Browsing by Subject "9/11"
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Item Open Access Exploring Strategies to Address the Prevalence of Islamophobia in America(2012-04-27) Acosta-Licea, Dulce Maria9/11 marked a notable rise in Islamophobia within American society that has since remained a prevailing reality. For the purposes of this paper, I define Islamophobia as a negative bias against Islam and/or Muslims expressed as hostile and discriminatory perceptions, sentiments, attitudes, and behavior towards Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim - including Sikhs, Arabs and South Asian Americans. Questioning, disagreeing with or critically analyzing Islam or Muslims is not necessarily Islamophobic. Just as Americans are not labeled anti-American for critiquing U.S. policies, those who critique Islam or Muslims should also not be automatically labeled as Islamophobes. The prevalence of Islamophobia is problematic because it threatens the wellbeing of its targets, the Islamophobes themselves and American society as a whole. To Muslims and others perceived to be Muslim, Islamophobia can ultimately motivate physical damage against their property and their actual person. As a type of prejudice, Islamophobia also threatens to restrict its targets’ “self image, educational success, occupational attainment, mental health status and health status.” A 2010 study confirms some of these effects by revealing that perceived Islamophobia-motivated “abuse and discrimination” is associated with “increased psychological distress, reduced levels of happiness and worse health status.” To Islamophobes, similar to the impact of racism on racists, Islamophobia could ultimately hinder Islamophobes’ ability to work effectively in pluralistic settings and could lead to “lower self-esteem and higher levels of anxiety.” As for society as a whole, Islamophobia erodes national unity, signals a departure from our nation’s core value of epluribus unum, and has the potential, as a form of prejudice, to spur mass murder and terrorism. Anders Breivik, the Norwegian terrorist who intended to “save Europe from Marxism and ‘Muslimization,’” stands as proof of Islamophobia’s terrorism potential. Islamophobia may also enable extremist groups like the Taliban and Al Qaeda to recruit and carry out terrorist attacks for two reasons. First, Islamophobia can result in the isolation and marginalization of its targets, which can leave them vulnerable and receptive to radicalization. Second, Islamophobia perpetuates the notion that the West is at war with Islam, which is a recruitment tactic used by such groups. The client for this Master’s project is the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a policy advocacy nonprofit for the Muslim American community. MPAC is interested in knowing the possible range of efforts that should be taken to prevent future backlash - against Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim - if another domestic terrorist attack is implemented by a self-described Muslim. This paper explores possible strategies that have the potential to effectively reduce the current Islamophobia trend and minimize possible future resurgence: What efforts are feasible and sustainable with respect to curbing Islamophobia among the American public? This paper begins with an examination of the nature of the post-9/11 prevalence of Islamophobia in America, specifically how and to what extent it has manifested along with what factors are cited as sources behind of the Islamophobia trend. Next, the methodology section details the analytical strategy used to identify possible strategies. A menu of strategy options is then presented through the lens of a set of evaluative criteria. This paper ultimately concludes with a discussion on next steps in addressing Islamophobia in America. This project has relevant implications for a range of actors across society, including but not limited to: 1) policymakers who seek to maximize social welfare; 2) civil rights advocates across religious, racial, and ethnic minority communities who seek to combat bigotry; and 3) interfaith movements and organizations that seek to promote tolerance. This paper does not intend to present the ultimate, static solution to Islamophobia. Instead, the paper seeks to 1) identify possible strategies towards addressing Islamophobia in America and 2) contribute a foundation for which societal problems like Islamophobia can begin to be addressed in an organized and strategic manner.Item Open Access Presidents Fighting the Last War?: Sunk Costs, Traumatic Lessons, and Anticipated Regret in Vietnam’s “Shadow”(2019) Groves, Bryan NelsonExisting security studies literature focuses on causes of war onset and conditions for war termination. Yet presidents regularly face major inflexion points where they must make a major war policy change, whether to deescalate, escalate, or conduct a hybrid approach. These decision points come after significant sunk costs, including lives lost, treasure invested, and political/diplomatic capital spent. The gap in research on mid-conflict policy adaptations, and on theoretical frameworks to explain them, presents an empirical puzzle that is the subject of this dissertation.
