Browsing by Subject "Iraq"
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Item Agricultural Development Assessments and Strategies in Post Conflict Settings: An Empirical Case Study of Eight Southern Iraqi Provinces(2012-02-14) Hafer, James C.The purpose of this study was to synthesize emergent agricultural development reports related to post-conflict needs assessments in eight southern Iraqi provinces. This study is an empirical case study of Post Conflict Agricultural Development Assessments and Strategies in Eight Southern Iraqi Provinces. The objective is a systems approach using qualitative and quantitative methods to improve Iraqi agricultural practice, extension and training, community development, security, and policies for governance. The design called for a case study and a description of pre-deployment activities of a military-based civilian assessment team, initial organization and adjustments, and techniques for internal and external communication. Particular attention was given to agricultural specialties, crosscutting constructs, and data collection and analysis protocols in eight provinces in Iraq. Three objectives were identified to achieve the purpose of this study. The first objective was to identify emergent agricultural development themes from each of the eight Iraqi provinces. The second objective was to identify emergent agricultural development trends from each of the eight Iraqi provinces. A third objective was to provide relevant case documentation to assist in future agricultural development/post conflict development efforts. It was found that Iraqi agricultural production lags due to many factors, including counter productive government policies that undermine productivity, distort local economies, and confound security issues and competition via subsidized credit and agricultural inputs. Outdated technology and undertrained producers lacking knowledge of production related areas such as plant and animal genetics, fertilizers, irrigation and drainage systems and farm equipment. Inadequate and unstable electricity availability and provision, degradation of irrigation-infrastructure and management systems, a complete lack of or insufficient access to credit and private capital as well as inadequate market development and network infrastructure have all taken their toll on evolution and improvement of agricultural growth in southern Iraq. It may be that the largest threat to the future of Iraq is not violence, but the diminishing hope of young people caused by their inability to obtain vocational based skills training and the lack of jobs that match such skills. A pervasive lack of job opportunities or perceived lack of job availability may encourage continued civil unrest and possibly continue the insurgency. In order to address this issue, an aggressive youth development focus can make a positive impact in the current society. A majority of youth without useful skills are forced to abandon the farm and move to cities or to pursue other means of earning income in rural areas.Item Bargaining and fighting in the moonlight(2011-08) Cohen, Matthew Leonard; Lin, Tse-min; Wagner, R. Harrison (Robert Harrison); Trubowitz, Peter; McDonald, Patrick; Granato, James"Audience costs" models of international relations suggest a purely informational role for domestic politics in conflict settings. Here, domestic politics serve as a rich signal of belligerents' true intentions, allowing them to more quickly resolve disagreements, decreasing the likelihood and duration of war. But if belligerents can have different beliefs about publicly available information, then domestic politics might confuse rather than clarify conflict situations, increasing the likelihood and duration of war. I present empirical evidence of conventional "audience costs" models' shortcomings in explaining the dynamics of the US counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and the response of Iraqi insurgents to those efforts. I then develop a formal model to show how differences in beliefs between insurgents and counterinsurgents about domestic political audiences in Iraq may have contributed to the prolonged nature of the conflict. I argue that the underlying cause of the conflict's duration is disagreement between belligerents about whether and how Iraqi civilians contribute to a successful counterinsurgency, leading belligerents to disagree not only before fighting about who is likely to win, but during fighting about who is actually winning.Item Conviction : the policy impact of L. Paul Bremer III(2014-05) Gillen, Ian Connor; Suri, Jeremi; Aghaie, Kamran ScotWhile serving as the Presidential Envoy to Iraq, historians, journalists, and students alike became acquainted with Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III for the first time. Those same observers judged Ambassador Bremer’s work and effectiveness, without knowing anything about