Digital Commons Network^™

Babelship: Tales From The Black Hole Suburb, Ángela Navarro Sala, Lizar Presumido Jiménez, David Del Pino Morales, Patricia Esteban Toscano, Manuel Sánchez Martínez, Guillermo Sirera Blanco, Alejandro Osset Ojea, Simón García Barea, Maite Rendón Caballero

Grado en Diseño y Desarrollo de videojuegos

No abstract provided.

Russian Disinformation On Nato Expansion And The War In Ukraine, Cody Schuette

Journal of Strategic Security

Following years of grievances, Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022 and sparked the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II. Conversations between Soviet and Western leaders in the final days of the Cold War are at the center of the Kremlin’s justification for these actions. Russia claims the West exploited a weakened Russian state by rapidly expanding NATO in former Soviet and Warsaw Bloc nations, despite a promise not to expand. This research seeks to answer how Russia’s NATO-expansion justification for invading Ukraine is inconsistent with the historical record. Findings reveal that the West never provided assurances on …

Proposing Unique And Effective Policy Recommendations For Achieving A Lasting Two-State Solution, Charlotte G. Huck, Nicolle Martin, Eli Sperling

Journal of Strategic Security

The paper "Proposing Unique and Effective Policy Recommendations for Achieving a Lasting Two-State Solution" seeks to address the persistent hurdles in attaining peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The paper introduces a new policy proposal made up of initiatives focused on Economy and Sustainability, Education, and Regional Stability. It hypothesizes that achieving set targets in each of these areas would establish the circumstances on the ground necessary for achieving and sustaining a two-state solution. The proposal emphasizes strengthening an independent Palestinian national identity with an independent economy that can be created through economic ventures in tourism, agriculture, technology, and sustainable energy. …

Full Issue

Tenor of Our Times

No abstract provided.

Retention Rate Factors Of Junior Enlisted Females In The U.S Marine Corps, Iris I. Esquilin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The modern United States Armed Forces is the largest and most powerful military force the world has ever experienced, and the U.S. Marine Corps represents the most elite members thereof, claiming the iconic tagline “The Few, The Proud.” However, while the Marine Corps expends considerable effort in recruiting excellent personnel, the branch also faces a high turnover rate, with 75.0% of first-year enlistees choosing not to continue their service for a subsequent term. This retention problem is especially pronounced with respect to female Marines, who only make up 8.0% of the Marine force, the lowest of any U.S. military branch. …

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 …

Distinguishing Principled Beliefs From Causal Beliefs In American Foreign Policy, Leo Blanken, Justin Overbaugh

Journal of Strategic Security

We use the concepts of “principled beliefs” and “causal beliefs” to critically interrogate American foreign policy during the Post-Cold War era (1990-2016). This period was characterized by an American push to establish a globalized Liberal order that conflated principled beliefs (beliefs about what is normatively right and wrong) with causal beliefs (beliefs about the way the word objectively works) with pernicious consequences. We examine the sources of this conflation and offer recommendations to rectify this problem moving forward.

Taiwan’S Asymmetrical Defense: Policies And Alternatives, Shang-Su Wu

Journal of Strategic Security

In view of the increasingly serious threats by China’s rising military power, Taiwan has been compelled to adjust its strategy towards asymmetrical warfare owing to its inferior military capabilities. Taiwan does not have a better alternative to an asymmetrical strategy because it cannot return to a symmetrical strategy or move to a strategy centered on people’s war. Through its indigenous defense industry and an external arms supply by Washington, Taipei has built up considerable capabilities for sea denial against Beijing’s sophisticated platforms that are indispensable for thwarting invasion. These denial capabilities enhance the island’s defense, but Taiwan’s various conditions represent …

Creating Light At Tunnel’S End: Ukraine’S Post-War Urban Recovery, Russell W. Glenn

Journal of Strategic Security

The US response to Iraq’s recovery in the aftermath of 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom suffered from an initial conclusion that it was the country’s petroleum infrastructure rather than its electrical networks that were in greater need of recovery resources. The resulting misallocation of resources delayed power restoration to much of the country and frustrated those in affected regions.

