Digital Commons Network^™

Hiroshima And The Birth Of The Perilous Present, Scott M. White

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This article explores how the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 not only marked a transformative moment in military and political history but also set a lasting precedent for modern global risk. By examining the implications of Hiroshima, this paper will delve into how the initial decision to use nuclear force instigated a high-stakes period of unprecedented risk management that extends to today's geopolitics, nuclear proliferation, and even international policy on climate and technology. This article will argue that the atomic history of Hiroshima established the world’s first encounter with existential weaponry and its accompanying ethical challenges, thereby laying the …

Whose Rules, Whose Rights?: Conflict-Related Sexual Violence And Legal Protections In Wartime, Sadaf Shabbir

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article critically analyzes conflict-related systematic sexual violence (CRSV) within the frameworks of international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocols. Moving beyond viewing CRSV as an isolated atrocity, it situates sexual violence within the historical and political roots of conflict, using case studies from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Syrian Arab Republic. The analysis demonstrates how sexual violence operates as a weapon within exploitative wartime economies, where institutional collapse and illicit resource networks enable the commodification and control of women’s bodies. Furthermore, the article introduces a sectarian lens to the study of CRSV, …

Simulating Cyber-Resilience: The Strategic Role Of The Locked Shields Exercise In Enhancing International Cyber Preparedness, Christopher A. Ramezan, Ludwig Christian Schaupp, Elizabeth A. Vitullo, William J. Walker

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

As cyberthreats to critical infrastructure remain prevalent, national response mechanisms must evolve beyond the technical domain to incorporate legal, communicative, strategic, and cross-sector coordination. This work explores Locked Shields, an annual exercise conducted by NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, as a pedagogical and conceptual framework for simulating whole-of-government responses to cyber incidents. Unlike traditional cyber exercises, Locked Shields engages legal advisors, media strategists, and civil-military roles in realistic, scenario-driven simulations that portray the political and operational conditions of a real international-scale cyber crisis. We detail the exercise architecture, contrast with other cyber exercises, and assess its pedagogical and …

Study And Reflection On Undergroundization Of Critical Infrastructure In Megacities From Perspective Of National Strategy, Kaiguo Jia, Baohua Huang, Lina Ye, Tengfei Guo, Rong Yi

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Critical infrastructures are vital strategic resources, directly impacting national security and the operation of economy and society. Twenty-two megacities and large cities in China, due to the concentration of resources and poorly concealed distribution of critical infrastructure, face multiple risks such as warfare attack, natural disaster, and facilitiy aging. Incorporating the undergroundization of critical infrastructure into national strategy is an imperative choice for national security, resilient city, and high-quality growth. International practices have proven the advantages of underground development in terms of protection and space optimization. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, it is recommended to adopt strategies such as …

Book Review: Rhino Tanks And Sticky Bombs: Gi Ingenuity In World War Ii, William Phillips

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Robert P. Wettemann Jr.

Reviewed by: Colonel William Phillips, US Army (retired), assistant professor, Department of Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Operations, US Army Command and General Staff College

Improvised weapons and battlefield creativity take center stage in Rhino Tanks and Sticky Bombs, Robert P. Wettemann Jr.’s tribute to the ingenuity of American GIs during World War II. From modifying tanks to crafting makeshift explosives, soldiers turned innovation into survival and success. This compelling account reveals how necessity and resourcefulness shaped the outcome of history’s most devastating conflict.

Copyright: ©2026 William Phillips

Book Review: The Russian-Ukrainian War, 2023: A Second Year Of Hell And The Dawn Of Drone Warfare, Paul Andrew Lushenko

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: John S. Harrel

Reviewed by: Paul Andrew Lushenko, professorial lecturer, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

In the brutal second year of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine faced relentless assaults while pioneering the battlefield use of drones in a desperate bid for survival. Retired General John S. Harrel delivers a gripping account of mechanized warfare’s evolution, where unmanned aerial vehicles reshaped tactics from the trenches to the Black Sea. This vivid chronicle captures the chaos, innovation, and global reverberations of a war that redefined modern combat.

©2026 Paul Andrew Lushenko

Book Review: Cassino ’44: The Brutal Battle For Rome, Wylie W. Johnson

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: James Holland

Reviewed by: Wylie W. Johnson, chaplain, US Army War College class of 2010

In this masterful retelling of the Italian Campaign’s final months, James Holland captures the harrowing struggle to break through the German Gustav Line and liberate Rome. Drawing from 20 years of research and firsthand accounts, he brings to life the chaos of Monte Cassino and Anzio through the eyes of soldiers, nurses, and civilians caught in the maelstrom. Cassino ’44 redefines our understanding of World War II’s most grueling campaign, revealing its strategic importance and human cost just days before the D-Day landings.

