Digital Commons Network^™

America After Trump: The Rise Of National Conservatism In The United States, Its Potential For Electoral Success, And The Future Of The Republican Party, Jensen Steady

CMC Senior Theses

Since Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election, numerous conservative factions have attempted to fill the void and become dominant within the Republican Party. One of the most visible factions vying for power are the National Conservatives, but this movement has received little examination in academic literature due to its recent formation in 2019. Animated by a vision of nationalism based on historical tradition and the power of the state to push socially conservative goals, National Conservatism represents a distinct political movement that draws on various strands of existing conservative thought, although it does not clearly resemble any of …

The Faces Of War: Reintroducing Women's Narratives In War, Robin Makena Peterson

CMC Senior Theses

Women take part in every war, but their accomplishments are mostly unacknowledged in the thousands of war stories told in the aftermath which tend to valorize men’s contributions as political leaders and soldiers. This erasure of women’s experience’s and agency in war holds true for war in Afghanistan, as well. This thesis identifies the gendered narratives told in books, movies, television shows, and the media but then offers, in contrast, narratives of Afghan and American women’s action during the forty years of war in Afghanistan. By sharing and contextualizing women’s stories, this paper strikes a blow against women’s erasure from …

Mixing Sports And Politics: How Totalitarian Regimes Used Sports To Achieve The Goals Of The State, Caroline Phillips

CMC Senior Theses

This paper explores how sports were used by totalitarian regimes to achieve the goals of the state. The three case studies involve the totalitarian governments of interwar Europe: Italian Fascism, German Nazism, and Spanish Francoism. Three main trends were identified. Sports were used to improve their nation’s health and fitness for military preparation, construct a national identity, and as a diplomatic tool to improve their international reputation. I also explore what ideological themes lent themselves to construction of these three specific goals.

An Analysis Of Cyber Wargaming: Current Games, Limitations, And Recommendations, Sarah Chen

CMC Senior Theses

Cyberspace operations and conflict pose a unique challenge to decision-makers due to the uncertainty and unpredictability of cyber capabilities. Relying on wargaming literature, public cyber wargame reports, and expert interviews, this thesis analyzes the utility of cyber wargaming for education and analysis. Cyber wargames offer a method of testing, exploring, and understanding cyberspace through the abstraction and representation of cyber tools and attack cycles.

The thesis begins by examining cyber conflict and theorizes hypothetical wargame use cases. It then creates a framework for cyber wargaming elements and examines the design of eleven analytical wargames, eight educational wargames, and three commercial …

Does The Weapon Of Mass Destruction Impact Masses Equally? Examining The Disproportionate Impacts Of Nuclear Weapons, Carley Barnhart

CMC Senior Theses

Regarded as the most powerful weapon ever created, the nuclear weapon is associated with mass destruction and even total annihilation. This thesis aims to answer the question: does the weapon of mass destruction impact masses equally? The use of three theoretical lenses is employed to guide this thesis’ analysis: the lenses of internal colonialism, neocolonialism, and feminism. These lenses allow for previously marginalized experiences to be placed at the center of analysis. The entirety of the ‘nuclear web’, from nuclear scholarship and nuclear decision-making to weapons design, creation, production, and disarmament is analyzed to understand the total impacts of the …

Innate Property: The Danger Of Incongruency Between Law And The Biological And Behavioral Roots Of Property And Possessiveness, Aaron Schwabach

Cardozo Law Review de•novo

Property law is, in some areas, dangerously out of step with property expectations. Property—the idea that a place, object, or idea can belong to a person—is at the root of the world’s economies and thus also at the root of much of its laws. Property is neither solely a creature of positive law, nor of some abstract natural law with a moral underpinning, but rather may be biologically determined, much as Noam Chomsky proposed for languages in Aspects of the Theory of Syntax.1 The idea that ownership is at least behaviorally, and perhaps to some extent instinctively, determined has been …

Prism-19, Center For Complex Operations

PRISM (Full PDF Issues)

This special issue of PRISM is about the different perceptions and reactions to COVID-19 as people and governments experienced the disease, and their diverse understanding of its implications for national and international security.

