Journal of World Sociopolitical Studies

Abstract The US foreign policy in the post-World War II has been marked by periods of unilateralism, while in other periods, multilateralism has been more prevailing. The existing works, while explaining certain periods of unilateralism by various domestic and international factors, such as neo-conservative ideology and superpower rivalries in the Cold War, are unable to explain the reason for which in some periods, the US foreign Policy has been more dominant. This article seeks to explain the difference by referring to the conceptual complexity of US presidents. We analyzed the content of news conference transcripts for 11 post-WWII US presidents using the Flesch-Kincaid text readability index to measure presidents’ conceptual complexity. We used the index in our previous study to explain the unorthodoxy of Donald Trump’s foreign policy. Findings suggest with statistical significance that Presidents with low levels of conceptual complexity do not consider many factors as important and prefer unilateral actions by emphasizing short-term achievements. On the contrary, presidents with complex cognition are less likely to believe that the US can solve critical or long-term international issues alone.

Abstract This study aims to examine the representation of women with disabilities (sensory impairment) in the Indian cinema, focusing on the Hindi speaking Bollywood. Three popular movies shown in Bollywood have been selected in order to investigate the way in which women with disability are represented. The movies include Koshish (i.e. ‘Effort’, (1972), Lafangey Parindey (i.e. ‘Cheeky Birds’, (2010) and Kaabil ([i.e. ‘Capable’, (2017). The year 1970 has been selected as the beginning of the time frame because it is the closest time to the first Bollywood movie (Koshish, 1972), in which a disabled woman is depicted as a leading role. To analyze the movies, Critical Disability Theory (CDT) was selected as the study’s theoretical framework, and Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) has been applied as the study’s research method. Results reveal that the representation of women with disability has undergone significant positive changes over time, which includes variations in social status, ability and achievements, issues and concerns, patterns of pleasure, presence and acceptance, social attitude, words and phrases used, as well as changes in policies related to women with disabilities.

Abstract During the Covid-19 pandemic, Over the Platforms (OTT) such as Netflix and Amazon multiplied their streaming and eased access to foreign content in India. The hybridity and transnational nature of the digital spaces allowed the audience to consume foreign content beyond the geographies of language and culture. This article aims to analyze the reception and perception of Iranian films in India during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study posits that the shift in the reception of Iranian film in India during the Covid-19 pandemic constructed a positive perception of Iran among the Indian audience. By applying the reception analysis and qualitative content analysis theories, the paper interrogates the way in which film acts as an agency to produce the perception of Iran as a nation among the Indian Audience. For the collection of data, the existing literature has been used. Furthermore, a purposive sample survey among Iranian film lovers had been conducted. The paper also carries a content analysis of the posts, comments, and reviews about Iranian films on social media pages. Iranian films have influenced the Indian audience to such a level that 80% of the respondents want to visit Iran once in a lifetime.