IR Honors Students

Photo of Nicholas

Nicolas Shump

Cohort: 2015

I am looking at a small number of guestworker programs, including Bracero for the United States, Gastarbeiter for Germany, and the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program for Canada, to see whether this type of immigration policy effectively meets its goals. My main focuses for that measurement will be illegal immigration flows from the "sending" countries formally involved in the programs, economic well-being for "host" country citizens doing the same jobs as the guestworkers, and economic benefits for the "sending" countries. By looking at these cases, I hope to get an understanding of whether a guestworker program can actually be a viable immigration policy.

 

Thesis:

Shump, Nicolas. (2015). Guest Worker Programs and Immigration.
Stanford Digital Repository. Available HERE

Natalya Thakur

Natalya Thakur

Cohort: 2015

My thesis seeks to explore the question: how do non-profit organizations that seek to make social change, through user investment in physical and human capital, affect the socio-economic status of their target audience?

My theory is, if a non-profit has a higher level of user investment, which includes investing in physical and human capital, the target audience (recipients) will obtain a healthier and elevated socioeconomic status. In addition to physical capital, which provides monetary and material resource support, investing in human capital is key to helping achieve skillsets that help raise an individual’s socioeconomic status. Without the addition of human capital investments, physical capital has a temporary longevity and does not usually provide sustainability of economic opportunities. When investments in human skills are made in conjunction with physical resources, the chances of steep economic development are increased because the skills can be transferred and replicated by many people over time, without any sort of expiration date. Understandably there are structural issues with the economic progress of developing countries, however skills within business or leadership, for example, can lead to better sources of income, better educational opportunities, better health, and a better lifestyle. I will be exploring my theory through a literature review, case studies of different non-profits, interviews with target audience members, and an ethics section.

 

Thesis:

Thakur, Natalya. (2015). Charity Work Abroad and the Unintended Democratic Deficit
Stanford Digital Repository. Available HERE

Photo of Natasha

Natasha Weaser

Cohort: 2015

My thesis will explore one of most important but least understood bilateral relationships of the 21st century: China and Saudi Arabia. While oil is undoubtedly the key driver of the relationship, the frequency and high-level nature of Sino-Saudi Arabia state visits since 2006 prompts the question of whether a partnership traditionally defined by energy is now one with a strategic-political dimension. By combining statistical analysis, current literature, and interviews across academia, business and government, I hope to construct a more nuanced picture of the relationship and assess its implications on international relations.

 

Thesis:

Weaser, Natasha. (2015). Evolution of the Sino-Saudi Relationship: Oil Partnership or Geopolitical Alliance?
Stanford Digital Repository. Available here.

Harry Doshay

Harry Doshay

Cohort: 2014

My honors thesis attempts to explore why certain regions in pre-Modern China contributed greater numbers of individuals to the bureaucracy.  By examining the origins of high level graduates of the civil service examination system, I hope to uncover how certain regions rose to prominence within the Chinese bureaucracy.  In better understanding how the Chinese bureaucracy selected its officials, my thesis looks to help understand how autocracies create and use their bureaucracies to create stability.

Amanda  McFarlane

Amanda McFarlane

Cohort: 2014

My thesis evaluates the political movement to change Jamaica’s official language from English to English and Patois. This movement involves language politics that were shaped during British occupation but continue to dictate prejudices against speaking Patois because of its association with poor, African slaves. However, language attitudes on the island have begun to evolve as people begin to publicly speak Patois, irrespective of their social class. These changing customs fuel the official language change debate in the country. My research inquires about the interest groups propelling the debate from 2000 to 2013 and triangulates three sets of data to analyze the movement’s progression. I am evaluating interviews I conducted over the summer in Kingston, using the program R to analyze the results of a language survey administered by the University of the West Indies, and conducting an in-text coded analysis of published newspaper articles discussing the issue. Jamaica’s situation is valuable to understand because it signals the political deficiencies that result from conflicting languages between the government and its people. The debate targets this issue, as factions fervently propose various solutions to this predicament.

