Asian Studies Commons^™

The Baltic Bear Trap Wargame, Connor Crookham

Space and Defense

Modern military education increasingly relies on experiential tools that allow students to explore the complexity of contemporary conflict in ways that lectures and readings alone cannot achieve. Nowhere is this more evident than in the emerging emphasis on multi-domain operations, integrated deterrence, and the blurred boundaries between competition and armed conflict. The Baltic Bear Trap wargame was developed as a student design project to meet this instructional need, offering a structured environment in which players must think, plan, and act as operational-level decision makers confronting a deteriorating security situation in the Nordic–Baltic region. Built for use at the Swedish Defense …

A Cislunar Economic Forecast Under Public-Private Partnership, Naisha Chirag Naik

Space and Defense

Cislunar space, spanning Earth’s orbit to the Moon, has emerged as a new frontier due to its strategic, scientific, and economic potential, with growing involvement from global powers, governments, and private entities diversifying the market. Unlike the first lunar space race, which saw a spike in activity amongst two countries followed by “silence,” the current cislunar era is hallmarked by a growing mix of public agencies, private companies, and international actors seeking to gain a foothold in what could be the foundation for a long-term space economy. While cislunar space was historically only an interest for superpowers, recent years have …

Autonomous Navigation In Cislunar Satellites, Heith Johnson

Space and Defense

Cislunar space—the region between Earth’s geosynchronous orbit (about 36,000 kilometers from Earth) and the Moon (roughly 384,000 kilometers away)—is becoming a critical frontier for future space exploration and commercialization.1 This zone includes the Moon’s orbit, transfer orbits, and the Earth-Moon Lagrange points. Additionally, as more nations and corporations launch lunar missions and establish long-term infrastructure, cislunar space is increasingly becoming a strategic focus for exploration, logistics, and transportation.

Planetary Defense As The Ethico-Legal Gateway For International Space Security, Evie Kendal

Space and Defense

Following the news in late 2024 that there was a city-killer asteroid on a possible collision course with Earth, many members of the public were shocked to learn there was no reliable global plan for managing such asteroidal and cometary impact hazards. While calculations of Asteroid 2024 YR4’s trajectory were further refined to exclude the previously reported 2-3% chance of collision in 2032, this event highlighted a major security threat: the lack of a globally coordinated, appropriately resourced, and politically supported planetary defense strategy (Gibney, 2025). In so doing, it also provided an opportunity for security experts to consider the …

Space-Based Missile Defense With Early Interceptor Launch Strategies, William Priedhorsky, James Wells

Space and Defense

There is renewed interest in space-based boost-phase intercept (SBPI) for missile defense against ICBMs of near-peer adversaries. We discuss SBPI in the context of other missile defense approaches, and address one of its challenges, which is the expense of fielding a large enough constellation of interceptors in space to counter even a small number of ICBMs. We develop an early-launch approach that could substantively reduce the required density of interceptors. Because every second matters in boost-phase defense, early launch of interceptors can significantly increase the reach of each interceptor. Early launch would require interceptors that have highly throttleable motors. Our …

Golden Dome: Seeking Space Security, Namrata Goswami

Space and Defense

The “Golden Dome” initiative [formerly Iron Dome] was announced by President Donald Trump on January 27, 2025, signifying a transformative shift in global space security policy. It fundamentally questions long-standing assumptions about deterrence, national vulnerability to missile attacks, and the role of space in strategic defense. More importantly, it emerges at a moment of acute strategic transition: the erosion of Cold War arms control frameworks, the rapid advancement of hypersonic and orbital delivery systems, and the growing integration of space into warfighting doctrines. Launched via a presidential memorandum in January 2025, Golden Dome calls for a layered missile defense system …

Space & Defense Vol. 17 No. 1 Editor's Note, Damon Coletta

Space and Defense

No abstract provided.

Space & Defense Vol. 17 No. 1 Table Of Contents, Space & Defense

Space and Defense

No abstract provided.

Space & Defense Vol. 17 No. 1 Front Matter, Space & Defense

Space and Defense

No abstract provided.

Space & Defense Volume 17 Issue 1 Summer 2026 (Whole Issue), Space & Defense

Space and Defense

No abstract provided.

Lessons From Tanzania’S Ujamaa For Smart Settlements In Nepal: Social Justice And Economic Development, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Nepal’s constitutional commitment to a “socialism-oriented” state places social justice, equitable access to resources and housing, and protection of marginalized populations at the center of national development discourse. However, persistent landlessness, informal settlements, unemployment, youth outmigration, and unequal access to infrastructure reveal a significant gap between constitutional aspirations and socioeconomic realities.

