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From Counter-Strike To Counterterrorism: How The Cheater Reconfigures Our Understanding Of Asymmetric Warfare, Enya C. Silva

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Around the turn of the century, as the United States increased its military presence in the Middle East in what was widely known as the War on Terror, computer games were also rising in popularity. Military inspired narratives and settings are very common in video games, especially in the genre known as the first person shooter – characterized by a single player, first person point of view. Alexander Galloway provides a vocabulary for understanding the video game, and the first person shooter in particular, derived from the framework of game studies. Scholarship around video games usually either seeks to affirm …

Book Review: The Weaponisation Of Everything: A Field Guide To The New Way Of War, Robert J. Bunker

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Mark Galeottii

Reviewed by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, director of research and analysis, managing partner, C/O Futures LLC

In this field guide, Galeotti departs from his customary focus on Russia and covers a broad area of new ways—or emerging twenty-first-century means—of warfare. His expertise and penchant for illustrative and entertaining vignettes allows him to inject informed insights into his work and syncretize military historical and contemporary examples pulled from time and space.

Why Democracies And Autocracies Go To War: Comparing The Cases Of Iraq And Ukraine, Ketevan Chincharadze

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

History shows that both democratic and nondemocratic countries wage wars to advance their strategic interests. This study has comparatively analyzed two conflicts – the 2003-2011 U.S. invasion of Iraq and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine – to identify the trends that motivate both democratic and autocratic leaders to behave similarly by launching an invasion. The interpretive research of various memoirs, books, interviews, academic articles, news reports, and speeches, has uncovered that personal biases, particularly confirmation biases, play a significant role in motivating leaders to start a war. Leaders’ confirmation biases are often shaped by three prominent factors – historical memory, …

War And Peace In Ukraine: Training For History Teachers On Dynamics Of Peace And Conflict, Karina Korostelina

Peace and Conflict Studies

Many scholars have discussed the complexities of teaching and learning about past conflicts. However, teaching history during ongoing war and occupation is even more difficult and controversial. This paper posits teachers as agents of peacebuilding, influencing how their students come to understand dynamics of conflict, violence, and peace The aim of this paper is to describe a training methodology that addresses history teaching in protracted conflict and discuss its implications for diverse classroom practices in teaching difficult history in divided societies. The training project, supported by the Civil Peace Service and financed by the German government through Deutsche Gesellschaft für …

Book Reviews, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Unethical Use Of Children In War, Mariana Davis

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

This paper examines the role the nature of children has in the immorality of their use in warfare. The exploitation of children in war is a long, pervasive issue that is primarily documented in third-world countries with ongoing conflicts. This paper details the developments in the legality of the use of children in war. It expounds upon the current and historical use of child soldiers and the horrors that come with it. Evidence was taken from the consequences to the children and the nations that use them to demonstrate why this practice is unethical and immoral. This paper studies why …

The Environmental Implications Of War: Analysis Of The Spectacular And Slow Environmental Violence Inflicted Through Russia’S Deliberate Targeting And Weaponization Of Ukrainian Environments, Alexander Campanile Sheikh

Standard Theses

The presence of war and armed conflict can cause extreme effects in the long and short term, but war as a concept holds an inherently anthropocentric bias. Among human activities causing severe changes to the environment, war’s consequences are both intensive and far reaching, and while war is incited, perpetrated, and fought specifically by humans, these conflicts come at the expense of all, including a silent victim: the greater environment in which wars take place. Today, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the most significant confrontation in Europe in decades. Public attention and outrage, however, tends to focus on …

Women And The Precarity Of War: Reading Women Militants And Activists In Sharmila Seyyid’S Ummath, Aparna Nandha

Journal of International Women's Studies

Ummath, written by Sharmila Seyyid, navigates the sensitive topic of the precarious lives of three separate women amid the chaos of war-torn Sri Lanka. The stories of main characters Yoga and Theivanai demonstrate women’s challenges in and out of militancy. Their struggles led them to Thawakkul, a Muslim social worker devoted to the cause of rehabilitating disabled and widowed women who once served the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam). Ummath provides a powerful social critique of the conditions that aggravated the separatist conflict, the stigmatization of women who become part of the LTTE, the inexorable violence perpetrated by …

