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- Creators: Kao, Mily
Description
The end of the Cold War brought global norms of democracy and a renewed notion of national self-determination. This paper seeks to understand the political and economic influence of the international community in the definition of national identity in the former Yugoslavia and in Chile at the end of the 1980s. This paper begins with a history of Bosnia-Herzegovina to provide context for the power shifts that occurred during the twentieth century. In this section I address the popular misconception of the root of the violence in the 1990s as due to “ancient hatreds” and offer several examples of primarily political and economic—not ethnic—differences. The next section further disproves this theory with a study of the fluctuating nature of identity. Existing on multiple planes and very much subject to social environment, this section explores the possibility and strategic appeal of identity manipulation to achieve political and economic expansionism. In an era marked by legitimacy earned through democratic support, political leaders used the media to manipulate popular conceptions of identity to promote cohesion through fear and pride. These themes are addressed in the section on the history of Chile, where national identity was formed to legitimize independence from Spain. As global economic markets grew more interdependent, people became unhappy with vulnerability to international shifts and demanded individual protections. Finally, the conclusion provides a brief analysis of the role of the media in reforming economic interests as identity politics. The susceptibility of identity to manipulation in the media, by both internal and external actors, sheds light on the potential fallibility of democracy as a liberal institution.
ContributorsSpencer, Hannah Elizabeth (Author) / Niebuhr, Robert (Thesis director) / Ripley, Charles (Committee member) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
During the 1950s, there were many events that defined the Asian Cold War. This academic thesis has set out to distinguish the reason for the Republic of China's continued survival on the island of Taiwan during the 1950s. All three crises provided the answer to the question why and how did the Republic of China survive on Taiwan. The Korean War conflict could have expanded into a global war if the United States 7th Fleet had not intervened. The First Taiwan Strait Crisis from 1954-1955 was an attempt by the People's Republic of China to enter formal diplomatic negotiations with the United States. The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1958 was similar to the First Taiwan Strait Crisis in which the united States government contemplated the use of nuclear weapons to deter Chinese communists Both crises had Taiwan's sovereignty protected. The answer provided from each crisis stated that is was American military and diplomatic presence in the region. If the United States 7th Fleet were not ordered to deter the Chinese communists in the Taiwan Straits, then the Republic of China would have been lost.
ContributorsZapolski-Bialek, Sebastian (Author) / Rush, James (Thesis director) / Wang, Ning (Committee member) / Kao, Mily (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2012-05