Shaykhutdinov, Renat

The process of democratization still remains an ongoing process in the majority of the Eastern Bloc nations. A quarter century after the dissolution of the USSR and her satellite states, only eight of twenty-eight transitioning states have been able to fully democratize. Several of these anocratic states are today characterized by routine human rights violations, state repressions of civil society, and incarcerations of political opposition. There is limited cohesive research on how the Post-Communist formation of oligarchs across Eurasia and increases in democratic transitioning period have influenced democratization. In this study, I research, test, and explain the effects of Post-Communist oligarchies and the periods of democratic transitions on current levels of democratic consolidation in twenty-eight former socialist states through publicly available statistics and primary sources. I find that while oligarchical influence on democratization is limited, shorter democratic transitions produce significantly higher levels of democratic consolidation than their prolonged counterparts.

This dissertation examines how transnationalism can affect Islamists’ moderation
in both Egypt and Morocco. In this dissertation, I do an in-depth comparative case study
analysis to assess the prospects of moderation of two Islamists political entities, the
Muslim Brotherhood as a transnational social movement and the Morocco Party of
Justice and Development (JDP), which has no transnational ties. Both the Muslim
Brotherhood and PJD came to power after the Arab uprising in 2011 and were key
players in the democratic transitions in both countries; however, the entities are not
related. Further, the dissertation will explore the moderation level of the Muslim
Brotherhood and PJD. Current literature on Islamists and moderation theory focuses on
political inclusion, political learning and repression as factors that would affect the
moderation of an Islamist group. Looking at Islamists as a transnational social movement
is a new aspect in the study of Islamism.

When conflict arises our society suffers, and if it is not dealt with in a manner that appeals to both sides, then further conflict can arise. Apologies are often a means to prevent further conflict so that both parties can improve their futures. Apologies quell feelings of anger toward the aggressor and promote addressing the past. When an apology is presented it is a sign that the aggressor is willing to discuss its past with the aggrieved to create a permanent resolution. My research documents and categorizes apologies in civil and international conflict over the last few decades to evaluate an apology’s effectiveness at preventing further conflict. I expect the findings to show that cases in which an apology was offered and accepted by both parties will have a lower level of conflict reemergence than cases in which an apology was only offered or only demanded.