Since the end of decolonization, African states have created a series of dense and overlapping international organizations (IOs) at both the continental (Organization of African Unity/African Union) and sub-regional (regional economic community, REC) levels of analysis, both of which broadly claim to fulfill similar mandates on a range of issues, including the provision of collective security. Given that every African state is embedded within at least two African IOs with similar mandates – which have generally been assumed to be important primarily for the accomplishment of collective goals – how, when, and why do individual African states understand when such IOs might be strategically useful for the pursuit of their individual security and foreign policy aims, especially as relates to national security interests? To answer this question, this dissertation creates a theory of how African states understand the strategic utility of African IOs in relation to the pursuits of their national security interests, which it tests against the historical record of actual state behavior in eight countries in a combination of West Africa and the Greater Horn. Ultimately, it shows that with the knowledge of four variables – a state’s international power projection capability; its location within regional and continental IO polarities; and the nature of the national security interest at hand – one can broadly predict when, why, and in which African IOs states will pursue their individual national security interests. / African and African American Studies

<p> Higher education has a long-standing relationship with veterans. Under the auspices of federal funding such as the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Act and the 1944 GI Bill, scores of veterans and active duty personnel have used their educational benefits to earn a college degree. In the 21<i>st</i> century, the 2009 enhancements to the post-9/11 GI Bill amounted to $53 billion in education benefits for servicemembers and their families. In addition, the military is increasing its education plan for servicemembers to include more frequent and more specialized training since the demands of 21<i> st</i> century warfare requires agile tactical teams to be able to act independently from large troop mobilizations or command centers. Both higher education and the military are increasingly gravitating toward online learning. Therefore, Gulf War II-era student veterans&mdash;individuals who served after 9/11&mdash;are more likely than any previous student veteran cohort to have undergone extensive military education by the time they return to civilian life and pursue college degrees. Although Gulf War II-era student veterans pursue educational opportunities as much or more than earlier cohorts, they also struggle with transitioning to civilian life. </p><p> The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative study was to explore the intersection of military education, postsecondary education, online learning, and transitioning in one context. The overarching research question was: What are the lived experiences of student veterans who have engaged in online learning in two capacities: (a) during active duty within the military education system, and (b) after separation within higher education? The study employed Knowles, Holton, and Swanson&rsquo;s adult learning theory and Schlossberg&rsquo;s transitioning theory. The study used a phenomenological approach to examine the lived experiences of Gulf War II-era student veterans who have engaged in online learning while on active duty and after separation. A purposeful sample of 16 student veterans was used, and open-ended interviews were conducted to answer the research questions. Using the Modified Van Kaam method of data analysis proposed by Moustakas (1994), the interview data yielded 14 emergent themes. </p><p> The study revealed that participants had different experiences with online learning during their active duty service than they did as civilian student veterans in public colleges and universities. Participants found that the military education system&rsquo;s online courses were repetitive, but they had clear objectives and structures. Failing online military courses was nearly unheard of and could lead to direct reprisal or loss of life. As civilians, many found online learning to be overwhelming and alienating. College online courses were of better quality but were easier to fail. Participants also reported that online learning was not a direct part of their transitioning experience, but their prior experience with it had provided them basic technological literacy that was useful. The research findings were reflective of transitioning theory but did not fully support adult learning theory. The findings suggest that a deep-rooted military persona or identity is probably developed by active duty military personnel and that such an identity is likely related to a military-specific learning style that does not align to traditional andragogy within higher education (e.g. group versus individual learning). The findings also posit that a new theory should be developed that centers on military learners, their styles and their unique system of postsecondary education.</p><p>

No description available.

No description available.

Nicholas Adams (1993) suggests that the destruction of the built environment and architecture of a city during war is an effective way of demoralizing and even eradicating the enemy. Goonewardena and Kipfer (2007) suggest that the built environment helps establish not only the common shared spaces in which individuals live their lives, but a sense of place and community identity. When buildings and public spaces are anthropomorphized, their destruction affects every aspect of a community. Urbicide as a tactic of urban warfare has changed the look and feel of many places such as the Balkans, Germany in World War II, and The Gaza Strip. The many faces of war have changed the landscape and homogeneity of the areas affected. Long-term, continual bombardment, precision attacks, and incursions by armies have in many cases all but destroyed the pre-existing physical environment. In its stead, is created a non-permanent built environment on the verge of destruction or change by non-civil forces. This investigation uses The Gaza Strip as a case study and looks into the impermanence of the built environment. The continual violence of change has greatly affected the resident Palestinian population. I will also examine how the temporary nature of the built environment and constant threats of change and destruction have affected everyday spaces. Although the population understands the potentially transitory nature of the structures, this does not deter them from rebuilding, when materials are available. Using data obtained from different nongovernmental organisations and aid agencies, this paper examines how repeated bombardment, precision attacks, and incursions reconfigure space, buildings and the functionality of the built environment in The Gaza Strip. Changes in the form and functionality are conceptualized as continuous processes that produce constant rounds of rebuilding. The shape and composition of the built environment is evaluated after specific bombardments, attacks and incursions in order to assess the extent and form of rebuilding. The results show that each round of destruction is followed by differing degrees of reconstruction that again restructure the look of the built environment. / Geography

