Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Kadhim, Abbas ; Russell, James. "June 2008." Description based on title screen as viewed on August 29, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-101). Also available in print.

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After having confronted for fifty years, arms race across the Taiwan Strait does not come to an end but rather deteriorate sharply in recent years. This directly puts national security of Taiwan and China in danger. Therefore, this study is to explore the development of cross-strait arms race with four phases: the US Defending ROC Era, the Post Era of Determination of ROC-US Diplomatic Relations, the Post Cold-War Era, and the Post 911 Era. In addition, this study will predict how arms race across the Taiwan Strait will develop in the future. After all, international society stresses national power, of which military forces are one of the most critical factors. Moreover, this study will bring in those Asian-Pacific countries for discussion. By focusing on different historical backgrounds of north-eastern and south-eastern Asia and by viewing with perspectives of Triangle Strategy and Neo-Realism, this study will examine the diplomatic development in the way each Asian-Pacific country interacts with China and Taiwan respectively. Ever since Taiwan withdrew from the United Nations, she has adopted diplomatic strategies such as ¡§Realistic Diplomacy,¡¨ ¡§Elastic Diplomacy,¡¨ or ¡§Double Recognition.¡¨ Nevertheless, this way is never easy but full of challenges and predicaments. If considering Taiwan¡¦s diplomatic process with those Asian-Pacific countries, we may wonder and doubt whether such diplomatic strategy as ¡§Double Recognition¡¨ can be feasible, for ¡§Double Recognition¡¨ exists only when the to-recognize country and the two recognized countries unanimously accept one another. Besides, ¡§Double Recognition¡¨ works on the premise that the two recognized countries must be countries. But whenever Taiwan utilizes ¡§Double Recognition¡¨ policy, China strongly and unyieldingly opposes this move, putting Taiwan into a predicament that she is not recognized as a country by China. It may be understandable that Taiwan embraces the ¡§Two Nations¡¨ theory, but it is no better than froth unless China concedes. In other words, Taiwan hardly gets away from being denied by China and international society, no matter how enthusiastically she raises the policies such as ¡§Two China¡¨ or ¡§One China, One Taiwan.¡¨ Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine how Asian-Pacific countries react with one another in terms of politics, military, and economy and how these interactions affect each country, given the premise that arms race across the Taiwan Strait has been deteriorating. This study also provides some useful research findings and suggestions for Taiwan to deal with Asian-Pacific diplomatic policies.

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Harold Trinkunas, Robert Looney. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-66). Also available online.

xi, 578 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Rational deterrence theory posits that deterrence is more likely to be successful when a state credibly communicates to its adversary that it has both the capability and intent to retaliate against threats. Yet, second-generation nuclear states, which often exist in severe security environments, have largely adopted postures of nuclear ambiguity where they do not acknowledge their nuclear weapons capabilities or the circumstances under which they would use them. To date, research has been insufficiently comparative. While some existing research offers explanations for the ambiguous nuclear postures of individual countries, it does not permit us to draw inferences across cases and assess relative explanatory power. Through comparison, both within and across cases, this project develops a more general explanation of why nuclear states choose ambiguity over a visible deterrence posture. To this end, this project analyzes the nuclear postures of three countries: Israel, India, and Pakistan. Using process tracing and the congruence procedure methodology, I assess the relative validity of existing explanations for each case and then compare these findings across the three cases. This research suggests that regional security environments, characterized by disparities in power, create strong incentives for states to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities for deterrence as well as to retain an ambiguous posture. In particular, an ambiguous posture enables regional states to avoid the costs and dangers of competitive nuclear development vis-à-vis their adversaries. The three cases also suggest that patron state pressures for non-proliferation, which combine threats and incentives, are another important constraint on the nuclear posture of second-generation nuclear states. Other variables--such as the international non-proliferation regime, domestic political interests, and the personal moral reservations of some state leaders--play some role to varying degrees in individual cases. However, these effects are limited both within the broad history of individual cases as well as in cross-case comparison of the three states. Understanding these constraints is helpful for evaluating the efficacy of policy tools designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons as well as how to manage crises and conflicts between regional nuclear-armed states. / Committee in charge: Lars Skalnes, Chairperson, Political Science; Jane Kellett Cramer, Member, Political Science; Ronald Mitchell, Member, Political Science; Shaul Cohen, Outside Member, Geography

Simulation and game content includes the levels, models, textures, items, and other objects encountered and possessed by players during the game. In most modern video games and simulation software, the set of content shipped with the product is static and unchanging, or at best, randomized within a narrow set of parameters. However, ideally, if game content could be constantly and automatically renewed, players would remain engaged longer in the evolving stream of content. This dissertation introduces three novel technologies that together realize this ambition. (1) The first, NEAT Particles, is an evolutionary method to enable users to quickly and easily create complex particle effects through a simple interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) interface. That way, particle effects become an evolvable class of content, which is exploited in the remainder of the dissertation. In particular, (2) a new algorithm called content-generating NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (cgNEAT) is introduced that automatically generates graphical and game content while the game is played, based on the past preferences of the players. Through cgNEAT, the game platform on its own can generate novel content that is designed to satisfy its players. Finally, (3) the Galactic Arms Race (GAR) multiplayer online video game is constructed to demonstrate these techniques working on a real online gaming platform. In GAR, which was made available to the public and playable online, players pilot space ships and fight enemies to acquire unique particle system weapons that are automatically evolved by the cgNEAT algorithm. The resulting study shows that cgNEAT indeed enables players to discover a wide variety of appealing content that is not only novel, but also based on and extended from previous content that they preferred in the past. The implication is that with cgNEAT it is now possible to create applications that generate their own content to satisfy users, potentially significantly reducing the cost of content creation and considerably increasing entertainment value with a constant stream of evolving content.

Thesis (M.S. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Peter Lavoy. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-75). Also available online.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1996. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 438-450). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1996. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 438-450). Also available on the Internet.