Thesis (M.A. in International Security and Civil-Military Relations)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Jessica Piombo, Anne Clunan. Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-124). Also available online.

Thesis (M.A. in International Security and Civil-Military Relations)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Jeff Knopf, Mikhail Tsypkin. Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-85). Also available online.

The transition from having been under another country’s control to becoming a democratic country can, many times, pose difficulties, which has proven itself to be quite common. Estonia and Moldova’s processes towards a democratic regime are two examples of countries with varied success in the final transition phase. When the USSR (Soviet union) fell and collapsed in 1991 Estonia was well on their way from having a communistic ruling to a democratic one due to the fact that their democratic work had already begun a few years prior to 1991. After the collapse Estonia continued with their democratic work and in 2004 the country became a EU member state. Moldova, compared to Estonia, had grave difficulties early on with their democratic work. The country was separated in 1992 and, as a result, the government did not have control over the entire country. Due to this the state of law did not extend over the entire country, which made it difficult for the government to continue with their democratic work. To succeed with consolidation there has to exist positive attitudes and a desire to follow the democratic rules, which did exist in Estonia however, in Moldova, it was lacking. The purpose of this investigation is to discover the causes behind the two countries’ success with democracy, or the lack off, as well as, from a consolidation perspective, investigating into why Estonia and not Moldova was able to establish a stable democracy. The results show that the five consolidation aspects, which were analyzed in this investigation, carry the responsibilities behind the success of the countries’ democratic processes and also, the reason for why democracy thrived in Estonia and not in Moldova. The consolidation viewpoint show that the Moldovan republic had a difficult time succeeding with democracy due to the country’s separation as well as their nationality crisis. The viewpoint also shows how Estonia early on had its people’s positive attitudes supporting them, which made it easier to implement different economical, political and social reforms.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 24, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-95).

Breaking away from the positivist trend dominating the literature on Moldova’s foreign relations, this thesis analyses the means through which national identity discourses impact on Moldovan societal representation of foreign policy. It contends that national identity perpetuates a Cold War inspired view of foreign affairs. This construction is defined by two main elements, the representation of the civilizational and geopolitical cleavage between East and West and the lack of agency awarded to the Moldovan self. This is achieved through an in-depth study of the national identity debate in Moldova. It focuses on both the two main national identity discourses in Moldova, Romanianism and Moldovanism. For this analysis, I employ a post-structuralist approach, conceptualising national identity as a discourse that helps us make sense of the world. Through this function and its persistence across Moldovan articulations, national identity plays a key role in representations of foreign affairs in Moldova. More specifically, the opposition between Romanianism and Moldovanism reproduces the East-West geopolitical and civilizational cleavage, whilst the representation of Moldovan inferiority, historical debt and the Great Power Complex reiterates Moldova’s passivity and lack of agency. Through this Cold War representation of international affairs, national identity offers both the resources and the limits within which official Moldovan foreign policy articulations function. In this way, national identity is crucial in understanding the mechanisms through which foreign policy is legitimated and, especially, the validity and credibility of certain arguments and the unlikelihood of others.

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Civil-Military Relations))--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2006. / Thesis Advisor(s): Donald Abenheim. "March 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-106). Also available online.

A number of recent studies suggest that EU conditionality is a weak mechanism for democracy promotion to third countries if EU does not offer the reward of membership. EU democratic conditionality has been criticized for many shortcomings even in the context of enlargement, especially for unclear demands, vague benchmarking, moving targets, and politicized decision-making. Present thesis discusses whether the view that conditionality has exhausted its potential for democracy promotion still holds true in one country of Eastern Partnership, Moldova. The EU explicitly offers only carrots short of membership. I find that, among these, visa free regime is the most rewarding. But while visa liberalization coupled with tactics of "half opened, half closed doors" seems potent enough to drive democratic change and consolidation, it is evident that EU did little to address the shortcomings of democratic conditionality of 2004-2007 enlargement. The pattern of ill specified demands and unclear benchmarking perpetuates and is a major source of disappointment.

Moldova is known for its wines, which enjoy great popularity not only in its own country, but in all CIS countries too. The wine trade is the heart of the Moldovian economy and the main export article of the country. That is why I have decided to write about wines and focus on exhibitions and fairs. Exhibitions and fairs are, in my opinion, a quite neglected item in comparison with traditional methods of propagation - advertising, PR, sponsorship, etc. My diploma work among other things will help to eliminate this gap. The main objective of my work is the analysis of the wine trade fair ExpoVin Moldova, followed by recommendations to improve the activities of the event. The central hypothesis of my work will be the following assertion: ExpoVin Moldova provides absolutely excellent opportunity for collaboration for producer of wines, government and retailers of wine. Therefore, I will try either to confirm or reject this hypothesis.

The Republic of Moldova: The very existence of this country is not widely known around the world, especially in the United States. When mentioning the country in an international context, journalists and political leaders refer to Moldova’s status as Europe’s poorest country, its two-year struggle to elect a president, or its breakaway region of Transnistria. In a reemerging Russia, however, the Republic of Moldova is of considerable strategic importance. Because of Moldova’s geographic location and ethnic make-up, Russia has a genuine interest in ensuring that Moldova maintains the status quo and continues to be a poor, divided, and weak state. Based on the lack of a national identity, an absent economy, and a struggling government; it is questionable whether or not Moldova should be an independent state in the first place. This report will argue that despite attractive prospects for Moldova to unite with Romania or integrate into the European Union, Russia will ensure that it remains an independent, yet divided country. / text

The Republic of Moldova is losing many of its citizens to more lucrative economic opportunities abroad.  Remittances from emigrants, in many various forms, have become vital agents in the Moldovan economy.  This thesis investigated whether remittance activity among immigrants from Moldova in the United States and Canada might be used as a model for an effective strategy to spread public health information amongst Moldovans.  Specifically, two studies examined whether remittance behavior among Moldovans living in The United States and Canada predicted their perceptions that a "knowledge remittance" strategy for public health information would be effective and their interest in participating in a knowledge remittance effort.  Grounded in the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2), two studies evaluated the remittance relationship. Study 1, an exploratory online survey (n = 15), indicated that Moldovan immigrants living in the United States and Canada that have a generally positive attitude towards capital and knowledge remittances will tend to perceive the transmission of knowledge remittances as useful. There was tentative support for the correlation of perceived usefulness with the intention to remit knowledge.  Study 2 (n = 5) consisted of qualitative interviews and found that Moldovan immigrants living in the United States and Canada have access to the Internet and frequently use the technology to contact family in Moldova at home. Interviewees had a generally positive view of both capital and knowledge remittances, though they were in disagreement on the major health risks facing Moldova. The findings of these studies suggest that a remittance propagated health campaign is a possible resolution to poor health knowledge in Moldova. / Master of Arts