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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Assessing Whether Oil Dependency In Venezuela Contributes To National Instability, Adam Kott
Assessing Whether Oil Dependency In Venezuela Contributes To National Instability, Adam Kott
Journal of Strategic Security
The focus of this article is on what role, if any, oil has on Venezuela's instability. When trying to explain why a resource-rich country experiences slow or negative growth, experts often point to the resource curse. The following pages explore the traditional theory behind the resource curse as well as alternative perspectives to this theory such as ownership structure and the correlation between oil prices and democracy. This article also explores the various forms of instability within Venezuela and their causes. Finally, the article looks at President Hugo Chavez's political and economic policies as well as the stagnation of the …
Ten Years Of Gwot, The Failure Of Democratization And The Fallacy Of “Ungoverned Spaces”, David P. Oakley, Patrick Proctor
Ten Years Of Gwot, The Failure Of Democratization And The Fallacy Of “Ungoverned Spaces”, David P. Oakley, Patrick Proctor
Journal of Strategic Security
October 7, 2011, marked a decade since the United States invaded Afghanistan and initiated the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). While most ten-year anniversary gifts involve aluminum, tin, or diamonds, the greatest gift U.S. policymakers can present American citizens is a reconsideration of the logic that guides America's counterterrorism strategy. Although the United States has successfully averted large-scale domestic terrorist attacks, its inability to grasp the nature of the enemy has cost it dearly in wasted resources and, more importantly, lost lives. Two of the most consistent and glaring policy flaws revolve around the concepts of filling "ungoverned spaces" and …
Deterring And Dissuading Nuclear Terrorism, John J. Klein
Deterring And Dissuading Nuclear Terrorism, John J. Klein
Journal of Strategic Security
While nuclear deterrence theory may be well-suited to dealing with nuclear-armed states, its suitability for deterring nuclear terrorism has frequently been questioned since 9/11. While terrorist organizations do not necessarily act uniformly or according to the same underlying beliefs, many of the most aggressive organizations are motivated by an ideology that embraces martyrdom and an apocalyptic vision.1 This ideology may be based on religion or a desire to overthrow a government. Consequently, terrorists motivated by ideology who intend to use a stolen or improvised nuclear device against the United States or its interests may not care about the resulting military …
A Systems-Based Approach To Intelligence Reform, Austen Givens
A Systems-Based Approach To Intelligence Reform, Austen Givens
Journal of Strategic Security
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 prompted the most comprehensive changes to the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) since its creation via the National Security Act of 1947. Recent structural and organizational reforms, such as efforts to enhance information sharing and recruit speakers of hard-target languages, have also triggered new challenges to successful transformation. In light of the systemic problems facing the IC, this paper argues that systems engineering, a discipline increasingly useful in organizational change, offers a more efficient, holistic approach to the intelligence reform process than the status quo. Systems engineering views the IC as an integrated and …