Drug cultivation and trafficking combine with a complex civil war that endangers the internal security of Colombia and the legitimacy of the Colombian government. The geo-narcotics problem centered in Colombia adversely impacts not only the social and economic situation in Colombia, but also the regional stability of the entire Andean region and Latin America. The influence of drug trafficking extends throughout South America and the Caribbean into the United States and Europe. Past policies to address the instability in Colombia failed to produce significant results. Plan Colombia, a joint initiative of the Colombian and the US governments, was developed in response to a deteriorating situation in Colombia. A public policy of the Colombian government, funding for Plan Colombia is provided as a high priority of United States foreign policy. Plan Colombia is the foundation for implementation of a broad range of programs addressing security, drug production and trafficking, the peace process, social development, economic development and democratization. From a US policy perspective, Plan Colombia seeks to curb drug trafficking at its production sources and promote stability in Colombia. This paper evaluates Plan Colombia using the policy analysis framework presented by James Anderson (2000) in Public Policymaking. Anderson's framework entails systematically examining public policy using a five-stage process that includes identification, formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation. I focus on the evaluation of five broad goals found in Plan Colombia; these goals encompass the programs listed above. This paper concludes that progress has been made towards achieving four of the five goals of Plan Colombia. Improvements in illicit drug production, government legitimacy and control, and the economy have been significant. Progress toward democratization and social development is less dramatic, but still evident. The peace process is the only goal lacking significant progress. The results from a US perspective are mixed: while the Colombian government has been stabilized, it is not clear that there has been a reduction in the flow of illicit substances. Future research should consider prioritization of the objectives of Plan Colombia and long-term versus short-term policy outcomes. Security aspects and social development are both priorities of Plan Colombia that at times can be seen in opposition to one another; the appropriate balance of support provided to each requires further analysis. / Master of Public and International Affairs

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Thesis advisor: Paul Cichello / Liberia had two devastating civil wars 1989-2003. I am examining who benefitted from the large amounts of international aid and development programs that poured into the country during the post-war rebuilding period, in terms of school enrollment rates. With USAID’s Demographic and Health Surveys and Uppsala Conflict Data Program’s Georeferenced Event Dataset, I use probit and linear probability models to examine the determinants of being enrolled in school in 2007 and 2019. I find that females and kids living in rural areas had disproportionate recovery in the post-war period controlling for other explanatory variables. Household wealth was an important factor in determining enrollment. I also examine the concept of bounce-back, or rapid recovery in post-conflict contexts. I find that on a national level, there was significant recovery in enrollment rates, with about 51% of kids being enrolled in school in 2007 and about 81% being enrolled in 2019. I was unable to determine definitively whether or not this recovery was proportional to the amount of loss experienced due to the wars due to large standard deviations. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Economics.

This dissertation explores the reasons behind the impasse over the implementation of the LHWP II between communities affected by the construction of the Polihali Dam in Mokhotlong District in Lesotho and the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority. This conflict which has threatened the implementation of the project has been looked at in terms of disagreements over the compensation package for the displacement and losses. Using an actor-oriented approach, the contention was that explanations of the impasse should go further than the simplistic explanations of compensation and non-compensation, but should focus on the dynamics of interaction between different actors involved in the Polihali case. The investigation of the particular context of the Phase II implementation reveals a complex arena; where different actors are pursuing different agendas and using the power at their disposal to achieve these agendas eventually struggled to find common ground. It also reveals a need to incorporate the perspective of these actors into any explanation of the impasse. Using this approach, the investigation identifies several factors of which the compensation package is only a part which contributed to the conflict. Chief among these factors was how the LHDA handled the situation. Dislocations are traumatic experiences and require that those affected should be fully involved in decisions that affect their situation, yet the LHDA engagement failed on the basic participation principles. The authority modelled its approach to community engagement on tokenism and allowed people’s consultation, but disregarded their inputs in the final decision making. This resulted in a skewed understanding of society and losses resulting from dam construction, which caused tensions between the authority and the communities. Therefore, this dissertation concludes that; while compensation was certainly a significant aspect in the impasse, the gap between what was compensated and expectations reflects a general lack of knowledge of society and the social dynamics guiding life in these societies, which arose from the failure of the approach adopted by the LHDA. The study therefore advocates a search for a new rural development narrative that will move away from assumption about the viability of small family farms. It also reveals a need to incorporate people affected by large dam development in all aspects of the project that affect their lives. / Dissertation(MSocSci (Development Studies))--University of Pretoria 2020. / Anthropology and Archaeology / MSocSci (Development Studies) / Unrestricted

The objective of this experiment was to compare three group decision-making strategies and their effects on the group decision-making process. Two of the strategies, Dialectical Inquiry and Devil's Advocacy, were structured while the control condition, Unstructured Consensus Seeking, was non-directed, thus unstructured. The following dependent variables were measured: (a) decision quality, (b) cognitive conflict, (c) affective conflict, and (d) decision commitment. Seventy-two undergraduate participants were randomly assigned across 3 conditions into groups of 6 to solve an interactive group decision task. Thirty-six trained observers were randomly assigned across the same conditions to observe intra-group cognitive and affective conflict and to assess how well the undergraduate participants implemented the structured approaches. The unit of comparison was groups (n = 12). The results of this study were analyzed using analysis of variance and no statistical difference was found between the treatment groups on any of the four dependent variables measured. Cognitive conflict levels and commitment to the decision, while not statistically significant, were higher in the two structured conditions compared to the unstructured control condition. A discussion of these results along with directions for future research is provided. / Ph. D.

This qualitative study was conducted to examine the phenomenon of conflict as a relational process as it is played out in the natural settings of two classrooms. The researcher sought to explore the developmental potential that conflict affords children as they try to make meaning of their relationships within the peer culture. It breaks away from the cyclical and linear models of conflict interactions as it tries to understand the reciprocal role of individual and culture in the initiation, sustenance, and resolution of peer conflicts. The study was also designed to explore the researcher role as participator and observer on a continuum with participant at one extreme and observer on the other. Data for the study were collected through participant observations over a period of two semesters for the first study and five weeks for the second. The purpose was to examine disputes, particularly verbal exchanges made during these disputes, for insights of the child's understanding of the peer dynamics and culture that prevailed in the classrooms. Interpretive analysis of these disputes helped to embed the interactive events in their historical and sociocultural contexts. The results of this study increase our understanding of the developmental aspects of conflict and give us a glimpse of the meaning children make of their disputes. It reinforces the view that (a) children are capable of managing their conflicts without much adult intervention, (b) that the larger peer culture often dictates the initiation and outcome of conflicts, and (c) that conflicts provide an ideal opportunity for children to develop perspective taking and for testing the terms of their relationship with peers. / Ph. D.

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