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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
191

The growing role of Special Forces in modern warfare with specific reference to the United States of America

Edge, Shaun Joseph 16 August 2011 (has links)
The objective of this study is to assess the growing role of Special Forces in modern warfare, with specific reference to the United States of America. The main question that the study seeks to address is what are the implications of the growing role of Special Forces in modern warfare? The study also seeks to ascertain why exactly this growth is occurring and whether or not this will have a bearing on the future of not only the manner in which the US conducts conflict but also global conflict as a whole. In order to address these issues the study will look at conventional and unconventional warfare and forces; the roles and missions of Special Forces and the composition of US Special Forces; the role of US Special Forces in modern warfare prior to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; and the role of the US Special Forces in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. An analysis of conventional and unconventional warfare as concepts, as well as the forces that constitute conventional and unconventional forces was first done in order to provide some perspective into what these concepts and forces are and more specifically, what differentiates them. Specific reference was made here to the United States’ approach to warfare from the days of the American Revolution up to and including the end of the Cold War. Emphasis is placed on the growing role of US Special Forces throughout the study and this is achieved through the use of four major case studies, namely the 1991 Gulf War; Somalia (1992-1993); the Balkans (1995-2001); and the 2001 ‘Special Forces war’ in Afghanistan. The case studies that dealt with the 1991 Gulf War, Somalia and the Balkans elucidated the growing role of both unconventional warfare and specifically US Special Forces and Special Mission Units since the end of the Cold War. The case study of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan provided the culmination of the shift from conventional to unconventional warfare and the execution of the campaign as a ‘Special Forces war.’ The study demonstrates that since the end of the Cold War in the 1990’s, unconventional warfare has increasingly become more ubiquitous and can be said to be replacing, or at least equalling in stature, conventional warfare. This has the possibility of dramatically affecting how warfare is executed both currently and more importantly, in the future. The study went on to show that unconventional warfare is not akin to conventional warfare, especially with regard to the forces needed to respond to such conflicts and that Special Forces are the forces most applicable and most effective in dealing with unconventional warfare. The study confirms that Special Forces are the solution to the growing prominence of unconventional warfare and that countries, and specifically the United States can more effectively counter the threat of unconventional warfare and unconventional forces by shifting Special Forces from a supporting component to conventional forces to a supported component. This would require a massive shift in alignment both for the United States as well as other major states’ militaries but as the study has shown, this is pertinent given that unconventional warfare and forces will most likely remain the primary threat that states and militaries will now face / Dissertation (MSS)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Political Sciences / unrestricted
192

Drought: an oasis for conflict? : A qualitative case study about why some conflicts escalate during drought whilst others do not

Lindquist, Lovis January 2022 (has links)
Although the armed conflict-drought nexus has gained increased attention lately, it isstill unclear what the causal mechanism looks like. In order to gain more knowledgeabout this I have attempted to answer the question of why some conflicts escalateduring drought while others do not by conducting a cross case comparison of theconflict between Al-Shabaab and the government of Somalia and the conflict betweenthe Tuaregs and the government of Mali. The results show that drought could lead toboth escalation and de-escalation of armed conflict, acting mostly as a trigger. Themost important thing for people is the access to vital resources, such as food andwater, and their group affiliation can change based on who provides these resources.This could show policy makers what to focus on in order to prevent radicalisation butit first and foremost gives a ground to researchers that want to investigate thedrought-armed conflict nexus further.
193

Pushing Marginalization: British Colonial Policy, Somali Identity, and the Gosha 'Other' in Jubaland Province, 1895 to 1925

Blaha, David Ryan 06 June 2011 (has links)
Throughout the 19th century, large numbers of enslaved people were brought from southeastern Africa to work on Somali plantations along the Benadir Coast and Shebelle River. As these southeast Africans were manumitted or escaped bondage, many fled to the west and settled in the heavily forested and fertile Gosha district along the Juba River. Unattached, lacking security, and surrounded by Somalis-speaking groups, these refugees established agricultural communities and were forced to construct new identities. Initially these riverine peoples could easily access clan structures and political institutions of surrounding Somali sub-clans, which in pre-colonial Jubaland were relatively fluid, open, and—in time—would have allowed these groups to become assimilated into Somali society. British colonial rule however changed this flexibility. Somali identity, once porous and accessible, became increasingly more rigid and exclusive, especially towards the riverine ex-slave communities—collectively called the Gosha by the British—who were subsequently marginalized and othered by these new "Somali." This project explores how British colonial rule contributed to this process and argues that in Jubaland province a "Somali" identity coalesced largely in opposition to the Gosha. / Master of Arts
194

