Book categories

The Gulen Hizmet Movement and its Transnational Activities

Case Studies of Altruistic Activism in Contemporary Islam

by Sophia Pandya & Nancy Gallagher (co-editors)

2012

This volume of essays on the Gulen, or Hizmet (service) movement, a Turkish, Sufi Muslim, and humanitarian civil society group, looks at the recent activities of its followers to practice their form of Islam and carry out collective interfaith projects at the international level. It adds to the newly burgeoning discourse by focusing on the ways in which participants challenge ideological and sectarian boundaries. Included are essays which discuss how the movement is organized, structured, and institutionalized in many parts of the world, explore Turkey’s global influence, evaluate criticisms of the movement, and suggest directions for further research. While most previous scholarly attention has focused on the theological and philosophical ideas of Fethullah Gulen, the movement’s inspira...

Oil and God

Sustainable Energy Will Defeat Wahhabi Terror

by Elie Elhadj

2018

Oil and God is an unabashed realpolitik analysis of U.S. oil geopolitics and Saudi Arabia’s symbiotic attachment to Wahhabism. Oil and God contends that oil hegemony is world hegemony. The U.S. has protected the al-Sauds since 1945. Some 35,000 U.S. soldiers are in regional air and naval bases to protect the oil fields and ruling sheikhs. In Washington’s hands, Saudi oil is a non-lethal WMD. Not even the 9/11 atrocities could make Washington punish Riyadh. Oil and God investigates why Iraq was destroyed, why Iran was allowed to dominate Baghdad, and why Shi’ite/Sunni wars continue to burn. Once oil is replaced by green energy, Washington will abandon Riyadh, Saudi cash will dwindle, and Wahhabi terror will diminish.REVIEWS Elie Elhadj provides a deeply researched analysis of how the Arab ...

Suffering in Silence

The Human Rights Nightmare of the Karen People of Burma

by Claudio O. Delang

2000

Situated in the triangle between South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China, Burma is a country of 50 million people struggling under the oppression of one of the world's most brutal military regimes. Yet, the voices of its people remain largely unheard in the international arena. Most of the limited media coverage deals with the non-violent struggle for democracy led by Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi or the Army's repression of university students and urban dissidents, but these only form a small part of the story. This book presents the voices of ethnic Karen villagers to give an idea of what it is like to be a rural villager in Burma: the brutal and constant shifts of forced labor for the Army, the intimidation tactics, the systematic extortion and looting by Army and State authoriti...

In the Shadow of the United States

Democracy and Regional Order in the Latin Caribbean

by Giancarlo Soler Torrijos

2008

How is the process of democratization different in those countries influenced by the United States? Being so close to this world power, the Latin Caribbean should have been one of the first regions, and not one of the last, to become democratic. An intersection between Comparative Politics and International Relations, the book portrays democratization not as a purely domestic process but as a regional one. It also shows the limits of US influence; US power distorted regime trajectories, without being sufficient to determine their outcomes. This book is central to understanding the impact of US efforts to promote democracy and the international dimension of regime transitions. It is also useful to grasp the configuration of the Latin Caribbean as a distinct sub-region.

The Delusion of Progress

A Fallacy of Western Society

by Pierre A. Chomat

2008

In The Delusion of Progress Pierre-Auguste Chomat portrays a young individual who gradually becomes an unconditional believer in progress and a full member of an industrial society that sets almost no limits to its material development. The case presented by the author defines Western Society as a whole. Industrialized countries take for granted that Progress characterizes Man and is a natural movement of his being. We have faith in Progress. We do not question its values. Progress “exists” the way God “exists.” We have become fundamentalists of Progress. Our societal behavior has some severe flaws. Most critically, it is exhausting the resources on which it is based and the damage that it is inflicting on Earth is often irreversible, putting life as we know it in jeopardy. The momentu...

Understanding International Counter Terrorism

A Professional’s Guide to the Operational Art

by A. Hunsicker

2006

Understanding International Counter Terrorism is one serious effort to lay out a comprehensive strategy of how to deal with a whole gamut of possible terrorist incidents by using a language that any person or first responders like policemen, security personnel, firemen, paramedics, etc. can understand. This guide covers everything from bombings and hostage- taking, to NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) Terrorism, what needs to be done before, during, and after an event. This manual combines what minimally needs to be understood about Operational Counter- Terrorism by the government- level policy maker, while at the same time helping the personnel on the first responder level who are planning to cope with what must at least initially seem like an overwhelming attack. Terrorism i...

