International Relations Commons^™

Civilian Manufacturing And National Defense: Strategic Planning For Globalization's Challenges, Izeck Kohler

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis examines the interconnection between civilian manufacturing and national defense within the context of globalization. The study aims to identify the challenges faced by the United States in maintaining its manufacturing capabilities and to propose strategic solutions to address these challenges. Through a comprehensive analysis of historical data, case studies, and policy recommendations, the research highlights the critical role of specialized and process manufacturing sectors towards national defense. The findings suggest that the creation of a federal executive department, strategic investment, diversification, policy re-evaluation, and collaborating with allies are essential for sustaining national defense capabilities. The study concludes with …

Empowering U.S. Allies In The Indo-Pacific: An "America First" Approach To Great Power Competition, Nathaniel Benjamin

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Indo-Pacific is the primary area for Great Power Competition between the United States and China. China’s rapid but cautious rise has allowed it to achieve a position that threatens to upset the norms and rules of the U.S.-led system in the region. The second Trump Administration has pursued an “America First” policy since taking office in January 2025, but pushing U.S. allies to take on more responsibility for their own defense will not be enough. U.S. allies are major regional players and should be trusted to uphold the principles of the current international system; therefore the U.S. must limit …

Indopacom Force Structure: A Trajectory Into The 2030s, Robert Burke

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Over the past ten years Taiwan has become a major point of friction between the United States and People’s Republic of China with both militaries preparing for a potential conflict over the island. China vastly expanded its military forces and capabilities over the past thirty years and is intent on obtaining the ability to both seize Taiwan by force and prevent the United States from generating enough combat power to intervene and defend the island. The Pentagon began to restructure its conventional forces in the Western Pacific at the end of the 2010s, implementing new operational concepts designed to fight …

Emerging Technology And U.S. Presidential War Powers, Blaine D. Ravert

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Autonomous weapons, anti-satellite weapons (ASAT)s, cyber operations, and drones, among other examples of emerging and advanced technologies, have produced changes in how the United States (U.S.) conducts military operations. This thesis argues these technologies are connected by three common features that make U.S. congressional oversight of their usage by U.S. presidents more challenging. First, these systems enable U.S. presidents to act with increased speed, giving the U.S. Congress less time to respond. Second, some legal arguments suggest many uses of these technologies will not implicate war powers related authorities. Third, the legally unsettled nature of these weapons makes it more …

Promises Of Prosperity: The Impact Of Constitutionalizing Economic And Social Human Rights, Arabella A. Lilleslåtten

Honors Program Theses

Does the attempt to have legal enforcement of economic and social rights in national constitutions positively influence other development outcomes? I hypothesize that economic and social outcomes are better in countries that enshrine these rights in their constitutions, and use a mixed methods approach of quantitative and qualitative analyses to test this. This study includes a regression analysis of 52 countries correlating a summary index of the strength of constitutional rights to education, health, housing and workers' rights in 68 countries with the 2019 Social and Economic Rights Fulfillment (SERF) Index, finding no significant correlation between the variables. A second …

Pro-Government Militias And Political Instability: The Consequences Of Outsourced Regime Security, Ben J.A. Leo

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

The state is often conceptualized as an entity with a monopoly over the use of force within some set borders. Yet, more and more frequently, states allow or deliberately create friendly non-state military organizations. Five-hundred and four of these groups, known as Pro-Government Militias (PGMs), were observed between 1981 and 2014 and were present in a little more than thirty percent of country-years in that timeframe (Carey et al. 2022). Moreover, while some groups are relatively small and weak, many constitute a considerable military force within their country and beyond. For example, the Xinjiang Construction Corps in China, which maintains …

The Power To Commission: Exploring The Evaluation Capacity And The Transformative Role Of Evaluation Commissioners In The International Development Sector, Ann Marie Castleman

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Evaluation commissioners play a central role in evaluation practice by generating demand for evaluation through issuing calls for evaluation services and managing evaluation contracts (Lemire, Nielsen et al., 2018; Nielsen et al., 2018b), particularly in the international development sector. Yet few competency sets specify the knowledge and skills needed to conduct this work. Even less is known about the evaluation marketplace in the international development sector and the contract mechanisms used to procure evaluation services.

