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In Steinmetz Symposium

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which the Chinese have expanded their global presence in the international system through the implementation of their "going global" strategy dubbed "The Belt and Road Initiative." In particular, the BRI utilizes Chinese established banks, political institutions, and new alliance networks to recreate the global economic trading cycle with an Eastern orientation. In establishing a complex network of trade systems across the globe, the Chinese have increased their global presence and have stimulated heightened national growth by increasing the extent to which under developed nations increasingly turn to the Chinese for help in developing infrastructural networks and transforming national institutions with the hope of solving important widespread problems within their countries. As this paper argues, however, the BRI has allowed Chinese entrepreneurs, state owned enterprises, and private businesses with the ability to increase the extent to which Chinese goods and services have flooded foreign markets. In doing so, the Chinese have grown their global brand and continue to dominate the political and economic networks of numerous regions across the globe. This paper analyzes a specific element of this new strategy, primarily the implementation of Special Economic Zones in Africa, which are essentially enclave spaces for Chinese companies to operate out of themselves in these foreign nations. This paper ultimately analyzes the ways that this new BRI has the potential to alter the nature and characteristics of the international order and discusses the challenges that American leaders now face as a result of renewed Chinese global power.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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The technological industry and the large portion of the global economy that it encompasses, have relied heavily on the production and innovation of semiconductors. Once a crude sketch in the minds of a few, Jack Kilby, most famously, the semiconductor is present in the vast majority of products and has proved to make some individuals and companies rich and successful beyond their wildest dreams. The first part of this paper will discuss the history of the semiconductor, how it functions, and has improved over the years. The second part will discuss four of the major players in this industry and the successful strategies they used in regard to semiconductor production and the establishment of alliances and business deals, to maximize profits and grow exponentially.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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Spending three weeks in Ghana, opened my eyes to the realities of healthcare in a developing country, and the intersections of engineering and health. By volunteering at local clinics, providing basic health checks for teachers, educating students about dental hygiene and shadowing in a hospital I was further motivated to pursue a carrear in healthcare and specifically in indigent communities.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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This paper examines the development of Taiwan's semiconductor industry and the differing narratives on the factors contributing to the industry's success. The paper argues that both State-led policies and public institutions, as well as the experience and networks of returnee entrepreneurs, together facilitated the development of Taiwan's semiconductor industry, specifically the pureplay-foundry. Significantly, we argue that State-led policies were often tailored to attract the human capital as well as financial capital these returnees possessed and then incorporate their technical skills, managerial know-how, and knowledge of industry trends within State institutions. This paper analyzes specific State policies and inputs, like the financial system, that impact the development trajectories of Taiwan's domestic semiconductor firms. We then turn our analysis towards the backgrounds of key returnee individuals and their contributions both within State institutions, as well as their contributions as leaders within Taiwan's private semiconductor firms. Ultimately, we found that non-State origin pureplay-foundry firms tend to maintain a higher degree of R&D and specialization than State origin firms. However, State origin firms like TSMC and UMC are the largest semiconductor foundry firms in Taiwan and therefore have less need to continuously find niches in the division of labor and instead maintain a focus on achieving greater economies of scale.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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How much longer can the United States remain the only developed country without universal health insurance? If the U.S. could build a new healthcare system from scratch, what would it look like? The Democratic presidential candidates vying for the nomination in 2020 have released plans to bring the nation closer to universal coverage. Through the analysis of their proposed actions, plan feasibility, and expected impact, three types of plans will be evaluated within the context of the United States. Which plan is best-Medicare for All, a public option, or business-as-usual?

