Content Type: Journal Article / Publication Year: within 3 Years

401. CTC Sentinel: July 2023 Issue

Author:: Matthew Levitt, Lauren Von Thaden, Don Rassler, and Tore Hamming
Publication Date:: 07-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: CTC Sentinel
Institution:: The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:: In this month’s feature article, Matthew Levitt and Lauren von Thaden examine the recent heightened smuggling challenge at Israel’s borders with Jordan and Egypt. They write: “The guns and drugs that are flowing into Israel are creating societal problems and public safety issues. The influx of weapons is also a major counterterrorism concern. Smuggled weapons have been a contributing factor to the surge of violence that has plagued the West Bank and Israel.” Building on the assessments of Israeli, Jordanian, and Egyptian officials, their study draws on a dataset they compiled of “105 cases of identified, thwarted, or disrupted weapons or drug smuggling attempts into Israel from March 2021 through April 2023 across all of Israel’s borders.” Our interview is with Ravi Satkalmi, the director of intelligence of the United States Capitol Police. He describes the post-January 6 security challenge as “fundamentally different than that posed by 9/11. The risk is fundamentally different when we’re discussing this kind of normalization of political violence against each other—an erosion of our civic norms—rather than a terrorist organization seeking to launch an attack from overseas.” He says that “our goal is essentially to be the premier intel shop for anti-government violence, full stop. We are sitting on a vast trove of threat information that’s being sent to us by our members’ offices and that we are finding on our own. And the key distinction here is we get it from all sides all the time. We’re protecting Democrats; we’re protecting Republicans, people of all political persuasions.” Satkalmi came out publicly as a gay man while previously working at NYPD and describes the importance of inclusivity in the national security and counterterrorism domain. He notes that “essentially, anybody can experience the challenge of belonging and anybody can be part of the solution. If we can check some of our own assumptions about who may be struggling and who effective change agents can be, we improve the likelihood for progress.” Tore Hamming draws on a new cache of Islamic State documents he collected to examine how the Islamic State’s General Directorate of Provinces has managed the Islamic State’s global network. He writes: “With the deaths of successive caliphs, the territorial demise in the Levant, and the growing importance of its external provinces, the General Directorate of Provinces has emerged as the organization’s most decisive body.” His article “describes the institution’s decisive role in the group’s military and economic affairs and its growing responsibility managing its external attack planning and execution.”
Topic:: Political Violence, Counter-terrorism, Weapons, Islamic State, Borders, LGBT+, Drugs, Smuggling, and January 6
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, North America, Egypt, Jordan, and United States of America

402. CTC Sentinel: June 2023 Issue

Author:: Pierre Boussel, Kristina Hummel, Teddy Macdonald, Ashley A. Mattheis, Amarnath Amarasingam, Graham Macklin, and Marc-Andre Argentino
Publication Date:: 06-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: CTC Sentinel
Institution:: The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:: In this month’s feature article, Pierre Boussel provides a deep examination of the Quds Force in Syria. He writes: “The key mission of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) is to defend the Iranian Islamic Revolution and create armed militias in the countries of its ‘Axis of Resistance.’ Its organization is opaque and complex, coordinating combat operations with soft-power actions aimed at, among other initiatives, establishing a Pax Irania in the Middle East, a ‘peace’ of which it is the initiator and guarantor. Although the Quds Force’s apparatus in Syria has been under pressure from Israeli airstrikes, Tehran is sticking to its mission set: infiltrating Syrian civil society and sending fighters to the north, where the civil war will one day end, and to the south, on the edge of the Golan Heights, to establish a base against Israel if necessary.” Our interview is with Brian Nelson, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. He describes how his office “marshals the Department’s intelligence and enforcement functions with the dual aims of safeguarding our financial system against illicit use and also combating corrupt regimes, terrorist facilitators, weapons of mass destruction proliferators, money launderers, drug kingpins, and other national security threats.” On May 6, 2023, Mauricio Garcia, a man with longstanding neo-Nazi views, murdered eight people in a mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets mall in Allen, Texas. Ashley Mattheis, Amarnath Amarasingam, Graham Macklin, and Marc-André Argentino look at what led to the attack. They write that the deceased perpetrator “had an ideologically fuzzy tapestry of extreme thoughts tied to rampant violence. He appeared to view neo-Nazis and other members of the extreme far-right as living the ‘real’ masculine ideal in its fullest form by their commitment to generating dominance through violent, radical, racial, and cultural action. This interaction between race and gender is an increasingly present aspect of far-right violence and needs to be better understood.”
Topic:: Counter-terrorism, Financial Crimes, Far Right, Mass Shootings, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), Political Extremism, Quds Force, Domestic Terrorism, and Axis of Resistance
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Syria, North America, United States of America, and Golan Heights

403. CTC Sentinel: May 2023 Issue

Author:: Paul Cruickshank, Abdul Sayed, Tore Hamming, Colin Clarke, and Mollie Saltskog
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: CTC Sentinel
Institution:: The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:: With Pakistan engulfed by political and economic turmoil, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—better known as the Pakistani Taliban—is again growing as a threat. In our feature article, Abdul Sayed and Tore Hamming write: “With the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan, the TTP has obtained new more sophisticated weapons and relocated fighters from Afghanistan to Pakistan and is now turning its focus back to its war against the Pakistani state. Over the past two years, the group has gone through a series of mergers, strengthened its media and operational activities, moved away from the indiscriminate targeting of civilians in suicide attacks, implemented a range of new internal policies centralizing its organizational structure, and settled on a localized strategy. With a solid organizational foundation and its eyes set on the Pakistani state, the TTP appears ready to follow in the footsteps of the Afghan Taliban and take control of territory in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The Taliban victory in Afghanistan has emboldened and strengthened the TTP. With the Taliban in control of Afghanistan and sympathetic to the TTP, the TTP now enjoys a level of ‘strategic depth’ that is arguably unparalleled in its history.” Our interview is with Robin Simcox, the United Kingdom’s Commissioner for Countering Extremism. He talks about tackling violent and non-violent extremism across the ideological spectrum and the findings of the recent independent review of the United Kingdom’s “Prevent” counter-extremism pillar. Wassim Nasr recounts his journey through Idlib in late April and early May 2023 on a reporting assignment for France24. He met with senior leaders of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, including its leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani, who told him they have definitively turned away from global jihad. In Nasr’s words: “You have a core jihadi group with core leaders saying, ‘OK, we don’t want anything to do with international jihad anymore.’ This is unique. It’s never happened before.” Colin Clarke, Mollie Saltskog, Michaela Millender, and Naureen Fink examine the recent targeting of infrastructure by America’s violent far-right. They write that “the increased focus and attacks on critical infrastructure by far-right extremists has the potential to wreak extensive, multifaceted societal disruption and damage, impacting communications, the economy, mobility, and basic human necessities.”
Topic:: Infrastructure, Taliban, Counter-terrorism, Far Right, Jihad, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and Political Extremism
Political Geography:: Pakistan, Afghanistan, United Kingdom, South Asia, Middle East, Syria, North America, and United States of America

404. CTC Sentinel: April 2023 Issue

Author:: Christopher Faulkner, Raphael Parens, Marcel Plichta, Paul Cruickshank, and Lucas Webber
Publication Date:: 04-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: CTC Sentinel
Institution:: The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:: The late General Wayne A. Downing, a former distinguished chair of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, used to tell his colleagues at the Center, “Who thinks wins.” In this month’s feature article, Christopher Faulkner, Raphael Parens, and Marcel Plichta argue that smarter counterterrorism in the Sahel, and across sub-Saharan Africa, can pay big dividends for the United States on the field of great power competition. They write that “the United States is at a critical juncture as it looks to adapt its counterterrorism mission. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Sahel region of Africa, where for the past decade, the United States has relied on France to serve as the counterterrorism lead. Those days are over, at least for now, and the United States is left attempting to balance its counterterrorism efforts in the frame of great power competition. However, too often these two strategic objectives are cast as zero-sum. In reality, U.S. counterterrorism in the Sahel, if appropriately reassessed, designed, and implemented, can generate real wins for the United States as it seeks to counter Russian and Chinese influence in the region. Additionally, and most importantly, it can improve the prospects for stability and security for African states in desperate need of both.” Our interview is with two counterterrorism officials at the Catalan Police – Mossos d’Esquadra: Inspector Lluis Paradell Fernandez, head of the Central Analysis Unit, Intelligence and Counterterrorism Service, and Deputy Inspector Xavier Cortés Camacho, head of the Counterterrorism Central Area. They discuss lessons learned as a result of the 2017 Islamic State-inspired attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, the evolving threats Catalonia faces, and the importance of “a joined-up effort in working to prevent violent extremism.” Lucas Webber and Daniele Garofalo write that “the Islamic State’s leadership and central propaganda apparatus have been pushing to boost the Somalia branch’s profile, while pro-Islamic State-Somalia groups have been producing media content to help the movement’s message reach Somali, Amharic, Oromo, and Swahili speakers to boost fundraising, recruitment, and violent incitement efforts as well as to grow grassroot support in regions populated by these ethnolinguistic communities.” They argue that “these developments could have regional security implications if the Islamic State is able to strengthen the Somalia branch using these means. Bolstered transnational connections could enable violent incitement and attacks directed into neighboring countries.” Nodirbek Soliev examines digital terror financing by central Asian jihadis. He writes that “their online financing efforts tend to involve three stages. The first is the dissemination of fundraising propaganda and contacting prospective donors via online public accounts. The second is communication via encrypted messaging apps to identify a suitable mode of transaction and to provide security protocols. The third is the transaction itself. Understanding these mechanisms can help enhance relevant countries’ response strategies against terrorism financing risks.”
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Counter-terrorism, Islamic State, and Strategic Competition
Political Geography:: Africa, Russia, China, Spain, North America, Somalia, Sahel, and United States of America

