International Relations Commons^™

The Geopolitics Of Rare Earth Elements: Emerging Challenge For U.S. National Security And Economics, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Rare earth elements (REE) contain unique chemical and physical properties such as lanthanum, are found in small concentrations, need extensive precise processes to separate, and are critical components of modern technologies such as laser guidance systems, personal electronics such as IPhones, satellites, and military weapons systems as varied as Virginia-class fast attack submarines, DDG- 51 Aegis destroyers, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and precision guided munitions. The U.S. has some rare earth resources, but is heavily dependent on access to them from countries as varied as Afghanistan, Bolivia, and China. Losing access to these resources would have significant adverse economic, …

Will War's Nature Change In The Seventh Military Revolution?, F. G. Hoffman

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article examines the potential implications of the combinations of robotics, artificial intelligence, and deep learning systems on the character and nature of war. The author employs Carl von Clausewitz’s trinity concept to discuss how autonomous weapons will impact the essential elements of war. The essay argues war’s essence, as politically directed violence fraught with friction, will remain its most enduring aspect, even if more intelligent machines are involved at every level.

A Wide Anticommunist Arc: Britain, Asean, And Nixon's Triangular Diplomacy, Wen-Qing Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

President Richard Nixon’s triangular diplomacy succeeded because a “wide anticommunist arc” of U.S. allies in Southeast Asia had confined the influence of both China and the USSR to the Indochinese states. Beijing and Moscow welcomed détente with Washington in order to accommodate to de facto U.S. hegemony in the region.

Debating Humanitarian Intervention: Should We Try To Save Strangers?, Fernando R. Tesón, Bas Van Der Vossen

Philosophy Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"When violence breaks out in a country, foreign governments face a difficult dilemma: should they intervene on behalf of the victims, or should they remain spectators? Each choice offers its own perils, and philosophers Fernando R. Tesón and Bas van der Vossen offer contrasting views of intervention by employing modern analytic philosophy, particularly just war theory. Tesón and van der Vossen refer to and weigh the consequences of past, present, and future interventions in Syria, Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Iraq, Lybia, Egypt, and more."

Conditions For An Effective Democracy In Multicultural Societies And Countries, Flora Kadriu

UBT International Conference

The motive behind this paper is exploration of the conditions for effective democracy in multicultural societies and countries. The two principles of social setting in the context of classical parliamentary democracy ensue from a special set of civil and political rights, as basis for cultural identity, which further underlies the collective cultural rights (CCRs) or group-differentiated rights (GDRs). Such setting is initiation into a serious process of changes in classical democracy. The cultural diversity accommodation in the political system of a given democracy is an intricate process that shifts the liberal justice concept and requires a new political system dubbed …

Dilemmas About The Core Values In The European Union, Elisabeth Kardos Kaponyi

UBT International Conference

The European integration was primarily about economic cooperation, but the European Union’s role in protecting the core values in its member states. EU values were first mentioned in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty on European Union, and since the Amsterdam Treaty the community law has a sufficiently precise description of this values, which should be respected not only by countries aspiring to the EU but also by the Member States themselves. The Lisbon Treaty defines EU values as “respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to …

Syrian Refugee Crisis And European Migration Policies: Rise In Xenophobic Rhetoric In Europe, Meltem Çelik Dirsehan

UBT International Conference

Syrian immigration crisis has been ignored by advanced European countries and the heaviest burden is left to developing border countries. However this ignorance has resulted in more mass influx of immigrants illegally to the borders of European Union with a target of advanced Northern countries. To evaluate the European ignorance to this humanitarian crisis, first Turkey is evaluated as a transition point for all Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants dreaming to live in Europe. By a shocking extend of sea arrivals, Europe have noticed the humanitarian crisis and made a deal with main transition point for immigrants, Turkey. However this …

The Stance Of Great Britain Towards The Government Of Fan Noli, Armend Mehmeti

UBT International Conference

Since after the First World War in internal political scene of Albania prevailed instability and political struggle between parties; such situation reached its peak in June 1924 when a rebellion was followed by seizure of power by opposition. This event attracted attention of all powers, especially of Great Britain, who was concerned about her oil concessions in Albania. Therefore this work aims to elaborate the attitude of Great Britain towards to Government of Noli. At the same time this work pretends to give a reflection to international and national circumstances which lead to failure of Government Noli to be recognized …

Social Policies In Kosovo: Institutional Reforms In The Context Of Globalization And Internatin Aladministration, Armend Muja

UBT International Conference

Social policy broadly focuses on pensions system, health insurance, education, family policies, disability and injury insurance, unemployment benefits, war victims’ benefits and other aid to the poor. The main features of Western Balkans’ welfare system during communism can be characterized by three pillars: full employment and quasi-obligatory employment: broad and universalistic social insurance: and a highly developed typically company-based, system of services and fringe benefits. This system was eliminated after the fall of communism, as it became impossible for the state to provide the necessary funds to cover new social costs associated with transformation. The welfare system reform in the …

Process Of State-Building In Kosovo, Ngadhnjim Brovina, Adlum Ramadani

UBT International Conference

The topic of state-building is a subject that has been continuously studied. To be fully understood, a case study should be included. Therefore, we have selected the case of Kosovo and the challenges of the process of state-building that Kosovo has had in the past. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the challenges that Kosovo's policy-making has faced along the road to state-building. The materials included in this scientific paper are from official documents from local and international institutions, as well as international and local authors from the field of state-building. The methodology used in this paper includes …

