1,720,962 research outputs found
State Participation in United Nations Peackeeping Operations: An Empirical Analysis
Get PDFThis dissertation examines states and their motivations in contributing troops to UN peacekeeping operations through the three primary International Relations approaches of realism, liberalism and constructivism. Current literature and research provide minimal application of IR approaches and their explanations of peacekeeping. Examining peacekeeping operations from 1991-2007, state contributions are measured for the overall time period and for each individual peacekeeping operation through a number of independent variables that represent each approach. Regression analysis combined with table and graphical analyses provide results that develop a deeper understanding of peacekeeping and IR approaches. The geographic relationship a state maintains from the host peacekeeping state is suggested to have the most significant relationship with troop contributions in this analysis. For the permanent five members of the UN Security Council there have been significant changes in their pattern of troop contributions to UN peacekeeping operations over time compared to overall contribution patterns. These discoveries provide a deeper understanding of peacekeeping as a tool for mitigating conflict in the international system through international relations approaches
Predicting War, Predicting Peace
Get PDFThis dissertation examines how the structure of a given situation and the way in which decision makers mentally process information interact to determine decisions. Decision are affected by the surrounding ecology, information stored in memory, and the hypotheses chosen to access information in the surrounding ecology and memory. This theory draws on and extends existing cognitive simulation models to show that judgments, along with observed heuristics, biases and affect can be predicted probabilistically using models of memory processes. A Mathematica multiple-trace simulation of cognitive processes of memory and hypothesis generation which learns and reacts to various opponents: Memory-Based Ecological Model of Relationship Interactions between States, version 2 (MEMORIS-2) is tested in both game-theoretic settings and in a simplified multi-player system of international interaction. Results show that the memory-trace simulation results in equal or better outcomes in both static (PD) and shifting-payoff (alternating PD and Stag Hunt) game theoretic situations than previously-developed strategies and heuristics (e.g., Tit-For-Tat, Grim Trigger, etc.). Analysis of the multi-player international interaction game shows that results show specific reactions to increasing threats and break into definite clusters of results which could be used to probabilistically predict state behavior. The simulation is then used to model two cases: Europe during the period 1885-1915 and the Cold War between 1945 and 1980, with results being compared to the historical record. Results show that the MEMORIS-2 simulation has the ability to probabilistically predict emergent properties in the international system, such as the likelihood of conflict, the players in that conflict, and the structure of alliances
NGOs in the crosshairs: Non-governmental organizations and the terrorist threat.
Get PDFThis study addresses the impact of terrorism and political violence on non-governmental organizations. The research is divided into two main sections. The first utilizes secondary source material to evaluate the nature and extent of the threat of terrorism and political violence to non-governmental organizations. Acts of political violence and terrorism will be categorized into acts upon non-governmental organizations and religious groups acting as non-governmental organizations depending on the nature and target of the attacks. The general threat characteristics can then be evaluated. The main source materials used are the Rand/Saint Andrews Terrorism Database as well as the Rand/MIPT Terrorism Database, both of which have been compiled primarily from news publications worldwide. Also used as secondary sources are the U.S. government reports Political Violence Against Americans, Significant Incidents of Political Violence Against Americans, and the Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000--2002 . A theoretical framework as to the nature of the threat of terrorism and political violence on non-governmental organizations will then be presented.The second portion of this study will utilize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a case study to determine how it evaluates and deals with the threats of political violence and terrorism against its organization, agents, and property worldwide. Further, the theoretical framework developed in the previous section will be applied to the case and the framework reinforced. The appropriateness of the framework in an in-depth scenario can be explored. Policy recommendations based on the framework and case will then be made
Opportunity in Crisis: Russia's Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic
Get PDFSweeping the globe in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has delivered one of the greatest shocks to the international system in recent history. Beyond presenting a health crisis, the pandemic has affected global trade and international cooperation, granting it the potential to widen cracks in the international system or accelerate trends in power transition. As a state that desires a shift in global distributions of power, Russia stands as a valuable subject of analysis in the context of the pandemic. How has Russia pursued its national interests through its foreign policy responses to the pandemic? Are Russia's actions formulated towards the pursuit of any particular goal, or simply a reaction to an unexpected crisis? By identifying Russia's major national interests and examining Russia's foreign policy responses to the pandemic, this paper finds that Russia’s international pandemic response was primarily designed to increase its power and status on the world stage, largely by means of undermining the West. The first chapter identifies Russia's major national interests as: (1) defense of the country and regime, (2) great power status, (3) a multipolar international system, and (4) non-interference from Western powers. These interests are all underscored by opposition to a Western-dominated international system and thus relate to an ultimate goal of rearranging global power distributions in Russia's favor. Chapter 2 examines Russia's main responses to the pandemic, including: (1) the development and global distribution of Sputnik V, (2) Russia’s framing of itself and the West, (3) the use of information warfare, (4) Russia’s domestic response, and (5) posturing at the UN. Analysis reveals that all of Russia’s responses fall in line with one or more of its national interests, thus ultimately contributing to a goal of increasing Russian power and status—particularly in opposition to the West. More broadly, this research demonstrates how states may take advantage of disruptive events in the international system to advance national interests
"Fantasie und Doppelfuge" for organ by Evelyn Faltis (1887-1937): Background, Analysis, and Commentary
No full textThis document consists of a comprehensive examination of Evelyn Faltis’ Fantasie und Doppelfuge (mit dem “Dies Irae”), op. 12 for organ solo. In addition to a structural analysis of the piece from a music theory perspective, the document also provides necessary musicological context by placing the work within its genre, time period, and national style, with special attention to its religious undertones. A brief biography of Evelyn Faltis, a list of her known works, primary sources relating to her career, and a performer’s guide to the piece are also included. Chapter One details the purpose of this study, a summary of existing research, and its procedures and limitations. Chapter Two is a biographical overview of Evelyn Faltis. Chapter Three traces the development of the cantus-based organ work in German musical history. Chapter Four describes the German Romantic organ and its defining characteristics. Chapter Five provides background on the Gregorian chant Dies Irae. Chapter Six details Evelyn Faltis’ contemporaries and compositional influences in this genre. Chapters Seven and Eight analyze the work’s thematic, structural, and motivic content. Chapter Nine is a performer’s guide designed to assist in studying and playing the piece. Chapter Ten is a summary and conclusion to the study. This document demonstrates the significance of Evelyn Faltis’ Fantasie und Doppelfuge as an important contribution to the organ solo repertoire by a heretofore overlooked and under-recognized woman composer
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Navigating the Paradox of Resilience: Colonial Legacies, Climate Change, and Hurricanes in Puerto Rico
Get PDFVulnerability is a significant concept in disaster studies because reducing vulnerability is one of
the main opportunities for reducing disaster risk and impact. However, the nature of vulnerability
is constantly changing and the processes that influence vulnerability are dynamic and rooted in
varying conditions. Puerto Rico has remained on the most topmost vulnerable islands to extreme
weather events, according to the Global Climate Risk Index, for two consecutive decades. Puerto
Rico’s vulnerability does not only come from its geographical location. The island nation has a
history of harm and unjust caused by colonialism and its continuation, which was unveiled even
further by Hurricane Maria of 2017. However, even though coloniality is a recognizable factor,
it does not show the full extent to why Puerto Rico has remained vulnerable. The missing
component is a framework of disaster resilience, which enhances the explanations of Puerto
Rico’s vulnerability by exhibiting the additional dangers of framing disaster risk and adaptation
as a responsibility by the community. Engaging with a more recent narrative is necessary for a
more comprehensive understanding of Puerto Rico’s vulnerability to climate change
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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