International Relations Undergraduate Dissertations
Senior Seminar Dissertations: Spring 2011
STEFAN KURTEV
* “Survival and Dignity” or How to Bring Back the Relevance of Human Security in a Globalized Era: a Case Study of Iraq
KRISTEN SHAW
* The American National Security Strategy: The Liberal Approach to National Security
JESSICA NUTTER
* “Seas, Security and Sovereignty: Preparing for the Complex Challenge of Global Environmental Security in International Relations
SHEILA O’DONNELL
* Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan and the Potential for a Regulated Production of Opiate Based Medicines
PORTIA PETTERSEN
* The Importance of the Chaebol in the Rapid Recovery of South Korea following the Global Economic Crisis of 2007
JOSHUA NARKEVICIUS
* A Developmental Analysis of Islamic Finance and the Implications for its Growth
TAYLOR RILEY
* What Remains: How and Why the Current Development Agenda Has Failed Women in Developing Countries
MARIA PIPA HENZ TISSOT
* Education in Brazil: A Path to Social Equality
JA-NA CHANTAL GRIGGS
* Hub of the Americas? The Question of Good Governance in Panama and its Implications for Education
KATRINA CAUCKWELL
* The Relationship Between Ethnic Rivalry and Mandated Control: A Constructivist View on the Territorial Bout over Kashmir
KEREM ALPTEKIN
* What is genocide? Were the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks in 1915 a genocide?
YU JEONG LEE
* A Law-Making Role for Non-State Actors?
Senior Seminar Dissertations: Fall 2010
JESSICA ANDERSON
* Failure in the Rwandan Genocide: How Relational Sovereignty Theory could have been applied in the framework of International Law
GRACE MILAM
* The Failure of the State in Protecting Human Rights
KATE SPENCER
* Why the Millennium Development Goals Will Not Help Contain HIV/AIDS
ROLAND KASSER
* Is Instability in Lebanon a Result of Confessionalism?
RANNEY LOCHTEFELD
* Up in Smoke? How the Lwgalization of Drugs could end Mexico's Drug War
MAHAMOUD DUALEH
* Soviet Marxism: An Examination of the Applicabiltiy and Viability of Marx's Theory
KAIR SHERMUKHAMETOV
* Is there a 'Democratic Deficit' in the EU and where can it be found?
RALF SVENDBLAD
* What is the purpose and role of NATO in the 21st Century?
SOPHIE GRAY
* Transnational Activism in a Globalized World: Is it possible to have a Global Social Movement in the world today?
Senior Seminar Dissertations: Spring 2010
ALESSANDRA LUPSKI
Intellectual Property Rights Reform: a Matter of Life and Death
This dissertation explores the current intellectual property rights regime and determines what reforms are needed to make it both humane and viable. This is achieved through an examination of the historical context, the legal aspects of the current regime and the arguments of both the supporters of the system and its opponents.
IAIN PADLEY
The Democratic Thesis: Remaining Relevant in a Changing Geopolitical Landscape
The increased participation of non traditional state parties like Hamas in elective democracy poses a number of new challenges to the Democratic Peace Thesis. These challenges must be addressed to insure the relevance of the theory as the state system evolves.
PAULA WEREDA
The Effectiveness of International Law in Preventing Torture
In the 21st century, torture is considered to be a violation of human rights and is viewed as undermining international law. However, states do not always follow legal codes and the presence of torture is the best indicator of that. In my essay, I argue that the effectiveness of international law in preventing torture is low and not efficient enough.
AMELIA BARRAU
Turkey’s Human Rights Deficit: A Roadblock to Turkish EU Membership?
Human rights concerns are at the centre of the debate for Turkey’s adhesion within the EU. The Kurds, the Armenians, the Cyprus conflict are despite considerable efforts still unresolved and continue to delay Turkey’s adhesion. Despite considerable efforts, Turkish EU membership is still refused resulting in a growing antagonism from Turkish citizens who fill unfairly treated raising the problem of a Western vision of Human Rights.
AMANDA OWEN
Justifying War: Inquiry into the Legitimacy of Turkish Military Intervention in Northern Iraq with Regard to Terrorist Operations by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
This paper justifies Turkish military action against PKK militants operating out of northern Iraq. It applies Just War theory to argue that the use of force is necessary and appropriate, while applying a combination of liberal and realist arguments.
