This thesis challenges the assumption that states are rational unitary actors by examining how, in the United States, the personality traits of the president determine whether or not he will choose military intervention when the domestic and international conditions align to render it a possibility. These conditions are filtered through the lens of the president's own cognitive schema, which cannot be purely rational and, moreover, is likely to include a mélange of traits that converge to create a marked preference for action, reinforced and incentivized by the domestic political system. If Bill Clinton provides an example of the interventionist impulse among U.S. presidents in his actions in Bosnia, Barack Obama offers an exception through his restraint in Syria. Today, the Trump presidency raises questions about the likelihood of U.S. involvement in the enduring Syrian Civil War.

Thesis advisor: Donald Fishman / During the first decade of the millennium, the world was truly able to see the characteristics of the Millennial Generation. From having to react to September 11th to being active with the election of Barack Obama, the "Awful Aughts" was a time of growth for Millennials. They were able to shape that decade, but conversely, the years 2000 to 2009 will also have a lasting impact on them. This thesis contains their thoughts on their relationship to the "Decade from Hell." / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

The Guantanamo issue refers to the classic question concerning the role of ethics in international relations. That is why the purpose of this research was to, by relating to the dilemma between national security and human rights, study the current Obama Administration's standpoint given to the Guantanamo prisoners in reference to three different ethical views. These three ethical views are Joseph Nye's innovative perspective on morality within international relations, which constitute the theoretical frameworks of this research and they are sceptics, state moralists and cosmopolitans. With help of the descriptive and explanation approaches within ideology and argumentation method, I studied speeches of the representatives of the Obama Administration as well as executive orders and reports which focus on the Administration's statements and decisions given to the Guantanamo issue. The analysis of the material in reference to the theorethical framework of this research, lead to a conclusion that the Obama Administration underlines the importance of both national security and human rights  given to the Guantanamo prisoners. Analysis of this research displays also that the Obama Administration has not change its line of argumentation since 2008 as well as the Administration's decisions are affected first and foremost by state moralist view point.

Iran’s nuclear program continues to present a major challenge to U.S. policy. At the core of this challenge is one fundamental question: Is Iran attempting to build a nuclear weapon? Objective analysis reveals that Iran’s dependence on oil and natural gas provides sufficient economic merit for Iran to pursue a peaceful nuclear program; without nuclear power to meet rising domestic energy needs, Iran’s economy will suffer. Though the economic justification is valid, the security of Iran and the survival of its regime are overarching; acts of foreign interference in Iran’s affairs have fueled the regime’s quest for a nuclear weapon. For this reason, U.S. administrations since the 1979 revolution have striven to derail Iran’s nuclear program through policies of containment, isolation, and denial of nuclear technology. Considering the current standoff between Iran and the U.S., we must ask another key question: How effective have U.S. policies been? The answer is simple; Iran has made significant progress in its nuclear program. Sanctions, political pressure, and threats proved no obstacle to Iran; worse still, ignoring IAEA and other’s reports that found no convincing evidence that Iran is building nuclear weapons damaged U.S. efforts significantly. Iran’s progress makes it clear that U.S. policies have failed, and its strategies must be discarded in favor of a new approach. This research implicates that a non-confrontational engagement policy, which acknowledges Iran’s needs to build a peaceful nuclear program will provide President Obama and the U.S. the highest probability of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

This study examined second-level agenda setting effects of six news sources on public opinion about the health care reform bill proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. The affective attributes (tone) of media coverage were measured immediately and cumulatively. A regression analysis found cumulative affective attribute salience, but not immediate affective attribute salience, was a significant predictor of support in public opinion polls. Separate regression analyses found that effects were greater on Republicans than on those who identified with another political party. A final regression analysis was performed to examine whether support in public opinion polls was a predictor of affective attribute salience in the media. Support was also measured both immediately and cumulatively. Findings show that only immediate support in public opinion polls was a predictor of affective attribute salience in the media. The political implications and the consequences for health care policy are discussed.

An examination of Barack Obama's Legal Philosophy and the extent to which that is reflected in the decisions of his judicial appointees.

The presidency of Barack Obama has given racial framing in the news media a new salience particularly because of the role that media coverage plays in shaping ideas about race. The racial framing that unfolds through the news media reflects new forms of racism that work to justify and explain racial inequalities without explicit references to race. In this study, I analyze the media discussion of welfare reform following a 2012 Mitt Romney attack advertisement that claimed that President Obama “gutted” welfare reform. I use discourse analysis to analyze the prevalence of controlling imagery, colorblind racist rhetoric, and the white racial frame in 91 prominent newspaper articles and political blogs that discussed this controversial advertisement. This study aims to contribute to sociological knowledge about specific language and strategies used by the media to perpetuate racism, and to demonstrate the relationship between political and social welfare discourse and racial ideologies.

Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-119). Also available via the World Wide Web.

This diploma thesis deals with Mexican-American migration issues. The first part of this paper defines the theoretical framework of migration and migration policy and related to the United States the paper examines the concept of national identity and the immigrant paradigm of American nation. Based on the literature review the thesis describes historical development of immigration to the United States while focusing mainly on immigration policy. The case study analyzes Mexican immigration to the United States, specifies the nature of current migration flows and compares immigration policy of Clinton's, Bush's and Obama's administration.

This study is a quantitative content analysis of the Facebook and Twitter communication of the Obama and Romney campaigns on seven dates within the 30 days prior to the 2012 presidential election. Specific rhetorical techniques are explored for similarities or differences in how these techniques have appeared in political communication in legacy media and how they are expressed in social media. Repetition, collective language, self-reference language and Benoit's functions of attack, acclaim and defend are examined. Additionally, the study identified what topics each candidate emphasized in their social media communication. Findings show that both candidates used repetition to reinforce key messages. The use of attacks, acclaims and defenses bore some similarities to uses in legacy media. However, the primary focuses by both candidates centered on motivating citizens to show support for the candidate and get out the vote. Few policy issues appeared in the communication of either candidate. / 2015-09-29