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The Pioneer, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 2015, Illinois State University, College Of Education

The Pioneer (alumni newsletter)

Alumni Newsletter for University High School, College of Education

The Global Civil War: Will The West Survive?, Bertil Haggman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Responding To Russia After The Nato Summit: Unmanned Aerial Systems Overmatch In The Black Sea, Connor Sullivan, Schuyler Standley, James M. Keagle

Defense Horizons

The Ukraine conflict poses unique and asymmetric challenges to the international community. Since the earliest days of the Crimean crisis, Russian support of “separatists” within Ukraine has ranged from plainclothes thugs to more traditional uniformed troops, munitions, and other forms of aid. Some of the individuals involved may have had links to the Russian military or its intelligence community. While much of the aid comes through the porous border between Russia and Ukraine, Russia also leverages the opportunity to use Black Sea smugglers as a way to supply ongoing rebellions or to initiate new revolts. Two Black Sea–bordering regions, Odessa …

Towards A Deeper Understanding Of The Post-Traumatic Growth Factors Leading To An Improved Quality Of Life For Military Combat Veterans, Domonicque Tatum

All Capstone Projects

The issue of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following combat deployment among American military veterans has created significant barriers to successful reintegration. However, positive outcomes also exist in the form of posttraumatic growth. The purpose of this study was to examine Posttraumatic Growth in U.S. military combat veterans by identifying significant relationships among variables leading to successful reintegration of military personnel within the community following combat deployment. Participants in this correlational study included a total of 50 military combat veterans from various eras of conflict. Participants completed a survey battery containing the PTSD Checklist (PCLM), Combat Exposure Scale (CES), Post Deployment …

Genre Controversy: Human Universality Or Plagiarism In The Dystopian Genre?, Taylor V. Kingston

Honors Theses

In a fusion of behavioral psychology, evolutionary psychology, and literary analysis, this thesis considers the possibility that human nature dictates the types of rhetoric utilized in any given genre. Operant conditioning emerged as the governing device in a case study of the dystopian genre since readers must be made to associate fear or hope with particular government structures. Implicitly then, literature is molded into its genres by the human desires addressed by that genre’s reigning themes. This “mold” seems to have created a strain of novels within the dystopian genre that are so similar there have been accusations of plagiarism. …

Confidence Building In Cyberspace: A Comparison Of Territorial And Weapons-Based Regimes, Mary Manjikian Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

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An analysis of weapons-based confidence-building measures shows how academics can work together to self-police their research for national security implications, socialize new members of the academic community into the importance of considering security issues, and develop and disseminate norms regarding what is and is not a moral and ethical use of these technologies. It may be possible for academics and policymakers to come together to work for a ban or build-down on cyber weapons patterned on international efforts to ban chemical and biological weapons and implement export regimes to control the export of code which may …

Evolving Army Needs For Space-Based Support, Jeffrey L. Caton

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

View the Executive Summary

The Army has been involved with space-based military operations for well over a half-century. During this time, space operations have changed from a realm exclusive to scientists and engineers, to highly classified activities largely unknown to the general population, to the unveiling of space-based communication, imagery, surveillance, and environment capabilities that have become a foundation for all modern warfare. Today, such support is so ingrained into daily operations that most soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines assume it has been, and always will be, available for their use. But with such reliance comes vulnerability that potential adversaries …

Presenting The Key Value Of Decentralism (Part Two), Jeff Taylor

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Get On Your Knees And Fight Like A Man: Shifting From World Peace To Spiritual Warfare In Contemporary Christian Music, Scott Culpepper

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

The Law And Politics Of The Charles Taylor Case, Charles Chernor Jalloh

Articles

This article discusses a rare successful prosecution of a head of state by a modern international criminal court. The case involved former Liberian president Charles Taylor. Taylor, who was charged and tried by the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone ("SCSL'), was convicted in April 2013 for planning and aiding and abetting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious international humanitarian law violations. He was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. The SCSL Appeals Chamber upheld the historic conviction and sentence in September 2013. Taylor is currently serving his sentence in Great Britain.

This article, from an insider who …

Reviving Fiscal Citizenship, Ajay K. Mehrotra

Michigan Law Review

April 15 is a day that most Americans dread. That date is, of course, when federal and nearly all state-level individual income tax returns are due. Agonizing over the filing of income tax returns has long been a perennial part of modern American legal culture. Since the mid-1940s, when the United States first adopted a return-based mass income tax, the vast majority of Americans have been legally required to file an annual Form 1040. Over the years, taxpayers have been complaining about, procrastinating over, and generally loathing the filing of their annual tax returns. Indeed, in recent times, April 15 …

