The aim of this dissertation is to analyse the use of narratives informed by the discourse of human security in the context of the Colombian conflict during the government of President Alvaro Uribe Velez (2002-2010). Its main contribution is to map the transformation of these narratives from the site of their formulation in the international institutions to the site of their appropriation into domestic settings; and then consider their role in the formation of the actors' strategies and the construction of the subjectivities of the individuals affected by the conflict dynamics. The research proceeds to this analysis through an investigation of the policies for the internally displaced and those relating to the rights of the victims informed by the framework of transitional justice. It shows that, with a combination of narratives of empowerment and reconciliation, they fulfill complementary roles in the construction of the subjectivities of individuals affected by the conflict in Colombia. The dissertation also concludes that the flexibility of the human security discourse allowed the Uribe government to reinforce its position.

This thesis looks beyond the sensationalized coverage of Islamic State and instead utilizes Islamic State materials as a window into the remote radicalization and recruitment process of susceptible English-speaking individuals in the West. This thesis considers Islamic State’s mode of operation in conjunction with the appeals made in its online materials to devise a framework for understanding how Islamic State materials interact with susceptible individuals. The framework lends insight into how the body tasked with creating counter-narratives within the U.S. State Department can more effectively disrupt the remote recruitment and radicalization process.

This thesis explores some of the connections between the defence industry and the European border policy that emerged leading up to, and following, the European refugee crisis of 2015. The paper is divided into two parts. The first seeks to examine and understand the context in which the refugee crisis occurred. In order to do this, I begin with a literature review that uses the integration theory of Multilevel Governance to understand how and where the European Union (EU) is susceptible to political pressure or special interest influence. Next, I present a brief history of the causes and course of the crisis, the pre-existing border regime, and the defence industry and lobby. The second section synthesises the context provided in the first section in order to determine whether actors in the defence industry were lucky beneficiaries of policies movements that happened to benefit them, or, if they were proactive lobbyists. I identify four trends in policy, namely the militarisation, centralisation, privatisation, and externalisation of border controls, and I discuss each trend, lobbyist influence, and the implications each trend has for refugees. Finally, I conclude that although there is significant evidence of lobbyist influence in shaping the policies, the presence of a myriad of other factors makes it nearly impossible to quantify how big a role lobbyist influence was in determining outcomes. Nevertheless, the implications of such institutional susceptibilities to lobbying in the EU should be both cause for concern and further inquiry.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / The term "security" has always been vague in terms of its definition. After the end of the Cold War, however, this vagueness increased as new paradigms emerged. Those studying security need a better understanding of the term "security" to deal with complex issues within the broadly understood discipline of security studies. This thesis describes the uncertain nature of security by analyzing: (1) various definitions of security and some of the terms directly related to it in different contexts; and (2) the empirical meaning of security by examining threats as indicators of "insecurity," based on the different characters of threats, and levels of analysis from the field of international relations. The thesis argues that regardless of the vague meaning of the term "security," empirically its parameters are quite certain and definable by the specification of threats as indicators of insecurity. This clarification of the meaning of security studies, in turn, makes it easier for scholars and policy-makers to deal with this increasingly important sphere of human life. / Captain, Polish Army

This thesis analyzes how the need for ontological security (OS), the ‘security of being’,impacts the foreign policy decision-making of states. Traditional security studies focus primarily on physical threats to the state. By contrast, an OS framework argues individuals feel secure when they are able to maintain communal narrative. This narrative in turn becomes the lens through which policymakers, and thus states, analyze events, while also becoming a potential source of conflict if challenged. Therefore, while physical security is still important, one is better positioned to account for perceptions of physical (and non physical) threats, and subsequent policies seemingly contradictory to traditional security studies, by employing an OS framework. While this will be explored within the context of the DPRK, the applicability of such a framework is far greater, holding key insights for International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). DPRK narrative formed out of the postcolonial nationalism of Japanese occupation, culminating into the hyper-nationalist ideology of Juche. North Korea’s seemingly ‘abnormal’ behavior might in turn be indicative of its unique national narrative and history of colonization and humiliation, leading to a different set of behavioral expectations than states whose narratives do not encompass such stories or reference points. While not all states are expected to act in the same manner as North Korea, the framework would expect them to defend and promote their respective national narratives. Moreover, while narratives can double as sources of legitimacy, as seen increasingly in the DPRK, this in no way detracts from, and merely compounds, the emphasis on narrative maintenance. Examining the historical record, it is argued the OS framework is consistently better at accounting for DPRK policies than traditional security studies. Therefore, more broadly in FPA, by taking seriously group narrative as a key component of OS, one can better account for perceptions and foreign policy decision-making.