Reassessing Democracy

A Rebel's Guide

by Gregory Shafer

2004

Americans have long believed that they live in a democratic nation--where government is responsive to the people and where wealth and happiness are available to all. In fact, as this work explores, the American government has never sought equality and is often more loyal to business and affluence than to the aspirations of the average citizen. This book delves into the violations of democracy, uncovering the pandering to corporations, the cultural manipulations of people, the violations of fundamental rights.

Solution or Stalemate?

Peace Process in Turkey, 2009-2013

by Baturay Yurtbay

2017

The Kurdish question started to be discussed especially after the establishment of Republic of Turkey in year 1923. This problem has many different aspects, as well as sociological and political problems. PKK, the terrorist organization, constitutes another dimension of this problem. The peace process for the sustainable peace regarding with the Kurdish question and PKK took place in year 2009. This process aimed to end the PKK terrorism and to solve the Kurdish question from its roots through effective and permanent methods. However, the solution process begun in year 2009 by the AKP government in Turkey could not be resolved but it turned to a stalemate because of inconclusive and abstracts steps followed in the process, as well as the foreign difficulties. This research will examine ...

Two American Crusades

Actors and Factors in the Cold War and the Global War on Terrorism

by Marian Leighton

2020

Here is the first in-depth analysis and comparison of U.S. policy in two seminal conflicts of our recent history: the Cold War and the Global War on Terrorism. Unlike previous publications, which deal with each conflict separately, Two American Crusades treats the two as a seamless web, from the passions of the medieval Crusades through the long twilight struggle of the Cold War to the campaign against al Qaeda and ISIS stemming from the rise of radical political Islam. National security and foreign policy professionals, members of the academic community, and general readers alike will benefit from the insights revealed in this book that exert a profound influence on current international affairs and America’s role. Two American Crusades also illustrates why a peace dividend continues to...

Dispatches from the South China Sea

Navigating to Common Ground

by James Borton

2022

The impact of continuous coastal development, reclamation, destruction of corals, overfishing and increased maritime traffic places all of us on the front lines of preserving our oceans. Marine biologists, who share a common language that cuts across political, economic and social differences, recognize that the sea’s remarkable coral reefs, which provide food, jobs and protection against storms and floods, have suffered unprecedented rates of destruction in recent decades. Dispatches from the South China Sea’s blend of participatory research and field reportage paves the way for a transformation of policy and, provides a basis for the eventual resolution of some of today’s major maritime conflicts. From overfishing, illegal and unregulated fishing, coral reef destruction and reclamat...

The Chinese Space Programme in the Public Conversation about Space

by Andrew Thomas

2020

This study is the product of a long view of space exploration and the conversations about space in China. It locates the multiple conversations about space exploration and utilisation as they are in the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC), within other conversations about space culture in the world. China is viewed by Western researchers though many lenses which are examined here critically. In previous studies, writers explain away China‘s space programme with the easy answers of a "Space Race" and a "China Threat", in which the space programme is seen as merely an example of global competition, or threat, but this thesis challenges those barriers to Western understanding of the Chinese public conversation of space culture. In this study, critical theory and an underlying epistemology within...

Engaging Terror

A Critical and Interdisciplinary Approach

by M. Vardalos, G.K. Letts, H.M. Teixeira, A. Karzai, J. Haig (editors)

2009

Engaging Terror: A Critical and Interdisciplinary Approach is a collection of select extended papers drawn from The Human Condition Series (THCS) conference on Terror that took place in May, 2008. The international scope of the conference drew participants from twenty-three countries including Brazil, Columbia, Cuba, France, Israel, Lebanon, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The thirty-five essays presented here are a representative sample of the interdisciplinary discussion which sought to analyze popular concepts like 'terrorism' and 'terrorist' as social, political, and psychosocial phenomena. Engaging Terror seeks to reveal the diverse forms of terror that persist in contemporary societie...