405. CTC Sentinel: March 2023 Issue

Author:: Emilia Columbo, Kristina Hummel, Madeleine Biscaichipy, Alexander Ritzmann, and Francesco Marone
Publication Date:: 03-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: CTC Sentinel
Institution:: The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:: This month’s feature article focuses on the challenge posed by the evolving Islamic State insurgency in Mozambique. Emilia Columbo writes: “The deployment of regional military and police forces to Cabo Delgado Province in northern Mozambique to assist the Mozambican government against what was then a growing jihadi insurgency nearly two years ago has introduced new dynamics into the conflict, expanding the insurgency’s presence in the region and increasing the importance of the information space as each side works to persuade its constituencies that the conflict is proceeding in its favor.” She assesses that the sustainability of security gains along the coast “will depend largely on the government’s willingness to develop and implement a more balanced counterterrorism approach that addresses the underlying grievances driving this conflict.” Our interview is with Jessica White and Galen Lamphere-Englund, co-conveners of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network, which started a little over two years ago as a practitioner- and researcher-led initiative to try and unpack concerning developments in the online space. Alexander Ritzmann writes that “the alleged plot against the German government by the Reichsbürger group Patriotic Union, whose key members were arrested on December 7, 2022, is best understood as a thwarted, possible early-stage terrorist plot, rather than a preempted imminent violent coup attempt. The Reichsbürger, who are comprised of different groups and networks, claim that the German state of today does not legally exist. Many Reichsbürger ascribe to a version of the anti-Semitic ‘New World Order,’ others believe in ‘QAnon.’” He notes that “although the vast majority of Reichsbürger are neither considered violent nor right-wing extremists by German security agencies, the threat posed by a minority of violent and extremist Reichsbürger persists, with German security agencies continuing to thwart alleged violent activity linked to different Reichsbürger groups.” Francesco Marone examines how an ongoing hunger strike by the imprisoned insurrectionary anarchist terrorist Alfredo Cospito has amplified the threat in and beyond Italy posed by “a transnational extremist tendency that promotes ‘self-organized’ illegal and violent actions, even against people.”
Topic:: Insurgency, Counter-terrorism, Islamic State, and Political Extremism
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, Italy, and Mozambique

406. CTC Sentinel: February 2023 Issue

Author:: Paul Cruickshank, Stevie Weinberg, Aaron Y. Zelin, and David Wells
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: CTC Sentinel
Institution:: The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:: Thanks to Editor-in-Chief Paul Cruickshank for allowing me to take over this space this month as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Combating Terrorism Center, established at West Point in February 2003. Originally the vision of Mr. Vinnie Viola, Brigadier General (Retired) Russ Howard, and General Wayne Downing, the CTC has evolved into a trusted global hub for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. At the heart of what we do are the Cadets of West Point, who have made the Terrorism Studies Minor the number-one choice of minors at West Point over the last 10 years and who graduate to lead our nation’s Soldiers in complex times. This mission is empowered by 20 years of teammates, donors, partners, and stakeholders around the world who ensure the CTC is delivering cutting-edge research and insight in the fight against terrorism. While the CTC has been a mainstay of the CT fight for the last two decades, I posit that the most important time for this team is now. As national security priorities and resources rebalance toward strategic competition, the CTC will maintain its focus on understanding current and future terrorism threats to our nation and to the world, ready to assist our nation and our allies wherever we are called. To all who have made this possible, thank you. In this issue, the directors of the Combating Terrorism Center over the past 20 years—Brigadier General (Retired) Russell Howard, Colonel (Retired) Kip McCormick, Colonel (Retired) Joseph H. Felter, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Reid L. Sawyer, Colonel (Retired) Liam Collins, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Bryan C. Price, Brian Dodwell and myself—provide our reflections on the contribution the Center has made to the counterterrorism enterprise. In our interview Col. (Res.) Omer Bar Lev, the former Minister of Public Security of Israel, discusses recent security challenges in Israel and warns that a potential third intifada is “getting closer and closer.” Aaron Zelin examines Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s ‘counterterrorism’ campaign against the Islamic State in northwestern Syria. As concern rises over the threat posed by older far-right terrorists, David Wells examines relevant data in the United Kingdom.
Topic:: Counter-terrorism, Islamic State, Far Right, and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, Israel, and Syria

407. CTC Sentinel: January 2023 Issue

Author:: Heni Nsaibia, Caleb Weiss, Brian Dodwell, and Stig Jarle Hansen
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Counter Terrorist Trends and Analysis
Institution:: The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:: This issue focuses on Africa, the current epicenter of global jihadi terror. On January 18, 2023, the military junta in Burkina Faso demanded that France withdraw its troops from the country within a month, raising concerns the regime in Ouagadougou may be set to follow Mali in hiring the Wagner Group to help contain the worsening jihadi threat to their country. In the feature article, Héni Nsaibia and Caleb Weiss write that “there seems to be a very significant probability that the military government in Burkina Faso will indeed hire Wagner in the near future.” They assess that a future potential Wagner deployment to Burkina Faso would entrench Russian influence in the region, complicate Western policy in West Africa, and “likely result in a further upsurge in jihadi violence in Burkina Faso given the fact that jihadi attacks, perpetrated by both JNIM and the Islamic State, have increased dramatically across Mali since Wagner’s deployment there just over a year ago.” In our interview, Brigadier General Rose Keravuori, the Deputy Director of Intelligence at the United States Africa Command, observes that “for al-Qa`ida and ISIS, the most operationally active and financially lucrative affiliates are on the African continent.” She warns that Islamic State groups are looking to grow in southern and central Africa and that in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, the al-Qa`ida affiliate JNIM “has grown exponentially, so much so that the littoral countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin view it as an existential threat.” Stig Jarle Hansen writes that “there are reasons to be optimistic that the current Somali offensive against al-Shabaab could enduringly weaken the group. The operations have gained momentum and demonstrated that the Somali army has made large improvements over the last decade. The use of local clan militias as well as U.S. and Turkish drone support have acted as force multipliers, and the Somali government is finally making a concerted effort to go after al-Shabaab’s income generation.” He argues that “what will be key is to erode al-Shabaab’s ability to infiltrate government-controlled areas and to govern, tax, and implement ‘justice’ in these areas. In the past, this has been crucial to al-Shabaab resilience and income. Accordingly, there needs to be more focus on a ‘clear and hold’ strategy rather than just ‘search and destroy.’”
Topic:: Counter-terrorism, Jihad, Al Shabaab, and Wagner Group
Political Geography:: Africa, Somalia, and Burkina Faso

408. Gross National Happiness Policy Outputs in Bhutan from 1972 to 2014*

Author:: Michael Givel
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: In 1972, Bhutan’s Fourth King declared Gross National Happiness (GNH) more important than Gross Domestic Product. But what was the nature of GNH legislation policy outputs before and after the adoption of the written 2008 Bhutanese Constitution that required that Bhutan to promote GNH as a national policy goal? This study examines from 1972 to 2014 (six years after the adoption of the Bhutan Constitution) GNH policy outputs. There were two stages related to Bhutan’s four pillars that include sustainable and equitable economic development, good governance, cultural preservation, and environmental protection. In the first stage lasting to the 1990s, Bhutanese policy outputs emphasized preserving traditional culture. In the second phase from the 1990s to 2014, Bhutanese policy outputs emphasized Buddhist modernism in which all four pillars balanced traditional Buddhist values with modern issues like health care and illiteracy.
Topic:: Culture, Constitution, History, Legislation, Public Policy, and Gross National Happiness (GNH)
Political Geography:: South Asia and Bhutan

409. Innovation and Economic Value: A Prospective Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Fab Bhutan Challenge

Author:: Milan Thomas
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: National governments and international donors fund challenge competitions to foster innovation, but there is little evidence on the economic return to such investments. This paper conducts an ex-ante benefit-cost analysis to project the economic return on the 2023 Fab Bhutan Challenge, which was part of FAB23 Bhutan (the 19th annual international Fab Lab Conference). For the Challenge benefits side of the analysis, studies covering five topics were drawn from: crop yield improvements from climate adaptation (for Challenge 1 in Sarpang), cost and time savings from improved water supply (for Challenge 2 in Pangbisa), livelihood savings from human-wildlife conflict prevention (Challenge 3 in Limbukha Chiwog), revenue generation from cultural exports (Challenge 4 in Thimphu), and economic returns from special needs education (Challenge 5 in Rinchending). For the Challenge costs side, budget data were collected and interviews with challenge participants were conducted. Conservative estimates that account for the probability of some challenge solutions ultimately being nonviable place the economic return to Bhutan between $5 and $12 per dollar invested. The paper concludes by discussing opportunities for scaling solutions from the structured innovation challenge based on the global evidence, and implications of the study for Bhutan’s economic aspirations.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, Labor Issues, Water, Innovation, Productivity, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Human-Wildlife Conflict, and Special Education
Political Geography:: South Asia and Bhutan

