Index Catalog // GW ScholarSpace

De Gaulle Smiles: France, the European Union, and NATO

Description:: Considering the highly dynamic political environment in Europe today, it is interesting to imagine how European collective structures might unfold in the years to come. The two most successful of these structures are the European Union and NATO, and clearly a key figure in both of these...
Author:: Brewe, Kristin L.
Keyword:: Europe, Politics, NATO, European Union, and France
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Contending Explanations for Islamic Radicalist Violence

Description:: From the secular, Western perspective, acts of terror committed in the name of Islam are very difficult to understand. Explanations for these acts concentrate almost exclusively on economic, social, and political factors. This article critiques the various approaches used to explain the...
Author:: Bender, Darcy
Keyword:: Religion, Islam, Terrorism, and Politics
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

UNSCR 1325 and the Ratio of Female Peacekeepers: Why Has Progress Stalled?

Description:: In recent years, members of the international community have come to recognize the importance of incorporating gender considerations into their work. The United Nations (UN) adopted United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 in the year 2000 with the aim of addressing the unique...
Author:: Landau, Kristine
Keyword:: Peacekeeping, Gender studies, Conflict resolution, Security council, and United Nations
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Technology and the Crime-Terror Nexus: Threat Convergence in a Digital Age

Description:: Over the past three decades, scholars and national security authorities have devoted increasing attention to threats involving the so-called “crime-terror nexus,” which describes varying levels of interaction and overlap between criminal and terrorist entities. Despite widespread acknowledgement...
Author:: Inglis, Steven
Keyword:: Transnational organized crime, Communications, Cyber security, and Information security
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Swipe Left: U.S.-Russia Cooperation in Countering Digital Female ISIL Recruitment

Description:: This paper analyzes the feasibility of and proposes a strategy for cooperation between the United States and Russia in the field of countering ISIL in the digital sphere. In doing so, we have identified female recruitment through digital networks as a niche area in which both countries may...
Author:: Manoogian, Amara, Shcheglova, Daria, Khalikova, Liya, and Chao, Ken Ben
Keyword:: United States, Russia, International cooperation, ISIS, and Cyber security
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Somalia's Organized Crime Networks: A New Framework to Degrade al-Shabaab

Description:: This paper analyzes al-Shabaab’s organized criminal activities, addresses the nexus of organized crime, terrorism, and insurgency, and presents strategies to augment current approaches to marginalize the terrorist group. Capitalizing on the weakness in the rule of law in Somalia and the...
Author:: Oliveira, Horacio, Chesson, Grace, Wagner, Anne Margaret A., and Reichenbach, Sarah Chaney
Keyword:: Terrorism, Insurgency, Somalia, Political economy, and Organized crime
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Resolving the Kachin Conflict in Myanmar: A Proposal

Description:: The intra-state conflict between the government of Myanmar and the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) that started in 1961, is one of the most ‘hard-to-settle’ ethnic civil wars in the Southeast Asian region. Despite concluding a cease-fire in 1994 that lasted for almost seventeen years,...
Author:: Haque, Monzima
Keyword:: Civil war, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Conflict resolution, and Peace process
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Preserving American Interests in Duterte’s Philippines

Description:: With the expansion of Chinese power projection deeper into the South China Sea threatening to cut off key sea lanes from American military and commercial use, maintaining a strong relationship with the Philippines is more vital now than ever. Unfortunately, the end of the Obama Administration saw...
Author:: Tackett, Trevor
Keyword:: Congress, Philippines, United States, South China Sea, and Maritime security
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Mitigating Regulatory Risks for U.S. and EU Investments in Russian Oil and Gas Industry

Description:: Russia’s abundance of natural resources makes the Russian oil and gas sectors highly attractive to foreign investors. According to some estimates, the share of foreign capital in the Russian extractive industry was 13.07 percent in 2014, 26.03 percent in the manufacturing industry, and 3.07...
Author:: Avdeeva, Irina
Keyword:: Natural resources, Energy politics, European Union, United States, and Russia
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Joint Crediting in Indonesia: Supporting Low-Carbon Development Through Optimization of Energy Service Companies

