Thesis (M.A.)--Lehigh University, 2009. / Advisers: John Pettegrew; Ted Morgan.

<p> Citizens&rsquo; increased access to the internet is transforming political landscapes across the globe. The implications for civil society, culture, religion, governmental legitimacy and accountability are vast. In nations where one does not typically expect &ldquo;modern&rdquo; or egalitarian ideals to be prevalent among highly religious and conservative populations, those with motivations to unite around socially and culturally taboo causes are no longer forced to silently acquiesce and accept the status quo. The internet has proven to be an invaluable tool for those aiming to engage in social activism, as it allows citizens in highly oppressive authoritarian regimes to covertly mobilize and coordinate online protest events (such as hashtag campaigns, proclamations via social media, signing of petitions, and even DDoS attacks) without the fear of repression.</p><p> What catalyzes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) equality movements in authoritarian regimes, specifically with respect to the Middle East and North African region? This thesis argues that gay rights movements are more likely to emerge in politically repressive, more conservative states when new political opportunities&mdash;namely access to the internet for purposes of political organization&mdash;become available. This master&rsquo;s thesis identifies why LGBTQ movements emerged in Morocco and Algeria, but not in Tunisia until after it underwent democratization. These states will be analyzed in order to gauge the strength of their LGBTQ rights movements and, most importantly, to identify which variables most cogently explain their existence altogether.</p>

<p> User experience changes over time as a consequence of prolonged engagement with many products or services. Interaction evolves as we learn, adopt, and shift from old use patterns to new ones. Scholarly work in HCI has been successful in its investigation of interactive experiences situated in current places and times. This dissertation aims to provide a complementary perspective by paying attention to user experiences that happen in the past. In particular, it explores visual thinking as a method of describing and analyzing interactive experiences over time. </p><p> In addition, this dissertation has a pragmatic purpose: to develop applicable research approaches for professional practice. My professional experience as a designer yielded the insight that many practitioners collect user stories as references for envisioning possible futures. However, the collection and application of user stories can be improved. In many cases, the analysis of user stories is fragmented and lacking a systematic approach. Scholars are in a unique position to support practitioners by developing cohesive, systematic methods. I believe that academically developed methods should aim to support professional practice. </p><p> The overall aim of this dissertation is to produce methods for studying users and artifacts, the two essential components of a user experience. </p><p> The research commenced with a preliminary study of the use of visual diagrams as interview aids for recalling daily email usage. The research continued with a review study comparing different existing approaches to using visual support in user research as well as an analytic study of how to examine the history of interaction artifacts using "visual annotations." Finally, the research concluded with an exploratory study wherein timeline annotations of "retrospective interaction histories," were applied in workshops. Following these four studies, I examined how visual methods in a retrospective study might help capture and represent heterogeneous individual user experiences. This examination led to my proposal of a theory of temporal anchors. Temporal anchors capture the idea that the measurement of user experience over time and the history of interactive artifacts might serve as anchor points in users' retrospection. I conclude the dissertation with a discussion of potential future research directions.</p>

<p> This study examines the factors that influence national decisions about developing nuclear fuel cycle technology, and the central question for this study is why countries have developed different national nuclear fuel cycles. Prospect theory is used as the basis of an analytical framework for studying nuclear fuel cycle decision making. In essence, prospect theory states that nations are risk averse when in a gains domain and risk acceptant when in a losses domain. This study hypothesizes that a country's nuclear fuel cycle decision making is determined by the frame of reference and domain (either gains or losses) and that security concerns are a factor driving policy behind all nuclear programs. </p><p> A structured, focused comparison of Indian, Japanese, and South Korean nuclear fuel cycle decision making was conducted in order to test the hypotheses. Major nuclear fuel cycle decisions made between approximately 1950 and 1990 in each country were analyzed. The results verified this study's hypotheses. Decisions were mostly made according to the tenets of prospect theory, and security concerns (national security or energy security) were a driver for the nuclear programs in all three countries. The study also emphasized that nuclear fuel cycle technology is strategic and highly valued by countries and that national leaders are involved with making major nuclear fuel cycle decisions. </p><p> Prospect theory proved to be a more powerful analytical tool than existing theories of nuclear weapons proliferation. Prospect theory accounts for a country's capabilities, intentions, and situational and temporal context. In this way, prospect theory gives a holistic view of how all nuclear technologies fit into strategic interests and how a country's leadership's frame of reference with regard to strategic interests influences the direction of nuclear fuel cycle decision making. Prospect theory on its own does not offer a model or predictor of nuclear fuel cycle technology development, but it illuminates how leaders viewed nuclear fuel cycle decisions and why certain decisions were made.</p>

