Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Vladimir Putin’S Leadership Traits Over 11 Years: A Longitudinal Study Of Putin’S Third Term In Office Using Leadership Trait Analysis, Payton J. Casteel

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

While an abundance of literature has studied the actions and behaviors of Vladimir Putin, the most extensive area involves leadership analysis (Semenova and Winter 2020). Various methods within political psychology have used analyses to study Putin throughout his time in office. However, no published research has studied Putin using leadership trait analysis, nor have any published works studied his changes in leadership leading up to the invasion of Ukraine. Using a mixed methods longitudinal study design on Vladimir Putin from 2012 to 2023, five periods in his third term were identified, with speeches taken and coded using the seven LTA …

Peace-Building And Stability After Civil Wars: The Cases Of Angola And The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Ali Elsharkawy

Theses and Dissertations

Why do some rebel groups successfully establish stable and sustainable states after civil wars, while others fail? Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are two African countries that experienced long and bloody civil wars. Despite the commonalities, the two cases strongly diverged in the political outcomes after civil war. Angola successfully made the transition to stability and prosperity, while the DRC slipped back into violence. This thesis compares and contrasts between the two peace- building processes in both countries. The results illustrate that two main variables made the difference between the two cases, the geography of the capital …

Inciting Peace From The Inside Out, Stephen G. Adubato, Ebere Bosco Amakwe, Katherine Hinic, Sarita Maldjian, Forrest Pritchett, Jon Radwan, Nicholas Sooy, Chad Thralls

Conferences

Violence and war can be incited, and so can peace. This volume shares select addresses and responses from Seton Hall University’s 2/7/23 conference “Inciting Peace From The Inside Out.” A multi-disciplinary range of scholars each addresses how reconciliation processes grow from spiritual dynamics. Multiple religious traditions teach contemplative praxes that prioritize and nurture personal reflection oriented toward peace. Social conflicts divide, so engaging them with a partisan orientation only serves to escalate harmful rifts. In contrast, bringing personal awareness and sensitivity, spiritual balance, and holistic integral perspective to conflict can transcend divisions and work toward unity. This volume is supported …

Violent Conflict Drives World Hunger And Food Insecurity, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

The World Food Program (WFP) with support from the United States and other countries works to provide food to those in need as a result of conflict, adverse climate effects, poverty, and government mismanagement. It is limited in what it can do, however, by budget constraints and rising food prices. On top of the financial issues, the delivery of food assistance is particularly complicated in areas of conflict where warring adversaries often hijack food supplies intended for the other side. While it is illegal under International Humanitarian Law to use starvation as a weapon of war, Dzerowicz (2023) has identified …

The Importance Of Sunni-Iraqi Support In The Rise And Fall Of Isis In Iraq, Deja Meekins

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

ISIS, a Salafi-jihadist terrorist organization stationed in the Middle East, has had its fair share of "successes" and "failures," both of which have been present in Iraq. Toward the beginning of the development of ISIS, it garnered a very powerful supporter base in Iraq. However, that has changed since then; ISIS currently, in 2024, no longer has the support of the vast majority of the Iraqi people. What is the reason for this? This research paper will seek to analyze and answer two major questions: what role does the Iraqi Sunni population play in ISIS’s trajectory of successes and failures …

We're Here To Stay: Nonviolence And The Disability Rights Movement, Sky Mcleod

University Honors Theses

Nonviolent resistance is an effective tool for enacting large scale change including the advancement of civil rights. Disabled Americans have often used nonviolent protest and civil resistance to this aim. Despite this rich history of activism, the history of the Disability Rights Movement has largely been missing from scholarship on nonviolent resistance. Similarly, historical accounts in Disability Studies provide a fragmented perspective on the use of nonviolent resistance by Disabled people. This thesis delves into this under-appreciated history. From the League of the Physically Handicapped in the 1930s to Trump’s inauguration in 2016, this paper traces the progress of the …

Comparing The Us Response To The Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan And The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine: Learning From The Past And Planning For The Future, Zachary Hogan

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

As the Russo-Ukrainian war continues to rage, the decisions of the present are of paramount importance. In order to make the most positive and well-supported decisions in this ongoing conflict, it would be wise to look to past instances of similar situations. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is such an instance. The parallels between the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the past Soviet invasion of Afghanistan are extensive and, more importantly, informative for U.S. foreign policy. It is with this lens that this paper will pursue a historical foreign policy analysis of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, its circumstances and …

Raven Sentry: Employing Ai For Indications And Warnings In Afghanistan, Thomas W. Spahr

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article examines Raven Sentry, a project that employed artificial intelligence to provide advance warning of insurgent attacks in Afghanistan. During 2019 and 2020, the Resolute Support Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (J2) benefited from a command culture open to innovation, the urgency created by the US drawdown, and a uniquely talented group of personnel that, aided by commercial sector experts, built an AI system that helped predict attacks. The war’s end cut Raven Sentry short, but the experience provides important lessons on AI and the conditions necessary for successful innovation.

