Political Science Commons^™

How To Arrive At A Judeo-Christian-Islamic Culture And Civilization, Enes Karić

International Dialogue

I am delighted to be invited to speak at this gathering, even though I am unfamiliar with many of the subjects to be discussed. The organizer of these meetings in Sarajevo suggested “Christianity and Islam: An Islamic Perspective” as the title for my talk. I have chosen another. Regardless of the title, I must admit that this is a difficult subject for me to address, as if I were standing at the foot of a mountain range of which the peaks are now lost in clouds silhouetted against a blue sky. Besides, what is Islam these days if not what …

Hval I Djeva [The Praised And The Virgin]: Tom I: Vječnost U Vjesničkim Otkrivanjima [Vol. I: Eternity In Prophetic Revelation], 333pp.; Tom Ii: O Trajanju I Prekidu [Vol. Ii: On Continuity And Discontinuity], 251pp.; Tom Iii: Sabiranje Rasutog [Vol. Iii: Reuniting The Scattered], 420pp., Desmond Maurer

International Dialogue

A book by Rusmir Mahmutćehajić is always an event. His books are normally relatively short and always make a clear argument, albeit an argument many are unwilling to hear. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, he goes straight to the heart of the matter—and his theme is always the same—how to live a good life and how to be a good person, under the troubling conditions of modernity. His answer is also consistent—it is by the embrace of plurality and difference in the service of this one goal, the ethically good life, an embrace that is …

Malo Znanja. O Drugome U Muslimanskim Vidicima, Mile Babić

International Dialogue

No abstract provided.

The Tortoise And The Hare: A New Moral For An Old Fable, Jaret Kanarek

The Intellectual Standard

Aesop's The Tortoise and the Hare is a prominent moral fable in American cultural discourse. Having originated in ancient Greece, the fa­ble has varied over the years, but the basic elements remain the same. The story, as it is generally told, involves a tortoise and a hare as its two main protagonists. The hare is arrogant; he continually boasts about his speed and picks on the tortoise for being slow. The tortoise grows tired of the hare's boasting and questions the hare's claim of being the fastest creature. In retort, the hare decides to challenge the tortoise to a race …

The Issue Of Internet Polling, Nick A. Nichols

The Intellectual Standard

Surveys, polls, and focus groups are common phenomena in our daily lives. We live in a world where big data is big business. Large decisions hinge on the accuracy and predicative power of these numbers. Therefore, it should not be surprising that there is a market for the malicious manipu-1ation of data. Extreme care must be taken in the collection, checking, and processing of data to prevent decisions from being made on incorrect as­sumptions. In order to demonstrate the full potential and possible impact of these attacks, I shall provide the following example: John Doe is a member of the …

Faulty Phrases: "There Is No Such Thing As Perfection", Michael Christison

The Intellectual Standard

In regard to this saying, one of the most notable references can be found in the movie Tron: Legacy. Although not a direct quote, the charac­ter Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges, communicates a very similar mes­sage to the public: "The thing about perfection is that it's unknowable. It's impossible, but it's also right in front of us all the time:' This stance from Flynn, or rather the scriptwriters, epitomizes the commonplace idea that I wish to critically examine.

Faulty Phrases: "There Are No Absolutes" & "The Truth Is Relative", Jaret Kanarek

The Intellectual Standard

"There are no absolutes:' "The truth is relative:' Each phrase im­plies and necessitates the truth of the other. An absolute is something that is universally true, that is, its truth is independent of all other factors or contexts (New Oxford American Dictionary). To say, "there are no absolutes:' is to say that there are no inde­pendent universal truths. All truths are therefore dependent. "The truth is relative" makes exactly this claim. Philosophically speaking, that which is relative "is dependent on something else" (New Oxford American Dictionary). But the concepts of relativity and dependence do not exist in a vacuum. For …

Survival Of The Selfish:Natural Selection And The Myth Of Altruism, Kyle O'Shea

The Intellectual Standard

Altruism, in its purest sense, can be defined as an unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others. An altruistic act is one in which the person or animal benefiting from the act is the only one benefiting from it, and the person or animal performing the act gains nothing or is even harmed by the act. Truly altruistic acts are completely void of selfishness. One would like to believe that altruism could exist in its purest form; however, this devotion to the welfare of others cannot and does not exist in nature over time.

China Vs India: A Democracy Battle, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The last war between Asia's giants erupted in October 1962. Fifty years on the respective works of a Chinese and an Indian intellectual define the shape of their 21st-century contest, says William A Callahan.