<p>Through comparative case studies of Slovakia and Hungary, I explore the competitive relationship between governing parties and radical right parties in post European Union accession parliaments. This research highlights the roles of ethno-nationalism and populism and employs Slovakia&rsquo;s ethnic Hungarian minority, as manifested through the 2009 Slovak language law and the 2010 Hungarian citizenship law, as a focal point of competition between party groups. I argue that this competition reveals a more influential role than typically attributed to radical right parties. The first half of the article tests these cases against Meguid&rsquo;s (2008) position, salience, and ownership theory of competition between unequals. The second half of the article analyzes this competition and points to electoral strategies, coalition and opposition policy payoffs, governing party reputations, and each country&rsquo;s legal landscape as areas affected by the radical right&rsquo;s presence. </p><p> <i>Keywords</i>: Radical right; Hungarian minority; language; citizenship; accommodation, issue ownership, issue salience; competition. </p>

<p> Since the 1980's, Europe has experienced a resurgence in the extreme right. In this paper, attention will be directed on the successes and failures of the extreme right in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Additionally, this paper will analyze whether the current Eurozone crisis has benefitted the extreme right in these countries, as it has done in Greece. However, it will be argued that the benefits of the Eurozone crisis for the extreme right have been limited to increased media attention and less on electoral success. This is evidenced by the vast array of news articles contributing to the idea that the extreme right is strengthening in light of the Eurozone crisis; yet the extreme right has experienced limited electoral success in Spain and Portugal due to its inability to shed its fascist links, and the extreme right has had decreased electoral success in Italy's recent elections.</p>

<p> This thesis analyzes the evolution of the Sino-Japanese conflict over ownership of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands since the end of the Cold War. It argues that the 2012-2013 confrontation following the nationalization of the islands by Japan is the result of a process of conflict escalation that played out during repeated cycles of tensions over the previous two decades. Tensions reached a first peak in 1996 after Japanese activists built a lighthouse on one of the Senkaku/Diaoyu. Another confrontation would have erupted in 2004 after Chinese activists landed on one of the islands were it not for the intervention of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro. After both events, nothing was done to prevent future confrontations, which allowed the conflict to fester and enter a downward spiral. This process resulted in worsening mutual perceptions and more assertive domestic audiences on both sides, which pushed Chinese and Japanese leaders towards increasingly confrontational attitudes, eventually resulting in two serious incidents in 2010 and 2012 that brought bilateral tensions to a new post-WWII high.</p>

