From Imperial Port City to Logistics Hub: The Production of Strategic Space in Djibouti (1859–2020)

Crossroads ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-98
Author(s):  
Grace Easterly
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Organization ◽  
The United States ◽  
Port City ◽  
French Empire ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
Political Freedoms ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Strategic Space ◽  
Process Spaces ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This article examines what I call the production of strategic space, or the process whereby a particular place, the Republic of Djibouti, and its capital, the port city of Djibouti, became strategically valuable to different states over time, including the French Empire, the United States, and China. Throughout the period from 1859 to the present day, Djibouti’s strategic value has fluctuated as states reacted to different political and economic contexts. These events constantly shifted state interests, re-configuring their conceptions of the importance of Djibouti’s territory. As a result of this process, spaces within Djibouti became strategic relative to other spaces. In particular, the port has been more important to the French authorities and other outsiders than the desert hinterland, which was treated mainly as a useless wasteland. The various authorities organized space within Djibouti to reflect these government priorities, which had a profound impact on its inhabitants’ mobilities, economic opportunities, and political freedoms. The ordering of space within Djibouti reflected state interests, exposing the relationship between geography and power, strategy and spatial organization.

A Shared History of Successes and Excesses

2019 ◽  
pp. 39-75
Author(s):  
Damien Van Puyvelde
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intelligence Community ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
Shared History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Large Period ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter provides an in-depth account of the relationship between the U.S. intelligence apparatus and its private outriders, from the earliest days of the Republic to the end of the Cold War. Covering such a large period sheds light on the deep roots, the broad evolution, and the multiple opportunities and risks accompanying intelligence outsourcing. In the United States, the legitimacy of the federal government has always been entwined with the private sector and this is related to the values underpinning American political culture. As a result, the private intelligence industry continued to thrive, deepen and diversify its involvement in national security affairs when the federal government established itself more firmly in this realm. The institutionalization of intelligence in the twentieth century was accompanied by the diversification and formalisation of the ties between the intelligence community and its contractors. Contractors and their government sponsors share the responsibility for some of the greatest achievements and controversies in U.S. intelligence history, from the success of the U2 spy plane to the excesses of Project MKUltra. The history of U.S. intelligence is characterized by successive movements of expansion and regulation through which outsourcing and accountability have become increasingly intertwined.

Panama, Its Politics, and the Canal Against Itself

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Castro H.
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Market ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Institutional System ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

The successful negotiation of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaty inaugurated a new historical era in the Republic of Panama. Politically, the implementation of the Treaty from 1979 to 1999 transformed what, since 1903, had been a protectorate of the United States into a fully sovereign republic. Economically, the integration of the canal into Panama´s internal economy, and that of the country in the global market, created new opportunities for the development of the country. The treaty also put an end to the dispute between Panama and the United States over the control of the rent and revenues produced by the canal, transferring it to the government of the Republic of Panama, and so creating an unprecedented source of resources for investment. More than forty years on, however, Panama faced a combination of sustained (but uncertain) economic growth, persistent social inequity, constant environmental degradation, obsolescence of its institutional system, and increasing internal political tensions, all expressions of the contradiction between the natural organization of the territory of Panama, and the spatial organization of its economy, society and government imposed and maintained since the European conquest of the 16th century. This contradiction is also aggravated by the dispute over control of the canal rent between different sectors of Panamanian society. In short, the country is in a transition stage in its development, which may lead it to overcome the contradiction in developing into a prosperous and equitable republic, or into increasing conflicts that may worsen the contradictions inherent to a centralist and authoritarian tradition of governance.

Indigenous Nations and US Foreign Relations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Parmenter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Weight Of Evidence ◽  
International Commitments ◽  
Indigenous Nations ◽  
History Of ◽  
American Foreign Relations ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship

The United States has engaged with Indigenous nations on a government-to-government basis via federal treaties representing substantial international commitments since the origins of the republic. The first treaties sent to the Senate for ratification under the Constitution of 1789 were treaties with Indigenous nations. Treaties with Indigenous nations provided the means by which approximately one billion acres of land entered the national domain of the United States prior to 1900, at an average price of seventy-five cents per acre – the United States confiscated or claimed another billion acres of Indigenous land without compensation. Despite subsequent efforts of American federal authorities to alter these arrangements, the weight of evidence indicates that the relationship remains primarily one of a nation-to-nation association. Integration of the history of federal relations with Indigenous nations with American foreign relations history sheds important new light on the fundamental linkages between these seemingly distinct state practices from the beginnings of the American republic.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Erik Mathisen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nation States ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Civil War Era ◽  
The Relationship

The Civil War marked a turning point not only in the history of the republic, but the history of citizenship in the United States as well. But there is more to this moment than might appear on the surface. What this book stakes out are a new set of questions about what it meant to be a citizen, how Americans thought about it, and just how much the rapid development of two warring nation-states brought the relationship between citizens and states into such sharp relief. By placing ideas about obligation at the center of a history of citizenship during the Civil War era, The Loyal Republic charts new ground.