The Sin Of War, Devon L. Harrison

The Agora

The main question of the short story is who is Ares? It's well known he is the war god of ancient Greek mythos and individuals interested in Greek Mythology could tell you he is one of several war gods, who specifically embodies the brutality of war. I bother to explore this question as Ares doesn't make much of an appearance in mythology and when he does it's in a rather demeaning light. Ares is one of the only Olympians who is, typically, disliked existing as a necessary evil rather than a god. He is appreciated in certain circles with the …

Apocalypse Then And Now: Narrative Influence And Thematic Subversion Of Victorian Literature In Modern American War Narratives, Douglas James Scully

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I argue that by looking at the lasting impact of Victorian war literature on a variety of modern media, one can see that an increased cultural awareness of trauma has led to less humane depictions of the traumatized. The multitude of Sherlock Holmes adaptations produced and set in various time periods and covering assorted wars serves as a strong example in my first chapter of how a Victorian-produced text can have a lingering impact, and the veteran Watson serves as a strong tool for adaptors to use when commenting on the shifting nature of war and the …

The Effects Of War On Marriage Rates, Mathias Frenz

Senior Honors Theses

The effect of war on marriage rates is proposed as a topic of interest. A model is chosen and the justification for that model is given. An analysis of the data for the US and the UK is given. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons are then made between the two countries. This is followed by a conclusion and suggestions for further study.

Was The Colonial Cyberattack The First Act Of Cyberwar Against The U.S.? Finding The Threshold Of War For Ransomware Attacks, Liam P. Bradley

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

On May 7, 2021, “DarkSide,” a foreign hacker group, conducted a ransomware attack against the Colonial Pipeline (“Colonial”). That morning, Colonial discovered a “ransom note demanding cryptocurrency.” The attack forced the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, stopping the daily delivery of 2.5 million barrels (MMBbls) of “gasoline, jet fuel and diesel” to the East Coast. The shutdown created fuel shortages, impacted financial markets, and panicked the public. The resulting fuel shortages and economic impacts “triggered a comprehensive federal response” on May 11, 2021. On May 12, CEO Joseph Blount paid a ransom of nearly $5 million in bitcoin to …

Review Of Against War: Building A Culture Of Peace, William J. Collinge

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

The Forgotten Sexual And Gender-Based Violence Of The Vietnam-American War: Is Justice Too Late For Vietnamese Victims And Survivors?, Madison P. Bingle

Human Rights Brief

“The past, far from disappearing or lying down and being quiet, has an embarrassing and persistent way of returning and haunting us unless it has in fact been dealt with adequately.” —Desmond Tutu

The Vietnam-American War ended nearly fifty years ago. However, the atrocities committed during the war have had a devasting impact on the lives of persons involved long after the conflicts’ end. A particularly marginalized group within survivors and victims of the Vietnam-American War is Vietnamese women who experienced sexual and gender-based violence. And given the specific tactics of warfare employed during this war, including the use of …

Six Objects From Sned: Remembering The Past On Jens Jensen’S Childhood Farm, J.R. Christianson

The Bridge

When Jens Jensen was growing up in Denmark, the past was never very far away. Sometimes it was way too close, like the day one of the great events of Danish history happened right there on their family farm. Jens was only three years old, but it was not something one would forget, even at his age. The day was April 18, 1864, when one of the fiercest battles in Danish history was fought on the hillside where their farm lay. Needless to say, it tore the place apart.

The Proximity Penalty By Sector: The Case Of The War In Ukraine, Jack Holden

CMC Senior Theses

This paper will analyze the impacts of geographical proximity to war on equity returns across sectors. Understanding the impacts of war on different sectors is crucial for portfolio management, and increased awareness about this topic can lead to better investment decisions. By using standard econometric techniques to capture the effects of distance on equity returns for different sectors, we find that in the case of the war in Ukraine, geographical proximity to conflict has the largest impact on the healthcare and technology sectors. We observe that across all countries, the healthcare sector performed 0.215 times worse, and the technology sector …