Documenting the Undocumented: Redefining Refugee Status

Center for Refugee Studies 2009 Annual Conference Proceedings

by Veronica P. Fynn (editor)

2010

This Proceeding is a direct product of the Center for Refugee Studies Annual Conference-- Documenting the Undocumented: Redefining Refugee Status, which took place on April 16-17, 2009 at York University, Toronto, Canada. It is a compilation of 11 scholastic essays ranging from a wide variety of topics related to "undocumented people" - domestic workers, internally displaced people, non-status students, environmental displacement, resettlement, refugees, and more. These thought provoking, yet unconventional pieces will attract academics, non-academics, policy makers, practitioners, lawyers, policy makers and others.

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton

A Defining Political Debate

by K. Anthony Scott

2007

The founding of American jurisprudence can be traced to the debates that occurred between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson early in the history of our nation. A Defining Political Debate explores the core tension between the two men over the ability of the judiciary to preserve the core values of republican government. The author takes you through the normative dimensions of the Hamilton and Jefferson debates and provides an analysis of what this means for our current state of affairs.

Neighborhood Challenge

The European Union and Its Neighbors

by Birgul Demirtas-Coskun & Bezen Balamir-Coskun

2009

One of the intriguing questions of the post-Cold War era has been whether the EU will play a major global role in world politics as non-traditional threats and challenges came to the forefront. Launching new policies such as the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the European Security and Defence Policy and the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) have been considered important steps in the EU?s evolution as a regional and possibly global actor. Neighborhood Challenge analyzes critical aspects of the European Union's relations with its neighbours, by extending its analysis beyond the ENP. Unlike existing books on the subject, the volume covers the entire neighborhood from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus to North Africa; from the Western Balkans to the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Such an ...

Studies in Criminal Justice, Terrorism, and International Political Conflicts

by Frank Fuller

2009

This book covers criminal justice and terrorism topics, with some related political studies. It consists of a collection of essays and research studies designed for academic audiences. This is a useful guide for high schoolers, college students, professors, and teachers. The reader will learn about terrorism topics and political conflicts and grasp how these fields are tied together. The readings will serve as good reference tools for those who are interested in understanding how conflicts develop, and are willing to resolve some of the problems brought on by international and domestic terrorism.

Boundary Politics and International Boundaries of Iran

A Study of the Origin, Evolution, and Implications of the Boundaries of Modern Iran with its 15 Neighbors in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, Central Asia, and West Asia by a Number of Renowned Experts in the Field

by Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh

2007

This book is about Iranian boundaries at a time when crisis of various nature are occurring around Iran, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, with immediate effect on the Iranian borderlands and substantial effect of Iran’s relations with her neighbours. Furthermore, issues like the legal regime of the Caspian Sea and the UAE claims on the Iranian-owned and Iranian-held islands of Tunbs and Abu Musa in the Persian Gulf create a situation in Iran’s neighbourhood, which influence her foreign relations and engage the country in matters of international importance. Occurrence of all these issues on and around the boundaries of Iran and a thorough study of the unexplored foundation and evolution of these issues within the framework of the study of the Iranian boundaries make this book timely, sp...

Denial and Deception

A Study of the Bush Administration's Rhetorical Case for Invading Iraq

by Alan Kennedy-Shaffer

2006

Denial and Deception: A Study of the Bush Administration's Rhetorical Case for Invading Iraq delivers a refreshingly objective snapshot of the relationship between President George W. Bush's misleading statements, public opinion, and the war in Iraq. Using statistical analysis, Alan Kennedy-Shaffer presents the first academic study of how President Bush bullied the nation into invading Iraq and why the White House no longer controls public opinion. By mapping the major rhetorical and military developments in the war in Iraq, Kennedy-Shaffer paints a contextual picture of the Administration's rhetoric and the impact of casualty rates on public opinion. This book is essential reading for every scholar of presidential rhetoric and public opinion in an era of denial and deception by ...

The Political Economic Foundation of Democratic Capitalism

From Genesis to Maturation

by Alan W. Ertl

2007

In The Political Economic Foundation of Democratic Capitalism, Dr. Alan Ertl traces the development of the modern notions of Democracy and Capitalism, specifically the unique and seemingly at-odds combination of the two ideas that has grown to form the political-economic system of democratic-capitalism. An understanding of this system is essential to political and economic studies; the studies of those nations currently striving to develop Capitalism as their economic base would benefit from the separate analyses of Democracy and Capitalism, how the two concepts compare and contrast, and how the two ideas have combined to form a complex system of government.

