Capstone Haikus

I’ve been happy to see the revival in recent years of Capstone haikus, one of my favorite unofficial Fletcher traditions. Finals week is a stressful time, and for graduating students, the push to finish the Capstone adds an extra layer of anxiety (as well as likely removing several hours of sleep) to an already fraught period. As students approached the finish line over the past few weeks, many shared these Capstone encapsulations in haiku form on the social list:

Caliphate Amorphous: What Explains the Success of ISIS’ Global Network?

Syria, Iraq.
Franchises on franchises.
It’s getting messy.

Defending Defenders: Risk and Vulnerability Assessments in Human Rights Protection Mechanisms

Defend human rights?
you might be dead in LatAm,
the law might care, ish.

Credibility Assessment in Refugee Status Determination: Practice and Challenges Under an Evolving Protection System

Oh, language barrier!
Refugees don’t lie much,
be nice to them, please

Learning Peace: Monitoring and Evaluation of UN Peace Operations

Organizations
Don’t learn when politics and
M&E both suck

Law as a Tool of Patriarchy: The Slow Violence of Rape Laws in India

This was depressing
The law is patriarchal
as is its application

Motivations, Violations, and Accountability: Analyzing the Evolution of the Rohingya Crisis

Burmese government:
“Trust us, we know human rights”
Everyone else: “no”

The Crisis of Liberalism and the Advent of the Reactionary: An Analysis of a Resurgent Political Narrative

Liberalism,
Take a good look at yourself.
Times are a-changing…

Children No More: Organizational Responses to Child Marriage in Kutupalong-Balukhali Megacamp

Child marriage happens –
But have organizations
Done anything yet?

Grid Security for the Twenty-First Century: Enhancing Resiliency and Prosperity with Distributed Generation

Centralized is dumb
Check out what Germany does
Wind won’t cause cancer

Challenges and Prescriptions for the Japan-Russia Economic Cooperation

We have met often
I gave you many presents
You never say Да

(From Shinzo Abe to Vladimir Putin)

Assessing Gains and Losses in the Iran-Saudi Arabia Irregular War in Yemen

Iran and Saudi
F***ing Yemen over big-time
And few people care

Offshore Wind Energy in Scotland: A Financial, Technological, and Policy Review

Offshore wind power
or onshore turbines? Scotland
has both. Cheers to that! 🍻

Carbon Pricing in Restructured Electricity Markets

A carbon price is
always efficient, but state
subsidies are not

CARICOM at 45: A Reform Report

The Caribbean:
It’s got 99 problems
But beaches ain’t one.

Comparing Approaches of Massachusetts and New York to Maximizing the Economic Benefits of Offshore Wind

Offshore Wind is cool
Plan/invest to win more jobs
States: collaborate!

Backlash to the Belt and Road: Where has China’s Belt and Road Initiative Inspired Negative Reactions, Why, and is China Correcting Course?

Protests, bombs, and debt
China sucks at soft power
But they are learning

WTO Legal Reform: The Need for Revisiting the Treatment Accorded to China as a Non-Market Economy in Trade Remedies

China, WTO needs you
U.S., E.U., China please behave
WTO be great again

Explaining Low-Level International Terrorist Activity in Morocco

Morocco is safe!
Terrorists must beware of
Spies and surveillance

The Institutional Memory of War: Assessing the Conditions that Enable or Prevent Cyclical Warfare

Why is mass warfare,
Occurring ev’ry eighty years::
Average Male Lifespan

Narrating Victory: Khalifa Haftar’s Strategic Framing in Libya’s Internal Conflict

Libya is a mess
Narratives are powerful
Haftar wants control

Migration Policy in an Age of Populism: A Critique of the EU Approach to Migration Management

Migration is fine
Populism is not fine
Get it together

Internally Displaced Persons: The Case for International Law as a Protective Tool

With no border crossed
International law may
Be your only hope?

Attraction Undermined: Examining Russian Soft Power and Levers of Influence in Ukraine

A bear trampled me
He says he wants to be friends
It’s better that way.

An Assessment of Adaptation Policies in the Mekong Delta

Waters rise faster
Vietnam and The Mekong
How to live with change

Calling a Shocked Nation to Action: Bush, Obama, and Presidential Crisis Rhetoric

Bush simple, stirring,
No drama ‘Bama; demo-
cracy may be f**t