Soft Power Strategies in US Foreign Policy: Assessing the Impact of Citizen Diplomacy on Foreign States\u27 Behavior

This dissertation empirically demonstrates that the isolated effects of citizen diplomacy correlate positively with foreign policy behavior as a non-military, foreign policy strategic option. The dissertation also finds that soft power, of which citizen diplomacy is a key component, is a viable foreign policy strategy. The findings are important to the academy and to the foreign policy-making process for states in search of effective, non-military strategies that leverage foreign state needs and attributes to achieve their foreign policy goals. Using a mixed methods approach, the dissertation investigates the correlation between Peace Corps Volunteers (citizen diplomat) placement and congruent voting with the US at the UN General Assembly. The question of interest is, do citizen diplomat recipient countries vote more with the US at the UN General Assembly? Is there a difference in countries\u27 voting patterns on key votes than on all votes, and what are the implications of congruent voting behavior for US foreign policy? I develop several hypotheses and test for the effects of citizen diplomacy through four models: the omnibus, factors of bilateral attraction, host country variables and temporal and regional effects models. Using data from two sources, first, Voeten and Strehnev and second, Dreher, Strum and Vreeland, I find that in twelve of the sixteen models, citizen diplomacy is positively correlated with congruent voting with the US at the UN General Assembly. Countries vote more with the US at the UN on key votes than they do on all UN General Assembly votes (observed in seven of eight models). The level of democracy is positively correlated with congruent voting in four of eight models and also positively signed. The level of globalization, GDP per capita and region are important explanans for voting in congruence with the US at the UN General Assembly. As expected, failed states vote less in congruence with the US at the UN. These findings are augmented by case studies based on three qualitative models. The issue linkages model finds that the US links citizen diplomacy to its national security interests. The interpersonal model finds that citizen diplomats affect foreign policy through individuals and elites. The foreign policy approach finds that citizen diplomats have contributed to building and changing national infrastructure and development and thereby countries\u27 foreign policy trajectory. The dissertation concludes that citizen diplomacy matters: there is a positive and strong correlation between citizen diplomacy and foreign policy behavior of recipient states towards the US. As a soft-power strategy, citizen diplomacy is a viable foreign policy option

INTERCULTURALITY OF MIXED-MARRIED COUPLE: A SUNDANESE MALE AND A FOREIGN FEMALE

The Indonesian foreign policy of free-active makes an enormous impact in many respects. One of the impacts is a mixed-married couple of an Indonesian citizen and a citizen from various countries. This research is about the interculturality of mixed-married couple, the couple is a Sundanese male and a foreign female from other country.The marriage among nations has led to a cultural diffusion little by little. Interculturality in mixed-marriage is important to be observed. The objectives of the research are to describe the five elements of the culture that affect the couple culture, and to describe the impact of each other cultureto his or her spouse. The method used in this research is qualitative-descriptive method with questionnaire. The data are taken from the mixed-marriage couple who lives in Bandung. The theories are taken from Samovar (2012) and Sumardjo (2012). The results of this research is interculturality of both cultures, Sundanese culture and foreign cultures,gives the impact of understanding to the spous’s behavior. The dominant culture in this mixed-marriage is the culture of the location where they live now

The Impact of United States Investment for Civil Infrastructure in Developing Countries

U.S. foreign assistance is used to support regional interests and to address the economic and social needs of host nation (HN) citizens. Within the Department of Defense (DoD), military exercises implement humanitarian and civic assistance (HCA) activities in developing nations as one method of accomplishing the U.S. foreign assistance objectives. To account for the impact of civil infrastructure projects on HN citizens, this research incorporated survey data collected during a DoD-sponsored exercise in Belize to test the expectancy disconfirmation model of citizen satisfaction and analyze the impact of constructing HCA projects on citizen satisfaction with HN government services. The research suggests that perceived performance and disconfirmation contribute the largest effect on citizen satisfaction, while no significant impact on citizen satisfaction was identified from the investment of civil infrastructure projects. Utilization of a geographic information system and an extensive literature review permitted the exploration of U.S. foreign assistance trends to examine the current precursors to U.S. foreign assistance and develop a list of proposed precursors. The research is exploratory and strives to improve the effectiveness of civil infrastructure investment in foreign countries through the measurement of HN citizen satisfaction of government services prior to project selection and during the post-project assessments

