Digital Commons Network^™

Opposition From Within – Israeli Soldiers Resist The Occupation, Maia Hallward, Lina Tuschling

Faculty Articles

Protests in response to Israeli military action in the Occupied Territories have a long history in Israel. While such opposition movements in many countries are comprised of civil society activists, the dynamics of protest differ in Israel because of the country’s mandatory military service. From the 1980s to present day, former and current Israeli soldiers have used a wide range of methods, tactics, and strategies to challenge Israeli military actions. Using insights from nonviolent resistance theories, we examine how the approaches and goals of military opposition groups in Israel have changed over the past decades. Specifically, we develop a typology …

The Sovereignty Solution: A Common Sense Approach To Global Security, Andrew Higgins

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

The Sovereignty Solution calls for a new grand strategy for the United States. The current security paradigm, the book’s authors hold, has yet to be properly modified from a 20^th-century cast of mind. The ad hoc system inherited after the end of the Cold War now fails because it too often applies national power equally to each emerging threat. But security challenges in the 21^st century arise so quickly and unexpectedly that continuing in this manner incurs overextension and further, risks strategic defeat. If the United States continues to behave as if it can be in all …

Alternate Warfare: The Unseen Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Elyse Keener

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Biological warfare is a national security concern that transcends centuries. In the current international climate, biowarfare is of particular interest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article seeks to follow historical cases of biological warfare and international response to these cases in order to understand the implications of COVID-19, if it were to be weaponized. Also covered is the current capabilities that Russia, China, and Iran are assessed to possess.

Combining Competition And Cooperation: A Guide To U.S. Space Relations, Paul Prentice, Nathan Waite

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Space is the future for humanity. Whether that is a future of amity and cooperation, or competition and conflict depends in large part to what America makes it. While America cannot afford to entirely abandon cooperation with the world in the final frontier, neither can it afford to cede the advantage in a new field of potential warfare to adversaries in China and Russia. What is needed is a moderate path of competition where necessary and cooperation where beneficial, in order to most fully advance the cause of American national security. By utilizing arms treaties to prevent Chinese domination, while …

Nuclear Arms Treaties: Their National Security Impact On America, Megan A. Muldoon

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Abstract

This paper attempts to historically analyze arms treaties and arms limitation agreements between the United States and Russia. The impact of limiting and reducing strategic nuclear weapons on both countries and the ability to prevent endless proliferation is discussed. Additionally, the lack of limiting and reduction agreements on China and on tactical nuclear weapons is analyzed into projections for what the future of arms agreements or races may look like. Lastly, the extending or allowing the New START agreement and its impact on U.S. national security is assessed.

A Guarding Of The Change: Saudi Arabia, Iran, And The Quest For Stability In The Middle East, Scott Harr

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

This article analyzes the composition and disposition of Western-style reform efforts within Saudi Arabia and Iran (the Middle East's premiere rivalry) and argues that several current and prominent US policy efforts and actions, that appear to enjoy widespread support, actually frustrate reform efforts in each country and perpetuate the unstable status quo. Focusing the analysis from a historical and religious lens, the article uses historical sources, coupled with an analysis of current events and modern theories on change dynamics to make the argument. As tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia (and the US) continue to escalate and compel US military …

Militarizing Marriage : West African Soldiers’ Conjugal Traditions In Modern French Empire, Sarah J. Zimmerman

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Following tirailleurs sénégalais’ deployments in West Africa, Congo, Madagascar, North Africa, Syria-Lebanon, Vietnam, and Algeria from the 1880s to 1962, Militarizing Marriage historicizes how African servicemen advanced conjugal strategies with women at home and abroad. Sarah J. Zimmerman examines the evolution of women’s conjugal relationships with West African colonial soldiers to show how the sexuality, gender, and exploitation of women were fundamental to the violent colonial expansion and the everyday operation of colonial rule in modern French Empire.

These conjugal behaviors became military marital traditions that normalized the intimate manifestation of colonial power in social reproduction across the empire. Soldiers’ …

An Ontology Of Human Flourishing: Economic Development And Epistemologies Of Faith, Hope, And Love, Jan Van Vliet

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

This chapter demonstrates that the presence of poverty, and its associated pathologies, is of concern to all humankind whose innate desire is to seek the flourishing of fellow humanity. The traditional, often unsuccessful, methods of poverty alleviation have been challenged in creative, bold, and refreshing ways that are superior in both identifying poverty and moving agencies and pathways toward greater success. This involves a technical application of quantitative microeconomics which is paired with expertise and insights on human behavior gleaned from the behavioral sciences. It turns out that human behavior is often better explained by behavioral categories such as hope …

Volume 57, Number 1, Spring 2020 Speaker And Gavel

Speaker & Gavel

Complete digitized issue (Volume 57, issue 1, Spring 2020) of Speaker & Gavel.

Front Matter

Speaker & Gavel

Front matter and table of contents for volume 57, issue 1 of Speaker & Gavel.

