Military and Veterans Studies Commons^™

Terrorism In Africa: An Analysis Of The Efficacy Of U.S. Counterterrorism, Max Yong

Global Tides

This paper seeks to identify whether United States aid to Africa has impacted violent terrorist activity on the continent. The existing literature has produced a range of critiques. Many have voiced concern about foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) growing and blame ineffective efforts by the U.S. for this reality. Instances of African nations, in the face of persisting security challenges from FTOs, turning to political adversaries of the U.S. for assistance is evidence of this sentiment. Furthermore, terror attacks since the onset of the U.S. Global War on Terror (GWOT) have only remained higher than in the previous era. Others have …

Capitalism, Global Militarism, And Canada’S Investment In The Caribbean, Tamanisha J. John

Class, Race and Corporate Power

At the end of the 1990s, there existed a belief that a growing Canadian military involvement in the Caribbean region was unlikely if it was not associated with Canada’s interest in Latin America (Klepak 1996). This view had such a large impact that today there is a dearth of information on Canada’s military involvement in the Caribbean region. Lacking systematic investigation, two myths have perpetuated: first that Canada has no stake or interest in Caribbean security, insofar as those interests cannot be tied to Canada’s interests in Latin America; and second, that all expressions of Canada’s involvement in Caribbean security …

She Speaks For Millions: The Emergence Of Female Diplomatic Voices In The Russo-Ukrainian War, Amber Brittain-Hale

Education Division Scholarship

This research critically investigates the public diplomacy strategies deployed by a cohort of influential female European leaders on Twitter during the Russo-Ukrainian War of 2022-2023. The study comprises eight leaders - Kallas (Estonia), Marin (Finland), von der Leyen (President of the European Commission), Metsola (President of the European Parliament), Sandu (Moldova), Simonyte (Lithuania), Zourabichvili (Georgia), and Meloni (Italy) - representing millions of constituents. By mirroring the analytical attention given to Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this study scrutinizes the distinct approaches and dif erences in emotional, cognitive, and structural language use between these influential female figures and President Zelenskyy in their …

India's Security Threats From Chinese Military Funding And Economic Development In South Asia, Tran My Hai Loc

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

Since gaining independence in 1947, India's population, expansive land size, robust economic position, and historical and cultural ties have enabled it to dominate South Asian neighbours with comparatively less developed economies and weaker military strength. Since Narendra Modi assumed office as the Prime Minister of India in 2014, the “Neighbourhood First” policy was coined to enhance India's influence in South Asia, creating a favourable environment for its ascent as a global power. However, China's increasing military presence and influence in South Asia through financial and military support to neighbouring countries have disrupted the region's security architecture. This article uses qualitative …

France In The Middle East: A Democratic Justification For Military Interventions In Iraq And Beyond., Nicolas Demeure, Brice Tseen Fu Lee

Journal Of Middle East and Islamic Studies

How did France’s refusal to take part in the war on Iraq in 2003 has created the conditions that legitimizes its future military interventions abroad? In this paper, a discourse analysis of the official French Foreign Policy Discourse is done to show why saying no to war in 2003 paradoxically allows France to carry out military interventions in 2015. This paper argues that France, while perpetrating an existing discourse of democracy opposing the civilized against the uncivilized that legitimates Foreign policy as a security tool, by its refusal, transformed military intervention a latent policy andlegitimized the French Self as …

Clausewitzian Theory Of War In The Age Of Cognitive Warfare, Amber Brittain-Hale

Education Division Scholarship

We can reconceptualise warfare by contrasting Clausewitz with the modern practice of cognitive warfare, as evidenced by Ukraine’s defence methodologies. The strategic orchestration of ‘infopolitik’ and the sophisticated use of social media can shape narratives and public perception. This article revisits Clausewitz’s tenet of war as a political instrument and juxtaposes it with contemporary conflict’s multidimensional tactics. By scrutinising Ukraine’s digital and psychological warfare tactics, one may question the applicability of Clausewitz’s framework, seeking to understand if these novel dimensions of warfare compel a redefinition or an expansion of his thesis to navigate the complexities of contemporary geopolitical confrontations.

