Movements and Trends
Nuclear Weapons Proliferation: Issues, Trends, Challenges of Denuclearization
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Stephen Collins
Nuclear weapons proliferation stands as a foremost concern of the international community and a leading topic in International Relations. Efforts to persuade states to relinquish nuclear arsenals and/or abandon plans to acquire often seems a hopeless quest. Yet more states have forsaken their nuclear arsenals or plans than currently possess them. This study employs a case-study approach involving these former nuclear states to attempt to reveal the causal elements of denuclearization. The focus of this study will be on external system-level variables; that is measures applied by external actors. More specifically, this study will leverage theory and empirical data to analyze the conditions under which economic sanctions and incentives strategies are likely to succeed in countering the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The thesis of the study posits that economic statecraft measures are most likely to work when: 1) sanctions campaigns enjoy broad multilateral support from key trading partners and aid donors of the target state; 2) sanctions are not merely signaling exercises, but impose substantial material costs; 3) sanctions are coupled with economic incentives; 4) the nuclear weapons programs of the target state is in the inchoate stages; and (perhaps most importantly) 5) the target state must not face a nuclear armed regional adversary with whom it has engaged in a militarized dispute. This paper will discuss the theoretical underpinnings of these hypotheses, and apply empirical data to test the thesis.
Global Flows/Local Challenges: An Examination of Lifestyle Migration in Belize
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ed Jackiewicz
As the number of lifestyle migrants (also referred to as residential tourists or amenity migrants) continues to increase, the challenges at the local scale also grow. Belize has long been a popular destination for these migrants and the implications on local communities is varied and uneven. My research in this area revolves around the differentiated experiences in this small country that has encouraged and been very accommodating to lifestyle migrants. This paper will explore the short term issues confronted by two local communities as well as a discussion of the long term prospects. In the short term, there is some financial gain and employment opportunities, though with environmental and cultural challenges. The long term sustainability is more questionable and this author suggests that it may be another example of "Boom and Bust" that have plagued Latin America for centuries.
Intercultural Community and Diaspora: Gubbio, Jessup, and La Festa dei Ceri
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Angelo De Leo
Gubbio, Italy and Jessup, a town in the United States, share a common religious festival titled La Festa dei Ceri (the Festival of Candles). In this festival, they honor the patron saint of Gubbio, Saint Ubaldo Baldassini. It is not by chance that both cities celebrate this tradition, though. Immigrants from Gubbio came to Jessup in the late 1800s for work, and began to celebrate the tradition there as well. Today, Gubbio and Jessup share strong ties and recognize each other as sister cities. Being from Jessup myself, during the summer of 2017 I lived in Gubbio through a research grant from George Washington University to study how the culture of Gubbio and the Festa dei Ceri affected one another, what role the festival played in the lives of the people there, and how diaspora and interaction with a “home community” change a festival and its meaning in the diaspora community. This paper answers several overarching questions. How does globalization play a role in affecting two different cultures connected by a common history and a common festival? How might we better think of the concept of “tradition”? How do music, dialect, and different national languages affect and change communities split into different countries? The significance of this paper is to add to greater anthropological themes of globalization and to contribute to the developing study of diaspora; in addition, this paper establishes a basic framework by which future studies can better analyze diaspora and its intricacies.
Migrant Diplomacies: Rethinking Diplomacy Beyond State-Centric Perspectives
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Antonio Alejo
There is an emerging need to extend our thinking about diplomacy beyond state-centric perspectives. My point of departure is to explore global politics and migrant activism through the transformations and challenges of diplomacy in a globalized world. Focusing on the literature on new diplomacy and global sociology, I identify new sociopolitical formations for diplomacy through migrant activism. Focusing on the agent, but interacting dynamically with structures, I present a theoretical debate and analytical tool for identifying and analyzing the emergence and practices of migrant diplomacies as an expression of contemporary global politics. I highlight a case study from North America as evidence of how these kinds of alternative diplomacies are emerging and operating as part of globalized societies.
