Session I- Global Commons Media Room 103

International & Global Studies/ Political Science & Policy Studies

Mission Accomplished? A Comparative Analysis of Strategic Narratives

Allison Gloninger

Allison Gloninger opened up the Session I presentations with an analysis of the Iraq War and how two traditional allies, the United States and France, opposed each other with their different perspectives and portrayals of the Iraq war in the news. She used two main newspapers from each country, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times from the U.S. and Le Figaro and Le Monde from France, to examine the country’s sense of nationalism in 2003.

Through examining the newspapers using various narratives such as issue based narratives and economic and financial concerns, Gloninger found that issue narratives, or breaking news, was most prevalent in both country’s papers. In her conclusions section, Gloninger made the observations that once narratives surrounding international systems and national perceptions are established, they are not touched upon again and future research could look more at the history of US-French relations over time

Refugees who Made a Global Impact: A Case Study into the Flaws of International Organizations, Refugee Qualifications, and With Special Focus on Notable Refugees: Albert Einstein and Henry Kissinger

Michael Manduley

The primary focus of Manduley’s research was refugees who made a global impact and how refugees should be handled in the present and the future. Through his research, Manduley focused on a few themes, including the refugee crisis after WWII and Jewish people seeking homes. His first notable historical refugee reference was Albert Einstein - who denounced his German citizenship and moved to the United States where he worked at Princeton University. Two of Manduley’s other primary references, Henry Kissinger and Klemens Von Metternich, were both refugees who ended up succeeding.

In his conclusions, Manduley decided that refugees can benefit societies and are worth helping.

“Providing protection for the safety of displaced people and their human rights is paramount of importance,” he said.

The Role of Radio Broadcasting by Revolutionary Movements in Africa

Natalie Brown

Natalie Brown focused her study of radio on two different liberation groups in South Africa and Algeria. One was the ANC, or African National Congress, and the National Liberation Front. Radio broadcasting facilitated both of these group’s movements.

In order to be more effective, the ANC broadcasted gunshots at the beginning of the show. However, it wasn’t easy to listen to these broadcasts because the government would put you in prison for 8 years, intercept audio waves, and prevent battery sales. All of these measures prove that liberation groups and their radio broadcasts threatened the government.

Radio is effective in revolutionary movements because it is cheap, there were high rates of illiteracy in some of these countries, and distributing print media could be dangerous for these groups with the fear of being caught.

Connecting Billions More- Global Internet Leaders’ Policy Plans for Reaching Everyone Everywhere

Jackie Pascal and Leena Dahal

Pascal and Dahal worked with the IGF, or Internet Governance Form, to present their research on connecting the next billion. “Connecting the next billion” is the idea of reaching the 4 billion people without Internet access. The first billion was reached in 2005, the second in 2010, and the third in 2014. Although the Internet is reaching more people annually, in 2014 the growth rate decreased.

In order to reach the next billion, there needs to be a way to increase internet literacy. In order to do this, Pascal and Dahal measured the importance of involvement by different groups including stakeholder groups, the government, and private sectors. After interviews, it was found that 52% of participants believe the government has the biggest role in helping to connect the next billion.

From Laws to Last Names: Adoption in Morocco

Maggie Liston

Stemming from a freshman year French project, Maggie Liston examined how adoption is different for the Islam religion in Morocco. The Islam religion follows something known as a Kafala adoption, where adoption is encouraged, but adopted kids are not allowed to be taken into the family as if they are their own- they must keep their biological father’s name. For this reason, boys are less desirable to adopt because their last name comes with their lineage and cannot be erased.

Through interviewing 332 students around a college campus in Morocco, Liston found out what college age students really think about adoption. It was found that more people would prefer to adopt boys, but they were not completely aware of the stigmas against it.

It was clear through her research that Kafala adoption is not the same conception people have of adoption in the West.