International Relations Commons^™

An Analysis Of The Migration Policies Of The European Union And Their Effectiveness In Managing The Current Migration Crisis, Michael Blair

MA IDS Thesis Projects

The current migration of individuals into the European Union is creating an unparalleled and unprecedented crisis that has completely overwhelmed the EU Member States. Migrants entering the European Union have done so via dangerous and deadly sea and land routes, resulting in a devastating humanitarian crisis throughout Europe. As conflicts and instability around the world continue to evolve and escalate, larger flows of migrants continue to pour into the European Union causing the irregular migration of people across Europe’s borders. To counter this, European Union officials have attempted to create migration policies based on border management and security ideals. However, …

Transparency And Accountability In The Management Of Oil Revenues In Ghana, Ransford E. Van Gyampo

Government and International Affairs Faculty Publications

This paper undertakes a five-year review of the management of oil revenues in Ghana since the commencement of oil production in 2010. Using reports from the Petroleum Transparency and Accountability Index, official records from key state agencies, and interviews with core individuals within the petroleum sector, the paper assesses the quality of transparency and accountability in the management of Ghana’s oil revenue. It argues that even though some progress has been made in the transparent and accountable use of oil revenues, more can be achieved if certain critical bills are passed and proactive interventions pursued without further delay on the …

Adaptation On A Budget: How Vietnamese Innovators Are Trying To Design Their Way Out Of Climate Change, Shanti R. Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the rapidly developing Mekong Delta of Vietnam, young innovators are facing a challenge far greater than simply trying to catch up with the wealthier world. In a growing trend, the next generation of Vietnamese is acting under a common understanding: climate change is real, it’s here and the time to respond is growing short.

For over a decade, Southern Vietnam has consistently been ranked by international organizations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as one of the most vulnerable places in the world to the impacts of climate change. That vulnerability is heightened by the fact that the …

Salman, Salman, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Salman and his family are from Afghanistan, where he worked as a doctor. He worked for fifteen years for a mining institute, and before that he worked in various hospitals with Americans and Germans for another combined 15 years. The family ran into problems with the Taliban, who threatened violence if he didn’t close his drugstore. During that same time, his son witnessed a suicide bombing at his school. Their daughter was forced to abandon her education when the Taliban poisoned the water at her school. They fled in attempts to live a normal life again and escape the threats …

Emal, Emal, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Emal was a gate security guard in the Afghan army and a supplier for American forces at the airport. Before leaving Afghanistan, Emal was kidnapped by Daesh, beaten, thrown into a pile of bodies, and left for dead. He woke up weeks later in hospital with adent in his skull, brain damage, and mental/emotional problems. When he was able, Emal fled with his wife and six kids, but they travelled with smugglers in separate cars and got separated. Iran police deported his wife and children back to Afghanistan. Emal continued on and eventually made his way to Oinofyta refugee camp …

Fawad And Zakeela, Fawad, Zakeela, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Fawad and his wife, Zakeela, have three children. Zakeela was a beautician, and Fawad was a singer in the Baghlan district in Afghanistan. The music he produced was not in accordance with the strict restrictions of the Taliban. They threatened his life and assaulted him many times, so he decided to leave with his family to Kabul. Fawad’s day job was as an FM radio producer; at night, he moonlighted as a singer and musician. He produced music for ceremonies and weddings, often performing for the women’s part, which the Taliban did not accept. Eventually, his life was again threatened, …

Faroosh And Elina, Faroosh, Elina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Faroosh was a cameraman for a private television program in Afghanistan working on a documentary about the Taliban. When he and his crew were discovered, the Taliban attacked them and he and his wife fled to Turkey, walking 12 hours to get there. Upon arrival the police arrested and harassed them. Turkey was not a safe place. After several suicide bombings in the area, they decided to move on to Greece, where they are in a refugee camp without any progress in their situation. They have no money to move forward and no ability to work and the economic situation …

The Importance Of Strong Governmental Institutions In Military Subordination: Mexico And Argentina, A Comparative Study, Eli Landman

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the history of civil military relations in Mexico and Argentina in an attempt to understand why Mexico was able to subordinate its military following the fall of the Porfírian military regime, while Argentina experienced decades of military intervention into the civilian sphere. It argues that strong governmental and political institutions in Mexico were the key to subordinating the Mexican military to civilian control, while patterns of populist political movements in Argentina hampered the formation of strong governmental institutions that would have enabled the subordination of the military to civilian control.

