Considering the Qualitative Impacts of Safe-Stove Programs: Lessons from the Western Highlands of Guatemala

In 2016, 2.6 million people died prematurely from indoor air pollution as a result of the inefficient burning of biomass fuels for cooking and energy in the global south. The health and environmental impacts of indoor air pollution have been well documented throughout decades of literature, and governments and non-governmental organizations alike have taken steps to implement “safe stove” programs to upgrade cookstoves in developing regions and begin to address these issues. While largely effective in reducing indoor air pollution and improving energy efficiency, the qualitative impacts of implementing safe stove programs have not yet been explored. This article aims to fill a gap in this literature by investigating why safe stoves are important to the women who participate in the projects, and what the qualitative impacts of combatting indoor air pollution are for communities as a whole. The research draws on in-depth interviews with women from the rural highlands of Guatemala in the Quetzaltenango region, and addresses topics such as dignity and self-esteem within these populations. Not intended to be a binding pieced of literature, this research serves as a good reminder that the focus of development initiatives should always be on improving the overall wellbeing of the participants who purportedly benefit from these projects.

Perspectivas Locales ~ NAFTA in Southern Mexico: An Economic Godsend or Curse?

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was adopted with the hope that the accord would bring economic growth to Mexico, reducing poverty and social inequality. It is now 24 years later, and these development goals have not been achieved. Using primary source interview material from indigenous people of southern Oaxaca, along with a review of the literature and quantitative data, this article contends that NAFTA has contributed to an increase in rural poverty, regional disparities, and the emigration of campesinos from their native communities. With NAFTA 2.0 negotiations underway, this paper advocates that the voices of indigenous people should be heard at the negotiating table. Their insight on how the trade deal has impacted southern localities is of critical importance moving forward.

Improving Counter-Terrorism Policy Integration in the European Union: An Analysis

This paper takes as its starting point recent terror attacks in the European Union and seeks to understand why the EU has suffered such a wave of high-profile, damaging attacks. Specifically, the paper explores counter-terrorism policy at the EU level and investigates why the integration of EU counter-terrorism policy is not higher among individual member states. Following an examination of previous terrorist incidents in the history of the EU and a literature review on EU-level counter-terrorism policy, the paper explores counter-terrorism institutions and mechanisms within the EU. A substantial analysis of the level of integration (or lack thereof) of these institutions and mechanisms is then undertaken, before by a concluding section that offers policy revisions to increase the implementation of policies by member states. The paper ultimately argues that implementation of counter-terrorism policy is lacking because individual member states are reluctant to cede their sovereignty over such an important policy area. The suggestion is also made that future EU counter-terrorism efforts should both focus on demonstrating how EU-level efforts will make member states safer, and, importantly, on creating mechanisms and institutions that will be of practical benefit to member states within their own domestic arenas.

{Re}locating Agency in Women Terrorism

Why is it, that when we think about or see terrorism, we do not see women? Women, like men, are capable of violence. Women, like men, commit violence for a variety of reasons, some rational some irrational. Still, when women commit acts of violence, they have been characterized as anything but regular criminals or soldier or terrorists. Rather, women who are violent are discussed in one of three ways - the wife, the mother or the whore – which deny her agency and reify gender stereotypes and subordination. With the rise in global terrorism and female participation within such organizations, the implications of the terms we use to describe away a woman’s legitimate use of violence, are far reaching.

Blurred Boundaries: Drugs, Immigration & Border Policy Along the U.S.-Mexico Divide

Drugs, immigration, and border policy are intrinsically linked in the context of the United States-Mexico divide. However, there are often misunderstandings that border policy and immigration from Mexico are the root causes of a ‘drug epidemic’ in America. This paper dispels these misconceptions by exploring the diverse sources of illicit narcotics and examining the ideologies, government policies, and underlying domestic issues that comprise this epidemic.

The Role of Climate Change in Armed Conflicts across the Developing World and in the Ongoing Syrian War

This study examines the causal relationship between warming temperatures and armed conflicts in the developing world, and specifically, in Syria. The goal is to find and establish a correlation between the two factors and to understand how their complex dimensions might be influenced by the political, economic, social and environmental context in which they take place. This has been done by examining studies from Africa and the ongoing war in Syria, where resource scarcities resulting from changing weather patterns and environmental mismanagement have contributed to current political, economic and social instability. By demonstrating the increasingly prominent role climate change plays in armed conflicts, this study highlights the security challenges of political stabilization and sustainable industrialization in weak states.