This dissertation further scopes that topic, answering the following question. Why did presidents in the “shadow” of the Vietnam War make major war policy changes to cut losses and bring troops home, or to double down? To answer that question, this dissertation conducts a structured, focused comparison of four case studies: Lebanon (1984), Somalia (1993), Iraq (2007), and Afghanistan (2009). It is structured in that it uses the same questions to uncover presidents’ rationale across each case. It is focused in that it orients each case on a specific presidential “sunk cost trap” decision. It uses a variety of primary and secondary material, including archival research and new, senior level interviews with former administration officials and military generals.
This dissertation finds that historical “lessons” act as a filter for strategic calculations among policy elite, ultimately influencing decision outcomes. Between the Vietnam War and 9/11, the Vietnam lesson to avoid quagmires by treating sunk costs as sunk and avoiding incremental escalation was dominant. The fear, or anticipated regret, of their own “Vietnam” created deescalatory pressures on presidents, demonstrated in the exits from Lebanon (1984) and Somalia (1993-1994). After 9/11, the logic flipped due to new lessons learned, including the need for proactive counterterrorism overseas and counterinsurgency strategies. This created escalatory pressures in Iraq (2007) and Afghanistan (2009) because of presidents’ desire to avoid another “9/11” on their watch.
Item Embargo Regeneration Through Laughter: The American Comedic National Fantasy After 9/11(2024) Pebesma, EvanRegeneration Through Laughter critically examines narratives about the power of US comedy to act as an antidote to the nation’s political problems. The project explores how post-9/11 film and television comedy develops a comedic utopianism, rooted in the notion of a distinctly national comedic spirit, which is then positioned as a tool to respond to major contemporary political issues, such as the degradation of democratic discourse, national polarization, and the War on Terror. Reading this comedic utopianism alongside political theory, national fantasy discourse, and scholarly commentary on US humor, this work evaluates the political efficacy of comedy in forwarding a vision for redeemed US nationhood. The analysis of comedic utopianism’s efficacy centers on the relationship between culture and politics, as this utopianism recasts political problems in culturalist terms and appeals to cultural forces (i.e., the aesthetic, the affective, civil society) to propose solutions to these problems. Regeneration Through Laughter argues that the culturalization of political problems ultimately undercuts comedic utopianism’s political potential by producing a bind in which the activation of cultural energies is only possible at the expense of depoliticizing the social issues this utopianism hoped to address.
Item Open Access The Last Column: Impacts on and Significance to the Visual Narrative of 9/11(2017-06-09) Sensenbrenner, FrannieThe Last Column, the final steel beam removed from Ground Zero, is the centerpiece of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York. This paper demonstrates the Last Column’s significance in the visual narrative of the September 11th, 2001 attacks. I focus on four different ways the Column’s significance has been created. First, I look at the removal ceremony. I argue that the ceremony solidified the Last Column’s position as a venerated object. This contributed to both its overall significance and its transformation from a compositional object to a memorial and work of art. My second section looks more closely at the 9/11 Museum, the current home of the Last Column. My research and personal experience with the museum point to its importance in creating meaning around the Column. I claim that the way the Column is presented in the museum shapes the narrative surrounding it, its significance, and Minimalist aesthetic. My third section focuses on personal connections and reactions to the Last Column. Using the idea of Phenomonology, I maintain that much of the Last Column’s significance is derived from viewers’ interactions with it. The fourth and final section of my writing focuses on the visual aspects of the Column. I contend that features of the Column’s appearance underscore its significance while also highlighting different perspectives that are not included. Through all of this, I maintain that the Column is consequential to the visual discourse of 9/11 and representational for the American reaction in the aftermath of the attacks.