Whether the cause is war or a catastrophe sparked by Mother Nature, accurately identifying and correctly prioritizing post-disaster requirements is fundamental to an effective and efficient response. Ukraine has demonstrated a commendable ability to repair war damage even as conflict continues, but …

“The Glorious Liberty Of The Children Of God”: Toward A Christian Defense Of Human Rights, John Witte Jr.

Faculty Articles

It will come as a surprise to some human rights lawyers to learn that Christianity was a deep and enduring source of human rights and liberties in the Western legal tradition. Our elementary textbooks have long taught us that the history of human rights began in the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Human rights, many of us were taught, were products of the Western Enlightenment—creations of Grotius and Pufendorf, Locke and Rousseau, Montesquieu and Voltaire, Hume and Smith, Jefferson and Madison. Rights were the mighty new weapons forged by American and French revolutionaries who fought in the name of political …

The Cultural Diplomacy Of U.S. Peace Corps: Understanding The Role Of Peace Corps Volunteers As Strategic Geopolitical Assets, Corey B. Miles

Theses and Dissertations

Beginning in the Summer of 1961, the United States government has deployed volunteer humanitarians around the world to serve the mission of U.S. Peace Corps and has since contributed to communities in 143 partner countries while enjoying widespread popularity. Its mission of promoting world peace and friendship is pursued through three operational goals: technical training, cultural exportation, and cultural importation. Since 2016, with the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, and continuing through the Covid-19 pandemic, which produced the first global service interruption in agency history, the value of the Peace Corps service model has been fundamentally challenged. As a …

The Confederate Law Of Prize, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

This essay describes the prize law of the Confederate States of America. Due to the Union’s blockade of the South’s coastline, Confederate judges heard very few prize cases. But when they did, they closely hewed to the prize law of the United States.

Sticks And Stones May Break Bones, But Only The Right Words Can Protect Human Rights: An Examination Of The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities In Relation To Psychosocial Disabilities, Dailyah Rudek

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

The U.N. Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the most progressive document of its kind, containing admirable principles and mechanisms to protects the rights of people with physical disabilities and outlining international expectations regarding their treatment. Unfortunately, the instrument is woefully inadequate with respect to psychosocial disability and is leaving millions of people worldwide without sufficient protection. Future international conventions on human rights should specifically address persons with psychosocial disability and the CRPD must either be amended to appropriately address these disabilities or have such disabilities severed from its applicability as a new psychosocial-specific convention is …

“Known Adversary”: The Targeting Of The Immigrants’ Rights Movement In The Post-Trump Era, Azadeh Shahshahani, Chiraayu Gosrani

Emory Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Information Technology Army Of Ukraine And Cyber Warfare Doctrine, William D. Done

Journal of Strategic Security

The IT Army of Ukraine’s cyber operations in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has provided a novel approach to cyber warfare – that of a crowdsourced, volunteer, offensive cyber auxiliary force. Being the first group of its kind to be deployed in wartime, this article analyzes the operations conducted by the organization, its targeting, contributions to the group by non-state actors and entities, and the methods in which targets are attacked. This analysis was conducted using a comprehensive publicly available dataset documenting cyberattacks and provides insight into the organization’s operational effectiveness, showing that the IT Army has both been successful in its …

Radioactive, Internal Colonialism: The Uranium Industry’S Historic And Current Impact On The Navajo Nation, Sophie Arens

Pitzer Senior Theses

The United States withheld information pertaining to the health problems associated with nuclear power, allowing uranium to be extracted, processed, and stored in the Southwest of the United States and more specifically the Navajo Nation. With this, many Diné people who had previously worked in the mines or lived within close vicinity to facilities developed various types of illnesses. This thesis argues that the development of nuclear energy in the United States is a form of radioactive, internal colonialism and that the current waste facility located in Carlsbad, New Mexico is furthering this history into the present day. This thesis …

Chemical Analysis For Phytochemical Residues On Ceramics From Cape Canaveral Archaeological Sites, Jacob Woodard

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study aims to contribute to the field of paleoethnobotany in Florida archaeology by presenting a novel approach to chemical residue analysis using UV-vis spectroscopy. The project's main goals are to develop a spectroscopic method for analyzing ceramics to identify phytochemical residues and present the findings of chemical analysis applied to ceramics from the Cape Canaveral archaeological mitigation project (CCAMP). The study focuses on two sites, the Penny site (8BR158) and Burns site (8BR85) in Florida's Indian River region.

