Digital Commons Network^™

Cover & Front Matter

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Physical-Strength Rationales For De Jure Exclusion Of Women From Military Combat Positions, Maia Goodell

Seattle University Law Review

Women have been serving in the military in steadily increasing numbers for decades. Nevertheless, the military remains one of the few areas in which the U.S. government decides what roles are open to women based on de jure exclusions. This Article examines the law governing de jure classification, noting that a mere normative belief about women’s proper place in society is an insufficient basis to justify a sex-based exclusion. It then probes the most common rationale advanced in support of the continued de jure exclusion of women: physical strength. The Article examines four problems with the physical strength rationale: (1) …

Comparing Discrete Simulation And System Dynamics: Modeling An Anti-Insurgency Influence Operation, Wayne Wakeland, Una E. Medina

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper contrasts the tradeoffs of modeling the same dynamic problem at a micro scale and at a macro scale of analysis: discrete system simulation (DS) versus continuous system simulation or system dynamics (SD). Both are employed to model the influence of entertainment education on terrorist system decay, with implications for field application. Each method optimizes different design, scope/scale, data availability/accuracy, parameter settings, and system sensitivities. Whether the research served by the computer model is applied or theoretical, DS tends to be useful for understand low-level individual unit/step influences on system change over time, whereas SD tends to shine when …

Under The Volcano: Emergency Management And The Eyjafjallajokull Eruptions, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull eruptions that began on April 14^th, 2010 have exemplified challenges for transportation in a world of globalization, and ever-present need for preparation for emergencies.

Peace Agreements And International Peace Operations: The Case Of Sierra Leone, Haruyuki Irie

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

U.S. Response To Terrorism: A Strategic Analysis Of The Afghanistan Campaign, Valentina Taddeo

Journal of Strategic Security

This article examines the U.S. response to global terrorism and its campaign in Afghanistan from 2001 to today. The aim of this article is first to understand the fallacies, missteps, and misunderstandings of the U.S. approach in Afghanistan. Second, the analysis evaluates the lessons learnt and some possible strategies for achieving long-term stability and security in Afghanistan. In particular, the analysis focuses on the different strategies adopted by the United States and their achievements. Despite a first victory over the Taliban regime, the initial approach was focused on the enemy only and it lacked long-term planning, paving the way to …

North Korea And Support To Terrorism: An Evolving History, Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr.

Journal of Strategic Security

The DPRK's (Democratic People's Republic of Korea or North Korea) support for terrorism began as an ideologically-based policy financed by the Soviet Union that eventually led to a policy designed to put money into the coffers of the elite in Pyongyang—in short, a "proliferation for hire" policy. This article articulates a brief history of the North Korean regime, the rise to power of Kim Il-sung and his son, Kim Jong-il, and North Korea's persistent support to terrorist groups around the globe.

The Multiple Faces Of Effective Grand Strategy, Bryan N. Groves

Journal of Strategic Security

Effective national leaders throughout history have deliberately developed grand strategies and successfully implemented them to attain their political goals, while also integrating and accomplishing economic, social, defense, and sometimes religious objectives. Not all leaders have been successful, however, as this process is immensely complex and can be adversely affected by the actions of other leaders around their region and the world. It bears examination, then, to determine what factors contribute to successful grand strategies and why many leaders fail to reach their stated ends. This article utilizes a historic case study approach and explores three key areas of grand strategy: …

Cia And The Cold War Era, Mary E. Byers

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency and its role in the Cold War. Great detail highlights the timeliness of the CIA’s creation and dynamic role over the years that followed its founding. For half a century, attempts to understand the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics dominated the CIA’s agenda. Thus, careful study of this era is important to understanding the progression of intelligence within the United States. The avenue of research for this thesis was a collaboration of published books, online journals, credible websites, and personal interviews. The development of the …

Aviation & Maritime Homeland Security: A Comparative Case Study, Staphanie Aileen Webb

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Business and Public Affairs at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Public Administration by Stephanie Aileen Webb on April 14, 2010.