Finding Commonality: The First Principles Of The Leadership Thought Of Theodore Roosevelt And Traditional Chinese Culture, Elizabeth Summerfield, Yumin Dai

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This paper argues that, while the imperative to find global solutions to complex problems like climate change and resource management is agreed, dominant ethical and intellectual thought leadership in many western nations impedes progress. The Cartesian binaries of western post-Enlightenment culture tend instead toward oppositional binary divides where each ‘side’ assumes to be the whole and not a part. And the present and future similarly assume precedence over the past. The paper points to systems thinking as both a method and a practice of wise leadership of past western and eastern societies, including their conservation of natural resources. Two historical …

An Army Transformed: Usindopacom Hypercompetition And Us Army Theater Design, Nathan P. Freier Mr., John Schaus, William G. Braun Iii

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The United States faces a hypercompetitive geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific region, arguably the most consequential theater for US national interests over the coming decades. Although the United States has created exquisite military capabilities to counter insurgencies and fight terrorists, rivals like China have developed a whole-of-government toolkit focused on expanding their span of control and freedom of action, separating the United States from its allies, and deterring US leaders from greater engagement in East Asia.
China is actively transforming its military forces, with an eye toward defeating the United States in the event of armed hostilities. The People’s Republic …

Super Bowl Ads And The Donald Trump Culture War, Jessica Barron

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There have been studies that have looked at how television commercials represent or portray minorities such as gender or race. Very few have tried to look at how commercials compare to the culture, specifically in regards to a presidential term and the culture they promote. This present study examines Super Bowl commercials during the culture war led by the Donald Trump administration and looks to discover if these advertisements are becoming more diverse in comparison to the previous presidency. Using content analysis, the researcher analyzed and compared 50 commercials from three different time periods 2009-2010, 2013-2014, and 2017-2018. The categories …

Human Supremacy As Posthuman Risk, Daniel Estrada

The Journal of Sociotechnical Critique

Human supremacy is the widely held view that human interests ought to be privileged over other interests as a matter of ethics and public policy. Posthumanism is the historical situation characterized by a critical reevaluation of anthropocentrist theory and practice. This paper draws on animal studies, critical posthumanism, and the critique of ideal theory in Charles Mills and Serene Khader to address the appeal to human supremacist rhetoric in AI ethics and policy discussions, particularly in the work of Joanna Bryson. This analysis identifies a specific risk posed by human supremacist policy in a posthuman context, namely the classification of …

“This Is A Game”: A History Of The Foreign Terrorist Organization And State Sponsors Of Terrorism Lists And Their Applications, Melissa Sanford

History in the Making

Following the post-September 11 United States reconfiguration of foreign policy, the use of the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST) lists and related news media coverage dramatically increased. Considering the gravity of such designations, both because of the potentially devastating economic ramifications in the form of sanctions and as negative P.R., it is imperative to examine the historical use and application of these lists. This paper seeks to help better determine the legitimacy of being designated on either of these lists through the analysis of two entities that have experienced listing: the Mujahedeen-e Khalq …

Key Strategic Issues List (Ksil) 2021-2022, Steve Cunningham

Articles & Editorials

New for Academic Years 2021-2022, the USAWC has published an updated Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL). The KSIL informs students, faculty, and external research associates of strategic topics requiring research and analysis. The USAWC in coordination with Headquarters Department of the Army (HQDA), major commands throughout the Army, and the joint and interagency community has updated the Army's priorities for strategic analysis to address issues in the emerging strategic environment and to align with elements of the current Army Vision and Army Strategy. The USAWC will continue to address select topics as Integrated Research Projects and through other research efforts. …

Pandemic Abandonment, Panoramic Displays And Fascist Propaganda: The Month The Earth Stood Still, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"While governing a country facing a global pandemic, a shattered economy, and widespread civil unrest over the death of George Floyd, Trump has shown little compassion for humanity and has chosen ego gratification over care and concern for his countrymen and in the process put the entire world in greater danger from Covid-19."

Terrorism And Right-Wing Extremism: History And Comparative Definitions, Kwame B. Antwi-Boasiako, Caleb Grant Hill

Faculty Publications

Recent narratives on terrorism have focused on the definitions. Terrorism is not a new phenomenon, but the problem resides in its definition and who is defining it. Conceptualizing terrorism depends on which framework one utilizes. The use of different lenses to define the term has contributed to the lack of global acceptance of what constitutes terrorism, hence the difficulty of gathering data for analysis. It is also a conundrum when powerful nations legitimize their terrorist activities against weaker ones. This, unfortunately, has led to the subjectiveness of every attempt in the literature to objectively provide a globally acceptable definition. Using …

Alma Link Resolver Subject Report 2019-2020, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics for 2019-2020 on the number of OpenURL requests by Library of Congress classification code made to the Ex Libris Alma link resolver for items held by the University of Rhode Island Libraries.

Information provided includes Classification Code, Classifications, Number of Requests, Number of Clicked Requests, and % Clicks from Requests.

Endnotes, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

No abstract provided.

Leah Mckown's Portfolio, Leah Mckown

Honors College Portfolios

Collective-Historical Trauma: A Portfolio of Basic Theory and Case Studies

Collective-historical trauma is a fairly new concept within academia. Despite this novelty, the theory underwrites many historical events and can serve as an explanatory factor in describing some of our most potent social issues. At its core, collective-historical trauma refers to the damage incurred by a population when a trauma occurs, whether it is acute or systemic. This topic is particularly potent right now as we attempt to tackle COVID-19, police brutality, and racism in America.

