36 research outputs found
Reference Group Perspective on State Behaviour: A Case Study of Estonia's Counterterrorism Policies
This is an author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The publisher version is available on its site.For over a decade Estonia has been untouched by terrorist violence. However, notwithstanding the lack
of a viable terrorist threat, the Estonian government adopted extensive counterterrorism measures. What
explains the scope of Estoniaās counterterrorism measures? The main proposition of this article is that the
content of statesā counterterrorism policies is shaped by the types of responses adopted by their
reference groups. The evidence examined in the study demonstrates that Estoniaās primary reference
groups, NATO and the EU, have influenced the republicās counterterrorism programme. An unattractive
target to terrorists, Estonia adopted broad counterterrorism responses to defend indivisible Euro-Atlantic
security and to protect democratic values that terrorists attempt to destroy
Ethnic Dimension of Religious Extremism and Terrorism in Central Asia
This is an author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The publisher version is available on its site
Between Commitement and Pragmatism: Assessing International Influence on Human Rights Practices in Georgia
This is an author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The publisher version is available on its site.What explains the discrepancy between the avowed commitment of the Georgian
government to human rights and praxis of human rights in the post-Rose Revolution
republic? This article engages with this question and attributes persistent breaches of
civil, political, and personal integrity rights in Georgia not only to its domestic
circumstances, but also to the international impact. The study develops a reference
group theory, a type of social theory that stresses the influence of social groups of
states on policies and behavior of their members. Reference groups endorse goals,
values, and standards of behavior for their members and serve as the āframes of
referenceā that enable other states to assess the effectiveness and legitimacy of their
actions. The findings of this study indicate that Georgiaās reference groups, particularly
the United States, contributed to its backsliding on human rights by (1) supporting the
Georgian government in its goal of rebuilding the state prior to democratizing it and
strengthening respect for human rights; (2) redirecting financial and other assistance
from democracy promotion to state-building projects; and (3) providing the Georgian
government with flattering, yet, misleading feedback concerning the republicās
accomplishments in the area of human rights
Islam and power legitimation: instrumentalisation of religion in Central Asian States
How can Islam play multiple and contradictory roles as a source of violence and peace, and a marker of identity differences and national unity? This study argues that religion, as a system of beliefs, manifests itself through discourses, which not only render intelligibility to religious practices and beliefs but also serve as the instruments of social control and regulation. An infinite variety of organizational and ideological differences within Islam presents the possibility for instrumentalisation of religion by stakeholders interested in accomplishing distinctive political aims connected to political legitimation. The study offers an empirical analysis of instrumentalisation of Islam by governments of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and uses this evidence for developing a framework linking various discursive representations of religion to their political uses
Combating Terrorism in Central Asia: Explaining Differences in States' Responses to Terror
This is an author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The publisher version is available on its site.This work examines differences in the level of violence of counterterrorism measures adopted by Central Asian states. Why do some Central Asian governments opt for wanton repression in the name of the struggle with terrorism, while others adopt less severe methods of control and prevention? To answer this question, the study draws on a synthesis of rationalist and constructivist explanations. Like rationalists, it posits that the magnitude of terrorism and statesā material capabilities affect the governmentsā responses to terrorism. Following constructivists, the study stresses the impact of ideas about the nature of terrorist threat, and views on the appropriateness of the use of force on counterterrorism policies of Central Asian states
Fab! or Drab?: Increasing the Effectiveness of Teaching and Learning in Summer Classes
This is the author's accepted manuscript. The original publication is available at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15512169.2012.695971#.VD_JWRYXNWs.This article reviews the pitfalls and benefits of teaching and learning in summer school and identifies the lack of student interest as the key factor affecting the effectiveness of learning in the summer. The primary goal of this research is to investigate the impact of active learning strategies on generating student interest and improving their learning in summer school. This article presents results of the study embedded into the classroom curriculum of a summer course. The study consisted of a series of active learning interventions, surveys of students, and observations of their academic performance. The scores of students enrolled in the summer class were compared to academic results of those students who took a similar course during the regular terms. The evidence examined in the study demonstrates that active learning strategies can increase students' situational interest in the summer school setting and can improve the quality of their learning