Description:: This paper suggests energy service companies (ESCOs), an experienced industry that offers a variety of energy efficiency (EE) solutions to different types of buildings that can dramatically reduce a large amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs), present a good opportunity to more effectively use the...
Author:: Jung, Songyee
Keyword:: Indonesia, Energy sector, Low-carbon economy, and Regulation
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Iran’s Support for Non-State Actor Violence – Interests, Goals, and Grievances: Iran’s Relationship with the West in the 20th Century

Description:: This paper examines Iran’s relationship with the West and how that relationship has led Iran to define its interests as fundamentally opposed to the United States’ interests in the Middle East. Following from this, it examines Iran’s relationships with nonstate terror groups, especially in...
Author:: Yefet, Adam
Keyword:: United States, International negotiation, Foreign policy, Iran, and Non-state armed groups
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Interpol’s Transnational Challenge: How can Interpol be Strengthened?

Description:: This paper will examine the role of Interpol as an international organization and how this institution has adapted to the challenge of globalization. With the expansion of international organizations in world politics after World War II, and with the impact of globalization after the Cold War,...
Author:: Braga da Cruz, Rita
Keyword:: Police, International cooperation, International organization, Transnational crime, and Interpol
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

ISIL and the Illicit Antiquities Trade

Description:: As the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) spreads across the Middle East and Africa, it continues to target the rich culture and history of the region. From the Nineveh Wall to Palmyra, ISIL has repeatedly drawn the ire of the international community through its indiscriminate...
Author:: Pipkins, John
Keyword:: ISIL, Illicit networks, Terrorism, Cambodia, and ISIS
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Human Trafficking and Natural Disasters: Exploiting Misery

Description:: In the past few decades, governments and international organizations have begun to more seriously address the problem of human trafficking. It is generally believed that the aftermath of war and major economic transitions (e.g. the collapse of the Soviet Union), are situations where traffickers...
Author:: Finn, Joshua
Keyword:: Stakeholder engagement, Haiti, Human trafficking, and Natural disasters
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Blood Aid: How Humanitarian Aid Empowers Warlords and Prolongs Conflict

Description:: This article analyzes the intersection of humanitarian aid and warlords and critiques the unintended causes of humanitarian aid. The author creates a theoretical framework to conceptualize how warlords manipulate humanitarian aid for their own benefit through direct diversion of resources,...
Author:: Zitelli, Gregory
Keyword:: Civil war, Humanitarian aid, Resource conflict, and Non-state actors
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Race for the Arctic: A Case of Misunderstood Geopolitics?

Description:: This paper explores the potential areas of conflict and cooperation in the Arctic with a special focus on territorial claims and energy resources. The paper will first present the legal framework governing the Arctic region, with a focus on the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)....
Author:: Groenning, Ragnhild
Keyword:: Energy politics, Foreign policy, Geopolitics, and Arctic region
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

China in Space: Scenarios for the Future

Description:: This paper’s purpose is to picture possible space ‘schemas’ of China two-to-three decades from now. Following the introduction, section two assesses various drives which could impact the future of China’s space program. These are derived from contemporary political and technological trends,...
Author:: Sing, Gunjan
Keyword:: Space policy, China, Foreign policy, and Scenario planning
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

From Money to Guns: Explaining Saudi Arabia’s Decision-Making in Operation Decisive Storm

Description:: This article explores one of the most understudied conflicts in the Middle East currently, the Saudi Arabian-led campaign against Yemen. With the conflagrations in Iraq and Syria occupying news headlines, the few pieces of analysis looking at Operation Restore Hope explains the campaign as simply...
Author:: Hanshaw, Ross
Keyword:: Civil war, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Proxy war, and Middle East
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

China's Nationalist Foreign Policy in a Globalized Era: Historical Logic, Confident Insecurity, and Domestic Politics

Description:: On 12 July 2016, the South China Sea arbitration reveals a dangerous relapse of the country’s nationalist tendencies in foreign policy. Cultural topography, an intelligence analysis technique, allows us to integrate existing findings into a systematic analytical framework from a fresh...
Author:: Lu, Zhizhen
Keyword:: Foreign policy, Cultural analysis, China, and South China Sea
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

