IR Honors Students

Thesis Title: The Impact of Sovereignty and Autonomy on Disaster Response and Mitigation: A Cross-Caribbean Case Study on the Meaning of True Resilience

Thesis Advisor: Professor Pedro Regalado

Abstract: In the field of international relations, the study of how nation-states interact is at the forefront. It essentially surveys an equal relationship, even when some countries are more powerful than others. However, within these nation-states often are more complex subdivisions and internal dynamics. Among them are countries’ overseas territories, polities that are part of the overarching nation, but often have special agreements, statuses, and provisions agreed upon or assigned to them by the sovereign state. These territory-state relations are critically understudied, not only in their existence but in their variance. What does a “constituent country” mean? What is an “unincorporated, organized territory”? What do two non-sovereign, overseas territories have in common…or differ in? Especially in a world that faces increased risk of natural disaster and financial crisis, it is essential to look at all entities in the world that may experience such situations. My thesis aims to study this gap in research–the role overseas territories have on the global stage–and understand what their differences are when it comes to response capabilities, government robustness, and their ability to interact with other players on the global, national, and regional scale. I will dive into the question of “How do sovereignty provisions across various overseas territories impact three Caribbean overseas territories and one sovereign state’s disaster recovery and reconstruction capabilities during the 2017 Hurricane Season?” in order to narrow down the many ways territories and states relate. I want to see what happens when push comes to shove and hone in on how territories are endowed for disaster recovery and resilience. This approach will allow me to see a wider variety of government responses, multilateral interactions, and the relations overseas territories can and cannot participate in or benefit from. 

Thesis Title: Conservatism Without Constraint: Executive Power, Moral Authority, and the Mandate for Leadership

Thesis Advisor: Professor Jennifer Burns 

Thesis Title: Universal Healthcare Access and Perception in Cambodia

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Karen Eggleston

Abstract:  Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Cambodia’s evolving health system—still in its formative stages following decades of conflict and reconstruction—represent a critical nexus for examining equitable access to care. This community-engaged study examines healthcare-seeking behaviors and access disparities through direct engagement with patients, community leaders, policymakers, and medical practitioners, with particular attention to disparities shaped by geography, income, and institutional trust. Drawing on in-country fieldwork, the research combines grounded qualitative insights with analysis of national health policy documents and archival materials. By centering community perspectives, this study highlights how local understandings of care interact with national reforms, contributing to broader debates on global health governance, equity, and the localization of UHC frameworks.

Thesis Title: Engineering a Muslim State: The Politics of Selective Inclusion and Exclusion in Malaysia

Thesis Advisor: Professor David Cohen

Abstract: During the late 1970s through the 1990s in Sabah, Malaysia, a series of coordinated operations were carried out under Project IC, also known as “Project M” or “Project Mahathir.” The operation was embedded within a broader ideological and political project aligned with ketuanan Melayu (Malay dominance), aimed at reshaping Sabah’s electorate and altering the state’s ethno-religious balance in favor of Malay-Muslim political control. During this period, identity cards and citizenship documentation were systematically issued to tens of thousands of Muslim immigrants or non-Muslim migrants willing to convert to Islam. Census data indicate that Sabah’s Muslim population nearly doubled in proportional share, while the state’s total population increased by approximately 300 percent over the same period. Yet this selective “inclusion” occurred alongside the systematic denial of citizenship to individuals born in Sabah with generational ties and lifelong residence in the state.

 Although the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) formally concluded that Project IC had ended, this thesis explores whether the underlying political–demographic logic has not disappeared but has instead migrated into the judicial sphere. Official narratives present Project IC as a closed historical episode, yet contemporary citizenship in Sabah continues to exhibit three persistent features: highly inconsistent judicial outcomes across factually similar cases, rising levels of homegrown statelessness despite constitutional safeguards, and recurring judicial references to “foreign influx,” “illegal immigrants,” and “threats to sovereignty.”

This raises a deeper question that the thesis seeks to investigate: has the logic that once animated Project IC shifted from the administrative bureaucracy into the judiciary itself? Therefore, this thesis treats citizenship judgments as a site of inquiry, examining whether legal interpretation now reproduces the demographic and security concerns that animated Project IC. Additionally, it explores whether periods of judicial restrictiveness align temporally with electoral cycles, suggesting that citizenship adjudication may be responsive not only to law, but to political context. 

Thesis Title: The Influence of Political Rhetoric and Soft Power on the Rise of International Adoption

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Bertrand Patenaude

Thesis Title: The Taken: A Comparative Study of Criminal Structures, Victimization, and Violence in Mexico's Kidnapping Crisis 

Thesis Advisor: Professor Robert Crews 

Thesis Title: "Karen Nationalism: Perspectives on Self-Determination"

Thesis Advisor: Professor James Fearon

Thesis Title: On the “Right To Have Rights”: Supra-Legal Genealogies of the Statelessness Crisis in Assam, India

Thesis Advisors: Professor David Cohen, Professor Thomas Blom-Hansen, and Dr. Angana Chatterji 

Thesis Title: Housing Policies and Their Impact on Displacement & Housing Insecurity: A Comparative Study of London and Los Angeles.  

Thesis Advisor: Professor Jackleyn Hwang

Abstract: Using policies gathered from the Los Angeles Housing Elements and the London Plans, I will be investigating how housing policies impacted or alleviated social phenomena such as gentrification, housing unaffordability, and displacement. Policies will include those that promote more equitable and affordable housing, and those that support more private development and incentives. There will also be an assessment of how the two cities responded to these dynamics and consequences.