Justice Versus Politics in Haiti (2001 - 2004)

by Prosper Avril

2007

In broad 21st century, without cause nor reason, a peaceful and honest citizen, Prosper Avril, a former president of Haiti, was imprisoned during 1011 days in a lugubrious cell by the only will of one man, an other president of this country: Jean-Bertrand Aristide Prosper Avril is the author of "Le Livre Noir de l’Insécurité" already presented in English language under the title "The Black Book on Insecurity", a book that had created the event in Haiti in the year 2001 when President Aristide made him arrested while he was signing his work to the public. His fight to recover his freedom is the source of his new work: "La Justice face au Pouvoir Politique en Haiti (2001 - 2004)" published after his release from prison. This book is offered now in its English version : "Justice versus Polit...

Red Air

Politics in Russian Air Power

by Dr. Sanu Kainikara

2008

The pursuit of national security is normally dominated by an overaching ideology that takes into account the political, economic, social and military paradigms that face a nation. In the history of the Soviet Union this ideology was more thaqn normallyinfluenced by political activism that demanded the continuation of the 'Workers' Revolution' into other parts of the world. Since the military forms an integral part of the governmental apparatus, its utilisation in the pursuit of securing national security is considered a legitimate and normal action. The Soviet Union built up the world's largest military force in an effort to ensure that the nation would have the necessary 'super power' status to counter-balance the growing power and influence of the United States of America. The ideologies...

The Islamic Shield

Arab Resistance to Democratic and Religious Reforms

by Elie Elhadj

2008

Washington’s “War on Terrorism” has used democratization of the Arab World as a justification and a weapon. The Islamic Shield contends that genuine religious and political reforms in the Arab World are sheer fantasy: they are not expected for a very long time, if ever. The Islamic Shield argues that democratic ideology cannot defeat Islamic theology. A culture of blind obedience to autocratic authority at home, school, mosque, and work place has been turned into a form of piety by the ulama clerics. The Islamic Shield focuses on the interaction between political Islam and world politics. The book analyses the likely consequences of Arab resistance to political and religious reforms in the Middle East and beyond, especially the Arab-Israeli conflict and the U.S. project in Iraq. The bo...

The Citizen-Soldier in War and Peace

An Introduction to the History and Evolution of Citizen Armies and Militias

by James Biser Whisker and John R. Coe

2021

The Citizen Soldier in War and Peace is a is a short historical look at the use of firearms in America and throughout the world this book appeals to anybody who believes in the Second Amendment or who is interested in the historical use of firearms. It begins with the use of guns for hunting and self-protection ad well as personal property and of course national defense early in our country‘s early history . It also analyzes the philosophical standpoint of the idea of the armed citizen and its relationship to freedom. A freeman with a gun, an armed citizenry means a free country The book also does a thorough job of examining other countries and other philosophical aspects of arming the citizenry. This book clearly defines the Militias in other countries. It touches on China and the Soviet ...

Turkish Foreign Policy in Post Cold War Era

by Idris Bal

2005

With the end of Cold War discipline the world has entered a new era. Parameters have changed; new handicaps as well as new opportunities have been created for countries. Turkey as a neighbor of former USSR, a member of NATO and located at the center of a sensitive region covered by Caucasus, Balkans and Middle East, has been affected by the end of Cold War radically. Turkey has lost some of her bargaining cards in the new era and therefore has needed new arguments. This need encouraged Turkey to take active steps in Post Cold War era. This book analyzes Turkey s relations with US, EU, Balkans, Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, China and Japan. At the same time, effects of economic crises and domestic developments on foreign policy, Turkish model in Turkish foreign policy, water ...

Laser Isotope Separation and the Future of Nuclear Proliferation

by Ruben M. Serrato

2010

Laser isotope separation (LIS) is an emerging technology that uses relatively small, widely-available lasers to achieve civilian or weapons grade concentration of fissile material to fuel nuclear reactions. To date only a few, limited proliferation risk analyses of LIS technology have been conducted. This paper provides a historically and technically informed update on the current state of LIS technology and it explains the high likelihood of increased global LIS adoption. The paper also explains how international rules governing nuclear energy are ill-equipped to handle such new technology. It traces the current limitations to broader issues in international relations theory, especially the incomplete accounts of the role of technology in the proliferation dynamic in the dominant neoreali...