AARON THOMAS
‘From a Land Beyond the Waves’: A Critique of Nationalist Theory in Relation to the Irish Diaspora
This paper is a critique of the various theories and paradigms of nationalism. Using the Irish as an example, it argues that there is no significant thought in nationalist theory to the roles diasporas play on internal policy.
KATALEEN ROBERTS
Autonomy and the Alaskan Inuit: Rights of Indigenous Peoples to Self-Determination
This work discusses the legally viable options of the indigenous Alaskan Inuit within the scope of internationally recognized rights to self-determination and the development of the rights of indigenous peoples. It argues that while both autonomy and sovereignty can legally be claimed, it is internal self-determination which provides the most valuable framework for strengthening Inuit self-governance.
ROELOF VIJAY PIETERSON
The Decline of Multiculturalism in the Netherlands: A critique of ‘Repressive Liberalism’ and in turn an emphasis on a Liberal Culturalist approach
This paper discusses and analyses the decline of Multiculturalism in the Netherlands during the 21st century. It argues for a Liberal Culturalist approach towards gaining a degree of recognition, tolerance, equality, and in maintaining the civil and political rights of minorities whilst placing a critique on the Liberal assimilationist approach in aiding towards this decline in the values of multiculturalism to occur.
AGNIESZKA SWITALA
The Ineffectiveness and Inadequacy of Anti-Terrorism Laws in the United Kingdom
This paper assesses the effectiveness of anti-terrorism laws introduced in the UK after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and 7/7. It argues that the strategy embraced by the British judicial system is inadequate, substantially breaching basic civil liberties.
VALENTIN ZIEGLER
The European Union’s Effectiveness in Preventing Terrorist Activity in the Schengen Area
This paper assess the effectiveness of the European Union in maintaining international security throughout the Schengen Area, despite the lack of border controls. It argues that with close state cooperation, the EU has been successful in maintaining a secure region in terms of preventing third-country nationals from engaging in terrorist activity, but has been less successful in preventing terrorist activity by EU nationals.
MERUYERT IGBAYEVA
A Comparative Analysis of EU and CIS Regionalisms
This dissertation investigates how and why organizational structures and integrating mechanisms differ between the EU and CIS and how these phenomena are linked to historical, political, economic and cultural patterns. It argues that successful examples of European models of regional integration can contribute to the strengthening of region-building processes in the CIS.
DAVID MEISSNER
NGOs and Policy Making in the EU
The aim of this dissertation is to find out if non-governmental organisations or civil society influence European Union policy. I argue that they do to a certain extent, i.e. some do but not all and to different degrees.
MORGAN POTTS
Liberalism and Realism as Failed Approaches to Effective Global Climate Governance
This dissertation examines the application and failure of Liberalism and Realism in global governance. In particular, it discuses global climate governance showing the Kyoto Protocol and the Copenhagen Accord as manifestations of the limitations of liberal and realist International Relations theory.
KARAN THAKKAR
An Analysis of Subsidies on Bio Fuels and their impact on the 2008 World Food Crisis
This paper analyzes the importance of bio fuels on the agricultural commodities market and their impact on the social unrest during the 2008 World Food Crisis. It assesses the importance given to energy security and environmental protection while ignoring the food security issue which has given a new life to the Malthusian catastrophe.
MELISSA BREITLING
Genetically Modified Development: An Examination of the High-Payoff Model across two Case Studies
This dissertation examines the theoretical and empirical weaknesses of the High-Payoff Input model of agricultural development across two case studies in developing states. It asserts that this model is problematic in providing sustainable development and promotes a reliance on foreign produced agricultural technology at a price.
MICHELLE S. GALE de OLIVEIRA
Brazilian Land Reform: Ethical Solutions Between Capitalism and Eco-Socialism
This paper assesses the Brazilian land distribution policies which, since 1500, have created landlessness for tens of millions of rural and urban poor. This paper contrasts the current colonial-capitalist framework with the eco-socialist model of pro-agrarian reform movements, arguing for a model that combines positive aspects of both.
HERNAN TORRES
Friedrich List to the Rescue: The Failure of Neo-Liberal Policies in Mexico
This essay presents an analysis of Mexican development and industrialization through the theoretical perspective of Friedrich List. It explores the ways in which neo-liberal policies such as NAFTA gave failed Mexico in its quest for economic development.
