International and Area Studies Commons^™

Brain Drain, Brain Waste And Exporting Talent, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Developing countries should remember the purpose of higher education instead of viewing a degree as a tool for career opportunities overseas

Amjambo Africa! (February 2019), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

In This Issue...

Pihcintu at the UN..................Page 2

Attitude by A. Okafor............Page 5

South Sudanese Community...Page 8

Rwandese Community...........Page 9

Governor Mills ..............Pages 12/13

Mahoro Maine......................Page 15

The Making Of A New Superpower: An Examination Of China's Journey To Superpower Status, Sabrina Abigail Focht

Senior Theses

This thesis aims to determine China’s current role within the international system and whether or not it has achieved the status of a superpower nation and thus, the ability to shift global polarity. Due to China’s recent economic success, scholars have been debating if China has already become a superpower, will become one in the future, or if it will never attain this status. This thesis will suggest that by observing the United States’ journey to becoming a sole superpower after the end of the Cold War, and its consequential shifting of global polarity, it is possible to determine where …

The Difficulties Of Filming Syrian Refugee Populations Living In Jordan: Obstacles To Objectivity And Accuracy In Reporting, Thaddeus E. Decaprio

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project seeks to explain and address the challenges inherent in filming and documenting Syrian refugee populations in Jordan. This project will take the form of a narrative research paper in conjunction with a video component comprised of the first-hand accounts of several refugees who consented to sharing their stories on camera. I went, along with my brother Louis (a filmmaker), to Jordan to document firsthand the stories of Syrian refugees in their own words. We were invited to film for the Women ASPIRE project of an organization called ASPIRE (Advancing Solutions in Policy, Implementation, Research, and Engagement for Refugees), …

The Jihadist Marketplace: Understanding Competition Between Al Qaeda And Isis, Hristo Voynov

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

ISIS and al Qaeda are the world’s preeminent transnational jihadist organizations. Following a public schism, the two started competing, even though they previous cooperated to accomplish their shared goals. This split divided the movement, which was previously united under the leadership of al Qaeda. Now the two must compete with one another for the limited resources of the global jihadist movement as the loser of the competition risks losing their standing within the movement, which may lead to irrelevancy, or even organizational demise, for the loser. This competition requires study because it is necessary to explain why the two would …

The Post-9/11 Lgbtq Human Rights Struggle In Egypt, Donna K. Huaman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since the turn of the twenty-first century, the struggle for LGBTQ human rights has become a leading standard that depicts whether or not a state can be considered modern and progressive. Yet, while this new criterion seems to be supported by Global North states, other nations in other regions, like Egypt from the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) has criticized the international pressure to implement this standard as neo-imperialist and inauthentic to its Muslim-Arab culture. Egypt claims to be the universal Arab-Muslim voice for the MENA region and has become one of the greatest challengers to the international campaign for …

Adam Reinhold Schiewe---A Cross-Border Man Of Faith: A Baptist Trailblazer In Estonia, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, And Russia, Üllas Linder

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This study aimed at compiling a biography of the preacher Adam Reinhold Schiewe (1843–1930). Schiewe ministered in the territories of present-day Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, and Estonia. His historical significance lies primarily in the formal founding of the first Baptist congregation in Estonia. Schiewe wrote memoirs of his life and is featured in a large number of fragmentary, at times even contradictory, sources. The author pointed out the inaccuracies found therein and reconstructed a plausible biography. The study was originally written in Estonian and was supported by a single scholarship from the ESF programme DoRa activity 8.

How To Take Feedback Seriously, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Publicresponses to incidents are a valuable source of feedback. While negativefeedback may cause discomfort, it is important for policymakers to learn toprocess and respond better to such views.

Bodies Of Work: Skilling At The Bottom Of The Global Nursing Care Chain, Yasmin Y. Ortiga, Jenica Ana Rivero

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In the midst of a growing global market for migrant care work, there is a need to investigate not only how such labour is consumed but how ‘ideal’ care workers are also produced. This paper investigates how schools within migrant-sending countries produce nurse labour through body work or the testing and honing of hospital procedures on patients’ bodies. Focusing on the case of the Philippines, this paper shows how the education of nurses for export creates a paradoxical impact on care work within local healthcare institutions. Aspiring nurse migrants provide much-needed manpower to understaffed public hospitals yet, treat poor patients …

Pink Tape: Leftist State Bureaucracy And Neoliberalism In The Mining Sectors Of Bolivia And Ecuador, Cristina Nicole Mendez

Senior Theses

Latin America is the locus of various policy experiments and social movements, where political and economic leaders have vacillated between prioritizing neoliberalism and social security since the 1960s. Scholars have observed Latin American leftist governments for viable alternatives to neoliberal economics, but such projects have effectively failed to truly change the course of economic development in Latin America (Weyland, 2010; Escobar, 2010). One of the most salient contemporary instances of this ideological conflict has been the issue of land use rights and neo-extractivism, particularly in mining conflicts in the Andes of South America. This thesis posits that so-called leftist political …

Chinese Infrastructure Investments In Africa: A Case Study Of The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway In Ethiopia And Djibouti And The Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line In Nigeria, Alexa Tovar

Senior Theses

In recent years, China has emerged as a large infrastructure investor in the African continent, which has incited controversy among the international community in regards to the impact that these investments could have. A part of the literature on Chinese investments in infrastructure in Africa argues that these investments are adverse to the environment, local employment, and the dissemination of technology. This thesis contributes to this debate by exploring the question: what are some of the effects of Chinese infrastructure investments in Africa in terms of the environment and use of local natural resources, local hiring, and technology transfers? The …