Nina Papachristou

Nina Papachristou

Cohort: 2014

Laws and administrative bureaucracies like that of the U.S. asylum system must apply across broad groups, yet they are experienced in an individually specific way. I study the bureaucracy of the asylum system and what explains the difference between the formal rules of the asylum application process and the individual experience of applicants. I argue that the bureaucracy's institutionalized rules and processes undermine the goal of protecting asylum seekers, and that an asylum applicant who works with lawyers from a community-based service provider will have a speedier, more efficient and less traumatic application process. My data includes large-N data from the federal government and UNHCR on yearly trends among asylum seekers, and qualitative interviews with West African asylum applicants and their pro bono lawyers in New York City. My thesis attempts to humanize the law by looking at complex rules and explaining the motivations behind them, and the bureaucrats who implement them -- and how they can do better to protect vulnerable asylum seekers.

Claudia Thieme

Cohort: 2014

Policymakers bemoan the tax planning strategies of large tech giants such as Google and Apple.  As we evolve towards an increasingly digital economy, with a rise of firms that are heavy in intangible assets, multinational firms can more easily shift income to low tax jurisdictions.  Business and politics have evolved at an asymmetric pace. Our new commercial reality sees corporations as increasingly stateless entities, causing the nation-state to lag behind in its capacity to enforce the rules to govern a global economy.  In light of this timely policy issue, I explore this phenomenon by identifying what factors allow multinational firms to pay lower effective taxes.  I research whether capital intensity, extent of foreign operations, political influence, and size of the firm allow firms to better avoid taxes.  As the US faces a national debt of over $12 trillion, this issue has become increasingly pressing and reflects the need for reform in the obsolete US tax code.

Andrea Sarahi Zaldumbide

Andrea Sarahi Zaldumbide

Cohort: 2014

As U.S. policymakers confront an ever-evolving international landscape and face pressing foreign policy decisions, what lessons can they draw from U.S. foreign relations history? Specifically, what can Cold War history elucidate about influences on policy? My honors thesis focuses on U.S. interventionist policies in Latin America during the Cold War. Throughout this period in American history, presidential administrations authorized covert intervention policies aimed at toppling Latin American governments. Declassified government documents show that policymakers cited the threat of Soviet involvement in Latin America as the reason for intervention, but the question is whether this threat was real or perceived. My thesis aims to assess the influence of ideas about Soviet threat in Latin America compared to facts about Soviet-Latin America relations. I argue that an ideology of perceived Soviet threat developed as a result of the Cold War, existed in the circles of policy elites, and prompted presidential administrations to adopt similar policies against three Latin American
governments: Guatemala in 1954, Cuba from 1960-1962, and Chile in 1973. My research intends to contribute to the understanding of the causes behind
U.S. behavior toward Latin America during the Cold War. Moreover, it seeks to present a case for how one factor, the idea of Soviet threat, caused American policymakers to consider covert intervention as vital to the safety of the United States.

Arielle Humphries

Arielle Humphries

Cohort: 2013

My honors thesis examines the question: to what extent do international courts contribute to post-conflict justice for women? This project began with an interest in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 in which an estimated 20,000 women were raped as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has made many important advances in the prosecution of crimes of sexual violence during this conflict, but the small number of convictions raises the question of whether the international tribunal is a largely symbolic gesture. My research will thus examine the extent to which international courts do contribute to justice for women through a case-study comparison amongst post-conflict situations in which mass rape occurred since 1990.

Aharon Kaslow

Aharon Kaslow

Cohort: 2013

Indigenous communities appear to face challenges when integrating themselves into contemporary global economies. This is puzzling as they often share characteristics that are attractive to foreign direct investment (FDI): one of three primary international economic activities - the other two being import/exports and licensing. Typical characteristics of indigenous communities include competitively priced labor and access to natural resources and primary goods. With these qualities that are attractive to FDI, the goal of my research is to uncover the primary reason why foreign capital seems to pass over investment opportunities in indigenous communities. Hopefully, these findings will clarify both how indigenous communities should plan their economic development as well as the nuances of FDI.