410. Teacher Attrition: Why do Public Teachers Leave?

Author:: Yangchen C. Rinzin
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: In last six years, more than 300 Bhutanese public teachers left the profession annually on average. Teacher attrition has often been assumed as leaving the profession for better opportunities. Teachers leaving jobs has been discussed several times but never tried to understand the factors leading to attrition. This study explores the possible factors leading to teacher attrition from former teachers’ perspectives, who left the profession voluntarily. The study also aims to get views on what could be the ultimate solution to keep teachers in the field. A mix mode method of qualitative and quantitative research was adopted. A quantitative method was used with the objective to get the true perspectives from respondents regarding teacher attrition. The study was conducted in Bhutan in December 2021. The study determined heavy workload, unsatisfied with the job, lack of career mobility, poor leadership, and poor working conditions were major reasons for attrition. Contradicting what many assumed salaries as a major reason, respondents responded otherwise. The paper concludes that until there is job motivation or better working conditions along with the good incentives or remunerations, a mere increase in the salary is not going to make teaching profession attractive.
Topic:: Education, Teachers, Schools, Professions, and Attrition
Political Geography:: Bhutan

411. The 21st Century Global Crisis: Laying out the Foundations for a New World Civilization

Author:: Jorge Armand
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: The article focuses on principal traits of modern culture, i.e., on what we term the foundational cultural myths of Modernity, and to examine the role these myths have played in the contemporary crisis. A set of new epistemological insights is outlined that would be needed to understand and to act upon the root causes of this crisis, such as the oneness of Reality, the diversity within the oneness of Reality, the impermanency of all phenomena and the relativity of time and space. In this context, the actual functionability of modernity’s myth is questioned (the Myth of Eternal Progress) and its concrete manifestation as a model of social development based on the perennial increase of economic growth, i.e., industrial production and consumerism, in detriment of fundamental values, which we believe are the origin of both that existential system and the current global crisis. As a substitution, a model of development, Optimizing Homeostatic Paradigm, is proposed. This implies dismantling all policies of unrestricted economic growth and the replacement of Gross Domestic Production (GDP) as the standard measure of social development and human progress. The criticism that limitation of economic growth would reduce economic activity and would foster loss of employment, therefore more poverty, is refuted. In this theoretical framework, the concepts of human freedom, development and technology are revised, and new ones are proposed. Finally, Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) index is shown as an example of alternative model of development, and inspiration for a new kind of world civilization.
Topic:: Culture, Crisis Management, Modernity, and Gross National Happiness (GNH)
Political Geography:: South Asia and Bhutan

412. ‘Follow the Money’: tracking the diffusion of the American anti-money laundering policy in Latin America (1990s-2000s)

Author:: Mariana Medeiros Bernussi, Priscila Villela, and Lívia Jardinovsky Debatin
Publication Date:: 04-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South
Institution:: Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South
Abstract:: Given the wide reach of transnational crimes and the illegal flow of money, policing at an international level has become a new frontier for authorities who aim to control these threats. The United States has taken the center stage in this effort ever since the proclamation of the War on Drugs and the continuing War on Terror by promoting the ‘Follow the Money’ principle as a fundamental strategy to be adopted worldwide. The main goal of this paper is to identify the US efforts to formulate and expand the anti-money laundering agenda and policies to Latin America, from the 1990s to the 2000s, mobilizing the policy diffusion approach. By incorporating this thinking tool, we also aim to highlight the United States hegemonic position when establishing agendas and priorities internationally. Therefore, based on a qualitative design, we trace US official documents describing strategies, practices and policies aimed at promoting anti-money laundering policies in Latin American institutions through coercion, competition, learning and emulation mechanisms. As a result, by promoting training events and formulating evaluation mechanisms, the US has stimulated Latin American countries to elaborate their own law enforcement efforts inspired by these same paradigms, indicating that the US uses these anti-money launderinginstruments to promote its policy agenda internationally.
Topic:: War on Drugs, Financial Crimes, War on Terror, Money Laundering, and Policy Diffusion
Political Geography:: Latin America and United States of America

413. Cold War rivalry on Brazil’s and Argentina’snuclear programs: examining military and civilian intentions

Author:: André Luiz Cançado Motta and José Paulo Silva Ferreira
Publication Date:: 07-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South
Institution:: Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South
Abstract:: The objective of this article is to investigate whether Cold War rivalry influenced the development of nuclear programs in Brazil and Argentina. The research employs a qualitative approach and bibliographic analysis of primary sources, including articles, books, and other relevant sources. The main hypothesis is to examine whether the culture of Cold War rivalry stimulated the development of nuclear programs in these countries, analysing the military and civilian intentions behind their nuclear technologies. While it is commonly reported that Latin America was under the influence of the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) during the Cold War, the cases of Brazil and Argentina show the opposite. Both countries adopted independent nuclear policies, seeking technological transfer through diversified and autonomous partnerships. Additionally, these divergent positions included arguments and actions regarding their respective nuclear policies. However, mutual distrust between Brazil and Argentina regarding the advancement and sophistication of their nuclear programs generated a dynamic similar to the Cold War in the Southern Cone region. This dynamic originated internally based on the logic of the two countries, despite the later creation of joint non-proliferation mechanisms.
Topic:: Cold War, Nuclear Weapons, Politics, History, Rivalry, Military, and Nuclearization
Political Geography:: Brazil, Argentina, and South America

414. Navigating through continuity and innovation: an analysis of Lula’s third term challenges involving migration policy

Author:: Matheus Felten Fröhlich and Veronica Korber Gonçalves
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South
Institution:: Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South
Abstract:: This article addresses the first hundred days of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's third term as president of Brazil in the contextof international migration and refuge. The paper aims to analyse the “intermestic” characteristics of foreign policy and its relationship with the formulation of specific guidelines on migration. Using documentary sources and interviews, we examine the context in which Lula took charge, which was marked by the recognition of “prima facie” refugee status for Venezuelan citizens, the elaboration of a national migration policy, and the definition of the future of Operation Welcome. Our objective is to reflect on the main challenges faced by the new government concerning migration and refugee issues, considering the historical con-struction of the agenda in the last two decades. We conclude that the current focus is on revamping crucial policies to ensure the smooth operation of orderly migration within the country, as these practices have been gradually dismantled in recent years. Besides, we highlight that the future of Opera-tion Welcome remains uncertain at this stage.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Governance, Law, Refugees, Lula da Silva, and Migration Policy
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

415. İşverenlerin Engelli, Eski Hükümlü ve Terör Mağduru İstihdam Etme Yükümlülüğü

Author:: Melike Yaman
Publication Date:: 07-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Hukukumuzda temel dayanağını Anayasa’nın 48. maddesinden alan sözleşme serbestisi ilkesi; 6098 sayılı Türk Borçlar Kanunu hükümleri uyarınca da koruma altına alınmış ve İş Hukuku alanında da uygulanan genel bir ilkedir. Söz konusu ilkenin bir gereği de sözleşme tarafını seçebilme serbestisidir. Ancak iş hukukunda sözleşme serbestisi ilkesine sosyal düşünceler ve işçiyi koruma düşüncesinin sonucu olarak birtakım sınırlamalar getirilmiştir. Bu sınırlamalardan birisi de belli niteliklere sahip işverenlerin engelli, eski hükümlü ve terör mağduru istihdam etme yükümlülüğü yüklenmesidir. İşverenler, elli veya daha fazla işçi çalıştırdıkları özel sektör işyerlerinde yüzde üç engelli, kamu işyerlerinde ise yüzde dört engelli ve yüzde iki eski hükümlü isçiyi veya terör mağdurunu çalıştırmakla yükümlüdürler. İlgili yükümlülük temel olarak 4857 sayılı İş Kanunu’nun 30. maddesinde öngörülmektedir. Bunun yanı sıra, 854 sayılı Kanun’da da bir düzenleme yer almaktadır. Ayrıca Yurtiçinde İşe Yerleştirme Hizmetleri Hakkında Yönetmelik, Kamu Kurum ve Kuruluşlarına Eski Hükümlü veya Terörle Mücadelede Malul Sayılmayacak Şekilde Yaralananların İşçi Olarak Alınmasında Uygulanacak Usul ve Esaslar Hakkında Yönetmelik ile Erişkinler İçin Engellilik Değerlendirilmesi Hakkında Yönetmelik’te de konuya dair incelenmesi gereken hükümler bulunmaktadır. Dolayısıyla işverenlerin engelli, eski hükümlü ve terör mağduru istihdam etme yükümlülüğü kapsamında ele alınması gereken düzenlemelerin mevzuatta dağınık bir şekilde yer aldığı söylenebilir. Bu çalışmanın amacı ilgili yükümlülüğün kapsamının, uygulanmasının ve sonuçlarının ortaya konulmasıdır. Söz konusu amaç doğrultusunda çalışma kapsamında, doktrindeki görüşler ve Yargıtay kararlarından da yararlanılarak bahsi geçen birincil ve ikincil mevzuat incelenmiş ve engelli, eski hükümlü, terör mağduru, özel sektör, kamu sektörü kavramları, bu yükümlülük kapsamında çalışacak işçilerin yerine getirmesi gereken koşullar, çalıştırılacak işçi sayısının tespitinde ve işçilerin belirlenmesinde başvurulan kurallar, bu yükümlülüğün uygulanmasına ilişkin temel esaslar ile ilgili yükümlülüğün denetimi, ihlali ve bu ihlale bağlı sonuçlar açıklığa kavuşturulmuştur.
Topic:: Terrorism, Employment, Disability, and Labor Rights
Political Geography:: Turkey and Middle East

416. Iranian Turks In Nation-Building Process: First Pahlavi Era

Author:: Heidari Mojtaba
Publication Date:: 07-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: The study explores the emergence of Turkic identity because of identity politics committed in the aftermath of the nation-state building in Iran after 1925. It is believed that the primordial nationalism on the base of the Aryan race impacted the country’s diverse population and ethnic categories and the imposition of highly restrictive measures and social policies in cementing Iranian nationalism built upon the Persian culture and myth, paved the way for the politicization of identity. To obtain a thorough analysis, a set of theories are applied. Pierre Bourdieu’s class formation and symbolic concept of power and language in a semi-patrimonial society and the social identity theory and having an eclectic grasp of the literature on assimilation and violence have contributed to the theoretical base of the study. Firsthand materials, journals, and archives are used to enrich the research content. The establishment of the modern state in the 20th century and the biased ethnic-lingual policies precipitated centrifugal forces among ethnic realities, so the alchemy of stereotyping and discrimination, and social comparison giving birth to group identification contributed to the politicization of ethnic identity among Azerbaijani Turks and their ethnic awareness.
Topic:: Ethnicity, Identity, Racism, Turkic People, and Nation Building
Political Geography:: Iran and Middle East