PETRA ZIKATANOVA
Dependency Theory and Modernization Theory: Poverty in Scheduled Caste Households and non-Scheduled Households in India
This paper challenges dependency theory in favour of modernisation theory. By examining poverty in scheduled caste households and non-scheduled households this paper argues that poverty in India can be explained by modernization theory.
SUNA PARK
The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in Kazakhstan
This dissertation examines the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in Kazakhstan. It is primarily concerned with analyzing the underlying causes of this phenomenon such as extremist influences from outside the country and repressive domestic polities.
OANA GHEORGHIU
How and to what extent has ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ affected the Afghan economy?
This paper considers the consequences of the US military campaign against the Taliban forces and what impact it has had on the local economy with its collateral damage. This paper also analyzes how this airstrike strategy affected humanitarian aid, agriculture and the country’s whole infrastructure.
ANGELA MAZIMBA
AFRICOM, Somalia and Darfur: The Absence of Liberalism in U.S. Africa Policy
This dissertation will highlight the consistency of the realist paradigm in U.S. Africa policy through a study of U.S. policy as it has applied to Somalia and Darfur and an analysis of AFRICOM. The project provides a critique of liberalism as it has been applied to U.S. Africa policy in the post-Cold War and September 11 eras.
FABIAN LINK
China’s Involvement in Africa in the Context of the World System Theory
China’s increasing involvement in Africa has made it the second highest investor following the United States, and its willingness to do business with any government regardless of its political situation has been viewed critically by many observers. Some critics argue that China is supporting corrupt governments in this way, rather than helping these countries to develop, thus further undermining the Core’s ability to help African countries’ development. This essay assesses this claim within the theoretical framework of World System Theory.
Senior Seminar Dissertations: Fall 2009
BETHANY WARNER
A Critique of the European Union’s Policies on Immigration
This paper critically assesses, from a realist perspective, the efforts the EU has taken toward the issues of immigration. It considers migration as a significant factor influencing the security of all international actors, paying particular attention to the EU because of its additional struggle for legitimacy with the nations-state.
DAVID McANENEY
Turkish Immigration in Germany: Exploring the Recent Communitarian Shift in Migratory Policy and National Identity
This paper looks at Turkish immigration into Germany: its history, paradoxes and aim to exist coherently within German society. It also consider German migratory policies and citizenship laws and analyzes how certain variables and debates have shifted German policies as well as its national identity towards a traditional-communitarian agenda.
BRENDAN PASTOR
Challenging Individual Self-Interest: A Communitarian Alternative to Neoclassical Economics and Market Environmentalism
This paper analyzes the extent to which individual self-interest, as expressed in neoclassical economic theory, is a positive utility in resolving environmental problems. It argues instead that communitarianism is more theoretically consistent when discussing the relationship between markets, the environment, and society.
EMILY WESTER
Resource Protests in Bolivia
This paper assesses the applicability of theories on environment, scarcity and violence to Bolivia’s recent struggles over resource governance. It argue that the 2000 Water War and the 2003 Gas War were part of a wider Latin American response to neoliberal globalization, but also an example of the internal violence over structural scarcity predicted by Thomas Homer-Dixon.
ANDREA EVANS
Microfinance - Sustainable Economic Development for Women
Extreme poverty continues to be a major problem for the world despite the trillions of dollars spent to promote economic growth in developing countries. While traditional forms of aid continue to be unsuccessful in reaching the poorest of the poor, microfinance programmes provide a sustainable framework for women (70% of the world’s poorest poor) in developing countries to access financial aid.
TARA LOYKO
Justifying Unauthorised Forcible Humanitarian Intervention: Liberal Philosophy and the Case of Kosovo
This paper explores certain liberal arguments that attempt to justify illegal humanitarian intervention. Although these arguments, if applied, bring potentially destabilizing effects to the international system, they highlight an overall trend towards a more morally conscious international agenda. It is with the purpose of critically examining this trend that this paper explores the technique of unauthorised humanitarian intervention with respect to Kosovo in particular.
CHRISTIAN VILLASENOR
Is ASEAN the Next European Union?
This paper assesses the notion of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the “next-EU” by the year 2020. It argues, through the examination of current ASEAN policy goals toward integration, as well as considering European integration theory, that the current inadequate approaches undertaken by the Association in their actual fulfilment render such a notion impossible.