his previous career and how his prior experiences shaped his intellectual growth as a Foreign Service Officer. Therefore, this thesis effectively serves as an opportunity for observers of the Iraq War and historians to put the fourteen months Ambassador Bremer served in Iraq into a greater context. The Thesis tracks his early Foreign Service postings, through his enormous impact on the Cold War as Ambassador to the Netherlands, up through the bi-partisan report that he chaired, which is sometimes referred to as the “Bremer Report.” His career before Iraq allowed him to gain experience in diplomacy, studying terrorism, and preparing himself intellectually to understand and attempt to solve problems in different areas of the world and different sectors within government and out. Additionally, the Thesis discusses two issues during Ambassador Bremer’s time in Iraq. One of the issues, based on interviews with each party, re-explains the nature of the relationship between Ambassador Bremer and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. This discussion also presents evidence as to why difficulties at the time did exist, although the overall nature of them have been greatly exaggerated. Lastly, the Thesis discusses the decision to disband the Iraqi Army, and attempts to place that decision in the context of Ambassador Bremer’s prior career and decision making.Item Corporate Security and Conflict Outcomes(2013-10-21) Tkach, Benjamin KThis dissertation investigates the effects of private security firms (PSFs) on conflict outcomes. PSFs are corporations that are publicly or individually owned that provide security services for hire. Security services include, but are not limited to, logistics, technology development, and combat support. Since the 1950s, and particularly since the 1990s, PSFs have become increasingly present in global conflicts. The theory proposed in this dissertation begins by adopting the framework of the state as a firm that trades services for rents. I propose that PSFs' influence conflict based on corporate structure, competition and transparency. The empirical analysis examines PSF operations in the U.S.-Iraq conflict. Insurgent attacks and civilian causalities capture the level of violence and are used as proxy measures of law and order. Expanding the role of non-state actors in conflict by identifying and incorporating economic determinants of PSFs' involvement provides several avenues for future investigation.Item Digitizing ethnonational identities : multimediatic representations of Puerto Rican soldiers(2012-05) Avilés Santiago, Manuel Gerardo; Kumar, Shanti; Mallapragada, Madhavi; Arroyo-Martínez, Jossianna; Rivero, Yeidy; Fuller, JenifferThe silence and invisibility of Puerto Rican soldiers in fictional and non-fictional representations of U.S. Wars has motivated me to look for alternative spaces in which these unaccounted voices and images are currently being produced, stored, circulated, and memorialized. Within this framework, my dissertation explores the self-representation of Puerto Rican servicemen and women in social networking sites (SNS), (i.e. as MySpace and Facebook), in user-generated content (UGC) platforms, (i.e. YouTube), and also in web memorials. I am interested in understanding how Puerto Rican soldiers self-represent their ethnonational identity online within the overlapping of second-class citizenship. The theoretical framework proposed for this research will apply theories such as 1) articulation; 2) the notion of contact zone; and 3) colonial/racial subjectivities. To complete this goal, my research method draws on online ethnography, textual, and critical discourse analysis. Firstly, I will discuss the limited repertoire of images of Puerto Rican soldiers in TV and film. My argument is that, besides the massive omission of this history, the images and motifs that do escape de facto social censorship will be in conversation with the self-representations. The second chapter is the result of four years of the process of online ethnography on which I analyze the instances of self-representation of Puerto Rican soldiers in SNS. My interest was seeing how those spaces were inflected by an ethnonational subjectivity. The third chapter explores the ways Puerto Rican soldiers, embedded in mash-up cultures, uses UGCs platforms to upload videos that transform the soldiers from passive consumers of images to active producers of content, which tend to disrupt dominant narratives of power. The last chapter explores the emergence of web memorials dedicated to the Puerto Rican soldiers. My main argument is that these instances of self- representation in online spaces are in conversation with the moments of silences and misrepresentations of Puerto Rican soldiers in traditional media, but also have become acts of enunciation in which the particular Puerto Ricanness of the Puerto Rican soldier is affirmed within