The 9/11 terror attacks prompted a large number of public opinion surveys in the Islamic world by Gallup, Pew, Zogby, and others seeking to understand the level and nature of muslim antagonism toward America. Far less attention has been paid to public opinion surveys of Americans concerning their views of Islam, Muslims, and Muslim countries. This thesis sorts through the surveys and presents some surprising findings. First, while American views of Muslim have generally been rather unfavorable, the events of 9/11 did not have a marked change on those views. Moreover, Americans tend to make distinctions between Muslims as individuals, toward whom they have a relatively favorable view; Muslim countries, toward which they have a varied view; and Islam as a religion, toward which they have the most negative view. In addition, the polls show that misunderstandings about Islam and Muslims are pervasive among Americans. This thesis argues that the American Muslim community must play a leading role in correcting such misperceptions. In the absence of a sustained effort, there is little in the survey data that would lead one to believe that a change in perception is imminent.

The changing nature of terrorist attacks in the previous decade has cast doubt on the commonly accepted constraints on terrorist violence. Claims that these constraints are eroding has led to an unstudied assumption that modern terrorist groups, and al-Qaeda in particular, are not subject to constituency constraints. Most alarming is the possibility that al-Qaeda, allegedly unconcerned with alienating supporters, will attack the United States with weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Yet no detailed study of al-Qaeda's constituency constraints has been undertaken, even though they devote considerable effort to win popular support among Muslims. This thesis reveals that al-Qaeda seeks the support of a constituency as the central pillar of their strategy. This constituency, contrary to Western portrayals, largely does not support indiscriminate killing and would not support a WMD attack. Al-Qaeda is aware of this sentiment, and as a pragmatic group is willing to alter their methods to gain supporters. Consequently, al-Qaeda is not likely to conduct such an attack for fear of alienating this constituency.

Under the leadership of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the military is undergoing transformation to more effectively counter the asymmetric threat of non-state terrorists and extremists in the "long war." After five years, however, one component of national security strategy is visibly unfulfilled: military pursuit of terrorists and extremists outside of Afghanistan and Iraq. The lack of offensive military efforts outside of areas designated as combat zones creates the impression that the long war has stalled. Overt offensive military operations targeting non-state actors may advance the counterterrorism mission and serve as a deterrent. This thesis identifies and analyzes four major constraints on the conduct of such operations: legal concerns about the use of force, use of the CIA for covert paramilitary activities, limits on USSOCOM and Special Operations Forces, and civilian and military leaders' aversion to risk. It describes the historical, bureaucratic and cultural causes of the constraints, concluding with recommendations to allow the US government and the US military to pursue non-state terrorists and extremists with overt offensive military operations.

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / "Over the last few decades, a number of Islamist groups, some listed as terrorist, have increasingly participated in political elections and shown a pattern of moderation. What explains the move away from violence to achieve group goals? Analyzing three cases, Hizbullah in Lebanon, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and Hamas in the occupied Palestinian territories, this thesis examines the causes of moderation and willingness to participate in existing political structures. Using aspects of social movement theory, it is argued that institutionalization and interests of maintaining membership explain why, when political opportunities arise, Islamist groups take the democratic path and forego violence. The conclusions aid in promoting democracy in the region by demonstrating when Islamist groups are willing to participate in formal politics."--p. i.

Nowhere has the mid-20th century polarization of Northeast Asia been more evident than on the Korean Peninsula. Over the past six decades, efforts toward Korean unification have spanned the range of total warfare, covert attacks, propagandist affronts, and formal diplomacy to no avail. Amidst the talk of unification however, it seens a better understanding about the evolving nature of Korea's division is needed. Using a truly unique International Relations approach, this thesis explores the utility of Alexander Wendt's Social Theory of International Politics to address the evolving structure of Northeast Asia and its implications for Korean unification. The results of this analysis contrast with those of predominant IR theories such as Neorealism and suggest that unification is becoming less likely under structural trends. Additionally, the constructivist methodology employed here shows that while the United States will continue to play an important role in regional security, it must begin to diverge from its anachronistic Cold War defense posture to ensure future stability. By providing a deeper understanding about the macro-level structure of Northeast Asia, this these will contribute to the development of policies which will both enhance regional stability and aid in the eventual unification of the two Koreas.