The Tragedy Of Caspian: C. S. Lewis And His Trauma, Chandler Hanton

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis reconsiders C.S.Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia as a type of scriptotherapy that enabled Lewis to process and come to terms with a life full of serious and significant traumatic events. Trauma theory offers a vehicle for us to consider the alignments and connections between Lewis himself and his fictional creation, Caspian. In the specifics of both characterization and incident, Lewis mirrors the events and relationships that instilled and healed the trauma in his own life. In situating Caspian as his alter-ego, Lewis allowed his writing to function as a gender-specific therapeutic process for addressing the effects of his …

Delphi Study Of International Cybersecurity Norms, Kenneth J. Biskner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Unregulated state cyberattacks are an urgent threat to international peace and security because of the costs they impose and the devastating effects they can create. However, international norms governing state cyberattacks (international cybersecurity norms) have not yet emerged. The lack of meaningful consequences for state cyberattacks, and the high rewards derived from them, incentivize states to engage in this new form of hostile conduct (cyberconflict). The problem addressed in this modified Delphi study was the persistent struggle between authoritarian and democratic states over competing international cybersecurity norms that cause cyberconflict to remain unregulated. Kingdon’s multiple streams framework was used as …

Legislative Efforts And Community Change To Combat Female Genital Mutilation In Egypt, Maryam Berkshire

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Female genital mutilation is recognized as a violation of human rights as it violates the bodily rights of young girls by cutting part of their bodies without their consent and leaves long term psychological, physical and sexual harm to women who were exposed to the practice. The World Health Organization estimates that 130 million girls and women are subjected to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) in African and Middle Eastern Countries. According to a UNICEF 2020 report, Egypt will not meet the SDG goal of eradicating FGM as the decrease in the practice is too slow despite the policy and community …

The Psychological Impact Of Covid-19, Medina Marie Hudson-Odoi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractEmployees from a large government agency were abruptly switched to telework for an extended period of time. There was no plan to address potential psychological stressors associated with the disruption of work-family-life balance that emerged as a result of COVID-19. A knowledge gap in how to support employees was apparent from discussions during team and administrative meetings. The project question explored whether the use of stress first-aid (SFA), an educational program, would enable employees to learn self-care strategies to address stressors in a less protected environment. The purpose of this DNP project was to provide a staff education awareness program …

Exploring Resistance Movements In Interstate Conflict And Integrated Deterrence, Michael G. Harris

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Despite an increase in interstate conflict, including manipulation of information and civil populations by state actors in gray zone campaigns, the study of resistance has concentrated on intrastate conflict. A detailed literature review of resistance was conducted, revealing researchable gaps in understanding of the topic, including: the resistance movements from a security studies and interstate conflict perspective, the resistance as a form of interstate conflict from the perspective of Russian and Chinese security leaders, and the integrated deterrence options in gray zone campaigns as a strategy of international conflict prevention.

Two complementary studies were conducted to explore the identified areas. …

Civilian Experiences And Military Perceptions Of The U.S. Military During Domestic Disaster Operations, Stefan Daimon Buckman

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Since its founding, the United States has experienced social strife and humanitarian disasters, either of which can provoke a military domestic response. Political leaders have considered with caution and reservation under what circumstances to rely on the military to respond to internal domestic crises. The use of the military – including Guard, Reserve, and federal active-duty forces - to respond to internal problems continues to increase. In turn, this increase has a strong potential to change the dynamics of civil-military relations in the United States and generate new public expectations for the military. This study explored the perspectives of individuals …

Review Of Iranian Women & Gender In The Iran-Iraq War, Shahrzad Khosrowpour

Library Articles and Research

A review of Iranian Women & Gender in the Iran-Iraq War by Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh.

The Impact Of Nato´S Ballistic Missile Defense Efforts On The Relationship With Russia, Christian Hofmann

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Strategic missile defense or anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems are considered deterrence by denial assets. The debate on the question if these systems stabilize or destabilize the balance of power between nuclear powers is still unresolved. This work reviews this impact using the example of the East – West relationship by focusing on NATO´s missile defense efforts. This is done in two parts. The first is a historical part, reviewing the East – West relationship during the Cold War based on strategic arsenals, crisis events and arms control talks related to missile defense developments. The second part reviews the development since …

January 2022 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

Comparative Analysis Of Forensic Tool Testing Frameworks To Use With Mobile Forensic Tools, Gillian Morris

Honors

Mobile forensics is a well-established, constantly evolving field in digital forensics. The proliferation of mobile devices requires the constant development of mobile forensics tools. With the rapid development of these tools, software vulnerabilities can become commonplace. Software vulnerabilities reside within the forensic tool’s software, meaning the tool should be tested and verified before field use. We aimed to propose a recommended tool testing framework for mobile forensic tools. To recommend a tool testing framework, we analyze the frameworks by utilizing a high-level comparative analysis methodology. The methodology allowed us to identify, analyze, and compare tool testing frameworks with the goal …

