This film examines the phenomenon of a family divided by the U.S.-Mexico border. Saul, the head of the family, migrated north in search of a better life for his wife and children while they stayed behind in Mexico. Not having the documents to cross the border has resulted in being apart from his family for more than ten years. This is a story about separation, pain, and the ultimate sacrifice a family makes as a means of survival.

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The American's battle of St. Mihiel in September 1918 has long been a marginalized battle in an almost forgotten war. In the historiography of American World War I involvement, the battle is relegated to a side-show that was little more than a distraction from the Meuse-Argonne. This stance needs to be re-evaluated as St. Mihiel proved an essential training ground for the US Army. The army rapidly expanded and participated in a major offensive, completed the complicated planning process, undertook a significant deception and intelligence-gathering campaign, and led coalition forces to reduce a salient that existed for years, in only a few short months. While not a perfect operation, the Americans overcame several obstacles to form the US First Army and achieve victory. St. Mihiel is a turning point in military training and doctrine as students studied the tactics after the war into the modern day. The memory of the battle was affixed in the minds of those who fought it and those on the home front who eagerly read the news stories coming from the Western Front. Modern audiences should also recognize the significance of the Battle of St. Mihiel.

The recent adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by major bodies, such as the European Union, has encouraged a global effort to attain universal financial comparability and consistency. The U.S. has recently proposed a roadmap to adopt IFRS as the basis of financial reporting for publicly traded companies. The roadmap outlines issues that must be considered to successfully transition from United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) to IFRS. The purpose of this thesis is to dissect the broad implications of transitioning financial reporting from US GAAP to IFRS and to examine the primary issues that must be addressed. A discussion of the four key goals used to enhance financial standards, comparability and consistency, transparency, independence, and perception, provides a basis for examining the fundamental questions that provide the impetus for this transition. The implementation process and issues will also be examined. Issues and concerns that directly relate to the discussion of IFRS implementation in the United States (US) include political relations, education, audit methodology, technology, taxation effects, and overall costs for companies. Public perception of changes in the above issues may affect financial markets and economies worldwide. The thesis is intended to provide an in depth discussion for those who wish to further educate themselves on the potential IFRS implementation in the US. The results should allow readers to understand the vast effects of the US implementing IFRS, encouraging further consideration of critical issues that need to be resolved before the transition takes effect.

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Thesis advisor: Robert S. Ross / This dissertation presents a structured and focused comparison of how Chinese leaders and academics have perceived the security cooperation of states on China’s periphery. This study examines three cases: the U.S.S.R.-Vietnam Alliance (1978-1989); the U.S.-Japan Alliance (1990-2016) and the U.S.-South Korea Alliance (1990-2016). They exemplify adversarial alliances in that they represent security cooperation that threatened or potentially threaten Chinese vital interests. Similarly, they all represent adversarial alliances of an asymmetric power relationship between a larger and smaller state. I gathered this data from Chinese journal articles and books related to the three cases, interviewed Chinese academics and think tank analysts, and compared the Chinese perceptions with non-Chinese primary and secondary sources. The research explores how well four concepts describe alliance behavior in the evidence. The first three concepts relate to how China views the alliances’ intentions, capabilities, and cohesion. The fourth concept relates to China’s self-perception as a rising state relative to the adversarial alliances. Knowledge of Chinese past and present perceptions of adversarial alliances should assist academics and policy makers in understanding the implications of security cooperation of states that are in close proximity to the Chinese mainland. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

The use of unilateral force under George W. Bush is not a new phenomenon in US foreign policy. As the author argues, it is merely a continuation of Bill Clinton’s foreign policy and is deeply rooted in both the foreign policy traditions of Jacksonianism and Wilsonianism. The analysis concludes that Clinton used unilateralist foreign policy with a 'smile' whereas the Bush administration uses it with an attitude. / Die unilaterale Außenpolitik unter George W. Bush ist kein neues Phänomen der US-Diplomatie. Dem Autor zufolge ist sie vielmehr eine Fortführung der Politik der Clinton-Regierung und hat ihre Wurzeln in den Traditionen eines Andrew Jackson und Woodrow Wilson. Clinton vermochte jedoch seine unilaterale Politik mit einem "Lächeln" zu verkaufen, wohingegen die Art und Weise der Bush-Administration stets Irritationen hervorrief.

This thesis seeks to analyze the role and importance of establishing control over the world&rsquo / s oil resources in reproduction of the global hegemonic position of the US. It is asserted that dominant position of US dollar in global financial system has an important place in reproduction of US world hegemony and ensuring that oil transactions are made through US dollar has played an important role in maintaining the dominant position of dollar. It is also argued that secure access to cheap energy resources is of utmost importance for advanced industrialized nations of the world in terms of maintaining their economic growth. In this respect, this thesis portrays US policies and strategies to take world&rsquo / s energy resources under its control and thereby maintain the dollar hegemony and making the advanced industrialized nations of Western Europe and East Asia dependent on US goodwill for secure access to energy. Being an important actor in global energy market, competition and cooperation between Russia and US is also taken into consideration. In this thesis, it is assumed that the US world hegemony is achieved through both cooperation and competition among advanced industrialized states.

Despite Australia enjoying good relations with both the United States and China at the moment, the long-term prospects are uncertain due to US-China strategic rivalry. The aim of this thesis is to examine Australia’s ability to continue strong relations with both countries over the long-term. The thesis concludes that Australia may be able to maintain good relations with the US and China in the long run despite US-China strategic rivalry. The strategic competition only increases the prospect of conflict; it does not mean a US-China conflict is bound to happen. Although the risks of a US-China military confrontation over Taiwan are real, the chances are small due to America’s continued strategic presence in the region and its military preponderance. If a Sino-US conflict were to occur, Australia would most likely side with the US despite China being economically significant to Australia. The United States is also critically important to Australia’s economic interests and, ultimately, Australia’s national security depends on its alliance with the US. Survival is the foremost goal for a state in the anarchical international system and security interests outweigh economic interests in importance in a time of crisis.