This paper examines factors that shape state positions on deep sea mining governance amid growing demands for rare earth minerals. It investigates why some states support deep sea exploration and extraction, while others call for moratorium or outright ban. I argue that great powers such as the United States and China prioritize geo economic interests, while norm entrepreneurs and some small states emphasize precautionary measures. This thesis uses a mixed methods approach with a quantitative fixed effects logit model, and qualitative case studies including the United States, China, France, and South Pacific States/The Cook Islands. The findings show how resource incentives and geopolitical rivalries drive divergent state behavior and how power and norms shape governance outcomes in the global commons.

The African continent occupies an ambiguous position in United States foreign policy, often characterized by strategic ambivalence compared to Eurasia or Latin America. This study examines U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda through three analytical frameworks: realism, liberalism, and constructivism. Realism emphasizes power competition, security interests, and strategic rivalry; liberalism emphasizes institutions, cooperation, and governance; constructivism focuses on norms, identity, and perception. Drawing on primary and secondary sources from the early 1960s to 2026, the analysis traces how these frameworks have informed policy decisions across historical periods. The findings show that U.S. policy has shifted between these frameworks in response to changing material and ideational conditions. Great-power competition, domestic political attitudes toward Africa, and reliance on local regimes for regional stability have each shaped policy priorities. Together, these factors demonstrate how theoretical approaches both guide and are reshaped by evolving geopolitical realities.

This research critically examines the systemic and institutional factors that enable police brutality in the United States and Nigeria, focusing on how these systems disproportionately impact marginalized communities, particularly women and queer individuals. Through a comparative analysis of the Black Lives Matter and EndSARS movements, this study explores the historical, political, and social dimensions of police violence and state repression. Using qualitative interviews with Nigerian citizens, social media discourse analysis, and a review of governance structures and policing practices in both nations, this research aims to uncover the patterns of discrimination, militarization, and impunity that sustain state violence. The study investigates key themes such as gendered experiences of police brutality, the role of digital activism in mobilization, and the failures of accountability mechanisms in law enforcement. Findings reveal that while BLM and EndSARS both emerged as responses to police violence, they have struggled with internal fractures related to gender and inclusion, often sidelining feminist and queer activists despite their central role in organizing. The research also examines the transnational influence of U.S. policing tactics on Nigeria, highlighting how militarized law enforcement strategies and counterinsurgency measures have intensified state repression in both contexts. Additionally, it critiques the structural limitations of grassroots movements that fail to fully embrace intersectional politics, emphasizing that without addressing gender-based violence and systemic misogyny within activist spaces, these movements remain incomplete in their pursuit of justice. Ultimately, this research contributes to ongoing discussions on police reform, human rights, and social movements by advocating for policy changes that address the root causes of police brutality and its disproportionate impact on marginalized groups.

This study examines the environmental consequences of border wall construction along the U.S./Mexico border, with a focus on air quality. The framing of illegal immigration as a national security threat has motivated the U.S. government to increase border securitization measures, and in turn has caused border infrastructure development to be expedited using waiver authority. This research explores whether the construction of pedestrian fences and vehicle barriers, following the Secure Fence Act of 2005, contributed to elevated levels of PM2.5, a key air pollutant that holds detrimental effects to living organisms while also being a product of construction activities. This study examines mean PM2.5 concentrations across construction and control sites before and after construction activities. Two regression models were developed: model one uses a binary construction treatment variable across a longer time frame (2005-2012), and model two distinguishes by construction types (pedestrian fences, vehicle barriers, and control) and shows short-term effects (2007-2008). Both models were unable to provide any statistically significant evidence that proved construction activities caused an increase in PM2.5 levels. Nonetheless, this study contributes to previous work that explores the negative effects of border securitization on borderland environments and highlights the importance of integrating ecological considerations into policy planning.

Human trafficking is a massive issue worldwide, however was specifically bad in Europe in the early 2000s for a variety of reasons. I seek to understand whether International Organizations are effective in combating trafficking during this time.

This thesis analyzes congressional partisanship and whether it corresponds with variations in the composition of United States defense procurement, particularly the share of Department of Defense contract obligations devoted to privatized weapons systems between 2008 through 2025. The structure of procurement and the correlating outcomes coinciding with political and institutional efforts are examined. A time-series dataset and an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) linear regression analysis are utilized, where the results provide mixed and limited outcomes supporting the hypotheses. It is found that a unified Republican Congress does not demonstrate consistent and significant results regarding increasing privatized weapons procurement, whereas a unified Democratic Congress is more consistently significant, identifying with influencing a reduction in weapons contracts. Key congressional defense committee leaders also appear to securely influence procurement outcomes, specifically when Republican. These results suggest that congressional partisanship may correspond with the composition of privatized weapons procurement to an extent, however there are broader political, institutional, and economic factors that largely influence procurement decisions.