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Organizational Planning Practices Under Uncertainty: The Case Of Ngos In Hadhramaut, Yemen, Khulood Taleb Alamodi

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Hadhramaut, Yemen plan and operate under conditions of fragility and uncertainty. Although strategic planning is often presented as a formal and structured process, NGOs in fragile settings face ongoing disruption, unstable funding, and weak institutions. This study asks how planning takes place in practice under these conditions. The study uses qualitative data from 22 semi-structured interviews with NGO leaders, staff, and external actors. A conceptual framework combining contextual fragility, resource dependence, organizational capacity and resilience, and legitimacy and networks was used to examine how these factors shape organizational planning. The findings …

Regulating Religious Coexistence : The Intricacies Of Interfaith Cooperation In Coastal Kenya, Erik Meinema

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Regulating Religious Coexistence offers a compelling ethnographic analysis of how Muslims, Christians, and practitioners of indigenous African religions negotiate coexistence in Kenya’s coastal region. The book conceptualizes religious diversity as a dynamic field shaped by multiple partly intersecting and partly conflicting models of interaction. These include the political secularism promoted by the Kenyan state and civil society organizations focused on interfaith harmony, forms of competition between religious groups, and pluralistic practices in which individuals draw on multiple traditions to meet spiritual needs.

Through a close examination of civil society initiatives funded by Western donors to foster peacebuilding and to counter …

From Monopoly To Orchestration: The Hilltop And Farm Youth And The Changing Organization Of State Coercion - The Israeli Case, Idan Yaron

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

Drawing on more than a decade of ethnographic fieldwork – as a social anthropologist, studying the Far Right in Israel, on the ground, and through intimate and prolonged relationships with opinion leaders and rank-and-file activists – this essay examines the Hilltop and Farm Youth in the West Bank to reconsider Charles Tilly's influential account of state formation and the organization of coercion. It asks a simple but troubling question: why would a powerful modern state, fully capable of suppressing autonomous violent actors, sometimes allow them to persist? I argue that Tilly's theory should be confirmed, adapted, and amended. His fundamental …

Fuji Fire: Sifting Ashes Of A Forgotten U.S. Marine Corps Tragedy, Ken Allard

Joint Force Quarterly

Colonel Ken Allard, USA (Ret.), reviews Chas Henry’s Fuji Fire: Sifting Ashes of a Forgotten U.S. Marine Corps Tragedy, an account of the October 1979 fire at Camp Fuji, Japan, that killed 13 Marines and injured more than 73. Drawing on interviews, archival records, maps, command chronologies, and other sources, Henry reconstructs the conditions that produced the disaster, including a fuel farm located uphill from troop quarters, hazardous terrain, and the effects of Typhoon Tip. The book also documents the response of Marines, medical personnel, and commanders, who improvised the collection, treatment, and evacuation of severely burned casualties amid …

War And Power: Who Wins Wars—And Why, Frank Hoffman

Joint Force Quarterly

Frank Hoffman reviews Phillips Payson O’Brien’s War and Power: Who Wins Wars—and Why, which proposes a multidimensional framework for assessing national power and explaining military outcomes. O’Brien argues that success in war depends on more than the size of a state’s armed forces or inventories of weapons. His concept of “Full Spectrum Powers” evaluates five interacting elements: economic and technological strength, political leadership, social and governmental structures, military effectiveness, and alliances. Drawing on conflicts including the world wars, the Cold War, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Russo-Ukraine War, the book examines how states generate, adapt, and sustain military power. …

Training For Victory: U.S. Special Forces Advisory Operations From El Salvador To Afghanistan, Tobias Bernard Switzer

Joint Force Quarterly

Tobias Bernard Switzer reviews Frank K. Sobchak’s Training for Victory: U.S. Special Forces Advisory Operations from El Salvador to Afghanistan, a comparative study of efforts to build host-nation special operations forces in El Salvador, Colombia, the Philippines, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Sobchak evaluates five factors that may influence advisory outcomes: consistency in advisor pairing, language proficiency, partner-to-advisor ratios, authority to organize host-nation units, and combat advising. He finds that advisors’ ability to organize partner forces is most strongly associated with combat effectiveness, while language proficiency is less decisive than commonly assumed. Switzer interprets these factors as measures of two broader …

“Creating The Point Of The Spear”: The Deployment Of Kitty Hawk (Cv-63) As An Afloat Forward Staging Base During Operation Enduring Freedom, Justin B. Blanton

Joint Force Quarterly

On 27 September 2001, Kitty Hawk (CV-63) received orders to deploy to the northern Arabian Sea to serve as an afloat forward staging base for joint special operations forces (SOF) tasked with conducting raids into Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), the U.S. military response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September. In order to accommodate the SOF, the aging, large-deck carrier reconfigured to deploy with fewer than 20 aircraft: Eight F/A-18Cs, three S-3Bs, two C-2As, and two SH-60F/HH-60H Seahawks. On 1 October Kitty Hawk departed Yokosuka, Japan, transited to Masirah Island, Oman, and embarked Task Force Sword, …

