Political Science Commons^™

Progress Reimagined: A Generation Z Perspective On Belfast In Relation To The Unsdgs., Lucy Love Haman, Rebecca F. Macleod, Emilee E. Ernster, Camryn Moore, Erin Miller, Daron Baltazar, Ricardo Jackson

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

This research explores a contemporary outsider view of Belfast, through the eyes of Generation Z visiting college students, in relation to how three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are carried out (Good Health and Well-Being, Climate Action, and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions). To learn through firsthand accounts, the researchers utilized ethnographic and phenomenological methods, as interacting with locals to gather community inputs, surveying different groups in the city, Abstract: recording quotes said by citizens and displayed at billboards, and For Peer Review applying personal sensory experiences. It was found that a political deadlock plays a major role in the …

Flashpoints In Small State Diplomacy: The Effects Of Strategic Alignment, Democratic Norms, And Domestic Support In Ukraine And Taiwan On Us Commitments, Cooper T. Wilson

Senior Theses

In the field of international relations, the fate of small and mid-sized nations is often analyzed through the lens of great power politics, but this perspective misses half of the story. In this paper, I ask the question: what factors internal to smaller states affect their ability to court Western support? I compare the cases of Ukraine and Taiwan, as both are geopolitical flashpoints with a much larger aggressor, are widely researched for their implications on the global balance of power, yet lack sufficient research regarding their own actions on the world stage. Looking at the history of both states …

The Fall And Rise Of Bengali Muslim Conciousness: Conceptualising The Identity Of The Bangla Universal, Habib Khan

Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of modern-nation states saw the end of the empirical era of exploitation and exercise of inherent racist tendencies towards the 'other'. However, the effect of that colonial system is still ever-present in the creation and governance of these newly independent states. While every new state aims to be 'modern', they adopt the international legal framework of the West as their own - a system they had initially wanted to escape. The concept of Muslim universality in the form of the ummah should have freed Pakistan from the shackles of its former colonial masters. Instead, this phenomenon was replaced …

Why Agriculture Productivity Falls: The Political Economy Of Agrarian Transition In Developing Countries, Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir

Purdue University Press Books

Why Agriculture Productivity Falls: The Political Economy of Agrarian Transition in Developing Countries offers a new explanation for the decline in agricultural productivity in developing countries. Transcending the conventional approaches to understanding productivity using agricultural inputs and factors of production, this work brings in the role of formal and informal institutions that govern transactions, property rights, and accumulation. This more robust methodology leads to a comprehensive, well-balanced lens to perceive agrarian transition in developing countries. It argues that the existing process of accumulation has resulted in nonsustainable agriculture because of market failures—the result of asymmetries of power, diseconomies of scale, …

Navigating Through World’S Military Spending Data With Scroll-Event Driven Visualization, Hong Beom Hur

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Catching up with the current geopolitical event is more important than ever these days. Anti-western nations like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea constantly challenge the world order set by the United States and its close allies. As a result, the world has seen a rise in military spending consecutively for the last several years. This data visualization project aims to provide an easy-to-read summary of military spending data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute for hotly conflicted regions: East Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Scroll-event-driven visualization implemented using Scrollama.js and D3.js combines text, map, and data …

Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, Jennifer Noboise

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The history of dance within the black community has served an important role while living through a racist and discriminatory society. Dance has been used to express anger, grief, and joy during hardships and moments of rejoicing from the black experience. African American people have endured years of trauma and abuse from oppressive systems. Research has been conducted to demonstrate that dance/movement therapy has been effective in treating those who have experienced a form of trauma since the trauma is stored in the body. Examining trauma symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance use, the research found these symptoms diminished …

Striving For Peace Through Speech: Analyzing The Effect Personal Diplomacy And Summitry Had On Presidential Communist Rhetoric, 1984-1986, Jack Cravwn