Colombia has faced contestation from leftist insurgencies since the period of La Violencia (1948-1958). The largest and most militant of these insurgencies is the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). As a result of their armed struggle against the state and the confluence of the drug trade and paramilitary groups, Colombians have suffered pervasive insecurity and violence. The Democratic Security and Defense Policy (DSDP), implemented in 2002, reversed this trend: it reasserted state control and legitimacy while decidedly diminishing the capabilities of the FARC. This thesis examines the explanatory factors for the achievements made in countering the FARC and the lessons it provides for domestic and international institutions.

U.S. Army helicopter maintenance condition is affected by operation environment and high flight hours. Due to the environmental conditions and high operation tempo of Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. Army Aviation created the RESET aviation maintenance program to provide restorative maintenance following deployments in theater. The RESET maintenance program was created in addition to the existing two-level maintenance programs. Following deployment, RESET is a thorough cleaning to remove contaminants, inspection of airframe and components, and repair cycle to restore the condition of the helicopter to acceptable condition. Based on the original intent of RESET, it was projected that at the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the RESET maintenance program could be discontinued. Because of the presumed safety, reliability, and mission readiness created by RESET, this thesis appraised the RESET maintenance program as a permanent addition to U.S. Army Aviation maintenance programs. The hypothesis was that RESET does improve safety, reliability, and mission readiness of the Army UH-60 Black Hawk fleet. The design was a quantitative survey of three variables: safety, reliability, and mission readiness. The survey featured Likert scale and open-ended questions of three groups: UH-60 maintenance test pilots, UH-60 AVUM/AVIM maintenance supervisory personnel, and ACE (Airframe Condition Evaluation) technical evaluators. Data from each of the three survey groups verified the hypothesis that RESET improved safety, reliability, and mission readiness. Data from open-ended questions indicated that the additional disassembly and special inspections of RESET are more extensive than the aviation unit and intermediate Phased Maintenance Inspection (PMI). Therefore, given the disassembly and special inspections of RESET, and the verification that RESET improves safety, reliability, and mission readiness, it was concluded that RESET is a successful program that should be continued. Based on the effectiveness of RESET in discovering these deficiencies, RESET should be a permanent addition to the Army aviation maintenance programs.

Non-destructive methods of material interrogation are used to locate hidden explosives and thwart terrorism attempts. In one such method materials are bombarded with neutrons which react with the nuclei of the atoms within causing a de-excitation process emitting a gamma-ray. The spectrum displayed by the collection of these gamma-rays gives valuable information regarding the material’s elemental make-up. It has been hypothesized that gamma-rays from neutron-induced gamma-ray reactions on light elements with atomic numbers less than 20, including most of the gamma-rays of interest in explosives detection, are Doppler-broadened. This thesis focuses on the gamma ray spectra from the 4438 keV gamma ray in the 12C (n, n’γ) reaction wherein Doppler broadening was investigated. A graphite sample was exposed to 14 MeV neutrons and the 12C gamma ray spectra collected using an HPGe detector positioned at four different angles with respect to the neutron beam; near 00, 450, 900 and 1350. No other experimental parameter was changed. The resultant gamma ray spectra indicated Doppler broadening had occurred.

Since World War II, the executive branch has dominated foreign policy and national security decisions, expanding war powers well beyond the president’s constitutional purview. Aided by a complicit Congress, the president has bypassed the legislator and unilaterally prosecuted some of the United States’ bloodiest conflicts. Continuing this tradition of executive overreach, Congress passed the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) on September 14, 2001, which ostensibly empowered the president to pursue those responsible for the 9/11 attacks, namely al Qaeda and the nations supporting them. However, the broadly-worded force authorization and equally far-reaching legal interpretations by the executive branch turned the AUMF into a nearly limitless authorization. Since its passage, the AUMF has provided the legal backstop for the war in Afghanistan, drone strikes in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, and elsewhere, National Security Agency surveillance, and the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Enabled by the AUMF, the “war on terror” has eroded civil liberties, allowed extrajudicial killings, and transformed the conflict with al Qaeda into a war without end. In order to end the destructive legacies of the war on terror and begin to reverse the trend of executive overreach, Congress and the president should repeal the AUMF and update the force authorization regime.

This paper seeks ways of understanding the new challenges of a rapidly changing world, and does so by attempting to resist the disciplinary power of orthodox research methodology, by critically and reflexively inquiring into the politics of (in)security, and ultimately, by seeking novelty. It begins by first declaring its ethical and methodological starting points, then draws out an assemblage of contemporary security problematics. This leads over and narrows down into an inquiry into how to understand the developing structure of information and cyber security in Sweden. Drawing from critical security studies and feminist research ethics, it sketches out an analytical story of power and knowledge in an age of boundless risk, security and information. It furthermore argues for the need of security scholars, practitioners and politicians alike to move beyond simplistic understandings of the world, and to revision it as shaped by more complex dynamics and flows of the global, digitalized and virtual reality of the world.