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Three experiments investigated the phenomenon of war contagion in the context of international relations, hypothesizing that past inter- (but not intra-) state war will facilitate future, unrelated interstate war. Americans showed stronger support for violent responses to new, unrelated interstate tensions after being reminded of an historical war between the U.S. and another state, as compared to an historical domestic war within the U.S. (Study 1). This war contagion effect was mediated by heightened perceived threat from, and negative images of, a fictitious country unrelated to the past war, indicating a generalized effect of past interstate war on perceived threat/images from any foreign country. The war contagion effect was further moderated by national glorification (Study 2). Largely replicating these effects with an additional baseline condition, Study 3 yielded further support for the generalized effect of past interstate war on perceived threat and images, this time with a real third-party country.

In this study, trucks or large trucks are defined as straight trucks (ST-TR) also known as single unit trucks having a single body without any hitch between the loading section and front driving mechanism, tractor trailers (TR -TR) having two bodies coupled by a hitch, and twin tractor trailers (TW-TR) with front driving mechanisms towed by a double trailer. Vehicle miles of travel (VMT) for these trucks have been steadily increasing for the past five years (1986-1990) showing a continuous growth in transportation goods both inside and outside of the State of Virginia. The objective of this research is to identify the major factors associated with truck overturns occurring on which occurred between 1986 and 1990, on the main line of the Virginia Interstate System in general and 1-81 in particular. / Master of Science

A living vehicle sets forth the ability for a lifestyle not of a static place, but as part of the interstate system built into the American landscape. A living vehicle provides the ability to craft a lifestyle around mobility, and will support the situation of living on the road for extended periods of time with many potential benefits over traditional travel. First and foremost, a living vehicle gives the individual the ability to travel large spans with relative ease. A living vehicle's architecture will also provide the interior environment that supports the necessities and tasks of daily life similar to a house. This enables the individual to complete tasks in their living vehicle, as they traditionally would in their house, with the options available in the living vehicle to self drive and wirelessly charge all while remaining on the road. / Master of Architecture / A living vehicle sets forth the ability for a lifestyle not of a static place, but as part of the interstate system built into the American landscape. A living vehicle provides the ability to craft a lifestyle around mobility, and will support the situation of living on the road for extended periods of time with many potential benefits over traditional travel. First and foremost, a living vehicle gives the individual the ability to travel large spans with relative ease. A living vehicle's architecture will also provide the interior environment that supports the necessities and tasks of daily life similar to a house. This enables the individual to complete tasks in their living vehicle, as they traditionally would in their house, with the options available in the living vehicle to self drive and wirelessly charge all while remaining on the road.

This thesis draws on the climate-conflict research field to explore the question how does climate variability affect interstate conflict? This thesis contributes to various gaps in previous research by studying interstate conflict while most climate-conflict research investigates internal conflict, by using a new operationalization of climate variability as sea ice extent, and by studying an understudied case, the Arctic region. The theoretical argument consists of two parallel processes, a background mechanism focused on long-term climate change and a main mechanism focused on short-term climate variability. Increased climate variability is theorized to increase access to rivalrous resources, thereby increasing their saliency and leading to interstate competition. This increases each state’s utility of fighting, increasing the risk of bargaining failure and hence interstate conflict. The background mechanism theorizes that increased climate change will increase the risk of commitment problems, thereby contributing to bargaining failure and interstate conflict. I test the hypothesis that decreased sea ice extent increases the likelihood of militarized interstate incidents through a large-N quantitative study. Overall, the findings are inconclusive but with a low degree of support for the hypothesis.

Doctor of Philosophy / Security Studies / Jeffrey J. Pickering / As the Internet is progressively integrated into industrial and defense-related networks around the globe, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how state and sub-state groups can use Internet vulnerabilities as a conduit of attack. The current social science literature on cyber threats is largely dominated by descriptive, U.S.-centric research. While this scholarship is important, the findings are not generalizable and fail to address the global aspects of network vulnerabilities. As a result, this dissertation employs a unique dataset of cyber threats from around the world, spanning from 1990 to 2011. This dataset allows for three diverse empirical studies to be conducted. The first study investigates the political, social, and economic characteristics that increase the likelihood of a state being targeted for cyber threats. The results show that different state characteristics are likely to influence the forms of digital attack targeting. For example, states that experience increases in GDP per capita and military size are more likely to be targeted for cyber attacks. Inversely, states that experience increases in GDP per capita and those that are more democratic are less likely to be targeted for cyber terrorism. The second study investigates the role that international rivalries play in cyber threat targeting. The results suggest that states in rivalries may have more reason to strengthen their digital security, and rival actors may be cautious about employing serious, threatening forms of cyber activity against foes because of concerns about escalation. The final study, based upon the crisis bargaining theory, seeks to determine if cyber threat targeting decreases private information asymmetry and therefore decreases conflict participation. Empirical results show that the loss of digital information via cyber means may thus illicit a low intensity threat or militarized action by a target state, but it also simultaneously increases the likelihood that a bargain may be researched, preventing full scale war by reducing the amount of private information held between parties.

This thesis examines the Greek institution of proxenia and uses it to explore how inter-polis institutions functioned in shaping the behaviour of both individuals and communities in the ancient world. In response to continuing debate concerning the nature of proxenia, I demonstrate that, throughout the Classical and Hellenistic periods, it was defined as an honorific status by the practical intermediary role which it performed in facilitating interactions between different poleis. As such proxenia was a central element of a broader system of inter-polis institutions which constituted the dominant interstate discourse in the ancient Mediterranean. This thesis shows that Proxenia with its particularly rich epigraphic record allows us to explore how poleis made use of this institutional language of status and legitimacy to assert membership of an interstate system which was conceived of as a society of poleis. In Chapter 1 I propose a new model for reconstructing how proxenia was understood based on the expectations – of what proxenoi should be and do – which poleis communicated in their stereotypical descriptions of honorands in proxeny decrees. Chapter 2 then explores how this abstract understanding of proxenia worked in practice in the political realities of elite competition in the Greek poleis. In Chapter 3 I use proxeny lists to reconstruct the perspective of the polis on proxenia – in the networks of hundreds of proxenoi which even small poleis amassed as a result of constant interaction. Chapter 4 explores the role of proxenia, within a broader system of institutions, in the construction of communal identity within an anarchic interstate system. In Chapter 5 I develop quantitative methods to explore the epigraphic record for proxeny’s decline, arguing that proxenia, along with the other inter-polis institutions, disappeared because the Roman authorities at the centre replaced inter-polis connections as the source of communal identity and prestige.

With the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, the interstate system included an elevated segment of Interstate 10 constructed over Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana. The I-10 Claiborne Expressway provided access to downtown by destroying a tree-lined boulevard and contributing to the decline of an African American neighborhood. In 2005, after hurricane Katrina, several community-based plans proposed that the elevated I-10 Claiborne Expressway be removed. This thesis compares the removal proposals to the decision making processes of five case cities that have removed expressways. Necessary conditions were applied to all expressway removal cases. Currently, the I-10 Claiborne Expressway decision making process lacks defined structural integrity and safety concerns, a reduction in the value of freeways by power brokers, documented support of the business community and “selling” of idea by a public agency. These conditions were necessary to the decision to remove expressways in all case cities.