Senior Theses

Globalization has ushered in an unprecedented era of connected national politics, economies, and populations. Strong ties have intertwined the fates of nations and brought about a new era of international cooperation. However, the rise of populist and isolationist movements in the past two decades threatens to change the geopolitical landscape and diplomacy around the globe. As the United States loses its hegemonic role to the quickly growing economy of China, it is imperative that American foreign policy reflects the need for continued cooperation and support. This raises the question of the effectiveness state diplomacy and summitry has in easing tensions …

Immigration Policy After Covid-19 And Cultural Resistance At The U.S.-Mexico Border, Grace Ayres-Doyle

Senior Theses

What I examine here is how the global COVID-19 pandemic altered asylum and refugee responsibility among Global North countries. In particular, I look at cultural responses to restrictive pandemic policies which speak to the level of intensity of the current humanitarian crisis at the United States southern border with Mexico. The US-Mexico border functions well as a case study because of its highly publicized and discussed nature, along with the strong influence held by the US over the rest of the world. The cultural moment surrounding Title 42 and other pandemic policies represents a shift in public recognition of the …

How Foreign Policy Is Manifested Through Diplomatic Discourse: An Analysis Of Us Ambassador Rhetoric At The Un Regarding Israeli Settlement Expansion, Alexandra M. Sayegh

Senior Theses

This thesis examines American ambassador discourse at the United Nations Security Council from 2012 to 2019 regarding the ongoing issue of Israeli settlement expansion in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. While Israel’s settlement activity technically breaches international law as well as several UN resolutions, there is no binding aspect of the framework of international law that could compel Israel to cease its violations. This issue is further exacerbated by the fact that the United States often protects Israel from criticisms of its occupation regime in front of the international community. Previous research spanning several decades has revealed an evident bias in …

Trapped In The Margins: Russia, The United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees, And The Story Of Afghan Refugees In Tajikistan, Meredith Schutt

Senior Theses

Since the Taliban’s return to Afghanistan, thousands of Afghans have fled the country in search of refugee status abroad. In the wake of this crisis, one country in the region, Tajikistan, opened its borders to Afghans, vowing to grant refugee status to 100,000. Today, Tajikistan has closed its borders and is forcibly returning Afghan refugees and asylum seekers. This research aims to reveal the extent of influence that external parties have on Afghan refugee flows in Tajikistan. For this paper, the two external parties examined are the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Russia. In examining the role …

Advancing United Nation’S Gender Mainstreaming: Female Peacekeepers In Haiti And Liberia, Evening S. Huddleston

Senior Theses

The United Nations (UN) is making efforts to implement a gender mainstreaming perspective throughout its organization, specifically including women in the peace processes. One aspect of this is increasing the number of female peacekeepers. To determine the success of these efforts, this paper explores whether the lives of women and girls were improved during UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti and Liberia. Using women’s and girls’ participation in education, law enforcement, and politics, as well as the Gender Development Index and the Gender Inequality Index, this paper finds that including women in peacekeeping roles adds a new dimension of skills and …

In Quest Of A Shared Planet: Negotiating Climate From The Global South, Naveeda Khan

Literary Studies

Based on the author’s eight years of fieldwork with the United Nations-led Conference of Parties (COP), In Quest of a Shared Planet offers an illuminating first-person ethnographic perspective on climate change negotiations. Focusing on the Paris Agreement, anthropologist Naveeda Khan introduces readers to the only existing global approach to the problem of climate change, one that took nearly thirty years to be collectively agreed upon. She shares her detailed descriptions of COP21 to COP25 and growing understanding of the intricacies of the climate negotiation process, leading her to ask why countries of the Global South invested in this slow-moving process …

The Departure From The Original Intent Of The 14th Amendment, Johnny B. Davis

Helm's School of Government Conference

No abstract provided.