A Failure To Cooperate: Why Canada, The United States, And Mexico Have Not Developed A Regional Energy Strategy, Timothy Dutton

Honors Theses

Given the push from the private sector, as well as the resource complementarities among the three countries of North America, it is somewhat surprising that North America has not developed an integrated energy strategy based on traditional, non-renewable energy (2000-2016). How should we understand this puzzle? The answer lies in domestic forces and the structure of national preferences. Using liberal international relations theory, this thesis presents a two-step argument: first, the election of pro-green political parties has in each country led to a convergence of preferences for climate action. Essentially, as each one came to power, the win-set for a …

Modeling The "Gravity" Of Foreign Aid: A Dyadic Panel Analysis On The Impact Of Bilateral Aid Commitments On Bilateral Immigration From 1994 To 2011, Miles D. Williams

Masters Theses

While research shows policymakers increase bilateral foreign aid commitments in response to an increase in bilateral immigration, supposedly as a means for reducing the demand for immigration, the effectiveness of this strategy is given only passing consideration in the literature. Many doubt this approach's success, but little effort has been made to empirically justify this doubt. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature and proposes a novel hypothesis. It is argued here that aid, more than simply failing to promote development quickly enough to reduce the demand for immigration, functions as a signal of donor wealth. When …

Islamism In Western Europe: Milli Görüş In Germany, Gonul Tol, Yasemin Akbaba

Political Science Faculty Publications

This study is an inquiry into the nature of the Islamic Community Milli Görüş (Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüş -IGMG) movement in Germany. The movement has been identified as an “Islamist extremist group” by the German Ministry of the Interior in 2005. Germany has the highest number of Turkish immigrants in Western Europe and is home to Milli Görüş’s headquarters. We ask whether radicalization is a response to social, economic and political marginalization of Milli Görüş members in Germany. The data collected during the field research conducted in Germany between the years of 2004 and 2007 was used to explore radicalization …

Treaty Commitment And The Reconstruction Of Social Relations Among States, Youcheer Kim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Does states’ treaty commitment promote the inter-state socialization? A gap exists in the existing constructivist International Relations literature as to which agents could promote the internalization of constitutive beliefs through which process. This project seeks to illuminate whether states’ treaty commitments have promoted the inter-state socialization in three dimensions: (1) the convergence of voting patterns in the UN General Assembly (2) the convergence of state practices in territorial disputes (3) the emergence of rules-oriented domestic governance. I draw on classical sociology, public law theory, the English School theory, and the Transnational Legal Process theory to develop the Social Theory of …

Unaccompanied Children Migration, Ronald Alvarado

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

The way people view immigration has changed over the past few years. Children fleeing to the United States without their parents has been a huge issue lately. Unaccompanied children are kids younger than 18 who are sent alone, in this case to the United States. These kids migrate because of the extreme violence that occurs in their home countries.