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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This oral presentation is on my three weeks spent on the island of San Pedro, Belize in order to complete a Public Health Klemm fellowship. Each week, I traveled to various areas on the island and watched the demographic and linguistic differences between each. The national language is English, though a large majority of the population speaks Spanish and Belizean Creole. Belize faces an abnormally high rate of high blood pressure, diseases, heart disease, and obesity for such a small population. These diseases frequently go undetected due to the lack of healthcare resources. For example, on the island of San Pedro there are no hospitals, simply one "polyclinic." There, you could wait hours to be seen and face unreasonably high fees, so the citizens cannot visit for a simple check-up. At daily mobile clinics, I offered free blood sugar, blood pressure, height, and weight checks for anyone who visited. Outside of the clinic, I offered a hygiene class to a local primary school and spent hours chatting with my host family.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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The technology and culture of the United States has led to the virtually complete medicalization of childbirth. As a midwifery student through the Klemm Fellowship, I worked with midwives and general practitioners to witness a completely different way of providing care to women and newborns in Cusco, Peru. I furthered both my medical and Spanish skills by observing live births, helping conduct ultrasounds, rounding with the doctors and nurses, and aiding in pre and post natal consults. When not in the government clinic, I furthered my cultural understanding and language skills by volunteering at neighboring villages, touring the city, taking salsa classes, and visiting historic sites. I exchanged knowledge and culture with my host sisters over traditional Peruvian dishes and discussed differences between American and Peruvian life with my host mother. After my three-week experience, I have gotten a glimpse of how Peruvian societal structure, religion, perspective of medicine, and physical environment gave rise to and maintained the art of midwifery.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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During the month of December, I traveled on a Klemm medical internship to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Immersing myself in this unique Asian country, I learned a lot about its medical system and culture. As a developing country, Mongolia has a much different health care system than the one seen in the U.S. It was amazing to learn about it while also making an impact. My favorite part was the community outreach: I delivered free medical care (taking vital signs and providing medications) to homeless individuals in Ulaanbaatar. The cultural experience is one that I will never forget. Living with a host family for three weeks and learning the Mongolian language, I truly felt like a "Mongolian" during my stay. My host family (mom, dad, and sister) were very welcoming and taught me a lot about their customs, traditions, and lifestyle. In addition, my Mongolian language teacher was supportive and encouraging, and her lessons were pivotal to my success in navigating the public transportation system, ordering food, and having conversations with the local people. Lastly, traveling to the countryside, I enjoyed living the life of a nomad: riding a horse and staying in a ger. This trip was a magical one, and I will forever cherish the memories I made.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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I helped to teach English to students in Andasibe, Madagascar as an intern with Projects Abroad through the Klemm Fellowship. During my three weeks with the students and teachers in this small village I learned about Malagasy culture, language, and attitudes towards education. I took French lessons from a local teacher, and picked up on some Malgasy. As I used this vocabulary in school, I built a stronger rapport with the students and provided improved instruction to my students. As I was teaching, I built on these connections to learn more about life and education in Madagascar. After watching teachers instruct packed classrooms, using only a blackboard and chalk, I gained an immense respect for the resilience of the Andasibe community. For fun, I explored the village and the beautiful surrounding forests, spent time with other volunteers from around the world, and even got to visit a local park to see lemurs. Madagascar is one of the poorest nations in the world, but it is rich in biodiversity, incredible people, and culture. As I contributed to the English teaching program in Madagascar, I learned to be a better teacher and communicator, and to appreciate the determination of the Malagasy students that I was fortunate enough to work with.