The Journal of Global Affairs

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https://hdl.handle.net/11244/329110

The Journal of Global Affairs is the official student research publication of the Department of International and Area Studies in the College of International Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

The editorial board is comprised primarily of students from the College of International Studies, who apply and are interviewed and assessed, in the fall semester of each year. The Journal of Global Affairs strives to appoint editors from a variety of fields and specialties. Those interested in applying to the Journal of Global Affairs editorial board should contact the College of International Studies.

The views expressed in the Journal of Global Affairs are those of the contributors and should not be attributed to the editorial board, the College of International Studies, the University of Oklahoma or any sponsors or affiliates thereof.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 26

Open Access
Going Out: The Globalization of the Chinese Nuclear Sector
(2016) Madaj, Patrick
Over the past decade, the Chinese government has aimed to further incorporate nuclear technology into its plan to meet China’s growing energy needs, and the nation’s major nuclear firms have acted enthusiastically to both secure the necessary resources for this expansion and promote Chinese technology within the nuclear-reactor market. This paper outlines the motivations and trends associated with each of these efforts. Following a description of the possible reasons behind this global expansion, both the private and state-controlled actors on the frontlines of this endeavor are introduced, and examples of cooperation between these groups are provided. Finally, this paper examines the methods by which these actors have sought to widen their shares of the uranium and nuclear-reactor markets. Because the Chinese government holds ownership over several of the major actors in this campaign to globalize, this section includes descriptions both of these actors’ strategies and of the governmental support provided to these corporations. Further use of these tactics and sustained support from Beijing may swiftly propel China’s nuclear companies to levels of prestige that are comparable to those of their American and French counterparts.
Open Access
Lowering Expectations: The Evolution of UN Peacekeeping and Recommendations for the Future
(2016) Miles, Sarah
United Nation’s Peacekeeping Operations have been contested since the first blue helmets arrived in the Gaza Strip in 1956. Peacekeeping Operations can be divided into three temporal categories, each with their own challenges: Cold War, post-Cold War, and twenty-first century. This article analyzes these three periods of peacekeeping in order to profer advice as to how UN Peacekeeping should be undertaken in the future. Considering that UN member states are shying away from the financial burdens of peacekeeping and that the twentyfirst century has been marked by states’ desire to engage only in conflicts directly in line with national interests, I suggest that the United Nations should return to limited-mandate peacekeeping missions. By combining limited-mandate missions with a greater focus on conflict prevention, the United Nations may continue to play an important role in global peacekeeping.
Open Access
Uganda's Path to Energy Access - Is it Climate Friendly?
(2016) Mahaffey, Lucy
Only 18 percent of Ugandans have access to energy. Compare this to 100 percent access in the similarly sized United Kingdom or 23 percent for their neighbors in Kenya. Uganda does not have energy security, or “the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.” Climate concerns, such as droughts, floods, intense rainfall, or heat-waves, stress Uganda’s developing electric grid and obstruct growth. Uganda’s new energy infrastructure, recent oil discoveries, and unique climate initiatives make it an excellent case study to observe the balance between energy, climate, and national security concerns. Five questions may help reconcile tensions between security and climate: What are Uganda’s energy security concerns? How have they dealt with these? Have these attempts succeeded? How do attempts look through a climate “lens?” Ultimately, this research offers a case study of Uganda’s “policy package” for energy access, highlighting bright spots of local climate change innovation as well as shortfalls of government corruption and international meddling, concluding with three recommendations on how Uganda could best move their goal of energy access forward.
Open Access
Conflicting Narratives of the 1948 War
(2016) Weiss, Lindsey
The 1948 War was a triumphant victory for the Jews of Israel and a tragic disaster for the Arabs of Palestine. The traditional Zionist rendition of the war, or “old” history, depicts Israel as a fledgling Jewish state heroically thrust into a survivalist fight for independence. Revisionist works of “new” history challenge these accounts, and reject Israel’s role as an innocent protagonist in the conflict. While there is extensive literature analyzing these conflicting narratives in depth, there exists a lack of academic writing that objectively compares the two accounts through the lens of specific historical events. This paper discusses the differences in new and old history in the context of the 1948 War, specifically focusing on the issues of the Arab-Israeli military balance, the motivation behind Arab war objectives, and the origins of the Palestinian refugee crisis. It concludes that no narrative has a complete monopoly of historical accuracy, and that it is necessary to consider information from both sides in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the 1948 War.