West Papua in the easternmost area of Indonesia has long been recognized as one of its most controversial provinces. Since its integration into the Republic of Indonesia in 1969, recurring controversy has colored many aspects of West Papuans' everyday lives and the province's relationship to the rest of Indonesia. The problems in West Papua are rooted in the way that it was originally integrated, which, according to some scholars, is "unacceptable". They argue that the Indonesian government manipulated the self-determination process and its results. The government, however, has always denied this claim, noting in its legal argumentation, for instance, the involvement of the United Nations and the international community in the process of self-determination, known as "The Act of Free Choice." Far from being resolved, the problems in West Papua have been exacerbated by the Indonesian government's policies, which rely heavily on a strict security approach in an effort to suppress the secessionist movement. As part of its attempt to address the problems comprehensively, the Indonesian government introduced a "special autonomy" bill for West Papua in late 2001. The bill, which was drafted mostly by indigenous West Papuans, passed the Indonesian parliament as Law No. 21 in November. Implementation of the law, however, has not worked as expected. Many of the law's requirements either have not been implemented or have been only minimally implemented, even five years after the law's promulgation. As a result, West Papuans have become increasingly skeptical and cynical about the government's promises. Obviously, the Indonesian government must deal with and resolve the problems inherent in the implementation of the law's requirements. This thesis addresses some of those problems and provides recommendations for potential solutions.

The U.S. government has utilized exiles for decades, the latest example being the use of Iraqi exiles starting after the Gulf War. For close to thirteen years America supported Iraqi opposition groups, overtly after the signing of the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. DoD's role until months before the invasion of Iraq was minimal, but then increased dramatically. Iraqi opposition groups provided names of volunteers willing to work with the U.S. military. Most were turned away for a number of reasons, but those selected were trained in civil affairs operations and embedded with great success in small teams into U.S. civil affairs units. Another program, even more ad hoc, involved Ahmad Chalabi's fighting forces. Not receiving the welcome from Iraqis that intelligence experts told them to expect, U.S. military commanders were eager to put an "Iraqi face" on operations and build the core of the new Iraqi army. Chalabi's fighters, escorted by Army Special Forces A-Teams, provided a number of useful services to the war effort, but with minimal logistical support and hindered by Chalabi's political ambitions, they were quickly disbanded. Exiles have many of the skills necessary in conventional and asymmetric warfare: language skills, familial ties, and cultural proficiency. But this unique segment of our society needs to be better utilized by DoD. After analyzing each of the Iraqi exile programs in detail, suggestions on how to harness needed skills in the future are offered.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 to compel compliance with UN disarmament mandates. The invasion exposed the lack of a standing organization to conduct WMD elimination as a serious capability gap in the U.S. military force structure. This thesis demonstrates why it is necessary to establish such a capability. It argues that the United States cannot rely solely on multilateral, cooperative approaches to eliminate a determined adversaryâ s weapons program. While non-coercive tactics are preferred, the mixed results of twelve-years of UN verification in Iraq show that a viable threat of force must accompany these approaches in order to induce compliance with UN Security Council disarmament mandates. Additionally, the U.S. elimination effort in Iraq demonstrated that ad hoc approaches inadequately address this capability shortfall. The lack of integrated training, unsecured sites because of inadequate prioritization, and misaligned intelligence assets are just some of the problems that occurred during the ad hoc OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM elimination operation. When cooperative, nonproliferation measures fail to rollback aggressor statesâ WMD programs, DoD must have the capability to compel compliance if called upon. This thesis makes recommendations to facilitate the development of a viable and sustainable WMD elimination capability. / Outstanding Thesis

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / In the post-Cold War era, two major trends illustrate the evolution of the international security environment: the spread of democracies and the emergence of asymmetric threats. The former focuses on freedom, the latter on security. New democracies must pay close attention to fundamental values and norms that stand at their core, such as respect for human rights and civil liberties, rule of law, and civilian and democratic control. At the same time, they need effective and efficient intelligence to fight the new threats. Regulating intelligence activities is one of the greatest challenges of a democratic regime because there is a fundamental clash between the democratic culture, based on individual freedom, openness, transparency, accountability, and the secrecy and security-oriented intelligence culture. A fundamental question is raised: How to democratize intelligence and maintain its efficiency and effectiveness at the same time? The conundrum of intelligence reforms requires a trade-off between the need for good intelligence and the respect and promotion of democratic values. This thesis analyses the impact of democratization on intelligence in four major areas: mandate, structure, control, and professionalization. It studies the major academic debates on the matter and then applies the theoretical framework to the Romanian case. / Outstanding Thesis

CHDS State/Local / consider their role in Homeland Security. Significant federal studies provided federal agencies with direction on needed changes; for state law enforcement there remains much to study. Deployment of traffic law enforcement officers in many agencies has not changed since 9/11, and remains a substantial resource that could be used for prevention of terrorist attacks. Changing deployment priorities of traffic law enforcement officers is complicated by the impact it could have on traffic safety and the over 40,000 people that are killed on America's highways every year. It becomes more complex with issues such as civil liberties concerns, political acceptability, citizen expectations and regulatory compliance. This thesis evaluates options for the deployment of traffic law enforcement officers to enhance Homeland Security efforts. It examines the value of traffic officers to overall deterrence plans and calls for the increased use of targeted and concentrated traffic patrols rather than random patrols. It recommends a strategy of intelligence based deployments as part of a layered security system that can maximize the total impact to the traffic safety and Homeland Security missions of state law enforcement agencies. / Captain, Washington State Patrol