International and Area Studies Commons^™

Can Geopolitics Help Restore Missing Tools To The U.S. Trade Toolbox?, Matthew Schaefer

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

When U.S. trade negotiators and trade litigators seek to increase market access for U.S. goods and services abroad, they look in their toolbox to see what might be the best tool. The more well-stocked the toolbox, the more possibilities for increasing foreign market access. Today, when U.S. trade negotiators look in their toolbox, they see several traditional tools missing, specifically legally-binding, comprehensive (including tariff-cutting) regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) and large package deals within the World Trade Organization (WTO). Their trade litigator colleagues face a similar circumstance of missing traditional tools, specifically the loss of binding two-level dispute …

China Containment In East Asia: Preventative Or Provocative?, Rachel Solsman

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Since the end of World War II, the United States has developed and maintained its strategic alliances with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan, and has worked to contain China through bolstering its deterrence strategy. However, after a century of humiliation, China is modernizing its military capabilities, improving in trade, and increasing political cohesion to become a regional hegemon. In light of these changes to the international order, the United States must re-evaluate its involvement in East Asia, particularly concerning its alliances and current military and economic deterrence strategy against China. This paper will draw on a variety of …

Digital Agriculture In Africa: An Ethnographic Study Of Global Online Networking And Resource Mobilization On Mfangano Island, Ian James Muir Smith

Senior Theses

In one of the most isolated parts of Kenya, on an island in Lake Victoria, small-scale farmers are using newfound internet access in a unique and innovative way. New Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are transforming agriculture around the world, and due to a political, infrastructural, and entrepreneurial environment conducive to ICT innovation, Kenya leads the African continent in this field, known in the media as “Digital Agriculture”. In the face of the climate crisis and environmental degradation, people living on and around Mfangano Island are using self-managed volunteering platforms, crowdfunding sites, and social media in order to network with …

Feminism At The Borders: The Navigation Of Gender Issues By Mexican-American Women Along The U.S.-Mexico Border, Carolina Fuentes

Capstone Collection

Feminist movements have taken on various iterations since they first began, particularly as the movements expanded beyond predominantly Western and white spaces. This research study explores how gender equality is perceived and navigated along the U.S.-Mexico border area, taking into account the various Latin American and U.S. feminist developments that have shaped the current landscape of the border. 11 Mexican and Mexican-American women living in U.S.-Mexico border states were interviewed to gain an understanding of their definitions, perceptions, and opinions on feminism and gender-related issues given their bicultural contexts. These conversations revealed that ideas of rights and equality were central …

Manual Of Sustainable Urban Practices Towards Long-Term Conservation, Haley Kilmer

Capstone Collection

This paper analyzes how urban living and design can be detrimental to the surrounding ecosystems and how it is directly affecting the biodiversity loss of an area. To answer this question, I first did extensive background research on urbanization, climate change, and biodiversity loss as it relates to urban ecosystems. Then, the public’s perceptions were collected through surveys and interviews in order to make meaningful suggestions in the construction of an interactive, biological corridor map. The results showed that increasing the biodiversity of an urban area can help to mitigate many of the common environmental challenges associated with living in …

The Long Migration Route: Exploring Social Implications For Asylees In The Us And Policy Creation In Transit Countries As A Result Of Immigration Patterns Of African And Haitian Asylum-Seekers Traveling Through Latin America To The United States, Brendan Rupprecht

Capstone Collection

The number of asylum-seekers from African nations and Haiti traveling from their origin countries, through Latin America, and then to the United States is increasing. This capstone explores why Africans and Haitians are choosing to embark on this journey, what the experience is like for the asylum-seekers (including mapping the physical route taken), and what policies have been developed in transit countries, specifically Panama and Mexico, as a response to this phenomenon. To fulfill the objectives of the study, data was collected by conducting semi- structured interviews with 4 individuals who currently work in the field of international migration and …

Does Microcredit Reduce Poverty? An Empirical Exploration In India, Aneel Karnani, Seema Sahai

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Microcredit has grown dramatically over the last few decades and its supporters have made extravagant promises about its potential impact on reducing poverty. However, much recent research has shown that microcredit has no significant impact on reducing poverty. In this exploratory study we interview 205 clients of for-profit microcredit to better understand the causes of why microcredit has not lived up to its promise. We find the basic problem is that the lending policies of the microcredit organizations are designed to lower the costs and risks, and hence increase the profits of the organization, and are not responsive to the …

The Eastern Atomic Rise: Defining Nuclear Hegemony In A Multi-Lateral World, Eric Rodriguez

Capstone Collection

Most existing literature in the field of international relations on the hegemonic dimension of nuclear technology is written from a realist, western perspective within the context of the Cold War. It focuses on its military, defense, and security dimensions, non-proliferation and safety, and some analyses of hegemony from a cultural media perspective. This theory-building paper offers contrasting understanding of nuclear hegemony, which recognizes three recent developments: 1) diminished Western Hegemony in nuclear technology; 2) growing Chinese nuclear capacity in energy geopolitics; and 3) growing concerns about global energy security. This paper begins with an overview of these developments and a …

Pro-Integration Policies And The Occupational Expectations Of Immigrant Youth, Volha Chykina