The Political Economy of Violence

The Case of Venezuela

by Daniel S. Leon

2010

This study will attempt to answer the question of how can the rise in social violence since the 1980s be explained in the oil-rich nation of Venezuela? The once relatively peaceful nation of Venezuela has seen a dramatic rise in social violence over the last three decades that has placed her amongst some of the world's most dangerous countries. A review of the relevant literature will reveal that the study of a social phenomenon such as violence, in a nation such as Venezuela, is a complicated task because there are a number of different, but in many cases interlinked, variables that contribute to the formation of this social phenomenon. Therefore, the conceptual framework will consist of a multi-variable analysis so that this study may go about to formulate an appropriate explanation base...

Ridding the World of Landmines

The Governance of Mine Action

by Kjell Bjork

2012

This book looks at how international treaties can be used to establish successful national programmes. It is concerned specifically with national mine action programmes, focusing on the capacity of the national governments (also referred to as "the state") to implement the "Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction." The Convention, which is also referred to as the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) or "Treaty", was finalised on September 18, 1997 in Oslo. Ten years after its creation, the Treaty has proven a successful tool to address the humanitarian disaster caused by landmines, yet most of the mine affected country signatories to the MBT have not been able to meet their clearance deadline. This book examines th...

UN Peacebuilding

Light Footprint or Friendly Takeover?

by Nora Roehner

2012

The book investigates efforts of the international community to keep peace and rebuild states after these have overcome internal war. Over the past 20+ years, UN peace missions have gradually become more ambitious, with an increasing number of military and civilian peacebuilders on the ground who take on a wide range of responsibilities. Contradicting calls for ever more international commitment to post-war countries, the author argues that more of everything is not in all cases the adequate approach and does not necessarily produce better outcomes in terms of security and statehood in war-torn countries.

Parliamentary Democracy in the Lisbon Treaty

The Role of Parliamentary Bodies in Achieving Institutional Balance and Prospects for a New European Political Regime

by Sotirios Petrovas

2011

The Lisbon Treaty is the latest and most crucial reform to the European Union. As the successor to the much-debated and innovative Constitution, it represents the culmination of the unification process, for it aims to simultaneously enhance efficiency and cover the democratic deficit inherent in the outdated decisionmaking mechanisms of the past, as a consequence of excessive enlargement and deepened integration. Thus, the first question is the extent to which the Lisbon Treaty renders the Union more democratic and according to what criteria that may be evaluated. Another question is related to the fact that the Treaty is the result of a fundamental debate on the very nature of the European Union: Is the latter to become an authentic political union or a mere free-trade area with second...

The Intermarium

Wilson, Madison, & East Central European Federalism

by Jonathan Levy

2007

This thesis proposes an alternative governance structure for east central Europe – the Intermarium. The Intermarium is based on the development of a supplementary federal structure capable of controlling factionalism and nationalism utilizing concepts from James Madison’s Tenth Federalist. In particular, James Madison’s approach to mitigating and preventing the formation of dangerous factions is found to be compatible with preexisting notions of federalism in east central Europe and offers a potential regional political solution that merits further study. In reaching the above proposal, the concepts of Wilsonian national self -determination, Pan European federalism, functionalism and historical east central European variants of federalism are explored along with their leading personaliti...

An Analysis of the H-2A Agricultural Guest Worker Program and Recommendations for Future Policy

by Paulina M. Irigaray

2011

The majority of the people who make up the United States' seasonal agricultural workforce are nonimmigrant Mexican citizens. Immigration policies such as the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and the H-2A agricultural guest worker program were meant to encourage growers to employ legal labor workforces. A study of the laws and practices that eventually resulted in the H-2A program shows how and why the demographics are predominantly Mexican. In addition, such study is revealing as to why the US enacted the H-2A program-including definitional details of the program itself. However, does this program really work? This question has radically different answers. In theory, the program seems to be well designed; but, in practice, it does not function as intended because of its many short...