This article examines lessons Nepal can draw from Tanzania’s experience with Ujamaa, the African socialist development model initiated by President Nyerere in 1967. Using comparative policy analysis, published research, official documents, and exploratory field observations from selected Tanzanian locations, including the capital and villages in the Iringa Region, the …

Ethics Under Siege: The Conflict In Tigray Through The Lens Of Just War Theory, Daniela Widya Purba

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

This research article explains the ethical principles of the conflict in Tigray based on the Just War Theory. By using the descriptive qualitative methodology, this research article draws data from secondary sources which includes; academic journals, news reports, as well as international legal instruments to analyze the moral trajectory of the conflict. This research begins with jus ad bellum, to assess Ethiopia’s government justification in declaring conflict within Tigray. While the government fulfilled the criteria of just cause and legitimate authority, the question stands on the ambiguous political intentions and the failure to enact peaceful alternatives before resulting in waging …

Presidential Visits As Foreign Policy Instruments: U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy In Trump’S Second Term, Atar Thaung Htet

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Through an analysis of President Donald Trump's October 2025 travel to Asia, this study investigates the consequences of U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy under his second-term diplomacy. The paper examines three significant diplomatic encounters—the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, bilateral meetings in Japan, and the APEC Summit in South Korea—using a qualitative case study methodology based on role theory and foreign policy analysis. The results show that alliance-centered security cooperation, strategic balancing toward China, and selective economic engagement were U.S. Indo-Pacific goals. Through extremely transactional and bilateralized relations, presidential diplomacy allowed the United States to fulfill a number of foreign policy responsibilities, such …

Through The Arena: A Marxist Strategic-Relational Perspective On East Asian Regional Trade Architecture, John H. Limaldi

Journal of Critical Global Issues

This paper critically assesses the dominant regional trade architecture that impacts East Asia, focusing on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its U.S.-bastardized version, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Using a strategic-relational approach grounded in Marxist theory, the paper examines how these agreements impact the relationship between the Capitalist State and Capital. It argues that international economic architecture in the neoliberal era produces state effects that weaken national sovereignty to the benefit of capital and the detriment of labor. The paper concludes with recommendations for a new regional trade architecture that prioritizes labor rights, democratic accountability, and …

Civic Activism Of Refugee Community Organizations And Their Effectiveness In Supporting Refugees, Anis Zaman

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

The development and governance architecture of migration policy often lacks migrants' perspectives. Thus, in most cases, migration policies generate conflicts between migrants and host communities. In this regard, refugee-led community organizations (RCOs) offer solutions by promoting collective action among refugees. RCOs play a vital role in fostering collective action by refugee communities to alleviate suffering and assert refugee rights. However, RCO’s operations and interactions in the host country are challenging and are shaped by the nature of migration governance and the host government’s tolerance for refugee activism. The nature of migration governance dictates the spaces for refugee civic activism. This …

Social Innovation In The Peacebuilding Sector, Michelle Helman, Phd, Katherine Ronderos, Mariafernanda Burgos-Ariza

Peace and Conflict Studies

Social innovation is an expanding practice in the peacebuilding sector. In this article, three peace scholar-practitioners reflect on our experiences as peacebuilders and consider the utility, tensions, and possibilities for peace and social innovation in theory and in practice. We draw insights gleaned through a focus group workshop with peacebuilding colleagues and highlight three case study examples from Colombia, the Philippines, and Kenya, each demonstrating the challenges and opportunities of social innovation in the peace sector. In doing so, we offer a reimagining of- and recommended action steps to engage innovation through a collaborative, feminist design approach. This article contributes …

Digital Communication And The Evolution Of Ideological Narratives In Indonesia: Insights From Social Media Platforms, Tia Mariatul Kibtiah, Muhammad Fikri Fawazi

Journal of Terrorism Studies

This study examines how pro-caliphate and anti-democratic narratives are articulated and normalised within YouTube comment spaces in Indonesia. As the world’s largest Muslim-majority country with high levels of digital engagement, Indonesia provides an important context for analysing how political-religious discourses circulate through everyday digital interaction. The research analyses 1,354 YouTube comments related to the caliphate, governance, and democracy. Data were collected using Google Apps Script, manually filtered for relevance, and examined through qualitative content analysis informed by Social Network Theory (SNT) and the Radicalisation Factor Model (RFM). The findings show that 34.49% of comments endorsed ideological pro-caliphate narratives, while 35.97% …

Inherited By “Merit”: What Caste Carries Across The Indian American Diaspora, Aarushi V. Jaiswal

English Undergraduate Distinction Projects

This project traces the rhetorical formation termed “meritocratic nationalism,” a political vocabulary that makes national belonging conditional on moralized merit, converting structural advantage into the language of individual character. Meritocratic nationalism is traced across three political figures whose rhetoric represents successive moments in a single ideological trajectory. Reading Narendra Modi’s 2014 and 2018 Independence Day addresses and his 2014 Madison Square Garden speech to the Indian American diaspora as the formation’s originating texts, this project argues that Modi’s recurring moral tetrad of conduct, values, traditions, and ability translated the structurally concentrated advantages of India’s upper-caste professional class into a universalist …

Nuclear Weapons And Conflict Escalation: Impacts On Fatalities And The India-China Case, Tyden J. Kortman