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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The magical coral reefs of the Fiji Islands became my classroom for 3 weeks. Scuba diving with sharks, rays, turtles, and fish, I conducted survey research in Pacific Harbour, Fiji through the Klemm Fellowship. Working alongside local shark researchers and volunteers from around the world, I collected data on shark and fish populations to inform conservation policies. Shark populations are declining globally, largely due to overfishing and the fin trade. As one of the top predators in the food chain, sharks maintain a critical role in the marine ecosystem. The goal of this project is to generate quality data on the shark populations in Fiji, and to increase shark awareness in local communities. Through surveying and tagging sharks, restoring mangrove habitats, and working with local villagers, I learned how conservation is an intersectional team effort - intertwined in community, culture, education, and values. In the process, I learned how to breathe underwater, cook a traditional Fijian Lovo, made friends from all over the world, swam alongside bull sharks, surfed, shifted my perspectives, and overcame a lot of fears.... and diarrhea! The wonders of traveling. Join me in this fun discussion on my wild Fiji experience.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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My oral presentation will be on the three weeks I spent in Cape Town, South Africa on a Law and Human Rights internship for my Klemm Fellowship. Cape Town has a high population of refugees that comes from neighboring countries, with many seeking asylums. In addition, South Africa has one of the highest rates of gender violence. For two weeks, I worked at the Projects Abroad Human Rights Office. Twice a week we went into different townships and provided pro-bono legal aid for the community members who cannot afford lawyers. In addition, we also visited detention centers for juveniles. On Monday we visited the female detention center which was broken up into the criminal girls and the care girls. On Wednesdays, we visited the male detention center which was broken into 4 categories and provided fun or education workshops to keep them engaged. The country's history with apartheid definitely has lingering effects that are witnessed when entering in different areas. On my time off, I hung out with my host family as well as the other volunteers and the supervisors as they showed me the best Cape Town has to offer.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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A necessary condition for democracy is the ability for citizens to be heard. The way by which this is done is through electing officials that represent a diverse set of beliefs and values. The mechanism by doing this is through elections. At a quick glance, elections appear to play a minor role in democracy. But in fact, the foundations of elections are essential to our understanding of American democracy. It is assumed that the implementation of an electoral system is sufficient for American democracy. Diving deeper into the complexities of election systems provides evidence for benchmarks that prevent elections from representing democratic values. It holds true that elected officials rely on democratic elections to legitimize their role in government. Perceptions of democracy are in fact affected by the fragilities of the electoral process. When it all goes right, democracy appears to be protected to the perspective of citizens. The odds of an election going off without a hitch is one in a million. The aspects of elections that are most worrisome to experts as well as the public are accuracy and reliability. Past elections have shown that accuracy and reliability are issues of election technology and the failure of these aspects puts the United States' democratic processes at risk. I argue that as of today, election officials and scholars are at a tossup. They cannot foresee any way to advance technology without risking or compromising on the accuracy and reliability of elections. This poses significant challenges because for elections to be accessible to all, technological advances are needed to accommodate those with disabilities, the elderly, and the fact that voters are busy and expect an easy, seamless process when they reach the polls. There are many factors that affect the implementation and advancement of voting technology. Previous research has provided evidence that the racial composition of counties affect the ability of election administrations to advance to new technologies. This thesis aims to further explore the issues of election technology and their role in defining democracy by analyzing different aspects of election administration and by focusing the role race plays in the advancement of voting technology.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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For decades, concerns over a rise of a powerful China have dominated mainstream media. China's unprecedented economic ascent, growing voice in global decisions, and publicized industrial plans like Made in China 2025, have propelled the nation to the center of the world stage. In my thesis, I break down this subject to examine how China is attempting to increase its structural power and create new interdependencies through the buildup of certain networked technologies. Guided by foundational international political economy literature regarding structural power and interdependence, I explore the implications of two technological advancements: China's digital yuan (DCEP), and the BeiDou satellite system on global interdependency structures. Although faced with limitations regarding international buy-in, China's use of both the BeiDou satellite system and the DCEP systems poses credible threats to the postwar power systems dominated by the United States and could redistribute global power.