Toward A Unified Military Response: Hurricane Sandy And The Dual Status Commander, Ryan Burke Dr., Sue Mcneil Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The 2013-14 Army War College Key Strategic Issues List stated: “If Hurricane Sandy is seen as an archetype of a complex catastrophe, then a careful analysis of the effectiveness of the DoD response within the context of dual status commanders [DSCs], lead federal agencies, and state response capabilities needs to be conducted.” This monograph does exactly that as it carefully and comprehensively analyzes the DSC-led military response to Hurricane Sandy in New York. Through this lens, it illustrates and discusses the perspectives of the DSC construct and offers recommendations for leveraging existing capabilities and improving those deemed insufficient. Using a …

The Politics Of The Takings Clauses, Mila Versteeg

Northwestern University Law Review

A long-standing consensus exists that the arbitrary or excessive expropriation of private property by a country hurts its economic growth. Although constitutions can play an important role in protecting private property, remarkably little is known about how they actually restrict the power of eminent domain and whether such restrictions are associated with reduced de facto expropriation risks. This Essay fills that gap by presenting original data on the procedural and substantive protections in constitutional takings clauses from 1946 to 2013. Its main finding is that no observable relationship exists between de jure constitutional restrictions on the power of eminent domain …

Was It All Just A Hallucination? The Cia's Secret Lsd Experiments, Brittanny Grant

Senior Capstone Theses

For my senior thesis project, I researched the CIA's LSD experiments on unwitting human subjects in the 1950s and early 1960s. I asked why the CIA carried out these experiments, what the impact on the victims was, and how the CIA was able to get away with breaking the law in this egregious way. These government-funded experiment were code-named MKULTRA. My thesis is that the CIA conducted these experiments as part of the American's Cold War struggle with world communism. This is also the reason why they were able to get away with these tests. The fallout for the human …

Columns Spring 2015, Southern Adventist University

Alumni Newsletter

Features the article " Beyond Books". Student research projects reflect academic excellence on campus, a major component of the Southern Experience.

Aviation Cinema, Kevin L. Ferguson

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Stand Up And Fight! The Creation Of U.S. Security Organizations, 1942-2005, Ty Seidule Colonel, Jacqueline E. Whitt Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

View the Executive Summary

Stand Up and Fight is a collection of essays that explores how new National Security Organizations are stood up—that is, formed, organized, funded, and managed—in the first years of their existence. From Joint ventures to combatant commands to cabinet-level departments, each organization’s history reveals important themes and lessons for leaders to consider in forming a new organization. A substantive introduction defines the scope of the project and outlines several important themes including organizational rivalry, the problems of analogical reasoning, the use of simulations, the consequences of failure, the significance of leadership and organizational culture, working with …

Language, Hegemony, And Lgbt Rights, Gregory Shafer

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

No abstract provided.

Parsing Chinese-Russian Military Exercises, Richard Weitz Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

China and Russia have engaged in an increasing number of joint exercises in recent years. These drills aim to help them deter and, if necessary, defeat potential threats, such as Islamist terrorists trying to destabilize a Central Asian government, while at the same time reassuring their allies that Russia and China would protect them from such challenges. Furthermore, the exercises and other joint Russia-China military activities have a mutual reassurance function, informing Moscow and Beijing about the other’s military potential and building mutual confidence about their friendly intentions toward one another. Finally, the joint exercises try to communicate to third …

A Russian View On Landpower, Keir Giles Mr., Aleksandr V. Rogovoy Major General

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Russia’s seizure of Crimea, and ongoing operations in eastern Ukraine, have refocused attention on the Russian military as a potential cause for concern in Europe. This Letort Paper, by an influential Russian general and military academic, lays out specifically Russian views on the essential nature of strong conventional land forces, and how they may be used. With an expert commentary providing essential context and interpretation, the Paper presents a valuable insight into Russian military thinking, at a potentially critical juncture for European security.

Another Brick In The Wall: The Israeli Experience In Missile Defense, Jean-Loup Samaan Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

View the Executive Summary

For the last 4 decades, Israel has been challenged by the rise of ballistic arsenals in the Middle East. If, at first, the country kept relying on its traditional offensive doctrines, it eventually developed missile defense programs in the early-1980s through U.S.-Israel cooperation and then in the 2000s with the building of its iconic Iron Dome. This Israeli experience in missile defense reveals crucial lessons on the military adaptation to both new threats and new remedies that have direct implications for the United States and its allies.

Space-Based Solar Power: A Technical, Economic, And Operational Assessment, Jeffrey L. Caton Mr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

View the Executive Summary

With growing international awareness of energy security challenges, the promise of space-based solar power for clean and unlimited energy for all humankind is certainly appealing. While significant progress continues in the enabling technologies of such systems, is there compelling evidence that space-based solar power systems will provide the best energy solution? How does the Army’s current approach to incorporating a diverse portfolio of renewable energy sources in distributed locations compare to the potential of enterprise ventures that beam energy from solar collectors in space? For over 4 decades, many credible organizations in government and industry have …

