2003-04 Mershon Center Research Projects
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Item Summer Institute in Political Psychology (SIPP)(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Brewer, Marilynn B., 1942-; Herrmann, RichardFor the past twelve years, the Ohio State University has organized a Summer Institute in Political Psychology (SIPP) in conjunction with the International Society of Political Psychology. Each morning, a member of SIPP’s guest faculty will present his or her current research. This is not necessarily just a lecture; it is an opportunity to learn about ongoing study in political psychology, learn cutting-edge methodologies and explore substantive and professional issues in this work. Each session allows for Q and A and substantial intellectual exchanges among faulty and students.Item Ending the Cold War(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Lebow, Richard Ned; Herrmann, RichardThis Mershon Center project, headed by Richard Ned Lebow and Richard K. Herrmann, convened Cold War scholars for several conferences in the United States and in Russia between 1998 and 2000. The conference yielded research that has been published in Ending the Cold War: Interpretations, Causation and the Study of International Relations (2004, Palgrave McMillan).Item German Ostpolitik and the Soviet Union, 1970-1975(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Fink, CaroleThis project examines the bilateral relationship between West Germany and the Soviet Union in the period between the Moscow treaty and the Helsinki accords. Fink seeks to prove that Bonn’s active Ostpolitik towards the USSR established a crucial element in restructuring Cold War Europe, moving from two decades of military and political confrontation to two decades of continental détente and cooperation.Item International History Project(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Hahn, Peter; Lerner, MitchellThe International History Project seeks to explore the use of force and diplomacy in international relations, examine political and economic decision-making that affects war and peace, and study the impact of culture and identity on national security.Item The World Crisis, 1618-1683(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Parker, GeoffreyThe mid-17th-century World Crisis – the series of violent economic, social, intellectual and political upheavals that afflicted most regions of this planet between 1618 and 1683 – cries out for systematic study. Coincidence cannot explain so many simultaneous eruptions of violence and revolution around the globe: what, then, were its causes and why did it affect some areas far more than others? My explanation involves a combination of five factors: a sudden episode of “global cooling”; the emergence of vulnerable areas of economic specialization; a sharp increase in religious and fiscal pressure by many (but not all) governments; the crumbling of the prevailing demographic regime; and the emergence of radical new ideologies. The interplay of these five elements produced major crises worldwide.Item Interurban Competition in the Global Economy(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Malecki, EdwardThis research seeks to understand the implications of interurban competition for international and national stability and instability. The scope includes, first, the interrelationships and spatial structures of interconnected networks, including networks of knowledge and innovation and, second, the relative roles of hard networks, such as infrastructure, and of soft networks, or the networks of human interaction.Item Conflict Carrying Capacity and the Early Warning of Civil Violence(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Jenkins, J. Craig; Taylor, Charles LewisThis project addresses the institutional management of intergroup conflict as well as questions of ethnic conflict and their impact on U.S. and global security. It will evaluate a formal model of conflict carrying capacity conceptualized as the ability of states to regulate intense civil conflicts without resort to significant violence.Item The Etiology of Terror(2004) Crenshaw, Edward; Jenkins, J. CraigThe project initiates a research program to sort out the various explanations of international terrorism by creating a cross-national analysis of national participation in international terrorism from 1990-2001.Item The Cultural Politics of Homeland Security: Negotiating Muslim Identities After Sept. 11(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Kwan, Mei-PoThis project is motivated by the premise that the experience of the Muslims in the U.S. after 9/11 can profoundly affect the effectiveness of U.S. homeland security policies and measures in the long run. The project seeks to understand how Muslim identities are negotiated in the especially hostile environment in the U.S. after 9/11, and how individual and community predicaments involved in such negotiations can be destabilizing without being properly understood and addressed at the level of national politics.Item Problem Representation and the Israeli-Palestinian and Northern Ireland Conflicts(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Sylvan, Don; Grove, AndreaThis project is a two-part study, and the first phase of this project produced an article that is presently under review at a journal. That article includes striking results concerning the relationship between problem representation and conflict in the Middle East and Northern Ireland. The second