The Window

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew K. Shannon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Kennedy Administration ◽  
Security Concerns ◽  
Political Freedoms ◽  
Iranian Students ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter demonstrates that three groups within the Kennedy administration offered different perspectives about the relationship between rights and development in Iran. It argues that a group of Iranian students in the United States and American proponents of liberalization in Iran influenced the policy process through 1962, but that Washington ultimately prioritized security concerns over political freedoms after the shah launched the White Revolution in 1963.

The Influence of Small States upon the Superpowers: United States-South Korean Relations as a Case Study, 1950–53

1975 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang Jin Park
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Mutual Cooperation ◽  
Policy Proposal ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship

One of the important developments in world politics during the cold-war era was the relationship between the superpowers and small nation-states. In contrast to the period before the cold war, small nation-states had considerable latitude for maneuvering in pursuit of their own interests. This phenomenon was largely rooted in the imperatives of the cold war. The relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea during the period of the Korean War is critically analyzed in light of the new reality in international relations. South Korea tried to influence the conduct of the United States in Korea by employing five techniques: (1) a public call for assistance; (2) a public call for mutual cooperation against the common enemy; (3) a calculated policy proposal for bargaining advantage; (4) refusal to cooperate; and (5) moral suasion. These techniques are examined, with the conclusion that of the five, (1) and (2) were effective; (3) and (4) were least effective; and (5) was most effective.

scholarly journals “The U.S.–rok Relationship into Full Bloom: From ‘Little Strategic Interest’ to Alliance Partner, 1947–1966”

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-140
Author(s):  
Jun Suk Hyun ◽  
William Stueck
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Korean War ◽  
The United States ◽  
Full Bloom ◽  
Strategic Partner ◽  
Alliance Partner ◽  
The Korean War ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship

U.S. relations with South Korea had a rocky start during U.S. occupation when American planners rated the peninsula low on the list of U.S. strategic priorities. The psychology of the relationship improved in 1948, when the United States helped create the Republic of Korea (rok), and even more after June 1950, when U.S. military intervention prevented North Korea from conquering South Korea. With the July 1953 armistice in the Korean War, the United States reluctantly agreed to a bilateral alliance that eventually became the centerpiece of American defense strategy there. With concerns ongoing about Chinese expansion and Japanese reliability, staunchly anti-Communist South Korea became the most reliable U.S. strategic partner in East Asia. When Pak Chŏnghŭi emerged as a strong leader in the mid-1960s, the United States came to see the rok as a valuable strategic asset in countering Asian communism. With South Korea’s settlement with Japan and commitment of combat forces to Vietnam in 1965 and U.S. acceptance of a Status-of-Forces Agreement with the rok a year later, the bilateral alliance relationship reached a peak after two decades of challenges.

scholarly journals What's in a Name? A Method for Extracting Information about Ethnicity from Names

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Andrew Harris
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Group Identity ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ethnic Composition ◽  
Detailed Data ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship

Questions about racial or ethnic group identity feature centrally in many social science theories, but detailed data on ethnic composition are often difficult to obtain, out of date, or otherwise unavailable. The proliferation of publicly available geocoded person names provides one potential source of such data'if researchers can effectively link names and group identity. This article examines that linkage and presents a methodology for estimating local ethnic or racial composition using the relationship between group membership and person names. Common approaches for linking names and identity groups perform poorly when estimating group proportions. I have developed a new method for estimating racial or ethnic composition from names which requires no classification of individual names. This method provides more accurate estimates than the standard approach and works in any context where person names contain information about group membership. Illustrations from two very different contexts are provided: the United States and the Republic of Kenya.

Abusive Men's Use of Children to Control Their Partners and Ex-Partners

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa L. Beeble ◽  
Deborah Bybee ◽  
Cris M. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Anecdotal Evidence ◽  
Multiple Variables ◽  
The Relationship

While research has found that millions of children in the United States are exposed to their mothers being battered, and that many are themselves abused as well, little is known about the ways in which children are used by abusers to manipulate or harm their mothers. Anecdotal evidence suggests that perpetrators use children in a variety of ways to control and harm women; however, no studies to date have empirically examined the extent of this occurring. Therefore, the current study examined the extent to which survivors of abuse experienced this, as well as the conditions under which it occurred. Interviews were conducted with 156 women who had experienced recent intimate partner violence. Each of these women had at least one child between the ages of 5 and 12. Most women (88%) reported that their assailants had used their children against them in varying ways. Multiple variables were found to be related to this occurring, including the relationship between the assailant and the children, the extent of physical and emotional abuse used by the abuser against the woman, and the assailant's court-ordered visitation status. Findings point toward the complex situational conditions by which assailants use the children of their partners or ex-partners to continue the abuse, and the need for a great deal more research in this area.

Self-Determination and Territorial Integrity: Southern Cameroons and the Republic of Cameroun

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-653
Author(s):  
Valerie Muguoh Chiatoh
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Third World ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
Present Issue ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship

African states and institutions believe that the principle of territorial integrity is applicable to sub-state groups and limits their right to self-determination, contrary to international law. The Anglophone Problem in Cameroon has been an ever-present issue of social, political and economic debates in the country, albeit most times in undertones. This changed as the problem metamorphosed into an otherwise preventable devastating armed conflict with external self-determination having become very popular among the Anglophone People. This situation brings to light the drawbacks of irregular decolonisation, third world colonialism and especially the relationship between self-determination and territorial integrity in Africa.

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