The State-Society/Citizen Relationship In Security Analysis: Implications For Planning And Implementation Of U.S. Intervention And Peace/State-Building Operations, Yannis A. Stivachtis Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The end of the Cold War, and especially the events of September 11, 2001, have led to the redefinition of the U.S. Army’s role. In this new environment, the purpose of the U.S. Army is not only to win a battle or a war, but also to be involved effectively in peace operations in post-conflict societies. To make the U.S. Army more effective requires prior knowledge about the political, societal, and cultural environment within which these operations would take place, as well as the acquisition of a new set of skills that would allow the U.S. Army to handle sensitive …

Maturing Defense Support Of Civil Authorities And The Dual Status Commander Arrangement Through The Lens Of Process Improvement, Sue Mcneil Dr., Ryan Burke Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The authors advocate the integration of process improvement methods into future Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) operations. They briefly discuss alternative process improvement strategies and their current state of employment in a variety of DoD programs. Methods discussed include Lean Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, and Capability Maturity Models, the utility of such methods is demonstrated, and the value in applying process improvement methods to DSCA operations is articulated. Three recommendations are given to demonstrate how a usable process maturity model can be built and employed for future operations. The monograph concludes by reaffirming the inherent utility of, and …

Thucydides Was Right: Defining The Future Threat, Colin S. Gray Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

To define future threat is, in a sense, an impossible task, yet it is one that must be done. The only sources of empirical evidence accessible are the past and the present; one cannot obtain understanding about the future from the future. The author draws upon the understanding of strategic history obtainable from Thucydides’ great History of the Peloponnesian War. He advises prudence as the operating light for American definition of future threat, and believes that there are historical parallels between the time of Thucydides and our own that can help us avoid much peril. The future must always …

Fair Trade: The President’S Power To Recover Captured U.S. Servicemembers And The Recent Prisoner Exchange With The Taliban, Celidon Pitt

Fordham Law Review

    The Obama Administration’s controversial exchange of five Taliban detainees for a captured U.S. soldier in May 2014 reignited a heated debate over the proper scope of wartime executive authority. From a legal perspective, the primary issue centers on the constitutional balance of power between congressional appropriations and the President’s power as Commander in Chief. A complete analysis incorporates both judicial and historical precedent to evaluate the conflict within the broader context of prisoner recovery efforts.

    This Note argues that, regardless of the validity of legislative restrictions on the transfer of Guantánamo detainees, the President possessed sufficient authority to conduct the …

Back To The Future: Reflections On The Advent Of Autonomous Weapons Systems, Michael A. Newton

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This essay refocuses the debate over autonomous weapons systems to consider the potentially salutary effects of the evolving technology. Law does not exist in a vacuum and cannot evolve in the abstract. Jus in bello norms should be developed in light of the overarching humanitarian goals, particularly since such weapons are not inherently unlawful or unethical in all circumstances. This essay considers whether a preemptive ban on autonomous weapons systems is likely to be effective and enforceable. It examines the grounds potentially justifying a preemptive ban, concluding that there is little evidence that such a ban would advance humanitarian goals …

New Directions In Hydro-Climatic Histories: Observational Data Recovery, Proxy Records And The Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions Over The Earth (Acre) Initiative In Southeast Asia, Fiona Williamson, Rob Allan, Adam Switzer, Johnny C. L. Chan, Robert James Wasson, Rosanne D'Arrigo, Richard Gartner

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The value of historic observational weather data for reconstructing long-term climate patterns and the detailed analysis of extreme weather events has long been recognized (Le Roy Ladurie, 1972; Lamb, 1977). In some regions however, observational data has not been kept regularly over time, or its preservation and archiving has not been considered a priority by governmental agencies. This has been a particular problem in Southeast Asia where there has been no systematic country-by-country method of keeping or preserving such data, the keeping of data only reaches back a few decades, or where instability has threatened the survival of historic records. …

Globalization And African Catholicism: Towards A New Era Of Evangelization, Joseph Ogbonnaya

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

This paper argues that evangelization takes place within the context of globalization, the phenomenon that integrates the economic, cultural, social, political and religious dimensions of human existence towards improved standard of living for humanity. While acknowledging the potential dangers of globalization, especially the expanding income disparity, marginalization, secularization, consumerism, the tendency towards monoculturalism and imperialism, the author advocates daily personal encounter with the person of Jesus as the springboard of Christian spirituality. This paper concentrates on the impact of globalization on African Catholicism’s appropriation of Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium for a new evangelization and recommends important changes in …

"Le Babylon De La Mediterranee:" Nice And Its Casinos, 1815 - 1939, Eric M. Sacco

Doctoral Dissertations

In 1894, the proliferation of casino gambling in belle époque Nice led the travel writer Stéphen Liegéard to call Nice “le Babylon de la Méditerranée.” Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Nice was a “dream world” where elite hivernants (winter tourists) came to enjoy a warm climate year-round, thermal spa treatments, and relax by the serene waters of the Mediterranean Sea. From 1815 to 1860, the policies of the Sardinian government privileged local elites. When Nice became part of France in 1860, however, the Imperial, and later the Republican government, turned towards casinos as the primary economic industry …