417. şletmelerde ERP Uygulamalarının Dijital Dönüşüm Sürecine Katkıları

Author:: Mustafa Keskinkılıç and Metin İpkin
Publication Date:: 07-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Bu çalışmada, işletmelerde Kurumsal Kaynak Planlama (ERP) uygulamalarının dijital dönüşüm sürecine katkıları incelenmektedir. Bu bağlamda, işletmelerin kullandıkları ERP uygulamalarının dijital dönüşüm süreçlerinde yarar sağlayıp sağlamadıkları, eğer sağlıyorlarsa bu yararların neler oldukları belirlenmek istenmektedir. Böylelikle ERP uygulamaları ile dijital dönüşüm sürecine dahil olmak isteyen işletmelere bir yol gösterilmesi hedeflenmektedir. Çalışmada öncelikle dijital dönüşüm ve kurumsal kaynak planlama konuları ele alınmaktadır. Daha sonra, ERP uygulamalarının da yararlarından olduğu varsayılan ve dokuz maddeden oluşan dijital dönüşümün yararları açıklanmış ve bu maddelerle nitel araştırma yöntemi kullanılarak yarı yapılandırılmış bir görüşme formu oluşturulmuştur. Erzurum ilinde ERP uygulamaları kullanan işletmeler örneklem grubu olarak seçilmiş ve görüşme yöntemiyle veriler elde edilmiştir. Ardından bu veriler betimsel analiz yöntemiyle analiz edilmiş ve işletmelerin ERP uygulamalarından birçok kazanım elde ettiği sonucuna varılmıştır. Çalışmadan elde edilen bir diğer önemli sonuç ise; işletmelerin dijital dönüşüm konusunda bilgi eksikliği olduğu ve ERP uygulamalarından elde edemediği yararların kullanılan ERP uygulamasını geliştiren yazılım firmasından kaynaklandığıdır
Topic:: Digital Economy, Business, and Economic Transformation
Political Geography:: Global Focus

418. Comparative Analysis of Hedge Funds and Mutual Funds RiskAdjusted Performances

Author:: Engin Avcı and Hind Benmahi
Publication Date:: 07-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Collective investment schemes have been utilizing distinct investment strategies to exploit opportunities offered by the financial markets. Among the alternative collective investment schemes, hedge funds and mutual funds have been attracting great interest. The objective of this study is to compare the risk-adjusted performance of hedge fund strategies with mutual funds strategies. The hedge fund indexes and mutual funds indexes, which are calculated by different database providers are utilized for this purpose. In this study, the indexes from three database providers (Eurekahedge, Credit Suisse, Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets (CISDM)) are analyzed for the 2008-2021 period using distinct performance measurement metrics as Alpha based on the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), the Sharpe ratio and Sortino ratio; moreover, the MSCI World index has been taken as a benchmark. The findings demonstrated that the majority of hedge fund indices performed better than the benchmark MSCI World and provide better risk-adjusted performance than mutual funds.
Topic:: Economy, Mutual Funds, Investment, and Hedge Funds
Political Geography:: Global Focus

419. İstismarcı Yönetimin Çalışan Özgeciliğine Etkisi: Psikolojik Sözleşme İhlalinin Düzenleyici Etkisi

Author:: Arzu Uğurlu Kara and Kemal Köksal
Publication Date:: 07-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Özgeci davranışlar, prososyal bir davranış olarak çıkar gözetmeden diğerlerinin yararına gösterilmektedir. Özgeci davranışların sosyal yaşama olduğu kadar örgütsel yaşama da katkıları bulunmaktadır. Özgeciliği örgütsel ortamlarda hangi unsurların etkilediğinin belirlenmesi örgütsel etkinlik için önemlidir. Bu etkinliğin sağlanmasındaki bir diğer husus da örgüt içerisindeki istismarcı yönetim algılarıdır. Çalışanlar aktif yaşamlarının büyük bir kısmının geçtiği işyerinde yöneticinin kaba ve istenmeyen söz ve davranışlarıyla karşılaşabilmektedir. Bu çalışanların stresini artırmakta, olumsuz iş tutum ve davranışlarına yol açabilmektedir. İstismarcı yönetimin adaletsizlik, aykırı iş davranışı, iş tatminsizliği, iş-aile çatışması ile pozitif ilişkisi söz konusuyken, iş performansı, örgütsel bağlılık ve örgütsel destek algılarıyla negatif ilişkisi mevcuttur. Psikolojik sözleşme veya psikolojik sözleşme ihlali yönetim ile çalışanlar arasındaki ilişkilerin dengesini değiştirebilmektedir. Bu araştırmada; istismarcı yönetim algısı ile özgeci davranış arasındaki ilişki ve bu ilişkide psikolojik sözleşme ihlali algısının düzenleyici rolü incelenmiştir. Araştırma verileri imalat sektöründe faaliyet gösteren beş farklı firmada çalışan 294 kişiden kolayda örnekleme yöntemiyle toplanmıştır. Hipotez testi için korelasyon ve regresyon analizi yapılmıştır. Sonuçlara göre istismarcı yönetimin özgeciliği negatif ve anlamlı bir şekilde etkilediği görülmektedir. İstismarcı yönetim algısı çalışan özgeciliği üzerindeki negatif değişimin %24’ünü açıklamaktadır. Ayrıca psikolojik sözleşme ihlali algısı istismarcı yönetim ile özgecilik arasındaki negatif ilişkiyi artırmaktadır. Bulgular istismarcı yönetim algısının azalan özgeci davranışlar ile ilişkili olduğu yönündedir ve çalışanların psikolojik sözleşme ihlal algılarının yüksek olması istismarcı yönetimin özgecilik üzerindeki negatif etkisini artırmaktadır.
Topic:: Labor Issues, Employment, Management, and Supervision
Political Geography:: Global Focus

420. Fotoğraf Disiplininde Sokak Fotoğrafçılığı Kavramının Ayrımı ve Algılanması

Author:: Gökçin Çubukçu and Ertan Güler
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Bu çalışmanın amacında öncelikle, fotoğraf sanatının evrimini anlamaya yönelik bir temel oluşturma hedeflenmektedir. Ayrıca, fotoğrafın gücünü ve etkisini açıklamaya çalışmaktadır. Ardından, sokak fotoğrafçılığı ve belgesel fotoğraf arasındaki farklar saptanarak tanıklık işlevinin nasıl kullanıldığının daha iyi kavramasına yardımcı olmayı hedeflemektedir. Sokak fotoğrafçılığına daha yakından ve ayrıntılı bakarak, okuyucuların bu konu hakkında daha geniş bir geniş bir perspektif kazanmaları amaçlanmaktadır. Yöntem olarak; araştırmaya sokak fotoğrafçılığı konusunu anlamak ve analiz etmek amacıyla kapsamlı bir literatür taramasıyla başlanmıştır. Araştırmanın temel argümanlarını desteklemek amacıyla örneklem oluşturulmuş ve fotoğrafçıların eserleri, deneyimleri ve yaklaşımlarına yer verilmiştir. Yarı yapılandırılmış mülâkat aracılığıyla sokak fotoğrafçısının içgörülerine ulaşılmaya çalışılmıştır. Tüm verilerin değerlendirilmesi üzerinden yürütülen bu çalışmada nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden betimleyici analiz yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Bulgular: Sokak fotoğrafçılığının günümüzde sanat ve görsel iletişim kültürü içindeki önemi artmış olsa da bu alanın belgesel fotoğrafçılıkla sürekli olarak karıştırılması, internet üzerinde yanıltıcı ve sığ yaklaşımlarla sıklıkla çevrelenmesi, her iki disiplinin özgün niteliklerinin göz ardı edilmesine ve sokak fotoğrafı kavramının özünün ve niteliğinin gölgelenmesine sebep olmaktadır. Fotoğrafçıların yaşamı ve çalışmalarının elealınmasıyla farklı perspektifler ortaya koyulmuştur. Sokak fotoğrafçılığı etrafında etkileşim ve öğrenme fırsatlarını artırmak amacıyla festivaller, bienaller, trienaller, atölyeler, konferanslar, paneller ve seminerler düzenlenerek bu alandaki bilgi paylaşımı artırılabilir. Böylece sokak fotoğrafçılığı Türkiye’de daha geniş kitlelere tanıtılabilir, geliştirilebilir ve bu alandaki yetenekler keşfedilebilir. Sonuç olarak, bu araştırma sokak fotoğrafçılığının temel konseptlerini ve önemini ele alarak, bu özel fotoğraf türünün Türkiye’deki sınırlı bilgi kaynağına ve sağlıklı tetkiklerin bulunmadığına değinmiş ve gelecekteki potansiyelini vurgulayarak daha fazla araştırmanın gerekliliğini göstermiştir. Bu durum aynı zamanda bu alana yeni başlayan fotoğrafçılar için de bilgi eksikliğini ortadan kaldıracaktır.
Topic:: Arts, Discipline, Photography, and Perception
Political Geography:: Turkey and Global Focus