Jeremiah’S Portrayal Of War As Worship: Hollow Form Of Holiness, Oliver Glanz

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

From an anthropological perspective, the acts of war and worship share similarities. Both are mission-driven, exercise rituals and liturgies, use songs, and have calls to duty. As such, the ultimate legitimization of war uses elements of sacred language usually found in the context of worship. The study of Jeremiah’s language usage provides a critical perspective on this typical anthropological phenomenon: the legitimization of war employing sacred language. When tracing Jeremiah’s vocabulary with the help of valence analysis, it can be argued that the prophet purposefully unmasks human war as a potential form of idol worship. Human war can, therefore, be …

“Decorate The Dungeon With Flowers And Air-Cushions:” Virginia Woolf And War, Claire Dumont

Scripps Senior Theses

Virginia Woolf was particularly interested throughout her career in writing about war, ranging from the perspective of a depressed World War I veteran and his wife in Mrs. Dalloway, a dinner party held during an air raid in 1917 in The Years, an argument for the connections between patriarchal society and war in Three Guineas, and a pageant of British history held before World War II in Between the Acts. Woolf specifically writes of war as it impacts spheres away from the battlefield, in a way that is inherently gendered to her experience as a woman …

Lens On Conflict: A Content Analysis Study On The Role Of Hollywood In U.S. – Iran Relations, Farshad Farahat

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this dissertation was to identify whether development of impartial, equitable and resolution based films and television shows covering the U.S. – Iran conflict could have a greater ethical, educational, entertainment and economic value for Hollywood studios and their world audience in comparison to the present contentious and stereotypical narrative portrayals. The qualitative research methodology of content analysis was thus utilized to conduct the research. Upon the step-by-step application of the methodology, the key finding of the dissertation established that diplomatic based narrative Hollywood themes of conflict resolution have a greater social, critical review and box-office value …

The Role Of The Wagner Group In The Russo-Ukrainian War, Erik Herbert Lohmus

CMC Senior Theses

The Wagner Group has emerged as one of the most prominent actors of the on-going Russo-Ukrainian war. Although Private Military Companies are banned by the Russian Constitution and Russian Criminal Code, Wagner has been able and permitted to operate all across the world as a foreign policy tool of the Russian state. However, Wagner’s use and employment in Ukraine has differed drastically compared to Syria, Central African Republic and Libya, as the group is employed in a more conventional capacity. With many of the Russian successes in the east of Ukraine attributable to Wagner, the financier of the group, Yevgeny …

Gender Dynamics In The Management Care Of Internally Displaced Persons: The Boko Haram Insurgency, Evelyn Kikelomo Ikuenobe Otaigbe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Boko Haram asymmetric insurgency and warfare have decimated the Northeastern region of Nigeria and its neighboring environs of Chad, Niger, and Benin. The purpose of this study was to explore the peculiar socioethnic and cultural challenges encountered by female victims of Boko Haram terrorism at internally displaced persons camps in Abuja, Nigeria, including challenges in functioning, relocating, and acclimating back into society. A phenomenological approach was applied to understand participants’ lived experiences. Data collection occurred through interviews and observation. Data analysis involved the synthesis of narratives, and generation of themes. Among the emergent themes were poor feeding; lack of …

"Always A Rocky And Rippling Stream": The Penobscot River And War, 1604-1869, Mary Moody Mclean

Theses and Dissertations

This paper broadly examines how rivers can be used as a pawn in war and, more specifically, how the Penobscot River, located in Penobscot County, Maine, influenced significant battles in America and the fabric of the developing nation due to its geographical location and geological development. This analysis focuses on one critical aspect of the Penobscot River that motivated attacks: the fur, fish and lumber trades, all of which were established due to the proximity of the coast and how the land developed during the Holocene era.

My thesis illustrates how North Americans, British and French used the Penobscot River …

Gender Dynamics In The Management Care Of Internally Displaced Persons: The Boko Haram Insurgency, Evelyn Kikelomo Ikuenobe Otaigbe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Boko Haram asymmetric insurgency and warfare have decimated the Northeastern region of Nigeria and its neighboring environs of Chad, Niger, and Benin. The purpose of this study was to explore the peculiar socioethnic and cultural challenges encountered by female victims of Boko Haram terrorism at internally displaced persons camps in Abuja, Nigeria, including challenges in functioning, relocating, and acclimating back into society. A phenomenological approach was applied to understand participants’ lived experiences. Data collection occurred through interviews and observation. Data analysis involved the synthesis of narratives, and generation of themes. Among the emergent themes were poor feeding; lack of …