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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The main goal of this project was to develop a sanitary electrical system that could provide consistent, high quality, cold therapy treatment to consecutive users to cut down on the reliance on single-use plastic ice packs. In order to achieve this, we first got in contact with Cheryl Rockwood, the head athletic trainer at Union College, to help us determine a set design requirements that would need to be met in order for such a device to be practical. We developed a list of design requirements including: reaching and maintaining temperatures between 40 and 50oF in under 5 minutes over a 180o to 360o area, consistently running 10 to 15 minute treatments over a 3 hour duration, being easy and quick to clean, have an easy to use interface, fit in a 2 cubic foot area, and cost under $1500. From this we researched existing products already on the market and brainstormed several design alternatives. In the end we decided to go with thermoelectric cooling modules, known as Peltier coolers, which would enable us to control the temperature electrically. We designed a system which was broken into two parts. The first was a sleeve made from a gel pack that contained the Peltier units to provide the cooling, copper bars to distribute the temperature, and thermistors to monitor the temperature. The second part of the device was a case that contained the drivers to control the peltiers, the circuit to read the thermistors, the Raspberry Pi as the control, with a touch screen attached, and the power supply to run everything. After constructing and testing the completed system, we found that the system satisfied the majority of its requirements. The system only fell short in that only one of the subsystems was able to reach a temperature of 45oF, while the other could only reach 50oF, and that it was not able to achieve coverage of 180o around a treatment area. This said, given more time these issues could have been addressed. Overall, the device that we designed could be a viable alternative to plastic ice packs to provide cold therapy treatment.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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The Galapagos Islands have a rich heritage as the birthplace of the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin in 1835. Today, the islands act as a hub for ecotourism, where people from all around the world visit to learn more about the history of the islands and their endemic fauna and flora. As a result, it is vital that we protect the fragile island ecosystems from anthropogenic contamination, invasive species, and species extinction. In December of 2019, through the Klemm Fellowship, I spent three weeks volunteering on the islands to combat these pervasive issues with the National Park Service of Ecuador and Projects Abroad. With machete-use, trash cleanups, species monitoring, and cultural immersion, I gained a multimodal understanding of the Galapagos Islands in a holistic manner.; I spent 3 weeks working full-time with the National Park rangers and authorities to participate in various conservation and animal monitoring activities on San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos. Every other day, I went to the Galapaguera, the Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre, where I would feed and care for the giant tortoises, as the national government worked to restore their populations. Invasive and exotic plants and animals act as major barriers to endemic specie population expansion. Given this, I also spent time eliminating and controlling introduced plants and rat populations to help create habitats in which endemic species, such as the giant tortoises and petrel birds, would be able to sustain their populations. Beginning at sunrise, I would walk along the island beaches to monitor fluctuations in sea lion population characteristics. Other activities included working in plant nurseries to assist restoring native vegetation, completing marine iguana surveys, cleaning the coastal beaches, and monitoring the petrel bird nests. Aside from the conservation work, I enjoyed the Ecuadorian cuisine, practicing my Spanish, and meeting other international volunteers who shared the same passion for maintaining and caring for the environment.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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This presentation takes you through my Human Rights Project in Accra, Ghana through the Klemm Fellowship. For three weeks, I was able to immerse myself in a culture and learn what liberty and justice looks like across the world. My internship consisted of meeting with community leaders and discussing topics on domestic violence, children's rights, LBTG+ rights, and politics in Ghana. Join me in this presentation where I will cover more on my internship while also discussing social justice, volunteering, family life, food and so much more.

