RYAN VAN OTTEN
Research and Writing Samples
I have always been fascinated by those in power and the way in which power is wielded in global affairs through diplomatic, economic and sometimes aggressive means. Generally, I have focused on relations between states, specifically intrigued by inter-American relations (relations between states and societies within the Americas). I have a great appreciation for this region and its enormous impact historically. Most notable to me is its vital role in forming international economic and political institutions and human rights structures of the United Nations. With a positive outlook on further interstate cooperation, this region is undoubtedly positioned to alter global affairs in dynamic ways in the future, and I want to be a part of it.
In my quest to understand the implications of this relationship, I have devoted much of my education to this study. Please review any of my research and educational papers for examples of my writing, research quality, and understanding of the region.
IMPLICATIONS OF A NATIONAL SECURITY DOCTRINE AND THE UNITED STATES’ INFLUENCE IN LATIN AMERICAN MILITARIES : A HYSTORICAL ANALYSIS
ABSTRACT
Latin American militaries’ incorporation of counterinsurgency strategies in the 1950s and ‘60s left a legacy of state sponsored violence and unimaginable pain for many victims, decades after. This paper explains the various ways U.S. inter-American policy of intervention and the normalization of military training in the Americas has propagated the notion of national security doctrine in Latin America during this period. An historical analysis of three national cases: Guatemala, Cuba and Brazil, are employed to historicize the specific juncture at which the militaries of this region began incorporating counterinsurgency strategies in the first decades of the Cold War era, as well as decipher their motivations to do so. As seen in the later decades of that era, the decisions to use violence by many military governments in the region were shaped by rulers' beliefs about the acceptability of these ideological strategies, and by the uninhibited use of this ideology. Future U.S. policies in the interAmerican system should alternatively be geared toward benevolently promoting and protecting the principles of democracy.
THE STATE OF DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA: UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISMS AND POLITICS THAT BOTH LIMIT AND PROMOTE IT
ABSTRACT
The creation and maintenance of democratic institutions depends upon broad support of the citizenry of the various democracies in the Latin America. “Politics exercises its greatest impact on development through its effect on institutions. The logic is clear: if politics matter for institutions, and institutions matter for development, politics must matter for development.” This paper will attempt to explain the state of democracy in the Latin American context and include a discussion on what kinds of international mechanisms help to guarantee democracy. Specifically, an in depth analysis of the role of institutions and their ability to promote a long lasting democracy in states in transition from authoritarian rule. The paper will conclude with specific threats to democratic governance and survival of these democracies.
EVANGELIZATION AND POLITICS: THE CENTRAL AMERICAN CONTEXT
(Lecture)
ABSTRACT
Contextualizing Evangelicals and Politics in Guatemala. The history of Christianity (Catholic or Protestant) in Guatemala has long been politically charged in one way or another. Whether it was the Spanish invasion and imposition of Catholicism on native peoples or the more recent arrival of evangelicals as part of political projects to break Catholic power and bring the perceived benefits of modernization, the state has repeatedly been involved in politicizing religion for its own ends.
DEMOCRATIC PROSPERITY IN CHILE: EVALUATING ATTITUDES IN A POST TRANSITION DEMOCRACY
ABSTRACT
Maintaining that there is a difference between democratic consolidation and a successful transition to democracy, this paper will systematically analyze some specific criterion of democratic consolidation laid out by Valenzuela (1992). Following the explanation of the research method, a theoretical discussion will attempt to justify why the posttransitional Chile has not reached democratic consolidation because of certain unsatisfied criterion inherent in the notion of democratic consolidation. The idea of these various factors will then be employed in an effort to make a new model that can develop a more general consensus of the important conditions that facilitate or inhibit democratic consolidation. From this new model, hypotheses directed toward what inhibits post-transitional governments from reaching democratic consolidation, can be made. Implications to further research and testing of the saliency of these hypotheses will also be addressed.
ABSTRACT
This historical analysis will demonstrate the evolution of an ethnographic and political history which, through the queering of politics, converges into a new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) social movement during the second half of the twentieth century in Mexico. This research explores the trends in scholarship on deviant sexuality and on social movements in an attempt to define what constitutes as this new LGBT social movement in the Mexican context. This paper has woven through a social science perspective, important historical events and prominent political figures within this period. Through the use of queer and social science theory, ethnographic and anthropological studies, and various secondary literature on sexuality in modern Mexico, this paper has problematize the history and trajectory of this new LGBT social movement. The use of multiple levels of analysis and multiple theories drawn from social science, illuminates how complicated it is to track this social movement and the reasons for its development.
QUEERING POLITICS IN 20TH CENTURY MEXICO: THE EVOLUTION OF A NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENT
THE ASYMMETRIES OF POWER WITHIN UNITED STATES-LATIN AMERICAN RELATIONS: A HISTORICAL REALIST PERCEPTION
ABSTRACT
Employing a realist approach in understanding U.S. relations towards Latin America is just one paradigmatic way of conceptualizing policy implementation, but it is an effective way of illustrating a distinct rationale for many political, military and economic phenomena. After defining and framing the realist paradigm, and explaining its predictive use for future U.S. policy, this paper will then use a realist paradigm to explore some specific reasons for why, and to what extent, the U.S. has maintained a disproportional amount of power over Latin America. Three brief historical case studies from different time periods and from various Latin American countries will be used to explain this historical and current asymmetry of U.S. political, military and economic power over Latin America. The realist approach used in analyzing each case study will further help to facilitate the understanding that an evident pattern is destined to continue, although at diminishing rate, between the United Sates and the Latin American block.
OVERVIEW OF US HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE GROWTH OF A REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS REGIME
ABSTRACT
International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) are inhibited by the power politics that reign supreme in the region. This can be illustrated by the unwillingness of the United States to recognize the International Criminal Court. Politically powerful countries in the hemisphere, like Brazil and Chile, who have accepted the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court, have demonstrated a willingness to comply with its decisions, when historically they have ignored the decisions of the Commission. While Latin American states have accepted the authority of the Court and Commission, the English speaking states of the interAmerican system have only partially embraced the workings of the human rights regime. This paper lays out what current US administrations should do in order to fully participate and lead the human rights regime in this hemisphere. The capacity of this regional human rights regime to function optimally in the future, resides in the total cooperation of states within the Intergovernmental Organizations that makeup the regime itself; primarily the cooperation by the most important actor in the hemisphere, the United States of America.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS EMPLOYMENT OF THEORETICAL LENSES: ANALYZING PROBLEMS OF CIVIL WAR AND COLLECTIVE ACTION
ABSTRACT
Much of the recent literature on civil wars and civil war peacemaking has been carried out by international relations (IR) scholars, and has applied theoretical lenses from IR. To what extent has this “cross pollination” of ideas worked, and to what extent do theoretical tools from IR require further adaptation to successfully deal with civil wars and civil war peacemaking? Major international environmental problems such as climate change or ozone depletion require collective action. Under what circumstances have we seen a degree of success in such cooperation, and what theoretical approaches are most useful in explaining what has been observed to date?
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DEVELOPMENT: THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS IN THE ANALYSIS OF LATIN AMERICA
ABSTRACT
This paper evaluates through the literature, the varying prevalent theories that account for Latin America’s lagging in economic development as compared to East Asia. By weaving historical specificities with the use of dependency theory, bureaucratic authoritarian theory, and policy diffusion theory, this paper shows the current perspectives on the economic situation of Latin America. The implication is that each theoretical model has contributed to the general understanding of underdevelopment in Latin America and how this region differs greatly from the impressive economic development of East Asia.