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animals as well. New flood management solutions must be explored to improve the quality of life for the Assamese
villagers. An idea about building raised platforms to provide shelter above the floodwater has been presented in recent
years. In some villages, platforms, an area of raised land usually built atop an embankment, have already been built.
Christine conducted a study on the feasibility of building flood-proof platforms to complement the embankments. The
study included two questionnaires: one distributed among two villages with embankments, one with a simple platform
and one without, and a second distributed among flood officials and engineers.
Sade Campbell ‘07, Anamaria Vizcaino ‘07
Violence and Instability: Las Maras of Guatemala
During this past winter break, Sade and Anamaria traveled to Guatemala to research issues of gang violence. The increase
of gang violence in Guatemala over the past ten years has caused major destabilization and has alarmed the international
community due to the dispersion of Guatemalan gang members in other Central American countries and into the United
States. These gangs not only inflict violence upon themselves and innocents in their areas, they also are heavily involved
in fueling the black market. This involves the trafficking of humans, drugs and even ancient Mayan artifacts, which all
contributes to issues poverty and Guatemala’s weak economy.
Matan Chorev Fletcher ‘07, Tufts ‘05
Iraqi Kurdistan: Internal Dynamics and Statecraft of a Semistate
Over the course of two and a half weeks, Matan was joined by Matthew Edmundson (EPIIC
‘04) in a fact-finding mission in Iraqi Kurdistan. The two interviewed over three dozen
members of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), civil society leaders, international
non-governmental groups, academics, and students. The research explores the reasons for
the emergence and the impressive longevity of semistates, or territorial entities that seem
to have many of the attributes of statehood but which lack international recognition as
juridical sovereigns. Building on Matt’s previous research of the semistate of Somaliland,
this effort sought to see the world from the perspective of the semistate itself and to assess the interaction between the
internal and external dynamics at play in sustaining the ambiguous status of Iraqi Kurdistan from 1992-2003 and its effect
on the statecraft of the Iraqi Kurdish leadership in the lead-up and aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Monica Clavijo ‘07
US-Colombia Relations at a Crossroads: The Free Trade Agreement
Monica went to Bogota, Colombia to study the free trade agreement that is currently
undergoing negotiations between Colombia and the United States. Monica focused
on the political economy which set up the negotiations as well as what the free trade
agreement could provide for the development of Colombia. A highly controversial
topic in both countries, she tried to get the most comprehensive overview possible
through literature found there as well as conducting interviews.
Katherine Conway-Gaffney ‘07
Perceptions of the Ugandan Peace Process by Adults Currently Living in IDP
Camps
In the aftermath (and continuation) of war in northern Uganda, two processes of
justice for the perpetrators of serious crimes have emerged. Through this study,
Katherine sought to understand how the Acholi tribe wants to rebuild their society
through the processes of justice and reconciliation. Thus, she looked at the heart of
the tension between the International Criminal Court in relation to the traditional
mechanisms of justice practiced by the Acholi people. Acholi culture promotes the
idea of reconciliation through traditional (or local) ceremonies through which the
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