STATUS HUKUM ANAK BERKAITAN DENGAN KEWARGANEGARAANNYA DALAM PERKAWINAN CAMPURAN BERDASARKAN HUKUM INDONESIA (Perkawinan antara WNI dengan WNA)

Mixed marriage between Indonesian citizen with a foreign citizen is not a familiar thing happening in our country. So it should be a legal protection in this mixed marriage be accommodated properly in law in Indonesia, especially legal protection for the child or the nationality of the child born of the marriage. Indonesian citizenship law No. 62 of 1958 (that called as the old Citizenship Law) and the Indonesian Citizenship Law No. 12 of 2006 (that called as the New Citizenship Law) does not give Indonesian citizenship status automatically to female of foreign citizen who married with male citizen of Indonesia, but if the foreign national citizen wants to be an Indonesian citizenship, he must submit a formal application in accordance with applicable regulations. Likewise, women citizens who are married to a foreign citizen may retain citizenship of Indonesia, when he started to follow citizenship husband became foreigners, then the woman is required to apply under applicable regulations as stipulated in Articles 7 and 8 of the Old Citizenship Law, and Article 26 of the New Citizenship Law. Such things can make a difference of citizenship in a mixed marriage. Along with the attachment of dual citizenship is limited to the child of a mixed marriage, then the child is subject to the jurisdiction of the two countries two related nationality of both parents

L’essere umano fra soggettività giuridica ed oggettività economica. Note sulla non-cittadinanza fra diritti fondamentali ed incapacità giuridica speciale

The subject of this argumentative essay is the contraposition between citizenship rights and human rights in contemporary society. This contraposition concerns non-citizen workers who are excluded from the political life of foreign countries and, in the case of clandestines, from enjoying social rights guaranteed to regular workers

The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment in Authoritarian Regimes

Existing scholarship does not account for why foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have been increasing to many authoritarian countries in recent decades, with some authoritarian developing countries attracting levels of FDI similar to those in democratic developing countries. This dissertation argues that while authoritarian countries are in general more risky than democratic countries, this risk can be minimized when authoritarian regimes are constrained from both “above” and “below.” Authoritarian regimes that sign international investment treaties signal FDI-friendly policies and are constrained from backtracking on those policies. At the same time, authoritarian regimes that allow some degree of citizen participation in policymaking are constrained from deviating from FDI-friendly policies, which are generally preferred by citizens. In sum, it is hypothesized that authoritarian regimes that sign international investment treaties and maintain relatively high levels of citizen participation will attract the most FDI inflows. This hypothesis is tested using micro and macro level empirical evidence. Specifically, multilevel ordered probits of survey data on citizen preferences for FDI and statistical regressions of panel data on global FDI inflows are conducted. Estimation results confirm both the theoretical foundations and formal hypothesis of this dissertation: citizens in authoritarian countries view FDI inflows as welfare-enhancing and authoritarian countries with bilateral investment treaties and high levels of citizen participation attract the most FDI inflows. Additionally, results from an original survey of U.S. foreign investors reveal that multinational companies are aware of and value international investment treaties and freedom of association in host nations, thereby providing key primary evidence in support of the hypothesis. Finally, a comparative case study of Jordan and Syria further illustrate the micro-foundations of the argument. While both Jordan and Syria have signaled a dedication to liberal economic policies, Jordan has been the successor in attracting FDI inflows because of its participatory decision-making processes. This dissertation contributes to international political economy, international organization, and authoritarian political institution research by illuminating the domestic factors that provide credibility of compliance to international treaties signed by authoritarian countries. Previous literature has failed to address the variation of foreign investment inflows to authoritarian regimes and the role of compliance to international investment treaties in attracting these investment inflows to authoritarian countries

Strategic delegation and international capital taxation

The literature on tax competition generally concludes that international coordination of capital taxes among symmetric countries increases tax rates. This paper investigates whether this conclusion also holds in a political economy framework where taxes are set by elected policy makers. It shows that policy makers are fiscally more liberal than the average citizen if taxes are set non-cooperatively. However, fiscally more conservative policy makers are elected if taxes are set cooperatively. The introduction of tax coordination cannot remove the incentive to compete for foreign capital, but simply shifts it to the election stage. The paper proves that with standard specifications of the utility functions, coordination leads to lower tax rates than competition. --Tax competition,tax coordination,strategic delegation