Master of Arts / Department of History / Mark P. Parillo / Detachment 101's experiences provide a microcosm view of the evolutionary nature of warfare, and also demonstrates the understanding of Fourth Generational Warfare concepts by the Detachment.

<p> The purpose of this project was to create program to identify funding sources, and write a grant to fund a support group for veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at the Department of Veterans Affairs of, Long Beach. The literature allowed this write to find the main causes of PTSD in this case being exposed to combat, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBO), and the consequences to PTSD (substance abuse, commit suicide, experience family conflicts). This writer also found Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PET), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to be effective intervention in treating veterans with PTSD. The proposed program is aimed at providing psychoeducation to veterans and to help improve the lives of our service men and women who suffer from PTSD. The program includes group counseling, and individual counseling for veterans, family counseling. Providing the proper training will help social worker better assess and serve our veterans who return from combat with PTSD. Actual submission and/or funding of the grant were not required for the completion of this project.</p>

<p>“War Worlds” reads twentieth-century British and Anglophone literature to examine the social practices of marginal groups (pacifists, strangers, traitors, anticolonial rebels, queer soldiers) during the world wars. This dissertation shows that these diverse “enemies within” England and its colonies—those often deemed expendable for, but nonetheless threatening to, British state and imperial projects—provided writers with alternative visions of collective life in periods of escalated violence and social control. By focusing on the social and political activities of those who were not loyal citizens or productive laborers within the British Empire, “War Worlds” foregrounds the small group, a form of collectivity frequently portrayed in the literature of the war years but typically overlooked in literary critical studies. I argue that this shift of focus from grand politics to small groups not only illuminates surprising social fissures within England and its colonies but provides a new vantage from which to view twentieth-century experiments in literary form.</p> / Dissertation

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / Donald J. Mrozek / This dissertation examines the development of the professional military studies curriculum at the United States Air Force Academy. The study explores the rationale behind establishing an Air Force Academy, along the lines similar to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point or the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. The quest for an additional academy emphasized the need for specialized training of air force cadets and creating a common bond for its future officer corps, rather than recognizing the necessity to equip them with a professional military education regarding warfare and how air power influences war, for example. This trend continued in the two main studies used to justify the Air Force Academy, as well as the development of the initial curriculum, where an integrated academic curriculum, one that emphasized both the sciences and engineering as well as the social sciences and humanities, placed any discussion of professional military studies on the back burner. The challenge of the Academy’s general academic curriculum on the cadet’s time left little room for the development of a strong, rigorous professional military studies program. However, the confluence of a cheating scandal at West Point and the resulting report, as well as a reflection during the 25th anniversary of the Academy’s founding in 1979, which developed questions on the professional military studies program within the curriculum, led to the establishment of a Permanent Professor within the Deputy Commandant for Military Instruction, and resulted in drastic changes to the curriculum for the cadets, specifically involving professional military studies. Today, the United States Air Force Academy has a Department of Military and Strategic Studies under the overall authority of the Dean of Faculty. This department has as its charter the role to provide “the study of the context, theory, and application of military power”—with special emphasis on the role of airpower to the art and science of war. The document that helps define the duty of the department also states that this necessary study for officer candidates constitutes “the essence of a military academy education” and, most certainly, the central core of a professional military studies program.

Doctor of Philosophy / Security Studies Program / Jeffrey Pickering / Ideas about why US foreign policy actors have turned ever more frequently to private military contractors (PMCs) and private security contractors (PSCs) over the past decade and a half abound. Descriptive accounts of the rise of these corporations have become something of a cottage industry over the past decade or so. The various ideas advanced have yet to be placed under rigorous empirical scrutiny, however. This dissertation builds from the existing descriptive literature to advance a new theoretical framework to explain the rise of private contractors. It analyzes this framework as well as alternative ideas using both quantitative and qualitative analysis, marking the first time this important subject has been systematically examined with both social science methods.