Open Access
Confucianism: The New Wave of Ancient China
(2016) Moore, Kristen
Confucianism, a Chinese philosophy founded roughly 2,500 years ago, has traditionally been understood to be, by historians and philosophers alike, a strongly conservative philosophy. Yet after taking a look at the historical context of Confucianism, the atmosphere and political climate of China during Confucianism’s formation, a new perspective can be taken on the ancient school of thought. After examining the central Confucian teachings of filial piety, ritual, self-cultivation, and the supremacy of achievement over hierarchal birthright, Confucianism is shown to have challenged the status quo of its day and presented a more open-minded and altruistic approach to human interaction than had been witnessed previously. This paper challenges Confucianism’s traditional view as a conservative and partisan school of thought and explores its historical roots as a radically new and tolerant philosophy meant for the common person.
Open Access
The Intersection of Slums and Environmental Justice in Morocco
(2016) Kosta, JoAnne
The purpose of this research paper is to address environmental justice in Morocco as it relates to slum life and slum relocation efforts. As such, the paper deals with the kingdom’s waste management activities in both rural and urban areas, and political policies that shape slum life and slum relocation. The research was gathered through close readings of Moroccan and non-Moroccan academic books and online publications, official reports, newspaper clippings, and websites regarding the topics at hand. After analysis of the data, it was concluded that throughout the past few decades the Moroccan government has been instituting topdown policies that marginalize slum communities and deny them environmental justice. However, evidence collected through this research also shows the government has been taking an increasing interest in environmental protection and waste management since 2006, and hopefully this trend offsets some of the negative impacts of its authoritarian policies on Moroccans’ access to environmental justice.
Open Access
Russian-Syrian Relations: Past and Present
(2016) Bartz, Luke
Drawing heavily on Andrej Kreutz’s Russia in the Middle East and Robert Freedman’s “Russia and the Arab Spring: A Preliminary Appraisal” along with numerous news sources, this essay serves a twofold purpose of sketching out a broad history of Russian-Syrian relations and of analyzing in depth Russia’s response to the recent conflict in Syria. The purpose of this essay is to update and synthesize a broad-butscattered literature on Russian-Syrian relations and to combine it with recent works examining the influence of Russia on the Syrian Civil War. The author ultimately asserts that for better or for worse Putin’s Russia has decided to risk significantly damaging the relationships it has built with the broader Arab world, Israel, and the West in order to maintain its strategic and historic ties to Iran and Syria, protect its economic interests in the Middle East, and hamper Western efforts to orchestrate Middle- Eastern politics.
Open Access
Turkey's Great Leap Forward: Atatürk's Reforms and the Rise of Political Islam
(2016) Bellafiore, Robert
The Turkish War of Independence and the following reforms implemented by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk were watershed events in both Islamic and world history. The political and social climate of Turkey, previously the Ottoman Empire, had long reflected the complex relationships between the Muslim and Western worlds, especially the power struggle between politics and religion. When Atatürk initiated a revolution in the country in 1919, politics, culture, and religion were dramatically and irrevocably changed. However, while the reforms themselves were swift, the philosophical and ideological development behind them was not. Religion and state in the Muslim world have evolved in tandem since Islam’s inception, and this relationship took a new turn with the rise of modern political Islam in the nineteenth century. The goal of this paper is to show that, when considered from the broader perspective of Islamic history, Atatürk’s creation and secularization of the Republic of Turkey represented the culmination of political Islam and fulfilled the goals of the movement’s leaders, Jamal al-din al-Afghani and Mohammad Abduh.
Open Access
The Journal of Global Affairs, Volume 5 (2015-2016)
(Department of International and Area Studies, College of International Studies, University of Oklahoma, 2016) Grillot, Dr. Suzette; Cruise, Dr. Rebecca; Wilson, Miranda; Cheng, Meng; Douglas, Collin; LaPorte, James; Ranger, Shelby; Stack-Nelson, Linda; Weiss, Lindsey; Randall, Zac; Braun, Jacque; Broadway, Patsy; Smith, Dr. Mitchell; Swift, Symphonie; The faculty and staff of CIS
The Journal of Global Affairs is the official student research publication of the Department of International and Area Studies in the College of International Studies at the University of Oklahoma.
Open Access
Britain and the European Union: Forty Years of Uncertainty
(2016) Kimpel, Hanna
The United Kingdom is facing a referendum, to occur by the end of 2017, when British citizens will get the opportunity to vote on whether or not the UK should remain a member of the European Union. For Britain, the referendum is a flashback to 1975, when the nation held a similar referendum where voters decided to remain in the European Economic Community. In the four decades since then, however, Britain has continued to be haunted by its ambivalent and awkward relationship with the rest of the European continent. This study explains why Britain has historically occupied the role as being an outsider within Europe and analyzes the events surrounding the 1975 referendum, as well as the future one. In addition, this study predicts the fate of Britain if it does decide to exit the EU, outlining the numerous effects that Britain would experience if it chooses to abandon its EU membership.