Dilemma of Tax Implementation for Dual Citizens

Abstract: Dual citizenship is the result of the political struggle of globalist groups, this condition encourages countries to be able to adapt regulations to accommodate the demands of dual citizens. Empirically, dual citizens have rights and obligations regarding their citizenship status. This study focuses on discussing the obligations of dual citizens in paying taxes, because it is a strategic socio-economics issue for dual citizens, as well as the existence of political agreements between countries that recognize dual citizens. This study uses a literature study that specifically discusses dual citizen taxes in the United States (US). The results of the study show that US law states that every US citizen must file and pay US taxes every year. This even applies to every US citizen abroad who lives around the world. Dual US citizens tend not to face double taxation because of certain agreements made by the US with foreign countries. For example, the Totalization Agreement stipulates that countries around the world will not impose double taxation on American citizens abroad. This shows that the tax advantages and disadvantages of dual citizenship depend on the political policies between countries.

Foreign languages within post-compulsory and tertiary institutions. What future?

An important sub-objective of the Lisbon Strategy states that there is a need to improve foreign language teaching at all levels of education throughout Europe. This is seen to be a key means of giving expression to the multilingual nature of the European Union. In the 21st century, foreign language competence and proficiency and intercultural understanding are no longer considered as optional but have become an essential part of being a citizen. Countries in the world have become more and more interdependent, and new technologies have erased many existing borders giving rise to an ever-increasing need for good communication skills in foreign languages. This has brought in turn new efforts aimed at improving foreign language education with many countries introducing well-articulated curriculum frameworks that motivate and guide the development of an effective system of foreign language education even at post-compulsory and at tertiary level. The same cannot be said, unfortunately, for Malta where the number of students studying foreign languages at post compulsory education is on the decline with the result that in the 3 most important institutions in Malta that offer tertiary education, the presence of foreign languages is negligible. This brings us to a very pertinent question. Do we need modern language graduates in a globalised world? Or better, do we need graduates who are also proficient in one or more foreign languages?peer-reviewe

The WTO Comes to Dinner: U.S. Implementation of Trade Rules Bypasses Food Safety Requirements

A Special Report By Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch and Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. A review of U.S. government "system" audits of five nations (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Australia and Canada) reveals that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) deemed "equivalent" systems with sanitary measures that differ from FSIS policy, and in some cases, violate the express language of U.S. laws and regulations. Because FSIS has refused to respond to Public Citizen Freedom of Information Act requests for correspondence and other documentation regarding these equivalency decisions, it is impossible to determine what is the current status of these issues and whether they have been resolved by regulators. - The U.S. law requiring meat to be inspected by independent government officials was violated by Brazil and Mexico and they retained their eligibility to export to the United States. - The USDA's zero tolerance policy for contamination by feces was repeatedly violated by Australia, Canada and Mexico. - U.S. regulations requiring monthly supervisory reviews of plants eligible to export be conducted on behalf of USDA by foreign government officials were violated by Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Mexico, several of whom are seeking to avoid this core requirement of U.S. regulation. Monthly reviews are vitally important to remind the meat industry that the meat inspector who works the line in the plant is backed by the weight of the government and to double-check the work of meat inspectors on a regular basis. - Even though U.S. regulations requiring that a government official -- not a company employee -- sample meat for salmonella microbial contamination, the USDA approved company employees performing this task as part of an equivalency determination with Brazil and Canada. - Even though U.S. regulations require certain microbial testing to be performed at government labs, the U.S. approved testing by private labs as part of the equivalency determination with Brazil, Canada and Mexico. - Unapproved and/or improper testing procedures and sanitation violations have been re-identified by FSIS year after year for Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico, but the countries have retained their eligibility to export to the United States. - After its regulatory systems was designated "equivalent," Mexico began using alternative procedures for salmonella and E. coli that had never been evaluated by FSIS, yet the country retained its eligibility to import to the United States. - Australia and Canada were allowed to export to the United States while using their own methods and procedures for such matters as E. coli testing, postmortem inspection, monthly supervisory reviews and pre-shipment reviews while awaiting an equivalency determination from FSIS. - FSIS auditors and Canadian food safety officials continue to disagree about whether particular measures have already been found "equivalent" by FSIS, yet Canadian imports remained uninterrupted. - The regulatory systems of Brazil and Mexico have been rated equivalent even though the countries plead insufficient personnel and monetary resources to explain their inability to carry out all required functions