While organic residue analysis (ORA) has been applied to various materials and regions, limited research ORA on has been conducted within …

Henri Lefebvre’S Spatial Theory As Methodology – A Methodological Reconsideration Of The Spatial Triad, Authors Johan Vaide

Journal of Urban Culture Research

This article presents a methodological toolset for qualitative socio-spatial analyses based on sociologist Henri Lefebvre’s spatial theory (Lefebvre, 1991). While Lefebvre has been extensively treated as an urban theorist, his work has not been widely explored from a methodological perspective. In the article, Lefebvre’s spatial triad is particularly used to develop a concrete methodology for qualitative socio-spatial analyses. While simultaneously focusing on general methodological aspects, this article draws on how the author applied Lefebvre’s spatial theory in a sociological study about intercultural engagements in Shanghai in the context of China’s opening up reforms. More specifically, Lefebvre’s spatial triad is discussed …

Development And Characterization Of Electrospray Ionization Modes In Mass Spectrometry: Applications In Protein Analysis And Beyond, Huishan Li

Doctoral Dissertations

Electrospray ionization (ESI) has emerged as a widely used soft ionization method, facilitating the introduction of intact molecular ions into mass spectrometers for diverse applications. Despite its popularity, ESI in its current form still faces certain non-ideal limitations. One ongoing research direction is focused on reducing the flow rate for ESI, a crucial parameter that correlates with the size of initial charged droplets generated. Smaller initial charged droplets have exhibited improved performances, including enhanced ionization efficiency, reduced nonspecific adducts, and minimized sample consumption. It would be of significant interest to measure and investigate ultra-low ESI flow rates for downscaled study. …

Ideology In The Attention Economy: A Portal To The Post-Truth Era, Mark Neil Wexler, Judy Oberlander

Journal of Ideology

In 2016, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Time Magazine arrived at "post-truth" as the word of the year. This work looks at post-truth through political, cultural, and commercial lenses, each reflecting an understanding of how competition operates in the ongoing shift from the information society to the attention economy. In the information society, the economy is mediated by dialogue, credible gatekeepers, and an overriding belief in the coherence of a societal centre—a collusion ideology prevails. On the other hand, attention markets reward attention-getters for fragmenting publics, selecting and curating different audiences, and cultivating loyalty and influence within a particular audience or …

Chain As A Missing Artifact: Enslavement And Restraint On The Hernando De Soto Expedition, Chester B. Depratter, James B. Legg

Faculty & Staff Publications

The passage of the Hernando de Soto expedition (1539-1543) though the southeastern United States resulted in a scatter of artifacts distributed along the route. These materials were gifted or traded to, or taken by Native Ameri­cans, or were simply lost as Soto and his company moved from place to place. Perishable items such as clothing, fabrics, and wooden objects disappeared long ago. Non-perishable items such as weaponry, chainmail, coins, nails, bells, and a wide array of other metal objects have been recovered by both avocational and professional archae­ologists at scattered sites along the route. One class of non-perishable artifact associated …

Constitutionality Of Reparations For Native Americans: Confronting The Boarding Schools, Monica Shaffer

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

To The Edge Of The World: Julius Caesar's First Invasion Of Britain, Isaac Copeland

Tenor of Our Times

In 54 BC, during his time as Proconsul, Julius Caesar decided to invade Britain. Despite lack of intelligence, Caesar went ahead with the invasion. In his battles with the native Britons, Caesar narrowly avoided defeat, and had to return to the continent with nothing material to show for it. However, Caesar's first campaign gave him vital information on the Britons, furthered his political career, and prepared him for his second invasion

Science Fiction Media’S Influence On Public Perceptions Of Ai And Technology, Abbie Armstrong

