Causal claims are unavoidable in military affairs. However, causal claims are also insufficient when attempting to understand and intervene in complex environments. Hence, notions of conventional causality must be supplemented with an understanding...
How can the Interagency Conflict Assessment Framework (ICAF) be improved in order to better understand the operational environment? The application of the ICAF requires good intellectual habits that encompass an appreciation for abductive reasoning...
This thesis will analyze Major General George Crook’s performance during the Sioux War of 1876-77 and attempt to answer whether or not Crook successfully fought the Native Americans by effectively implementing the concept of counterinsurgency...
Current conditions in Somalia create difficult challenges for the United States. To address ungoverned spaces in the failed state of Somalia, the United States appears to seek multilateral solutions to piracy in the Gulf of Aden, and displays an...
While all warfare is an expression of politics, none is more pervasively so than irregular conflict. The irregular side, most probably employing a mixture of guerilla tactics and terrorism, will seek favorable political effect from several courses...
The Arab Spring is an event that has radically shifted the geopolitical landscape in one of the most volatile regions of the world. Many experts and policy makers were caught off guard by the speed and organizational ability of disparate citizens...
The top seven myths of U.S. Defense Policy toward the Americas. Frank O. Mora, Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere, and Nicholas F. Zimmerman, Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for...
The Arab Rebellion and British Counter-rebellion campaign of 1936 to 1939 in Palestine exhibited many features of modern insurgency and counter-insurgency. This thesis traces the British military thought and practice for countering rebellion as...
Hybrid threat actors seek to master unrestricted operational art in order to reconcile overmatch and protect or advance their interests. As interest-based rational actors, hybrid threats translate strategic intent into unrestricted distributed...
Recent years have seen the US, UK and other ISAF and Coalition nations enmeshed in protracted, complex and intense campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Resilient and highly adaptable opponents have operated asymmetrically, and amongst the people, to...
This work applies the diffusion of innovations theory in the analysis of the USG's governance and development efforts in Afghanistan to determine if the key elements of diffusion of innovations are present. This study further examines if, when...
In 2010, at a conference held by the Cornwallis Group, an international organization interested in peace operations and whole-of-government approaches, Dr. Cynthia Irmer, Senior Conflict Prevention Officer for the Department of State Office of the...
The Arab Rebellion and British Counter-rebellion campaign of 1936 to 1939 in Palestine exhibited many features of modern insurgency and counterinsurgency. This thesis traces the British military thought and practice for countering rebellion as...
This study explores the role of the military as an instrument of national power in the transformation of Republics to Empires. It concentrates on two case studies. The first is the Athenian transformation from Radical Democracy to an Informal...
This thesis contends the debate on whether to embrace a population-centric or enemy-centric counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan detracts focus from building a balanced approach, customized for the human and political landscape in each area of...
This thesis explores the role of the military in conflict related development, recently dubbed "expeditionary economics." The thesis examines this role through relevant strategic guidance, development protocol, economic theory, military expediency,...
Advocates of Army Leader Development Strategy (ALDS) and the liberal arts share the same goal: cultivation of "agile, adaptive, and innovative" people. Yet, the Army does not have an implementation plan for cultivating these attributes, and its...
Does following the rule of law assist security forces in defeating an armed insurgency? If so, what factors assist or prevent security forces from conducting operations in accordance with rule of law principles? Counterinsurgency literature and...
The British Army is often praised for a particular skill in small wars or counter-insurgencies (COIN). Some attribute this to the special challenge of maintaining order across a global empire with a relatively small force; others cite the...
Muslim immigrants in the United States share the same characteristics as any other immigrant group coming to America looking for a chance at prosperity. Immigrants form close communities, maintain many of their customs and cultural ties to their...