You’ve Got Mail- And Senator Leahy wants to read it too!
A major threat to your privacy is sitting in the chamber of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in the form of amendments to HR 2471. Senator Patrick Leahy (D) of Vermont made changes to the…
Politics
Behind the Gaza Conflict: Hamas in the Context of International Law
The recent flare-up of violence in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and Israelhas brought tragedy before our eyes, and the death toll will get worse if Israel follows through on its threat to invade the…
Regime Analysis of Poland (updated May 21, 2012)
I recently presented this paper at a Fulbright conference. Below is the final version that I used to make my presentation. Me presenting this paper at a Fulbright conference. Introduction Structural functionalism is an…
Answering the Call to Arms: A Study of Conscription
Abstract Providing military protection for their citizens is a basic obligation of nation states. How to staff such a military is a choice all states face, and in the modern age, that is generally a…
The Costs of Agricultural Trade Barriers
Introduction Free trade has become more and more the reality around the world in today’s era of globalization. It has been the driving force behind unparalleled economic growth in many countries. However, in many arenas…
Think before you Shoot: The Reality of Military Intervention
Intervention in internal conflicts is a nasty business, often with many unforeseen consequences. Such intervention is frequently unsuccessful. Such intervention often fails because intervening troops have an inadequate mandate, their forces are not sufficiently armed,…
Democratization in Belarus
The former Soviet republic Belarus has yet to achieve meaningful democratization. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described it as “the last remaining true dictatorship in Europe” (CNN 2005). Since President Alexander Lukashenko took power in…
The Inverse Triangle of Jihad
Not all jihadists are created equal. Some have proven far more capable of adapting their strategies to fit the situation on the ground than others. Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hamas,…
Why there will be no peace in Palestine
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an example of a conflict without much hope for resolution. The Holy Land has been the site of vicious ethnic conflict for thousands of years, and the Israeli-Palestinian impasse is but…
How the Kremlin Uses Political Parties
Russias party system was extremely fragmented in the 1990s, with electoral volatility at an all time high and large numbers of politicians who achieved victory without party affiliation (Gel’man 2008, 913-914). As Russia’s system of…