This research explored the capacity to commission evaluation among international nongovernmental organization (INGO) evaluation commissioners, including individual competencies and practices for commissioning an evaluation, factors …

The Return Of War In International Politics, Chick Edmond, Nkenglefack Dessailly Forku

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

This article examines the resurgence of war in international politics after the Cold War. It contends that interstate wars have declined after 1990 and there was high optimism for stability and a cooperative international order, but contemporary conflicts have evolved into complex intrastate and asymmetric confrontations involving non-state actors, ethnic and religious divisions, resource competition, and geopolitical rivalries. The paper uses a constructivist approach and secondary qualitative data to identify and explore key drivers of this trend such as the rise of terrorist and insurgent groups, the politicization of identity, disputes over scarce resources, erosion of international norms, and intensifying …

Of Monsters And Men: Fantasy, Aesthetics, And The Nation In Pan's Labyrinth (2006) And The Shape Of Water (2017), Ally Fleming

Scripps Senior Theses

ABSTRACT: Guillermo del Toro has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most beloved filmmakers due to his ability to blend popular genres with arthouse flair. This is especially true when it comes to fairy tales, a common thread woven throughout his films that are consistently imbued with political commentary on authoritarianism. This is most apparent in two of his most critically acclaimed films, Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017). Part of why these films are so beloved is how they utilize popular culture not just as tools to foreground the story’s setting, but also to guide the …

Futures Assessment Of The Russo-Ukrainian War, Jonathon O'Brien

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This report discusses and explores a series of scenarios regarding the end of the Russo-Ukrainian war, which began in February 2022. The three scenarios are a continued stalemate, where neither side gains an upper hand in the conflict, a Ukrainian victory, and a Russian victory. Each scenario also explores several factors that could impact their likelihood, including international support, battlefield prowess, etc. This paper aims to provide readers with the necessary context to understand the situation in Ukraine and the likely outcomes of the conflict. Research for this project was conducted between March and April 2025, with findings representing an …

Unstable Rivalry: Structure, Domestic Politics, And Taiwan In U.S.-China Relations, Brendan Edward Flynn

Wayne State University Dissertations

International relations (IR) scholarship frequently utilizes structural and domestic political levels of analysis to explain interstate war and conflict. While U.S.-China relations have deteriorated significantly, there is considerable disagreement about what caused this change. In this dissertation I utilize Militarized Interstate Disputes (MIDs) to operationalize instability between the U.S. and China and test competing theories. Increasing levels of MIDs since 2009 broadly confirm structural theories that hold power parity is a primary driver of conflict between great powers. Case studies of the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis (1995 – 1996) and Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis (2022), however, illustrate that domestic political …

Religiosity And The Gender Violence Crisis: How Religious Affiliation Of Society Impacts Violence Against Women, Sydney Hoffman

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the impact that the religious affiliation of a population has on both the prevalence of violence against women, as well as the presence of legislation and other legal frameworks aimed at preventing violence and protecting women. Utilizing data from international organizations and nonpartisan fact tanks, regression analyses are performed with four different models and dependent variables to understand the effect religiosity has on both prevalence and prevention of gender violence. While the results of these models do not indicate a likelihood of real relationships between religiosity and the different outcomes, the thesis overall contributes further to the …

Weaponizing Sexual Violence: Variations Between Conflict Related Sexual Violence And Genocidal Rape, Paige Liptak

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the differences between conflict related sexual violence and genocidal rape to advocate for future separate analysis of the two distinctly different forms of sexual violence. By examining 15 genocides from the end of WWII to the end of 2023 this study draws upon prior research from genocide studies, ethnic studies, political science, and feminist scholarship to observe trends that are present in the two forms of sexual violence. The findings indicate that there are distinctly different socio-economic and military conditions that are associated with the two types of sexual violence and therefore genocidal rape should considered separate …

