Pomona College
University of Denver
Poltava National Pedagogical University
Colby College
University of Kentucky
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University
University of Rhode Island
Cultural Humility In The Workplace: A Causal-Comparative Study Of Foreign And Local Hire Employees In International Education,
2026
Abilene Christian University
Cultural Humility In The Workplace: A Causal-Comparative Study Of Foreign And Local Hire Employees In International Education, Natalie A. Ortiz
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Cultural humility is recognized as a framework for fostering respectful relationships in culturally diverse workplaces. However, limited research has examined cultural humility within international education in regard to workplace dynamics and power imbalances that may exist between foreign and local hire educators. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to examine differences in perceived cultural humility levels between foreign and local hire employees in PreK-12th grade private international schools in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The study also examined whether years of international educational experience and the number of international educational assignments influenced perceived cultural humility levels. Data …
Preserving Identity Under Totalitarianism: The Adaptation And Resilience Of Muslim Communities In The Soviet Union,
2026
Akdeniz University
Preserving Identity Under Totalitarianism: The Adaptation And Resilience Of Muslim Communities In The Soviet Union, Meltem Akıncı
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the methods employed by Muslim peoples in the former Soviet Union to preserve their traditional, spiritual, and religious identity under the systemic anti-religious policies, ideological pressures, and repressive measures of the Soviet totalitarian regime. Despite the Soviet authorities' efforts to rapidly secularize society and reshape public consciousness through scientific atheism, the enduring commitment of Muslim communities to their traditional values is clearly demonstrated. The study examines the closure of mosques, the restriction of religious rituals, and the severe obstacles encountered in performing daily worship. Furthermore, it thoroughly explores the role of Sufi brotherhoods …
Religious Persecution In Communist Albania Through Constitutional And Legal Acts,
2026
University of Gilan "Kadri Zeka" Kosovo
Religious Persecution In Communist Albania Through Constitutional And Legal Acts, Sadik Haxhiu, Besard Belegu, Artan Fejzullahu
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
Following the victory of the communist regime in 1944, the new Albanian state built its institutions on a materialist worldview that stood in direct opposition to the universal principles of freedom of conscience and religious belief. The state progressively restricted religious practice until it banned it altogether. This anti-religious campaign proceeded along two tracks: anti-religious political propaganda and the adoption of legal acts prohibiting the practice of religion. A 1967 decree-law banned religious belief outright, and the 1976 Constitution declared Albania the first atheist state in the world. This paper is based on an analysis of legal acts, scholarly literature, …
Semi-Peripheral Whiteness In A Global City: Central And Eastern European Women In Dubai,
2026
CUNY Graduate Center
Semi-Peripheral Whiteness In A Global City: Central And Eastern European Women In Dubai, Hana Rubenstein
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
This capstone examines how Central and Eastern European (CEE) women navigate professional mobility in Dubai and asks to what extent Dubai enables them to bypass the post-socialist stigma attached to their semi-peripheral European identity. Situated at the intersection of migration studies, gender, and critical scholarship on semi-peripheral whiteness, the study addresses the limited attention paid to CEE women as economic actors outside European contexts, where they are often either absorbed into the category of “Western expatriates” or reduced to highly gendered stereotypes. Grounded in a qualitative, interpretivist approach, the study combines digital discourse analysis of 50 publicly accessible LinkedIn profiles …
The Offense-Defense Balance And The Modern System In Ukraine,
2026
Yale University
The Offense-Defense Balance And The Modern System In Ukraine, Daniel Hogestyn
Master in Public Policy Theses
This thesis evaluates whether the Russo Ukrainian war represents a revolution in military affairs (RMA) by testing Stephen Biddle’s "modern system" theory of battlefield outcomes against recent combat operations. Applying Biddle’s formal model to the 2023 Ukrainian offensive in Zaporizhia, the thesis finds that the offensive's failure conforms closely to Biddle’s causal logic, with force employment variables drawn from 20th century combat sufficient to account for the outcome. Biddle's model in military power argues that force employment has explained victory and defeat since World War I, rather than technology or numerical preponderance alone. Many commentators claim that proliferation of small …
Not The Only Game In Town: Unconsolidated Democracy, Elite Capture, And Shifting Alliances In Georgia,
2026
Connecticut College
