The Impact of NGOs on South Korea"s Decision to Dispatch Troops to Iraq
This study focuses on how South Korea’s internal societal pressures affected the decision making process on the agenda of troop dispatch to Iraq and how it affected the alliance relationship with the United States. Ever since South Korea has matured into a democratized, civil society, there are now numerous voices on almost every issue, including the US-ROK alliance, which had previously been immune from any heated public debate. Since the early days of the previous administration, however, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have emerged as a powerful player even in the realm of foreign and security policy decision-making which had remained hidden from the public eye. It is important to pay particular attention to the activities by the Citizen’s Action against Deployment to Iraq, a coalition group of 351 NGOs established for the specific goal of influencing the government. This coalition group employed at least 17 different strategies to mobilize public support for their cause. This study ends with the conclusion that the Blue House which was wary of losing the progressives’ votes in the then-upcoming elections, missed a window of golden opportunity by refusing to cooperate with the U.S. forces in Iraq. It could have increased Roh Moo-hyun government’s bargaining power, reformulated the missions of the Korean forces and enhanced its capabilities. It is unfortunate that the US-South Korean alliance has not experienced any notable improvement despite Seoul’s dispatch of an additional 3,000-men troop to Iraq. The US-ROK alliance relationship could further deteriorate because now NGO leaders aim to make the transfer of US bases to Osan-Pyongtaek area impossible. It is high time for policymakers of the two countries and others who are concerned to maintain a high watch over the NGO’s strategies and their way of using governmental subsidies to prevent further damage to the alliance.
Friends Indeed? Coalition Burden Sharing and the War In Iraq. Volume 1
Abstract : Why do states contribute to ad hoc security coalitions and what factors influence their level and composition of support? What factors influence states decisions to contribute and the type of contribution? What motivated countries such as South Korea to contribute significantly to the Iraq War coalition of the willing while steadfast partners such as Turkey and Germany resisted U.S. efforts to include them as coalition partners? Given the potential for coalition, rather than alliance military action, coalitions are understudied as a tool of grand strategy. This research examines the conditions that influence state burden sharing behavior for ad hoc security coalitions and examines the decision making model developed by Andrew Bennett, Joseph Lepgold, and Danny Unger. In an analysis of South Korean, Turkish, and German contributions to the current Iraq War coalition, this research tests an integrative model to explain the spectrum of constraints and opportunities defined by the dynamics of the international system, as well as the capabilities to account for domestic political constraints. This study finds that domestic structure in the form of the relationship between the state executive and legislature significantly influences a given state's burden sharing behavior. Executive authority and parliamentary accountability appreciably affects the ability of a state to contribute military forces to an international coalition, especially in instances where threat or collective action pressures are low. States with strong executive power in the area of military oversight are less constrained in providing military forces, while states with considerable parliamentary freedom are likely to show a much lower level of commitment. This study fills a gap in the international relations literature in that it explains the influence of state structure on state coalition burden sharing decisions and formalizes the influence of domestic structure in the decision making model.
Google Earth: Mathematical Art Forms
We trace the development of Google Earth and consider various artifacts, natural and anthropogenic, ancient and modern. These artifacts are only obvious from high elevations and some have a mathematical form and artistic appeal. We also illustrate how Google Earth's high-altitude imagery can be fruitful inspiration for mathart and provide some example.