INNA SUYUNOVA
A Multilateral or a bilateral approach? An Analysis of the EU-Russian Energy Relations Through the Prism of Liberal-Institutionalism
In the past 15 years, the EU has undertaken initiatives to multilaterally govern and cooperatively regulate energy trade with Russia. However, these attempts for multilateral governance have forced serious limitations in terms of efficiency, as energy trade has always been dominated by the geopolitics of realism and mainly based on bilateral cooperation. This paper takes a Liberal-Institutionalism stance o the issues, arguing the EU members need to share their sovereignty and commit to European intuitionalist values in order to have one strong voice in the energy dialogue with Russia.
LEAH BILBY
Regulation Theory’s Impact on European Waste Management Policies
Regulation Theory is the most effective approach to international environmental policy in the Post-Fordist era. This paper will analyze the environmental aspect of the Regulation School of thought and compare it to the EU’s environmental policy on waste management with regards to the environment.
BIANA SPADA
What were the consequences of the shift in Spanish politics on the “war on terror” after the Madrid bombings of March 11th, 2004?
This essay examines the main international consequences of the terrorist attack of March 11th, 2004 in Madrid and analyzes how Spanish politics affected in the US-led “war on terror”, particularly in relation to the war in Iraq.
CJ REDFERN
A pluralist critique of humantiarian intervention: the case of Somalai, 1992-1995
There is a divide within international thought between pluralists and solidarists on the legitimacy of humanitarian intervention. This dissertation aims to provide a pluralist critique of humanitarian intervention by specifically examining the humanitarian intervention in Somalia, 1992-1995.
FRITZ HENNING
The International Criminal Court and its Effectiveness in Establishing Peace in Darfur
This paper examines the opposing theories of legal deterrence and coercive diplomacy and assesses which theory is most effective in establishing peace in Darfur. A close examination of the Rome Statute is made to evaluate its role in ensuring peace in the region as well.
ELENA BANCHEVA
The Concept of Groupthink in Relation to the Cuban Missile Crisis
Foreign policy decision-making could be developed with the concept of groupthink. Groupthink is a group decision-making concept which is considered mainly as a method for solving fiascos. This paper uses Merton’s realist theory and the concept of groupthink to analyse the facts and events of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
ANDY TERRELL
“Dollar Dollar Bill Ya’all” After the Financial Crisis: The Dollar and American Hegemony in the Global Political Economy
The 2008-09 global economic crisis has contributed to hegemonic decline via a weak dollar and American mismanagement of the international financial system. While this is important as it highlights systemic weaknesses and ties, as well as gives opportunities of emerging powers to challenge the United States, there is no adequate alternative to the overall American dominance of the global political economy at this time.
Senior Seminar Dissertations : Spring 2009
JACKIE FELDMAN
Legal Constitutional Theories of the Exception: the Impact of US Interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan on Jus Ad Bellum
International law regarding the use of force has been challenged after US interventions in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. The legal constitutional theory of normativism, explained through the sphere of constructivism, gives insight into the impact of these actions on the development of customary international law.
JOEL RAMIREZ
What Strategic Theory can tell us about the ‘successes’ and ‘failures’ in NATO’s War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan has continued for the past seven years without a recognizable end in sight. This research will critically examine the past two years of the NATO mission in Afghanistan through the prism of strategic theory and comment on now NATO has failed to anticipate the problems facing it as an alliance fighting a counter-insurgency.
LUDOVICA BRIENZA
Washington, Women and Warlords
This essay examines gender politics and the ‘Myth of Protection’ in the Bush Administration’s legitimization of the invasion of Afghanistan and its reconstruction.
The incorporation of feminism in the analysis of post 9/11 gender discourse and the US support of Ismail Khan in the post-Taliban era is analyzed.
URAN BOLUSH
China and Russia in Central Asia: Competition vs Cooperation
This paper argues that the nature of the Sino-Russian partnership in Post Soviet Central Asia is ad hoc. Regardless of the two powers’ common interests on regional security matters, their overall grand strategies are markedly contrasting, coupled with their ideological and cultural differences as well as uneven strengths. Beijing sees itself as a rightful player in the area, and its steady expansion poses threat to Moscow’s traditional presence. This risks sparking a new phase of rivalry in Central Asia, a region that had caused several Great Powers to collide in the past.