Azerbaijan: Religious Freedom Survey, 2018, Felix Corley, John Kinahan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Azerbaijan restricts freedom of religion and belief with interlinked freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. Forum 18’s survey analyzes violations including prisoners of conscience who were jailed and tortured for exercising freedom of religion and belief, strict state literature censorship, and regime claims of its “tolerance.” Forum 18's survey analysis documents Azerbaijan's violations of freedom of religion and belief, with interlinked freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. Serious violations include but are not limited to:

- a complex labyrinth of “legal” restrictions to prevent the exercise of freedom of religion, belief, and other fundamental freedoms;

-total state control of the …

Supporting A Canadian Proposal To Declare Srebrenica Genocide Denial Illegal, Rusmir Mahmutćehajić,

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A letter written by the author, Dr. Rusmir Mahmutćehajić, at the request of Professor Ramić in support of a petition currently before the Canadian federal parliament to make denial of the genocide at Srebrenica illegal

The Coming Out Of Memory: The Holocaust, Homosexuality, And Dealing With The Past, Arnaud Kurze

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This research discusses the challenges of establishing a collective memory for gay victims of the Nazi terror in World War II and examines the introduction of gay victimhood into the public sphere through memorialization efforts. While scholarly accounts on gays and the Holocaust emerged in the 1970s, little is known about the emergence and consolidation of a public narrative on gay persecutions under the Nazis. It raises important questions, including why a public voice for crimes against sexual minorities in World War II emerged only hesitantly? Drawing on historical gay memorialization processes in Germany, the author maps the obstacles for …

The Impact Of An Electrical Mini-Grid On The Development Of A Rural Community In Kenya, Abubakr Bahaj, Luke Blunden, Christopher Kanani, Patrick James, Issac Kiva, Zoe Matthews, Heather Price, Hildah Essendi, Jane Ealkingham, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Electrical mini-grids can provide electrification to rural communities far from the national network. However the benefits of such schemes are disputed. We observed changes in two matched trading-centres in Makueni County, Kenya, neither of which were initially electrified. During the study a solar photovoltaic mini-grid scheme (13.5 kWp) was constructed in one of the trading-centres. After electrification there were relative increases in the number of businesses and business income. Comparing the households in the areas around the trading centres, perceived wealth increased more around the electrified trading centre. Qualitative interviews indicated improvements in service provision by the local school and …

Hundred Years Since Yugoslavia’S Birth: Lesson On Nationalism, Balkanization, And Religion In Europe’S Periphery, Vjekoslav Perica

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In 2018, historians were marking the one hundredth anniversary of the foundation of a nation-state in southeastern Europe remembered as Yugoslavia–the country of Southern Slavs. The multi-ethnic nation used to connect several European ethnic groups of the shared Slavonic ancestry yet were divided by three major religions and mutually exclusive ethnic nationalist ideologies. The Yugoslav national project lasted seven decades under various regime types in a sensitive balance often disturbed by wars. In the 20th century alone, the territory of the former Yugoslavia saw six major wars, three cycles of ethnic cleansing and genocide, and about fifteen various states and …

Frontmatter (Volume 39, Issue 1), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Theological Effort Of Hafiz Ali Of Korcha, Ismail Bardhi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Hafiz Ali Korcha's work and activities in the fields of theology, literature, and education can be viewed, from the historical-theological perspective, as a reflection of his theological effort. This is the central category, containing as it does all of Korcha's cognitive-theoretical, axiological, and cultural-theological speculations, as well as his views on science, literature, cultural policy, and religion. In his entire theological opus, one feels the fragrance of the Qur'an and of the life of Prophet Muhammad a.s. Theological effort, as understood by Korcha, differs from theology in that it is the source of theologizing and is a primordial tendency of …

Communicating In The Post‐Truth Era: Analyses Of Crisis Response Strategies Of Presidents Donald Trump And Rodrigo Duterte, Natasha Binte Mohamed Ismail, Marie Angeline Pagulayan, Carlo Miguel Alfonso Francia, Augustine Pang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The rhetoric of then U.S. President‐elect Donald Trump and Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte had triggered a shift in global political discourse (Greene, 2016). This study examines their responses on three similar crises: disrespectful remarks towards women, associations with controversial political figures, and remarks threatening geopolitical relations. Data from prestige publications, Washington Post (U.S.) and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, were analyzed during the acute stage of each crisis. Findings showed that both men employed confusing strategy combinations in their crisis responses. Despite incoherent application and contradictory strategies, they survived threats to their image as evidenced by poll results. New strategies (diversion …

Social Policy Reform And Rigidity In Singapore's Authoritarian Developmental State, Lily Zubaidah Rahim, Lam Keong Yeoh

Research Collection School Of Economics

Singapore’s economic achievements have been widely applauded as a model worthy of emulation, particularly by authoritarian and rapidly industrialising economies. Yet, the city-state retains the dubious distinction of being one of the most inequitable countries in the world—in income inequality terms. Singapore is the only developed economy where workers are not entitled to a minimum wage or compulsory retrenchment benefits. However, following the 2011 electoral backlash against the long-serving People’s Action Party (PAP) government, numerous social policy reforms were introduced. But have these social policy reforms been effective in qualitatively addressing income and socio-economic inequality? To address this question, the …