The evolution of the Civil Affairs force

Beginning with the United States (U.S.)Mexican War in 1846 and continuing to the most recent combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, United States military history has repeatedly shown the importance of civil affairs operations: that is, shaping the civil component of the operational environment. During this span, civil affairs operations have evolved from operations conducted only by combat units to those conducted by a dedicated Civil Affairs force. The demand for Civil Affairs has increased significantly since September 11, 2001, and in response to that demand, the Army has attempted to grow the Civil Affairs force in both the active and reserve components. The rapid growth in demand for Civil Affairs has led to the creation of a Civil Affairs force composed of one active-duty Civil Affairs special-operations brigade, one active-duty Civil Affairs brigade for conventional forces, and nine reserve civil affairs brigades. The current Civil Affairs force structure is subordinate to three commands: the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, U.S. Forces Command, and the U.S. Army Reserve Command. This thesis analyzes the current Civil Affairs force structure within the active and reserve components by using three metrics: training efficiency, organizational efficiency, and operational efficiency. It addresses the question of whether the current Civil Affairs structure reflects the most efficient design, and if not, what changes are needed to improve efficiency.http://archive.org/details/theevolutionofci1094538928Major, United States ArmyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

ENHANCEMENT OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS ORGANIZATION IN THE DHS

In 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General found that the DHS is ineffective at executing cross-component operations. To address this deficiency, this thesis asks how can DHS special operations teams leverage collective capabilities to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and unity of effort? The thesis reviews academic literature on organizational integrating mechanisms and comparative case studies of U.S. military special operations forces, Operation Eagle Claw, the Goldwater-Nichols Act, United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Joint Special Operations Task Force, and Australian Federal Police Specialist Response Group to seek solutions for the DHS. The results show that organizational design, informal networks, and routines have been successfully used by these organizations to achieve collaboration and interoperability. This thesis recommends that the DHS: 1) create a DHS Joint Special Operations Working Group for interoperability recommendations; 2) create a professional forum for DHS special operations personnel to collaborate; 3) initiate joint training programs; 4) establish liaison roles and exchange programs between Component teams; 5) create a DHS Special Operations Command (DHSSOC) as a joint force structure to coordinate and advocate for special operations; and 6) create a Joint Special Operations Directorate within DHSSOC as a standing force to develop integrated routines and equipment.Civilian, Department of Homeland SecurityApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

SYSTEMIC ANALYSIS OF ILLEGAL MASS MIGRATION IN THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN REGION

This thesis explores the systemic behavior of illegal mass migration in the Central Mediterranean region and proposes strategic approaches to address the problem. We hypothesize that the illegal migration is a complex systemic problem, where parts of the system are interdependent and behavioral change of any element effects the behavior of the whole. This research applies a series of quantitative and qualitative analyses where each reveals different aspects and properties of the migration system as a whole. The systemic analysis highlights the interconnectedness of different parts and their impact of the system’s output. Also, it reveals the cognitive background as a unique aspect of this region: namely, the decision to migrate is based on biased perception and bounded rationality rather than rational choice. In conclusion, we claim that the system’s output (i.e. level of illegal migration) is characterized by the interrelated behavior of parts of the migration system; therefore, strategic planning requires the notion of the dominant feedback loops, self-organization, time delays, limitations, and non-linear relations. Also, we conclude that a skewed perception based on social influence and cognitive biases influences a large number of people in that region to migrate.Captain, Hungarian Defence ForceApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Inter-media agenda-setting effects in Ghana: newspaper vs. online and state vs. private

The influx of the worldwide web has brought about dynamism in the way news is formulated and reported. Over the years scholars have debated the key ingredients that influence news selection. At the bottom of this discussion rests the question: what is considered newsworthy? But an even more evolving question is: who sets the media agenda? This study argues that the news worthiness of print and online media or state and private media is based on inter-media agenda setting. It examines the inter-media agenda setting effects of four publications in Ghana-the Daily Graphic-a government controlled newspaper which has both print and online versions, the Daily Guide which is privately owned newspaper with print and online versions, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) which is a government controlled solely online publication and Ghanaweb which is a privately owned solely online website.;Traditional cross-lagged correlations, rank ordering, the Rozelle-Campbell baseline and chi-square tests are used in this research. The results show that there was limited inter-media agenda setting for Ghana News Agency, Daily Graphic and Daily Guide since they produced 80% of their own stories. There was however strong evidence of inter-media agenda setting for Ghanaweb from GNA and some level of inter-media agenda setting from the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide. Results from the cross-lagged topic agenda correlations showed that the GNA\u27s agenda at Time 1 was highly correlated with that of the other three publications at Time 2. Ghanaweb\u27s rank order for Time 1 was not significant for GNA and the Daily Guide even though there was some influence for the Daily Graphic. The two print newspapers Daily Guide and Daily Graphic influenced each other and both influenced the private online publication, Ghanaweb

