This thesis, Human Rights and U.S. National Security Post 9/11, examines the changes in U.S. human rights policy post 9/11 and the impact that these changes have had within the international community. In researching this topic I found a number of policy changes that the U.S. made during the 'war on terror' and examined how these changes have impacted the role of the United States in the international community. Overall, I found that the changes in U.S. human rights policy during the 'war on terror' have had a negative impact on U.S. alliances abroad as well as other members within the international arena. I looked at statistical evidence of the chasm between the U.S. and other countries. I examined polls, which demonstrates a shift in international opinion of the U.S. post 9/11. Furthermore, I examined specific instances of human rights abuses as well as policy decisions that indicated a shift in U.S. foreign policy away from human rights. Using specific cases that shed light on the changing nature of U.S. human rights policy, I analyze where criticisms of U.S. human rights policy were stemming from. Finally, I draw together all of the information obtained about the changing nature of U.S. human rights policy in order to make recommendations about how the U.S. can put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy in a way that will both bolster its security as well as its reputation abroad.

This study finds that Chinese foreign aid has a marginal negative, if at all, impact on human rights in Africa. The study begins with an introduction on Sino-African relations and possible implications of these relations. It then presents a literature review on relevant foreign aid and human rights studies. It moves on to explain the methodology and datasets used before presenting and analyzing the results. The study concludes with ideas for further research.

As Beijing develops into a global city, high-rise banking and apartment buildings appear almost daily, while historical hutong neighborhoods have been destroyed to accommodate this development. At the same time, hutong tourism has become popular with Chinese and foreign tourists. While some have advocated tourism in the hutong as a strategy to ensure preservation and economic development, others argue that attention from tourists will inevitably change the lives of hutong residents. As the hutong are reconstructed through tourism, new cultural forms are produced under the ideal of "authenticity." These forms both reflect existing cultural values and produce new cultural possibilities. This paper analyzes the development of cultural tourism in the hutong based on ethnographic observations, secondary sources, and email interviews with hutong tourism business owners. My argument does not focus on whether the commodification of the hutong is inherently good or bad, but rather on the production and uses of authenticity in the hutong as well as interpretations of that ideal by different people at different times. I suggest that the debates over hutong tourism development in the capital illuminate the lack of consensus in Chinese discourse about what modern China is and ought to be.

This paper explores the identities of Beur youth, both in terms of ethnic French perceptions of this group, as well as the Beur perspective of their individual and collective cultural identities. Beur refers to second and third generation immigrant youth in France of North African origins, and has become a nominator for an ethnic and cultural minority group in France. This minority group has spurred the development of activist groups, a unique sub-genre of hip-hop music, a slang dialect of French, and an entire French sub-culture. Noting this growing presence and influence of Beur culture in France, I posit the question: What roles do integration and inclusion in society play in Beur youths development of individual identity and larger group identity, particularly in France? I examine this question through an exploratory qualitative research study to understand how Arab-Muslim immigrant youth, i.e. the Beurs, in France perceive their identity. Tensions are rising within Muslim immigrant communities in the western hemisphere. Such controversies as the 2005 riots around Paris, the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., and the ongoing headscarf debates have given negative attention to Muslims and Arabs in the West. These events, combined with the underlying issues of unemployment, poverty, crime, and civil violence are bringing to the forefront concerns with North African immigrants in France. While researchers have extensively studied and discussed broader policy issues relating to these minority populations from an external perspective, immigrant and Beur youth themselves have received little direct involvement in the interview and research process. Here, I am examine how Beur youth experience feelings of belonging, alienation, and a sense of personal self-worth through political and social action and popular culture.

Chinas water quality, quantity, and environmental management issues and policies were analyzed through three lenses: environmental policy through regulations, policies and projects to increase water quantity, and water quality treatment and distribution methods pursued. Three issues, rather than one, were focused upon in order to enable a more holistic understanding of the political climate and the policy mechanisms employed by the Chinese government. Concerning environmental regulations, current state of the art, as well as implementation issues were studied concerning Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in China. Additionally, Chinas surface water regulations were compared to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Primary Drinking Water Standards in order to determine the level of stringency reached by Chinese standards. Though it was determined that Chinese standards are equally or more strict than the American standards, implementation and enforcement of regulations remains an issue. The effectiveness of some water quantity solutions implemented by the Chinese government were explored as well, specifically, the effectiveness of the South-to-North water transfer project was analyzed by comparing the water gained from that project to the water saved if more efficient irrigation methods were installed under varying scenarios of acceptance for three study years. It was determined that the amount of water gained from the entire water transfer project was nearly equal to, or less than, the volume of water saved if more efficient irrigation methods were utilized. Additionally, further development of rainwater harvesting program in Gansu Province was referenced as another means by which to increase the quantity of water available. Government priorities concerning various methods of water treatment and distribution were addressed as well. Though the government has made major investments in the construction of modern treatment plants, requisite investments have not been made in the distribution system. Consequently, the collection rates in many areas are low. In order to bridge the gap between infrastructure construction and treated water demand, distributed treatment, or point-of-use treatment was also explored. However, it was determined that the barriers to entry of point-of-use treatment in China are high, and thus, it would be difficult to establish a treatment program.