Honors

Science fiction has influenced many aspects of society, most notably impacting the field of technology since the mid-1900s. For many years, this genre has prompted researchers to explore new ideas and research different areas of technology. However, the fast-paced advancement of the technological industry has caused many misconceptions to emerge regarding new technology. In addition, the use of sci-fi media may further exacerbate public misconceptions since this media may not contain factual information regarding current technology. One subsection of the technological field, Artificial Intelligence (AI), is particularly subjected to misconceptions due to this disconnect between facts and media. Some scholars …

International Academic Partnerships In Orthopaedic Surgery, Michael Jesse Flores

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Abstract: INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS IN ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY. Michael J. Flores. Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation, Yale University, School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.

Introduction: Orthopaedic-related disease (ORD) is one of the leading health challenges faced worldwide and is a significant cause of global morbidity and mortality, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In recent years, international orthopaedic outreach to address the global burden of ORD has received greater attention due to initiatives such as the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (LCGS). Many strategies have been considered to address the global burden of ORD, most commonly though volunteer trips by …

Kill On The Left Foot, Daniel Collins

Theses and Dissertations--English

This collection of essays and short stories represents experiences during and related to my military service as a Tactical Air Control Partyman in the United States Air Force. Recurrent themes in this collection involve patriotism, fatherhood, masculinity, trauma, and recovery. The work itself represents the study and practice of the elements of fiction and foundational concepts related to creative nonfiction.

Myth, Mockery, & Misery: An Evolution Of Disillusion In Modern-War Expression, Richard W. Halkyard

Theses and Dissertations--English

Industrialization in 19th-Century America yielded a regrettable by-product: the modernization of warfare. Mass armies, technological innovation, and unprecedented rates of industrial productivity prompted the creation of machines designed to inspire fear, increase destructive capability, and inflict mass-death. The modernization of warfare altered forever the way war was experienced and represented literarily. Authors who attempted to represent the Civil and Spanish-American Wars, as well as World War I, articulated modernized warfare with a disillusionment which stems from the tragically dehumanizing effects of mechanical violence on an industrial scale. Myth, Mockery, & Misery argues that as far back as 1862, romantic idealization …

Enduring The Elements: Civil War Soldiers’ Struggles Against The Weather, Cameron Boutin

Theses and Dissertations--History

This dissertation is an environmental history that studies the variety of ways that soldiers in the American Civil War experienced the pressures of weather over the course of their military service. For the troops of the U.S. and Confederacy, the weather was more than simply a passive backdrop to their time in the military, but a central preoccupation. This dissertation analyzes how weather intersected with some of the most central experiences of soldiering – tent camping and winter quarters, marching, bivouacking, manning sentry posts and field fortifications, and fighting in battles. Life in Civil War armies consisted of all of …

From Displaced To Displacers: Scottish Crofters, First Nation Peoples And Commons Enclosure From The 1700s To The 1800s, Anna Herrington

Theses and Dissertations--History

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the enclosure of common systems shaped the displacement of people on a global scale whilst bringing the people---Scottish Highland crofters and Mi’kmaq First Nation Canadians from the margins where they have dwelled for centuries in historical scholarship to of the centre of not just their history, but our collective history. Both populations experienced attacks on their ties to their lands, resources, and culture through enclosure. The enclosure process lasted over two centuries and was interspersed with violent protest, proactive resistance, interspersed with periods of acceptance and determination against their forced removals. Investigating …

Factors Associated With Successful Military-To-Civilian Transition Among Special Forces Veterans, Edward Richter

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

The purpose of this study was to explore the military-to-civilian transitional experience in a sample of Special Forces veterans. Acknowledging challenges in accessing the veteran population, most existing research on the military-to-civilian transition consolidates military occupations into a single sample. This method fails to address the intricacies that may exist within individual military occupations, especially that of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers. Special Forces qualified soldiers represent the largest portion of all U.S. Military Special Operations Forces and are responsible for the majority of all Special Operations activities, yet their experience in transitioning out of the Army is largely unknown. …