The Economic Ferocity Of Policy, Giana Depaul

Helm's School of Government Conference

Each day, as the Dow Jones rises and falls, Congress similarly passes and fails legislation. These two seemingly continuous cycles intersect to the point that the two structures appear affixed. For centuries, this has posed an age-old question: is it policy that influences the economic system or is it the economic system itself that molds policy decision-making? Renowned economist Adam Smith is famous for his works detailing the autonomous nature of the economic system. Smith views policy as only a small roadblock in the master strategy of the economic flow of life. The Great Depression and the 2008 Recession, however, …

The Impact Of The Deinstitutionalization Policies On Homelessness, Henrique Krigner

Helm's School of Government Conference

Homelessness is a growing issue in America. In 2019 there were 567,715 homeless individuals in the United States, distributed in emergency shelters (63%) or residing unsheltered on streets (27%). In 2021, even though specialists argue that the Covid-19 restrictions greatly harmed an accurate counting, the total number of unsheltered homeless in America increased in 20%. Such increase became a central discussion not only to regular citizens and neighborhood associations, but it also became a great concern within the federal government which has been appropriating billions of dollars each year to “end homeless”.

Specialists point out that the growth of the …

Prostitution And Pornography: Reforming A Perspective, Mayce Combs

Helm's School of Government Conference

Happiness is a subjective emotion that can quickly be twisted by the depravity of humanity’s sinful nature. Human trafficking deprives an individual’s natural right to life, liberty, and their pursuit to happiness. Of the two divisions of human trafficking, sex trafficking, especially involving children, is the most despicable and most evolved. The United States and further the state of Virginia is a crucial player in combating human trafficking. While there are currently many successful tactics state governments and nonprofit groups are utilizing in order eliminate human trafficking there are further more intense strategies the Virginia State Government should implement. One …

Eugenics Not Eradication: How People With Disabilities Have Lost The Right To Life, Ava Standish

Helm's School of Government Conference

Disability-selective abortion stems from a eugenical philosophy not a hope of eradication. Disabilities cannot be eradicated because they are not diseases. Eugenics seeks to purify society from those who are considered “inferior” and to encourage the rate of births considered “superior.” Eugenics continues today through selective abortion of children with disabilities. These children deserve the right to life guaranteed by natural rights, human rights, and the laws of the United States. Children with disabilities, particularly Down Syndrome, have lost this right to life in the United States and abroad. In the United States, 67% of children with Down Syndrome are …

The Ineffectiveness Of The U.S. Strategy For Countering Terrorism In Iraq And Syria, Ann Mullins

Helm's School of Government Conference

This research paper will explore the strategies of the U.S. when it comes to counterterrorism measures in the Middle East. It will also be exploring the aspects of the strategy that have been ineffective and counterproductive. The current U.S. Counterterrorism strategy in Iraq and Syria is counterproductive to its defined objectives in light of several fundamental elements: the significant U.S. military presence in the region, ineffectual U.S. security programs, and robust financial backing of ISIS by state sponsors of terrorism. The primary sources used throughout this research are listed the following: the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Department …

The Future Of Integrated Air And Missile Defense (Iamd) Against China, Carl Rehberg

Helm's School of Government Conference

Over the last two decades, China's People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) and other PLA entities have provided the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with a complex array of offensive capabilities, focused primarily on the U.S., allies, and partners in the Pacific. There has been explosive growth in ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, supersonic cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons, HGVs, and other threats. These salvo attacks are explicitly designed to attack theater air bases, seaports, and other facilities critical to U.S. military operations. These PLA weapon systems undermine U.S. security assurances with its allies and partners. They could incentivize China to strike first …

The Future Of The Cyber Theater Of War, Elizabeth Cook

Helm's School of Government Conference

Few could imagine how it would develop when the air was the new theater of war. The literature showcases that a lack of imagination and state-level institutionalized power structures, particularly in the U.S., hampered the progress of air as a new theater of war both in thought and application. Today, a similar lack of imagination on the cyber theater of war is a great source of insecurity in the world system; it sets the stage for strategic shocks like the ones to the U.S. on December 7, 1941, and 9/11. To avoid this, states should imagine how a convergence of …