complex, layered histories of imperialism, racism, heterosexism, and second-class citizenship.Item Downstream voices : the Tigris/Euphrates dispute with emphasis on Syrian and Iraqi position(2006-05) Lien, Elizabeth; Eaton, David J.This thesis outlines hydrological, political, economic and social facts related to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers dispute between the three major riparian states, Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Once the factual base was constructed, it describes how each of the states uses water based on direct quotes, inferences and interpretations from secondary literature, interviews and other primary sources. The author used these narratives to analyze the current level of coordination and prospects for further cooperation among the riparians. Using these narratives, the author has drafted an agreement that could be a starting point from which the riparian states could address regional water issues.Item Eschatology in the ISIS narrative(2015-12) Petit, David Nathaniel; Moin, A. Azfar; Kuperman, Alan JApocalyptic millenarianism, rooted in traditional Islamic eschatology, is at the very core of the self-proclaimed Islamic State’s narrative and its claim to sovereignty and legitimacy. The millenarian narrative also represents a radical departure from the jihadist paradigm of al-Qa’ida and provides a major conceptual and theoretical challenge to al-Qa’ida’s leadership of the global jihadist movement. Other combatant groups in the Syrian civil war, such as Jabhat al-Nusra and Hezbollah, make some limited use of millenarian symbols. This essay will reference these cases briefly, for the purposes of comparison and context. The primary goals are to analyze the Islamic State’s challenge to al-Qa’ida, document ISIS’s millenarian narrative, and to contextualize these millenarian outbursts.Item Help wanted, help needed : post 9/11 veterans reintegration into the civilian labor market(2013-05) Weaver, Courtney Lynn; Heinrich, Carolyn J.; Ferguson, MiguelSince the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, military personnel participating in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have been plagued by traditional barriers to successful labor market attachment such as health and mental health concerns, employer stigma, and difficulty translating military training and experience to the civilian market, but also by a lagging economy. Veteran status since Vietnam has historically been linked to negative employment outcomes over the life course. Currently, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an unemployment rate of 9.5% for male Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, and a 12.1% rate for their female counterparts. Veterans aged 20-24 have a 20.1% unemployment rate, nearly five points higher than that of their civilian peers. To compound the problem, an overly passive labor market policy prevents access to education and training that civilian employers value most. As Veterans continue to separate from the armed forces the United States, employers and policymakers can choose to capitalize on their skills, experience, and willingness to serve, or risk alienating another generation of young service members. This paper addresses five key categories that serve as barriers to successful labor market attachment and summarizes both governmental and private-sector programs designed to assist military personnel in their transition to civilian work. Finally, it provides policy options for remedying the post-9/11 Veterans labor market transition problem through improving service coordination and delivery, deliberately developing human capital through military service, and increasing employer responsibility for skill development and labor market attachment.Item Oil politics in the new Iraq(2011-05) Schenke, Joanna Marie; Henry, Clement M., 1937-; Rai, VarunIraq is one of the world’s major oil suppliers, and over ninety percent of its government revenues come from oil exports. Developing an oil management strategy that politicians from all sects and ethnic groups can agree on is therefore paramount to the future political and economic health of the Iraqi state. Yet the new Iraqi government cannot agree on a comprehensive hydrocarbons framework that would allocate oil ownership rights and share revenues eight years after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. One major political battle preventing Iraq from developing its hydrocarbons industry is over the nature of federalism among all of the sects battling for oil wealth in Iraq. This paper focuses primarily on the issue between Kurds and Arabs, because the Kurds have actively promoted oil exploration. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is now a constitutionally-protected region, and has signed 37 production sharing agreement contracts with international oil companies. The federal government in Baghdad deems these contracts illegal. The KRG and Baghdad also cannot agree on the borders for the region, as both sides claim oil-rich Kirkuk. This paper analyses major developments in the KRG and Baghdad oil industries since 2003 and examines possible future scenarios for the country’s oil sector. Drawing on international lessons learned from other oil-rich divided societies such as Nigeria, Sudan, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates, the paper suggest that oil ownership and revenue allocation should be decentralized to reduce secessionist pressure. The paper concludes with recommendations that the government needs to not only take care of obvious issues such as resolving ambiguities in the constitution and passing comprehensive hydrocarbons legislation, but it also needs to address export agreements and institute measures to ensure transparency. The KRG needs to develop its own oil industry, complete with access to export pipelines, and should be allowed to keep a higher percentage of KRG oil revenue over its current 17%. Iraq needs international mediation to resolve issues on Kirkuk and should also make innovative changes to the structure of its national oil company. These changes will facilitate the proper investing of oil wealth for future generations of Iraqis.Item Olive oil, salt and pepper, onions, tea, bread, and sometimes tomatoes : economic conditions among Iraqi refugee women living in urban areas of Jordan(2010-08) Arar, Rawan Mazen; Busch-Armendariz, Noël Bridget; Schiesari, NancyThis study explores economic conditions among Iraqi refugee women living in urban areas of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan through open-ended interviews. The research aims to address coping mechanisms Iraqi refugee women use to adapt to their financial situation. The goal is to review the proactive efforts women make to turn family units from traditional consumers (buying goods) to producers (making goods) in order to find financial stability. The study incorporates three overarching themes: First, it establishes Iraqi refugee women’s financial status by surveying economic security and employment opportunities. Second, the study investigates how living in urban areas of Jordan affects Iraqi women’s economic status. Thirdly, the study explores how Iraqi refugee women approach their financial situation. How have Iraqi women taken steps to exercise control over their financial lives and improve their economic situation as refugees? The objective of this project is to promote women’s empowerment by creating an open dialogue about Iraqi women’s struggles and to highlight the steps that women take to improve their situation. The study suggests steps that can be taken to aid Iraqi refugees.Item Part of something larger than ourselves: George H.W. Bush and the rhetoric of the first U.S. war in the Persian Gulf(2009-05-15) Rangel, Nicolas , Jr.During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, George H.W. Bush achieved the rhetorical success that had escaped his prior speaking endeavors. If the aforementioned assessments regarded Bush?s Gulf War rhetoric as a rhetorical triumph, in light of prior damning criticism of his rhetorical abilities, then an explanation for that triumph is in order. Bush?s rhetoric differed from his Presidential predecessors by virtue of two factors. First, as the first U.S. president of the Post-Cold War era, Bush?s rhetoric faced different rhetorical constraints than those faced by his predecessors, as he no longer had the narrative framework of the Cold War to explain U.S. foreign policy action. Second, Bush rhetorically juxtaposed American exceptionalism and realism within his rhetoric itself. This differed from the rhetoric of his immediate predecessor, Ronald Reagan, whose rhetoric employed American exceptionalism without reference to realism, although that rhetoric was strategically geared toward achieving realist foreign policy ends. Bush?s success was also considerable in that he faced significant rhetorical constraints created or exacerbated by Reagan. Reagan?s reputation as the ?Great Communicator,? contrasted with Bush?s less-than-stellar reputation as an orator, makes Bush?s rhetorical success particularly worth understanding. President George H.W. Bush relied on three particular arguments to facilitate a U.S. military victory during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. These arguments differed considerably from foreign policy arguments offered by the Reagan administration with respect to the manner in which they addressed issues concerning the United Nations and the Vietnam War. First, Bush promoted U.N. diplomacy as a subsidiary of U.S. foreign policy. For Bush, the U.N. served as a venue where world opinion could be galvanized and action serving United States interests would not be constrained so much as legitimized. Second, he compared and contrasted