Failing through: European migration governance across the central Mediterranean

Both today and under Gaddafi’s authoritarian rule, externalised migration controls have played a crucial role in EUropean irregular mobility governance across the Central Mediterranean. Offloading migration management on Tripoli is puzzling due to the fragility of its institutions, the ill-preparedness of its security forces, and widespread abuse against migrants. Why have European member states and EU institutions relapsed to relying on Libyan forces to govern irregular migration? In this paper, we argue that the EU has failed through the migration crisis in the Central Mediterranean by drawing on already established albeit ineffective and contentious policy tools. The collapse of Libya’s state apparatus, European Court of Human Rights’ censure of Italy’s illegal pushbacks and public opinion pressure temporarily displaced but did not fundamentally change EUrope’s restrictive approach to irregular mobility governance. While some new and less restrictive border enforcement policies were developed in response to the soaring death toll, this humanitarian turn was short-lived. By combining the mechanism of failing forward with institutionalist insights, our concept of failing through explains why the EU and its member states soon backslid into pre-existing institutional arrangements like bilateral agreements with Libyan authorities notwithstanding their problematic legal, ethical and political implications.publishedVersio

Mechanisms involved in the adsorption of bioinsecticides and strategies to enhance their passage through the insect midgut.

During the past decade a number of products have emerged from the effort to develop alternative biopesticidal technologies. The most recent approach to integrated pest management is based on the detection of new genes encoding for polypeptides with potential insecticidal activity, with a particular attention to biopesticides derived from viruses, microorganisms, fungi, plants and insects. Bacteria and viruses themselves can be used for biological control purpose. In most cases, biopesticides are molecules that have haemocoelic targets and must pass undegraded the gut barrier in order to exert their activity. Therefore for an effective oral delivery of these molecules it will be crucial to develop basic information on the molecular mechanisms mediating the absorption of proteins and peptides by the insect gut and to develop strategies to facilitate their passage through the midgut barrier. These issues have been the subject of my research project during these three years. In particular, I characterized the strategies adopted by Junonia coenia densovirus (JcDNV) to cross the midgut barrier of the lepidopteran pest Spodoptera frugiperda. I also studied a possible mechanism to increase the protein uptake in insect midgut characterizing the mechanisms involved in the internalization of selected Cell Penetrating Peptides (Tat, Penetratin, L-oligoarginine and D-oligoarginine) through the plasma membrane of lepidopteran larveae midgut cells. Even though these two aspects represent the main part of my PhD project, I have also collaborated to the study devoted to the identification of strategies to increase the permeability of the paracellular route

Development of pea albumin based GNA fusion proteins as novel biopesticides for the control of aphid (Hemiptera: aphidae) crop pests.