An Interview with Shira Robinson

Description:: Shira Robinson is an Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs. This interview was conducted on May 17th, before President Trump made his first international trip to the Middle East.
Author:: Assi, Madeline
Keyword:: Interview, Foreign policy, Israel, Boycott Divestment Sanctions Movement, and United States
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Women’s Engagement in Afghanistan: Implications for Transnational Security

Description:: This paper aims to identify the factors that preclude or marginalize women’s participation in transnational security and identify key conditions for the inclusion of women in this realm. Women’s perspectives in conflict and reconstruction are important to bolstering stability and require...
Author:: Bigio, Ariel
Keyword:: International security, Women's engagement, and Afghanistan
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Multi-stakeholder Muddle: Finding Accountability in Global Internet Governance

Description:: This paper describes the increasing complexity of Internet governance and recommends policy proposals for addressing related issues in the near term. The Internet began with networked mainframe computers at research universities in the United States, and grew to cover billions of users and...
Author:: Karsten, Jack
Keyword:: Internet governance, Regulation, and United States
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

The Influence of Religious Institutions on the Domestic and Foreign Policies of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Description:: A close U.S. ally, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has informal links to terrorism, and many young Saudis have traveled abroad to take part in Islamic militancy across the Middle East. This paper examines how religious institutions, rather than religious beliefs, influence social norms, and...
Author:: Yefet, Adam
Keyword:: Religion, Foreign policy, Saudi Arabia, and Regional security
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Youth, Technology, and the Arab Spring: Is Sub-Saharan Africa Next?

Description:: Youth and technology have frequently been cited as factors that contributed to the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. Although few of the uprisings have led to significant positive change, they have nevertheless been disruptive. It is therefore worthwhile...
Author:: Crofford, Brad
Keyword:: Africa, Technology, Arab Spring, and Demography
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

IHL Targeting in Cyberspace: A Hypothetical Case

Description:: Cyber-attacks are no longer the stuff of science fiction. Now that cyberweapons have the capability to go kinetic, much of the difficult legal analysis relating to cyber warfare begins to clear: the physical effects of Stuxnet allow legal scholars to elucidate the evidentiary problem inherent...
Author:: Check, Terence
Keyword:: Legality, Civilian protection, Cyber warfare, Violent conflict, and Cyber security
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

The Future of U.S.–Latin American Relations: A Discussion with Michael Shifter

Description:: Michael Shifter is president of the Inter-American Dialogue. Since 1993 he has been an adjunct professor of Latin American politics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Shifter writes and comments widely on U.S.-Latin American relations and hemispheric affairs, and has...
Author:: Rosen, Aaron
Keyword:: Interview, Latin America, and United States
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Space Power and Trajectory of U.S. Influence in Space

Description:: The United States has utilized the space domain to enhance national security and to improve national prestige. However, a growing number of governmental and commercial participants in the space domain are creating complications and increasing risks such as collisions with space objects or debris....
Author:: Wakimoto, Takuya
Keyword:: International security, Space policy, Military capacity, and United States
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Iran and UAE in Yemen: Regional and Global Ambitions

Description:: This article highlights the actions and goals of two major actors in Yemen: Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Framed within the context of the Yemeni Civil War, both states have used the fog of war to further their own regional and global interests. Moreover, some of their interests— and the...
Author:: Tielemans, Aaron
Keyword:: Civil war, Iran, Regional security, Yemen, and United Arab Emirates
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

The SOUTHCOM Reconnaissance Systems Program in Colombia

Description:: For decades, Colombia has remained the strongest and most consistent military ally of the United States in Latin America. As the threat emanating from Colombia transformed from a communist red tide to a criminalized white powder, Colombia’s geographical advantages and internal conflict positioned...
Author:: McLinden, Tessa
Keyword:: Colombia, Plan Colombia, Latin America, and Private military contracting
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Putin's Petroleum Paradise

Description:: In Latin America, Russia has allied with authoritarian regimes and expanded its influence to counter the United States – a strategy that is evident in Venezuela. While policymakers have focused on China’s economic expansion in Venezuela, Russia’s use of energy diplomacy in Venezuela has garnered...
Author:: Lagorio, Adriianna
Keyword:: International security, Energy politics, Venezuela, Hybrid warfare, and Russia
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Feeding The Beast: The Role of Myanmar's Illicit Economies in Continued State Instability