Power Projection And Counter-Terrorism: Strategies For Small States Like Brunei Darussalam, Brice Tseen Fu Lee, Gulshan Bibi Ms

Journal of Terrorism Studies

This study delves into the intricacies of power projection strategies and counter-terrorism measures, emphasizing their relevance to small states, with a specific focus on Brunei Darussalam. Using a dual matrix model, the research categorizes various strategies based on risk-reward parameters, offering a structured insight into potential approaches these states can employ against potential aggressors. The counter-terrorism matrix is the initial focal point, recognizing the contemporary significance of terror threats and their unique challenges for small nations. Subsequently, the power projection matrix offers a broader view of defense tactics beyond counter-terrorism. By synthesizing information from primary academic sources, the study aims …

Geopolitics In Recent U.S. Professional Military Reading Lists, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Professional military reading lists have existed for a long time in the U.S. military and in other national militaries. They are frequently updated and intended to enhance the professional knowledge of military professionals in areas ranging from cultural awareness, ethics, leadership, international relations, military history and military operations, and areas of expertise considered essential to successfully executing the operations of their military service branch. These lists are prepared by the leadership organizations of these armed services such as the Air Force Chief of Staff, U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff, Chief of Naval Operations, and Marine Corps Commandant. Such readings are …

Choosing Sides: Military Behavior In Severely Polarized Democracies, Timothy W. Ford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Why does severe polarization result in military intervention in some cases but not others? I argue that the organizational culture unique to a particular military plays a critical role in influencing behavioral outcomes in severely polarized democracies. When faced with sovereign power disputes that arise as a result of severe polarization, military organizations are most likely to develop new strategies of action from the dominant practices, norms, and ideas of military leaders. Severe polarization presents a unique threat to civil-military relations and provides the type of unsettled social periods in which cultural ideologies express an observable influence on military behavior. …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Military Masculinities And Honorary Men: A Comparative Analysis Of United States And United Kingdom Approaches To Iraq Security Sector Reform, Caitlyn C. Aldersea

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

The 2003 Iraq War marked the first time in wartime that the United States and United Kingdom deployed female-specific units in support of combat operations. As manifestations of changing gendered norms within defense institutions, these Team Lioness units became symbolic of military transitions to a more diverse fighting force. Following the Iraq War, the US and UK were authorized as governing entities over the post-conflict Security Sector Reform process. Despite growing internal awareness on the importance of gender-inclusive policies, US-UK Coalition Forces instead focused reconstruction efforts on addressing immediate security needs of Iraq. While prior feminist literature has criticized the …

Du Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, And Creative Works, Caitlyn Aldersea, Justin Bravo, Sam Allen, Anna Block, Connor Block, Emma Buechler, Maria De Los Angeles Bustillos, Arianna Carlson, William Christensen, Olivia Kachulis, Noah Craver, Kate Dillon, Muskan Fatima, Angel Fernandes, Emma Finch, Colleen Cassidy, Amy Fishman, Andrea Francis, Stacia Fritz, Simran Gill, Emma Gries, Rylie Hansen, Shannon Powers, Jacqueline Martinez, Zachary Harker, Ashley Hasty, Mykaela Tanino-Springsteen, Kathleen Hopps, Adelaide Kerenick, Colin Kleckner, Ci Koehring, Elijah Kruger, Braden Krumholz, Maddie Leake, Lyneé Alves, Seraphina Loukas, Yatzari Lozano Vazquez, Haley Maki, Emily Martinez, Sierra Mckinney, Mykaela Tanino-Springsteen, Audrey Mitchell, Kipling Newman, Audrey Ng, Megan Lucyshyn, Andrew Nguyen, Stevie Ostman, Casandra Pearson, Alexandra Penney, Julia Gielczynski, Tyler Ball, Anna Rini, Christina Rorres, Simon Ruland, Helayna Schafer, Emma Sellers, Sarah Schuller, Claire Shaver, Kevin Summers, Isabella Shaw, Madison Sinar, Claudia Pena, Apshara Siwakoti, Carter Sorensen, Madi Sousa, Anna Sparling, Alexandra Revier, Brandon Thierry, Dylan Tyree, Maggie Williams, Lauren Wols

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

DU Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Works

U.S. Government Information Resources For Accountability On U.S. Assistance To Ukraine, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Provides detailed coverage of U.S. Government information resources documenting accountability for U.S. civilian and military assistance to Ukraine. Includes U.S. laws, agencies involved in U.S. arms export policy, Defense Department resources and data, Defense Dept. Inspector General reports, Government Accountability Office reports, congressional committee hearings, a letter from a congressional committee to the Secretaries of Defense and State and U.S. Agency for International Development administrator, congressional debate, and congressional recorded votes.