HEATHER CAMPBELL
Reciprocity and Attribution Theory: Post-Cold War US-Russian Relations via the UN and NATO in Kosovo and Georgia
The paper analyzes the relationship between the US and the Russian Federation in the post-Cold War period. It suggests that this complex relationship may be explained through reciprocity and attribution theory. Using the specific cases of Kosovo and Georgia, this paper demonstrates how the US and Russia use the UN and NATO as proxies to carry out this reciprocal behaviour.
SHANNON DORITY
The Challenges of Self-Determination in the Post-Cold War World
The changing interpretations of the principle of self-determination since the Cold War have created a substantial challenge to the global community. Ethnic groups have escalated the claim to the right of self-determination in pursuit of independent statehood, threatening the stability of state sovereignty and territorial integrity. Current international law fails to provide a coherent solution to existing ethnic self-determination movements, such as that of Kosovo and South Ossetia.
MARK SLEBODA
Georgia as Geopolitical Nexus: An Analysis of the Motivations and Outcomes of the August War
This paper argues that the August War of 2008 is best analyzed as a geopolitical clash between the US and the Russian Federation. The end outcome of this confrontation as it now stands leaves Russia as relatively gaining from the conflict having reasserted a degree of political and military control over its “near abroad” in the Caucuses region. This leaves it in a superior position in its geopolitical goals and national security priority of dominance of the heart of the Eurasian landmass as well as reaffirming its status as a Great Power in the international system.
BORISLAVA GEORGIEVA
The Economic and Social Consequences of IMF Lending Policies: Policy Lessons for Increased Effectiveness
The dissertation is concerned with the socio-economic consequences that arise with the lending program of the IMF for the borrowing country. The nature, possible causes and policy options are explored.
AHMET ALTINDAL
An Alternative to the Washington Consensus? China’s Lending Policies in Africa
This paper looks at the development approaches, motivations and implications of China’s lending policies in Africa. China is playing an increasingly prominent role in Africa, offering loans with very lower interest rates and near-to-nothing conditionalities. China is presenting itself as an alternative source of development funds to countries unwilling to accept the interest and conditions offered by the IMF and World Bank loans.
PEGGY OYIBO
The Niger Delta Crisis: An Analysis of the Causes
This dissertation examines why the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has become increasingly unstable. It argues that the oil multinationals and federal government are to be blamed for the Niger Delta crisis due to the unregulated oil exploration and the failure of the government to promote good governance.
ALFRIEDA KRANTZ
Environmental Scarcity – a National Security Threat?
This paper investigates the causal links between environmental scarcity and violent conflict. The current conflict in Darfur is used as a case study to illustrate these causal links and concludes that environmental scarcity can lead to violent conflict.
SONIA PREISSER
Mexico: Made in the USA?
This paper analyzes how far the US’s influence has gone within Mexico, and the effects that have come as a result.
GABRIELE LATINI
Corporate Social Responsibility and Transnational Actors: Can Corporation Serve as Moral Agents?
This paper argues that corporations, which are politically, economically and culturally central to modern society, are important development agents. There is, however, a gap in the analysis of what is corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility policies. Neoliberalist and communitarian approaches provide valuable insight into ways in which multinational corporations are engaging with and shaping the CSR agenda – and why corporation have become proactive actors on the world stage.
HOLLY BEARDON
Biofuels and the International Food Crisis
This dissertation examines the relationship between the production of biofuels and the current international food crisis. It argues that although biofuel production has come under a great deal of scrutiny recently, in actuality it plays a negligible role in the food crisis.
JENNIFER HODSON
A Critical Evaluation of the People’s Republic of China’s Environmental Policies and the Case Study of the 2008 Beijing Olympics
This dissertation analyzes the environmental history and reputation of the People’s Republic of China as well as its attempts to combine development and environmental sustainability. The central government used the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a tool to globally showcase its path to sustainable development. This paper argues that the environmental realities of before and after the Games illustrate the PRC’s desire for short-term gain instead of long-term policies that would uphold the theory of sustainable development.
ASHLEE ANDREWS
The Limits of Consociationalism in Promoting Reconciliation in Northern Ireland
This dissertation examines the failures of the consociational Belfast Agreement in promoting a long lasting reconciliation process in Northern Ireland. It argues that persisting low levels of integrated education and continued animosity between the two main political parties, Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party, remain two crucial problems that consociationalism has not been able to sufficiently address.
MERVE STOLZMAN
Ending Impunity: The Development of Command Responsibility and its Impact on International Relations
This paper examines the evolution of the command responsibility doctrine within international criminal law and determines its effectiveness. It also analyzes the impact it has had upon international relations in ending impunity of high-ranking political and military officials and in deterring future atrocities.