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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Technology has played an immense role in the evolution of healthcare delivery for the United States and on an international scale. Today, perhaps no innovation offers more potential than artificial intelligence. Utilizing machine intelligence as opposed to human intelligence for the purposes of planning, offering solutions, and providing insights, AI has the ability to alter traditional dynamics between doctors, patients, and administrators; this reality is now producing both elation at artificial intelligence's medical promise and uncertainty regarding its capacity in current systems. Nevertheless, current trends reveal that interest in AI among healthcare stakeholders is continuously increasing, and with the current COVID-19 pandemic highlighting institutional flaws, it is reasonable to assume that many industry changes proposed by artificial intelligence will be further considered in the coming years. Therefore, this research aims to assess the changes proposed by AI and how they might impact relations between doctors, patients, administrators, and other relevant parties. It ultimately finds that the U.S. cannot certify artificial intelligence as its definitive future for healthcare, nor should it overlook other viable options to better health services, so long as a firm definition of AI is not clarified and the understructure of the American healthcare system - mainly represented through electronic health records - lingers behind those achieved in Europe and Asia. The research culminates in recommendations for addressing barriers to achieving healthcare AI so that, if AI tools can one day integrate into medical practices, an optimal relationship may flourish between technology and healthcare.

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DigitalDocument

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In Steinmetz Symposium

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The formulation and subsequent implementation of China's 2015 military modernization campaign has shifted the relative balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. Namely, developments in applied technological research, increased information-sharing and collaboration between public and private enterprises, and state-funded and -directed investment vehicles have allowed the People's Republic of China to make tremendous advancements in modern conventional and non-conventional capabilities. Central to its military modernization is Beijing's Military-Civil Fusion Strategy (MCFS). But government-led efforts to acquire and repurpose the fruits of competitive, innovative, and private firms are not unique to China. In the United States, Civil-Military Integration (CMI) serves as an inspiration, if not a foundation, for the PRC's contemporary MCFS. Israeli and Japanese initiatives have been modeled after as well. While many writers on the topic have focused on MCF processes in China, offered recommendations for the US Government to take so as to not contribute to the ongoing state-led program, and detailed case studies of MCF in action, little attention has been placed on understanding how MCFS and CMI in the PRC and US, respectively, are similar and different. Although critical to understand how MCF takes shape in China and what effective policy responses may be at USG's disposal, understanding the nuance in both countries can offer us unique insight into understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each system, such as strategic and nascent supply chain and bottleneck vulnerabilities, innovation-driving public-private partnerships, which can offer further detailed options for protecting American national security and integrity of American technology. This study also seeks to identify the more productive and effective elements of each framework in a comparative perspective between the US and PRC. This, in turn, can provide lawmakers with additional options to consider for policy implementation or amendment within the United States, as well as more accurately understanding how the Chinese regulatory environment, party-state apparatus, and quasi-private non-defense industrial and technology base undergird MCF and advance Beijing's national interests.

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In Honors Theses

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In Honors Theses

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Google's Android Operating System (OS) is open-source software available for public use. Several smartphone manufacturers (Original Equipment Manufacturers or OEMs) like Samsung and LG use and contribute to the Android Open-Source Project (AOSP). These contributions can be tracked using their commits to the AOSP, a public data set. This research will explore the relationship between a firm's or an OEM's contributions to AOSP and marketing a product based on the contribution type and date, which could ultimately contribute to the success of a phone model and the firm. These contributions to AOSP can be in the form of a firm's exploratory and exploitative learning, which can be related to the Time to Market (TTM) of a product, which would be a phone model in this research. I will use the mobile telecom data on Android commits (software contributions) to understand the difference between exploratory and exploitative learning of these Android OEMs. The dataset consists of the complete population of Android commits written by software engineers worldwide between 2008-2022 (approximately 16 million observations), which Prof. Dallas and his colleagues have collected over a period. Because Android is open source, this is free and open for public use. The data set highlights some handset (mobile phone) companies contributing to Android and to which release (different releases of Android), and how quickly they come up with a handset (or phone) after the new version is released that version of the Android OS. I will be re- searching the time and type (exploratory or exploitative) of these contributions and exploring what affects their TTM. This research could potentially lead to discovering strategic management techniques and timed marketing in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry, focusing on firms that use and contribute to the Android OS.

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In Honors Theses

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The development of renewable wind energy in the United States is a capital intensive and costly venture, and is heavily dependent on economic subsidies and tax credits offered by the federal government. This study tests the effects these subsidies have on the costs of potential wind development when compared to development costs of traditional fossil-fuel based, natural gas electrical generation sources. In the study, models were constructed to determine the present value of cost for both the wind and natural gas generation sources under different conditions. Initial tests were done for the unsubsidized costs of a 500 megawatt installed wind project compared with a 500 megawatt combined cycle gas turbine, as these tests served as the baseline for the application of variables later in the study. These variables included applying a Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit to wind costs, as well applying a hypothetical carbon tax and fluctuating natural gas prices on the costs of the combined cycle gas turbine project. In conclusion, it was determined from the data produced in the models that the continued policy renewals of the aforementioned economic subsidies are necessary in order for the future economic viability of wind development in the United States. Barring the implementation of a policy such as the carbon tax presented in the study, the lack of these subsidies are too risky for guaranteed returns on large-scale investment in wind energy.

