Category Civil Society

Toolkit for a Successful Movement: Digital Tools in Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement

In 2014, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Taipei to protest the Cross-Strait Services Agreement—a free trade agreement between Taiwan and Beijing—believing it would give the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) too much political and economic control over the island. The protesters wielded social media and the internet to communicate, inform and mobilize. These tools did not work in a vacuum, however, and understanding their interactions with conventional media and offline associations becomes crucial. This paper demonstrates how, through one-way and interactive communications, the participants of the Sunflower Movement used digital tools to realize their demands.

Women in Afghanistan: The Forgotten Objective

The US decision to focus on civil rights and institutions as a part of an overall counter-insurgency strategy was not a mistake. The suggestion that the United States has no obligation to address women’s rights in the negotiation process because “such rights have never existed in most of Afghanistan” is an insult to the thousands of women that have sacrificed for the American ideals of freedom and equality pushed by the Allies since 2001.

A Brief Introduction to Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies for Informed Policymaking

Blockchain has swept contemporary discourse, from tech circles to governments worldwide. But many presentations of blockchain often either oversimplify what it actually is or aim at highly technical audiences. Basic historical and technical understanding are prerequisites for informed consideration of blockchain’s implications, as well as for bringing its potential to bear in new domains. Providing that understanding is the purpose of this paper.

Prisoners of the Caucasus: Protracted Social Conflict in Chechnya

In Pushkin’s 1822 poem, Prisoner of the Caucasus, the epilogue proclaims, “And the violent cry of war fell silent: All is subject to the Russian sword. Proud sons of the Caucasus, You have fought, you have perished terribly.”[1] The political overtones of the poem’s dénouement are jarring compared to the poem’s earlier verses on romance, natural beauty, and the heroism of the Caucasian people. But the poem’s ending reveals the complicated position of the region in Russian history and culture. The Caucasus is simultaneously a place to be controlled, otherized, and romanticized.

A Model to Implement Sustainable Development in Morocco

In terms of human development potential, Morocco is a nation of immense promise, where gifted fortunes of nature such as wide-ranging organic agricultural products come together with dynamic social development frameworks. Moroccan development opportunities could launch the country into a haven for community-managed projects and change in Africa and the Near East.

Kindercare in Kazakhstan: How Early Childhood Education Will Achieve Strategy 2050 Goals

Early childhood education (ECE) should be an integral part of Kazakhastan’s Strategy 2050, argues SAIS student Brynn Koeppen. ECE would help prepare students for university and productive careers and allow more mothers to return to the workforce sooner, growing the economy. It would also help close the gap in opportunity between rural and urban areas of the country and contribute to a more cohesive society.

Venezuela: The Origins and Enduring Legacy of Chavismo – Part II

In this two-part series, author Vincent A. Dueñas explores the possibilities for the continued viability of the Chavista party after the end of Nicolas Maduro’s presidency. He asserts that rise of an opposition majority in the Venezuelan legislature in December 2015 resulted in the most concrete protest of President Maduro’s presidency and possibly a rejection of Hugo Chavez’s socialist state legacy.

Venezuela: The Origins and Enduring Legacy of Chavismo – Part I

In this two-part series, author Vincent A. Dueñas explores the possibilities for the continued viability of the Chavista party after the end of Nicolas Maduro’s presidency. He asserts that rise of an opposition majority in the Venezuelan legislature in December 2015 resulted in the most concrete protest of President Maduro’s presidency and possibly a rejection of Hugo Chavez’s socialist state legacy.