GALINA KHORKOVA
Military Strategy and the Unjust Nature of White Phosphorus
This paper uses the Just War theory to analyze the military use of white phosphorus. The aim is to show that accomplishing military objectives outweighs the principle of discrimination in the particular case of white phosphorus.
KIMBERLY KASCHAK
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime and Iran
This paper examines the success of the nuclear non-proliferation regime in preventing the rise of new nuclear power states and in the disarmament of current nuclear powers. It argues that not only has the non-proliferation regime been unsuccessful in its initial goal of disarmament but has created an international security threat by forcing the nuclear program of Iran underground.
ALI BADER
Challenging Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations Theory
Huntington’s theory of a ‘Clash of Civilizations’ has become a famous discourse in analyzing the nature of conflict where he contents that religion and culture will be the primary source of conflict for the future. This paper challenges Huntington’s ‘Clash’ Theory by considering alternative theories, such as Edward Azar’s Protracted Social Conflict theory and Thomas Homer-Dixon’s Environmental Conflict theory, which provide better analysis for understanding the source of conflict.
Senior Seminar Dissertations : Fall 2008
JOSH ADAIR
Madman Theory and Conflict Resolution
This paper discusses problems with the realist approaches to coercive diplomacy and brinkmanship. In response to these theoretical problems, Richard Nixon’s Madman Theory is analyzed in order to demonstrate how it has been applied historically to overcome the flaws associated with coercive diplomacy and brinkmanship. It is applied to two case studies that demonstrate an adherence to the basic principles of the theory.
CHRIS LEITER
The Bane of Post-Cold War American Foreign Policy: Public Diplomacy
This dissertation examines the United States’ public diplomacy efforts from the period after the end of the Cold War through the end of the 20th Century. It makes the assertion that the rise of new global communications, continuance of effective diplomatic projects, and loss of support among policy makers failed public diplomacy and hampered overall US foreign policy.
PERRY STAMP
Viva Cuba? The applicability of Social Constructivist Theory in Explaining Economic Sanctions: The Case of Cuba
This paper assesses the role of constructivist theory in current US foreign policy toward Cuba. It argues that US sanctions against Cuba have failed and are continued solely by the need for politicians to appease anti-Cuba lobby groups with the United States.
JESSICA PEARSALL
The Failure of Liberalism to Prevent Major Human Rights Abuses
This dissertation explores the failure of the United Nations and Liberal internationalism to stop human rights abuses. It argues that Liberalism has failed to protect Liberal ideas of human rights. The Rwandan genocide is analyzed to show such failures.
AMY GINGERICH
A Missile Defense System in Poland: A Neo-Liberal versus Realist View
This paper discusses the United States’ plan to base part of its missile defense system in Poland and Poland’s tentative acceptance of this plan reflects the worldviews of each state in terms of international relations theory. While Poland continues to take a realist stance in the “shadow” of Russia, the United State sees the value of the neo-liberal institutionalist view that cooperation is key for security in an interdependent world.
ANNA ORCEVA
Russia’s Opposition to NATO’s Baltic Enlargement in 2004
This dissertation examines the increasingly alarming relationship between the Russian Federation and NATO due to the Alliance’s eastward expansion into the three Baltic Republic states – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. It considers the possible implications that can arise from such a decision.
YORDANKA BLAGOEVA
EU Enlargement Risks and Benefits for Poland and the Czech Republic
This research critically analyzes the transformation process the former communist states went through in order to join the EU. It focuses on the ‘shock therapy’ those states had to go through in order to become democratic and capitalist societies. Adopting a neo-liberal approach towards transformation has done a lot of harm to Poland and the Czech Republic and has not left them any choice but to go through the process of regionalization and liberalization.
SHING YU
The People’s Republic of China’s Rise to Power through South Africa and Sudan
This dissertation analyzes a comparative case study of the relationships between the People’s Republic of China, Sudan and the Republic of South Africa. It argues that the PRC uses human rights and economic tools to undermine the authority of western states in order to regain its rightful place in global politics.
TARJA CAJUDO
Good Governance Theory and the Failure of its Application under the Dictatorship of the Marcos Regime in the Philippines
This dissertation examines the dimensions of good governance theory along with its inconsistencies and failures in application. It argues the failure of good governance policies in the case of the Philippines, specifically during the time of the Marcos regime.