Resilient By Design: Reforming Medical Logistics To Support Global Operations, Michael Ackman, Jonathan Fowler

Joint Force Quarterly

History has shown that global medical supply chains can be easily disrupted by war, disaster and of course pandemics. As we plan for global military operations and shift our focus from Counter-insurgency Operations (COIN) to Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO) we need to ensure our medical supply chains are flexible, resilient and adaptable. In the current state, our ability to leverage the medical supplies of our Allies and Partners is difficult to achieve in peacetime, and very uncertain in the face of global conflict. We need real and effective solutions today so that we can build and refine a resilient …

Reimagining U.S. Industrial Mobilization, Alexis R. Johnson

Joint Force Quarterly

This paper identifies a critical vulnerability in U.S. defense sustainment strategy and proposes a solution: the Civil Reserve Sustainment Readiness Program (CRSRP). The CRSRP focuses on bolstering Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) capabilities. Given the intensifying great power competition and the increasing likelihood of a contested conflict in the Indo-Pacific, the current Organic Industrial Base (OIB) lacks the surge capacity and agility necessary for rapid, distributed sustainment. Drawing on historical lessons from World War II and contemporary analysis of OIB limitations, this study details how the CRSRP would leverage public-private partnerships, incentivize commercial sector participation, and utilize digital tools like …

Disjointed Command And Air Domain Challenges In Alaska: The Case For A Single U.S. Combined/Joint Force Air Component Commander, Jeffrey W. Kempff

Joint Force Quarterly

The current command and control (C2) organizational structure over the air domain in Alaska is fragmented and doctrinally inconsistent, undermining homeland defense and reducing wartime lethality. Disjointed roles between the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)—particularly in the Alaska Theater of Operations (AKTO) and Alaska NORAD Region Area of Operations (ANR AO)—create gaps in unity of command and effort, especially within the air component. This article examines Alaska's fractured air domain organization and command relationships, illustrating operational ambiguity, duplicative efforts, and inconsistencies that delay decision-making. It proposes a focused, near-term solution: unify the …

Mission Over Bureaucracy: Special Operations Command’S Warrior-Driven Model For Defense Innovation, Robert D. Seader

Joint Force Quarterly

In an era of accelerating technological change, military organizations must rapidly develop and field new capabilities to maintain battlefield superiority. Traditional defense acquisition processes, optimized for peacetime oversight and risk avoidance, now take four times longer than in the 1950s, threatening to undermine military effectiveness against rapidly modernizing adversaries. This paper examines how the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has pioneered a fundamentally different acquisition approach that delivers new capabilities in months rather than the decades typical of conventional programs.

Through extensive interviews with senior acquisition leaders, this analysis identifies three core elements of USSOCOM’s success: a mission-centric culture …

Boot Camp For The Mind: The Role Of Jpme In Developing National Security Strategists, Joseph Gagliano, Nick Gvosdev, Derek Reveron, Rebecca Russo, Dana Struckman

Joint Force Quarterly

Joint professional military education (JPME) plays a deliberate and pivotal role in an officer’s operational and strategic growth. JPME provides a structured environment for officers to develop the intellectual agility, critical thinking, and collaborative skills necessary to lead complex decisionmaking at headquarters away from the battlefield. Translating broad strategic guidance into employable strategies and executable plans requires (1) assessing the international security environment and (2) analyzing domestic policymaking system constraints. This approach stresses that a comprehensive education in national security affairs must acknowledge that a well-crafted security strategy is meaningless if not informed by the domestic policymaking system that develops …

Examining The Lavelle Affair 54 Years Later: An Injustice That Needs To Be Rectified Now, Mark Clodfelter

Joint Force Quarterly

Mark Clodfelter reexamines the case of U.S. Air Force Major General John D. Lavelle, who was relieved as commander of Seventh Air Force in 1972 and reduced in retired rank following allegations that he ordered unauthorized airstrikes against North Vietnam and the falsification of mission reports. Drawing on documentary and recorded evidence, including materials that remained classified until 2015, Clodfelter challenges the findings of earlier congressional and official reviews. He argues that Lavelle acted within an ambiguous command environment shaped by evolving North Vietnamese air defenses, unclear rules of engagement, and guidance from senior military and civilian leaders. The article …

Determining Operational Objectives, Milan Vego

Joint Force Quarterly

Full knowledge and understanding of the true meaning of operational objectives are the main prerequisites for sound planning and execution of major operations A major operations (on land, at sea, in the air) is aimed at accomplishing a single operational objective. They can be conducted predominantly by a single service or two or more services. A campaign in a high-intensity conventional war consists of a series of related major/joint operations (on land, in the air, at sea) plus numerous tactical actions aimed to achieve a single military- or theater-strategic objective. Yet despite their importance, relatively little attention is …

From Data To Victory: The Race For Analytic Superiority In Warfare, Robert Grossman, Emily Goldman