Statistics prove that children in their home countries are exposed to much violence. Most are coming from the northern triangle of Central America. I believe they should have more rights here in the United States, and be treated just the same …

Human Trafficking: Legislation And Extent, Morgan Podczervinski

Honors College Theses

The International Labour Organization estimated there to be around 21 million individuals worldwide that fall victim to forced labour and another 4.5 who are exploited for sex. Sex Trafficking is a major human rights issue around the world and in the United States particularly. How would reducing the restrictions of the T-visa as well as legalizing prostitution impact the overall rate of sex trafficking in the United States? Previous human rights research has found that the legislation currently in place to combat sex trafficking is not adequately limiting the extent of the problem. I argue that the restrictions on T-visas …

The Ethical Issues Of Dumping Electronic Waste In India, Krista E. Dawson

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

Electronic waste, also referred to as “e-waste,” is all waste made from electronic products such as computers, mobile phones, digital music players, refrigerators, washing machines, and TV’s (Pinto, 2008). There is e-waste produced in the manufacturing process as well as the final disposal of the product. Although developed countries consume most electronics, it is increasingly common for countries that are still developing to possess electronic goods (Larrdis, 2011). Use of technology and connection to worldwide networking is a huge step for the progress of these countries, but having gained a “part” of the developed world without the associated infrastructure to …

Locating Gendered Resistance: Interethnic Conflict, Environmental Disaster, And Feminist Leadership In Sri Lanka, Allison A. Donine

Pitzer Senior Theses

In geographically vulnerable and politically unstable regions such as Sri Lanka, I argue that linking natural hazards and climate-induced disasters to existing social issues is more pressing than ever. In the case of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, it was impossible to dissociate the two. Looking though the lens of distress, in conflict and environmental disaster, this thesis explores how women have transformed moments of victimization into opportunities for resistance and agency. This thesis examines the following questions: Within the geo-political context of Sri Lanka, how does social stress (human-made or environmental) produce conflict and resistance to patriarchal traditions along …

From Liberal To Restrictive: The 1992 Asylum Policy Change In Germany, Natalie Ramos

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As the most popular destination country for migrants and refugees in the EU since the end of World War II (MPI, 2004), Germany has a history of refugee inflows. In this thesis I focus on the different factors that led to asylum policy change in reunified Germany, from liberal since 1945 to restrictive, after the end of the Cold War in 1992, with the 1992 amendment of Article 16 of the German Basic Law. The study of the factors that account for German asylum policy change is important to understand the future of German asylum policy, and potentially provide a …

Examining The Legality Of The Guantánamo Bay Detention Center According To International Humanitarian Law And International Human Rights Law, Sydney T. Winchester

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this research paper is to examine how international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) are applied to the Guantánamo Bay detention center. This paper was completed through the research of international treaties, court cases, and secondary sources that thoroughly discussed issues pertaining to Guantánamo and international law.

This paper first examines the differences between the two laws by looking at the particular roles each is meant to play in the subject of international law, as well as how the two have been applied thus far to the situation at Guantánamo. Second, the paper discusses …

Water Sanitation And Waste Management In Latin America, Colombia, And Cartagena: A Study Of The Relationship Between Environment, Health, Poverty, And Policy, Andrea K. Sullivan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The objective of this research is to identify the need for stricter environmental standards and regulations in three areas of study. Organized by their level of analysis, these areas are Latin America (at the System-Level-of Analysis), Colombia (at the State-Level-of-Analysis), and the city of Cartagena (at the Sub-National-Level of Analysis). This research was accomplished in two phases. The first involved conducting an exhaustive literature search of sources, germane to the objective, published in Spanish and English. The second featured a site inspection conducted over a 10-day period during the month of May 2016 to Cartagena, Colombia. The purpose of the …

Trafficking Smuggled Migrants: An Issue Of Vulnerability, Rachel A. Hews

Global Tides

This paper analyzes why the UN’s efforts against the sex trafficking of smuggled migrants, specifically regarding the Palermo and Smuggling Protocols, have been inadequate in preventing migrant smuggling. It concludes that the crime-based focus on prosecution overshadows prevention of the crime and protection of the victims, and that a human rights approach addressing the vulnerability of smuggled migrants would be more effective in reducing migrant smuggling long-term. Proposed solutions include decreasing both the “push” and “pull” factors of migration by ratifying existing legislation regarding basic human rights, implementing national policies that increase migrant rights in destination countries, and shifting further …