Decisions integration a critical necessity for special operations

Dobocan, Claudiu O. 12 1900 (has links)
Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / In a world in which the use of violence continues to be viewed as an acceptable method to pursue political goals, the use of terrorism as a political method will also continue. And within that world, in the coming years, hostage rescues and other direct actions to combat terrorism are likely to be the most frequent type of missions conducted by state special operations forces, including those of Romania. This thesis explores the importance of integrating three types of decisions-informational, structural, and operational-for the successful outcome of special operations. The thesis analyzes four operations, conducted by American, Belgian, and Israeli forces, and the circumstances of their positive or negative outcomes. The historical cases show that, if any one of the three types of decisions was not integrated with the other two, the operation was doomed. The analysis also reveals that the integration of decision-making can best be realized by using interagency coordination mechanisms and a collocation of decision-makers, especially for situations in which command arrangements are highly complicated or unclear. In light of the findings in the four case studies, an analysis of the Romanian Special Operations Forces reveals that its overall structure does not favor either immediate-response or high-complexity missions. The thesis concludes with a number of recommendations for short- and long-term mitigation of current command and control problems faced by Romanian Special Operations Forces. / Captain, Romanian Army
195

Human, not too human: a critical semiotic of drones and drone warfare

Vasko, Timothy 14 January 2013 (has links)
Taking as its starting point Nietzsche’s and Foucault’s theses on liberalism and war, and Dillon and Reid’s extensive engagement thereof, this thesis offers a critical conceptualization of drones and drone warfare. I argue that deployment of drones specifically over and against bodies and communities in conflict zones in and between Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and until recently, Libya, is the material practice of a legal and political doctrine and precedent that has been established and policed most prominently by the United States and its military and intelligence apparatuses since the end of the Cold War. This novel precedent, however - due to its necessarily mutually constitutive relationship with a perceived danger said to be emerging from specific spaces, bodies, and communities in the decolonized and still-colonized worlds - locates its ontological and thus political genealogy in the anthropological knowledge that legally justified the (in)humanity of peoples and communities in these spaces during the era of high imperialism that lasted roughly from the nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. I theorize this as a mode of political, tragic nihilism through a reading of some key theories of Deleuze and Guattari, Foucault, and Nietzsche and specifically, their import to the field of critical security and international relations theory. I demonstrate that the semiotic image of the drone is a highly pertinent point of departure through which we can understand these political stakes of strategic discourses enunciating the imperatives of both the Revolution in Military Affairs as well as recent global counterinsurgency/counterterrorism operations, specifically as they relate to claims about what it is drones are said to productively offer such militaristic projects. Ultimately, I argue that it is through the semiotic image of the drone as a clean, precise tactic that furthers the strategic goals of counterterrorism to target specific bodies that we can begin to politically theorize a particularly malignant political nihilism symptomatic of contemporary liberal societies. However, I also suggest that it is through Nietzsche’s politics of nihilism that we can begin to think about radical critical interventions that resist such a dangerous mode of politics. / Graduate
196

Applying the Care Group Model in relief contexts : case studies in South Sudan and Somalia

Damaris, Peter 11 1900 (has links)
Text in English / This study analyses the application of a community based intervention, the Care Group (CG) model, in relief work in Somalia and South Sudan. On the basis of expert interviews and a variety of documents it was researched whether the CG model is applicable to the context mentioned or if adaptations would be necessary. An increase in prolonged crises challenges humanitarian action to adapt relief work to longer-term interventions. The concept of combining the strengths of development cooperation and humanitarian action - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development - is looked at in this study. Furthermore, for example, the asset-based community development approach, humanitarian work and characteristics of a protracted crisis were explored as the theoretical back-ground. The findings and the conclusion of this research may provide inputs for other humanitarian NGOs that are working in chronic conflict situations and being confronted with the need to introduce a long-term method for Behaviour Change Communication. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)
197

Régionalisme, régionalisation des conflits et construction de l'État : l'équation sécuritaire de la Corne de l’Afrique / Regionalism, regionalization of conflict and state-building : the security equation of the Horn of Africa

