Civil War Termination

Civil wars typically have been terminated by a variety of means, including military victories, negotiated settlements and ceasefires, and “draws.” Three very different historical trends in the means by which civil wars have ended can be identified for the post–World War II period. A number of explanations have been developed to account for those trends, some of which focus on international factors and others on national or actor-level variables. Efforts to explain why civil wars end as they do are considered important because one of the most contested issues among political scientists who study civil wars is how “best” to end a civil war if the goal is to achieve a stable peace. Several factors have contributed to this debate, among them conflicting results produced by various studies on this topic as well as different understandings of the concepts war termination, civil war resolution, peace-building, and stable peace

Remembering an Invasion: The Panama Intervention in America’s Political Memory

In December of 1989, the United States launched Operation Just Cause, a military invasion of the country of Panama, capturing Manuel Noriega and overthrowing his government. This research project examines how Colin Powell, Richard Cheney, James Baker, and George H.W. Bush presented Operation Just Cause in their memoirs. It attempts to determine how these senior leaders’ depictions of this invasion incorporated it into the Bush administration’s overall foreign-policy strategy. The research finds that their general approach was to present the Panama intervention as an isolated incident which had no intentional link to other major events at the time, was not made for strategic or political gain, and was driven entirely or almost entirely by idealist reasons. These former leaders accomplished this by neglecting to connect the Panama intervention with the decline of Soviet power, painting the media as an antagonistic force which hindered the invasion rather than helped the administration’s standing, connecting the intervention to the Gulf War in incidental or only minor ways, frequently holding each other responsible for the decision to invade instead of taking responsibility themselves, and justifying it by appealing to democracy and self-defense

The Ethics of the Vietnam War

Although the Vietnam Conflict was not conducted in an entirely ethical manner, the war provided a tangible example of the extent of Kennan’s containment theory and its effect on the United States in the twentieth century

The Impact of Chinese Foreign Aid on Human Rights in Africa

This study finds that Chinese foreign aid has a marginal negative, if at all, impact on human rights in Africa. The study begins with an introduction on Sino-African relations and possible implications of these relations. It then presents a literature review on relevant foreign aid and human rights studies. It moves on to explain the methodology and datasets used before presenting and analyzing the results. The study concludes with ideas for further research

Brexit, A Brief Historical Analysis

This paper will specifically examine the historical impact of decolonization, integration and immigration on the 2020 Brexit decision. The research will identify key events that have contributed to a rise in British Euroscepticism which has continuously served as backdrop for British isolationism and anti-immigrant thought. A study of the increased movement of people attributed to mass mobilization following decolonization and integration will play a key role in highlighting the effects Brexit will have both on Britain and on an international platform. Emphasis will be placed on the implications this history and resulting policies will have on the economic prosperity and stability of future Britain. In this paper, the focus will largely be placed on the post-1973 period, after Britain’s entrance into the EEC. Analysis of the latter quarter of the 20th century will contribute to a better understanding of modern events, decisions and predictions

Loading Chekhov’s Gun in 9-Times: The Fundamental Disconnect in Historical Interpretation

Thursday night brings into Gettysburg an avalanche of historians (both public and academic) to discuss the Future of Civil War History for a whole weekend. That means I\u27ll be taking some annual leave from work and participating in a working-group investigating Training Seasonal Historians in the Age of Holding the High Ground. It\u27s still unclear who will be able to attend our panel thanks to sequestration and a moratorium on NPS travel. Still, those of us who can make it will soldier on. [excerpt

A Race to the Stars and Beyond: How the Soviet Union’s Success in the Space Race Helped Serve as a Projection of Communist Power

In the modern era, the notion of space travel is generally one of greater acceptance and ease than in times previously. Moreover, a greater number of nations (and now even private entities) have the technological capabilities to launch manned and unmanned missions into Earth’s Orbit and beyond. 70 years ago, this ability did not exist and humanity was simply an imprisoned species on this planet. The course of humanity’s then-present and the collective future was forever altered when, in 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched the world’s first satellite into space, setting off a decades-long completion with the United States to cosmically outperform the other. In the context of the Cold War, the ensuring Space Race was more than friendly completion, rather it was a race to determine who’s military and civil society could produce the most powerful interstellar technologies, which in turn demonstrated the combative readiness of either side. This paper seeks to examine the Soviet Union’s success during the Space Race (and subsequently, the global Arms Race) and its place within the larger East versus West conflict which occurred in the earlier years of the Cold War. By utilizing academic literature and primary Soviet sources, this paper will analyze how the Space Race allowed the Soviet Union to promote the successes of a Communist government and how such a leadership style served as a positive determinant for advancements in space and the Soviet Union’s premier place in many suc

Roles of science in eugenics

The relationship of eugenics to science is intricate and many-layered, starting with Sir Francis Galton’s original definition of eugenics as “the science of improving stock”. Eugenics was originally conceived of not only as a science by many of its proponents, but as a new, meliorative science emerging from findings of a range of nascent sciences, including anthropology and criminology in the late 19th-century, and genetics and psychiatry in the early 20th-century. Although during the years between the two World Wars many central claims made by eugenicists were critiqued by scientists in these disciplines, in more recent years forms of eugenics (e.g., liberal eugenics”) have been defended as an inevitable outcome of biotechnologies and respect for autonomous choice. Understanding the shifting and varied roles that science has played in eugenics requires an appreciation of the ways in which science and values are intertwined