Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons^™

Everything That's New Is Old Again: The Impact Of Egypt's Political Culture On The Rule Of Law And Democracy, Hesham Genidy

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Temporary Permanence Of Syrian Refugees In Jordan, Charles Edward Davidson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the wake of the 2011 Syrian Civil War, hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to neighboring Jordan. The government of Jordan received them and along with NGOs from around the world, provided for some of their most basic needs including food, education and healthcare. In the summer of 2014 I travelled to Amman and Mafraq, Jordan in order to learn more about the work being done among the Syrians by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). What I found was a variety of short-term aid projects designed by the NGOs to meet the various needs of the refugees. I learned of no …

South African Solidarity With Palestinians: Motivations, Strategies, And Impact, Rajini Srikanth

New England Journal of Public Policy

South African support for Palestine received a compelling articulation in 1990 by the late President Nelson Mandela. This article examines a more recent grassroots activism by South Africans for Palestinian self-determination. It discusses the historical legacy of anti-apartheid resistance as well as current economic and political realities within South Africa that have led to the emergence of a robust popular movement for Palestinian rights since 2005. Both South African civil society organizations and the ANC-led government have responded to the 2005 call by Palestinian civil society for a boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign against the state of Israel. The …

Turkey And Saudis In Syria: Aligned Interests, Clashing Revisionisms, Zenonas Tziarras

Zenonas Tziarras

In early May, 2015 it became known that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are supporting extremist Islamist groups in Syria against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. That Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among others, have – mostly indirectly – been supporting Islamist groups is not news as similar reports have been emerging from time to time since 2011, if not earlier. But this policy with regard to the Syrian conflict became increasingly overt amidst growing instability and lack of Western commitment to Assad’s overthrow. According to The Independent and other media, Turkish and Saudi support focuses on the overarching jihadist group …

Assessing Isis One Year Later, Zenonas Tziarras

Zenonas Tziarras

A year ago the world witnessed the swift advances of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria. Though the emergence of the group was somewhat expected for those who have been following the regional developments of the past years it caught most of the world by surprise. At the same time, its brutal tactics, military victories, resilience, evolution and extreme ideology have led many to characterize it as the greatest regional and international security threat at the moment or the most dangerous Islamist threat contemporary history has seen.

Organizations Of Women: Towards An Equal Future In Palestine, Beatrice S. Longshore-Cook

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The development and struggle for nationalism in Palestine, as seen through an historical lens of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, demonstrates the complexity of gendered spaces and narratives inherent in any conflict. Women’s roles have often been confined to specific, gendered spaces within their society. However, through the utilization of these roles, women are circumnavigating the gendered spaces of their society in order to effectively alter the political and social systems of Palestine. Through a discussion of two specific women’s organizations – the Jerusalem Center for Women (JCW) and the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC) – this work will …

Global Shifts And The East In Cyprus' Foreign Policy, Zenonas Tziarras

Zenonas Tziarras

No abstract provided.

A Minority Within A Minority: A Kurdish Refugee In Portland, Oregon, Seth Thomas

Student Research Symposium

This paper is a narrative approach to the experience of Kurdish refugees in Portland, Oregon, focusing specifically on the experiences of Nihad Abdul Rahman, a 40 year old Kurdish refugee born and raised in Baghdad. Nihad arrived in Portland on January 18th, 2015, five years after beginning his refugee application process with the International Organization of Migration (personal communication, February 23, 2015). The qualitative nature of this paper is expressed through the indefinite article of the title: “A Kurdish Refugee.” Nihad receives refugee assistance from Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSN), a non-Profit NGO in Portland, Oregon that is one of …

"When Are We Going To Be Settled Down And Know This Is Our Place?”: A Phenomenological Examination Of Iraqi Refugee Families’ Lived Experiences With Resettlement, Lisa Shari Silverman

Doctoral Dissertations

Of the 69,930 refugees that resettled to the United States during the fiscal year of 2013, the largest group consisted of over 19,000 Iraqi refugees. Additionally, the recent outbreak of a new wave of violence in Iraq has led to an increase in the number of Iraqi citizens who have fled Iraq’s borders and migrated to the United States. Earlier studies that had been conducted on the resettlement of Iraqi refugees were quantitative in nature, focused on individuals, and did not provided a nuanced and thick description of the lived experiences of refugee families who had resettled in the United …

A Comparative Study Of Middle Eastern Foreign Policy: How Middle Eastern Intelligence Agencies Shape Current Events, Megan A. Fink

Honors Theses

This study monitored the intelligence and foreign policy actions of Israel, Iran, and Saudi Arabia from August 2013 to August 2014. Data was collected from coverage by Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, and Al-Jazeera, three reliable and respected news sources that cover global events. The actions taken by foreign policymakers in these countries were recorded throughout the study period.

