International Relations Undergraduate Honors Theses
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Item State sponsored feminism in Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia(2024-05-01) Bilan-Cooper, AshariThis thesis is structured as follows. First, I will begin by exploring the literature on state-led feminism and its relationship to reform in authoritarian settings. Then, I will contextualize these findings in the case of Saudi Arabia before and after MBS came to power. This comparison will provide a comprehensive foundation of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. The following sections will explore the impact of state-led educational and economic reforms on women in greater detail. Supported by literature on political liberalization, I will then introduce the limitations of political reform in Saudi Arabia and how censorship in the digital age is impeding political empowerment for women. The final section will combine critical findings from the four sections discussed, education, economic opportunity, political empowerment, and technology, to reveal that MBS’s reform ambitions disguise state-enforced repressive tactics that minimize women’s full integration and mobilization in society.Item Pioneering power: the impact of artificial intelligence on international power(2024-03-29) Nesoff, Willa; Weinstein, Jack, Lt Gen, USAF, (Ret).The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) generates profound implications for international power dynamics. With relevant benefits and risks, this is a critical point in time to analyze the role of AI within the theoretical discipline and practical application of international affairs. With proper integration, AI has the potential to strengthen existing dimensions of international power. Understanding the prerequisites of an AI ecosystem (technological infrastructure, human capital, educational system, resources, and drive), this thesis analyzes the competency of five nations (The United States, the People’s Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, and Japan) to foster the development of a national AI ecosystem. The nations are ranked in a tiered methodology to understand relative power positions within the international system. Currently, the United States and the People’s Republic of China are ranked in Tier 1, and India, the Republic of Korea, and Japan are ranked in Tier 3. The tiered methodology and individual analyses suggest the introduction of AI into the international system will entrench current power dynamics. First-mover advantage will sustain the global positions of already influential powers, like the United States and the People’s Republic of China, founded on early adoption, innovative environments, and economic dominance. While second and late movers will undoubtedly benefit from AI, the application and development of AI in these nations will likely address national challenges before innovative applications or international input. In terms of international power dynamics, AI will widen the power gap between central and peripheral nations of the international system by supplying dominant nations with large gains while only maintaining the power of status quo countries.Item Navigating hospitality: an analysis of the response to Venezuelan migration in ColombiaKing, Alex; Hare, PaulIn the last ten years, nearly three million Venezuelans have fled to neighboring Colombia, which has had to rapidly adopt various policies and collaborate with non-governmental actors both local and international to manage this unprecedented wave of migration. Colombia has not criminalized this migration either, keeping a relatively open border and permitting residency for up to ten years with full access to social services and formal employment, policies which stand out as significantly more progressive and accepting of migrants than many of their neighbors. However, a variety of factors, including the current administration which does not prioritize migration issues, Colombia’s lack of experience as a destination country for migration, and limited international cooperation have hindered the effectiveness of the country’s response. Migrants without regular status, validated educational and professional titles, and those from marginalized communities face additional challenges integrating into Colombian society and accessing services guaranteed by the government, leaving them in a state of limited legality. This thesis will examine the policies currently in place for Venezuelan migrants, as well as their effectiveness and implications in the national healthcare system, the labor market, and education, followed by suggestions for a more effective, comprehensive, and efficient integration process.Item Partisan power-sharing and the outbreak of the 1994-1998 Civil War in Iraqi Kurdistan(2024) Gordon, GideonReconstructing a functioning polity after civil war or state collapse often requires the former combatants to share power in a new political system. Existing literature on post-conflict power-sharing tends to assume that co-ethnicity facilitates efforts to share power. In my research on the Kurdish civil war in northern Iraq (1994-1998), I challenge these assumptions, exploring how power-sharing can fail catastrophically within a single ethno-nationalist movement. I trace the establishment and disintegration of power-sharing institutions between the main Kurdish parties in the early 1990s, and argue that their informal “50-50” power-sharing arrangement lacked the strength to manage partisan resource conflicts. Each party continued to feel existentially threatened even with the agreement in place, and once the balance of power within Iraqi Kurdistan shifted, power-sharing institutions collapsed.Item An Inter-American human rights system without the United States? Understanding why the United States has not ratified