From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Summer 2024 issue of Parameters. We open this issue with a special “In Memoriam” by General Charles A. Flynn, Commander US Army Pacific, honoring the life and legacies of our director and consummate colleague, Carol V. Evans. We dedicate this issue to her. General Flynn’s memoriam is followed by an In Focus commentary on China’s Belt and Road Initiative. We then feature three forums covering the Russia-Ukraine War, the Middle East, and Professional Development. This issue also contains special essays on the role of professional writing, the US Army War College’s Civil-Military Relations Center, …

The Combat Path: Sustaining Mental Readiness In Ukrainian Soldiers, Oleh Hukovskyy, James C. West, Joshua C. Morganstein, Eugene F. Augusterfer, David M. Benedek, Oleg Boyko, Robert J. Ursano, Amy B. Adler

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

In Ukraine, soldiers’ psychological resilience is of paramount concern. Therefore, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have developed a new intervention, Combat Path Debriefing, designed to address combat stress and promote unit readiness for soldiers returning to combat. This article outlines the components of Combat Path Debriefing and discusses how it is rooted in principles of combat and operational stress control and the unique characteristics of Ukrainian military life. This perspective offers US and allied leaders real-world experience that can inform future efforts to support soldiers’ mental health and combat performance.

The Dynamics Of Us Retrenchment In The Middle East, Paul K. Macdonald, Joseph M. Parent

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article argues that conditions favor American retrenchment from the Middle East because the United States can shift burdens to capable states in the region, there are few areas where US commitments are interdependent, and the local conquest calculus favors defense. Forward military deployments do not positively influence potential threats in the Middle East, and maintaining deployments there will detract from meeting challenges from China. Through comparisons to prior cases of great-power ordinal decline, this article puts America’s modest decline in historical perspective and finds that retrenchment policies will likely have positive consequences.

Exploring The Nexus Of Military And Society At A 50-Year Milestone, Patricia M. Shields

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

There is an ongoing dependence and tension between the military and the society it protects. This article examines the relatively new “military and society” field using the 50-year anniversary of the journal Armed Forces & Society as a focal point. This dynamic field is influenced by world events, cultural trends, and politics. Civil-military relations is at the heart of the discourse. An international and interdisciplinary journal, Armed Forces & Society reflects the changing nature of the field over the last 50 years. I have edited the journal since 2001 and bring this experience to the discussion.

Contributor Guidelines, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Participatory Photography As A Creative And Collaborative Tool In Teaching Peace Education, Rodgen M. Jabor

Peace and Conflict Studies

Peace and education are inseparable. Grounding on the aforementioned premise, peace education has become part of the curriculum in a number of countries including the Philippines. Along with the inclusion of peace education was the challenge of how to provide responsive and meaningful learning experiences in peace education. This article discusses the attempt of the use of participatory photography as a teaching methodology. Ten pre-service teachers participated in a peace education class that trialed the use of participatory photography as a teaching approach guided by a manual that was developed by the researcher. Through conducting a focus group discussion, and …

Violence Or Nonviolence: The Impact Of Public Opinion On Campaign Onset And Tactics, Kana Inata, Wakako Maekawa

Peace and Conflict Studies

Recent scholarship suggests that norms of nonviolent contestation strongly constrain the course of civil resistance campaigns. However, these norms are not uniform across countries. It may be the case that violent campaign groups may successfully mobilize supporters in societies where norms of nonviolent contestation are not established. This study seeks to answer whether campaign onset and tactics are influenced by public opinion, and if so, specifically what components of public opinion do so. We disaggregate public opinion into those on campaign tactics and campaign goals, and argue that public opinion on campaign goals affects the initiation of civil campaigns, while …

Towards A Digitally Mediated Transitional Justice Process? An Analysis Of Colombian Transitional Justice Organisations’ Posting Behaviour On Facebook, Jasmin Haunschild, Laura Guntrum, Sofía Cerrillo, Franziska Bujara, Christian Reuter

