International Relations Commons^™

Defeating Isis: The Need For A Cooperative Effort, Sabrina Chikhi

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of a collective approach in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria also known as ISIS. The approach of the international community had been doomed to failure because it excluded key players in the region. In order to annihilate this terrorist group and the threat it poses to international security, this article proposes a revision of the approach to the resolution of this problem through the inclusion of all the parties susceptible to secure an efficient contribution to that endeavor before the situation becomes irremediable. In order …

Number 2 - The Role Of Western Democratic System Of Governance In Exacerbating Ethnic Conflicts In Africa: The Case Of Ghana's Democratic Dispensation, 1992-2012, David Kwasi Bansah

Peace and Conflict Management Working Papers Series

This paper interrogates the influence of Western forms of democracy on ethnic conflicts in Africa through a case study of Ghana’s adoption of multiparty democracy between 1992 and 2012. It discusses the transition of African traditional systems of government before, during, and after colonization. The paper also shows how democracy, by definition and in terms of governance, cannot solely be a Western idea since many African societies had democratic elements in their systems of government before the arrival of the Europeans. Relying on qualitative secondary data, and the analysis of fierce and acrimonious competition that have characterized multiparty democratic elections …

Re-Imagining Home: Operation Pedro Pan In The Cuban-American Imaginary, Yvette Fuentes

Quadrivium: A Journal of Multidisciplinary Scholarship

An exploration of the traumatic events of Operation Pedro Pan, where over 14,000 Cuban children traveled alone to the United States between December 1960 and October 1962. The program was organized by the Catholic Welfare Bureau of Miami and the U.S. State Department due to requests from Cuban parents who feared their children would be indoctrinated in Marxism by the new revolutionary government.

Aerospace Renaissance – Ripe For Research To Impact The Industry, Constantine M. Koursaris, Brig. Gen. Robert E. Mansfield Jr. (Ret.)

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

The Center for Aviation and Aerospace Leadership (CAAL) was founded in 2008 to capture, create, and share relevant information on leadership in the aviation and aerospace industry.

The AIR is developed and published in collaboration with the Aerospace Industries Association and includes:

• Information on the status of aerospace manufacturing in the United States and state of the economy

• An in-depth review of sales across the various sectors of the industry, employment trends, key international trade statistics, financial information on the industry & major aerospace firms, trends to watch, and a forecast for the future based on a review …

North Korea ’ S Attack On Sony Pictures Gets The Headlines, But Many Countries Are Engaged In This New War Front, Erika Simpson

Political Science Publications

Cyberwarfare has become a critical concern in global security, exemplified by North Korea's attack on Sony Pictures, which highlighted the capabilities and threats posed by cyberweapons. This article explores the broader context of cyberwarfare, drawing attention to significant incidents such as the STUXNET virus, which destroyed a fifth of Iran's nuclear centrifuges in 2010. The discussion extends to various nations' development and deployment of cyberweapons, including the U.S., China, Russia, and Iran, highlighting the evolution and sophistication of these tools. Cyberweapons can paralyze infrastructure, remain dormant in systems until activated, and their origins often remain concealed. The article also discusses …

Finding Aid To The Collection Of Richard Cutts Shannon Materials., Richard Cutts Shannon, Colby College Special Collections

Finding Aids

The Richard Cutts Shannon collection contains diaries, correspondence, printed materials, photographs, artifacts, and clippings by and about Richard Cutts Shannon, Colby Class of 1862. Of note are many diaries Shannon kept throughout his life between 1862-1920, including his time as an aide-de-camp in the Civil War, a prisoner in Libby Prison, his voyage to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, his service as Secretary of the U.S. Legation in Brazil, as a U.S. Congressman, and an account of his tour around the world. This collection also contains photographs, artifacts (Shannon's riding gloves and saddlebag from the Civil War era), Shannon's accounts of …

Peaceful Settlement Of Disputes In The South China Sea Through Fisheries Resources Cooperation And Management, Kuan-Hsiung Wang

Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies

The South China Sea dispute is complicated in terms of its nature, the sovereignty issues of the islands, delimitation issues, resources utilization as well as other matters concerning security (both traditional and non-traditional). In order to solve the dispute, cooperation is one of the main considerations. However, the practice has not been realized.

