Military and Veterans Studies Commons^™

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.

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

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 …

The Formation Of Proxy Force And External State Relationships: Prospect Theory And Proxy Force Decision Making, Brandon Temple

Dissertations

Proxy war is a common tactic employed by great powers as a safer alternative to direct conflict, especially in the era of nuclear weapons. While proxy war is common, there is a lack of research on the formation of proxy-external state relationships. Previous research has typically examined the phenomena of proxy war through the perspective of the external state power, leaving a gap in the literature. This dissertation fills that gap by assessing the conditions under which armed groups enter into proxy relationships with external states. Using prospect theory as a framework for understanding more clearly armed group decision making …

Russian Information Operations In The Soviet Strategic Framework, Kyle I. Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to illuminate how information operations supports Russia’s strategy for creating power for the state. Using classic military theory and Soviet strategy as the lens, the paper examines information operations in the context of the nature of war. The examination includes historical and contemporary Russian publications on warfare, as well as information operations case studies from Eastern Europe, Georgia and Crimea. Russia’s operations are found to be consistent with a strategy of attrition. The opponent's society is the primary target of information operations. The emphasis on information operations within contemporary Russian concepts of modern war indicate that the …

Rape And Sexual Violence: Questionable Inevitability And Moral Responsibility In Armed Conflict, Katherine W. Bogen

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Wartime sexual violence is a critical human rights issue that usurps the autonomy of its victims as well as their physical and psychological safety. It occurs in both ethnic and non-ethnic wars, across geographic regions, against both men and women, and regardless of the “official” position of commanders, states, and armed groups on the use of rape as tactic of war. This problem is current, pervasive, and global in spite of the status of wartime sexual violence perpetration as a crime against humanity and the capacity of the international criminal court to indict offenders. Though some scholars have argued that …

Research Brief: "Intersecting Identities: Race, Military Affiliation, And Youth Attitudes Towards War", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This research examines the difference between African American service members and their support for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and African American civilians who oppose the wars. Seeking counseling could be beneficial to the individual as a service member and a civilian. It is recommended that future research in this area should compare the behaviors of service members and civilians who identify as LGBTQ, and applying social identity theory is beneficial to this study as a whole.

Effective Combat Leadership: How Do Individual, Social, And Organizational Factors In The U.S. Army Reserve Cultivate Effective Women's Leadership In Dangerous Contexts?, Diana Drita Ellerman

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research centered on the experiences of a dozen women who served in U.S. Army Reserve leadership positions. Although they served in dangerous contexts the Army had an exclusionary policy at the time that formally excluded the women from direct combat. The impetus for the research was Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's announcement in January 2013 that the U.S. military would be eliminating the exclusionary policy. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into what individual, social, and organizational factors support women's effective leadership in dangerous contexts. The research utilized narrative inquiry in order to bring forth the …

Gender, War, And Politics, Madeline Robinson

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This research explores the gender gap amongst female and male voters and its correlation with the Democratic Party’s platform on foreign policy. The political orientation of women during the 1980’s reversed and shifted towards the left, and this research will investigate if this was caused by female voters’ opinions of the parties on their foreign policy platforms. The theory of conflict avoidance states females are more likely than males to avoid conflict, and this theory can be used to determine whether females feel more represented by the Democratic Party compared to the Republican Party. The foreign policy platform of the …

Research Brief: "Women At War: Understanding How Women Veterans Cope With Combat And Military Sexual Trauma", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief is about stressors during military service that OEF/OIF female veterans experienced and how they coped with the stress. In policy and practice, female veterans should tell healthcare providers of their healthcare needs, and should form support groups with other veteran women; family members should support returning female service members; the VA should adapt its services to address the needs of female veterans, policymakers should allocate funding toward creating non-VA mental health and substance abuse counseling, and the VA should offer gender-specific mental health programs. Suggestions for future research include analyzing differences between age groups and length of time …

To Empathize With An Enemy, Rashida Aluko-Roberts

SURGE

I do not like to talk about my time in Sierra Leone, but I think I’m ready to start.

Growing up in Sierra Leone was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I carry with me fond memories of my childhood, growing up on 22 Thompson Street in the one-storey house with red doors and windows and zebra themed paint. Evenings were spent riding bikes with my best friend Fatmata. Weekend afternoons spent playing scrabble and watching our favorite Disney movies with my siblings and neighbors in our living room. Those memories I have kept, happily. [excerpt …

Research Brief: "Accommodating Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms In The Academic Setting", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This study examined specific barriers to education in a sample of seven student veterans, which included veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and found some professional adjustment issues, social interactions, behavioral and emotional challenges, and life changes. In practice, student veterans expressed impairments in developing close relationships, concerns about feelings of isolation, and heightened anxiety when asked insensitive questions about their military service. In policy, educational policies regarding course transferability may need to be revisited so that veterans seeking to further their education can take steps to do so both during and after their military service without repeating coursework. Suggestions …

Media, Military, Militarism: Media Consumption, Awareness Of U.S. Military Foreign Policy, And Support For War, Daniel James Patten

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between the media, attitudes towards supporting war, and military awareness. Online survey data were collected from a four-year university located in a heavily militarized area. This study found that having knowledge of Afghanistan and Iraq War facts negatively affected one's decision to support war and was the strongest predictor of this decision. The media was not found to be a significant predictor impacting this knowledge when controlling for other variables. Political ideology and other related variables were found to be more influential of this knowledge. These findings imply that the public may be imprudently supporting …

Ethics In Action : A Study Of Ethical Decision Making In Counterinsurgencies, Marcus Schulzke

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The goal of this dissertation is to analyze the kinds of ethical challenges soldiers encounter during counterinsurgency operations, what decision making processes or values they use to resolve these challenges, and how military institutions and culture influence soldiers' ethical reasoning. The first part of the dissertation is an assessment of various theories of applied ethics and how these can be used by soldiers during counterinsurgency operations. The second part discusses the institutions and cultures of the American Army, British Army, and Israeli Ground Forces. In the third part, I take up the problem of how soldiers from each of these …

To Think Nuclear, To Go Nuclear, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The article discusses three of the many psychological problematics about nuclear weapons, weapons employment, and war underlying the language of policies, programs, plans, treaties, and one’s support or rejection of them.

