In dit onderzoek is antwoord gegeven op de volgende vraag: Welke rol speelde William Howard Russell in de diplomatieke strijd tussen het Noorden en het Zuiden ten aanzien van Groot-Brittannië...Show moreIn dit onderzoek is antwoord gegeven op de volgende vraag: Welke rol speelde William Howard Russell in de diplomatieke strijd tussen het Noorden en het Zuiden ten aanzien van Groot-Brittannië tijdens zijn verblijf in de Verenigde Staten in 1861-1862? En welk effect had dit op Russell's schrijven naar The London Times? Er is gebleken dat Russell zowel door het Noorden als het Zuiden werd gebruikt voor diplomatieke doeleinden in de hoop de publieke opinie in Groot-Brittannië te beïnvloeden. Het Noorden deed dit echter op een meer gestructureerde manier dan het Zuiden. Desondanks waren beide partijen niet succesvol in het beïnvloeden van Russell's schrijven naar The London Times.Show less
This thesis researched the struggle between national security and civil rights of Arabs, Muslims and Middle Easterners who have resided or have entered the United States after the 9/11 attacks. It...Show moreThis thesis researched the struggle between national security and civil rights of Arabs, Muslims and Middle Easterners who have resided or have entered the United States after the 9/11 attacks. It examines the USA Patriot Act and the National Security Exit Entry Registration System (NSEERS) closely.Show less
This thesis provides an answer to the question of how propaganda and narratives shaped by propaganda that originated from the U.S. federal government, unintentionally but inevitably, contributed to...Show moreThis thesis provides an answer to the question of how propaganda and narratives shaped by propaganda that originated from the U.S. federal government, unintentionally but inevitably, contributed to the group identity of Pedro Panes. Each of the three propaganda styles executed by the U.S. federal government - that is the glorification of the U.S., the condemnation of Cuba, and the propaganda that aimed to expedite the Pedro Panes' Americanization - are covered by a chapter.Show less
The United States has a history of mass shootings conducted with civilian firearms. This thesis answers how variations in state and federal gun legislation affect the occurrence of mass shootings...Show moreThe United States has a history of mass shootings conducted with civilian firearms. This thesis answers how variations in state and federal gun legislation affect the occurrence of mass shootings to understand what the possibilities are to resolve this issue. The statistical analysis that regresses the strictness of state gun control against the occurrence of mass shootings per state finds that there is no correlation between the variables and that state gun control is thus ineffective. We find support for this result and the ineffectiveness of current federal gun control measures in the legislative framework, legal loopholes, sheer abundance of guns, and in the underlying conditions of American gun culture and the normalization of mass shootings as a byproduct of gun rights.Show less
In the heart of the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic and Haiti occupy opposite ends of what before Columbus’s arrival in 1492 was known as Quizqueia. What has become a sun-drenched destination for...Show moreIn the heart of the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic and Haiti occupy opposite ends of what before Columbus’s arrival in 1492 was known as Quizqueia. What has become a sun-drenched destination for globetrotting travelers, news of the harsh human rights violations in the capital and the border areas mostly goes unnoticed by many. The current humanitarian crisis is the result of a deep-rooted historical and cultural conflict pestering the two island nations ever since the arrival of the European conquistadores. The vast majority of subsequent Dominican and Haitian recorded history has been characterized by foreign domination, political turbulence and chaos-inflicting dictatorships. The native peoples of the Arawak and Taíno tribes were soon decimated by Spanish colonization and its coercive implications. Populated mainly by Spanish and French colonists and later African slaves, colonial era struggles and territory disputes have developed into nearly constant conflict between Dominican and Haitian governments. In recent years, they have culminated in a controversial Dominican Constitutional Court ruling essentially stripping citizenship from all immigrants born to undocumented parents since 1929. As a result, four generations of supposed illegal Haitian and Dominican-born Haitian immigrants are left in a worrisome legal limbo. Apart from transportation to the newly built “Welcome Centers” in the border areas, these stateless people are left in social isolation without any rights and have to fear forcible removals that take place on a constant and ongoing basis (Abiu Lopez n.p.). Amnesty International, the UN Human Rights Council and online petitions call for international intervention in stopping arbitrary deportation and racial profiling (Mathurin n.p.). More specifically, pressure is put on the U.S. government to employ its hegemonic influence to alleviate the tense political and social situation in its Caribbean backyard. Those requesting Washington’s support seem to forget its controversial role in a not so distant past. Mostly through political and economic relations, the White House has employed a vast array of foreign policy measures towards the Dominican Republic and Haiti. One of these was having the back of what may have been one of the most murderous dictators of the Americas. The U.S. both publicly and privately supported the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo throughout the Eisenhower and Kennedy administration until 1961, who developed a nationalist idea of antihaitianismo: a policy of racial discrimination and prosecution towards black inhabitants. Vestiges of this institutionalization of anti-Haitian sentiment still remain in today’s Dominican political culture and greatly backfire on the humanitarian crisis at hand.Show less
The environmental movement in the United States has been critical in tackling environmental issues and raising public awareness for these issues. This thesis considers the period between 1990 and...Show moreThe environmental movement in the United States has been critical in tackling environmental issues and raising public awareness for these issues. This thesis considers the period between 1990 and 2001, in which the environmental movement in the United States experienced a decline in influence, and researches the main factors that contributed to this decay. A decline in public support and legislative successes to tackle environmental issues combined with a disruptive movement structure show to have caused this decay.Show less