part of this study will continue to investigate the phenomenon of leaders representing intergroup relationships differently to disparate audiences.Item Presidential-Congressional Conflict in Domestic and Foreign Policymaking: A Fresh Approach to its Measurement and Explanation(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Mughan, AnthonyPresidential-congressional conflict is the leitmotif of American government. Historically, however, a congressional tradition of bipartisanship in foreign policymaking has meant that conflict has been far more characteristic of domestic policy debate. In the contemporary era, however, the erosion of bipartisanship, the prevalence of divided government and the increasing divisiveness of a number of overseas commitments have meant that foreign policy decisions in particular have become more controversial in Washington DC. Surprisingly, however, very little is known about the short-term dynamics of congressional-presidential conflict in either policy sphere. A good part of the reason is that nobody has produced a measure that, one, picks up short-term variation in the incidence and intensity of conflict between the two branches of government and, two, that can be used to sketch the pattern of similarities and differences in the character of foreign as opposed to domestic policy conflict. Content analyzing newspaper articles, this project proposes such a measure and investigates its relationship to, amongst other things, public opinion, economic performance and overseas involvement.Item Modeling Franco-German Relations in the Postwar Era(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Verdier, DanielA central question is how and when can states create international institutions to avoid resorting to war. A stated purpose of European integration after the war was to preserve peace between France and Germany. It is not clear, however, what institutional features of European integration were designed to achieve this goal. Using game theory, Verdier will explore three distinct ways of modeling the problem and identify the aspects of the known historical reality that are captured by each model.Item Identity Formation in the Arab World(2004) Ferris, Lesley; Ziter, Edward; Zeidan, Joseph; Thompson, JeanineA quarter-long program will examine identity formation in the Arab world within the performing and visual arts. "Identity Formation in the Arab World" brings together theatre and film practitioners and theorists working in a range of Arab countries, as well as US scholars and artists whose work intersects issues of linguistic, cultural, and religious identity in the Middle East.Item Global Economic Change, International Conflict and Cooperation(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Pollins, BrianThis project covers the construction and testing of contending models of international cooperation, compliance, and conflict.Item Germany and the Middle East: A Cultural History, 900-2000(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Berman, NinaThis book-length study seeks to contribute to current discussions regarding the relationship of Europe/North America to the Middle East. Through an analysis of cultural material, the study explores the changing interaction between German-speaking and Middle Eastern states and empires, from the tenth century to the present day.Item Cashing In: The Political Economy of Constitutional Stability(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Frye, TimothyThis project explores the dynamics of presidential power in 20 postcommunist countries over the last decade. It asks: why have some presidents in the region expanded their powers dramatically, while others have not?Item Bargaining and Resource Allocation in Committees and Legislative Bodies: Theory and Experimental Evaluation(Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 2004) Kagel, JohnAllocation of scarce resources is a central activity of governments and a great number of international and national organizations, often creating conflict between different stakeholders in these organizations. Recent years have seen the development of game theoretic models designed to understand the bargaining process underlying these allocations, both in terms of their impact on economic efficiency and on the share of resources allocated to different stakeholders. Central to these models is the impact of institutional rules and relative bargaining power on the allocation of resources between competing factions. The present proposal is designed to fund experiments to investigate the predictions of these legislative bargaining models.Item Passport: Newsletter of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations 2003-2004(2004) Lerner, Mitchell; Hahn, PeterSince 1969, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Newsletter has provided a forum for the discussion of issues related to the practice of American diplomacy, while also presenting historians of U.S. foreign policy with a reliable source of professional information. In 2003, the newsletter was renamed Passport, and editorship passed to Peter Hahn and Mitch Lerner, with support from the Mershon Center. Passport’s purpose is: To print essays on substantive issues related to the study of American diplomacy, particularly those focusing on newly opened archival materials. To host debates among scholars. To offer detailed information regarding new publications, scholarly competitions and awards, calls for papers and contributions, and other relevant resources.