These actions were organized into a taxonomy based on whether they were intelligence-based or non-intelligence based. Within those broad categories, more distinguishing characteristics were analyzed to show patterns of behavior within national intelligence services of the nations studied. These patterns …

Comparative Geomatic Analysis Of Historic Development, Trends, And Functions Of Green Space In Kuwait City From 1982-2014, Yousif Abdullah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research assessed green space morphology in Kuwait City, explaining its evolution from 1982 to 2014, through the use of geo-informatics, including remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and cartography. This research examined archival and contemporary satellite images that show the distribution, size, amount, and type of green spaces in Kuwait City, within the framework of its surrounding urban, exurban, and suburban expansion, and landuse change. Through this integrated analysis, it was found that green space growth passed through three main stages: Early Stage, Growth Stage, and Stable Stage.

This study also examined the effective use of public parks and …

A Path To Peace: Reconciling The Sunni-Shi’A Conflict In Iraq, Kelsey L. Modica

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The Iraqi state has a long history of division between Sunnis and Shiites. This conflict has often been violent and continues even today. Ultimately, this division dates back to the seventh century after the death of Muhammad. In order to better understand why there is a conflict between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq and not other countries, it is essential to understand the similarities and differences between their ideologies but also how they have been rooted against each other throughout history. Therefore, I begin with a description of the similarities and differences between Sunnis and Shiites to show the common …

The End Of The Means: Using The Arab Spring Revolutions As A Case Study For Machiavelli’S The Prince, Conor Sullivan

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This study sets out to examine if Machiavellian, realpolitik, style repression of unrest by autocratic regimes is still a viable tactic. To accomplish this, the Arab Spring revolutions in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria will be used as a case study. As the revolts were for similar economic and political reasons in a similar population, they present excellent case studies. The Prince itself will be used to develop a “Machiavellian regime,” encompassing a summary of Machiavelli’s prescriptions for rulers. This is done to avoid propagating clichéd or incorrect generalizations of Machiavelli’s work. The result of the study was not …

Afghan Narcoterrorism: The Problem, Its Origins, And Why International Law Enforcement Should Fight It, Steven Fantigrossi

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This paper provides insight into the issue of opium trafficking in Afghanistan. In 2014, despite U.S., Afghan, and international efforts since 2001, poppy-opium cultivation in Afghanistan reached an all-time high. The Afghan opium trafficking industry provides funding to terrorist groups and transnational crime organizations and is responsible for the continued corruption of government officials, police officers, and intelligence agents in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and other nations. Aside from increased corruption and funding of terrorists and criminals, the opium trade creates opium and heroin addicts out of men, women, and children across the globe. The history of how the opium problem …

Peace Be Dammed? Water Power And Water Politics In The Tigris-Euphrates Basin, Camille E. Wasinger

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Study Of The Assyrian And Guatemalan Genocides, Bernadette Mary Lazar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This century has witnessed many genocides throughout the world by the hands of leaders and citizens alike. These unjustifiable acts have not failed to exist even today. Although a lot of research and scholarly work has been dedicated towards the study of genocide, there is no single reason as to why it occurs; rather there are many theories that indicate what leads to genocide. The question still remains why does genocide happen? This thesis will attempt to answer this question by analyzing various theoretical perspectives, as well as comparatively observing two case studies that have not been extensively discussed. In …

The Shaikh’S Republic: The Kurdish Regional Government’S Incorporation Of Tribalism, Brian A. Kennedy

Politics Honors Papers

Iraqi Kurdistan in 2015 is polity quite unlike any other. Iraqi Kurdistan has come to be treated in policy making circles as a model for what is sometimes believed to be impossible: a highly tribal, multi-religious and multi ethnic society in the Middle East with sentiments of unity, a burgeoning economy, the makings of a democracy, increasing literacy and quality of life, and (perhaps most impressively) an effective internal security arrangement in the middle of a chaotic region. Yet recent events have cast doubts on the future of Kurdistan. The advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) …

Islam, Reason And The Challenge Of Decaying Modernity, Muqtedar Khan

Muqtedar Khan

The article explores the challenge of reason and modernity to Islam.

Fealess Friday: Kelsey Chapman, Christina L. Bassler

SURGE

Kelsey Chapman ’15 fearlessly advocates for human rights, peace, and justice, focusing on the Middle East. An economics major and Middle East and Islamic Studies (MEIS) minor, Kelsey is the house leader for the MEIS House, an Arabic PLA, and the founder of Gettysburg’s chapter of J Street U. [excerpt]

Improving U.S. State Department Cultural Exchanges With The Middle East: A Case Study Comparison Of Iraq And Jordan, Irene K. Gibson

Political Science Honors Projects

The U.S. State Department conducts cultural exchanges with the purpose of encouraging participants to instigate changes in their home countries. Despite extensive efforts by programs to measure their impact on participants, these effects are only indirect correlates or background variables for the ultimate goal of direct action. This thesis explores the impact of State Department cultural exchanges with the Middle East by drawing on eight interviews with exchange administrators of numerous programs in Iraq and Jordan. The case studies of Iraq and Jordan allow more careful scrutiny of the types of factors, both internal and external to programs, that affect …