This thesis studies the differences between the European Unions (EUs) Enlargement Policy toward Turkey and the United States (U.S.s) Foreign Policy toward Turkey. Both actors have a strong relationship with Turkey but for different reasons. Turkey is a candidate country to the EU and is in the process of accession negotiations. It is also a key ally to the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners and its secular while Muslim identity, location, use as an energy transport route, and strong democracy make Turkey particularly important. In this thesis I argue that enlargement policy and foreign policy toward Turkey are shaped by three factors, geostrategic interests, culture, and economics, but the EU and U.S. place different stress on each factor. This is based on distinctions between the EU and U.S. including that enlargement policy consists of external, internal, and bilateral elements whereas foreign policy only includes external and bilateral elements. The EU approach toward Turkey via enlargement policy focuses strongly on all three factors: geostrategic interests, culture, and economics. Each factor is analyzed with respect to Turkey by each EU member-state, making member-states decisions dependent on how membership will affect Turkey (externally), how Turkey will affect the EU as a whole (internally) and how Turkey will affect the member-states themselves (bilaterally). However, the U.S. foreign policy approach toward Turkey is constructed mainly on geostrategic interests. This difference in the factors shaping enlargement policy and foreign policy is rooted in a distinction between the EU and U.S.: while Turkey could possibly accede to the EU, making it a full member of the Union, no such membership could ever be attained with the U.S.

This study investigates how the impact of media bias affects the news coverage of catastrophic events with regard to the Palestine/Israel conflict. Particularly, this study focuses on Operation Cast Lead, the 3-week Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip that resulted in the death of nearly 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. The Times manner of covering the conflict, characterized in previous research as manifesting media bias toward Israel, is examined within a context of media manipulation, misrepresentation, framing, slant, and linguistic determinism. This study provides insight into the role played by the mainstream media in distorting the facts of the Palestine/Israel conflict in order to present a picture that portrays Israel in a more favorable light. Ninety-one articles were chosen from the New York Times news and editorial coverage of Operation Cast Lead, from December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009, plus an additional week as to allow for corrections and further coverage. This study employs content analysis to determine how the New York Times presents their stories and how often they report Palestinian deaths and injuries incurred during the catastrophic period versus the number of Israeli deaths and injuries covered in the texts. BTselem, the Israeli human rights organization, provides data on the number of deaths and injuries during Operation Cast Lead, providing the quantitative base to which this studys results are compared. Although Palestinians died at a rate 106 times more than Israelis, the New York Times engaged in a practice of media bias that resulted in coverage of only 3% of Palestinian deaths in the headlines and first paragraphs. Upon analyzing the articles entireties, this study found that the New York Times covered 431% of Israeli deaths and only 17% of Palestinian deaths, a ratio of 25:1. Only 17% of Palestinian children deaths were covered in the full articles.

This paper investigates the motives behind internal income transfers through an analysis of original survey data. Though there has been much research on this topic, few studies have addressed the role of seasonal migration and factors specifically relevant to women (such as number of children) in remittance behavior. Both issues are investigated here. Over 100 female migrant domestic workers living in Dakar, Senegal were given a survey on their remittance behaviors, work, and family situations. The correlations between percent of income remitted and explanatory variables such as age, number of children, and status as a seasonal migrant, was used to determine the characteristics of migrants who remit the most. This information was then used to draw conclusions on migrants motives for remitting. Three main results were established. First, status as a seasonal migrant is associated with a higher percent of income remitted relative to non-seasonal migrants, suggesting that seasonal migrants have a greater stake in their home community due to regular stays at home. This also reflects the idea that families use rural-urban migration as a tool for household consumption smoothing. Secondly, having a small number of children is associated with a higher percent of income remitted relative to those with many or no children, indicating that the women with one or two young children leave them in care of their grandparents, and that remittances are a form of payment for the childs needs. Finally, migrants with a deceased father remit less than those with a living father, which supports an insurance motive.

This thesis studies the changes in the formal educational policies in Tanzania from independence until the present. Since independence in 1961, the government of Tanzania has attempted several times to reform the educational system to meet their development objectives different objectives and generate desired outcomes. This thesis compares the 1967 Education for Self-Reliance policy with the most recent 1995 Education and Training Policy by taking a historical view of the role of work-oriented education in primary and secondary institutions. Using the framework developed by Wim Hoppers (1996), this study finds that work-oriented education is an important strategy for improving the relevance of the educational system in both policies. However the educational system has undergone noteworthy changes in the approach and focus of work-oriented education during this time. The most significant of these changes is a shift in emphasis from rural-oriented vocational education to technology education as the major focus of work-oriented education, demonstrated through supplementary education policies such as the 2007 Information and Communication Technology policy. This thesis maintains that the continued presence of work-oriented education has important implications for the 1995 Education and Training Policy, particularly because the current work-oriented program shares many of the same challenges that impeded the 1967 Education for Self-Reliance policy. Through historical analysis of past experiences and issues, these challenges must be recognized and addressed in order for the current policy to be successfully implemented and to achieve its work-oriented education objectives.

This ethnographic study is based on in-depth participant observation with five American-Born Asian Indian college students (hereafter referred to as ABCDs) in their early 20s. This term, ABCD is one that is normally used within the United States-based South Asian community but is used here in place of Second-Generation Asian Indian American because it more directly underscores the state of in-between-ness that the subjects studied expressed as applicable to their experiences. This study provides a partial portrait of the ways that ABCDs manage the tension between their families expectations and the dominant hostile mindset towards people who look Middle Eastern in Post-9/11 America. Indians in the U.S. are sometimes unfairly perceived to have divided loyalties in an era where patriotism and nativism have increased among the mainstream American middle-class. This thesis posits that the public treatment of ABCD individuals as both Model Minorities and stigmatized suspicious persons prejudice erroneously assumed against people who look middle-eastern results in angst that each of the informants navigates in different ways. The data analysis suggests that the physical separation from parents and the freedom of college creates space and time for a relatively unmonitored lifestyle. However, life at this stage is complicated for ABCDs who, since 9/11 have experienced prejudice based on misidentification. This post-9/11 hostile environment has created a complicated and contradictory space in which ABCDs have to negotiate their identity. Combined with parental pressure to excel, this produces anxiety and ambivalence.