Public Policy Commons^™

Cyberspace Collaborative Awareness: A Model For Unity Of Effort In Homeland Defense, Mike Knapp, Sean Atkins, Matthew Mclaughlin

Joint Force Quarterly

The increasing frequency and severity of cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure continue to confound homeland defense efforts. Defending against state cyber campaigns that threaten the nation’s most critical systems requires a new awareness model that can enable unity of effort across public and private actors. Examining homeland defense awareness in other domains reveals principles and approaches that can inform the development of a collaborative awareness model in cyberspace. This new framework acknowledges the interconnectedness of government and commercial networks and the independent goals of each player in the domain. Doing so provides a viable path to achieving shared domain awareness …

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 …

Building The Mental Golden Dome: Arming The Joint Force For Defensive Cognitive Warfare, James Davitch

Joint Force Quarterly

Modern conflict increasingly hinges on mental strength, yet current military thinking lacks a clear defense for the mind. This article introduces a vital new concept: protecting military personnel from an adversary's attempts to distort their perceptions, disorient their judgment, and degrade their decision-making. Building on established research into behavioral psychology, the essay integrates this defense into existing military functions, proposing practical steps. It offers a precise explanation of this protective strategy, suggests pre-deployment exercises for joint personnel, and outlines ways to measure effectiveness even under pressure. A detailed, multi-year plan describes how to update joint doctrine, create training programs, and …

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. …

Displaced By Disaster: Examining The Effects Of Hurricanes Maria And Irma On Chronic Homelessness In The United States Virgin Islands, Clinton Hart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) is an island territory that is geographically isolated and has a fragile economy that has a limited capacity to address homelessness particularly when exacerbated by natural disasters. Existing literature demonstrated that major hurricanes can be associated with displacement, housing instability, and increased demand for emergency housing resources among socially vulnerable populations. However, limited longitudinal quantitative research has examined the impact of hurricanes on changes in homelessness trends in the USVI, representing a gap in territory-specific research. The purpose of this quantitative interrupted time series study was to examine homelessness trends associated with hurricanes Irma …

Average Earnings Of Undergraduate Certificate Graduates In The Mountain West, 2024, Devin Streuter, Kahlen Coss, Kevin Yang, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents data on the average earnings of undergraduate certificate program graduates in 2024 dollars compared to the average earnings of high school (HS) graduates in five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The fact sheet reports information on the number of undergraduate certificate programs, number of graduates, the most popular certificate programs, and earnings premiums for each state. Published by Open Campus in collaboration with The Higher Education Analytics (HEA) Group, the fact sheet reports data originally published through the “Certificate Earnings Explorer."

From Disaster To Resilience: Developing Smart Settlements In The Himalayas, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Nepal’s catastrophic 26 August 2026 Bhote Koshi–Trishuli flood should be understood not only as a humanitarian tragedy but also as a potentially major turning point in updating national settlement and reconstruction policy. Engineers and scientists have described the floods as a glacier–bedrock collapse that triggered an ice-rock avalanche and debris flow. As per the live updates on September 7, 2026, the total death toll was 1,355, and 4,996 people were missing (The Hindu, 2026). Indian and Nepali rescuers worked urgently to locate and rescue people buried under hydropower tunnels, buildings, mud, and landslide debris.

UN News reported on September 3, …

Smaller State Development By Competitiveness In Productivity And Sustainability, Anthony Wayne Jerome Phillips-Spencer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Persistent poverty, middle-income traps, uneven growth, and productivity gaps expose smaller countries, defined as those with fewer than nine million people, to multidimensional vulnerability that retards development. Research revealed a positive relationship between competitiveness and growth in larger and developed countries. However, the competitiveness-development nexus in smaller and developing countries was omitted from previous research. Growth is not development. The purpose of this quantitative, longitudinal, comparative study was to examine the development-by competitiveness experiences of smaller states at different stages of development with productivity and sustainability through the lens of punctuated equilibrium theory and the national competitive development model. Results …

Fastest-Warming States And Cities In The Mountain West, 2025, Maisoon Faris, Kahlen Coss, Kevin Yang, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet presents data published by Climate Central on the change in average annual temperatures for the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah and 15 Mountain West cities from 1970 to 2025. City-level data are derived from Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) operated by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), state-level data are derived from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Healthcare System Barriers To Somali Refugees In Kenya, Zahra Sharif Hashim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Access to health care is a fundamental right of every refugee, yet gaps in implementing Kenya's Refugees Acts of 2006 and 2021 continue to limit access for Somali refugees in Dadaab camp. Existing research has documented resource constraints, movement restrictions, and other barriers to refugee health care, but how policy implementation gaps shape access in Dadaab has not been well explored. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand barriers to health care access for Somali refugees resulting from gaps in implementing Kenya's refugee health policies. The narrative policy framework guided the study. Data from semistructured interviews with …

Youths' Responses To Street-Level Bureaucratic Failures In Lebialem, Division Cameroon, Forchenmbin Charles Abessoh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

From Today's Prices To Tomorrow's Investments: A Guide For Child Care Providers On Why The Market Rate Survey & Narrow Cost Analysis Matter, Jess Carson

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

No abstract provided.

From Structure To Experiences: How Facility Capacity And Staffing Shape The Adoption And Impact Of Lgbt-Affirming Policies In Long-Term Care, Andrew Alberth

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Long-term care (LTC) settings – including nursing homes (NHs) and assisted living facilities (ALFs) – provide necessary care for individuals with extreme health and functioning limitations. Sexual and gender minority (LGBT) older adults report challenges receiving effective, person-centered care LTC. Some LGBT older adults may hide their sexual orientation and gender identity when entering LTC settings or delay seeking needed LTC fearing discrimination from staff and other residents. Furthermore, staff in LTC settings indicate little awareness of LGBT-residents and possess inadequate LGBT-cultural competency necessary for providing person-centered care. Therefore, LGBT-residents LTC experiences remain underexplored in the broader research. Adopting LGBT-affirming …

The Effect Of State Policy On Individuals With Mental Illness In Nursing Homes: A Multilevel Analysis, Adrita Barooah

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE EFFECT OF STATE POLICY ON INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS IN NURSING HOMES: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS

August 2026

Adrita Barooah, B.Sc., University of Delhi, India

M.S., University of Massachusetts Boston

Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Boston

Directed by Professor Pamela Nadash

The proportion of individuals living with a mental illness in U.S. nursing homes has grown substantially over the past few decades (Fashaw et al., 2020), raising serious concerns about care quality, resource adequacy, and costs to both nursing homes and government payers. The lack of adequate resources and knowledge has resulted in sub-par mental health care (O'Connor et al., …

Socioeconomic Determinants Of Malaria Infection Among Pregnant Women In Cameroon, Sub-Saharan Africa, Arnold Akosah Muluh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Malaria during pregnancy is a significant public health issue in Cameroon, affecting maternal health and birth outcomes. Despite preventive measures, disparities exist among socioeconomic groups and between urban and rural areas. The study was guided by the social-ecological model and explored how socioeconomic factors and geographic location influence malaria infection in pregnant women. Specifically, the impact of wealth index, maternal education, and healthcare access on infection rates, considering maternal age, parity, and residence, was examined. Quantitative data from the Cameroon DHS Phase 8 were used (N=1204). The sample included pregnant women with valid malaria test results. Chi-Square tests and binary …