Description:: This paper examines the role of Myanmar’s military junta, the Tatmadaw, in the expansive transnational organized crime network of the country. These criminal activities facilitated by the Tatmadaw contribute to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. Illicit finance fuels the hostile power...
Author:: Marrero, Lizzette
Keyword:: Myanmar, Illicit economics, Resource conflict, Transnational crime, and Burma
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Optimizing Grand Strategy: A Nuanced Proposition for the United States

Description:: Unlike many debates in Washington, there is wide ideological and political diversity among the supporters of either side of the U.S. grand strategy debate. The two main schools, “deep engagement” and “offshore balancing,” take opposing views as to the direction of future U.S. grand strategy....
Author:: Bierman, Alex
Keyword:: United States, Deep engagement, Grand strategy, Off-shore balancing, and International security
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Women, the State, and War: Considering Feminist Navigation of Security

Description:: Despite feminists’ progress in advocating for the legitimization of women’s security in the international relations sphere, institutional impediments reveal that masculine structures continue to regulate a patriarchal status quo in discourse, policy, and law. Inconsistency in the United...
Author:: Diggs, Talley
Keyword:: International security, Feminist theory, Discourse, United Nations, and Sexual violence
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Increasing Economic Opportunity for Residents in the Niger Delta: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Analysis

Description:: The abundance of oil in Nigeria makes the Nigerian energy sector highly attractive to foreign investors. Most of the country’s oil production takes place in the Niger Delta, yet paradoxically, the Niger Delta is the poorest and most underdeveloped region in the country. More than 95 percent of...
Author:: Persson, Jennie C.
Keyword:: Niger Delta, Politics of oil, Resource conflict, Economic opportunity, and Nigeria
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Playing Identity Politics In Iraq

Description:: While Iraq has achieved success in militarily defeating ISIS, it must now prepare for the difficult post-conflict reconstruction phase. The most important issue facing the country in the post- ISIS landscape is the challenge posed by sectarianism and identity politics, which helped ISIS in its...
Author:: Timreck, Sarah
Keyword:: International security, Identity politics, Politics of decentralization, ISIS, and Iraq
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Post-Demobilization of the FARC: Predictions for Colombia’s Future Crimescape

Description:: The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Latin America’s oldest insurgency, is at a critical juncture. Following a historic peace agreement in 2016 that required the organization to demobilize, the country and the world are closely watching the degree to which former fighters abandon...
Author:: Schrimp, Jessica
Keyword:: Colombia, FARC, Post-conflict demobilization, International affairs, and DDR
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

The Abu Sayyaf Group: A Terrorist Criminal Enterprise

Description:: This paper explores a new model—the terrorist criminal enterprise—for assessing the convergence of terrorism and organized crime in illicit networks, and examines some of the policy implications of utilizing that model to address this phenomenon. Since 2001, several other models have...
Author:: Oakley, Richard T.
Keyword:: International security, Terrorist-criminal nexus, Philippines, and Abu Sayyaf Group
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

U.S. Cyber Strategy: An Offensive Realist Perspective

Description:: The United States needs a national cybersecurity strategy with a punch. Its adversaries overtly (and covertly) use cyberspace to mold the international world order, attempting to influence domestic and foreign affairs thousands of miles away. Some have even publicly stated that information...
Author:: Ramos, Alejandro
Keyword:: International security, Grand strategy, Offensive realism, Cybersecurity, and United States
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Guns, Drugs, and Thugs: Smuggling in the Golden Crescent

Description:: The Golden Crescent, which includes Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, is one of the most important regions in the world for the global narcotics trade. Afghanistan’s poppy cultivation surged in the 1970s and it became a global supplier of opiates when other countries in the region banned...
Author:: Watson, Michael
Keyword:: Narco-terrorism, Iran, Pakistan, Transnational crime, and Afghanistan
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Cold Warriors and Tomorrow's Battlefield: Defending the Baltics

