International Relations Commons^™

Knocking On Europe's Door: A Comprehensive Analysis Of The European Response To The 2015 Refugee Crisis And The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis, Jacob J. Mckim

Global Studies Senior Capstone

Europe is, and has long been at the center of refugee reception for many areas of the world due to its geographical position and general security. However, the European response to refugees has varied drastically in different situations. This paper examines the European response to both the 2015 Refugee Crisis and the Ukrainian Refugee Crisis. The focus being on what factors, whether political, racial, or religious, has led for some individuals to be received more favorably in Europe than others. Through examining this, the conditions for successful and long-lasting refugee reception hopefully be more clearly seen.

A Twenty-First-Century Strategy To Counter Russia, China, And Iran, Sorin Matei

FORCES Initiative: Strategy, Security, and Social Systems

The FORCES white paper / report A Twenty-First-Century Strategy to Counter Russia, China, and Iran published by the National Interest proposes a new approach to American foreign policy, which provides the flexibility needed to handle two major international conflicts at the same time. We propose "cascading realism," The United States should consider a strategy of selective and deeply collaborative realism. The new realism should rely on three principles: a convergence of purpose; flexibility of action and shared and cascading responsibility. The second principle is the most important. It requires disconnecting the understanding of U.S. national interests from maintaining a maximal …

The Most Critical Resource: How Climate Change Fuels The Crisis In Syria And The Implications For The World At Large, Edward Medeiros

Honors College

The Syrian crisis, both domestic and international in scope, may well be the defining geopolitical challenge of the generation. Climate change may be the single greatest challenge to face humanity in the entirety of our species’ life history. The dramatic effects of climate change can be seen in the origins of the Syrian crisis when one looks to humanity’s single most critical resource: water. We take the word critical to have two meanings in this context: first, that water is essential to human survival and second that water is a resource in critical condition. Syria’s water crisis pre-dates the civil …

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 …

The Endgame: America’S Exit From Syria, Gray Thompson

Masters Theses

Ever since the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Syria fueled civil war costing nearly half a million lives to date, the US response has been cautious indecision. Syria became a proxy war with Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, the Turks, ISIS, the Kurds, and the local Syrian opposition all competing to support or oust Assad. All but the Kurds and select Syrian resistance groups opposed America. With billions spent on questionable war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Obama, the American public, and most of the military establishment were leery of direct US involvement in Syria. Apart from supporting the fight against …

Taiwanese Perceptions Of Refugees: Results Of An Experimental Survey, Stella Treumann

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This research paper deals with perceptions of refugees, with the intent to demonstrate what factors influence perceptions of refugees in general, and specifically in the context of Taiwan. The paper is divided into two larger sections. The first section functions as a literature review with the aim of providing the reader with existing background information on the topic of perceptions of refugees. The second section contains an experimental study on perceptions of refugees in Taiwan. While the effects of individual-level factors on perceptions of refugees have been examined by many studies and in different countries, their effects have never been …

Investigating Asylum And Assimilation Procedures In European Countries As It Relates To The Independence Of Women, Katherine R. Avetta

International Relations Summer Fellows

This project investigates and analyzes immigration policy, specifically focusing on asylum seeking women, in European countries including, but not limited to, Germany and Sweden. Many European nations have limited immigration policy that ultimately negatively affects immigrants from Middle Eastern and African nations, especially female migrants fleeing those nations in order to gain independence and freedom from torture and gender based persecutions. However, what little policy European countries do utilize inevitably hinders women from gaining independence and rather mirrors the male dominated socio-cultural societies from which these very women fled. Through the examination of articles and policy, this project will analyze …

Syria: The Name Of Our Shame, Lama Abu-Odeh

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

From withdrawing US troops from Iraq to waging a war on ISIS in Iraq, Obama has deftly recast the meaning of US intervention in the region from unjustifiable imperialist occupation (of Iraq by conservatives) to justifiable global policing of terror (the liberal answer to occupation). The former is a form of irrational, inefficient, unnecessary, and morally indefensible intervention, whereas the latter is a form of rational, efficient, necessary and virtuous one. In this essay, I argue that that the withdrawal/re-intervention of the US supra state in the imperial place staged by Obama, cheered for and rationalized by liberals, is similar …

Adapting To A Protracted Refugee Crisis: Analyzing The Humanitarian Response To The Syrian Refugee Crisis In Jordan, Zoe A. Bowman

Political Science Honors Projects

In the past, refugee status was considered a short-­term consequence of conflict. Today, protracted refugee situations (PRS) are the norm rather than the exception. This shift has forced humanitarian actors to develop new strategies to handle the challenges of working with refugees in the long­-term. This project examines the protracted refugee crisis of Syrian refugees in Jordan. Using interviews conducted in the summer of 2015 in Amman, Jordan, this paper asks (1) what are the implication of the PRS for Syrians in Jordan and (2) how can solutions implemented in past PRS provide answers on how to respond to the …

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.

Rethinking The National Question: Anti-Statist Discourses Within The Kurdish National Movement, Ozum Yesiltas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Why and under what conditions have the Kurds become agents of change in the Middle East in terms of democratization? Why did the Kurds’ role as democratic agents become particularly visible in the 1990s? How does the Kurdish movement’s turn to democratic discourse affect the political systems of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria? What are the implications of the Kurds’ adoption of “democratic discourse” for the transnational aspect of the Kurdish movement?

Since the early 1990s, Kurdish national movements in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria have undergone important political and ideological transformations. As a result of the Kurds’ growing role …

The Past, Present And Future Of Transnational Conflict In Jordan: A Study Of Syrian Refugees In The Hashemite Kingdom, David F. Becker

Capstone Projects – Politics and Government

In this paper I am considering the numerous effects that hosting refugees can have on a host country. These effects can be seen when examining a host country’s health, economic, educational, and security sectors. In addition, many cases of refugee flows are associated with conflict contagion, which may cause a refugee population to become militarized. After reviewing the relevant literature on these topics, I study how these possible effects unfold in the context of the Syrian refugees currently escaping to Jordan from their civil war. The Kingdom of Jordan and its people are significantly affected by the increased stresses that …

United States' Military Interventions Into Civil Wars, Sean Moffitt

Summer Research

My research seeks to explain the motivations for the United States’ foreign policy towards nations undergoing civil war. Specifically, I have looked at instances where the United States has committed to military intervention into the Lebanese Civil War and the Bosnian War, and have used the tools of political science and historical analysis to determine why the superpower intervened to the extent that it did. Different political crises demand different levels of attention from the United States, which are usually determined by both the political landscape during the time period of the civil war, as well as the specific characteristics …

The Eu Sanctions Against Syria: Conflict Management By Other Means?, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Since May 2011, the EU has crafted one of its most far reaching and sophisticated sanctions operations in support of the anti-regime protests against the current regime in Syria. This article examines the measures wielded by the EU, its expected impact and its implications for the EU's relations with its global partners. While seriously undermined by the lack of support of Russia, the sanctions are having a noticeable economic impact. Yet, the choice of measures is ill-suited to stop the bloodshed. The sanctions have also served to (re)define partnerships with other powers, both in the Middle-East and globally.

Comparing The Approaches Of The Presidential Candidates, Pierre-Richard Prosper, William W. Burke-White

All Faculty Scholarship

This is a panel discussion between Pierre Prosper, attorney at Arent Fox LLP and William Burke White, Deputy Dean at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, comparing the approaches and priorities of U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney regarding foreign policy.