Not The Only Game In Town: Unconsolidated Democracy, Elite Capture, And Shifting Alliances In Georgia, Leah Mayerhauser
CISLA Senior Integrative Projects
This paper examines Georgia’s post-Soviet political development to explain why the country, once viewed as a leading candidate for democratic consolidation, has experienced sustained democratic erosion and shifting geopolitical alignment. Drawing on Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan’s theory of democratic consolidation, it argues that Georgia never fully achieved a consolidated democracy after independence, leaving key institutional arenas including civil society, political society, rule of law, state bureaucracy, and economic society, unevenly developed and vulnerable to elite capture. Through a historical and institutional analysis from 1991 to 2026, this paper traces how early failures in state formation, unresolved questions of stateness, …
The Weaponization Of Transnational Crime: A Triangular Analytical Model For Hybrid Threat Development In U.S.–China–Russia Relations, 2000–2025,
2026
Liberty University
The Weaponization Of Transnational Crime: A Triangular Analytical Model For Hybrid Threat Development In U.S.–China–Russia Relations, 2000–2025, Michael J. Haak
Senior Honors Theses
This thesis examines the evolving strategic relationship between the United States, China, and Russia from 2000 to 2025 through a triangular model based on reactions to systemic pressures to core strategic interests. The study employs a thematic qualitative data analysis on U.S., Chinese, and Russian national security strategies to analyze strategic posturing between poles over time. This new model serves as the study’s basis for contextualizing hybrid threat development, specifically transnational crime as a proxy force of asymmetric power projection. The study found that the evolution of state-supported transnational crime serves as a by-product of reactions to systemic pressure. State …
Unmaking And Remaking Crimean Tatar Identity Stalin’S Deportation, Sürgün Stories, And The Claiming Of Indigeneity,
2026
Macalester College
Unmaking And Remaking Crimean Tatar Identity Stalin’S Deportation, Sürgün Stories, And The Claiming Of Indigeneity, Milo A. Clarkson
International Studies Honors Projects
The Crimean Tatars exist within a framework of historical and modern Russian settler colonial oppression. By examining their preferred form of identification, this thesis argues that claiming indigeneity holds promise for combating this colonial structure. Further, it identifies the construction of collective memories of the Sürgün (1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars) in virtual museum project Tamirlar’s oral histories as a form of discursive decolonization—the reclamation of cultural, linguistic, and historical representation and primacy on the land. Novel analysis of fifty interviews with Sürgün survivors preserves indigenous Crimean identity and challenges the retrospective settler colonial construction of Crimea as “Russian.”
An Alternative To Armageddon: O.P. Weyland And The Development Of Tactical Air Power,
2026
University of New Orleans
An Alternative To Armageddon: O.P. Weyland And The Development Of Tactical Air Power, Paul Wells
LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations
Theorists and advocates of air power argued that aircraft, not ground forces, would become the dominant platform for victory in war. They promoted the concept of strategic bombing, using aircraft to bypass ground forces and directly attack a nation's industrial capacity to wage war, hoping to ensure quick victory and avoid a repeat of the prolonged slaughter in the trenches of WWI. In 1947, led by advocates of strategic bombing, the United States Air Force (USAF) became an independent and equal branch of the U.S. military. The USAF developed the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to meet the requirements of the …
Making A Victim: The Quest To Define Austria In A Cold War Context,
2026
University of Louisville
Making A Victim: The Quest To Define Austria In A Cold War Context, Katherine E. White
The Cardinal Edge
When the Second World War concluded, the Allied Powers were left with the complicated question of how to deal with the territories that they had occupied on their march to Berlin. Of all the territories conquered by Germany under Nazi rule, Austria proved to be one of the most difficult and polarizing to define. It towed the line between victim and accomplice, having endorsed its own annexation to Germany in 1938. For ten years after the war’s end, the Allied Powers occupied Austria, locked in a stalemate over the country’s fate. This paper examines how the various occupying powers, in …
Rewriting Betrayal: The Political Memory Of Andrei Vlasov And His Russian Liberation Army,
2026
University of Mary Washington
Rewriting Betrayal: The Political Memory Of Andrei Vlasov And His Russian Liberation Army, Christian N. Adams
Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects
This study examines the evolving historiography of Andrei Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) from the end of World War II to the post-Soviet era. Drawing on Soviet, émigré, and Western sources, it traces how interpretations of Vlasov’s defection reflected shifting moral and political frameworks in Russia’s collective memory. The analysis demonstrates that portrayals of Vlasov, from Stalinist condemnations to post-Soviet reappraisals, mirror the state’s changing relationship to patriotism, legitimacy, and dissent. By comparing Cold War scholarship with contemporary Russian debates, this paper argues that the Vlasov question endures not because of mere intrigue, but because it embodies the …
Bodies As Battlefields: Gendered Violence During The Russian Pogroms,
2026
Boston College
Bodies As Battlefields: Gendered Violence During The Russian Pogroms, Alisa L. Fixler
Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal
This paper explores how sexual violence during the Russian Civil War, particularly perpetrated by the White Army, was used as a ubiquitous tool for genocide against Jewish women. From 1918 to 1922, Jewish Women in the Russian Empire faced pervasive sexual violence during the pogroms: periods of mass violence and riots targeting Jews. This wave of violence led to displacement, immigration, and a profound impact on culture, reshaping the Jewish community forever and serving as a driving factor in the Jewish diaspora. Previous scholarship fails to critically engage with sexual violence as a unique tool in itself, as opposed to …
The Politics Of Russian Regional Development,
2026
Claremont McKenna College
The Politics Of Russian Regional Development, Claire Moore
CMC Senior Theses
This thesis examines why Chechnya’s independence movement shifted from a secular nationalist struggle in the First Chechen War (1994–1996) to a religiously framed insurgency in the interwar period and Second Chechen War (1999–2000; 2007). Drawing on presidential speeches, interviews, archival materials, and secondary scholarship, it argues that religious radicalization cannot be explained solely by external influence or Russian military brutality. Instead, three underexplored variables–strategic economic appeals to the Islamic world, culturally-embedded practices of vengeance, and the enabling conditions of poverty and mass armament–collectively shaped this transformation. Chechen leaders increasingly emphasized Islamic identity to secure financial and military support from Middle …
Fear, Memory, And Deterrence: Reassessing Nuclear Peace In The 21st Century,
2026
The University of Akron
Fear, Memory, And Deterrence: Reassessing Nuclear Peace In The 21st Century, Nathan H. Schroeder
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
This research investigates the paradox of nuclear peace theory: the idea that nuclear weapons, despite their destructive capacity, have contributed to a more stable global order. By tracing the historical development of nuclear arsenals and the strategic logic of deterrence, the project examines whether the post-1945 decline in large-scale wars between superpowers and wartime deaths can be attributed to the threat of mutual annihilation. It also explores the psychological and cultural consequences of this deterrence-based peace, including the normalization of fear and its potential link to desensitization toward violence in younger generations. From Cold War-era school drills to modern apocalyptic …
Gender As The Moral Framework Of War: Religious Discourse In Wartime Russia,
2026
King's College London
Gender As The Moral Framework Of War: Religious Discourse In Wartime Russia, Olga Vlasova Dr., Ulviyya Khalilova
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
The article explores how wartime religious discourse constructs the moral framework of war through gender rhetoric. Based on the critical discourse analysis of wartime public statements by Russian Orthodox and Muslim religious leaders (2022-2026), the study shows how gender can be used as a framework through which violence becomes meaningful and tolerable. It highlights that the discourse of masculinity provides precisely those moral categories (duty, sacrifice, and protection) which depict participation in war as a moral obligation. At the same time, femininity is primarily associated with the reproduction of social order through care, support, and motherhood, while remaining outside the …
Religious Transformation In The Post-Soviet Space: On The Example Of Kyrgyzstan,
2026
Osh State University
Religious Transformation In The Post-Soviet Space: On The Example Of Kyrgyzstan, Atabek Galmamatov, Sagynbek Kozuev, Sultanbek Tashmatov, Buzurmankul Sarbagyshov
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
This article examines the process of religious transformation in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, focusing particularly on its institutional, social, cultural, and political dimensions. The study aims to identify the main characteristics of religious transformation, analyze the factors that have shaped its development, and assess its implications for contemporary Kyrgyz society. Methodologically, the research combines historical, comparative, and qualitative approaches to examine changes from the Soviet period to the present. The analysis demonstrates that the collapse of Soviet atheistic ideology and the expansion of religious freedom created favorable conditions for the revival of religious institutions, the growth of mosques and madrassas 1 , …
Eurasianism As The Ideological Foundation Of Putin's Russia: Protestant Dimensions.,
2026
The H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine).