Aspects Of Islamic Revival And Radicalization In The Region Of Middle East, Redi Papa

UBT International Conference

The main objective of this topic is to provide a detailed panorama of the causes of Islamic Revival and radicalization of Islam, particularly in the region of Middle East. In this perspective, it’s somehow puzzling to at the first sight that Arab World used to be a leader in the science, military and science, is now paradoxically a region characterized by unrest and turmoil. Contrary to the past decades where peace was a distinctive peculiarity of the region and economy flourished, now is overwhelmed by the phenomena of the Radicalization of Islam for political purposes and to come to power. …

Forming Community Partnerships, Lori Foley

CHAR

In the event of a disaster, regardless of the type or scope, the first response is always local. For the institutions and organizations charged with safeguarding the nation’s cultural and historic resources – museums, historical societies, libraries, and municipal offices, to name just a few – building relationships with local first responders and emergency managers before disaster strikes is key to ensuring the safety of staff and collections. State emergency management agencies are also collaborating with their state cultural agencies to protect these valuable and vulnerable resources. The resulting emergency networks better position the local community and the state to …

Lessons Learned From Culture In Crisis; Or Protecting The Past To Save The Future, Laurie Rush

CHAR

At the midpoint of the second decade of the 21^st century, the world is experiencing deliberate destruction of cultural property at a scale not seen since the Second World War. Future protection and preservation of cultural heritage depends on learning from tragedy and applying these lessons as pro-actively as possible. First, we are discovering that no matter the threat, there are people who risk their lives to save artifacts and features of their culture, and the motives for this courage are retrospectively clear. For a community to survive a conflict or disaster as a corporate entity, elements of shared …

Keynote Address - When Violent Nonstate Actors Target Cultural Heritage Sites, Victor Asal

CHAR

Why would organizations attack or kill people at cultural heritage sites or destroy such sites? Using data from the Big Allied and Dangerous insurgent dataset that has data on 140 insurgent organizations from 1998-2012, and data from the Global Terrorism Database, this presentation examines the factors that make insurgent groups more likely to attack such sites or kill people at such sites. We look at the impact of organizational ideology, organizational structure and power as well as country level factors.

Mitigation, Response And Recovery, Richard Lord

CHAR

Abstract: Hurricane Harvey ravaged Texas and Louisiana nearly five years after Superstorm Sandy devastated the East Coast and caused 53 deaths, destroyed or severely damaged 100,000 Long Island homes, and left an estimated $42 billion in damages across New York State.

This session will provide an overview of the disaster relief and assistance programs available under the Stafford Act, when they are triggered, and how private non-profit and cultural institutions can plan for natural hazards and take full advantage of available aid. There will also be discussion of the NYS Hazard Mitigation Plan, the Community Risk and Resiliency Act, and …

Informing Responders Using Gis And Gps, Deidre Mccarthy

CHAR

Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in August 2005 and created the single largest disaster for cultural resources that the United States has witnessed since the inception of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1966. Notably, the NHPA created the National Register of Historic Places, our nation’s catalog of important cultural resources. The NHPA also stipulates that any federal undertaking which may adversely affect National Register eligible resources be mitigated. For the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Katrina created the largest compliance project ever under Section 106 of the NHPA.

Although causing a great deal of damage, Katrina also …

Keynote Address: Climate Change: From Global To New York Scale, Christopher D. Thorncroft

CHAR

This talk is concerned with the science and impacts of climate change from global to New York scales. It will provide an assessment of how the climate has changed over the past Century based on a purely observational perspective. The scientific basis for anthroprogenic climate change will be explained and discussed including a description of the “greenhouse effect” and why it is important for life on this planet. We will briefly discuss global and local consequences of a warmer climate and what we need to be prepared for going forward in the coming decades.

Opening Keynote Address: Using Data To Understand Cultural Destruction, Brian I. Daniels

CHAR

Brian I. Daniels, Ph.D, Penn Cultural Heritage Center, University of Pennsylvania Museum.

Why is cultural heritage targeted in conflict? Under what circumstances? By whom? Today, due in part to the recent notorious instances of cultural destruction in the Middle East and North Africa, there is perhaps more attention among the broader scientific community than ever before about the phenomenon of cultural loss. At the same time, there are many significant data and analytical gaps. Little social science literature about cultural destruction exists and many critical questions—and avenues of research—are, as of yet, unstudied. A primary reason for this lack …

Geopolitics Of Rare Earth Elements, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Rare earth elements (REE) contain unique chemical physical properties such as lanthamum, are found in small concentrations, need extensive precise properties to separate, and are critical components of modern technologies such as laser guidance systems, personal electronics such as IPhones, satellites, and military weapons systems as varied as Virginia-class fast attack submarines, DDG-51 Aegis destroyers, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and precision guided munitions. The U.S. has some rare earth resources, but is heavily dependent on access to them from countries as varied as Afghanistan, Bolivia, and China. Losing access to these resources would have significant adverse economic, military, and …

Gender And The State Department, Courtney Sage

The Eastern Illinois University Political Science Review

As research concerning women continues to expand, so to do the opportunities to examine women in other political positions beyond elected officials. Bureaucratic positions create an impact on policy just as elected positions do. My research examines gender in the State Department. I explore factors including length of service, country of service, appointments, and education. My research found that there are little differences between men and women in regards to length of service, education and appointments. However, the countries men and women serve in are much different when compared. This research has only scratched the surface, and future research will …