©2026 …

Securing Or Securitizing? Unveiling The Role Of Securitization “Audience” In Israel’S 2007 Bombing Of The Syrian Nuclear Site., Dunia Essam Hassanin

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the 2007 Israeli bombing on Syria's Al-Kibar nuclear reactor through the lens of securitization theory, concluding that intelligence served as crucial audiences in legitimizing the operation. Building on the Copenhagen School's paradigm, which defines securitization as the process by which actors build issues as existential threats necessitating extreme measures, this study fills a critical theoretical gap: the underdeveloped role of the audience. While classic formulations focus on public approval, this study suggests a more sophisticated notion of the Political Intelligence Audience: intelligence agencies that validate and operationalize securitization moves. The concept contends that groups such as the …

The Vulnerabilities Of Smart Technology, Ryan R. Nolan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Smart technology is everywhere. In the last decade, an amazing digital transformation swept across the globe, changing how people interact and shaping the public sector interaction between the local government and the constituency. Public administrators must contend with a new communication method that will impact the constituency. Smart technology is making the world convenient, more accessible, and more connected; however, smart technology is making the United States more vulnerable to advisories that seek to harm the free world. When viewed holistically, the vulnerability of smart technology is a national security concern. The United States is not leading the smart technology …

The Cowl - V. 89 N. 13 - February 5, 2026

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol. 89 No. 13 - February 5, 2026. 20 pages.

A New Brood: The Return Of China's Green Cicada, Ella Murray, Darren L. Linvill, Patrick Warren

Media Forensics Hub Reports

This report examines a network of AI-assisted accounts purporting to be from Australia, the United States, or the Philippines, posting AI-generated commentary on X about each country’s politics and culture. It is very likely that this network originates in China and is facilitated by an LLM given the coordination of their messaging and the structure of the content itself.

Reimagining Safety And Justice: Experiences Of And Resistance To Police Sexual Violence In New York City, Priscilla Bustamante

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the era following both Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, police sexual violence (PSV) currently constitutes the second most commonly reported police complaint after excessive force. Police across the U.S. are caught for some form of sexual misconduct once every five days, with on-duty officers found to commit sexual assaults at more than double the rate of the general population. The gendered and racialized perpetration of sexual violence extends far beyond policing; however, it has been intensified within the masculine, militarized carceral structures designed to legally control and punish.

Accordingly, this dissertation utilizes an interdisciplinary, multi-method approach to offer what …

Social Media And Public Opinion In Times Of Conflict: How Arab Social Media Impacted International Perspectives On The Gaza War, Mariam Rizk

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examines how Arab social media content creators impacted the international public perception of the 2023 Gaza war through English-language content. The research is conducted through semi-structured interviews with 19 participants: 4 Arab social media content creators and 15 English-speaking university students (13 American citizens and 2 international students studying in American universities). Through these semi-structured qualitative interviews, the research investigates the agenda-setting capabilities of social media during conflicts and identifies effective cross-cultural communication strategies. The study employed purposive sampling with snowball technique, targeting content creators with established social media presence (37,000-426,000 Instagram followers) and university students who …

The Killing Fields Of South Africa: Eco-Wars, Species Apartheid, And Total Liberation, Steve Best

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

"Adobo Diplomacy": Langkah Baru Gastrodiplomasi Filipina, Shafa Salsabila

Multikultura

Gastrodiplomacy is a popular instrument in today's cultural diplomacy. This gastronomic diplomacy was first implemented by Thailand through the "Global Thai" program, which successfully introduced Thai cuisine and culture to the international community. Among ASEAN countries, the Philippines is one that currently engages in gastronomic diplomacy, led by adobo as a staple dish. This study examines the Philippines' efforts to conduct gastronomic diplomacy through the lens of gastrodiplomacy theory. This study uses a qualitative method and draws on a literature review of journal articles, books, news, and social media. In 2025, the Philippines will intensify its efforts in conducting gastronomic …

Structural Empowerment And The Work Environment Of Nursing Home Care Workers In China, Yawen Ou

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

China is experiencing a profound demographic transformation as its population ages rapidly, driven by declining fertility, increased longevity, and long-term effects of the One- Child policy. Traditional family-based elderly care has become increasingly unsustainable due to the pressures of the “4-2-1” family structure and the rising prevalence of empty-nest households. In this context, there is an increasing trend in institutionalized elderly care, accompanied by a growing demand for Nursing Home Care Workers (NHCWs). In spite of their vital importance, NHCWs often face heavy workloads, poor compensation, low recognition, and limited professional autonomy. This study explores the work environment and structural …

My Radical Dad, Thai Jones

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Killing The Field Of Dreams: George W. Bush, Empire And Politics Of Misrecognition, Jeremy Varon

