Public housing in the United States has been a controversial sociopolitical topic since the years of the Great Depression. The issue of appropriate and secure habitation for the country's "deserving poor" continues to be of great importance as government subsidies become scarce in the early 21st century. This dearth of support for public housing is even more evident and prominent along the United States-Mexico border of South Texas, a territory described as having a third world environment. The dissertation is a narrative history of public housing in Laredo, Texas, a border community. Compiled from news media records and the archives of the Laredo Housing Authority, the study gives insight into methods used by this authority to achieve decent habitation for the underprivileged residents of one of the poorest cities in the United States. After a historical background of Laredo, the study follows a chronological development of federally funded housing through the six decades that began in 1938. The study accentuates the continuing need for such housing as its sponsoring federal agency; the Department of Housing and Urban Development fails to properly fund its subsidiary programs and projects. Principal governmental and nongovernmental sources substantiate the dearth of appropriate housing, with the author providing further insight to his native city's plight. The conclusion outlines how funding, together with higher upkeep and energy costs, will continue in a downward spiral and will lead to an increase in the underserved poor population.

Thesis advisor: David Hollenbach / This dissertation starts by noting a tension in Catholic Social Teaching between the right of certain persons to immigrate, and the right of polities to control their borders, and seeks to find a way to resolve that tension. In a first moment, we ask whether the "right to immigrate" made sense only before the mass international migration movements starting around 1980, and before "globalisation", and whether polities today are morally justified in adopting increasingly harsh immigration restriction measures unilaterally. After rejecting this hypothesis by using an interdisciplinary analysis of the changes in the phenomenon of human mobility in recent decades, we propose another hypothesis to resolve the tension. We claim that the two rights are not "absolute" rights, and must be kept in tension. Which one of them trumps the other in concrete situations is determined partly by a set of (moral) priority rules, and partly through political discernment via fair democratic processes (which are always necessary so as to formulate concrete policies which require the consent of the governed). The rest of this dissertation provides a well-documented argument in favour of this second hypothesis, and in the process, we formulate a number of priority rules which help activists and policy makers, qua citizens and qua Christian disciples, adjudicate between rights claims based on the right to immigrate and the right to political sovereignty. The work also includes a systematic and historical presentation of Catholic Social Teaching on migration, a case study on immigration and emigration in Malta, a diachronic analysis of concepts related to human mobility in the Hebrew Bible, a philosophical reflection on Political Sovereignty in a "globalising" world, and a virtue ethics approach to the notions of solidarity, hospitality and kinship. / Thesis (STD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Because trade is seen as welfare improving for society, governments have long employed their policy-making powers to increase trade levels. In recent years, no strategy has been more employed by policy makers than free trade agreements. As free trade agreements become more popular, world tariff levels rapidly approach zero. Given this, policy makers must look to other methods to encourage trade. I examine how non-tariff trade barriers impact international trade levels. By better understanding these trade barriers, policy makers will be able to make more informed decisions. To better understand non-tariff trade barriers, I begin with well-known impediments to trade, including the border effect, transportation costs, and the trade creation and trade diversion effects of regional trade agreements. I then demonstrate and examine heterogeneity in these trade costs. In Chapter II I examine the often-studied border effect, the notion that regions trade more intra-nationally than internationally. I demonstrate that smaller regions are less attractive to foreign trading partners than their larger counterparts. Fixed costs of crossing an international border, as well as more effective marketing methods, mean economically larger U.S. states or Canadian provinces see a smaller border effect. In Chapter III I look at how transportation costs incurred within the exporting country impact trade levels. Using a unique instrumental variable strategy, I show that the cost of getting a good to a port is a significant hindrance to trade. Finally, in Chapter IV I show that the benefits of joining the European Union are heterogeneous across countries. This means that while the E.U. may be beneficial on average, it may not be beneficial for individual countries.