In order to solve the dispute and promote cooperation in the South China Sea region, the author suggests that conserving and managing fishery resources could be established as a starting point. There are a great number of management means, institutions, and international instruments (such as conventions, treaties …

Post-Materialism And Foreign Policy – A First Cut, Edelgard E. Mahant

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

The influence of political culture on foreign policy is a much-neglected topic. This article focuses on one aspect of political culture: the concept of post-materialism as developed by Inglehart. Using Canada and South Africa as case studies, the article determines the degree of post-materialism of these two countries’ political culture and then attempts to assess the extent to which the ideas of post-materialism have influenced the foreign policy of the two countries. The methodology is that of examining the ratifications of relevant UN conventions and the press releases of the foreign ministries of the two governments dealing with the subjects …

The Role Of Institutions And Policy In Knowledge Sector Development: An Assessment Of The Danish And Norwegian Information Communication Technology Sectors, Keith M. Gehring

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Nordic economies of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden outperform on average nearly ever OECD country in the share of value added stemming from the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Early investments in computing and telecommunications, supportive social democratic institutions, and effective innovation/technology policy, help to explain overall Nordic ICT performance. Cross-country variation persists in sector outcomes, however, and cannot be reduced to differences in institutions and policy. Denmark and Sweden have moved toward liberalization while Finland and Norway maintain commitments to social democracy and yet Finland and Sweden outperform Denmark and Norway in ICT sector development. Institutionalists explain …

China's Strategic Choices Towards North Korea And Iran, Kang-Uk Jung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study tests two hypotheses. First, China cooperates with the United States only when it is able to obtain material rewards. Second, without material incentives from the United States, China straddles between the United States on one hand and Iran and North Korea on the other. My findings show that neither Structural Realism, which holds anti-hegemonism alliance, nor Constructivism, which holds positive assimilation of the nuclear nonproliferation norm explains Chinese international behavior comprehensively. My balance of interest model explains Chinese foreign policy on the noncompliant states better. The cases cover the Sino-North Korean and Sino-Iranian diplomatic histories from 1990 to …

Invisible Suffering: Practitioner Reflections On Peacebuilding Programs With Youth Exposed To Traumatic Stressors In Intergroup Conflict, Liza Hester

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For decades, the international community has recognized that youth are some of the most vulnerable to mental and emotional distress within the intractable and cyclical nature of identity-based violent conflict. Exposure to traumatic stressors within these intergroup conflicts poses unique risks not only to the neurological and social development of youth, but also to the capacities of youth to fully participate in peacebuilding interventions. The peacebuilding field has yet to strongly consider how traumatic stress affects dynamics within programs for youth and how these programs may need to modify expectations of youth’s cognitive, social, and emotional functioning to account for …

Becoming A State: Zionist And Palestinian Movements For National Liberation, Martin S. Widzer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the road to statehood for the Zionist and Palestinian movements. There are three components which frame this investigation: 1. social movements and the practices in which they engage that are aimed at establishing statehood for a people; 2. distinctive configurations of the international system and the manner in which both the material and ideational foundations of that system pulls units towards conformity and predictable behavior; and finally, 3. the role of agency, that is, the way in which instrumentally rational individuals attempt to push the structure in which they are embedded towards a configuration that is better …

Dictators And Death: Casualty Sensitivity Of Autocracies In Militarized Interstate Disputes, Cigdem Sirin, Michael Koch

Selected Works Temporary Series

In this study, we develop a theoretical model based on an inverse divide-the-dollar game (vis-à-vis the distribution of public “bads”) to explore the propensity of different authoritarian regime types to sustain casualties in interstate conflicts. We argue that the smaller the size of an authoritarian leader’s winning coalition, the easier it is for such leader to distribute the costs of militarized conflicts outside of her/his supporters. In line with our theoretical expectations, we find personalist regimes tend to sustain the highest number of casualties in militarized interstate disputes compared to other autocracies. Given that casualties significantly affect the onset, severity, …

A Multiracial Republic? The Challenges Faced By The Maghreb Population In France, Anahita Vasudevan, Kevin Ratana Patumwat, Kevin Fulgham