AMANDA STERLING
Fierce Urgency of Now: Race, Gender and the United States Presidential Primaries
This research examines the implication of both gender and race in the American presidential election. Using the rational choice theory outlined by Anthony Downs (1957) and behavioralism, it argues that contenders for the presidential nomination, regardless of political affiliation, actually do more damage to their chances of gaining the nomination when they employ the race and/or gender card.
BREANE COBLE
The Power of the Pro-Israel Lobby in Influencing US Foreign Policy: A Constructivist Argument
This paper analyzes the power and influence of the pro-Israel lobby in determining US foreign policy in the Middle East. The constructivist argument is used to argue that US foreign policy in the Middle East, specifically in relation to Israel, is influenced by a history of shared cultural norms and not solely the pro-Israel lobby.
HANIN ABOU SALEM
Who rules America – the President or the Constitution?
Who rules America? The president or the constitution? Institutionalism is the main paradigm in explaining presidential behaviour in the president centred and presidency-centred debates. Nevertheless, this paper argues that the incumbent of the oval office can create, promote and influence policy within the boundaries of the US constitution.
THOMAS RUSCONI
Shooting Straight: A Comparative Study of the Gun Laws in the United States and Australia - and Their Effectiveness
This dissertation examines the evolution of gun policies in the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Australia, both culturally and politically. Particular emphasis is paid to Pluralist Theory to explain the divergence of gun control laws in the two nations. This dissertation argues that gun laws do have a positive effect on reducing crime and that the theory “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”, famously used by the American National Rifle Association, is false.
Senior Seminar Dissertations : Spring 2008
KAMA FITCHETT
The Theory Behind American Foreign Policy on Oil: Classical Power Centric Realism or Power and Interest Based Regime Theory
The motivation behind American foreign policy in regards to key strategic areas such as oil is highly controversial. Is that motivation better understood by classical power centric realism as described by Morgenthau and EH Carr or by power and interest-based regime theory as expounded by Stephen Krasner?
IAN TYO
The Relationship Between Oil and Conflict
An analysis of the Sudanese and Nigerian states’ protracted social conflicts and the contributing domestic and international forces provides the framework for this study. Various factors are considered which include resource trade dependency, internal conflict and the role of the state, external resource dependencies and foreign policy as well as the role of international institutions in regulating and identifying the causes of such conflicts.
KATYA GINEVA
Humanitarian Intervention in Kosovo
This dissertation addresses the controversial status of humanitarian intervention in terms of legitimacy and legality. The case of Kosovo is used to demonstrate the explanatory power of solidarist, ‘Just War’ theory, reflecting the increasing resemblance of international society to a ‘solidarist society’. This dissertation argues that as a consequence humanitarian intervention must be recognized as legitimate right.
DAVID WALKER
Provincial Reconstruction Teams: Strategic Advantages of a Developing Technique
Changes in the nature of global conflict since the end of the Cold War have created challenges for international conflict resolution and humanitarian aid. This paper argues that the new cooperative civil-military teams operating in Iraq and Afghanistan known as Provincial Reconstruction Teams are uniquely suited to addressing the challenges raised by modern conflicts.
MOHAMED EL BACHIR BOUKACHABIA
International Conflict and the People’s Right to Self-Determination: The Case of Western Sahara
The problem of the right to self-determination and the failure of the international community to find solutions to conflicts is examined in the context of the UN’s role and the power of some member states in the Security Council who are delaying the process of independence.
ADRIANA BOGDEVA
The Problem of the Democratic Deficit in the EU and its Solutions
The problem of the democratic deficit has tried to be resolved through the influence of national parliaments and solutions deriving from an intergovernmentalist approach to integration or an increase in the power of the European Parliament. This paper emphasises the limitations of those two solutions and argues that a broader set of measures has to be applied which takes into consideration the role of the European Commission and the European Constitution.
IVAYLA IVANOVA
Regionalization as a Response to Globalization’s Challenges to State Sovereignty
This paper explores the relationship between MNCs viewed as proponents of globalization, and the challenges posed to the post-Westphalian State by the corporations’ growing economic power. The case of the EU is used to explore whether the EU is willing to show its muscle only when its markets and positions as a global player are threatened by American MNCs and whether the differences in responses can be explained by the varying power of the particular case and the specific MNC.
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