421. Coopetition and Non-Profit Performance in War-Torn Region: Role of Outside Knowledge and Innovative Climate

Author:: Bella Gulshan and Muhammad Mohsen Liaqat
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: The inconsistent findings on the association between non-profit coopetition and performance are complicated and contingent on essential factors. However, our current understanding of the circumstances under which non-profit coopetition matters to performance is limited. We take a novel context to address this question and build on the combined literature from the emerging non-profit coopetition literature. This study conceptualises and tests the impact of coopetition (simultaneous cooperation and competition) on the organisational performance of non-profit organisations in a war-torn region. Notably, it investigates the simultaneous cooperation and competition in non-profits’ social and financial performance via outside knowledge and innovative climate. An in-person survey with 158 executives and board members was conducted in Baghdad Governorate, Iraq. The survey adopted reliable and valid scales to measure the variables. Structural equation modelling was applied to test the mediation model. The proposed sequential mediating model has a good model fit with all four hypotheses statistically significant. Nonprofit engagement in coopetition positively affects organisation performance via mediators: use of outside knowledge and innovative climate. Cooperation with competitors helps non-profits to effectively use the outside knowledge that forms an innovative climate at the organisational level. Additionally, the use of outside knowledge has a direct effect on performance. Non-profits should integrate outside and internal knowledge to generate sustainable financial and social performance opportunities, especially in turbulent or war-torn regions. Moreover, context is imperative for non-profit leaders to identify themselves and seek inter-organisational relationships. The study also provides theoretical and practical implications that help non-profit leaders innovate and increase organisational performance.
Topic:: Conflict, Innovation, Non-profits, Cooperation, and Competition
Political Geography:: Iraq and Middle East

422. The Transition from Nationalism to Islamism in Iran’s Foreign Policy

Author:: M. Reza Pashayi and Timuçin Kodaman
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: The 1979 Iranian Revolution is a multifaceted phenomenon with intricate causes, complex evolution and far-reaching outcomes. Rooted in the Constitutional Revolution of the early 20th century and the rise to power of the Ayatollahs, its beginnings are distinct but interconnected. Unlike many revolutions of the 20th century, the 1979 Iranian Revolution was a departure from the socialist or communist model and manifested itself as a revolt against both Western and Eastern systems, with unique outcomes. The 1979 Revolution shook a traditional and established order and paved the way for the rise of Islamism within a new political framework. This ideology, like its predecessors, adopted a singular leadership based on religious doctrine. To differentiate itself from global and regional powers and focus on its unique revolution, the Iranian regime shaped a foreign policy summarized by the slogan “neither East nor West, the Islamic Republic” and aimed to export this ideology globally. The policy focused primarily on political and ideological interests, resulting in permanent sanctions imposed by the United States. This economic aspect contributes to the changes in Iran’s foreign policy towards the United States, from pre-revolutionary Persian nationalism to post-Revolutionary political Islam, emphasizing its strength and adaptability in the face of external pressures.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, History, Shiism, and Iranian Revolution
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, and United States of America

423. A Conceptual Take on Transnational Families: Atypical Families from a Distance

Author:: Nur Banu Kavaklı
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Transnational families are among the by-products of global capitalism, the feminization of migration and the globalization of care work. Transnational families owe their existence to the rise of communication and transportation technologies, economic transformations, and cultural features in their countries of origin and destination. A transnational family is different from an ordinary immigrant family. The defining factor is not the act of cross-border movement of the family, but the dispersion of the family, nuclear or extended, across international borders, where different family members spend time in one or another country depending on various factors. The emergence of transnational family experience relates to economic, political, social, and cultural factors, and has far-reaching causes and consequences. This study offers a new conceptual approach to the discussion of transnational families departing from Judith Stacey’s (1996) “postmodern family condition”. As a family arrangement made possible in the postmodern family condition, transnational families better describe situations in which families are not visible yet not absent, not necessarily broken but separated. Transnational families require a whole new understanding and definition of familial relationships, which should focus on the fluid nature of those in the absence of a concrete family setting. The role of immigrant women in such a family structure stands as a challenge to the stereotypical “modern family” as defined by Stacey; hence, enabling the conceptualization of transnational families as part of the postmodern condition. The impact transnational family experience has on various actors involved is examined by asking some fundamental questions such as: How are the decisions concerning who migrate under what conditions taken? How does the transnational family experience affect gender relations? What are the global and local conditions that make this experience possible? This study employs a three-layered approach to analyze the issue. First, the structural backdrop to transnational families is analysed; namely, the expansion of global capitalism that feeds female labour migration and the demand for the service sector, especially domestic care services. Second, the changes in the concept of family due to societal structural transformations and the emergence of new family forms are discussed. Third, the consequences of the first two aspects of the experience of transnational family life and its impact on parties involved at various levels are analysed: providers of care work and their families (parents, children, and extended family members), receivers of care work (employers and their families), and mediators of global care work (agencies and states).
Topic:: Migration, Women, Capitalism, Family, transnationalism, Motherhood, and Care work
Political Geography:: Global Focus

424. Sporda Beyaz Yakalı Çalışanların Örgütsel Sinizm, Örgütsel Adalet ve Örgütsel Muhalefet Düzeylerinin Örgütsel Bağlılığa Etkisi*

Author:: Murat Terlemez
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Bu çalışmanın amacı, spor sektöründe çalışan beyaz yakalıların örgütsel sinizm, örgütsel adalet ve örgütsel muhalefet düzeylerinin örgütsel bağlılığa etkilerinin incelenmesidir. Alan yazın taraması ile başlayan araştırmada elde edilen analiz sonuçları ve bulgulara yer verilmiştir. Spor sektöründe çalışan beyaz yakalıların örgütsel bağlılık düzeylerinin örgütsel sinizm, örgütsel adalet ve örgütsel muhalefet değişkenlerine göre farklılık gösterip göstermediği ve aralarındaki ilişkiler ile örgütsel sinizm ve örgütsel bağlılık arasındaki ilişkinin örgütsel adalet algısı ile modere edilip edilmediği analiz edilip yorumlanmıştır. Analiz neticesinde tüm değişkenlerin normal dağılıma uyduğu gözlemlenmiş olup varsayımlar sağlandıktan sonra ise hiyerarşik regresyon analizi uygulanmıştır. Örgütsel sinizm ve örgütsel adaletin örgütsel bağlılık üzerinde yordayıcı etkisinin analizi ile elde edilen sonuçlar çerçevesinde, örgütsel sinizm düzeyleri ile örgütsel bağlılık düzeyleri arasında negatif doğrusal anlamlı ilişki tespit edilmiştir. Katılımcıların örgütsel adalet düzeyleri ile örgütsel bağlılık düzeyleri arasında pozitif doğrusal anlamlı ilişki bulunduğu, örgütsel muhalefet ile örgütsel bağlılık düzeyleri arasında anlamlı bir ilişki olmadığı da ortaya çıkmıştır. Örgütsel sinizm ve örgütsel adalet düzeyleri arasında da anlamlı bir ilişki tespit edilmiş olup örgütsel sinizm ve örgütsel adaletin birlikte örgütsel bağlılığı anlamlı şekilde yordandığı da görülmüştür. Örgütsel sinizm ile örgütsel bağlılık arasındaki ilişki üzerinde örgütsel adaletin moderatör etkisi analizi ile elde edilen inceleme sonuçlarında ise örgütsel sinizm ve örgütsel adalet modele anlamlı katkı sağlarken ortak etkileşim etkisinin anlamlı bir katkı sağlamadığı ortaya çıkmıştır
Topic:: Labor Issues, Sports, and Organizations
Political Geography:: Global Focus

425. Prior Rebel Experience Of Leaders And Its Influence On Physical Integrity Rights

Author:: Adil Yıldız
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Previous research shows that leaders’ prior experiences influence their policy decisions. The existing human rights literature focuses mainly on country-level factors, such as economic development, regime type and the conflict situations to explain violations of rights. This research contributes to a flourishing literature on leaders’ role in upholding rights by theorizing why and how the prior experiences of leaders affect the propensity to violate physical integrity rights. It is argued in this article that leaders with a rebel experience, and who have experienced victory in rebellion are less likely to respect human rights, while those who have suffered defeat are more likely to do so. Both types of leaders have demonstrated a willingness to take risks, but in the former case, victory reinforces their belief in taking risks, leading them to keep risk-taking, whereas in the latter, defeat teaches leaders to become more risk averse. Infringing on human rights is indeed risky, potentially leading to negative consequences such as a damaged reputation, accountability, and social upheaval. The empirical analysis of the research demonstrates that having a rebel background alone does not inherently influence a leader’s behavior regarding human rights; what matters is the outcome of the rebellion. The probability of showing respect for rights decreases when a rebellion is won, while it increases when there has been a previous loss in rebellion. The article highlights the importance of using leaders, rather than just states, as a unit of analysis to explain why certain countries commit human rights violations.
Topic:: Human Rights, Leadership, and Rebellion
Political Geography:: Global Focus

426. Istanbul Journal of Economics: Volume 73 Issue 2

Author:: Gökhan Karabulut
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Istanbul Journal of Economics
Institution:: Istanbul University Faculty of Economics
Abstract:: Istanbul Journal of Economics-İstanbul İktisat Dergisi is an open access, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal published two times a year in June and December. It has been an official publication of Istanbul University Faculty of Economics since 1939. The manuscripts submitted for publication in the journal must be scientific and original work in Turkish or English. Being one of the earliest peer-reviewed academic journals in Turkey in the area of economics, Istanbul Journal of Economics-İstanbul İktisat Dergisi aims to provide a forum for exploring issues in basicly economics and publish both disciplinary and multidisciplinary articles. Economics is the main scope of the journal. However, multidisciplinary and comparative approaches are encouraged as well and articles from various social science areas such as sociology of economics, history, social policy, international relations, financial studies are welcomed in this regard. The target group of the journal consists of academicians, researchers, professionals, students, related professional and academic bodies and institutions.
Topic:: Debt, Economics, Globalization, Tourism, Capitalism, Finance, Ethics, Economic Growth, Tax Systems, Macroeconomics, and Unemployment
Political Geography:: Turkey and Middle East