Open Access
Public Health and the British Empire: From Colonization to Decolonization
(2016) Jones, Alexandra
This article traces the process of how colonization and eventual decolonization within the British Empire affected the development of public health infrastructure within British India versus British East Africa, and why these countries have developed differently into the public health systems today. Even though each nation was colonized by the same nation, they have developed different levels of health care services offered, as well as have differing degrees of influence from international organizations like the World Health Organization.
Open Access
Transnational Water Issues in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq: Planning and Investing for the Future
(2016) Douglas, Collin
The connection between access to clean and reliable water and social unrest is a relationship that is beginning to be fully understood. The Euphrates River provides drinking water for nearly 27 million people, water for irrigation, and hydroelectric power for millions of people in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. Due to reduced rainfall and increased temperature, combined with overuse, the amount of water running through the Euphrates River has reached a new low point in recent decades. This phenomenon is a serious threat to peace and stability. Turkey, the upstream country, is heavily reliant on the Euphrates for drinking water, irrigation water, and for producing hydroelectricity. Water infrastructure and management in Syria has been degraded due to conflict. Before the war, water resources were managed poorly, which led to political unrest due to loss of livelihoods and urban migration. Agriculture in Iraq has been devastated due to reduced water flow and poor water management practices. Iraq receives roughly 98 percent of its water resources from the Tigris-Euphrates Basin, and Iraq has seen its share of river flow plummet in recent years. There exists no trilateral agreement between all riparian states dealing with the Euphrates. There have been several bilateral agreements regulating flow, but these have often been ignored, or are impossible to enforce. The necessary measures needed to create sustainable practices regarding the river cannot be taken without an enforceable trilateral agreement.
Open Access
Ennahda and the Muslim Brotherhood Democratic Changes to Islamist Groups
(2016) Bergum, Jack
Despite a promising start, the Arab Spring of 2011 has resulted in the creation of only one democracy: Tunisia. In Tunisia, an Islamist party called Ennahda has greatly aided this successful democratic transition. This paper aims to examine Ennahda’s role in helping Tunisia to become a democracy. In order to complete this examination, this paper compares Ennahda’s actions following the removal of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali with the actions of the Muslim Brotherhood, an illustrious Islamist group, following the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Also inspecting a variety of other potential democratizing factors in both Tunisia and Egypt, including socioeconomic development, civil society and political culture, the paper ultimately concludes that unique circumstances in Tunisia have shaped Ennahda into a party that is truly committed to democracy. Constrained by the political and cultural norms in Tunisia, Ennahda has proven to be an integral part of Tunisia’s fledgling democratic experiment.
Open Access
Compromising Refugeehood: Access to Asylum and Non-Refoulement in the European Union
(2017) Neumeier, Stefanie; University of Oklahoma. College of International Studies
This paper explores the intersection of European and international refugee and human rights law. While numerous treaties incorporate the rights of forced migrants, the Refugee Convention with the 1967 Protocol represents the most important instrument in regards to refugee protection. The European Union (EU) has established its own regional refugee and human rights regime with the European Convention of Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union as centerpieces. Although the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights have applied more progressive interpretations of refugee and asylum law, they have at times defaulted to conservative rulings, thereby compromising refugee protection. EU legislation, specifically the CEAS with the Dublin Regulation, has qualified the access to asylum and the principle of non- refoulement. The restrictive European visa regime and the various control mechanisms limit the right to seek asylum, the right to leave one's country, and access to an asylum procedure. The "safe country" concept further compromises refugee protection as it homogenizes asylum seekers and decreases the quality of asylum procedures. The EU is likely to continue and expand its conservative asylum system, which will come at the expense of overall refugee security and protection.
Open Access
Drones, Ethics, and Pakistan
(2017) Adam, Amil; University of Oklahoma. College of International Studies
The following article provides an ethical appraisal of the use of armed drones within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan by the Central Intelligence Agency through the prism of Just War theory. This paper argues that the inability of the United States to conduct these strikes in an ethical manner stems from an utter lack of transparency surrounding the program, and by extension the Central intelligence Agency's ability to employ lethal force unilaterally. Furthermore, this paper critiques the standard discourse surrounding the negative impact these drone strikes have had on US security interests. This analysis makes several policy recommendations to both the United States and Pakistan to improve ethical outcomes of future drone operations.