For over a decade European governments have invested in technological systems to develop new forms of border security in their attempts to regulate migration. Numerous innovations have been designed in order to grant border agencies an unbroken vision of the borderspace, thus allowing states to continuously enact the border beyond their territorial boundaries. Meanwhile, other strategies have been designed in order to control the movements and actions of 'irregular migrants' and asylum seekers following their successful attempts at reaching the territorial boundaries of the European Union (EU). In this thesis I seek to tease apart these technocratic claims of omni-voyance and pervasive control by focusing on the everyday realities of border control and the ways in which these are negotiated and resisted by those who seek to evade them. To this aim, I approach the border by drawing on assemblage theory, as well as feminist geopolitics' attention to performance and embodiment. Such an approach re-centres attention on the human performances of border control, emphasises the agency of 'non-human' actors, foregrounds the messy realities of borderspaces, and engages with the multiplicity of borders. In applying this approach, I argue that the border should not be thought of as a static entity; neither in its location in space, nor in terms of the actors that perform it. Instead, I have oriented my approach towards conceptualising the border as in a constant state of becoming - with actors being continuously added to and subtracted from the security assemblages which constitute the border. In particular I focus on the ways in which 'non-state' actors are increasingly being coerced into performing the border and what the effects of this are on those who seek to evade its violent gaze. In order to put this approach to work, I employ a multi-sited ethnographic study of three European borderspaces: the Frontex headquarters in Warsaw, the Straits of Gibraltar and an anonymised city in the United Kingdom (UK). In Warsaw and the Straits of Gibraltar (specifically the cities of Algeciras and Ceuta) my research was focused on two border surveillance assemblages: (1) The European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) operated by Frontex and (2) Spain's Sistema Integrado de Vigilancia del Exterior (SIVE) maritime surveillance system. I argue that the 'messiness' of the borderspace proves too complex for the surveillance system to control, the vision produced through SIVE being fragmented and stuttered through both human and technological flaws. I also highlight how securing the border is as much a temporal negotiation as it is a spatial one; the struggle for control over the borderspace comprising a contest of speed. The effect is a geography of the border that foregrounds the 'little details' of borderwork; exposing the flaws behind a scopic narrative that claims unceasing vision and an unhindered reach. While in Ceuta I also challenged the formal performances of the enclave as a 'humanitarian space'. Indeed, I argue that it is as a result of framing the enclave's detention centre as a reception centre for humanitarianism that irregular migrants can be detained in the autonomous city indefinitely. Yet the actors that perform the borders of the enclave do so in an untidy alliance which regularly springs leaks. I also discuss the tactics of the migrants who have made it to the enclave and who now seek to leave it again. In particular I note how their tactics of resistance have become entangled with the bordering strategies specific to the enclave. I also question the extent to which the border enclave and the specific identities forged by the migrants who pass through it will remain with them as they pass through future checkpoints of the European border - the evidence of their time spent in Ceuta locked in their fingertips. In the anonymised city in the UK my aims were to question the reach of the state into the everyday lives of asylum seekers. While the lives of asylum seekers are often described as being in 'limbo', I sought to question the temporalities and materialities of urban living for people stuck in the asylum system. I argue that the strategies used by the UK Home Office are intended to limit the movements and actions of asylum seekers in the city through securitising the support that asylum seekers are entitled to. I focus on the ways in which the border is carried by asylum seekers in the city through their use of ARC and Azure cards, especially, and the ways in which these cards serve to 'fix' people with the negative qualities and stereotypes associated with asylum seekers. Through volunteering for a group offering solidarity support to asylum seekers in the city, I also argue that this strategy of limiting movements can be resisted. Like the tactics encountered in Ceuta, however, these tactics frequently become entangled in the strategies of border control.