Eurasianism As The Ideological Foundation Of Putin's Russia: Protestant Dimensions., Pavlo Pavlenko
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
This article explores the ideological foundations of contemporary Putinist Russia, identifying Eurasianism as a primary socio-philosophical and geopolitical doctrine driving the Kremlin's imperial ambitions. The author traces the evolution of Eurasianism from its origins in "White émigré" circles to its current role as a conceptual bedrock for Russian fascism. A comparative analysis is provided between Eurasianism and the "Russian World" (Russkiy Mir) doctrine, highlighting their distinct approaches to ethnocentrism and continental unity. A significant portion of the study is dedicated to the "Eurasianization" of Protestant denominations within the Russian Federation, illustrating how these communities have been instrumentalized by the state …
The Rise And Fall Of The First Atheist State: Albania’S Rediscovery Of Faith,
2026
University of New York Tirana
The Rise And Fall Of The First Atheist State: Albania’S Rediscovery Of Faith, Fatos Tarifa
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
This paper explores Albania’s unprecedented experience as the only modern state to constitutionally declare itself atheist. After World War II, Enver Hoxha’s communist regime sought to reshape society through radical ideological transformation. In 1967, the regime banned all religious practice, dismantled churches, mosques, and monasteries, and persecuted clergy. Religion was criminalized, while atheism was promoted as a central component of socialist identity, enforced through education, propaganda, and cultural policy. In 1976, Albania was proclaimed by its constitution the world’s first atheist state. The paper examines the historical circumstances that produced this extreme stance and its consequences: suppression of traditions, erosion …
Daily Religious Life Of Muslims In Kazakhstan And Central Asia During The Soviet Period: Controlled Institutions, Unofficial Islam, And Atheist Policy,
2026
Eurasian National University L.N. Gumilyov
Daily Religious Life Of Muslims In Kazakhstan And Central Asia During The Soviet Period: Controlled Institutions, Unofficial Islam, And Atheist Policy, Adiyet Kairken, Kuralay Aubakirova
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
The core focus of this study is the dialectic between the anti-religious policies enforced by the Soviet totalitarian regime in Central Asia and Kazakhstan and the resilience of Muslim communities in preserving their spiritual and cultural identity. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the daily religious lives of Muslims under Soviet rule, examining the constraints placed on religious obligations and the functions of state-controlled religious institutions. The research investigates the mechanisms of the state apparatus, including atheist propaganda techniques, educational campaigns targeting the youth, and the role of official religious directorates. Furthermore, the study identifies the significance of underground …
Book Review: The Role Of Civil Society In Transitional Justice: The Case Of Russia,
2025
George Mason University
Book Review: The Role Of Civil Society In Transitional Justice: The Case Of Russia, Myra Dahgaypaw
Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal
This book review evaluates Selbi Durdiyeva's The Role of Civil Society in Transitional Justice: The Case of Russia as a vital contribution to genocide prevention scholarship, which is particularly timely given Russia's mass atrocity crimes in Ukraine and their connection to domestic repression. The book's theoretical innovation in challenging state-centric transitional justice paradigms through rigorous analysis of Memorial NGO, Orthodox Church activities, and revisionist groups across three decades of post-Soviet Russia is critical for the transitional justice field. It is worth highlighting Durdiyeva's unique postcolonial perspective as someone from a former Soviet territory studying the metropole, and her demonstration that …