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Shakespeare's Plays Of Deranged Authority: The King's Three Bodies, Daniel Krier

Fast Capitalism

Shakespeare's plays are situated upon the threshold of two worlds: a declining traditional order torn apart by political rivalry and ascendant early-modern capitalism. The history plays dramatize infighting among warring factions of privileged aristocrats as well as revolutionary forces propelled by the rising commons and the politics of commodity. Legitimate authority is rarely secure among the kings perched upon Shakespearean thrones. In Shakespeare's Henriad and King John, crowns are contested from the moment they are placed upon royal heads, inspiring Kantorwicz's political theology: the corporeal body of short-lived kings is distinct from the sovereign's sublime body that reigns without cease. …

Shu World Review- January 26th 2026, Diplolab

SHU World Review

No abstract provided.

Uk And The 'Razor-Wire Humanitarianism': The Refugee Crisis And The Aesthetic Of Violence, Yasmin Ibrahim

Fast Capitalism

When the 'refugee crisis' in Calais became an issue of renewed concern in the summer of discontent in 2015, UK's reticent stance towards the crisis was captured through its measured approach. A notable riposte from the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, was to send in yet more security fencing to fortify the borders in Calais to assuage the disaffect from the truckers and the public. Dubbing this as UK's 'razor wire humanitarianism', the paper examines how the material artefact of the razor wire is implicated in the aesthetic of violence towards the refugee and migrant bodies in the camps of …

Was Karl Marx An Ecosocialist?, Carl Boggs

Fast Capitalism

Author Biography

Carl Boggs, National University

Carl Boggs is the author of many books in the fields of critical social theory, American politics, U.S. foreign policy and military history, film studies, and ecology. After receiving his Ph.D. at U.C., Berkeley he taught at Washington University in St. Louis, Carleton University in Ottawa, UCLA, USC, and U.C., Irvine. He is currently professor of social sciences at National University in Los Angeles. He is a regular contributor to the magazine CounterPunch, is a member of the executive board of the Global Studies Association, and is involved with such journals as Theory …

Social Crises, Political Conflicts, And Cultural Contradictions Of Nixonland: Tracing Constitutional Crisis In The Usa From Nixon To Trump, Timothy W. Luke

Fast Capitalism

Many developments, like greater domestic turmoil, economic dislocation, social immobility, and political gridlock, suggest "the public" and "the private" are different domains with the US than they were decades ago in 1969 when President Nixon entered office. The constitutional state, as a theory and set of practices in the USA in the Nixon era was put under tremendous strains, and it seems clear that those pressures fractured it. After Vietnam, stagflation, Watergate, and the transitional Ford Administration, has it ever been the same? The Reagan-Bush assault on the New Deal and Great Society as well as the essentially permanent mobilization …

The Frailty Of The Strong Executive, Peter D. Ore, Andrew Paul Davis

Fast Capitalism

This essay reflects on the contemporaneous empowerment of the executive branch under the Trump administration with regard to other branches of government, as well as the disempowerment of the nation's bureacracy. We argue that this combination leads to a simultaneously unfettered, yet feeble executive that has little oversight, yet is routinely ineffective. We explore how tensions in organizational and political theory with regard to private and public governance have presaged this administrative move. This essay concludes by discussing why elite actors might support such an unencumbered, yet ineffective executive.

Author Biographies

Peter D. Ore, University of Arizona

Peter Ore is …

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R5 Tr_B1 Report Fy2025 - Book Requests Controlled) By Title, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R5 / 5.1 Report TR_B1 for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025. The TR_B1 report is defined as "Book Requests Controlled)." This report presents an annual total only and only includes those platforms successfully configured for automated harvesting via SUSHI.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results:

Total Item Requests - 194,197

Unique Title Requests - 60,001

A Hokies' Lament: American Social Psychosis And The Virginia Tech Killings, Stephen Pfohl

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

All The Rage: Digital Bodies And Deadly Play In The Age Of The Suicide Bomber, Carolyn Guertin

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Mediated Ritual On Academic Ground, Neal King

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Risk, Return To Industry, And The Future Of Democracy, Lukas Szrot

Fast Capitalism

Reflecting on 2020, I consider the possibility of the collapse of the United States, as well as the ways in which it has fallen short of representative and democratic promise. I argue that the spread of conspiratorial reason is symptomatic of the mistrust that has arisen from these failures. Drawing on naturalist, critical theory, and sociology of knowledge accounts of conspiratorial reason, I argue that such thinking is interest-bound, weaponizing mistrust, and is broadly appealing but ultimately disempowering, serving the ends of failed praxis and reification of power. I examine two possible sources of institutionalized mistrust: the "culture wars" thesis …