Cette thèse étudie les transformations que la frontière américano-canadienne a connues dans le sillage des attentats du 11 septembre 2001. A travers une approche à la fois géographique, historique, politique et économique, elle s’intéresse au rôle qui a été attribué à la ligne internationale dans le cadre de la Guerre contre le terrorisme.Pour sécuriser son territoire, les Etats-Unis ont non seulement utilisé leurs frontières comme un levier central pour leur politique nationale, mais ils ont également défini un concept d’un nouveau genre, celui de « frontière intelligente ». Souhaitant trouver un équilibre entre deux objectifs présentés comme mutuellement non-exclusifs, la sécurité et la facilitation, Washington joue avec la binarité traditionnelle ouverture/fermeture pour plonger ses frontières, et notamment la frontière américano-canadienne dans un nouveau paradigme. Dès lors, nous voyons comment ce processus a lieu le long du front nord et comment celle que l’on nomme, de façon métonymique, le 49ème parallèle est passée d’une des plus longues frontières démilitarisées au monde, ouverte et défonctionnalisée, à une barrière hautement sécurisée. Nous explorons ainsi le rôle de pivot attribué aux attentats sur le World Trade Center et le Pentagone pour la frontière et ce que ce changement de paradigme signifie pour la relation américano-canadienne.Cette étude analyse donc le contenu de cette « frontière intelligente » tout en jaugeant son degré de succès pour ses deux versants – sécurité et facilitation. Il s’attache également à mettre en lumière les forces, parfois entremêlées, qui sous-tendent cette institution multiforme qu’est la frontière. Entre discours, désinformation, manipulation et desseins cachés, la frontière est au carrefour de différentes stratégies qui parasitent parfois notre perception de la situation. / This thesis aims at studying the transformations that the Canada/US border has undergone in the wake of 9/11. Using a multiple analytical lens – at once geographical, historical, political and economic – it deals with the role that the international boundary has played in the War against Terror.In order to secure its homeland, not only did the United States used its borders as a central tool for its policy but it also defined a new kind of concept, that of “smart borders”. Looking for a balance between two goals that are presented as mutually non-exclusive – security and facilitation – Washington plays with the traditional binary functioning of borders – open borders vs. close borders – to impose a new paradigm in North America, and more particularly along the Canada/US border. The purpose of this work is to look into this process to see how the metaphorically called 49th parallel has moved on from being the longest undefended border in the world, an open and defunctionnalized border, to a highly securitized barrier. Thus, it explores the supposedly pivotal role attributed to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as well as the meaning of this shift in paradigm for the Canada/US relationship.To do so, this thesis analyzes what this “smart border” consists in and assesses the success of its double engine – security and facilitation. It also endeavors to shed a light on the forces that underlie this multifaceted institution that the border is. Amidst rhetoric, disinformation, hidden agendas, the border is at the crossroads of different strategies that may sometimes blur our perception of the situation.

This thesis examines Czech-German cross-border cooperation within intercultural communication, identifies problems and develops possible solutions. The thesis is divided into a practical and a theoretical part. The theoretical part first describes the Czech-German cross-border cooperation and then intercultural communication, followed by a discussion of the context and the research methods. In the practical part, the author first performs a sequential analysis of data collected via interviews conducted with people working in the Tandem organization. The results of the analysis are interpreted, problems within the cooperation of Tandem are identified, and possible solutions developed. A glossary divided into two parts, recapitulating the definitions of relevant terms from the first two theoretical chapters of this thesis, is listed at the end of this work. A French résumé summarizing all the important points and conclusions is enclosed with the thesis. The aim of this thesis is to answer the following research question: "Linguistic and intercultural challenges of Czech-German non-profit cross-border cooperation: The case of the Tandem organization."