A Gamefied Synthetic Environment For Evaluation Of Counter-Disinformation Solutions, Jesse Richman, Lora Pitman, Girish S. Nandakumar

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

This paper presents a simulation-based approach to countering online dis/misinformation. This disruptive technology experiment incorporated a synthetic environment component, based on adapted SIR epidemiological model to evaluate and visualize the effectiveness of suggested solutions to the issue. The participants in the simulation were given a realistic scenario depicting a dis/misinformation threat and were asked to select a number of solutions, described in IoS (Ideas-of-Systems) cards. During the event, the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the IoS cards, were tested in a synthetic environment (SEN), built after a Susceptible-Infected-Resistant (SIR) model. The participants, divided into teams, presented and justified their dis/misinformation …

Mechanical Response Of Vartm Infused Frp Composites, Andrew Kenney

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Mechanical Response of VARTM based FRP composites

Andrew Kenney

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently created two new design specification for rail tank cars. These new types of classification, DOT-117 and DOT-117R, are designed with additional safety precautions to prevent hazardous chemicals from leaking out in case of a derailment. Features such as a thicker outer steel wall, head shield, and top and bottom valve protections provide additional protection compared to the current DOT-113 tank cars at the cost of additional weight. The WVU-CFC proposes a multifunctional, composite jacket that could be used in place of current tank …

'Are We Doing The Right Thing?' Utilising Security Governance To Reform The Us Drone Program, Jane Minson

Theses

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, for counterterrorism purposes by the United States within its targeted killing program has been deeply controversial. Used in each presidential administration since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, drones have sparked debate, in part due to their contribution to civilian deaths; their killing of high-value terrorist targets including, on at least one occasion, a US citizen; and the heightened secrecy that has surrounded the program with little formal oversight and, as such, little accountability. This thesis uses this contextual framework – with a particular focus on the administration of President Barack …

Effect Of Freestream Noise On Hypersonic Crossflow-Induced Boundary-Layer Transition, Andrew Bustard, Thomas J. Juliano, Harrison B. Yates, Mark Noftz, Joseph Jewell

Publications

Between the windward and leeward rays, boundary-layer transition on cones at angle of attack in hypersonic flow is dominated by the crossflow instability [1, 2], wherein stationary and/or traveling crossflow vortices develop and can breakdown into turbulence [3]. Stationary crossflow modes are caused by surface roughness or any other steady forcing and produce disturbances that are fixed in place on the surface [3–6]. Stationary vortices create a generalized inflection point in the velocity profile that is inviscidly unstable [7]. This distorted mean flow develops secondary instabilities, whose growth and breakdown is one path to turbulence [8–10]. Traveling crossflow modes are …

Recovery Of A Cylindrical Body Into An Outer Tube, Michael Berry, Daniel Deleon, Connor Rouillier, Jaxon Royal

Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Projects

The use of unmanned vehicles by the U.S. Military is an evolving method of weapon deployment and data acquisition. As the use of these devices increase as the technology surrounding them evolves, the method of retrieval of these unmanned vehicles needs to advance as well. Consequently, The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) is interested in devising a method of recovering Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) and has asked Team 3 from the University of Rhode Island’s College of Engineering’s Capstone teams to design and build a device or method of retrieval. While methods of retrieval of these devices already exist, they …

Optimal Shape Estimation And Methodologies For Towed Undersea Vehicles, Matthew J. Dellavalle, Peter Jasinski, Owen Driskill, Nick Sellers

Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Projects

Team 02 in part with Dr. Nassersharif, has been commissioned by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center to provide an optimal design and modeling for towed undersea vehicles. The proposed effort served to study, evaluate, and model the drag for the towing of cylindrical undersea vehicles. This project will model towing configurations for both single and multiple vehicle configurations. Recommendations were also made regarding the propulsion configuration of the leading vehicle. The proposed design solution aimed to achieve a drag coefficient of less than 0.3 to minimize the effect the towed vehicle may have on the range and endurance of its …

"To Create A New Image Of Women": The Fight For The Equal Rights Amendment In Birmingham, Alabama, 1972-1982, Christopher J. Bertolini