Honors Theses

The study of nuclear weapons and their impact on conflict have existed as long as nuclear weapons themselves. Nonetheless, many questions remain on whether nuclear weapons serve primarily as a deterrent to conflict or as an avenue towards the deadliest form of warfare in human history. We use both statistical analysis against a large conflict dataset and a case study of India-China conflicts from 1955-1979 to contribute to the ongoing literature on this question. We hypothesize that nuclear weapons lower the rate of conflict and dispute escalation. After statistical testing and case study analysis, we found that there was no …

The Weaponization Of Transnational Crime: A Triangular Analytical Model For Hybrid Threat Development In U.S.–China–Russia Relations, 2000–2025, Michael J. Haak

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines the evolving strategic relationship between the United States, China, and Russia from 2000 to 2025 through a triangular model based on reactions to systemic pressures to core strategic interests. The study employs a thematic qualitative data analysis on U.S., Chinese, and Russian national security strategies to analyze strategic posturing between poles over time. This new model serves as the study’s basis for contextualizing hybrid threat development, specifically transnational crime as a proxy force of asymmetric power projection. The study found that the evolution of state-supported transnational crime serves as a by-product of reactions to systemic pressure. State …

An Alternative To Armageddon: O.P. Weyland And The Development Of Tactical Air Power, Paul Wells

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Theorists and advocates of air power argued that aircraft, not ground forces, would become the dominant platform for victory in war. They promoted the concept of strategic bombing, using aircraft to bypass ground forces and directly attack a nation's industrial capacity to wage war, hoping to ensure quick victory and avoid a repeat of the prolonged slaughter in the trenches of WWI. In 1947, led by advocates of strategic bombing, the United States Air Force (USAF) became an independent and equal branch of the U.S. military. The USAF developed the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to meet the requirements of the …

Negosiasi Diplomasi Budaya K-Pop Di Indonesia: Studi Kasus Boikot Penggemar Ateez, Dhannya Febryana

Multikultura

This study examines the boycott by Indonesian fans against the K-pop group ATEEZ as part of the dynamics of South Korea’s cultural diplomacy in Southeast Asia. Building on the understanding of K-pop as an important instrument of soft power in South Korea’s cultural diplomacy strategy, this research highlights how regional audiences do not always passively accept such practices. Using a qualitative approach with digital discourse analysis, the study analyzes boycott-related discourses circulating on social media and in online news coverage to explore the narratives, meanings, and cultural implications of this action. The fan boycott is not merely an expression of …

Organizing To Engage: A Framework For Conflict Strategy, Paul Mason Carpenter

Dissertations

Conflict strategy can be exceedingly complex. While many of the basics are simple, even the simple can be highly complicated to execute. The Schlieffen Plan in World War I appeared straight forward, but execution was a great deal more complex. It failed and the result was years of trench warfare.  In addition, leaders entering conflict may not fully appreciate the full context, its effect, and the need for a long term result--a better state of peace.

Strategy and tactics may be challenging to transform as an engagement evolves. In addition, strategists must often commit to courses of action within very …

How The Korean War Has Affected Security In The Korean Peninsula: Ideological Separations And Lasting Military Alliances In This Region, Teagan Mcsherry

Posters - 2026

Although the Korean War ended in 1953, its effects continue to shape security on the Korean Peninsula today. This paper examines how the war created long-lasting ideological divisions and military alliances, particularly through the involvement of the United States and China. These alliances have helped maintain stability through deterrence but have also prevented meaningful reconciliation between North and South Korea. I argue that these dynamics reinforce a security dilemma, where efforts to increase security also deepen division and mistrust. As a result, the peninsula remains in a prolonged state of tension, demonstrating how unresolved conflicts can continue to influence global …

Moment Of Recognizability: Askancing And The Global South, Pedro Lange Churion, Tanu Sankalia

Global Studies Faculty Publications

This article introduces askancing as an epistemic strategy for the Global South to challenge the Global North’s construction of the Global South’s alterity. Askancing is a neologism we propose by engaging with Jacques Lacan’s speculations on the gaze as it pertains to the construction of “the other.” We argue that this strategy of askancing might already be implicit in postcolonial theories, from the notion of the subaltern, through “decoloniality,” to “ecologies of knowledge.” Central to askancing—and contrary to the decolonial call for an epistemic break with modernity—we agree with Dipesh Chakrabarty’s assertion that modernity’s rational discourse is both “indispensable and …

Asia’S Future Will Be Won By Soft Power, Not Force, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Lily Kong argues that while force remains essential to deter aggression and manage worst-case scenarios, military strength may prevent defeat, but it rarely produces legitimacy. When hard power dominates the strategic imagination, volatility rises and markets suffer. Soft power – the ability to influence countries through persuasion, attraction and legitimacy – has become a strategic asset, she writes. It shapes expectations, lowers baseline tensions, and creates off-ramps in moments of crisis, often determining whether tensions escalate, how long crises last, and how much economic damage they inflict. Prof Kong believes that in a nuclear-armed, economically interdependent Asia, the real test …