This study scrutinizes the drug-terrorism nexus critically with intent to conceive possible remedies for the problem. The vast turnover of the global illicit drug industry constitutes the largest portion of organized crime enterprises' income. Different circles have argued that these enterprises are not the sole actors of the drug business, but terrorist groups, whose ultimate aim is a political change rather than financial strength, also profit from the “business.” The controversial nature of the problem fuelled heated debates and requires an in depth and impartial analysis, which was the main subject of the current study. At the first stage, three different cases, the PKK, the LTTE, and the SL, were studied either to prove or deny the alleged phenomenon. The sampled groups' ideology, structure, and operations helped understand the motives pushing the organizations into the ‘business.' Subsequently, several recommendations capturing vital issues both in countering terrorism and breaking terrorism-drugs link were spelled out.

Superficial information of the civil wars in Aceh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka creates the idea that both conflicts were in similar situations when they were hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. It thus seems surprising that in the wake of the tsunami, the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia signed a peace agreement, while the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Government of Sri Lanka returned to war. This thesis aims to explore what factors related to the tsunami contributed to this difference and whether rational choice theory can serve as an explanation for this difference. In order to find out, I conducted a qualitative comparative case study though the analysis of secondary documents. The results suggest that the factors that contributed to the difference can be divided into four broad themes: (1) the timing of the tsunami and thus the pre-disaster context; (2) the geographical situation and with that, the military impact; (3) the types of guerilla groups, including their abilities to rule, their access to financial capital and their strategic; (4) the role of the international community, which can be further divided into firstly, the geopolitical relevance of these countries, and secondly, internationalization, community engagement and separating the tsunami and conflict. I believe that rational choice theory explains the difference in outcome between the two conflicts very well. This theory assumes that people, given the circumstances, and in view of all the possible options, will act in line with the option that is expected to satisfy them most and minimize their losses. Applying this theory to the case studies of Aceh and Sri Lanka following the tsunami, it was appealing for the Free Aceh Movement to settle, but this was not the case for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. As a result, the former chose to sign a peace agreement with the Government of Indonesia, whereas the latter chose to continue its fight against the Government of Sri Lanka.

The central hypothesis of this study is that terrorist organizations choose to use females as suicide bombers not only as tactical innovation but also to “signal” or send a message to various audiences. In order to meet the research objectives of this study, two terrorist organizations—the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Chechen Separatists or those individuals associated with the Chechen Resistance—are examined in detail from their inception through 2013 using a structured focused comparison methodology. Evidence is found to support both of the studies’ main hypotheses. First, female suicide bombers are used by terrorist organizations because they are a 1) tactical advantage, and 2) to “signal” or send a message to various audiences. Their “entertainment” or shock value maximizes the psychological punch intended for delivery to a variety of audiences. These two reasons are not mutually exclusive but are colored by contextual considerations unique to each case. While deliberation was given to a variety of socio-political factors unique to each organization—such as popular support for suicide attacks perpetrated by females, indication of rival terrorist organizations, counterterrorism and political events that may have affected the terrorist organizations’ preference for females—insight into the operational characteristics surrounding individual suicide attacks was central in highlighting patterns in the organizational use of female suicide bombers. Those patterns are consistent across both cases and suggest that when females’ use is explained by the tactical innovation model, they are used overwhelmingly in suicide attacks where getting closer to intended targets—usually defined as security and political targets—matter. In contrast, suicide attacks explained by the signaling model are characterized by their novelty usually representing a deviation from terrorist organizations’ operational norms—deemed operational suicide attack anomalies in this study—characterized many times as “only” suicide attacks, “firsts [of that kind of],” or the most spectacular suicide attacks carried out by the organization.

Thesis advisor: Zhijie Xiao / This paper attempts to deliver a side-by-side examination of the similarities and differences between the economies of East Asia (Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea Republic, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines) and China. After the devastating 1997 Crisis, many investing eyes have turned to China as the next Asian growth engine. China has been opening its economy to foreign investors and its accession into the World Trade Organization will push for increased transparency and efficiency. The paper discusses the internal and external forces that drove the economies, with focused attention on its financial systems, using pre-crisis data. With foreign banks allowed entry into China by the end of 2006, its financial system will be an important component in economic longevity. Lastly, the question of whether or not China is vulnerable to a crisis is assessed based on the same factors that caused it in East Asia. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2006. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics Honors Program. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

This thesis examines how local leaders in Detroit, Michigan attempted to use the Detroit Tigers' World Series victory in 1968 to repair the city's image following the 1967 riot. First, this study looks at the history of race relations in Detroit, beginning with the founding of the city in 1701. Second, it analyzes the 1967 riot, which, up to that point, was the most destructive urban riot in American history. Finally, this thesis examines the public relations campaign of local leaders in 1968. They tried, unsuccessfully, to convince the public that Detroit's race relations could be healed through a sense of unity that the Tigers' success brought about. This study argues that Detroit's racial problems ran too deep and lasted for too long for a single, transient sporting event to have any sort of permanent effect. / Department of History

No description available.

The thesis examines the influence of the Asian crisis on the position of the Asian Tigers in the current crisis. The aim of the thesis is to identify the main reasons due to which these countries relatively quickly overcame the current crisis. The aim will be achieved by comparison of the reactions of Asian Tigers' economic policies on impacts of the Asian and the current crisis. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter sets out the main causes of the Asian currency and financial crisis, analyzes the course of crisis and its impact on Asian newly industrialized countries. The second chapter describes the economic development of the countries in the period between the crises. Stabilization measures taken under overcoming the Asian crisis are also evaluated in this chapter. Furthermore, the second chapter analyzes the economic policy of Southeast Asian countries, which in response to the Asian crisis began to accumulate huge amount of foreign exchange reserves. The countries contributed with their policies to the deepening of global imbalances, which are related to the emergence of the current crisis. The third chapter is devoted to the current crisis. As in the first chapter, there are explained the main causes of the crisis, described the course of the crisis in the Southeast Asian countries and then discussed the most significant stabilizing measures that helped to Asian Tigers to overcome the crisis.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the major themes of female suicide bombers in Chechen widows and Tamil Tigers. For my thesis I chose empirical- analytical methodology and methodology of comparative case studies. In both cases, the first studies dealing with the historical circumstances under which the group is established, the status and role of women in society there, leading motivation to attack their targets and then mention the most important examples of attacks perpetrated by members of the terrorist group. Research suggests that in neither case is not only one motive, but rather a multi-causal phenomenon. Black widows are predominantly motivated by religious and secular motives, specifically the personal motivation because of the death of a loved one, they want revenge. In Tamil Tigers is the main motive separatist when trying to get the rights for the Tamil minority and achieve an independent state of Eelam. Despite the geographical distance and differences in religion can be proportioned to find the same in both groups. Both groups can be seen as a gender dimension - women's efforts to deal with men.

No description available.

No description available.