Choices For U.S. Contributions To Nato: Stability Policing In The Age Of Multi-Domain Operations, Nathan M. Colvin

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

The United States Army claims they are a “force out of position” and must transform for large-scale combat operations (LSCO). The current narrative toward LSCO warfighting comes at the expense of lessons hard-won over decades of small wars and stability operations. The focus on LSCO is an oversimplification of the complexity and ambiguity of the future operating environment. The Army is trading clarity of narrative at the expense of a force balanced for both LSCO and non-LSCO operations. LSCO perspective assumes a worst-case scenario of war over more likely scenarios of continuous disruptions across a spectrum of conflict, which may …

Russia-Ukrainian War 2022: Battle Of Hostomel, Arthur Borsuk

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation began the active phase of a full-scale invasion of the territory of sovereign Ukraine. This invasion was preceded by the recognition of the independence of the quasi-republics in the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (located in the east of Ukraine) and the introduction of a large group of troops into their territory. The invasion began with a massive missile and air strike against critical infrastructure, military units, civilian facilities and air defense positions. At the same time, the ground troops of the Russian Federation crossed the border in all border …

Thawing Interests: The Arctic In U.S. Grand Strategy, Benjamin S. Murray

MSU Graduate Theses

The thawing Arctic is subject to increasing activity, attention, and a renewal of interests in the region from around the globe. National interests have compelled strategic planning in the Arctic region and are connected to global geopolitics. A concept of grand strategy is distilled from theories of past authors, understood within the modern context. That concept includes a terminological framework consisting of interests and threats to inform an ends, ways, and means design of strategy, composed of all instruments of state power, blending policy with strategy, and across the peace-war continuum. Then fundamental precepts of existing U.S. grand strategy are …

Hardships, Motivations, And Resiliency: Case Study Of Health Implications Of 2022 Russian Invasion On Ukrainian Resistance Members, Jessi Hanson-Defusco

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The 2022 Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine caused millions of Ukrainians to flee. Yet most citizens continue to reside in the country, playing critical roles in the Ukrainian resistance. Today the Ukrainian fighting force includes trained military and police as well as citizens who either were conscripted or volunteered to take part in national war efforts. This mixed-method study conducted in Spring 2022 presents data collected from 79 respondents in a semistructured survey, using snowball sampling. Data analysis examined individual self-reported motivations, attitudes toward the conflict, resilience, quality-of-life hardships, and scaled perceived stress. Results indicated that Ukrainian resistance members face …

Thither The Russian Navy? Putin’S Navalization In A Historical Context, William Emerson Bunn

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The Syrian operation of 2012 was the first successful employment by Russia of expeditionary warfare, narrowly defined as naval support to Russian (or Soviet) ground forces in a war away from their periphery (i.e., in a country that does not border them), from the sea. This was brought about in part by the development of two types of cruise missiles: advanced anti-ship missiles (which protects their expeditionary force from NATO naval units, enabling local sea control) and new land attack cruise missiles (similar in design and capability to the U.S. Tomahawk). In the past geographical, technological and political constraints …

Securing Russia: Seeking Ontological Security In The Arctic, Brian W. Cole

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia experienced an abrupt discontinuity in its sense of identity. This break in identity, and a more profound lost sense of self, creates a strong need to reestablish continuity. The need to regain that sense of self is strong and can supersede other concerns. Ontological security theory proposes that the need to maintain identity can outweigh physical security considerations. This study uses game theory methodology and the Arctic as a contextual example to demonstrate that ontological security-seeking actors are willing to sacrifice physical security. Today, the current conditions in the Arctic reflect a …

The Grand Strategy Of Gertrude Bell: From The Arab Bureau To The Creation Of Iraq, Heather S. Gregg

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The remarkable life of early-twentieth-century British adventurer Gertrude Bell has been well documented through her biographies and numerous travel books. Bell’s role as a grand strategist for the British government in the Middle East during World War I and the postwar period, however, is surprisingly understudied. Investigating Gertrude Bell as both a military strategist and a grand strategist offers important insights into how Great Britain devised its military strategy in the Middle East during World War I—particularly, Britain’s efforts to work through saboteurs and secret societies to undermine the Ottoman Empire during the war and the country’s attempts to stabilize …

To The Shores Of Tripoli: A Barbary Retrospective, Kathleen J. Brett

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The First and Second Barbary Wars were incredibly influential in shaping the diplomatic and military tactics of the early United States. These wars were fought against the Barbary states of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers, located on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. The First Barbary War lasted between the years of 1801 to 1805. The First Barbary War began due to the United States’ desire to no longer pay tribute sums to the Barbary states, along with an increase in the number American merchantmen captured and enslaved by the Barbary states. Tripoli served as the primary aggressor in the …

Korean War Biological Warfare Allegations Against The United States: A Playbook For The Current Crisis In Ukraine, Conrad C. Crane

Articles & Editorials

No abstract provided.