427. The Fate of the State in a Changing World

Author:: V. Yegorov
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:: East View Information Services
Abstract:: The main phenomenon of the social mainstream is the institution of the state and its evolution (“shrinking”), associated with the increased activity of civil society and a reevaluation of the role of the market. Postmodernists have no faith in the future of the state. They presuppose that institutions of social organization will be replaced by a network organization of individuals tied together culturally, informationally, and spiritually, with a higher level of identities.1 Their camp includes liberal thinkers who believe in the inevitable “supplanting [of] the primacy of the nation-state by transnational corporations and organizations, and eroding [of] local cultures and traditions through a global culture.”2 The social nature of humans is deeply rooted in the past, when collective forms of human existence were a sine qua none of survival, while the state was a “product” of social organization. In the pre-state era, it was supported by the “cage of norms” (customs, traditions, etc.).3 According to Thomas Hobbes, a main factor of the emergence of states was the “war of every man against every man,” as well as the implementation of the institution of private property. The legal space and the state ensure its inviolability. The liberal order invariably produced a dichotomy between the interests of society and the institutions represented by the state on the one hand, and the rights and freedoms of the individual on the other. The logic of this social order in its extreme form is Libertarianism, with its slogan of “less government.” The dichotomy of the interests of the state and of the individual crops up in a dialectical contradiction resolved with the help of effective mechanisms of mutual obligations of individuals and society as a whole (the “ethical state,” according to Paul Collier).
Topic:: Sovereignty, Networks, State, and Capital
Political Geography:: Global Focus

428. Evolution of the World Order and Russia’s Ideas About the Outside World

Author:: A. Bogaturov and O. Lebedeva
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:: East View Information Services
Abstract:: The idea of the outside world and the role that Russia plays in it has undergone radical changes in Moscow’s official worldviews since 2014. The degradation of the international security situation indicates a deep crisis in the existing world order, which was formed in the spirit of the US’s unipolar hegemony after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Attempts are being made to turn the UN, the only universal platform for reaching collective decisions on an inclusive and equal basis, into a tool of the collective West for pressuring “revisionist states.” The decline in the culture of global-level dialogue leads not only to the aggravation of military-political conflicts but also to the inability to effectively respond to new challenges and transnational threats.
Topic:: Partnerships, Geopolitics, ASEAN, and Multipolarity
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Europe, Eurasia, and Global Focus

429. Book Review: Katharina Volk, The Roman Republic of Letters: Scholarship, Philosophy and Politics in the Age of Cicero and Caesar (Princeton University Press, 2021)

Author:: Sinem Akgül-Açikmese
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: Ancient Roman history creates a wide interdisciplinary field of study for academics, from politics and archaeology to sociology and art. Interpreting today’s world by making inferences from Roman history is the most important factor that encourages the academy to work in this wide field. In The Roman Republic of Letters: Scholarship, Philosophy and Politics in the Age of Cicero and Caesar, Katherine Volk examines the Late Roman Republic (63-43 BCE), unlocking details for readers and researchers that were previously overlooked. At the same time, Volk has brought together the subjects of philosophy, religion, politics, rhetoric and grammar in a way that contributes to intellectual history. We can confidently say that this book fills a gap in helping us understand the intellectual and philosophical debates behind the political upheavals of the late Republic and in comparing Roman politics and politics today.
Topic:: History, Book Review, Philosophy, and Roman Empire
Political Geography:: Europe and Rome

430. Book Review: Javier Blas and Jack Farchy, The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources (Oxford University Press, 2021)

Author:: Hüseyin Pusat Kildiş
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources sheds light on commodity traders, crucial yet often overlooked actors in the global economy. The book is a collection of stories about them, how they get involved in political affairs, where they get their power, and how they work in the shadows. These stories from different times and places show the immense power of commodity traders. Methodologically, the book is mainly based on interviews with more than a hundred traders. Blas and Farchy also collected thousands of pages that detail the finances, business networks, and structure of commodity traders’ organizations (p. 11-12). The book consists of 13 chapters. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 are particularly important since they reveal how commodity traders operate by addressing the energy crisis that arose due to waves of nationalization in the Middle East in the 1970s and 1980s. The book’s main purpose is to reveal the role of despots and tyrants in the global economy by pointing out the unsavory aspects of their businesses, such as bribery and offshore banking. Since most of these methods are illegal and cannot be used by official companies and institutions, such commodity traders come to the fore.
Topic:: History, Economy, Book Review, Commodities, and Trade
Political Geography:: Middle East and Global Focus

431. Dominating the Superpower: A Bounded Rationality Approach to Nuclear Proliferation and Inhibition in the U.S. / North Korea Dyad

Author:: Sercan Canbolat and Stephen Benedict Dyson
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: Why was the United States, despite its overwhelming superiority in power, unable to prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons? Why did North Korea persist in its nuclear pursuit in the face of U.S. opposition? In this article, we represent nuclear proliferation and counter-proliferation as situations of subjective strategic interaction between states. We measure preferences over strategies and outcomes using operational codes of the leaders of each country, derived via linguistic analysis. Our results indicate that neither the U.S. nor North Korea accurately understood the other side’s preference ordering, and that their operational codes interacted in such a way as to produce an outcome favorable to North Korea – the weaker party - and unfavorable to the U.S. – the stronger. The wider contribution is to show that (mis)perceptions of the goals and resolve of the opponent play a crucial role in the success or failure of strong states to compel weak states and vice versa.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Politics, Leadership, and Perception
Political Geography:: Asia, North Korea, North America, and United States of America

432. A Political Economy of Historical Change and Continuity in Turkish Foreign Policy

Author:: Inan Rüma
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: This study aims to analyse historical continuity and change in Turkish foreign policy (TFP) within the framework of Critical Theory as elucidated by Robert Cox. It suggests asking how TFP has been affected by the historical changes in relations of production and world orders. Within this framework, it aims to explain the changes in TFP within the relation between the production, the world order and the form of state. It analyses TFP in three historical periods such as the Interwar Years, Cold War and post-Cold War. It exposes that Turkish state (re)formation and foreign policy making has succumbed to the global capitalist relations of production and corresponding world orders. These two have been the major framework(s) of change and continuity in Türkiye’s 100 years-old foreign policy. Its main argument is that the continuity and change in TFP has shown an interplay of relations between production and world order. It concludes that TFP has been in line with the global relations of production so there has been a clear and substantial continuity; and that the arguable changes have been the repercussions of global relations of production and world orders.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, International Order, Production, and Critical Theory
Political Geography:: Turkey and Middle East

433. ‘Welcoming’ Guests: The Role of Ideational and Contextual Factors in Public Perceptions About Refugees and Attitudes about Their Integration

Author:: Mesut Özcan, Ayşenur Dal, and Efe Tokdemir
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: In this study, we aim to explore the ideational and contextual sources of perceptions about refugees. Contrary to many studies focusing on the interaction with and integration of refugees in developed countries, we examine the effect of social identity and refugee exposure on the perception of refugees in Turkey, which pose a substantive case with a background of ethnic conflict and scarce resources. We contend that social identities provide individuals with cues; however, we argue that identity type and its salience are key to understanding in-group vs. out-group formation processes, hence the perceptions about refugees. Moreover, we argue that socioeconomic status affects an individual’s support for refugee integration, as it challenges the existing status quo of access to scarce resources. Our findings challenge the conventional wisdom in migration studies by employing an original face-to-face survey among over 1,100 respondents in three cities (Istanbul, Diyarbakir, and Gaziantep) in Turkey. We find that those prioritizing national vs. religious identities reveal different levels of perceived threat. Additionally, we show that those belonging to lower-income socioeconomic groups are less supportive of refugee integration when the presence of refugees sets the ground for competition for economic and social resources where they reside.
Topic:: Refugees, Integration, Socioeconomics, Identity, Threat Perception, and Attitudes
Political Geography:: Turkey and Middle East

434. Strategic Hedging or Alignment? Qatar’s Foreign Policy Toward Iran in the Wake of the Blockade Crisis

Author:: Duygu Dersan Orhan
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: The blockade imposed on Qatar changed the power dynamics in the Persian Gulf, increasing tension and insecurity in the area. Qatar’s ability to overcome the blockade was largely due to its cooperation with Iran, and the two countries’ ties grew as a result. This study investigates whether Qatar’s long-standing hedging toward Iran has changed into an alignment in the wake of the 2017 blockade. The key conclusion of the article is that, despite Qatar’s faint signals of alignment with Iran during the blockade, it did not entirely stray from its hedging strategy. Qatar-Iran relations has been selected as a case study to illustrate the effects of regional developments and security crises on the hedging strategy within the context of the Blockade Crisis.
Topic:: Partnerships, Small states, Economic Cooperation, Gulf Cooperation Council, and Regional Security
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, Qatar, and Gulf Nations

435. Book Review: Joseph McQuade, A Genealogy of Terrorism: Colonial Law and the Origins of an Idea (Cambridge University Press, 2021) & Alice Martini, The UN and Counter-Terrorism: Global Hegemonies, Power and Identities (Routledge, 2021)