Reframing The Study Of Peace Through The Lens Of Complex Adaptive Systems, Nick Mauro

All ETDs from UAB

Many researchers studying peace have posited that peace is a system. Although this approach has recently included steps to address complexity, current models have not sufficiently integrated their approach with complex adaptive systems to produce functionally dynamic models. Rather, current models describe peace systems as teleological and linear, which creates closed systems that do not incorporate feedback from the environment and, therefore, do not identify adaptive processes. Furthermore, these models reflect the state of a system, an arrangement of constituent parts in specific contexts, rather than capturing the complexity that is necessary for describing a dynamic system. To address these …

Hybrid Warfare And Disinformation: A Ukraine War Perspective, Sascha-Dominik Dov Bachmann, Dries Putter, Guy Duczynski

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Misinformation, disinformation and mal information are part of the information disorder construct, dominating the information warfare domain. These are key enablers associated with grey zone operations, and an integral part of current adversaries' and competitors' hybrid warfare tool kit. Disinformation, in combination with influence operations, also plays an important role within the concept of hybrid warfare; both from a threat–and own resilience perspective. This article reflects on these information warfare tools and their application by Russia in the current Russo-Ukraine war, offering potentially considerable force multipliers in the information domain for the Russian aggressor. Hybrid warfare and associated threats, specifically …

Solidarity Tourism: A Pathway To Revitalising The Health Of Vulnerable War-Affected Populations?, Jun Wen, Fangli Hu, Danni Zheng, Ian Phau, Metin Kozak, Haifeng Hou, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The struggles of war are felt by all who occupy an affected region (and beyond), irrespective of whether they are in active combat. This experience has physical effects (e.g. injury, illness, malnutrition, disability, sexual violence, and/or death) and emotional impacts (e.g. posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety) [1-3]. The terror associated with war disrupts lives and relationships, leaving individuals, families, and communities distressed. Due to such immediate and long-term adverse outcomes, war represents a highly destructive and enduring public health emergency [4]. . . .

Thither The Russian Navy? Putin’S Navalization In A Historical Context, William Emerson Bunn

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The Syrian operation of 2012 was the first successful employment by Russia of expeditionary warfare, narrowly defined as naval support to Russian (or Soviet) ground forces in a war away from their periphery (i.e., in a country that does not border them), from the sea. This was brought about in part by the development of two types of cruise missiles: advanced anti-ship missiles (which protects their expeditionary force from NATO naval units, enabling local sea control) and new land attack cruise missiles (similar in design and capability to the U.S. Tomahawk). In the past geographical, technological and political constraints …

Conflict And Nature: How War In Cambodia Shaped Its Natural Landscape, Emily Lifs

Theses and Dissertations

Through the efforts of the Cambodian people and historians, the world is familiar with the tragic human story that unfolded over decades of war and the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge. This thesis is an attempt to tell the equally tragic but untold story of how decades of conflict shaped the Cambodian landscape and the lives and populations of elephants and other animals.

Bodies In Transit: Women, War, And Violence In Select Fiction From Nepal, Lakhipriya Gogoi

Journal of International Women's Studies

The figures of women in conflict zones have been presented in South Asian literature chiefly as torn and battered bodies/souls, usually carrying an irremediable suffering and sense of loss that they bear as wives, mothers, and daughters while their male compatriots participate in the zone of war. The twentieth century surge in identity movements and political conflicts in South Asia, however, offers us new figures of women as “warriors” or direct participants in the zones of violence. The usurpation of such new bodies, on the one hand, defies the hegemonic feminization of women’s bodies as caregivers, and on the other …

Women And War: (Dis)Illusionment And Disclosure In Niromi De Soyza’S Tamil Tigress, Goutam Karmakar

Journal of International Women's Studies

Niromi de Soyza’s Tamil Tigress: My Story as a Child Soldier in Sri Lanka’s Bloody Civil War (2011) is a memoir about a year in the author’s and her friend Ajanthi’s lives when they joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) and fought as female militants in the second phase of the Sri Lankan civil war. Soyza’s autobiographical account depicts the 1980s when the Tamil Tigers were fighting the Sri Lankan government and the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) in the northern and eastern parts of the country. As teenagers, Niromi and Ajanthi were highly inspired by the revolutionary …