Tactical Mistakes: Women's Role In Terrorism, Laura Daniel

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Since the 1970s, the word "terrorism" has become a well-known term. Almost two decades after 9/11, it has become a part of everyday vocabulary and, at times, dominates the news cycle. However, the faces we see associated with terrorism are mainly men. When talking of a training camp or a video claiming responsibility for terrorist attacks, women are not a part of the majority. However, women do play a significant role in terrorism. This article evaluates the history of women in terrorism and their positions in terror organizations, as well as the tactical mistake of overlooking women's role in global …

Undersea Cables: The Ultimate Geopolitical Chokepoint, Bert Chapman

FORCES Initiative: Strategy, Security, and Social Systems

This work provides historical and contemporary overviews of this critical geopolitical problem, describes the policy actors addressing this in the U.S. and selected other countries, and provides maps and information on many undersea cable work routes. These cables are chokepoints with one dictionary defining chokepoints as “a strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region."

Biden Administration U.S. Space Force Policy Literature, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Provides details on U.S. Space Force policy literature produced by the Biden Administration during its first eight months. Includes announcements that the Biden Administration will continue this new armed services branch begun during the Trump Administration. Features congressional testimony of Biden Administration officials such as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Wilson and Air Force Space Command leader General James Dickinson, the text of Space Force's 2021 Digital Force Vision document, congressionally approved FY 2022 space force budget figures, congressional committee comments and report requirements contained in emerging defense spending legislation, the emergence of collaboration between Space Force and universities such as …

No Soldier Left Behind? Breaking The Silence On Military Service, Values And Identity In Israel, Lina Tuschling

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

This dissertation explores the relationship between observed incidents and perceptions of value violation or confirmation among Israeli soldiers. Through content analysis of 900 testimonies, the work explores the intersection of social identity, military ethics and nonviolent movements. The data show that many soldiers do not see their tasks as supporting the overall mission of keeping their country and nation safe, leading to a decline in motivation and sense of purpose. Further, deeper reflections on whether actions on the ground are in line with proposed national values result in incidents of role conflict, individual cognitive dissonance and vicarious dissonance.

Findings from …

Smart Power In The Iraq Surge 2007-2008, Russell N. Reiling

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores U.S. actions in the military “Surge” in Iraq from 2007-2008. Focus is on the entwined utilization of coercive and attractive power or smart power as an enabler of success and change from prior U.S. strategies in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. The analysis is based upon an extensive set of interviews with operational participants in the Surge from across the Executive Branch. Results show that smart power was an important element of the Surge and its use facilitated success, but that doing smart power was not a simple matter of achieving some mix of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power, but …

Power Brokers: Three Revolutionaries Who Shaped Post-Revolutionary Egypt And Tunisia, Dan Harker

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Limits And Possibilities Of The United States Military In Post-Conflict Reconstruction And Stabilization, Alcir Florentino Dos Santos Neto

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

This study probes the limits and possibilities of U.S. military efforts to facilitate the transition from warfighting to nation-building. Most comparative studies conceive the complexity of this transition along a spectrum from conflict to humanitarian assistance to post-conflict stabilization. While the last two stages have often been interpreted as a coordinated act of civil-military ‘nation-building’, the spectrum, in fact, represents an ideal type simplification. At one level, outcomes depend on the players involved, including sovereign nations, national militaries, international and regional institutions, U.N. peacekeepers, private security contractors, and non-governmental humanitarian providers, among others. On the other hand, because …

Barracks And Barricades: How Internal Security Threats Affect Foreign Basing Access In The Philippines, Wellington J. Brown, Dean C. Dulay

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper presents a theory of foreign military basing as a function of the degree of internal threat facing a host nation. The theory is based on rational choice logic where politicians balance economic and security benefits against sovereignty and legitimacy costs. When internal threat is low a host nation’s political actors value legitimacy and sovereignty and hence reduce base access. When internal threat is high economic and security benefits trump legitimacy and sovereignty costs, hence increasing base access. The theory is assessed through process-tracing the historical events around U.S military basing in the Philippines. When internal threat was low …