Description:: The Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are a potential flashpoint for conflict between Russia and NATO. There is concern that the Baltic region is dangerously underprepared for a future Russian invasion. War gaming conducted by the Department of Defense and NATO militaries in...
Author:: Montemalo, Michael
Keyword:: International security, Baltic states, NATO, and Russia
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Countering Violent Extremism in Nigeria and Uganda: A Comparative Case Study

Description:: Boko Haram’s rise in Nigeria was a result of social, economic, religious, and political tinder meeting in flammable conditions. These longstanding incompatibilities – religious tensions, rampant poverty, ineffective government, abusive military, and opportunistic clergy – served as the roots...
Author:: Dyrenforth, Thomas
Keyword:: Uganda, Boko Haram, Peacebuilding, Nigeria, and Countering violent extremism
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Two Case Studies of Russian Propaganda in Romania and Hungary

Description:: The Kremlin’s current disinformation campaign against the West, unlike similar projects undertaken during the Cold War, is no longer based on the dissemination of an overarching ideology or “selling” Russia as an alternative. The contemporary logic of propaganda takes a highly nation-specific...
Author:: Swanson, Robert CR
Keyword:: Hungary, Romania, State-sponsored propaganda, Disinformation, and Russia
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Book Review: How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

Description:: The election of Donald Trump in 2016 baffled political analysts around the world and cast doubt on the strength of American democracy. The simultaneous rise of strongman politics in other parts of the world led many to reconsider the assumptions of liberal democracy. In How Democracies...
Author:: Armstrong, Anne
Keyword:: Democracy, Comparative politics, Book review, and Democratic consolidation
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

An Interview with Adam Isacson

Description:: Adam Isacson leads the Defense Oversight Program for the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). He analyzes U.S. military assistance to Latin America, drug and security policy in the Americas, and peace processes, with a special focus on U.S. defense cooperation in Colombia and Mexico. In...
Author:: Dona, Juan Misle
Keyword:: Colombia, Private defense contracting, Regional security, Latin America, and U.S. foreign policy
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Venezuela and ExxonMobil Oil Discovery in Guyana

Description:: Venezuela's economic crisis has spiraled out of control, creating secondary ripple effects that are impacting the entire Western Hemisphere. This manmade crisis has produced an unprecedented regional outflow of migrants and refugees that shows no sign of slowing down and is likely to surpass...
Author:: Morán, Anne Marie and Bluher, Laura
Keyword:: Politics of oil, Latin America, U.S. foreign policy, and Natural resource management
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Development and Implications of The European Deterrence Initiative

Description:: The recent shift in geopolitics towards renewed great power competition, demonstrated by Russian actions in Ukraine, caused the United States to undertake a new program to assure NATO alliance members and deter further Russian actions. This paper covers the development, implementation, and...
Author:: Dyer, Michael
Keyword:: International security, Grand strategy, Transatlantic alliance, NATO, and U.S. foreign policy
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Role of U.N. Peacekeepers in Donbas Conflict Resolution

Description:: This paper argues that third-party peacekeeping can play a vital role in mitigating and resolving the Ukraine-Russian conflict in the Donbas region. Understanding the current situation in the region as well as the intricacies and implications of a U.N. peacekeeping mission is important in...
Author:: Sims, John
Keyword:: Peacekeeping, United Nations, Ukraine, International security, and Russia
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

Effectiveness of U.N. Peacekeeping Operations in Combating Organized Crime

Description:: This article discusses the approaches that peace operations have taken to address organized crime and explores strategies to improve their effectiveness. In the last twenty years, the U.N. has produced relevant threat assessments and conventions, enhanced its use of technology in peacekeeping...
Author:: Epstein, Alison
Keyword:: Organization crime, United Nations, Conflict prevention, and Peacekeeping
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

48 Countering Maritime Piracy in Southeast Asia Countering Maritime Piracy in Southeast Asia

Description:: While Southeast Asia has experienced substantial economic and commercial growth in recent years, transnational criminal organizations have sought to prey upon the success. Among these groups, few are more economically draining than maritime pirates. These actors operate outside the bounds of...
Author:: Reid, Marshall
Keyword:: International security, Non-state actors, Asia, and Maritime security
GW Unit:: International Affairs Review
Resource Type:: Article

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