U.S. action in the Gulf to the Vietnam War. In doing so, he combined the moral urgency of prior foreign policy efforts with the hindsight necessary to avoid a repeat of the American experience in Vietnam. Third, in retrospectively assessing the Gulf War, Bush depicted the conflict as a discrete foreign policy event in which he narrowly defined victory. Bush defined victory as the removal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, in an attempt to shape a historical consensus on the significance of U.S. action.Item The perfect storm : violence in Qasim Era Iraq, 1958-1963(2011-05) Moe, Jeffrey Donald; Di-Capua, Yoav, 1970-; Brower, Benjamin C.This thesis explores new ideas for the foundations for state violence in Iraq by looking specifically at the outbreaks of spectacular violence during the Qasim Era (1958-1963). In order to frame the discussion, this study looks first at how the British established a model for state violence during the Monarchy period (1921-1958), which eventually both validated and radicalized the opposition parties. The second chapter examines the violence of the everyday in Iraq, and how the spectacular violence of the Qasim Era finds historical context within everyday violence and ritual. In the final chapter, this thesis discusses how the radicalized violence of the opposition parties melded with the violence of the everyday to create spectacular acts of ritualized violence. After the coup d’état of 8 February 1963, the Ba’ath Party institutionalized this radical new brand of violence, creating a foundation for the state violence to come under Saddam Hussein. This violence was experienced only by the Iraqi Communists at first, but was later experienced by the whole nation.Item The Public Distribution System : consequences of U.S. Food Aid in Iraq(2012-05) Tibbets, Jessica Powell; Hutchings, Robert; Aghaie, Kamran ScotThis report addresses the consequences of the Iraqi Public Distribution System (PDS), a food rationing system managed by the Iraqi Ministry of Trade (MoT), administered by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), and supported with U.S. food aid. The Saddam Hussein administration created the PDS as emergency food aid in 1991 when United Sanctions (UN) sanctions made food imports to Iraq difficult. After more than two decades in operation, the PDS has developed long-term negative effects on Iraq’s most vulnerable populations. Specific vulnerable populations include Iraqi War Widows, Iraqi farmers, and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). This report introduces the current Public Distribution System following a thorough background on the development of government-citizen relations, Sunni-Shi’i dynamics, and urban-rural economies throughout the twentieth Century in Iraq. The PDS harms the most food vulnerable Iraqis more than it assists them in the long run because of the unreliable delivery times, poor quality of the PDS goods, and depreciation of the local food market; therefore, the WFP and Iraqi MoT should limit the PDS recipients, improve the efficiency and quality of fewer goods in the PDS basket, and strengthen Iraq’s agriculture sector to provide for the current market and wheat exports. Based on an analysis of the U.S. farm bill, this paper recommends a shift in U.S. food aid from distributing American surplus crops as food aid. The U.S. government should focus on building capacity in the Iraqi agriculture sector with a model similar to the Obama Administration’s Feed the Future (FTF) initiative.Item Puritan Military Justice: American War Crimes and the Global War on Terrorism(2012-07-16) Lorenzo, RonaldExploring Puritanical cultural habits in the 21st century American military, the following study focuses on U.S. Army courts-martial in the Global War on Terrorism. The study uses Emile Durkheim's original sociological interpretation of crime and deviance. That interpretation is linked with responsibility as described by Durkheim's follower Paul Fauconnet in Responsibility: A Study in Sociology ([1928] 1978) and with a new cultural reading of Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism ([1905] 1976). The study is an inductive, descriptive examination of the Puritanical aspects of American military culture based on its treatment of acts labeled as deviant and criminal in the Global War on Terrorism. Four sets of war crimes are included in the study: Abu Ghraib (which occurred in Iraq in 2004), Operation Iron Triangle (which occurred in Iraq in 2006), the Baghdad canal killings (which occurred in Iraq in 2007), and the Maywand District killings (which occurred in Afghanistan in 2010). My data include primary data collected through participation and observation as a consultant for courts-martial related to all the cases except Abu Ghraib. Records of trial, investigation reports, charge sheets, sworn statements, and other documentation are also included in the