Author:: Tuncer Beyribey
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: Since the mid-2000s, scholars have been using critical theory, poststructuralism, feminism/ queer theory, and postcolonialism to critique the hegemonic narrative of terrorism. They analyze how terrorism discourse (re)produces global hierarchies and power relations. This involves archeological and genealogical research, assessing the formation of the terrorism discourse by analyzing how the peculiar Western discourse has become hegemonic. By incorporating postcolonial and genealogical studies into critical terrorism studies, McQuade and Martini attempt to explain this process in their respective works. Their books are complementary in that they allow readers to trace the historical development of the concept of terrorism from British India to its ubiquity in international institutions. Although they cover different historical periods, it is still possible to see how the concept of terrorism has been used in both of those historical periods – during British colonialism in India in McQuade’s book and after the 1980s in Martini’s book – to normalize discriminatory practices against (post)colonial societies.
Topic:: Terrorism, United Nations, History, Hegemony, and Book Review
Political Geography:: Global Focus

436. Book Review: Sebastian Rosato, Intentions in Great Power Politics: Uncertainty and the Roots of Conflict (Yale University Press, 2021)

Author:: Orhan Mehmed Irfan
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: Students and practitioners of International Relations have always been wondering whether the effects of anarchy can be mitigated, where anarchy stands for the absence of hierarchical organization among states. In other words, is it possible for states to abandon their endemic suspicions and anxieties, and start to trust each other? Sebastian Rosato, with his timely and much needed work, concludes that this cannot be the case and those who foresee rosy scenarios for the United States (US)-China rivalry are, to put it mildly, mistaken.
Topic:: Power Politics, Book Review, Conflict, and Rivalry
Political Geography:: China, Global Focus, and United States of America

437. Do Campaign Speeches Predict Foreign Policy? An Operational Code and Leadership Trait Analysis of Donald Trump’s MENA Policies

Author:: Merve ÖZDEMİRKIRAN-EMBEL, B. Toygar Halistoprak, and Michael Young
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: This article investigates whether campaign speeches during the US presidential elections can help predict foreign policy behavior. We use speeches made by Donald J. Trump during his bid for president in 2016. We compare the analysis from 2016 with his actual foreign policy decisions during his tenure, 2017-2020. Operational code analysis and leadership traits analysis approaches are used to analyze candidate Trump’s foreign policy beliefs and strategies associated with them. We use Profiler Plus software to conduct content analysis which produces OCA and LTA results. We use three separate datasets to analyze Trump’s beliefs and traits focusing on his general foreign policy speeches, the MENA region, and a third one only about Islamic State and Syria. Our results show that Trump’s profile indicates a foreign policy orientation that avoids involvement in affairs that are perceived as beyond immediate interests. The consistency between his beliefs and traits during the 2016 campaign and his actual foreign policy behavior leads us to conclude that individual level analysis, and specifically OCA and LTA approaches, are useful tools to analyze, explain and predict foreign policy.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Politics, Elections, Leadership, Donald Trump, and Political Beliefs
Political Geography:: Middle East, North America, and United States of America

438. Pan Am 103 and the Birth of “No Double Standard”

Author:: Richard Gilbert
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: On December 12, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest and detention of Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi (Mas’ud), 71, of Tunisia and Libya, the suspected maker of the bomb that destroyed Pan American Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, 34 years earlier. In addition to being a sharp reminder of the tragic deaths of 270 innocent persons in 1988, the announcement of Mas’ud’s arrest also brought home for me decades-old questions about what was “known in advance” and the birth of the U.S. government’s No Double Standard policy. The news about Mas’ud sent my mind swirling back 34 years to the discussion at our weekly section heads meeting in Moscow in mid-December 1988; I participated in these Country Team meetings as embassy Press Attaché. That day, Administrative Counselor Bill Kelly reported receiving an unclassified Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “Threat to Civil Aviation” warning, sent to several embassies. By citing Pan American specifically, the warning had special resonance for the official Moscow community. At the time, our usual route to the U.S. under required “Fly America” rules put us on Pan American’s daily flight to Frankfurt or London, then onward to the U.S.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Terrorism, and Memoir
Political Geography:: Europe and Scotland

439. A Master Class in Diplomacy

Author:: Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Nicu Ceausescu, the wastrel younger son of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena, was widely believed in the 1980s to be the heir apparent to his father. Unlike his older siblings, Valentin and Zoia, he had been an indifferent student and was more interested in drinking, gambling, and carousing than in any more serious pursuits. Nevertheless, by the 1980s he held high positions in the Romanian Communist Party and government while still in his early thirties —he was First Secretary of the Union of Communist Youth and a member of the Party’s Central Committee, as well as deputy in the parliament and Minister of Youth Affairs. Higher-level positions awaited him. In mid-September 1983, during my assignment as Romania Desk Officer at the State Department, the Romanian Embassy approached me for help in setting up a meeting for Nicu at the highest possible level. Although he was considered a lightweight and his visit to the U.S. was little more than a junket, my Romanian Embassy colleagues obviously were terrified lest he be dissatisfied with his reception in Washington, with possibly unpleasant consequences for themselves and their careers. They were desperate to arrange something for Nicu that would give his Washington stay at least the appearance of substance. After some discussion within our office, we dutifully sent forward an appointment request for him to meet with Under Secretary for Political Affairs Lawrence Eagleburger, with little expectation that the third highest ranking official in the department would agree.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Memoir
Political Geography:: Europe and Romania

440. Reagan in China: Don’t Say Anything about the Turkeys

Author:: Beatrice Camp
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Twelve years after President Nixon’s historic opening to China, President Ronald Reagan visited the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in April 1984. The visit was a vast undertaking with an enormous entourage – Ambassador Arthur Hummel was reportedly stunned to hear that the president’s party would number over 800. For a politician like Reagan who had repeatedly criticized President Jimmy Carter for establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing, it was a huge move. For the Chinese, it was a very welcome symbol of acceptance. First lady Nancy Reagan accompanied her husband; some 600 journalists covered the trip. The Reagans toured historical and cultural sites in Beijing and attended a State Dinner at the Great Hall of the People before traveling on to Xian and Shanghai.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Memoir
Political Geography:: China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

441. Russia’s Cultural Heritage Can Be a Bridge to the Future

Author:: Robert Cox
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Russia has become Europe’s ogre. Beyond the brutality of Moscow’s onslaught on Ukraine looms a harsher ideological backdrop. Too many Russian citizens have been enticed into seeing this invasion as a defence of Russia’s security, national pride and identity, history, Weltanschauung, international standing, and imperial stature. They eulogise Russia’s national church as a defensive shield despite its abuse of spiritual humanity, its soldiers as crusaders. Europeans, in response to this baggage respond with a mixture of fear or unease. Anger, too, along with frustration and ultimately something akin to hatred. With all this comes an inclination in the western world to reject everything Russian. This rejection of a rich culture risks tarnishing our mindset and that of our children. Russian orchestras, dancers and sopranos have been banned from western stages—largely on the pretext that they have not condemned Putin and his acolytes. Ultimately Russian culture risks being airbrushed out of western European mentalities. It is worth pausing for a moment and just looking at what we are rejecting, perhaps unconsciously. Hitherto—and for many Europeans still —Russian culture has had an important place in our education and upbringing. Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rimsky Korsakov, Shostakovich and the sublime Prokofiev have delighted our concert audiences for decades. Marc Chagall’s imagination has stimulated ours. Ballet in Europe—or the US, for that matter—would not be what it is without the great influence of the ballet russe. Nor, in a related world, would we be so intellectually rich without the heritage of Russian scientists, physicists and mathematicians.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Culture, Literature, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Eurasia

442. Public Diplomacy Challenges in Reaching Russian Audiences

Author:: Mark G. Pomar
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: U.S. government broadcasters—Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)—have always faced challenges in reaching Russian audiences, both during the Cold War and today. Just as we did during the Cold War, today’s VOA and RFE/RL must give exiled Russians the opportunity to speak directly to their compatriots and to challenge the lies and distortions in Russian media. Shortly after joining RFE/RL in 1982 as the Assistant Director of the Russian Service, I met with senior RL editors and visiting former dissidents to discuss the most effective ways of reaching Soviet citizens during the coldest years of the Cold War. I began by laying out several key points of the Reagan administration’s approach to public diplomacy, primarily the need to treat Russians as victims of Soviet communism and encourage them to take pride in the major accomplishments of Russian culture, philosophy, and religious traditions that had been ignored or distorted by the Soviet regime. As I cited examples of Soviet suppression of religion, the banning of conservative philosophers, and the exiling of nationalist writers such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, I could tell by the quizzical expressions on the faces of my interlocutors that my passionate advocacy for a new form of public diplomacy was falling on deaf ears. Finally, one of the older editors who had spent time in the gulag said: “Look, we understand the need to present Russian culture that has been suppressed by the Soviet authorities and, yes, we know that Russians have suffered under Soviet repression, but Russians cannot be seen strictly as victims nor can their political culture be treated in the same way that we would treat Ukrainian, Georgian, Baltic or other national cultures of the USSR.” He stressed that Communism was a dying ideology, but an aggressive form of Russian nationalism was rapidly gaining strength, especially in the KGB and miliary services, and the West would rue the day when that surging Russian imperialism would merge with brutal Soviet practice. Quite presciently, he predicted an evolving Russian State that would assert its dominance over the other nationalities of the USSR in the name of imperial greatness, and not communism.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Ideology, Soft Power, and Public Diplomacy
Political Geography:: Russia and Eurasia

443. Vladimir Putin’s Mistrust of the West Runs Deep

Author:: Andrew Goodman
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: While most Western analysts and commentators place responsibility for the war in Ukraine squarely on Vladimir Putin, a few contend that NATO’s enlargement provoked the Russian invasion. Based on my personal interactions with Putin while serving as a U.S. diplomat in St Petersburg in the 1990s, I would argue that a collision between the West and a revisionist Russia led by Putin was virtually inevitable.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, NATO, Diplomacy, Vladimir Putin, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