Security Rights Violations in Context of Counterterrorism: Analysis of the Post-Soviet Nations
This is an author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The publisher version is available on its site.This study purports to explain security rights violations of the suspected
terrorism. It develops a theoretical model and assesses its predictions on a
sample of post-Soviet states. The author uses original data on security rights
violations of individuals implicated in terrorism and their family members and
supporters collected by means of systematic content analysis of several types of
reports. Contrary to a widely-held belief that the magnitude of terrorism is the
main determinant of human rights practices in the context of āwar on terrorā, the
study finds no support for the impact of terrorist attacks on security rights
violations of the suspects of terrorism. Political conflict, on the other hand,
appears to be a stronger predictor of security rights violations in the post-Soviet
nations. Statistical results also lend support to the impact of international norms
and a number of other factors on human rights violations in the name of
combating terrorism. The author discusses implications of the findings for theory
and practices of human rights
Natural Disasters: Triggers of Political Instability?
This is an author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The publisher version is available on its site.Do different types of natural disasters ā droughts, earthquakes, floods, storms,
and others ā trigger political instability? This study engages with this question. It
revisits an ongoing debate over the nature of association between disasters and
conflict and re-assesses this relationship using the model of conflict developed by
the Political Instability Task Force as well as its data, measures of political
instability, and methods of assessment. The study finds only marginal support for
the impact of certain types of disasters on the onsets of political instability. The
pre-existing country-specific conditions, including the resilience of a stateās
institutions to crisis, account for most of the variance in the dependent variable.
Once the characteristics of a stateās political regime are taken into account, the
effect of disasters weakens or disappears completely suggesting that natural
disasters become catalysts of political instability in only those states, which are
already prone to conflict
Self and Peer Evaluation in Undergraduate Education: Are Promises Worth Risking the Perils?
This is an author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The publisher version is available on its site.This study canvasses reliability of studentsā self and peer evaluation, a method of
assessment of university students that has recently gained renewed pedagogical
interest and broad recognition. Two experiments, imbedded in classroom curriculum,
examined the effects of the instrument of evaluation (with criteria vs. no criteria for
evaluation provided), the format of evaluation procedure (anonymous vs. nonanonymous),
and motivation of students (strong vs. weak) on the accuracy of studentsā
self and peer ratings. The results of the experiments revealed both a considerable
unreliability of peer ratings in some cases as well as a notable consistency of peer
evaluations in others. The instrument of evaluation with criteria provided had significant
positive effect on the accuracy of peer evaluations. This finding was robust across both
experiments reported in the paper. Studentsā motivation also had impact on the
reliability of peer evaluations. Students strongly motivated to apply criteria for evaluation
produced more accurate peer evaluations compared to their peers provided with not
criteria or supported with the criteria but not motivated to apply them. The results on the
impact of the condition of anonymity were mixed
Competing perspectives on democracy and democratization: assessing alternative models of democracy promoted in Central Asian states
This is the author's accepted manuscript.The original publication is available at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09557571.2014.902036#.VD_GPRYXNWs.This study examines alternative understandings of democracy and democracy promotion advanced by the US, EU, Russia and China in Central Asia using frame analysis. In the context of this study, āframesā refer to the relatively cohesive sets of beliefs, categories and value judgements as well as specific ways in which these ideas are packaged for the targets of international democratization. The study assesses the implications of alternative representations of democracy promotion and competing models of governance for the prospects of democratization in Central Asia. It concludes that the substance of US and EU democracy promotion in Central Asia has neglected the cultural and political contexts of these states, while the Russian and Chinese models of governance and development have provided a better match to the interests of the ruling elites