An Analysis Of The Russo-Ukrainian War, Daniel Braslavsky

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is a deep analysis of Russia’s aggression against and full-scale invasion of Ukraine, commonly referred to as the Russo-Ukrainian War. This is the largest conflict in Europe since WWII with devastating implications for Europe and the world. First it examines the root causes and political ideologies at play to understand why Vladimir Putin decided to launch his invasion in the first place. Then it puts together a chronological history of the war broken up into the post-Euromaidan period including the Russian annexation of Crimea and war in the Donbas (2014-22), and Russia’s full-scale invasion (2022-present). Next it reviews …

Peacekeeping In Sierra Leone And Mali, Ishaka Kondeh

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions in promoting democracy, protecting human rights, and implementing Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs in post-conflict Sierra Leone and Mali. By analyzing the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), this research explores the impact of these missions on Mali still in conflict and long-term peacebuilding. The study focuses on three critical areas: supporting democratic governance, ensuring human rights protections, and successfully reintegrating former combatants into society. Through a comparative approach, this research analyzes why some peacekeeping missions succeed and then …

Examining Drug Policy In Portugal And Greece, Collin Fernandes

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the divergent drug policies implemented in Portugal and Greece, analyzing why Portugal's comprehensive decriminalization model has been more successful than Greece's partial approach. Since 2001, Portugal has pioneered a drug policy that decriminalizes all drugs for personal use while investing in harm reduction services, rehabilitation, and social reintegration. In contrast, Greece maintained criminalization while implementing more limited harm reduction measures, particularly through OKANA (the Organization Against Drugs). The research highlights how economic factors, particularly the 2008 financial crisis and austerity measures, negatively affected both countries' programs but hit Greece's initiatives with greater severity. Portugal's programs have remained …

Soviet-American Relations During The Cold War: What Policies And Circumstances Conspired To Unravel The Soviet Empire?, John W. Krey

Dissertations and Theses

The two victorious superpowers of World War II – America and the Soviet Union – conceived and implemented unilateral foreign policies amid an atmosphere of intense hostility and suspicion of each other’s international intentions. Regardless of Moscow’s acquiescence in joining the United Nations and resolving a host of disputes (for example, the Security Council veto) regarding the establishment and operation of the same organization, it threatened to disequilibrate power relations between the US and the Soviet Union in the immediate aftermath of the second world war, which convinced Washington to develop the containment policy, a defensive realist posture for repelling …

Beyond The Threshold Of Protection: Examining Non-Refoulement's Erosion In Contemporary Refugee Law Through The Eu-Turkey Agreement, Aya Osman

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the contemporary relevance and practical implementation of the principle of non-refoulement as established in the 1951 Refugee Convention. While this fundamental principle of international refugee law prohibits the return of individuals to countries where they face persecution, torture, or human rights violations, its widespread violation by state parties raises critical questions about its continued effectiveness and the broader validity of the Convention's framework in today's global context. Through a methodological approach combining legal analysis and case studies of state practices, this paper investigates whether the 1951 framework remains valid and in effect when addressing refugee and immigration …

The Rise Of China: Economic Expansion, Military Modification And The Belt And Road Initiative, Felix Padilla

Dissertations and Theses

In order to analyze China’s rise in power, we have to examine how China has achieved this growth. We need to observe their domestic reforms, international initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and strategic military advancements. This thesis focuses on China’s economic integration, market reforms and military modernization. The thesis uncovers the effects of this rise on global governance and power balances, especially in trade, security, and geopolitics. I analyze China's vision of a multipolar world and how it contrasts with the current global order and how this fuels rivalry with the U.S. and other powers. China's rise …

The Effect Of Variations In Us Policy Toward Taiwan On Us – China Relations, Thomas Cheah

CMC Senior Theses

US foreign policy to Taiwan has been defined by strategic ambiguity ever since the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. However, changes and variations in the intensity of strategic ambiguity have come to the fore in recent years, specifically beginning under the first Trump Administration. This has undermined US China relations in certain cases.The findings reveal that while US actions, such as arms sales and symbolic gestures, provoke short-term tensions with China, the broader bilateral relationship remains defined by economic interdependence and strategic competition.