The Final Fight: The 2008 Battle Of Sadr City, Geoffrey Ensby

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

Iraq following the US invasion in March of 2003 was a dangerous place, and one in which the national government struggled to maintain control while unsanctioned and unauthorized strongmen and their militias controlled wide swaths of territory. This analysis will thus look at the 2008 Battle of Sadr City between the militia of radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the military forces of Iraq and the US conducting the operation in concert. Utilizing a number of newspaper accounts and editorials, journal articles, recent books, and freelance journalists’ writings, several key aspects will be considered regarding how Iraq was changed for …

Do Drones Have A Silver Lining?, David Akerson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Michael Abramowitz and Lawrence Woocher’s article, “How Genocide Became a National Security Threat,” flags an important milestone in American foreign policy, namely that mass atrocities might now be appropriately viewed as the national security threats that they are. The problem with translating this policy development into action is the next and not insignificant challenge. Aerial drones may be key to overcoming it.

Maturing International Cooperation To Address The Cyberspace Attack Attribution Problem, Jeff J. Mcneil

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

One of the most significant challenges to deterring attacks in cyberspace is the difficulty of identifying and attributing attacks to specific state or non-state actors. The lack of technical detection capability moves the problem into the legal realm; however, the lack of domestic and international cyberspace legislation makes the problem one of international cooperation. Past assessments have led to collective paralysis pending improved technical and legal advancements. This paper demonstrates, however, that any plausible path to meaningful defense in cyberspace must include a significant element of international cooperation and regime formation.

The analytical approach diverges from past utilitarian-based assessments to …

The Illogic Of The Biological Weapons Taboo., Phillip M. Mccauley, Rodger A. Payne

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Border Conflict And Tibet: The Asian Giants And Their History Of Power Struggle, Evan Towt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The South Asian world is dominated by India and China, their combined populations equaling almost a full half of humankind. In 1962, the two countries clashed over their border. The main reason for the war was the contest over large areas of territory claimed by both countries. The border still has not been adequately defined. This essay examines the border dispute from its roots in history, through the 20th century and into the present. It was the goal of this work to give an unbiased account of the dispute, though the weight of evidence in favor of the Indian claim …

Annals Of Psychological Warfare: How To Induce Panic, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the phenomenon of panic in a wartime setting because of psychological warfare, as well as in other settings.

Intelligence And Its Role In Protecting Against Terrorism, Richard J. Hughbank, Don Githens

Journal of Strategic Security

The art and science of gathering critical operational intelligence has been defined in many ways and is beyond our needs for this writing. Throughout the course of history, many wars have been fought depending heavily on various forms of intelligence. During our most recent actions in the War on Terror, intelligence analysis has played a critical role in both offensive and defensive operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. With such varying fact-finding techniques available and utilized in the defense of our country, it has become an arduous task to collect, decipher, package, prioritize, disseminate, and act upon everything that comes down …

Strategic Asymmetric Deception And Its Role In The Current Threat Environment, Seth A. Gulsby

Journal of Strategic Security

President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, once stated that the post-Cold War world of the 1990s was a "paradox [where] American military superiority actually increase[d] the threat of... attack against [the U.S.] by creating incentives for adversaries to challenge us asymmetrically." He was alluding to the fact that the Cold War's closure was supposed to bring about a situation that encouraged peace, nation-building, and unilateral comfort for the United States. The reality that America has come to know is quite different, and some might even argue that, given the option, many people would return to a security situation …

Challenges For Human, Social, Cultural, And Behavioral Modeling, S. K. Numrich, Andreas Tolk

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Today's military focus has moved away from the force-on-force battlefield of the past century and into the domain of irregular warfare and its companion security, stability, transition and reconstruction missions. With that change in focus has come a need to examine the operational environment from a wider perspective, one that includes the whole range of human experiences and circumstances. As the set of factors and list of players expands, the need for reliable modeling and simulation increases, if for no other reason than to help the human decision maker make sense of this expanded decision space. However, to do this, …

The Principled Case For Employing Private Military And Security Companies In Humanitarian Interventions And Peacekeeping, Deane-Peter Baker, James Pattison

