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Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / Since 1979 thousands of Southeast Asians have sought resettlement in the United States. The cultural framework of these people is evidenced in their health belief system. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Khmer refugees in order to elicit their beliefs about the causes of symptoms they have experienced. It was found chat both natural and supernatural causes were attributed to their illness. The concept of k'chall, bad air in the body, vas very important in the health belief systems of the Khmer respondents.

This thesis focuses on the humanitarian implications of economic sanctions. States are increasingly using sanctions as a foreign policy tool, but the ramifications for the citizens of the country have yet to be analyzed in depth. Although sanctions are an extremely powerful foreign policy tool, the humanitarian implications are too drastic. There are two main outcomes of sanctions that states seek: the pressure of the sanctions forces the government to change their policy or the humanitarian implications force the citizens to revolt against the government. These outcomes rarely occur as we can see clearly in cases such as Cuba or North Korea. This thesis will use three case studies: Cuba, Iraq, and Iran. The three cases differ in the type of sanctions which in return varies the degree of humanitarian implications. The types of sanctions are unilateral, multilateral, and universal. The four sectors of humanitarian implications are economic growth, health and drugs, food and nutrition, and education. Cuba has sustained unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the United States for years and the sanctions have not made a change in the attitudes of the government. Instead the sanctions have created humanitarian implications in Cuba. Because the government refuses to allow any dissent from citizens, the sanctions will neither change the policy of the government nor pressure citizens to revolt against the government. Therefore the sanctions in Cuba have been quite ineffective and have solely had the effect of hurting the ordinary citizens of Cuba. The second case study is of Iraq. Iraq is the most publicized case of humanitarian implications of universal sanctions. The infamous interview with Madeleine Albright stating that the half a million children that died in Iraq because of the sanctions and war were 'worth it.' Although this statement was later clarified, it shed light on the dramatic implications of the sanctions. The sanctions hurt almost every sector of Iraq and left the state in shambles. The last case study is on Iran. The US has imposed sanctions on Iran for years, but the UN community got involved after the Iranian nuclear program. These sanctions are for the most part multilateral. The sanctions against Iran have also had significant humanitarian implications, specifically economic growth and the health and drugs sector. It is unknown if the new government of Iran will prompt a change in the sanctions imposed by the international community. All three case studies will present a strong correlation between the economic sanctions imposed and the humanitarian implications. The three states that are used as case studies were showing progress in at least one of the humanitarian sectors prior to the imposition of sanctions. We can see decay in economic growth, health and drugs, and food and nutrition most prevalently.

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No / By early 1920, literally hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war still had not been repatriated between Russia and Central Europe. To rectify matters a major humanitarian initiative followed, carried out largely under the auspices of the League of Nations. In a little less than two years, 427,886 people were repatriated. Of these, 406,091 were transported through the Baltic region. This paper highlights the important role of British officials in managing the ambitious project and emphasizes that Estonia, and Narva especially, played a pivotal role facilitating movement between East and West. The success of the venture meant that subsequent humanitarian agreements concluded in the 1920s built on international success rather than failure.

The concept of sovereignty has been a contestable idea throughout history, and its meaning has oftentimes transformed to reflect prevailing systemic conditions and political priorities of major actors in each historical period. In this study, I argue that the social construction of state sovereignty is at the beginning stages of another major redefinition. In an era of globalization and regional integration, discourse on sovereignty has become increasingly prolific as the rhetoric of sovereignty moves away from Westphalian principles that were based exclusively on the agency of independent states. Furthermore, multinational campaigns to promote international human rights engender a discourse that suggests the idea of sovereignty is changing. Does this emerging discourse confirm the growing legitimacy of humanitarian intervention, or is it merely a discursive trend in international relations that does not indicate significant change in state perception and behavior? The purpose of this work is to address this question. / Master of Arts

This study explores the relationship between media coverage and humanitarian funding in the context of three crises: drought in Kenya in 2023, the 2023 refugee crisis in its neighboring country, South Sudan, and the 2023 earthquake in Syria. It delves into the ways in which media representations of humanitarian crises influence the allocation of financial resources for relief efforts. My goal is that the findings of this research contribute to the field of Communication for Development by finding out if, and also offering insights into how media can be strategically utilized to garner support for humanitarian causes, as well as demonstrating that other factors, other than the media, may have potential implications when it comes to the prioritization of aid efforts. My key research question is, “How does media coverage affect humanitarian funding?” And the sub-question: “Apart from professional journalists and media organizations, are there other factors influencing donors on who gets their funding?” The study is carried out under the framework of “the CNN Effect” theory. There is a lot of past research both validating and challenging this theory. At the end of this study, we find ourselves in the middle – on one side validating the theory and agreeing that it plays a role in shaping humanitarian funding, and on the other side challenging it because there are other critical factors considered by donors when allocating funds for humanitarian crises. The three case studies that we look at: the Kenya Drought Response Plan 2023, the South Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan 2023, and the Syria Earthquake Flash Appeal 2023 are diverse both in terms of context – two of them in Eastern Africa and one in the Middle East; nature – two of them are classified by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as flash appeals while the other is classified as a regional response plan; and the duration under which they ran. We look at the circumstances under which these response plans were created, how much media coverage was received by the crisis they were created to support, and how much funding they each received. We go further to investigate how much influence media coverage had on the funding they received. Communication plays a significant role in shaping societal values and priorities, and understanding the dynamics between media influence and humanitarian funding is therefore important for media practitioners, policymakers, academics in the field of Communication for Development, and the general public with an interest in social change. The outcomes of this research will not only enhance our understanding of the complexity of the interconnectedness between media, humanitarian funding and other factors but also provide practical recommendations for future research on this subject.

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