Open Access
Countering ISIS's Propaganda: Islamic Piety, Belonging, and Exposure of Life under ISIS's Rule
(2017) Gellman, Jonah; University of Oklahoma. College of International Studies
The Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham's (ISIS) recruitment tactics have yielded substantial results in the Western world. Recruiters use a variety of push and pull factors to separate potential recruits from their society while drawing them in to ISIS. Radicalization is especially prominent in Western Europe due to the host countries' failure to assist Muslims with integration into Western society. This paper examines why ISIS's recruitment has been successful by analyzing how each push and pull factor influences radicalization and makes the target susceptible to recruitment. In particular, this paper focuses on the importance of a sense of belonging and the ways in which all other listed factors relate to it. This paper also discusses shifts in the rhetoric of ISIS's propaganda and the effects that those shifts have had on recruitment. In addition, it analyzes a few case studies and argues that the effective usage of Western media will reduce the number of radicalized individuals.
Open Access
In Memory of Daniel Holland
(2017) University of Oklahoma. College of International Studies; University of Oklahoma. College of International Studies
This issue of the Journal of Global Affairs is dedicated in loving memory to Daniel Holland, who passed away while traveling abroad on June 11, 2017. Daniel was a National Merit Scholar earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in International Studies as a member of the accelerated BA/MA program. He was also majoring in Constitutional Studies.
Open Access
Communal Identity and Sectarian Division in Lebanon: A Comparative Analysis of The National Pact of 1943 and the Ta'if Agreement
(2017) Peach, Kaitlin; University of Oklahoma. College of International Studies
Throughout its history, Lebanon as faced an identity crisis that has been exacerbated by two fundamental documents -- the National Pact of 1943 and the Ta'if Agreement. These documents worked to ingrain identity into Lebanese politics and created a power- sharing system that was intended to equally represent all of Lebanon's religious groups. However, these documents failed to create a balance and only created tensions as minority Christian Maronites often had control over majority Sunni Muslims. These two documents have had a lasting impact on the Lebanese state and society and provide important lessons for other Middle Eastern states regarding the implementation of confessional or consociational systems.
Open Access
Disjointed Action: Conflicting Collective Action in Ukraine's 2014 Euromaidan Revolution
(2017) Bartz, Luke; University of Oklahoma. College of International Studies
Though the motivations for unrest were similar across Ukraine during the 2014 Euromaidan Revolution, the means of expressing unhappiness contrasted dramatically between eastern and western Ukraine. In the west of the country protests were centered in the nation's capital, Kiev, and barring a few violent outbursts, were generally peaceful. They consisted of demonstrations, the occupation of public spaces, and innovative uses of new information and communication technologies (ICTs). In the east, on the other hand, conditions were more violent. While these protesters did employ blockages and occupation as tools of their cause, they did so armed and with more aggressive intentions. After driving the previous government officials out of power, these groups took control of the local governments. Using the theories of political scientist Fox Piven and sociologist Richard Fields to analyze the case study of Ukraine, the author seeks in this essay to examine how and why the methods of collective action varied between eastern and western Ukraine during the 2014 Euromaidan Revolution and how these variations may have influenced the eventual outcomes of the each region.
Open Access
The Original Exception: The Originaires in Senegal, 1848-1960
(2017) Smith, Nicole; University of Oklahoma. College of International Studies
When French colonialists governed parts of Africa, they partitioned Africans into groups of unique, individual statuses: sujets, metis, originaires, tirailleurs, and assimiles. These statuses contributed to uneven access to French goods and services within the French Empire, and the effects of such privilege help to explain the variation in success in Francophone West Africa. Senegal, specifically, included four privileged cities known as the Four Communes. Daily life in these four cities - Saint-Louis, Goree, Rufisque, and Dakar - resembled Parisian life, in terms of both architecture and economic structure. The number of French settlers in the Communes increased access to education and administrative positions for Africans, primarily those belonging to the metis or originaires categories. This paper focuses on the lives of originaires, who were granted citizenship rights in the early twentieth century, attended French schools, and often worked for the French empire or as wealthy businessmen. Originaires gained the right to vote in 1833, although most other African groups did not gain this political right until 1946. This earlier access to political rights helped to establish the place of originaires and the Four Communes in the greater French Empire, which in turn led to a more active role in the French Union and better post-independence relationships. Furthermore, the success of these individuals contributed to Senegal's economic success in a post-colonial world.