Peace and Conflict Studies

In Colombia, Transitional Justice (TJ) institutions were established after years of violent conflict as part of the 2016 peace agreement between the FARC and the Colombian government. By analysing the posting behaviour of the government-appointed TJ institutions on Facebook, we show how general TJ aims and opportunities for citizen participation were promoted in 2019. Our analysis reveals that the organisations rarely address topics related to reconciliation and that active online participation and two-way communication are rather scarce. Instead, Facebook is mainly used by the TJ organisations to increase solidarity with victims and disseminate information about their work and the TJ …

A Path Towards Trust: Enhancing Relations Between Ngos Using The Intergroup Trust Model, Mariska Kappmeier, Chiara Venanzetti

Peace and Conflict Studies

Trust is a fundamental element of human relations, facilitating positive cooperation among individuals, groups, and organizations, including those dedicated to peacebuilding. While these organizations ideally collaborate toward their shared goals, interorganizational competition often undermines relationships, breeding distrust. Cultivating interorganizational trust can make the difference between failure and success. However, building trust is challenging due to trust’s elusive, multifaceted nature.

This article proposes a multidimensional trust model to facilitate a systematic approach to trust assessment and subsequent trust-building

Through a case study of two NGOs, we present firstly, the Intergroup Trust Model, which proposes trust consists of five dimensions competence-, …

Preference Conflict And Peace Studies: The Line Between Disagreement And Violence, Frederic R. Kellogg

Peace and Conflict Studies

Broadening the definition of conflict defines more comprehensively the condition of peace, focusing on how unresolved shared disagreements can lead to, or avoid, polarization and violence. The line between general disagreement and violent conflict lies in the adjustment of shared preferences. Matters like reproductive rights, medically assisted death, race and gender discrimination, while subject to political polarization, are open to peaceful redress through what John Dewey called the transformative continuum of inquiry, in which the crucial social response to shared problems includes dispute and conflict. Resolution of controversial social problems requires preference adjustment and habit change, often, if not always, …

Discourse And Controversy In The Israel-Palestine Conflict - A Review Of The Literature, Irteza Atique

Major Papers

The Israel-Palestine conflict has been ongoing for more than 75 years and has many historical, geographical, religious, and ethnic components. Despite several attempts at resolution, the war persists, resulting in continued violence, human misery, and regional instability. This study dives into the highly contentious dispute over labelling Israel as an apartheid state, a subject that has prompted heated debate in academic literature, college campuses, the media, and diplomacy. Using a wide range of scholarly literature and trustworthy news sources, we investigate the origins of the war, important historical events, and the numerous factors that have shaped the current conflict. Beginning …

Applied Theatre For Peacebuilding: Exploring The Value Of Embodied Practice, Emily Machin-Mayes

Capstone Collection

Arts, storytelling, theatre, and drama have been woven into strategic approaches to peacebuilding after conflict to engage with people’s experiences and emotions, share silenced stories, and build trust and empathy. Applied theatre challenges audience members to take a more active role, either through participating in the storytelling or acting itself or through dialogue and reflection activities. This collaborative art form has been used for community-building, reconciliation efforts as well as in post-conflict settings. This study examines the impact and value of an intensive applied theatre workshop, using participant-observation, and semi-structured interviews. Some of the qualitative findings include the value participants …

New Perspectives On Peace Settlements: The Significance Of Power-Sharing And Hierarchies On Negotiation Dynamics, Alejandra Vásquez Gutiérrez

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

By examining the impact of the commitment problem between the FARC and the Colombian government, this paper seeks to answer the following question: What led the government and the FARC to finally agree to end the conflict through a peace accord? This research addresses a notable gap in the literature by examining the pivotal role of power-sharing arrangements and hierarchical structures on negotiation dynamics. I conducted in-depth interviews with public officials in Colombia, complemented by the utilization of secondary data. I aim to ascertain whether power-sharing arrangements mitigate the commitment problem and to advance our current understanding of whether rebel …

A Red Awakening: An Analysis Of China’S Quest For Global Dominance Through Economic Alternative Warfare Methods, Sarah Beddingfield

Senior Honors Theses

In the 2023 annual meeting of China’s parliament, Chinese President Xi made it clear to his political leaders and the world that he was preparing for war. This should come as no surprise after analysis of China's grand strategy points clearly to the intent to surpass the U.S. as the premier global superpower in all respects. China has been building towards this goal for years through untraditional methods of warfare, forcing the national security community to reevaluate its own strategy and assess the Chinese threat through a different lens. This thesis seeks to address one specific area in which China …