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In Honors Theses

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The extreme economic growth of the Republic of China is neither a new phenomenon nor a topic that has not been extensively examined, however, how this convergence of economic power between the United States and rising China translates to potential political power is an important area of discussion. The US has been forced to face a tumultuous beginning to the 21^st century. Characterized by unprecedented terrorist attacks, subsequent wars that have brought economic and moralistic costs, increasing domestic partisan division, and a questioning of what it is to be an American, it is an unthinkable reality following the 1991 downfall of the Soviet Union, and a perceived new era of American exceptionalism. No longer can the US act with impunity around the world, using its relative wealth and influence to project its opinions and desires to any country it deems to be acting contrary to its interests. China, in many measurements, is now an economically more powerful country than the US, with a population more than four times the size, and a unity and purpose surrounding the Chinese Communist Party government. In economic and demographic measures then, it may seem that China has the advantage. However, does this economic capital translate into the hegemonic role the US has occupied since the end of the Second World War? This thesis uses historical interpretations, political and economic theories, as well as economic regression and analysis, to make a judgment on the traditional portrayal of the US as a hegemonic power, and the potential usurpation of this role by a resurgent China. The paper finds an important relationship between Chinese GDP growth and trade, relative to the US, and discusses the integration of both the US and China within international institutions made in the image of the West. Moreover, there is an exploration of different interpretations of hegemony, as well as an assessment of hegemony in the 21^st century. This includes a debate on likely future scenarios surrounding both countries and the international landscape, before making a conclusion on how hegemony can be judged in the present day, involving the US and China as semi-hegemonic powers, potentially limited by a hegemonic system now outside of their control.

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In Honors Theses

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Sino-African relations will continue to impact global power trends as China continues to actively engage with African states. This thesis has contributed to the debate concerning the nature of Sino-African affairs in a number of distinct ways. First, the three dominant schools of understanding Chinese actions in Africa were outlined and explained in-depth, they include: Chinese Imperialism, Great Power Rivalry, and Economic Engagement. However, the flaws within these categorizations, namely that of researchers treating them as mutually exclusive, have resulted in the misinterpretation of evidence and researchers interpreting the same evidence to argue in support of different schools of Sino-African thought. Making evidence 'fit' within the confines of one school of thought is an overarching issue in analyzing China-Africa area studies. Perhaps the most provocative ideal this thesis raises is that Sino-African relations can be best interpreted through China's policy of non-interference.

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In Honors Theses

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In the eighteenth century British colonies there existed a duality of freedom, in which salutary neglect facilitated economic opportunism in the form of the slave trade. This paper examines how the colony of Rhode Island was a microcosm of this freedom duality in the merchant capitalist world. The colony became the epicenter of the slave trade in British North America, while also the home to a fervent abolition movement headed by the Quakers. This thesis contends that broad economic and individual freedoms in the colony created the environment where the slave trade prospered, the exact opposite of freedom. After the introduction and literature review this thesis examines the Rhode Island political economy of the eighteenth century, focusing on the role of slavery, slave trading, and abolition movement. Chapter two utilizes primary sources such as historical records, letters, and laws to explain the development and economics behind the trade. Chapter three uses Quaker records and colonial history to show the development of the abolition movement and the impact of the revolution on the colony. Finally chapter four delves into the Brown family of Providence, showing how as a family they were a microcosm of the colony. Exemplifying both the slave trading side and the abolitionist side, the family was at the apex of Rhode Island's greatest moral crisis.

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In Honors Theses

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Since the creation of labor markets in China, there has been a rapid increase in collective contentious action, such as striking and protesting, and this has attracted the attention of many scholars. Because the country contains such a myriad of diverse regions, scholars have commonly analyzed Chinese collective action through a "regional" lens. While that approach has been useful, this paper goes further by disaggregating Chinese collective action along two dimensions: by micro-region and by occupational sector. More specifically, this research disaggregates large macro-regions to show diversity at the city-level within regions. It also considers differences in collective action across occupations and industries, such as transportation workers and factory workers in the auto parts, electronics and textiles industries. To illustrate this disaggregated approach, I have constructed a searchable database of collective action in China over the past years, which consists of 94 verified cases of collective action. These cases have demonstrated that the targets of and reasons for collective action among China's regions have been far less general and uniform than scholars have projected. In disaggregating collective action within many of China's vast regions and across occupational groups, I have developed a new framework to analyze China's collective action.

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