study as secondary data sources. The study illuminates how unconscious, Puritan cultural habits color and shape both military actions and their perceptions. I explore Puritanism and its influence on military law, responsibility, revenge, "magic" (in its sociological sense), and narcissism. The study concludes with observations and recommendations for changes in U.S. military law.Item Revenge and Responsibility in Contemporary War Crimes and Courts-Martial(2012-02-14) Garcia, AprilThis project seeks to address the recurring theme of revenge within war as exhibited in the recent upsurge of war crimes within the past ten years. To begin, I present an overview of Emile Durkheim?s perspective on punishment from The Division of Labor in Society. I argue that contemporary punishment is still primitive in nature and maintains a retributive form. This synopsis opens the discussion of two key factors within punishment: revenge and responsibility. To analyze these key elements, I conduct a content analysis utilizing courts-martial transcripts not readily available to the public for the recent cases of Operation Iron Triangle, the Baghdad Canal Killings and the Afghan Kill Team murders. As a historical comparative to the latest war crimes, I also analyze the My Lai case from Vietnam, using documentary transcripts with veterans involved in that operation. Throughout the analyses of all four cases, I employ the work of Paul Fauconnet?s Responsibility which further develops Durkheim?s ideology of revenge and augments our own understanding of collective and individual responsibility in society. I close this project with a discussion on Fauconnet?s ?law of war? and its implications for soldiers enlisted in war time.Item Should old acquaintance (not) be forgot : United States’ policies and actions in Iraq and their effects on the lasting presence of Iraqi Shi’i militias (2003-2011)(2015-05) Gibson, Anna Mae; Aghaie, Kamran Scot; Shirazi, FaeghehIt is the goal of this project to survey the period (2001-2003) leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the period of U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) rule over Iraq from 2003-2004, and the subsequent period of U.S. military presence from 2004-2011, in order to assess the effects U.S. policies and actions had on the evolution of Iraq’s Shi’i militias. This assessment will seek to answer the fundamental question: what role did the U.S. play in contributing to the enduring existence of Shi’i militias in Iraq? In brief, at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom Shi’i militias benefited from the rapid outbreak of the violent Sunni insurgency, which diverted the attention of U.S. and Coalition Forces away from the Shi’i militias. In the first years of the U.S. presence, existing Shi’i political movements returned to Iraq from exile and fractured, while new indigenous movements, like Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, sprang up and became dominant. Even after the Shi’i militias were deemed to be a credible threat to Coalition forces around 2004-2005, the established, narrow Coalition target set limited combat actions against these militias. With the initiation of the Surge in 2007, U.S. forces were afforded greater freedom to target the militias and made significant gains in degrading the most violent groups. However, soon after the successes of the Surge were becoming evident, the U.S. signed a status of forces agreement with Iraq in 2008, which again reduced the latitude with which U.S. forces could act against the Shi’i militias. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. fully withdrew combat forces from Iraq and the militias were able to regroup at will. Since the U.S. withdrawal, the most violent Shi’i militias have turned to the conflict in Syria, and later, to the fight against IS in Iraq.Item “Starting from below zero” : Iraqi refugee resettlement and integration in the United States and Austin, Texas(2013-12) Ulack, Christopher Joseph; Butzer, Karl W.This dissertation explores the resettlement and integration of Iraqi refugees coming to the United States, and particularly to Austin, TX, from 2008-2012. On a broad level, it seeks to understand how peoples, organizations, and government actors combine to negotiate the controversial practice of third-country refugee resettlement. Data is drawn from 16 months of participant observation at a local refugee resettlement agency in Austin with Iraqi refugees and from one-on-one interviews with many of those refugees and with local agency service providers. The research seeks to explore what (and how) federal, state, and local policies shape the everyday resettlement and integration experiences of Iraqi refugees in Austin. In addition to policy and other structural obstacles in place in the current American resettlement paradigm, the dissertation also seeks to understand aspects of agency utilized by