the Belém do Pará ConventionNiksch, MaeceyViolence against women (VAW) is a pervasive problem globally and is especially prevalent in the Americas. In the late 1980s, the Inter-American Commission of Women (Comisión Interamericana de Mujeres, CIM), a specialized commission of the Organization of American States (OAS), drafted the Belém do Pará Convention—a legally-binding international convention adopted in 1994 to prevent, punish, and eradicate VAW through the Inter-American human rights system. Since its adoption in 1994, the Belém do Pará Convention has become the most widely ratified international treaty in the Americas, and 32 out of 35 OAS member states have ratified it. Strikingly, the United States has not. To explain why, I examine three areas: (i) the U.S. tendency to attach reservations when ratifying international human rights treaties and the international community’s criticism of this, (ii) the limitations of the U.S. Constitution and federalist structure on ratifying international human rights treaties; and (iii) the U.S. government’s exceptionalist attitude regarding domestic VAW laws. Because of the restrictions of federalism and U.S. reservations to international human rights treaties, I argue that the U.S. government asserts exceptionalism in its own limited domestic VAW laws in order to justify its absence from the Belém do Pará Convention. Perhaps the most harrowing conclusion from my research is how U.S. absence from human rights treaties grants it impunity within the Inter-American human rights system, which has dire consequences for the ability of U.S. women to seek justice for the violence committed against them.Item The politicized café: explaining the politicization of the ahwa in contemporary Egyptian social movements(2023-03-31) Amin, Hanadi; Lori, NooraThe Arab Spring uprisings (2010-11) have inspired a recent outpouring of critical scholarship examining the logic of protests. Scholars have emphasized the role of information technologies, the experiences of particular social groups, and comparative political transformations. Less consideration has been given to the contributions of everyday spaces in this period of popular revolution. However, during the 2011 protests, Egyptian cafés facilitated political activity by providing activists space in which to organize campaigns, shelter from law enforcement, and cultivate solidarity networks among demographics traditionally segregated from one another by gender and socioeconomic class. In exploring the politicization of the Egyptian café at the onset of the Arab Spring, I pose the question: under what conditions are seemingly apolitical spaces rendered political in periods of social unrest? In my analysis, I prioritize the processes which facilitated the Egyptian café’s transformation from an everyday space into a setting for political mobilization. I argue that the ahwa’s politicization in the lead-up to the revolution reflected a shift in ordinary Egyptians’ experience of political repression from atomized and particularistic to general and collective. I demonstrate further that this collectivism served to ‘activate’ the ahwa within a broad network of politicized everyday spaces that facilitated ‘hidden in plain sight’ mobilization along Egypt’s periphery.Item Tracing Patterns of Divergence in Arms Trade after the 2022 Russia-Ukraine War: Case Studies of Turkey and India(2023-03-31) Captan, FionaWhat causes states to diverge from their historic alliances/alignments? This paper examines two case studies - Turkey and India - focusing on the degree to which alliances, arms transfers, and conflict alter each state’s status quo. Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952 to contend with threats emanating from the Soviet Union. Today, Ankara’s foreign/defense policy diverges from that of NATO and the West in its effort to regain Ottoman-like control in the region and thus decrease dependence on Western military support. Turkey has transitioned from seeking Western aid and alignment to deter Russian aggression to being the second most powerful army in NATO with a sturdy domestic defense industry that has given it significant regional bargaining power. Initiating controversial arms deals with U.S. and Western adversaries, developing a domestic defense industry, and demonstrating the effectiveness of Turkish defense products in the Russia-Ukraine War, Ankara has decreased its alignment with NATO. India, along with Australia, Japan, and the United States, formed the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (more commonly known as the Quad) in 2007 to counter Chinese regional aggression. While the Soviet Union/Russia historically dominated India’s arms imports, the 2022 Russia-Ukraine War demonstrated the inferiority of Russian weapons. Further, a declining Russian arms industry threatens arms exports to India and India’s domestic security against the People's Republic of China (PRC). Given minimal Russian influence on India’s military doctrine, New Delhi is determined to diversify its arms suppliers to become less dependent on Russia and align more with the West and the Quad, thus edging closer to abandoning its decades-long relationship with Russia. Turkey and India are seemingly moving in different directions from their historical ties with NATO and Russia, respectively. By studying these two mid-powers in complicated alliances/alignments, we can see the different routes states take to move away from the status quo.Item Lifting the Curse of the Blue Diamond: Explaining the Normalization of Relations Between Saudi Arabia and Thailand(2023-03-31) Al Tamimi, LilaThirty years ago, Saudi Arabia downgraded their diplomatic and economic relationship with Thailand due to a series of crimes that occurred between 1989 and 1990. Namely, a gem heist committed by a Thai janitor in Riyadh, murders of multiple Saudi diplomats, and the disappearance of a prominent Saudi businessman rapidly soured their bilateral ties. As the Gulf Kingdom has staunchly maintained its condition that Thailand must apprehend responsible parties before normalization can occur, unsuccessful attempts from previous Thai administrations has kept the prospect of normalization at bay. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia and Thailand announced their decision to normalize relations on January 25th, 2022. What shifted in this critical juncture that led the two countries to normalization? In contrast to speculation that economic incentives primarily influenced the decision, I argue that changes in executive power within Saudi Arabia and Thailand were the critical factors that led to normalization. Using qualitative data from news articles, government reports, and interviews as well as quantitative data from third party and government sources, I exhibit how Prayuth Chan-o-cha and Mohammed bin Salman’s rise to power enabled them to institute reforms of the country’s domestic and foreign policy objectives that characterized normalization as beneficial to state interest. I conclude my analysis by examining Saudi Arabia and Thailand’s converging foreign policy interests in the face of shifting geopolitics between the United States and China.Item Flexible response: an analysis of the Trump administration’s impact on U.S. relations with Romania(Boston University, 2020) Usherenko, EliotItem The Abraham Accords: the culmination of a decades-long normalization process between Israel and the UAE(Boston University, 2021) Sorkin, EmilyThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently became the third Arab country and first Gulf state to advance an agreement normalizing relations with Israel—the first Arab nation to do so in 26 years. After United States President Donald Trump announced the historic deal on August 13, 2020, Bahrain quickly followed suit on September 11 with its own agreement to formalize ties to Israel. Leaders from Israel, the US, the UAE, and Bahrain ultimately convened at the White House on September 15 to officially sign the Abraham Accords, which established bilateral normalization agreements between Israel and its new Gulf partners, as well as inaugurated a new era in Middle East foreign policy. In addition to Bahrain, the UAE’s new partnership with Israel also allowed for Sudan and Morocco to normalize ties to Israel and join the Abraham Accords—albeit motivated by American incentives. Even Muslim-majority Kosovo took advantage of this shift in Israeli foreign affairs to establish diplomatic ties to Israel, and Bhutan—which does not even have official relations with the US or China—also recently normalized ties to Israel. 5 Many speculate that Oman, Saudi Arabia, or Tunisia may be next to take such steps.Item Separate but equal: urban spatial organization and transitional justice in Bosnia and South Africa(Boston University, 2021) Sargeant, Madison L.Transitional justice regimes emerged in the 20th century as a tool for states transitioning from conflict and authoritarianism to democracy and peace. Among other goals, societal reconciliation between previously hostile groups is a critical objective of these regimes. However, transitional justice regimes often fail to narrowly and tangibly address societal circumstances that influence conflict, leaving societies that adopt them vulnerable to suboptimal returns. Urban spatial organization is one such circumstance. While there is considerable evidence that urban issues are related to ethnic and racial conflict, this relationship has not yet been explored in the context of transitional justice. In this study, I examine Sarajevo and Johannesburg through both the mechanisms that define their respective states’ transitional justice regimes and each city’s demographic development. I find that there is a discernable disconnect between the expectations of transitional justice regimes and urban planning policies and realities that inhibits the success of the former by underutilizing the latter. This complicates the peacemaking process and can provide pretext for further conflict—at the very least, the disruption between the two agendas fails to be a net positive for societal reconciliation and resilience. As such, it would be mutually beneficial to urban planners and political leaders to understand the restraints political and spatial realities place on one another.Item God save the fish: the abyss of electoral politics in trade talks––a Brexit case study(Boston University, 2021) Ruscitti, EleanorDuring the ‘exit negotiations’ between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), the relatively economically insignificant fishing industry received a disproportionate share of not just UK media attention, but global press as well; not to mention an array of political machinations which almost halted a free trade agreement between two of the world’s largest trading partners. This evaluation seeks to understand why such disproportional influence existed. Why were both the EU and the UK coming to blows over something as seemingly innocuous as fishing; why were they willing to risk the most significant trade agreement in recent European history over a few fish? Existing subject matter literature cites history and symbolism as the main factors that brought fishing into the limelight, almost gilling a multi-billion-dollar trade deal between these two primary trade partners. However, while this paper concurs with existing literature analysis, it finds further illumination in the murky waters of electoral politics. It argues that electoral politics also brought fishing to the trade talk surface as the Conservative Party leveraged the industry to demonstrate that they were protecting a disenfranchised industry, while aiming to convey the benefits of Brexit to