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The possibility of using private military and security companies to bolster the capacity to undertake humanitarian intervention has been increasingly debated. The focus of such discussions has, however, largely been on practical issues and the contingent problems posed by private force. By contrast, this paper considers the principled case for privatising humanitarian intervention. It focuses on two central issues. First, is there a case for preferring these firms to other, state-based agents of humanitarian intervention? In particular, given a state’s duties to their own military personnel, should the use of private military and security contractors be preferred to regular soldiers …

The Air Force And Twenty-First-Century Conflicts: Dysfunctional Or Dynamic?, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Marten Zwanenburg On Killer Robots: Legality And Ethicality Of Autonomous Weapons. By Armin Krishnan. Farnham: Ashgate, 2009. 240pp., Marten Zwanenburg

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Killer Robots: Legality and Ethicality of Autonomous Weapons. By Armin Krishnan. Farnham: Ashgate, 2009. 240pp.

Changes In Intelligence For An Age Of Terror (Gregory F. Treverton. Intelligence For An Age Of Terror. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.), Scott Miller

Global Tides

Book review of Gregory F. Treverton's Intelligence for an Age of Terror (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Security By Contractor: Outsourcing In Peace And Stability Operations, Volker Franke

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Mine-Risk Education In Nepal, 2009, Purna Shova Chitraker

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Despite the signing of a 2006 peace agreement by the Nepalese government and the Maoists, Nepal’s mine clearance remains a work in progress due to the after-effects of its decade-long Maoist conflict and the emergence of small, armed groups. Ban Landmines Campaign Nepal (NCBL) is at the forefront of the country’s mine-risk-education efforts. This article examines NCBL’s MRE program objectives, expectations, methods and achievements, as well as the many challenges it faces.

Usafricom's Approach To International Stability, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The United States Africa Command, created in 2007, is responsible for military relations in 53 African countries. Having assumed responsibilities formerly housed in three other combatant commands, USAFRICOM is now tasked with a broad range of humanitarian, military and policy objectives on the continent, including conducting mine action and remediating the dangers posed by explosive remnants of war. This article explores the massive tasks facing USAFRICOM as it stands up, and the ways in which the command is already making a much-needed difference.

Sri Lanka: Mine Action In A Deteriorating Environment, Chris Rush

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

A major mine-action program has been underway in Sri Lanka since 2002, when a cease-fire agreement between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was signed. However, after a seemingly inexorable escalation in violence between the LTTE and the government forces, open warfare resumed, and in May 2009, the government announced that it had achieved military victory over the LTTE. This article traces the various ways that the increase in conflict affected mine-action activities in Sri Lanka.

Military Doctrine: A Reference Handbook, Bert Chapman

Libraries Research Publications

This is a 2009 Purdue Libraries brownbag presentation on my book Military Doctrine: A Reference Handbook. It describes how the U.S. and other countries formulate and implement strategies for conducting military operations and publishing literature describing how they conduct military operations. Additional contents include highlighting military strategy objectives of various countries and key military doctrine documents produced by these countries.

Extinguishing The Torch Of Terror: The Threat Of Terrorism And The 2010 Olympics, Serge E. Vidalis

Journal of Strategic Security

With the change in seasons comes the expected change of insurgency operations in Afghanistan as Taliban and al-Qaida fighters mount their spring and summer offensives against both NATO forces and Afghanis sympathetic to foreign troops. As insurgents curtail their seasonal operations with the arrival of fall and winter, is it likely that a threat may arise from Afghanistan to affect the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia? As will be illustrated herein, the threat to the games will not be borne directly from the insurgency in Afghanistan but rather by the universal jihadist ideology of al-Qaida rather than the nationalist …

Book Reviews, Christine E. Williamson, Ed Urie, Michael Savasta, Robin L. Thompson, D.M., Edward M. Roche

Journal of Strategic Security

Critical Thinking and Intelligence Analysis. By David T.Moore.

At The Center Of The Storm: The CIA During America's Time of Crisis. By George Tenet with Bill Harlow.

Female Suicide Bombers. By Rosemarie Skaine.

Information Operations: Doctrine and Practice. By Christopher Paul.

The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency. By Matthew M. Aid.

The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption. By Kamal Saleem with Lynn Vincent.

Attaché Extraordinaire: Vernon A. Walters in Brazil. By Frank Márcio De Oliveira.