Joint Force Quarterly

Artificial intelligence technologies have reached a tipping point after decades of development. They are diffusing widely across defense and national security applications. Twenty-first century warfighters rely on analytic models in all systems, at all echelons, and in all domains. As more powerful models built on ever larger data sets become ubiquitous, militaries are in a new competition to deploy artificial intelligence. Operational art must embrace “analytic superiority.” This is the operational advantage from collecting and ingesting data, building robust models and computing infrastructure, deploying the models into operational systems, and denying adversaries' ability to do the same

This article explains …

Executive Summary, William T. Eliason

Joint Force Quarterly

In his executive summary for Joint Force Quarterly 120, Editor in Chief William T. Eliason reflects on the 40th anniversary of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 and its enduring influence on jointness, military command relationships, and defense reform. He examines General David C. Jones’s role in advancing reforms that strengthened the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, streamlined the operational chain of command, and improved cooperation among the military Services. Eliason also considers continuing debates over the law’s effectiveness and the future organization of the joint force. He then introduces the issue’s articles on cyber …

The Logic Of America’S Defense Strategy, Elbridge A. Colby

Joint Force Quarterly

In this address at the National War College, Elbridge A. Colby, Under Secretary of War for Policy, explores the strategic logic underlying the 2026 National Defense Strategy. He argues that renewed major power rivalry, military competition, and the risks posed by nuclear-armed adversaries require the United States to align its military objectives, methods, and resources with concrete political goals and American interests. Colby presents a three-part framework for doing so: denial defense, which seeks to prevent an aggressor from seizing and holding key allied or partner territory; favorable escalation management, which places the burden and risks of escalation on the …

Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 120, 3rd Quarter 2026, National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly

Joint Force Quarterly 120, 3rd Quarter 2026, focuses on contemporary defense strategy, joint warfighting, professional military education, operational innovation, and military sustainment. The issue opens with Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge A. Colby’s discussion of the logic underlying the 2026 National Defense Strategy and an executive summary reflecting on the 40th anniversary of the Goldwater-Nichols Act and the future of jointness. Forum articles address analytic superiority in warfare, the development of operational objectives, and new evidence concerning the Lavelle Affair. Contributions on joint professional military education explore defensive cognitive warfare, strategist development, and cyberspace collaboration for homeland defense. …

“As The Developing Situation Warrants”: U.S. Counterterrorism Policy Considered Through The 1994 Gerry Adams Visa Debate, Olivia T. Sullivan

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This thesis analyzes the 1994 U.S. decision to grant Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams a visa and what it reveals about American counterterrorism policy in the immediate post–Cold War period. Long suspected of senior involvement in the Provisional Irish Republican Army during the Troubles (1968–1998), Adams had previously been denied entry under terrorism-related immigration provisions. His case became a flashpoint inside the U.S. government: officials debated whether diplomatic opportunity, domestic political incentives, and momentum toward peace in Northern Ireland warranted a departure from the prior “no concessions” posture toward IRA-linked figures. Situating the controversy within U.S. terrorism discourse from the …

Our Claims Matter: Latin American Migrants’ Nonviolent And Everyday Resistance Across Transnational Spaces, Pryanka Penafiel-Cevallos

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines how Latin American migrants engage in nonviolent resistance across transnational spaces in Ecuador, challenging dominant narratives that portray migrants primarily as passive actors or humanitarian subjects. Focusing mainly on Venezuelan, Colombian, and returned Ecuadorian migrants, the study places migrants’ political agency at the center of analysis. It asks how migrants resist, for what purposes, and under which conditions they mobilize nonviolent and everyday resistance practices to claim rights, dignity, and human security in a host country marked by both legal innovation and growing exclusion.

Drawing on civil resistance theory, everyday resistance approaches, and migration scholarship, the research …

Parameters Autumn 2026, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Review Of Francis Of Assisi, Movement Maker: The Unconventional Leadership Of A Simple Saint, Andrew Gertner Belfield

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Essay: Human Security And Civilian Protection During Violent Conflict, Lauren Spink

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Senghor, Negritude And African Political Theology Senghor’S Eucharist: Negritude And African Political Theology, Rev. Fr. Basile Sede Noujio (Ph.D.)

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Essay: The New Misogyny And The Rise Of Violent Extremism, Shannon Smith

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Essay: Nonviolent Civilian Protection During Conflict, John Ashworth

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Uganda’S Two Tyrants, Helen Epstein

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Essay: The Original Sin Of Humanity, John Sniegocki

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Essay: The Persistence Of Community In Our Transactional Age, Bill Droel

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Theology Of The People As Modernity’S Alternative: A Review Essay, William J. Collinge

The Journal of Social Encounters

In Modernity’s Alternative, Rocco Buttiglione presents the Argentinian theology of the people as an alternative to modernity as it has developed in Europe and North America. After an introduction, the first main part of this review essay discusses Buttiglione’s account of the development of the theology of the people and the major figures in it and how the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe marks the beginning of an alternative modernity. The second section considers Buttiglione’s parallel between Christian Platonists’ inculturation of Christian faith into Greek culture and Guadalupe’s inculturation of Christian faith into Mesoamerican culture. The third section …