maintain votes and prevent Scottish succession. On a broader scale, this paper is about the potential ramifications that domestic politicians have on free trade agreements, especially in this new global populist era where the leverage of the disenfranchised is key; it is an affirmation of the American saying that “all politics is local.Item Countering the Russian biological weapons threat: implications for NATO security(Boston University, 2021) Nix, EmmaItem The rise and fall of the Reopen movement: an analysis of the online and offline anti-quarantine protests in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic (April - November 2020)(Boston University, 2021) Martiny, ClaraOn April 15th, 2020, a group of armed protesters stood on the front steps of the Michigan State Capitol building, chanting, waving flags, and holding up posters that read: “Live free or die!” Their intention was clear: end the lockdown that Governor Gretchen Whitmer implemented to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus and reopen Michigan’s economy – no matter the cost. This small act of rebellion inspired other in-person protests across the United States, all while hundreds of Facebook groups linked to the new “Reopen Movement” proliferated around the same time with the original goal to reopen the country. This paper serves as an analysis of the rise and fall of the Reopen Movement from its conception in April to the U.S. presidential election in November of 2020. Through a year of original ethnographic research and observations of over 170 Facebook groups tied to the Reopen Movement, I found that while members were originally concerned about the economy, these groups became more strongly supportive and aligned with the Trump agenda as the pandemic worsened in the U.S. and ongoing racial problems (specifically, American law enforcement’s disproportionate killing of Black Americans) were reignited. The groups began exhibiting stronger partisanship, signs of right-wing populism, and latent racism and sexism as events such as the Black Lives Matter protests, reopening of businesses and schools, and strong anti-mask discourse pushed members to more radical, violent, and hateful speech. This study analyzes the shift from a center-right movement to a more radical, polarized partisan movement, and highlights the ways that social media platforms such as Facebook can inhibit or truncate social movements. It is one of the only in-depth, original research papers on the Reopen Movement, a contemporary American social movement with over 2 million members.Item Water wars: How is climate change, specifically water scarcity, affecting existing dynamics between India and its neighbors?(Boston University, 2021) Khalae, Maneesha KaurThis thesis explores the question of how climate change, and in particular, water scarcity affects relationships between India and its neighbors, specifically at these border zones that have a history of being contentious. The relations between India and its neighbors, particularly China and Bangladesh, are marked by certain variables that make them prone to hostilities. Take for example, the aggressively anti-Muslim stance of the Modi administration and its increasing instrangience on matters of migration from Bangladesh, who is also seeing a shift towards authoritarianism. China and India too are engaging in border skirmishes and melees as China grows into its superpower shoes, and challenging India's claims over bordering regions. I will argue that water is the 'blue veins' of the subcontinent that truly ties all these conflicts together and will determine whether or not India will see peace, conflict or unstable stasis with Bangladesh and China. This thesis will center discussions on establishing two points; what has previously occurred to make these borders contentious in an environmental and specifically water-sharing sense, and secondly, how has or will water scarcity affect(ed) the dynamic in the border zone between India and the second country. In essence, the paper will explore why neighbors fight over river sharing and how water scarcity affects this already contentious relationship. I will argue that the lack of institutional resilience, contentious state of infrastructure, a lack of social stability within countries, an overall hostile tenor of relations between riparian states and finally an asymmetrical balance of power, predisposes two or more nation states who are riparian parties to have conflicts over the shared transboundary resource. The specific case studies I will be examining will be between India and Bangladesh, as well as India and China, examined through the lens of the river basins the borders are situated in.Item The "Chechen Problem"—-how the Chechen conflicts have shaped Russian domestic and foreign security perspectives(Boston University, 2021) Kaplun, MichelleA resurgent Russia and the threat of extremist ideology are two major topics currently facing the international community. For Russia, both issues have arisen simultaneously within the Russian republic of Chechnya. While the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 triggered calls for independence among various groups in Russia, the case of the Chechen Republic can reveal unique characteristics of Russia’s perspective on its domestic and international security position. This thesis aims to emphasize the importance of the impact of the Chechen Wars on the evolution of Russia’s security perspective. I will show that Russia’s experiences with Chechnya in the First and Second Chechen Wars have influenced its attitudes towards security on both a domestic and international scale. My thesis will add to the discussion on Russia’s security evolution by bringing the case of Chechnya as an additional element to be used in the analysis of Russia’s perspective of itself, thereby adding to scholarship on the