The Information Age and Diplomacy

An Emerging Strategic Vision in World Affairs

by Amir Dhia

2006

Advances in the field of information and communication technologies have substantially affected most segments of our life, leading to the Information Age or Information Revolution. On both individual and state scale, 'information' has become a vital 'commodity' by which one measures levels of knowledge, skills, well-being, prosperity and development. This academic work traces the evolution of the Information Age and the emerging trends of diplomacy and politics in today's world. It signals potential opportunities and threats, while strategically forecasting current and future implications. Including three major chapters, the work is divided into eleven significant themes. It reviews the emergence of knowledge-based societies and highlights their main features. The course of globalizati...

Asia Journal of Global Studies

Vol. 5, Nos. 1-2

by Derrick M. Nault, editor

2013

Published twice yearly, the Asia Journal of Global Studies (AJGS) is the official journal of the Asia Association for Global Studies (AAGS). The journal features research articles on Asia and other world regions from an Asian perspective. AJGS' other regular offerings include guest columns by global studies experts in Asia, reader commentaries, and book reviews. Multidisciplinary in scope, AJGS accepts contributions from authors with backgrounds in the humanities and social sciences. The journal encourages historians, political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, linguists, philosophers and others to submit their work for consideration. It particularly welcomes research that dissolves academic boundaries, looks beyond traditional notions of the nation state, and aims for a holis...

International Journal of Development Research and Quantitative Techniques

Vol.4, Nos.1-2

by Siddhartha Sarkar (series editor)

2015

CONTENTS 1. Capital Goods Imports, Catch-up and Total Factor Productivity Growthby Subaran Roy 2.Education Extension and Agricultural Productivity: The Case of Small Farmers in Four Counties of Southside Virginiaby Young O. Dimkpah et al. 3. Economic Development in Relationship to Fiscal Functions for Public Policy by Anis Mahomed Karodia About the Journal: ISSN 0974-3472 The applicability of quantitative methods in social science research has gained much more attention to many researchers and policy makers, and there is much enduring discussion and debate across the social science disciplines, which feeds into the development of new approaches to social science research. This peer-reviewed International Journal of Development Research and Quantitative Techniques (IJDRQT) is int...

International Journal of Economic and Political Integration (2014 Annual Edition)

Vol.4, Nos.1-2 (2014 Annual Print Edition)

by Siddhartha Sarkar (series editor)

2015

A biannual peer-reviewed journal, the International Journal of Economic and Political Integration (IJEPI) ISSN 0974-3510 is a forum for the exchange of ideas across the social science disciplines, e.g. political scientists debate with economists, sociologists read what political scientists have to say, historians study what economists have to say regarding political integration and economics.

The New World Order

An Economic Global Regime

by Carlo James

1999

The New World Order -- far from being anything "new" -- is an order which has been evolving for more than one hundred years. This thesis begins with the idea for an elite establishment of one late 19th century individual, Cecil Rhodes, and shows how it has developed into the several organizations that make up the Global Regime today. Although the term "New World Order" has been a buzzword since the Bush era, the majority of people around the world remain uncertain of the meaning. This thesis will demonstrate that it is an order with an underlying economic agenda. This is illustrated by examining various reports written by members or the Regime which reveal their goals and intentions, and also by examining detailed studies done on policies they have implemented. Finally, this thesis su...

Johnson, McNamara, and the Birth of SALT and the ABM Treaty 1963-1969

by John M. Clearwater

1999

The purpose of this book is to examine the birth of bilateral strategic arms control between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Johnson Administration, from 1964 to 1969. It is about the time and the place of the birth of bilateral strategic arms control as it came about in the United States through the efforts of President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the 1960s. This is the time of the birth of what quickly came to be known as SALT, or the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. This inquiry firstly considers whether the move towards bilateral strategic arms control was institutional or personal. It then looks for the motivating factors: both theoretical and substantive. As few things have only a single cause, it is likely that we shall find th...

Terrorist Groups Are Aligning To Conduct Global Terrorism

by John R. Fraser

2003

Terrorism was once a topic limited to certain sectors of the world, such as the Middle East or South Africa. However, in recent years, it appears that no one is safe in any part of the globe. A growing number of countries must take measures to protect citizens and visitors from the threat of terrorism. The Unites States of America is the latest addition to this list. It has become evident in recent years that terrorism is no longer a localized event, but rather an increasing global problem. It has also become obvious that terrorism requires a global solution as well. Evidence has been mounting that terrorist groups are beginning to connect and form alliances. This gives them greater strength and greater resources. It seems they are finding common ground and are beginning to coordinate effo...