Novel insecticidal compounds with new modes of action are urgently required as current reliance and overuse of chemical pesticides that target a limited number of sites within insect pests has driven widespread development of resistance in crop pests. Furthermore, the most widely utilised biopesticide Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) targets lepidopteran, coleopteran and certain dipteran pests but is ineffective against hemipteran sap-sucking pests. Hemipteran sap-sucking pests cause considerable damage to crops through direct damage and transmission of many economically important plant viruses. Further, they have been documented to rapidly develop resistance to novel insecticides. Fusion of invertebrate specific neurotoxins to snowdrop lectin (Galanthus nivalis agglutinin; GNA) has previously been shown to enhance oral activity of peptide toxins by virtue of its ability to bind to the insect gut epithelium and subsequently to transport attached peptides across the gut to the circulatory system. In addition to delivering attached toxins, GNA via binding to insect gut polypeptides, was hypothesised to provide an opportunity to potentiate the efficacy of insecticidal proteins that act at the gut surface. Pea albumin (PA1b), from pea (Pisum sativum) seeds is a proteinaceous inhibitor of V-ATPase proton pumps that are localised to the insect gut epithelium. The PA1 gene cassette is expressed in planta as a preproprotein and cleaved into two mature proteins, PA1b and PA1a. PA1b has previously been shown to cause mortality when supplied in diet to several insect species from different orders including hemipteran pest species. PA1a has no documented insecticidal activity. This project focuses on the development and production of novel recombinant fusion proteins based on linking PA1b to GNA for the control of three different aphid species (pea aphid; Acrythosiphon pisum, peach potato aphid; Myzus persicae and grain aphid; Sitobion avenae). Production of a highly pure recombinant pea albumin – GNA fusion protein (PA1b/GNA) in Pichia pastoris proved challenging; multiple expression constructs with varying linker regions, orientations and histidine purification tags were typically expressed at relatively low levels and recovery from nickel affinity purification columns was poor. However, the use of a fusion protein expression construct that included a strep-tactin affinity tag allowed the recovery of relatively pure protein samples from fermented P. pastoris cultures. An LC50 ¬ of 7 nmol mL-1 PA1b/GNA against A. pisum was subsequently derived from artificial diet bioassays and this suggested that fusion of PA1b to GNA did indeed enhance toxicity as compared to activity reported for PA1b alone in the literature. However, due to low recovery rates for PA1b/GNA, an alternative approach to generate sufficient quantities of highly pure fusion proteins based upon constructs encoding both PA1b and PA1a linked to GNA (PAF/GNA) was pursued. Expression of PAF/GNA in P. pastoris resulted in higher expression levels, and more importantly, allowed the recovery of greater quantities of highly pure protein samples as compared to PA1b/GNA. The oral toxicity of PAF/GNA and recombinant PAF was assessed through artificial diet bioassays against three species of aphid pests: A. pisum (LC50 = 5 nmol mL-1), S. avenae (15 nmol mL-1) and M. persicae (34 nmol mL-1). PAF/GNA was significantly more orally toxic towards A. pisum and M. persicae as compared to recombinant PAF or GNA alone. Greater retention of PAF/GNA in the A. pisum gut over time, as compared to controls (PAF, GNA or ovalbumin) was demonstrated using confocal microscopy of A. pisum aphids pulse fed on fluorescently labelled proteins. Significant differences in toxicity were observed between A. pisum and M. persicae, it was hypothesised that this may be due to the stability of PAF/GNA when exposed to insect proteases. PAF/GNA, GNA and PAF were all similarly stable when exposed to salivary secretions from either species for up to 48 hours. Feeding assays were performed to assess the in vivo stability, no intact protein was detected in either species, but the quantity of breakdown products decreased in A. pisum over the 48 hours, possibly suggesting that the quantity of diet consumed was decreased compared to M. persicae. Antifeedant effects were indeed indicated in free choice experiments, A. pisum displayed a clear preference for diets without pea albumin or GNA, whereas M. persicae showed no significant preference except after 48 hours feeding on PAF/GNA where they preferentially fed on control diet. Whilst PAF/GNA due to its potentially limited host range is unlikely to be utilised in a commercial setting, there may be a case made for the expression of a PAF/GNA fusion protein under the control of a phloem specific promoter as a novel method to control aphids that are one of the most economically damaging groups of agricultural pests

GHANAIAN AGENCY IN DEMOCRATIZATION: EXAMINING DEMOCRACY PROMOTION IN U.S.-GHANA RELATIONS AFTER THE COLD WAR, 1992-2001

This study examines the impact of U.S. aid on democratization in the post-Soviet world. It sheds light on how the U.S., emboldened by its new position as the world’s main superpower, promoted democratization, particularly the U.S. form of democracy, as a normative value throughout the developing world. More specifically, I explore the ways that the promotion of democracy in Africa was construed and even, challenged, through local democratizing efforts, civil society action and popular participation. Utilizing a case study approach, this work analyzes the impact of domestic ideology on American foreign aid policy in Ghana after 1990 and how the Ghanaian people and leadership understood democratization, its promotion and their relationship with external agents promoting the adoption of democracy. More importantly, the project argues that foreign assistance programmes for democratization in Ghana were not the main drivers for democracy. Ghanaian demands and activities to promote democracy as an alternative to one-man rule played significant roles in the transition to the rule of law in Ghana