Women Home From War, Laura Browder

English Faculty Publications

The first time I heard a woman describe her deployment in glowing terms, I was taken aback. Marine Colonel Jenny Holbert told me that being in charge of public affairs for the second battle of Fallujah was "probably one of the biggest events of my life, other than birthing two children." I thought, cynically, that this enthusiasm was all part of her role as a public-affairs officer. It took me a while to understand how compelling the experiences of being in a combat zone could be for the women I talked with. Colonel Holbert's enthusiasm for deployment was only one …

The Samurai's Rebirth - Japan's Increasing "Offensive" Security Capabilities, Patrick Bright

Political Science Theses and Capstones

This thesis studies the increasing "offensive" nature of Japanese security capabilities in nation which has major restrictions on military capability. There are regional tensions in East Asia that have the potential to escalate to armed conflict. Other countries in the region have increased their levels of armament but how has Japan reacted? I look at three major acquisitions by Japan that have created controversy, then examine the role public opinion has towards issues of defense, including external and domestic considerations. Two major data sets on public opinion, the Global Attitudes Project and the Asia Barometer, are used. I find that …

Matthew S. Weinert On Back To Peace: Reconciliation And Retribution In The Postwar Period Edited By Aránzazu Usandizaga And Andrew Monnickendam. Notre Dame, In: University Of Notre Dame Press, 2007. 320pp., Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Back to Peace: Reconciliation and Retribution in the Postwar Period edited by Aránzazu Usandizaga and Andrew Monnickendam. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007. 320pp.

Wars Against Civilians Are Unjust Wars, Richard A. Falk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

For those of us old enough to recall the anti-war testimony of Vietnam vets during the early 1970s, reading the chilling report by Hedges and Al-Arian on the attitudes of Iraq war vets is shocking, and yet not surprising. It is shocking because of the eyewitness confirmation of cruelty and lethal brutality on a regular basis in the interactions between the coalition army of occupation and Iraqi civilian society. Sadly, it is not shocking because of the nature of the violent resistance to occupation being encountered by American forces in Iraq, giving rise to a Vietnam-style mentality of counterinsurgency in …

Bad Apples Or Bad Policies?, Daniel J. Whelan

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In a scene from the Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters, the haughty and cantankerous character Frederick (Max von Sydow) is telling his girlfriend (Barbara Hershey) how he spent the evening flipping through channels on television. Ever the arrogant social critic, Frederick remarks,

You missed a very dull TV show on Auschwitz. More gruesome film clips. And more puzzled intellectuals declaring their mystification over the systematic murder of millions. The reason they can never answer the question: “How could it possibly happen?” is that it’s the wrong question. Given what people are, the question is: “Why doesn't it happen …

September Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness” by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian. The Nation, July 30, 2007.

Occupational Hazard, Michael Goodhart

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“The Other War” describes how the patrols, supply convoys, checkpoints, raids, and arrests, which make up the daily routines of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, sometimes involve degrading and abusive treatment of Iraqi civilians. Through interviews with some of those soldiers, the article portrays the everyday tragedy of the Iraq war and demonstrates how the very policies used to “secure” the country are creating greater insecurity and sparking Iraqi resentment of the occupation. The authors’ main point is that such abuses are inevitable under what they call “misguided and brutal colonial wars and occupations” like Iraq, “the French occupation of Algeria… …

Facing Up To The Truth, Susan E. Waltz

Human Rights & Human Welfare

American GIs who liberated Dachau from the Nazis in April 1945 exist in our collective memory as iconic representations of the American soldier-hero: competent and capable, disciplined, principled and fundamentally good. From their collective example, we expect American soldiers to reveal, report, and excoriate war crimes. This makes it difficult to acknowledge that Americans may also commit war crimes—and on a regular basis.

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq By Thomas E. Ricks, Kevin Mills

Global Tides

A book review of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (2006) by Thomas E. Ricks.

The Assassins' Gate By George Packer, John Deniston

Global Tides

A book review of The Assassins' Gate (2005) by George Packer.

The Political Psychology Of Collateral Damage, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides commentary on how a government purporting to be representative democracy might best approach the construct of collateral damage.

The Eritrea-Ethiopia War: How Helpful Are Psychological Theories Of Warfare?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article considers common psychological theories of warfare in light of the current Eritrea- Ethiopia war.

Book Review: The Skulking Way Of War: Technology And Tactics Among The New England Indians By Patrick M. Malone, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Elder Stephen L. Richards On Peace And War: An Examination Of Elder Richards' Views On The Causes Of War And His Prescription For Peace, Based On The Analytical Framework Contained In Kenneth N. Waltz' Man, The State And War, Gordon John Stirling

Theses and Dissertations

In Man, the State and War, Kenneth N. Waltz claims that for a peace prescription to be valid, it must be based on a proper view of the causes of war. Waltz analyzes the validity of three basic causes of war: man himself, the characteristics of the nation-state, and the international system.

I have examined the views of Elder Stephen L Richards on peace and war in the context of the Waltz framework. Elders Richards believed that the failings of men were the primary causes of war. His prescription for peace was widespread acceptance of the Gospel. He disagreed …

Speaking Peace As A Military Chaplain, Galen Meyer

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.