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

As European society becomes more multiethnic and multiracial, Member States of the European Union are faced with the need to formulate adequate policy responses to immigration and integration issues. France has had a distinctive history, lasting over five decades, as a recipient country for non-European immigrants from the Maghreb region of Northern Africa. Over time, discrepancies in living conditions between Maghreb immigrants and the wider French society have only deepened. To investigate the current state of the Maghreb community in France, this analytical paper pursues the following questions: How does the persistence of political, economic, and social differences affect the …

Solutions To The Conflict In Kashmir, Nikolis Kurr

International ResearchScape Journal

This policy paper investigates the conflict between India and Pakistan over the region of Kashmir in order to weigh whether a political rather than military resolution can be found. Various proposals to resolve the conflict are examined and evaluated. On the one hand, the possibility of Kashmir’s autonomy is considered; on the other, the solution of joint governance or, as a third option, formal partition of Kashmir in an Indian and Pakistani territory are explored. The importance of resuming political talks between India and Pakistan represents a primary first goal in order to make any resolution possible.

Populist Parties In Germany, France, And The Uk: Growing Support For A Radical Rejection Of Globalization?, Linda Brandt

International ResearchScape Journal

A mere look at electoral results on both the national and European level of many European countries shows that populist and right-wing parties’ support has been growing extensively. The French Front National (FN), which has made significant strides since Marine Le Pen took over the party’s leadership, is often seen as on the forefront of this movement, and is deemed to be a core part of the contemporary European extreme right. Although their individual agendas and rhetoric differ from that of the FN, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the German Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany, AfD) are often …

Evaluating The “Success” Of Disarmament, Demobilization, And Reintegration Programs: The Case Of Congo-Brazzaville, Zachary Karazsia

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

The end of hostilities between warring factions in Congo-Brazzaville has marked a decisive moment in the state’s developmental history. Post conflict reconstruction is a foundational component of public policies that restore order within society, igniting the engines of economic development, and in obtaining sustainable peace. In recent years, Africa has experienced a disproportionate share of conflicts compared with other regions; and leads the world in the number of present intrastate conflicts. Since the end of the Cold War, some African states have made advances in post conflict peacebuilding and intergroup reconciliation. This article focuses on post conflict reconstruction through the …

Everyday Indivisibility: How Exclusive Religious Practices Explain Variation In Subnational Violence Outcomes, Joel Kieth Day

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores the puzzle of religious violence variation. Religious actors initiate conflict at a higher rate than their secular counterparts, last longer, are more deadly, and are less prone to negotiated termination. Yet the legacy of religious peacemakers on the reduction of violence is undeniable. Under what conditions does religion contribute to escalated violence and under what conditions does it contribute to peace?

I argue that more intense everyday practices of group members, or high levels of orthopraxy, create dispositional indivisibilities that make violence a natural alternative to bargaining. Subnational armed groups with members whose practices are exclusive and …

New Middle East Cold War: Saudi Arabia And Iran's Rivalry, Tali Rachel Grumet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The competing powers of Saudi Arabia and Iran continue to redress and reverse the strategic imbalance and direction of the Middle East’s regional politics. The 1979 Iranian Revolution catapulted these two states into an embittered rivalry. The fall of Saddam Hussein following the 2003 U.S. led invasion, the establishment of a Shi’ite Iraq and the 2011 Arab Uprisings have further inflamed tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Iran and Saudi Arabia have not confronted each other militarily, but rather have divided the region into two armed camps on the basis of political and religious ideology in seeking regional allies and …

A Discursive Perspective On China's Global Politics Of Climate Change, 1992–2013, Yi-Tsui Tseng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates China’s recent shift in its climate change policy with a refined discourse approach. Methodologically, by adopting a neo-Gramscian notion of hegemony, a generative definition of discourse and an ontological pluralist position, the study constructs a theoretical framework named “discursive hegemony” that identifies the “social forces” for enabling social change and focuses on the role of discursive mechanisms via which the forces operate and produce effects.

The key empirical finding of this study was that it was a co-evolution of conditions that shaped the outcome as China’s climate policy shift. In examining the case, a before-after within-case comparison …