Exit, Freedom, And Gender, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Day and night I ponder on the means by which it might be possible to escape the strictmoral code and customs of my country yet … The old Eastern traditions are firm and strongbut I could shake them from me, break them, if it were not for that other bond, even moresecurely and strongly fixed than any centuries old tradition, which binds me to my world:the love I have for those who gave me life, to whom I owe everything, everything – RadenAdjeng Kartini, 25 May 1899, Japara

Jugando Con Bola Ensalivada: Una Historia Política Del Béisbol Nicaragüense Desde Somoza Hasta Ortega, Braeden (Diego) Mayer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In Nicaragua, baseball is known as the king sport and the Nicaraguan people have a passion for the sport like none other. Entering the two sides of present-day Nicaragua at almost the same time, baseball rapidly secured its spot as the national sport of Nicaragua during the occupation of the U.S. Marines in the early part of the 20^th century. Baseball became politicized with the rise to power of Anastasio Somoza García, and from then on, it would be an integral part in winning the affections of the Nicaraguan people. Founding two teams, plotting assassinations at games, and using …

The Israeli Defense Forces In The 21st Century: Humanitarian Complier Or Human Rights Violators? An Assessment Of Ihl Compliance In The Second Lebanon War And Operation Cast Lead, Skyler Scoggan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My reasons behind writing this paper are very personal and its conclusion will have a direct impact on my future. I am Jewish by blood and have always have had a strong connection with the tradition even though I do not consider myself religious. I have respected more so the traditions and culture that have come from the faith of my mother. The fact that my grandfather, great grandfather, and the dozen more before him, carried on these same rituals that I carry out on Shabbat or on the high holidays, is beyond the realm of being special. Many cannot …

October Roundtable: Un Secretary-General Report On “Responsibility To Protect: Timely And Decisive Response”, Introduction, Claudia Fuentes Julio

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Responsibility to Protect: Timely and Decisive Response” Ban Ki-moon, July 2012.

Responsibility To Regulate: How The ‘Responsibility To Protect’ Expands State Power, Philip Cunliffe

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Like most UN reports, particularly those concerned with the doctrine of the "responsibility to protect" (RtoP), the latest report of the UN Secretary-General is filled with plenty of pious guff mixed in with the platitudes that engulf UN diplomacy. But buried within the blathering are also some disturbing prescriptions for how the UN envisages rolling out RtoP around the world. I want to draw attention to three specific points in order to consider what these tell us about RtoP as a political model. First, I will look at the treatment of media and speech in the report; second, how the …

What's Keeping Malaysia's Opposition Together?, Bridget Welsh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

An Evolutionary Analysis Of Turnout With Conformist Citizens, Massimiliano Landi, Mauro Sodini

Research Collection School Of Economics

We propose an evolutionary analysis of a voting game where citizens have a preference for conformism that adds to the instrumental preference for the electoral outcome. Multiple equilibria arise, and some generate high turnout. Simulations of best response dynamics show that high turnout is asymptotically stable if conformism matters but its likelihood depends on the reference group for conformism: high turnout is more likely when voters care about their own group's choice, as this better overrides the free rider problem of voting games. Comparative statics on the voting cost distribution, the population's size or the groups' composition are also done.

The Eu Sanctions Against Syria: Conflict Management By Other Means?, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Since May 2011, the EU has crafted one of its most far reaching and sophisticated sanctions operations in support of the anti-regime protests against the current regime in Syria. This article examines the measures wielded by the EU, its expected impact and its implications for the EU's relations with its global partners. While seriously undermined by the lack of support of Russia, the sanctions are having a noticeable economic impact. Yet, the choice of measures is ill-suited to stop the bloodshed. The sanctions have also served to (re)define partnerships with other powers, both in the Middle-East and globally.

Natural Sentences As Valid Units For Coded Political Texts, Thomas Daubler, Kenneth Benoit, Slava Mikhaylov, Michael Laver

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A rapidly growing area in political science has focused on perfecting techniques to treat politicaltext as ‘data’, usually for the purposes of estimating latent traits such as left–right political policypositions.1 More traditional approaches have applied classical content analysis to categorize sub-unitsof political text, such as sentences in manifestos. Prominent examples of this latter approach includethe thirty-year old Comparative Manifestos Project and the Policy Agendas Project.2 ‘Text as data’approaches use machines to convert text to quantitative information and use statistical tools to makeinferences about characteristics of the author of the text. Content analysis schemes use humans to readtextual sub-units and assign …

The Flying Putin Glides Into U.S. Presidential Campaign, Nicholas Hayes

University Chair in Critical Thinking Publications

No abstract provided.

Whose Islands Are These Anyway?, David J. Keeling

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

This opinion piece addresses Argentina's growing political rhetoric about its claims to the Malvians/Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.