All ETDs from UAB

This thesis argues that the struggle to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in Birmingham, Alabama, rarely focused on the amendment’s legal merits, but rather became a debate about the nature and validity of gender roles. Generally, opponents of the ERA set the terms of the debate and connected the seemingly benign concept of legal equality between men and women with controversial issues like the conscription of women into the military, women’s freedom from the workplace and supposed right to the economic support of their husbands, religious interpretations of gender roles, and abortion. The struggle was primarily one between middle-class …

Fremont Smoke Mixtures: Botanical Analyses Of Pipes From Wolf Village, Goshen, Utah, Michael T. Searcy, Hannah Stefffensen, Scott Ure

Faculty Publications

Over several field seasons, ceramic and stone pipes were recovered from the Fremont site of Wolf Village (AD 1000-1100). Nine of the more complete pipes included residue and burned dottle that were analyzed for macrobotanical and microbotanical remains. Three were subjected to FTIR. These analyses represent the first Fremont pipes ever analyzed for botanical remains, and the results reported in this paper provide conclusions regarding possible smoke mixtures used by the Fremont. Contents of the pipes included remains of tobacco, plants from the Amaranthaceae family, maize fragments, grasses, and various fuel woods.

Premarital Counseling And Christianity: A Composition Of Couples Intuition And Understanding As It Relates To Marital Satisfaction, Sheila Delores Salley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Increasing divorce rates in the United States of America have resulted in Premarital Counseling (PMC) gaining grave popularity over the last couple of decades. There has been a proliferation of premarital counseling programs in the United States of America since the 1930s with a thrust toward building and sustaining satisfying marriages. Traditional premarital counseling programs focus on ensuring satisfaction once the couple is married; however, there is a significant gap in researching the impact of incorporating Christian values as a means of therapeutic intervention. This study involved eight Christian, African American, heterosexual couples who received Christian-based PMC (CPMC) and have …

The Value Hierarchies Of J.R.R. Tolkien And His Legacy: A Reimagining Of Fantasy Fiction And The Propagation Of Colonial Racism, Alexander Richburg

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

J.R.R. Tolkien’s impact on modern fantasy fiction is remarkable. However, while some of the changes to the genre ushered in by Tolkien’s work are positive, other aspects of his legacy are more problematic. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion are based on his colonial worldview. They are biographical in that Tolkien draws heavily from his life experience to tell his stories. The biographical influence manifests in a hierarchical representation of everything from trees and their ancestry to the elves, humans, dwarves, hobbits, and orcs that populate his fiction. The hierarchies are value structures and the …

The Integrative Systeomics Framework To Prioritize Genes And/Or Pathways In Skin Imflammation, Bharat Mishra

All ETDs from UAB

The accelerated growth in sequencing technology assisted us to explore the bio-logical systems comprehensively through a top-down approach rather than the conven-tional bottom-up approach. The top-down approach is a part of systems biology that gen-erates massive data that has driven this course of investigation to decipher the system-wide genetic perturbations. To reduce the complexity of humongous datasets, the graph (network)-based techniques facilitate the easy handling, analysis, and interpretation of biological associations. Networks are the graphical representation of nodes (biomole-cules) and edges (associations/interactions). The most common biological networks are correlation-based gene co-expression network (GCN), gene regulatory network (GRN), and protein-protein interaction …

Removing Carbon Dioxide Through Ocean Fertilization: Legal Challenges And Opportunities, Korey Silverman-Roati, Romany M. Webb, Michael Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

Carbon dioxide removal (“CDR”) will be needed, alongside deep emissions cuts, to achieve global temperature goals. According to a 2022 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to keep global average temperatures within 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions must reach net-zero by mid-century. Scientists have proposed a number of land- and ocean-based CDR techniques. This paper focuses on ocean fertilization, which involves adding iron or other nutrients to the ocean to stimulate the growth of phytoplankton that uptake carbon dioxide and convert it into organic carbon. The hope is that the organic carbon …

The Stoic Litigator, Leonard M. Niehoff

Articles

A variety of events over the past several years have renewed my conversations with some reliable old friends. And I mean very old. I refer here to the Stoic philosophers, most of whom did their thinking and writing around the turn of the Common Era.

The Stoics took their name from the central square of Athens, the Stoa Poikile, where Zeno is generally credited with founding the school in the early part of the third century BCE. Various philosophers over the next five centuries identified themselves as Stoics, so the label takes in lots of personalities and lots of territory. …