444. Stepping Up Our Climate Diplomacy

Author:: Charles Ray
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: At the opening of the COP27 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on November 7, 2022, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the representatives of the countries attending that they faced a choice: work together to cut greenhouse gas emissions or condemn the planet to climate catastrophe. “Humanity has a choice,” Guterres said. “Cooperate or perish. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.” Guterres called for the world’s richest and poorest countries to work together to speed up the transition from fossil fuels, and for the wealthy to help with funding to enable poor countries reduce emissions and deal with the negative impacts that they have already suffered due to climate change. “The two largest economies—the United States and China—have a particular responsibility to join efforts to make this pact a reality,” he went on to say. Left unsaid, but understood by most, is that China and the U.S. are also the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases. While the U.S. and much of the rest of the world are still preoccupied with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rampant inflation, energy shortages, and the fallout from the Covid pandemic, the existential problem of climate change cannot be ignored.
Topic:: Climate Change, Diplomacy, and Carbon Emissions
Political Geography:: China, Global Focus, and United States of America

445. Would You Say No to Shirley Temple on Thanksgiving?

Author:: Raymond F. Smith
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: During the Reagan presidency, “trust, but verify” became the operating principle for negotiations with the Soviet Union on strategic matters, particularly on arms control agreements. The administration’s guidance to those of us in the trenches remained as it had been for previous administrations of both parties. We were to continue to adhere to the principle of reciprocity. In the day-to-day business of managing relations with the Soviet Union, reciprocity essentially meant that if they cut us some slack, we would do the same. Generally, the Soviet Union did not cut us any slack, so we did our best not to cut them any. The top-down authoritarianism of the Soviet system gave them some inherent advantages on these matters, since they faced no pressures to relax the treatment accorded to our diplomats, whereas we frequently did. In the early 1980s, I oversaw the bilateral relations section of the State Department’s Soviet desk, responsible for managing the nitty-gritty of everyday relations. While serving in Moscow just a few years previously, I had been on the receiving end of Soviet “hospitality” toward American diplomats and was generally immovable on issues of reciprocity. Which brings us to Shirley Temple. Those of us of a certain age remember her as the irresistible tyke who tap-danced and sang her way into our hearts on the silver screen. Shirley Temple as a child, curtsey, right hand under chin, right foot forward As an adult, Shirley Temple Black developed an interest in international affairs and served as U.S. ambassador to Ghana, then later to Czechoslovakia. And now, on this chilly November day in Washington, my secretary informed me that she was on the phone and wanted to speak to me. She had, she told me, invited the Soviet consul general in San Francisco to her home in the hilly outskirts of the city for Thanksgiving. She believed that enabling him to experience this quintessential American holiday in a real American home would help him to develop a better understanding and appreciation of our way of life. He had replied that he would be delighted to come, but the State Department would not let him because her home was in an area that Soviet diplomats were not allowed to visit. (At this point, I quietly asked one of my staff to find out whether her home was in a closed area and learned shortly that, in fact, it was.) He had told her that unless she could persuade the State Department to grant him an exception to visit her home he would very regretfully have to decline her generous offer.
Topic:: Cold War, Diplomacy, International Affairs, and Memoir
Political Geography:: Soviet Union and United States of America

446. Where the “Marshall Plan” Became the Organization for European Economic Cooperation

Author:: Renee M. Earle
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: In 2022, Europe and the U.S. marked the 75th anniversary of the Marshall Plan, and this year is the 20th anniversary of a permanent Paris exhibit that documents its achievements. When I was posted to Paris as the Public Affairs Officer from 2002 to 2006, the public affairs offices (except for the press section), along with the consular affairs services, were in the Hôtel de Talleyrand facing the Place de la Concorde, about a block from the main U.S. embassy building. The Talleyrand, as we called it, gave visitors easier access for these more public functions of the embassy. Running back and forth to meetings at the embassy was a small price to pay for offices overlooking the majestic Concorde. In 2003, the Talleyrand marked a new milestone. Following initial restorations of the Talleyrand’s State Apartment rooms, the embassy invited representatives of the Marshall Plan’s participating nations and restoration sponsors to celebrate the opening of the George C. Marshall Center and its permanent exhibit, “The Marshall Plan: The Vision of a Family of Nations,” created by French and American historians and curators to memorialize the project that revitalized Europe after the devastation of World War II. The Talleyrand has an illustrious history dating from the 18th century and a no-less- illustrious list of inhabitants that included the building’s namesake today, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, and the Rothschild family, who made the Talleyrand their home until the German occupation of Paris. The “hôtel particulier” (private urban mansion) lived through an evolving history of changes, including its own salvation when only quick action by the Allied forces saved the Place de la Concorde and surrounding buildings from Hitler’s order to destroy Paris.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Memoir, Economic Cooperation, and Marshall Plan
Political Geography:: Europe and United States of America

447. Glasnost – A Bulgarian View

Author:: Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Hanging on the living room wall in our summer house in Sweden is a framed pen-and-ink cartoon from our time late in communist-era Bulgaria. As with most memorabilia, there is a story behind it. One Saturday in September 1987, our family went for a drive in the mountains outside of Sofia, as we often did on weekends. On the way home, we passed through Bankya, a famed mineral springs spa town that now is officially part of the capital city. We noticed a small outdoor craft fair in progress, so we stopped to look around. At one of the stands, we met a gentleman named Iovio Terziev, a cartoonist/caricaturist, who was hawking several of his pen-and-ink drawings. Some were humorous, some mildly “political.” In the former category, I recall one depicting a physician seated at a desk and peering down at a file. Before him stood a man bandaged from head to toe with only his eyes visible. Without looking up at the patient, the doctor is saying to him “please remove your clothes.” That, I guess, is what passes for Bulgarian humor. However, the drawing that particularly caught my eye was one entitled “Glasnost.”
Topic:: Diplomacy and Memoir
Political Geography:: Europe and Bulgaria

448. The Guinea Worm, President Carter and Me: A Journey Through Health Diplomacy

Author:: Lisa Rotondo
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: In September 2001, just days before 9/11, I arrived in Pissila, Burkina Faso for my Peace Corps assignment. I was eager to get to work helping my new home community do surveillance for a neglected tropical disease (NTD) called dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Burkina Faso, I biked from village to village, asking community members if they were aware of anyone with Guinea worm disease, an infection that has impacted both humans and animals since ancient times. Thanks, in part, to the work of volunteers before me, I never actually saw a person with Guinea worm disease during my two years as a volunteer. Burkina Faso was on the brink of eliminating the disease, and I remember thinking that the children in my community would never know the word for Guinea worm in their language, Moorè; it would not be in their vocabulary because they would never have to worry about it. I’ve reflected on that more than once during my career in public health. Knowing that we are truly making diseases history has been the drive underlying my efforts for the last two decades.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Health, Memoir, and Public Health
Political Geography:: Africa, United States of America, and Burkina Faso

449. Coming to Grips with Poverty in Africa

Author:: Mark Wentling
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Reducing poverty has been at the heart of U.S. foreign assistance in dozens of low-income countries for more than a half-century. Despite U.S. foreign policy objectives, much work, and hundreds of billions of assistance dollars expended, the poorest of the poor have not advanced. While some low-income countries have made some small progress, after decades of aid most are still in the bottom ranks of absolute poverty. All the countries in the Least Developed Country (LDC) category have more poor people than ever before. Thirty-seven of forty-seven of these LDC countries are in Africa. Although a handful of countries have graduated from LDC status, this disturbing ranking remains basically unchanged since the LDC list was established by the UN General Assembly in 1971. This unchanging list of extremely poor countries tells us that a better understanding of poverty is needed, especially in Africa, to make U.S assistance programs more effective. While Asian countries have made remarkable progress over the past 50 years in reducing the number of poor, the absolute number in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to grow. People in SSA are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than in South Asia, the next poorest region in the world. The World Bank reported there were 284 million Africans living in extreme poverty in 1990; this number had risen to 433 million in 2018 and continues to rise. The percentage of the population living in poverty in SSA is slowly decreasing, but this decline is overcome by population growth. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed tens of millions of people below the poverty line of $1.90 per day. Climate change, rising crime, inflation, and violent conflict are forcing many more millions below this line. Governments that are unable to provide basic services and struggle to cope with high levels of national debt compound the problem. The 2030 UN targets for eradicating poverty will not be met.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Africa

450. Honoring Diplomats Punished for Doing their Job Well

Author:: Ismini Lamb and Chris Lamb
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: The Department of State recently set a useful precedent by honoring Archer Blood, the U.S. consul general in Dhaka during Pakistan’s brutal suppression of free elections in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). He reported Pakistani atrocities and complained when the United States refused to denounce them. Henry Kissinger, then the National Security Advisor, viewed Pakistan as a strategic ally. He had Blood recalled to Washington, clobbered with a career-ending poor evaluation, and stuck in a dead-end job. Blood’s story is told in the award-winning book, The Blood Telegram. By celebrating Blood and naming a conference room after him, the Department corrected an injustice. It should now do the same for George Horton, another diplomat punished for telling the truth and promoting humanitarian values. The Horton and Blood cases are remarkably similar. Both men were consuls general who witnessed horrendous attacks on civilian populations. Both argued the United States should condemn these horrors, and both intervened to save lives and make the truth known. Both were punished by the Department of State for reporting the truth and challenging extant policy. Both later went public with their accounts, and both have been posthumously vindicated. The major difference is that Horton’s experience came half a century earlier and he was treated even worse.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and History
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

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