Academic Abstracts
Short descriptions of selected research and writing projects
Refugee Integration and Service Access in Romania Romanian Democratization
Post Conflict Reconstruction Database Returning Croatian Serb Refugees
Democratization and Ethnic Conflict in South Eastern Europe The Use of Rape in the War in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Refugee Integration and Service Access in Romania
August 2003: For UNHCR Representation in Romania and Professors Leslie Eliason and Ed Laurance in the International Professional Service Semester
The report for the research portion of the IPSS program. For this project, I designed a program, wrote a survey, assembled, trained, and supervised a team of student volunteers in implementing the survey, and interviewed refugees in the data gathering phase of the project. 320 of 619 refugees in Romania were contacted for the research. After collecting these surveys, I assembled and analyzed the data using SPSS software.
The report summarizes the findings of this survey. It includes background information on Romanian refugee law, the history or refugee services in Romania, and definitions of integration. This information serves to place the challenges of refugee integration in context. The research findings show that refugees with protection in Romania are very unstable. Roughly one half do not have a stable residence. Of those with a stable residence, refugees are fairly well integrated and live at roughly the same level as Romanians. Several problems were identified, including differentials in integration between men and women, those with differing protection statuses, those with certain ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, those with differing reasons for choosing to arrive in Romania, and those with urban and rural residences in the country. Furthermore, there is an uneven pattern of access to services. Based on these findings, the report concludes with policy recommendations for the UNHCR programme unit and ideas for further study.
Read the report Survey form: Romanian language Survey form: English language
Survey form: recommendation for next year
December 2002: For Professor Nuket Kardam in International Policy Studies 691: Development, Governance and Democracy
This paper summarizes the course of Romanian economic development and democratization since the fall of the communist regime in 1989. Romania is placed as a case study in the current writings on the third or fourth wave of global democratization. The nature of the Romanian transition is examined including the reasons and consequences for the change of government, effects of democratization in Romania, and prospects for the future of democratization. Special attention is paid to the role of the international community in the transition, the problems inherent in the "revolution" of December '89, the slow pace of economic reform, and the leadership and evolution of the current ruling party: the Social Democratic Party. The conclusion of the paper is that while the improvement in human rights and freedoms has been dramatic, commitment to democracy and economic reform remain questionable. The European Union has perhaps the largest role to play in encouraging further democratization.
Paper available at the seminar web-site
Post Conflict Reconstruction Database
May 2002: For Professor Ed Laurance in International Studies 560: International Organizations and Regimes
The Post Conflict Reconstruction Database is an Access database designed as a prototype for a proposed research center tracking multilateral policy issues at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. The database tracks six months of activity in two peacekeeping and reconstruction theaters: Kosovo and Sierra Leone. The database constructs typologies of actors, actions, and policy areas and works with a dataset of individual events. The database enables a user to identify the major international actors on the ground in a reconstruction area, what social conditions each actor addresses and what is the preferred manner in which to address that condition. Information was gathered from internet, media, and mission information.
The database categorized each event in three ways. The first determines the social condition addressed. These social conditions are: economic rebuilding, humanitarian aid or emergency relief, refugee aid and resettlement, security, justice, and political system reconstruction. Event types are: advocacy, information gathering, information dissemination, generation of ideas and recommendations, monitoring and watchdog, service delivery, mediation and facilitation, financing, government service, and peacekeeping and security. The actors themselves were categorized into NGOs, international organizations, governments, local organizations, and coalitions. The database contains over four hundred event entries.
Returning Croatian Serb Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
May 2002: For Professor Don Van Arsdol in IS 694: International Migration
Over one half of Croatia’s Serbs were displaced during the war in Croatia in the early 1990s. Many barriers to return remain for ethnic Serb Croatians. The most entrenched barriers to minority return relate to property issues. For a number of years following the war, minority claims to vacated property were technically impossible. When Croatian Serbs have established clear legal rights to property, treatment under the law has been unequal.
In 1998, the Croatian government enacted a plan to increase minority return to Croatia: the National Program of Return. The unequal implementation of the program exacerbated return problems of Croatian Serbs. Many ethnic Serbs left the country and others were dislocated to group camps. This downgraded the status of the Serbian community in Croatia. However, the Program of Return is sound if properly implemented.
The international community should continue to address the issue of minority return throughout former Yugoslavia. Local reluctance to conform to international standards brings international goals in the region into doubt. After considering several policy alternatives for minority resettlement, this memo advocates increased international pressure in equal application of the Program of Return and tying international aid to such successful application.
Democratic Effects on Ethnic Conflict in Southeastern Europe Since 1990
December 2001: For Professor Leslie Eliason in International Policy Studies 500: Introduction to Policy Analysis
This paper presents a research design for studying the effects of proportional democratic structures on democratic stability in the Balkan region since the fall of the Eastern bloc system. A contrast is drawn between proportional and majoritarian democratic governance. The main difference between these styles is the breadth of access to power. Majoritarian styles support greater government stability while proportional styles support greater access to government decision making. The strengths of both styles are considered against the needs of the region for democratic consolidation and stability and for improved integration of minorities into democratic structures.
Literature reviews of three subject areas are presented: ethnic conflict, democratic transition and consolidation, and majoritarian versus proportional democratic stability. Literature included academic, quantitative studies and practitioner reports.
The research question asks to what extent proportional democracy has been successful in mitigating risk of ethnic conflict in eight formerly communist countries in Southeastern Europe. The dependent variable is the existence of negative ethnic conflict within a country. Ethnic conflict is operationalized in two forms: one extra-governmental and therefore negative and the other expressed through legitimate democratic and peaceful means. The second is considered successful ethnic management. The independent variables are democratic regularity or consolidation and degree of proportionality. These variables are operationalized using existing measures from non-governmental organizations. These patterns are considered in the context of policy changes targeting ethnic communities in each country since the time of transition to democracy. Finally, several intervening variables are discussed.
The Use of Rape as a Weapon of War: Bosnia-Herzegovina 1991 – 1995
May 1998: UC Berkeley History Department Thesis requirement, History 101
The use of sexual assault, mass rape, as a tactic of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the recent war is examined from a historiographical perspective. Background is provided for the wars of the former Yugoslavia and for the use of rape in war. Historical source material on wartime rape is explored.
All available material on the use of rape in Bosnia was examined, and special attention was paid to first hand survivor accounts. In this area, the Bosnian war has provided a major contribution to the historiographic record, but data collection methods must be carefully examined. International justice efforts which include rape as a war crime are also included.