CIVILIAN CONTROL, GOOD ADVICE AND SERVICE MANAGEMENT: THREE ELEMENTS OF U.S. CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS AFFECTED BY THE GOLDWATER-NICHOLS DEFENSE REORGANIZATION ACT

Studying the effects of organizational change on civil-military relations sheds light on the essential tension between the need to increase military effectiveness (security) while at the same time maintaining the democratic ideal of military subjugation by the polity. Keeping that in mind, the questions posed in the following research ask, what are the effects of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 on U.S. civil-military relations? Has it enhanced or eroded civilian control? Has it given civilian leadership more tools to keep the military department-dominated Department of Defense (DOD) in check? Has it enhanced military advice? In a before and after case study comparison, change in civil-military relations as a result of the Goldwater-Nichols legislation will be analyzed in three issue areas, a) resource allocation, b) operations, and c) personnel policy. Dividing the cases by issue areas serves to artificially extricate resource allocation, operations and personnel policy from the larger Defense structure and from each other. Doing this will not only allow a more isolated study of the processes involved in each of these areas, but it will also allow the analysis to differentiate the organizational functions, processes, or decision-making of one issue area from another. Much of the analysis to date covers a broad sweep of DOD functions and does not differentiate the civil-military relationships from one issue to another. The results of the analysis show that there were observable improvements in the three measures of civil-military relations with the enactment of the legislation. The enhancement of civil-military relations was mitigated, however, by a number of factors and was highly dependent on the type of issue through which civilians and the military interacted (whether personnel, operations or resource allocation). The research was able to isolate civil-military relations by issue type to determine independent effects of the GNA legislation

Integrating Context-Awareness in the IP Multimedia Subsystem for Enhanced Session Control and Service Provisioning Capabilities

The 3GPP-defined IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is becoming the de-facto standard for IP-based multimedia communication services. It consists of an overlay control and service layer that is deployed on top of IP-based mobile and fixed networks. This layer encompasses a set of common functions (e.g. session control functions allowing the initiation/modification/termination of sessions) and service logics that are needed for the seamless provisioning of IP multimedia services to users, via different access technologies. As it continues to evolve, the IMS still faces several challenges including: the enabling of innovative and personalized services that would appeal to users and increase network operators' revenues; its interaction with other types of networks (e.g. wireless sensor networks) as means to enhance its capabilities; and the support of advanced QoS schemes that would manage the network resources in an efficient and adaptive manner. The context-awareness concept, which comes from the pervasive computing field, signifies the ability to use situational information (or context) in support to operations and decision making and for the provision of relevant services to the user. Context-awareness is considered to enhance users' experience and is seen as an enabler to adaptability and service personalization - two capabilities that could play important roles in telecommunication environments. This thesis focuses on the introduction of the context-awareness technology in the IMS, as means to enhance its session control and service provisioning capabilities. It starts by presenting the necessary background information, followed by a derivation of requirements and a review of the related work. To ensure the availability of contextual information within the network, we then propose an architecture for context information acquisition and management in the IMS. This architecture leverages and extends the 3GPP presence framework. Building on the capabilities of this architecture, we demonstrate how the managed information could be integrated in IMS operations, at the control and service levels. Showcasing control level integration, we propose a novel context-aware call differentiation framework as means to offer enhanced QoS support (for sessions/calls) in IMS-based networks. This framework enables the differentiation between different categories of calls at the IMS session control level, via dynamic and adaptive resource allocation, in addition to supporting a specialized charging model. Furthermore, we also propose a framework for enhanced IMS emergency communication services. This framework addresses the limitations of existing IP-based emergency solutions, by offering three main improvements: a QoS-enhanced emergency service; a context-aware personalized emergency service; and a conferencing-enhanced emergency service. We demonstrate the use of context awareness at the IMS service level using two new context-aware IMS applications. Finally, to validate our solutions and evaluate their performance, we build various proof-of-concept prototypes and OPNET simulation model