Le Gouriellec, Sonia 25 November 2013 (has links)
En dépit de sa complexité analytique, la situation sécuritaire de la Corne de l’Afrique peut être soumise aux outils de la Science politique afin de mieux comprendre les interactions entre les différents acteurs. Cette recherche s’efforce d’analyser les ressorts d’une équation sécuritaire qui peut paraître insoluble : le régionalisme est-il aujourd’hui un prérequis à l’émergence d’une paix régionale ? Pour répondre à cette question il est nécessaire de comprendre quels rôles jouent les processus sécuritaires régionaux (régionalisation et régionalisme) dans la construction des États de la Corne de l’Afrique. Cette étude s’efforce d’étudier les interactions entre le régionalisme, fondement de l’architecture de paix et de sécurité continentale, la régionalisation des conflits, qui semble à l’oeuvre dans cette région, et les processus de construction/formation de l’État. Les rapports entre les trois termes de l’équation dépendent du contexte et des interactions entre les différentes entités composant la région (États, acteurs non étatiques qui se dressent contre eux ou négocient avec eux et acteurs extérieurs). Deux types de dynamiques sont mises en évidence au terme de cette étude : l’une endogène, l’autre exogène. Dans la première, nous constatons que les conflits participent à la formation de l’État. Ils sont en grande partie des conflits internes et montrent qu’il existe une crise dans l’État. Ces États dominent le processus de régionalisme qui tente de réguler la conflictualité régionale avec un succès relatif puisque les organisations régionales cherchent à renforcer ou reconstruire l’État selon les critères idéalisés de l’État wébérien vu comme source d’instabilité. Le processus exogène se caractérise par le rôle des conflits régionaux dont l’existence sert de justificatif au développement et au renforcement du régionalisme, perçu comme la réponse la plus appropriée à ces problèmes de conflictualités. Cette conflictualité a pour source l’État car celui-ci est perçu comme faible. Le régionalisme permettrait de renforcer les États et diminuerait leurs velléités de faire la guerre. / In spite of its analytical complexity, the security context in the Horn of Africa may be submitted to the Political Science’ tools in order to better understand the complex interactions between the various actors. The present research thus seeks to analyze the mechanism underlying what appears as an unsolvable security problem: is regionalism a prerequisite for the emergence of a regional peace? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to understand the role of regional security processes (regionalization and regionalism) in the state formation and state building of the Horn of Africa’s states. This study endeavours to explore the interactions between regionalism, which are inherent in the creation of an African peace and security architecture, the regionalization of conflict, which seems at work in this area, and construction/formation state process. The relationship between the three terms of this equation depends on the context and interactions between the various entities that make up the region (states, non-state actors that stand against them or negotiate with the states and external actors). This study thus reveals two kinds of dynamics at play: an endogenous process and an exogenous one. In the first one conflicts are involved in the formation of the state and are largely internal conflicts. It demonstrates that there is a crisis in the state States dominate the regionalism process which tries to regulate regional conflit with relative success because regional organizations seek to strengthen or rebuild the state according to the idealized criteria of the Weberian State seen as a source of instability. The exogenous process is characterized by the role of regional conflicts whose very existence serves to justify the development and the strenghtening of regionalism thus perceived as the most appropriate answer to those security problems. States are the source of conflicts because they are perceived as weak. Regionalism would strengthen states and reduce the inclination of states to make war.
198

Bezpilotní letecké prostředky v národní bezpečnostní politice USA. Nová tvář války proti terorismu / Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in US National Security Policy. New Face of War of Terror

Matějka, Stanislav January 2014 (has links)
The paper deals with the use of unmanned aircraft of the American national security policy. It examines the history of unmanned aviation, its military use, and cost- efficiency. It then examines the main obstacles and problems with their use in national security that this technology meets and will meet in the future after a higher level of autonomy is developed. These problems involve legal issues, international and domestic American law, the issue of civilian casualties, the role of the media, and public opinion. The final chapter focuses on the problems of technical, strategic and operational issues. In this section the research paper comes to the first conclusion which claims that the introduction of more autonomous systems to war will radically change its structure and, consequently, standard procedures and strategies. Case studies are included to illustrate how successful the drone strategy is applied in the five countries where the United States leads a war on terror. The research using the theory of the revolution in military affairs concludes that these UAVs pose the greatest challenge in history and it goes well beyond military matters. UAVs in national security affect the understanding of the basic principles of war in relation to the concepts of warrior ethos and just war.
199

Low Intensity Conflict: Contemporary Approaches and Strategic Thinking

Searle, Deane January 2007 (has links)
Low Intensity Conflict (LIC) is a significant feature of the contemporary world and it is a particular challenge to the armed forces of many states which are involved is such conflict, or are likely to become so. This thesis is not concerned with how such difficult conflict situations arise. Rather it is concerned with how, from the point of view of the state, they may be contained and ultimately brought to a satisfactory resolution. The work is thus concerned with the practicalities of ending LIC. More specifically, the purpose of this research is to establish a framework of doctrinal and military principles applicable to the prevention and resolution of LIC. The principles of this thesis are based in numerous historical examples of LIC and six in depth case studies. These distilled principles are analysed in two central chapters, and are then applied in two latter defence force chapters so as to ensure there practicality and resilience. Numerous defence academics and military practitioners have been consulted in the production of this thesis; their contribution has further reinforced the functionality of the principles examined in this research. The research illustrates the criticality of a holistic approach to LIC. The function of this approach is to guarantee the stability of the sovereign state, by unifying civil, police, intelligence and military services. The effectiveness of the military elements must also be ensured, as military force is central to the suppression of LIC. Consequently, the research makes strategic and operational prescriptions, so as to improve the capability of defence forces that are concerned with preventing or resolving LIC.

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