยบายการหันความสนใจมาสู่เอเชีย (Pivot to Asia) เพื่อให้สหรัฐฯ ยังคงมีบทบาทในภูมิภาคต่อไป เพื่อสกัดกั้นการขยายบทบาทและอิทธิพลของจีน อย่างไรก็ตาม แม้สหรัฐฯ ได้ถอนตัวออกจากข้อตกลง TPP แต่ญี่ปุ่นยังคงผลักดันข้อตกลง TPP ในฐานะเครื่องมือเชิงยุทธศาสตร์ที่สำคัญของตนต่อไป

The Frontiers Of Technology In Warhead Verification, Henrietta Toivanen

CMC Senior Theses

How might new technical verification capabilities enhance the prospects of success in future nuclear arms control negotiations? Both theory and evidence suggest that verification technologies can influence the dynamics of arms control negotiations by shaping and constraining the arguments and strategies that are available to the involved stakeholders. In the future, new technologies may help transcend the specific verification challenge of high-security warhead authentication, which is a verification capability needed in future disarmament scenarios that address fewer warheads, limit new categories of warheads, and involve nuclear weapons states other than the United States and Russia. Under these circumstances, the core …

Mission Barrio Adentro: Venezuela's Virus, Cara Cancelmo

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis uses the historical and structural characteristics of the Venezuelan-Cuban healthcare program, Mission Barrio Adentro, to identify areas of resource mismanagement and how such abuses of government capital has negatively affected the Venezuelan medical system as well as the Cuban healthcare professionals involved. Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro’s healthcare diplomacy under Mission Barrio Adentro, which trades Cuban doctors for oil, has failed to provide adequate medical services to the Venezuelan citizens. Despite the drop in oil prices, the Venezuelan government has continued to funnel money into Mission Barrio Adentro using PDVSA revenues. Such reliance on oil wealth and the …

Qué Tan Lejos Hemos Ido Y Qué Tan Lejos Nos Queda: Los Niños Trabajadores Y La Erradicación Del Trabajo Infantil En Ecuador, Alicia Serna Frausto

CMC Senior Theses

Al investigar este problema en el caso específico de Ecuador podemos ver algunos patrones que otros investigadores y políticos podrían aplicar en otros contextos de abusos laborales y trabajo infantil. En un mundo más consciente de los derechos humanos, es necesario impedir el trabajo infantil donde se pueda o por lo menos asegurar que los niños que trabajan lo hagan en la forma más sana y segura. En esta investigación se analizan las leyes y regulaciones de las últimas dos décadas, la implementación, y los efectos en las vidas de los niños trabajadores. La implementación de las leyes y regulaciones …

The Us-Uk Nuclear Relationship: Not Just A Measure For The Cold War, David Kahan

CMC Senior Theses

In 1958 the United States and United Kingdom signed the Mutual Defense Agreement which allowed the two countries to share information and technology concerning nuclear weapons. This paper examines the history of this agreement and the Polaris and Trident Sales agreements which followed. The main focus of the paper is the motivating interests of both countries to maintain these agreements today.

Mandate Of Heaven: An Analysis Of China's Government Disaster Response And Ccp Performance Legitimacy, Aaron Yang

CMC Senior Theses

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the Chinese government’s disaster response over the past two decades, analyze any patterns or recurring management behaviors, and understand the government’s overall emergency response capability. Disaster response is one area that reflects the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to govern and exhibit performance legitimacy. As an authoritarian regime, the CCP relies on repression and performance to maintain its authority, especially so when national disasters occur. During times of crisis, the CCP is expected to maintain control and minimize potentially negative consequences. Not doing so results in a potential image crisis and loss of …

Competition, Compromises, And Complicity: An Analysis Of The Humanitarian Aid Sector, Fiona Bare

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes humanitarian assistance to complex humanitarian emergencies to understand why suboptimal outcomes result even when humanitarians have ethical principles and good intentions. It focuses on the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations, and Médecins Sans Frontières to understand their core principles before looking at how these principles operationalize during emergencies. Challenges arise due to complex relationships with donors, local actors, and recipients, along with issues of marketization and competition. This paper’s case studies of the post-genocide Rwandan refugee crisis and post-9/11 Afghanistan explore how humanitarian principles clash with such dilemmas. In the end, humanitarian organizations …

De-Fence Europe! The Defence Industry, The Refugee Crisis, And The Shaping Of Eu Border Policy, Sarah C. Sanbar

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores some of the connections between the defence industry and the European border policy that emerged leading up to, and following, the European refugee crisis of 2015. The paper is divided into two parts. The first seeks to examine and understand the context in which the refugee crisis occurred. In order to do this, I begin with a literature review that uses the integration theory of Multilevel Governance to understand how and where the European Union (EU) is susceptible to political pressure or special interest influence. Next, I present a brief history of the causes and course of …

Race And Affirmative Action In “Post-Racial” Democratic Brazil, Alejandra T. Vazquez Baur

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the ways that Brazilians are evaluated for their privileges in qualification for the affirmative action program. It critically examines the existing policies, how they function, and how they affect ideas of race in Brazil for both black and non-black Brazilians. Additionally, it proposes that the policies prioritize phenotype as a primary condition for qualifying for a quota in order to accomplish their initial objectives of fighting racial inequalities, compensating for historical injustices, contributing to the diversity of experiences and perspectives on campuses and in federal offices, and raising understanding of what it means to be black in …