Navigating The Threat Posed By The Chinese Communist Party, Adam Opp

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

For decades, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the economic growth of China has become a threat to the United States. Beginning in 1978, the CCP issued a series of economic, market-oriented reforms which led to a period of economic growth and productivity increase in China. The CCP turned to diplomacy with the United States and other nations to increase foreign investment and implemented the Belt and Road initiative. The impressive scale of Chinese economic growth poses an economic and hegemonic threat to the United States, as China’s economy is projected to outpace the United States and the CCP has …

The Importance Of Dialogue Between The United States And North Korea: How Can The United States Respond To The Nuclear Issue With North Korea?, Unbi Choi

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

The nuclear issue with North Korea could create even more danger in currently tense international relations. In reality, a long-standing economic sanction is a factor in North Korea's continued hostile attitude toward the United States. The Trump administration chose negotiation instead of economic sanctions. Negotiations succeeded in temporarily easing tensions between the United States and North Korea. However, the Biden administration put economic sanctions back on North Korea. Since then, North Korea has increasingly cultivated hostility, even more than in the last few years, and is further developing nuclearization. As this example indicates, economic sanctions would have negative consequences. The …

Terrorism In Africa: An Analysis Of The Efficacy Of U.S. Counterterrorism, Max Yong

Global Tides

This paper seeks to identify whether United States aid to Africa has impacted violent terrorist activity on the continent. The existing literature has produced a range of critiques. Many have voiced concern about foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) growing and blame ineffective efforts by the U.S. for this reality. Instances of African nations, in the face of persisting security challenges from FTOs, turning to political adversaries of the U.S. for assistance is evidence of this sentiment. Furthermore, terror attacks since the onset of the U.S. Global War on Terror (GWOT) have only remained higher than in the previous era. Others have …

The Effective Of The Chinese Position Towards The Achievement Of Palestinian Political Goals, Alaa Aldeek, Jun Ding

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

The political process between the Palestinians and the Israelis did not lead to the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state in accordance with the settlement option that led to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, or as stipulated in international legitimacy. Accordingly, there has been a great debate within the Palestinian arena about the effectiveness and importance of the negotiating option in achieving Palestinian political goals in the future. China supports a negotiated political solution, provided the firm and consistent implementation of international law and international resolutions towards resolving the Palestinian issue, and that Israel and …

To Walk The Earth In Safety 23rd Edition (Fy2023), Cisr Jmu

Global CWD Repository

In this year’s edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety, we highlight the many ways that U.S. conventional weapons destruction assistance promotes post-conflict recovery. For example, our humanitarian demining funding enhances food security by helping to revitalize agricultural fields in countries like Sri Lanka and Vietnam. This funding is especially critical in Sri Lanka where more than 6 million people—nearly 30 percent of the population—are currently food-insecure. In Vietnam, our commitment to promoting agricultural security is a key component to successful post-conflict recovery, even decades after war ended.

The United States is the world’s top supporter of conventional …

Conflict In The Congo: A Critical Assessment Of Section 1502 Of The Dodd-Frank Act, Rodney Ford

Senior Honors Theses

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the poorest and most troubled nations in the world. With a convoluted and often tragic history, a significant cause of economic underdevelopment and political instability in the Congo has been the illicit expropriation of the country’s vast reserves of high-value minerals. In the early 2010s, Congress attempted to address the “conflict minerals” dilemma through the enactment of Section 1502 of the Dodd Frank Act. The conflict minerals rule aimed to break the supposed link between the illegal exploitation of minerals and the perpetuation of violence. Drawing upon books, journal articles, research …

Surveying Eighty-Year-Old Battlefields In Solomon Islands, Simon Conway

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Surveying battlefield sites and abandoned ammunition depots eighty years after a conflict presents a challenge. There are few living witnesses, and the land has often changed beyond recognition. In Solomon Islands, the situation is exacerbated by a combination of familiarity and lack of information. Civilians have grown accustomed to the presence of ordnance and concluded that the problem is intractable. At the same time, it is not known how many people have died or been injured because of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned (AXO) ordnance. Nor is it known where the accidents occurred or what the victims were doing at …

China's Use Of Nontraditional Strategic Landpower In Asia, Sheena Chestnut Greitens

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article argues that the People’s Republic of China uses its police and internal security forces as a nontraditional means of projecting strategic Landpower in the Indo-Pacific and Central Asia. Instead of limiting analysis of China’s power projection to military forces, this article employs new data on Chinese police engagements abroad to fill a gap in our understanding of the operating environment in Asia. Policymakers will gain an understanding of how these activities enhance China’s presence, partnerships, and influence across the region to inform the development of recommendations for a more effective response.