Africa and the Democratic Option

A Quest for Effectiveness and Legitimacy in Governance

by Austin O. Ogunsuyi

2004

The prospect for democracy in Africa is the central concern of this study. The factors that contribute to the existence of undemocratic or autocratic governments in most of Africa, therefore, become our major focus for evaluation.An analysis of the pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial political history of Africa attribute autocracy in Africa to irreconcilable differences between the African traditional institutions and the imposed colonial political and economic systems. This socioeconomic and political disharmony, orchestrated by the colonial economics of exploitation, set the tone for neocolonial African states fraught with economic and political instability.Our research strategy involved a qualitative technique of collecting and analyzing a significant body of data relating to the po...

The Voices of Amerasians

Ethnicity, Identity, and Empowerment in Interracial Japanese Americans

by Stephen L H Murphy-Shigematsu

1999

Amerasians are persons of American and Asian ethnic heritage who have appeared as a group mainly in the past forty years. Beginning with the massive involvement of the United States in the Occupation of Japan, thousands of Amerasians have been born from Japan to Vietnam. In the U.S. they are the children of approximately eighty thousand American/Asian couples who have come here since that time. This study sought to examine the lives of Amerasians in the United States. The primary research questions centered around finding the nature of Amerasian issues and concerns which are encountered in growing up in the U.S. How Amerasians attempted to resolve these issues and concerns was a major focus of the thesis. Data was analyzed for themes using grounded theory. Themes of early experi...

Tokyo Phantasmagoria

An Analysis of Politics and Commodity Capitalism in Modern Japan Through the Eyes of Walter Benjamin

by Kenny Loui

2008

As the sun set on the 20th century, a new age dawned in Japan. This new era, symbolized by the postmodern city of Tokyo, has ushered in not only technological innovation and economic prowess, but changing attitudes and values among Japanese young people. This transformation is not an uncommon or even new phenomenon, but simply the result of modern life. And one of the symptoms of modernity is the prevalence of an “ethics of materialism,” the ever-increasing concern for the acquisition of wealth and commodity goods, sometimes at the expense of the concern for human life itself. Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher whose writings examined topics including, but not limited to, art, history, and politics. His life’s work, published posthumously as The Arcades ...

State Sovereignty versus Individual Human Rights in the Case of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994

by Kayumba P. David

2008

This study entitled ‘State sovereignty versus individual human rights’ is a critical reflection of the relationship between sovereignty and (individual) human rights especially as it related to the Rwandan genocide in which about a million people perished in only 100 days. The fact that Rwanda government conducted a genocide against its citizens and continued to enjoy the benefits of sovereign rights of independent states such as the protection from foreign interference, well knowing that peoples rights were being violated, moved me to question the legitimacy of state sovereignty of an abusive government. The purpose of this study was to find out whether the people’s sovereignty has been hijacked from the Rwandans by the state, and misused as a shield to mask violations of individual righ...

Toward an Understanding of Europe

A Political Economic Précis of Continental Integration

by Alan W. Ertl

2008

For the earnest student of Europe, this unique work brings together a basic review of essential segments of intellectual thinking. In this volume, pertinent conceptual relationships, substantial relevant particulars, and an array of specific mechanics are all intertwined and used as a focus to examine the ongoing complex European integration process. By defining important parameterizations, this text develops a paradigm probing the current-day international activities which are rapidly leading to meta-national European supra-nationality. The most basic substantive of the integration process is the collective various peoples of Europe with their individual diversities. The origins of these collective diversities, the defining historical nationhood precedent, is herein examined, revealing ...

A Comparative Policy Study of Social Security and Tax-Deferred Retirement Savings Plan Legislation

Redundancy, Harmony, or Conflict

by Susan D. Ferrell

2010

This research is a comparative policy study of Social Security legislation, including Medicare, and tax-deferred retirement savings plan legislation. Specifically, the study sought evidence that would indicate whether the systems are independent, work together, reinforce one another, conflict with one another, or work against one another. Additionally the research looked at whether the original intent of the legislation had been fulfilled. Research indicates that employees need additional pre-retirement education so they learn to save more and invest wisely to maximize their earnings potential.