<p> In the years since unification, the phenomenon of xenophobia (<i> Ausl&auml;nderfeindlichkeit</i>) in Germany has been largely understood as an "east German problem." The recent discovery of a series of murders by an underground cell of eastern German neo-Nazis &ndash; who killed eight Turkish immigrants and one Greek immigrant between 2000 and 2006 &ndash; has again directed Germany's attention to the problem of <i>Ausl&auml;nderfeindlichkeit </i> and right-wing extremism in eastern Germany. Scholars, politicians, and members of the media base their treatment of the subject on the assumption that eastern Germans are more xenophobic than western Germans, despite the fact that very few foreigners actually live in eastern Germany. This thesis employs historical analysis, population data, and public opinion survey data to determine whether or not this assumption holds true.</p><p> <i>Ausl&auml;nderfeindlichkeit,</i> meaning "hostility toward foreigners," is a type of prejudice in which native Germans view non-German immigrants to be inferior based on characteristics such as culture, religion, and ethnicity. In both East and West Germany, as well as in united Germany, <i> Ausl&auml;nderfeindlichkeit</i> has led to social and institutional discrimination and even violence against foreigners. Since the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, and the subsequent revelation that part of the attacks were planned by immigrants in the northern German city of Hamburg, the primary target of <i>Ausl&auml;nderfeindlichkeit</i> in Germany has been the country's Muslim population, which is comprised primarily of Turkish immigrants and their German-born offspring. Though many countries around the world experience prejudice within their societies, this problem is of particular importance and interest in the German case because of the country's Nazi past.</p><p> German population data shows that only about 5% of the 7.4 million foreigners in Germany live in the eastern part of the country. Foreigners comprise less than 3% of the total population in eastern Germany. Turkish immigrants in particular are highly concentrated in the west and only 1% of the Turkish population lives in eastern Germany. Despite the smaller number of foreigners living in eastern Germany in comparison to western Germany, a majority of the public opinion surveys consulted show that eastern Germans have more negative attitudes towards foreigners than western Germans. Other survey data, on the other hand, finds no statistically significant difference between eastern and western German attitudes towards foreigners, making it unclear if eastern Germans really are more <i>Ausl&auml;nderfeindlich.</i> The public opinion survey studies consulted also found that <i>Ausl&auml;nderfeindlich </i> attitudes vary within the eastern and western regions themselves and that in several western German states, anti-foreigner sentiment is just as high as in the east, facts which are obscured when <i>Ausl&auml;nderfeindlichkeit </i> is only looked at in terms of east and west. Survey data makes it clear that significant portions of both eastern and western German society hold negative attitudes towards foreigners.</p><p> In light of these findings, this thesis advocates a shift away from this east-west paradigm in the study of <i>Ausl&auml;nderfeindlichkeit </i> in Germany. Instead, the issue must be dealt with on the national level, with the recognition that the potentially higher levels of xenophobia in the east do not absolve western Germans of a need to deal with prejudice in their own region.</p>

<p>This thesis addresses the role of geopolitical interests in the voting record of the UNSC (UNSC) in authorizing action, specifically humanitarian intervention, in the cases of genocide in Rwanda and Sudan. The classic theories of international relations, realism and liberalism, are applied to determine which theory has higher explanatory power in determining the level of involvement and humanitarian intervention by the UNSC in these specific cases. Realist assumptions would expect that the possible economic or strategic interests of states within the Council would influence the level of involvement or humanitarian intervention authorized. In contrast, liberalist notions would expect that the level of conflict severity or duration would determine the level of involvement or humanitarian intervention authorized. This thesis finds that the economic and strategic interests of the members of the UNSC can serve as a better indicator in determining the level of intervention authorized in these cases. Thus, realist theory holds higher explanatory power of the UNSC reactions to the cases of Rwanda and Sudan. </p>

<p>Over the past two decades, a substantial literature has focused on the geopolitics of strategically located Central Asian energy supplies. Some analysts have even regarded the international competition over the regional oil and gas as a New Great Game among the developed West, Russia, and the emerging Asian energy importers. Much less attention has been paid to the means employed by the various competitors in achieving their interests in the Central Asian hydrocarbon sector. This Master Thesis analyzes the competition over the energy resources in Kazakhstan between two regional powers Russia and China for the period from 1991 to 2011. The study assesses the concept of power in its political, economic, and military terms as a way to achieve desired outcomes in the regional energy sector. The analysis concludes that economic statecraft is the dominant tool used in securing interests in the Central Asian oil and gas sector and thus allows China's economic clout to guarantee favorable energy deals. At the same time, the results suggest that Russia's soft power along with the traditional military engagements help to secure other strategic interests in the region apart from the energy sector. </p>