Category: Articles – Spring 2024
-
Global Justice and Sovereignty: The Problem with Structural Sovereignty and Constitutive Identities
By Autumn Perkey Abstract: Current literature demonstrates that the relationship between global justice and sovereignty is dependent upon how sovereignty is applied. Considering John Rawls’s work on sovereignty, he defines sovereignty as a product of states that is limited by successful internal governance. The problem arises in what ought to be done when there is…
-
Politicizing Foreign Aid: A Review of Political Partisanship’s Impact on Foreign Aid Flows
By Trevor Norton, Timel Rodriguez, and Marzieh Kazemi Abstract: This study examines the domestic factors influencing U.S. foreign aid disbursements, the largest global donor. We challenge existing theories that emphasize domestic political influences, such as partisanship and economic conditions, by replicating and extending the study by Tingley (2010). Unlike previous research focusing on aid effectiveness…
-
The Spoils of Nature: When International Oil Pricing Matters
By Olivia Haring and Casey Lopes Abstract: Existing research, particularly Lujala (2010), has established that the presence and production of hydrocarbons in a conflict zone influence both conflict duration and onset. This literature, however, fails to consider how international oil prices may condition this relationship, despite many of the causal mechanisms relying on hydrocarbons as…
-
Domestic Explanations for Autocratic Conflict Onset on Territorial Disputes
By Leonardo Gonzalez Abstract: This research explores the underlying domestic factors influencing autocratic regimes’ decisions to initiate conflict over territorial disputes. Specifically, the study investigates why some autocracies escalate territorial disputes into military conflicts while others refrain, despite similar external conditions. The central hypothesis posits that the level of threat posed by opposition groups, conceptualized…
-
Small-Scale Agreements, Large-Scale Impacts: The Impact of Local Ceasefires on Conflict-Wide Ceasefires
By Olivia Haring Abstract: When do local ceasefires lead to the onset and success of conflict-wide ceasefires? Drawing on the literature on ceasefires, mediation, and bargaining, I explore the understudied influence of local ceasefire agreements on broader processes of peace and conflict resolution. I argue that internal mediation provides unique advantages in local ceasefire negotiations…
-
Climate Securitization: Trends in Norm Diffusion Through Network Analysis
By Anna Bychkova Abstract: Why do some actors securitize climate change, and do other actors securitize in response? Through what methods is the norm of climate securitization diffused, and what factors influence the diffusion? This study seeks to answer these questions specifically through how proximity to the UNSC influences processes of norm diffusion of climate…
-
Actions Speak Louder Than Words: The Impact of International Organizations on Public Behavior
By Adam Cullen Abstract: In the wake of COVID-19 and potentially catastrophic climate change, international organizations have recommended that the public alter its behavior in some significant ways. Despite this, international relations literature has focused solely on how International Organizations (IOs) can change the public’s views rather than their actions. I rectify this omission by…