The Politics of Neighborhood Governance in China

by Jianfeng Wang

2009

For the nearly three decades of coexistence between economic liberalization and political authoritarianism, China remains as an anomaly to the liberal mantra of our time. This book explores a segment of the China Paradox, the state-society interaction channeled by the Residents Committee. Being the largest urban neighborhood organization, the committee deserves study because of its controversial status between ordinary residents it claims to represent and the authoritarian state. The committee enters the discourse as a directly congruent example of the same paradox that the whole China displays, when it is endowed with important, yet tension-changed statutory functions ranging from social control to service provision and neighborhood self-governance. How, and under what conditions, does t...

Managing Intercollective Conflict

Prevailing Structures & Global Challenges

by Anna J. Borgeryd

1999

How does the state system measure up to today's realitites when it comes to managing conflict? To what extent are efforts to manage conflict successful, and for whom? Prevailing structures designed to deal with conflict between collectives -- sovereign states supported by militaries, military industry, and the United Nations -- operate mainly on principles that are hundreds of years old. Conditions for conflict and its management have changed radically since this state system was constructed. There is a risk that institutional inertia produces growing disparity between real-world problems and the institutions that are supposed to manage them. Realism and legalism are found to form a double idological support for the state system. The study compares the state system's realist a...

Institutional Change in the Horn of Africa

the allocation of property rights and implications for development

by Sandra F. Joireman

1997

Traditional theories of property rights change have posited an evolutionary progression of property rights towards private property in response to changes in the relative price ratio of land compared to the other factors of production. Using case studies from two areas of Ethiopia and one area of Eritrea the dissertation demonstrates the role of political factors such as interest group preference and state intervention in directing property rights development away from a linear path. The case studies trace the development of three separate systems of property rights throughout the twentieth century up to the Ethiopian revolution of 1974. Analysis of history and litigation in the three areas demonstrates that in none did property rights evolve spontaneously towards privatization. In one are...

UK Aid Policy and Practice 1974-90

An Analysis of the Poverty-Focus, Gender-Consciousness and Environmental Sensitivity of British Official Aid

by Christopher C. Erswell

2001

This thesis provides a detailed analysis of UK Aid policy over the period 1974-90. Its focus is primarily upon the extent to which official aid was concerned with poverty alleviation. This theme permitted a comparison to be made between the records of the Labour administration of 1974-79 and the Conservative administration of 1979-90. A quantitative comparison is made of the two aid programmes. The philosophical, moral and ideological aspects of the British aid programme are explored. Two themes in particular are studied in depth: aid and gender and aid and the environment. The influence of lobby groups is considered, including those representing political, commercial, gender, environmental and "human development" interests. The implications of conditionality are also considered. Asses...

Party Mobilization, Class and Ethnicity

The Case of Hawaii, 1930 to 1964

by Gary G. Aguiar

1997

This study seeks to explain the types of strategies party elites use to attract voters. How do party elites decide which kinds of incentives to offer, at what period, in what way, and to which groups? This study investigates the efficacy of competing and overlapping class and ethnic cleavages. Incentive theory suggests that organizations will offer three types of appeals: material (tangible rewards), solidary (enjoyment through participation), and purposive (policies and programs). First, using U.S. Census data, this study examines the social context of Hawaii in terms of ethnic and class characteristics. Second, using interviews with party elites, it explores the kinds of appeals new Democrats used. Third, using precinct-level election results and neighborhood c...

Militarization and State Power in the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Case Study of Israel, 1948-1982

by Eligar Sadeh

1997

A set of propositions and an accompanying theoretical framework that explains the cause-effect linkages between intrastate and interstate power realization that are characterized by militarization are developed. This model establishes the foundation for an explanation of how such power is used to deal with the state's Janus-faced security dilemma. To this end, the model provides the tools needed for such an inquiry from a conceptual and typological standpoint. The goal is to explain how the internal aspect of state power shapes the external one. It was determined that Israel and the primary Arab confrontation states provide important test cases based on the intense interplay prevalent between militarization processes and state power.