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the influence of cross-border cooperation on the competitiveness of border regions, here Franco-German. For this purpose, the study focuses on two European integration models located on the eastern part of France on the border with Germany: Euroregion TriRhena and Eurodis-trict Pamina. The influence of cross-border cooperation on the competitiveness of Euroregions and Eurodistricts is analyzed through the presentation and evalua-tion of the organization, objectives, areas of competences as well as through the actions and funding of these organizations. The activities and the results of the two chosen examples are compared with respect to beneficial and unfavorable outcomes that may result, revealing also the development opportunities provided by each structure. After presentation of the theoretical context, different forms of cross-border cooperation and the European framework recommended for the integration models are outlined. Finally, discussions around the concept of com-petitiveness are reported. In a second part, the methodological approach includ-ing the choice of the case studies, the data collected and the analysis criteria, is outlined. In a third part, results are compared, evaluated and discussed in order to answer the research question: Does cross-border cooperation improve the competitiveness of Euroregions and Eurodistricts?

acase@tulane.edu / Cross-border cases involving admiralty and bankruptcy law are troublesome because of the fundamentally different natures of the policy objectives of these two private avenues. The current declining shipping market shows the urgent need to address these issues at both a theoretical and practical level. The basic problem considered in this dissertation is what should happen when a ship owner files an insolvency proceeding in one country, while at the same time facing an in rem action against its vessel in another country? In other words, should the in rem action arising in one country be stayed or dismissed because of the existence of insolvency proceedings in another country? This dissertation also discusses the relevant issues regarding the determination of the “center of main interest” of an offshore shipping company and the scope of a debtor’s assets. The author uses a comparative law analysis, selecting four leading shipping countries—Australia, the U.K., the U.S., and Singapore—and examining their approaches to the treatment of maritime claimants. The author also proposes a solution to help eliminate the ambiguity occurred in maritime cross-border insolvency cases under the UNCITRAL Model Law regime, with an eye to enhancing the development of the shipping industry. / 1 / Jingchen Xu

In recent years Mexico has found itself at the center of the drug ?war? as powerful criminal organizations have destabilized the region by engaging in this illicit, multi-billion dollar trade that allows drug lords emerge as powerful political actors. Violence and corruption are having a devastating effect on the new and struggling democracy as the weak institutions put in place during the reign of the PRI have not been replaced with a workable system. The judiciary and law enforcement continue to be ineffective as President Calderon chose to mobilize the military to help combat drug trafficking. Mexico is also experiencing the challenges of drug addiction as the competitive trade drove dealers to open up local markets for cheap and highly addictive drugs. Mexico has found itself fighting the drug war on all fronts and this article seeks to explain the circumstances that led the nation to this vulnerable position. This article is a historical look at the processes by which Mexico transformed the economy to capitalism, developed and industrialized, and then transitioned to democracy, and found itself here in the eye of the drug storm.

In reduced speed zones, where no other cues indicate the need to slow down, drivers sometimes fail to notice the standard Speed Limit sign and may be speeding inadvertently. To help reduce inadvertent speeding, a red border was installed around the Speed Limit sign in seven reduced speed areas and the impacts of the increased conspicuity on speed limit compliance were measured. The general study approach was to collect and compare speed data for a standard sign (before condition) and a red border sign (after condition). The short-term effects of a modified red border sign, which was achieved by replacing the thin black border of the standard sign with a four inch wide red border, were evaluated at four sites. Results of this modified border study indicated that there was a statistically significant reduction in the mean speeds as well as in the 85th percentile speeds for the red border sign conditions, however the reductions were not practically significant. This study also evaluated the effect of using a higher conspicuity sheeting material at two sites. The results indicated that use of higher conspicuity sheeting has some benefits for the standard sign but no additional benefits for the red border sign. The added border study evaluated the long-term effects (approximately nine to eleven months after the treatment) of adding a three inch wide red border to the standard Speed Limit sign at three sites. The results of this study indicated that impacts of the red border treatment increase with passage of time. The mean speeds decreased by 8.1 percent and the percent of vehicles exceeding the speed limit (55 mph) decreased by 21.7 percent. The decreases in speeds were both statistically and practically significant. A comparison of the thesis study with other similar studies found in literature shows comparable benefits of the red border sign with other speed management measures. Based on the results for long-term effects, use of the red border Speed Limit sign is recommended in reduced speed zones where inadvertent speeding is common.