shaping of modern Russia. The following thesis, broken up into four sections, will discuss the lessons learned by Russia throughout the Chechen Wars. It will also analyze the ways in which the lessons from Chechnya have been applied to specific events, or to the trajectory of Russia more generally, both domestically and internationally. Throughout, I argue that Russia’s experiences with Chechnya have played a key role in shaping Russia’s current security mentality. While the lessons learned from Chechnya are the basis of my argument, I include circumstantial points that reference Russia’s vulnerability as a new nation, as well as the rise of Vladimir Putin. As a result, I will also challenge current scholarship that has downplayed Chechnya as a central component in the development of Russia’s modern security strategy. As a disclaimer, my paper does not seek to address all components of Russian security perspectives, strategy, or of the Chechen conflicts. Rather, it offers a unique lens upon which to view Russian perspectives on domestic and foreign security. In attempts to construct a concise argument, not all of the necessary elements of the Chechen conflict or its impact can be addressed. However, the essence of my thesis paper will be to argue that, by better understanding Chechnya’s history with Russia, it is possible to better understand Russia.Item Are the feminists taking over? A critical analysis of Sweden and Canada's feminist foreign policy and implications in the Middle East(Boston University, 2021) Feather, SarahThis research examines the new political phenomenon of feminist foreign policy, which aims to recenter foreign policy construction and implementation in a humanist framework. Feminist foreign policy arose in the 2010's as a response to traditional foreign policy approaches, which have not been effective in combatting systemic violence and inequalities upheld by nationstates. Sweden and Canada, in 2014 and 2017, respectively, were the first to launch feminist foreign policy initiatives and pledged to apply a human rights approach in promoting gender equality and women's empowerment in their foreign affairs strategies. Drawing upon government handbooks, primary sources, and both international and transnational feminist theory, this research will address several questions. Can a state feminism adequately and comprehensively serve the need for a feminist consciousness in the seemingly "gender-neutral" field of international relations? How does a state feminism measure up to a transnational feminist activism? This paper will attempt to answer these questions through a comparative critical analysis of both Sweden and Canada's contemporary feminist foreign policy agendas. Further, this study will analyze the impact of a feminist foreign policy in the Middle East and North African region. Both analytical works and government-published handbooks and statistics describe these Feminist foreign policy initiatives as a strategy to promote and attain a more just global order. This research will suggest that foreign policy development could benefit from the reintroduction of traditionally "feminine" areas of academic discourse, such as phenomenology and care ethics, to international relations. However, the efficacy of a state feminism must be addressed in conversation with other feminist approaches, such as transnational feminist activism, which includes local initiatives.Item Entanglements in migration: climate, violence, and poverty in the Northern Triangle(Boston University, 2021) Downs, AngelineThe study of migration is characterized by a multidisciplinary approach. Violence, poverty, and climate change are often analyzed as separate drivers of migration, with some research analyzing these factors in pairs. There is, however, a gap in the literature discussing migration in a multi-variable way. Anna Tsing’s model of entanglement offers a more nuanced approach. Focusing on places where drivers influence each other broadens the lens in which we view migration, and better reflects the actual reasons behind it. We can see this in analyzing migration in the Northern Triangle, where violence, poverty, and climate change interact.Item The whole enchilada: assessing NAFTA as the origin of migrant securitization on the US-Mexico border(Boston University, 2021) De Jesus, SamanthaThis paper seeks to answer the question of how US-Mexico border policy came to be defined by strategies which prioritize migration as a threat to national security and migrants as criminal conduits. In contrast to recent assignments of this origin in the presidency of Donald Trump, or older insistence that it came about in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I instead argue that this policy direction came about much earlier. Using Fiona Adamson and Gerasimos Tsourapas’ theory of migration diplomacy and their criticism of James Hollifield’s migration state as a framework, I assess the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement as a more accurate point of origin. First, NAFTA is evaluated as the central cause of emigration surge across the border-zone, which then incurred an American security response through migration policy. Then, NAFTA is evaluated as the representation of a failed development strategy in Mexico, which then pivoted to focus on performing development by intensifying Mexican security apparatuses toward migrants. While the first two sections are broadly focused on the US-Mexico relationship, the final section focuses on how this relationship has come to affect the one between Mexico and Central America as Central Americans have grown to make up a majority of migrants at the border-zone. I conclude by attesting to the need for a reassessment of the border “crisis” and call for further research into the effect of Mexican party politics on the subject and time period in question.