This collection addresses the edges of collective-historical trauma by providing a brief, introductory overview …

The Russian Research Center At Harvard Versus Cambridge Analytica: Influencing The Public In A Cold War, Robert Joshua Howard

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Reflections From A Lifetime Of Activism. An Interview With Chip Berlet, Chip Berlet, Kendall Sewell, Matthew Wentz, Austin Zinkle

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

Chip Berlet is a widely published independent scholar who studies right-wing movements in the United States and Europe, as well as the global spread of conspiracy theories. He is an award-winning investigative journalist and photographer. Since the 1995 Oklahoma bombing, Berlet has appeared frequently in the media to discuss these issues. For over twenty years, Berlet was a senior analyst at Political Research Associates (PRA), a non-profit think tank in the United States that tracks right-wing networks. Berlet is co-author (with Matthew N. Lyons) of Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort (Guilford 2000) and more recently editor of …

Kurdish Public Opinion In Turkey: Cultural And Political Demands Of The "Kurdish Street", Ekrem Karakoc, H. Ege Ozen

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Social Solidarity And The Ontological Foundations Of Exclusionary Nationalism: Durkheim And Levinas On The Historical Manifestations Of Authoritarian Populism, C. J. Eland, Nicole L. M. T. De Pontes

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

This paper seeks to explore the dynamics of contemporary authoritarian populism from a historical perspective, relying on the approaches of Durkheim’s experimental sociology and Levinas’s ethical phenomenology. By reading the works of these two thinkers in concert, a pathology is exposed within this particular form of politics in that the State must necessarily close itself off to the critique of exteriority. Our reading of Durkheim explores the social pathology of nationalism while our reading of Levinas demonstrates the philosophical dimension of this pathology as the inevitable outcome of any philosophical thinking which privileges ontology above all else. The way these …

Reflections After Thirty Years, James R. Payton

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"All this awareness shaped my hopes for what might transpire in the wake of the remarkable changes enacted in the wake of 1989. Those hopes reverberated with what was expressed in a different field for the future of Eastern Europe in the aftermath of Communism’s collapse. I recall reading scholars much more gifted in things economic than I, hoping that the liberated nations of Eastern Europe might develop a “third way,” between capitalism and Communism. Much as that was talked about, however, the story of the past three decades reveals that no such economic third way has been discovered. I …

Surveillance Technology Toward A Dystopian Future, Sandy Hernandez

University Honors Program Senior Projects

There is a continual debate between individuals who attempt to measure the individual’s right to privacy against the government’s right to know as an exchange to provide for the security of all citizens. Questions that demand an answer are whether the individual’s right to privacy outweighs the government’s duty to provide security; and if security is considered more important, can there even be a right to privacy. When questioning the right to privacy and state surveillance, there are three key goals. First, to investigate whether the human right to privacy should exist, considering the continued threat of terrorist attacks and …

Collecting The Encyclopédie: An Annotated Bibliography Of English Sources, Ian Curtis

Library Scholars Manuscripts

In the research process, the actual searching for information often takes longer than anticipated and, especially for research with deadlines, encroaches on valuable time for reading and analysis. This collection of sources on the French Encyclopédie serves to reduce the amount of time spent on finding resources, allowing scholars to focus on individual research needs. Within this searchable annotated bibliography are select English sources that are all available online; however, many can also be found in print journals and books. While containing a variety of topics and authors, significant subject areas are digital humanities, censorship, plagiarism, and authorship and notable …

Interdenominational Dialogue In Contemporary Ukraine: Correction In War And Pandemic Conditions, Liudmyla Fylypovych, Oksana Horkusha

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the current state of interreligious communication in Ukraine and proves the need to correct interfaith dialogue during the war in Eastern Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors identify objective and subjective reasons for dialogue and recognize relevant issues (the lack of a joint denominational position on the need for dialogue), and new threats (the war and the pandemic) for establishing tolerant relations between religious organizations in Ukraine. Natural and socio-political catastrophes only expose problems that were not solved in peacetime. Preserving past achievements in interfaith communication is extremely important for creating new dialogue platforms. The existing …

The Formation Of Ottoman Sufism And Eşrefoğlu Rumi: A 15th Century Shaykh Between Popular Religion And Sufi Ideals, Baris Basturk

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation evaluates a transformative period in the history of the Ottoman State in which the processes of Islamization and Turkification coincided with the expansion and imperialization of the Ottoman polity. This study focuses on an Ottoman Sufi figure, Eşrefoğlu Rumi (?-1469), who benefited form this context, embarked upon a mystical path, and authored seminal works that shaped Ottoman Sufism for generations. This dissertation discusses Eşrefoğlu Rumi’s role in the construction of Islamic orthodoxy based in his Sufi ideals which he disseminated to an Anatolian and Balkan Turkish-speaking Ottoman audience. The significance of this dissertation is that it emphasizes the …