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Europe is experiencing heightened public attention toward anti-immigration policy reforms and restrictions. Despite the potential importance of these policy changes, we do not know whether these policies influence how immigrant children perceive their futures in their host countries. Employing secondary data analysis of the Program for International Student Assessment and the Migrant Integration Policy Index data, I show that a decrease in policy support for immigrant integration is associated with a decrease in how good of a job immigrant children expect to have when they are adults. Since students’ occupational expectations influence their eventual status attainment, this article shows that …

Canton Through Western Eyes: Resources & Wood’S Sketches Of China, Sai Deng

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This book talk was organized by the Guangzhou Book Club and it was aimed to introduce the newly translated and published book《洋记者的广州城记》(English title: Sketches of China: with Illustrations from Original Drawings). The original English book was written by William Wightman Wood (1804-), an American journalist, businessman and cartoonist, who went to Canton, China in 1825 and created one of the first English newspapers in China, The Canton Register. This book is about his impressions and experiences of Canton and the southern China in the 1820s, all based on his travel notes. Canton was the only city which was open …

A Platform To Speak And The World To Listen: Creative Freedom, Government Policy, And Chinese Film, Stefan Burns

Senior Theses

When considering the Chinese domestic film industry, debates often arise regarding government involvement and the degree to which this interferes with filmmakers’ creative freedom. A common assertion raises concerns of censorship and propaganda with the proposal that state control continues to be overbearing and manipulative, but others challenge this view and maintain that the film industry is closer to a free market now that government intervention has been scaled back. This dissension naturally raises the question: how do Chinese government policies towards their domestic film industry impact filmmakers’ creative freedom? This tension is examined with the claim that Chinese government …

Building Climate-Resilient Cities, Winston Chow

Perspectives@SMU

Besides the 3R’s of reduce-reuse-recycle, people should also consider ASI – avoid, shift, and improve

Yung Kee: A Roast Goose Chase, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

How a Hong Kong culinary landmark emerged stronger following a bitter family feud over succession disputes

Chinese Clan Culture And Its Influence On Family Business Ownership, Jiameng Cheng, Yanke Dai, Lin Shu, Haichun Ye

Perspectives@SMU

Research shows that, in China, business owners who hail from provinces with high clan cultural influence are more likely to share business ownership with family members

Open Access In Singapore, Pin Pin Yeo

Research Collection Library

The blog post outlines how academic libraries in Singapore support Open Access and Open Science trends. It covers open access repositories in Singapore, the content and growth of OA publications. It covers the libraries support Open Data and Open Science and the data repositories in Singapore. Some publisher agreements were negotiated by NUS, and further discussions with selected publishers are in progress.

The Belt And Road Initiative Policy: How Chinese Policy Influences Southeast Asia And South Asia, Chendong Wang

Sustainability and Social Justice

This article would be divided into two main parts. In the first part, this article introduces what is the BRI policy and the history of the BRI policy. The BRI policy is a Chinese strategy and network to connect with Chinese partners and potential partners through economic, political, and cultural three perspectives. In the second part, this article describes the BRI policy development and the response from Chinese neighboring countries which mainly include the Southeast and South Asian Countries. Southeast Asian nations and south Asian nations would first be directly impacted by politics, the economy, and culture. Southeast Asian countries …

Characterization Of Municipal Water Sources For The Mexico-Lerma-Cutzamala Basin Region, Ian F. Hirons

Sustainability and Social Justice

The Mexico and Toluca Valleys in central Mexico are part of one of the most heavily populated megalopolises in the western hemisphere where consistent access to safe, affordable, and quality water sources figures to be a decisive challenge in the era of climate change. This professional project report compiles a range of statistics and information about the vital liquid for 29 municipalities located in and around the Mexico City and Toluca areas. This contribution is derived from a broader team research endeavor that seeks to gauge the impacts and adaptive processes to climate change within those regions. By doing so, …

Amjambo Africa! (August 2022), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

In this Issue

Amjambo Arts ......................2/3

Moonglade .............................4/5

Education .............................6-10

Free Community College

In 7 languages

Immigration fraud .................12

In 7 languages

Market Basket ...................14/15

Tips & Info ..............................16

All about the Workforce ........18

Community Happenings .20/21

Girls & women in Africa........22

Central America news ...........24

Health&Wellness. ..............26-27

In 7 languages

Service organization columns 32

Financial literacy ....................33

New Voices feature ...........34/35

Nonprofit updates .............36/37

Smu Founding Chairman Ho Kwon Ping To Step Down After 25 Years Of Distinguished Leadership, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases and News

Mr Ho Kwon Ping (何光平), Chairman of the Singapore Management University (SMU) Board of Trustees (BOT), will step down on 11 January 2023 after an illustrious 25 years of distinguished leadership. Mr Piyush Gupta (高博德), currently a member of the SMU BOT, will succeed Mr Ho as the new Chairman of SMU from 12 January 2023.

The Commuting Patterns Of Older Adults, Yen Cong Wong, Yan Er Tan, Grace Cheong

ROSA Research Briefs

This research brief uses data from the Singapore Life Panel (SLP) and provides a general description of the commuting patterns of older adults in November 2021. By outlining the latter, we aim to provide some indication of whether Singapore’s transport infrastructure adequately supports the commute needs of older adults and how older adults’ commute fares against the Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore’s Land Transport Master Plan (LTMP). Key findings: 1. Self-owned car (32.8%) was the most preferred mode of transport, followed by the public bus (25.3%), MRT (24.4%) and walking (8.3%). 2. In terms of utilization, public bus (50.3%), …