Iraqi refugees and how, if at all, cultural, social, and political factors contextualize and impact their experiences upon arrival to the United States and throughout their first few months in this country. The study finds that Iraqi refugees are highly impacted both by political and social structural issues already in place within the receiving society but also by cultural and social factors and frameworks which they “bring with them” from Iraq. The study also illustrates that the current literature on refugees underemphasizes refugees’ voices. These voices depict the experience of resettlement and integration in the United States as one where many feel a sense of being caught “between here and there” and constantly trying to “catch up with life” but without enough help, support, or guidance. The voices underscore the human experience and struggle of forced migration generally and specifically that of third country resettlement of Iraqi refugees to the United States.Item Trials of identity : investigating al- Jāḥiẓ and the Zanj in modern pro-Black discourse(2015-08) Ingram, Paige Mandisa; Spellberg, Denise A.; Berry, DainaScholarship about the Muslim philosopher al-Jāḥiẓ and the Zanj revolt of the same era has focused primarily on a specific set of historiographical questions. What was the relationship between al-Jāḥiẓ's explorations of skin color and the revolt of the largely dark-skinned Zanj slaves in Basra, if any? Was the Zanj revolt essentially a class or race rebellion? Such questions, while significant, speak to the specific historical concerns--about the social relations and political-economic systems--of Abbasid-era Baghdad and Basra. Somewhat neglected are the modern uses of this figure and moment in discourses outside the purview of academic study, particularly among politicized Black Americans and Black Muslims, for whom (in some quarters at least) al-Jāḥiẓ and the Zanj revolt hold special import. The rise of Sunni Islam among Black Americans since the 1960s has presented an array of challenges to the unique sociopolitical and religious circumstances in which practitioners are mired. How to develop a religious tradition able to answer to the unique sociopolitical challenges faced by Black Americans, and how to develop simultaneously a religious practice centered on God rather than sociopolitical systems? At the cross-section between politics and religion, Blackness and orthodox Sunni Islam, the answers to these questions have already begun to be attempted, with al-Jāḥiẓ and the Zanj revolt sometimes playing a pivotal role.Item United States policy towards rogue states(2012-08-10) Stiles, Robert; Stiles, Robert E.; Bechtol, Bruce E.; Taylor, William; Nalbandov, Robert; Osterhaut, John; Angelo State University. Department of Security Studies and Criminal Justice.One of the United States' main security challenges in the post-Cold War era is rogue states. Given that such states are an ongoing security concern, a review and evaluation of U.S. policy towards rogue states will be useful in formulating future policies. Each chapter will cover the recent history of United States' policy towards rogue states. The first chapter will cover U.S. policy towards Iraq. The second will focus on the Islamic Republic of Iran and how the U.S. government has tried to counter it. The third and last chapter will focus on the U.S.-North Korean relationship. These chapters, in addition to providing a recent history, will evaluate our successes and failures in these policies.Item A valiant effort : Faisal's failed inculcation of national identity in Iraq(2015-05) Abosch, Tova; Aghaie, Kamran Scot; Minault, GailThe lack of attention to any comprehensive scholarly study of King Faisal I of Iraq since his untimely death in 1933 is interesting, considering that the twelve years in which he ruled Iraq witnessed the imposition and evolution of many of the institutions of the twentieth century state along with their concomitant ideologies and justifications. The construction of the modern Iraqi state belonged solely neither to the British nor to the efforts of the Ottoman-educated ex-Sharifian officers who followed Faisal from his aborted kingdom in Syria to the newly established monarchy in 1921. It was more a mélange of competing ideas, collaborative efforts, and political realities. In all this, Faisal played no small part as he maneuvered delicately among the strategic concerns of two major European powers, a re-emergent Turkish nation, his family's historical nemesis in the Nejd, relations with Iran following the 1921 coup d'état, and a variety of internal separatist ambitions and parochial interests. This paper seeks to redress this lacuna, concentrating on Faisal's efforts to establish a solid base of support and control while crafting an independent, coherently functioning polity from the patchwork of provinces presented him on his accession to the throne of Iraq.