RESILIENCE AND RESISTANCE, A NATO MODEL FOR TAIWAN

Reissued 14 Feb. 2022 to update text on page 48.Nowhere in the world exemplifies Great Power Competition as strongly as simmering conflict over Taiwan. Spanning over seven decades, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have sparred over the status of the island. Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) protests, over the last three presidential administrations, the U.S. has strengthened its support for Taiwan’s vibrant democracy. In addition to the U.S., the European Union and several countries in the Asia-Pacific region also strongly support an autonomous Taiwan. In response to what the CCP sees as foreign meddling in Chinese domestic affairs, the PRC has increased its hostilities against Taiwan while also attempting to reduce international support for the island's democracy. How can Taiwan maintain its autonomy despite the ever-increasing pressure from the much stronger PRC? Through analysis of Arreguin-Toft’s “How the Weak Wins Wars,” Fiala’s “Resistance Operating Concept,” NATO’s “Comprehensive Defense Handbook,” and Taiwan’s recent efforts to create an all-out defense, this thesis offers findings and recommendations based on employing irregular warfare to increase the population's resiliency and deter or repel a PRC invasion.Chief Warrant Officer Three, United States ArmyMajor, United States ArmyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Death's cold grip or helping hand: the effects of mortality salience on goal choice

Humans live with the knowledge that one day they will die. This understanding, at various levels of conscious awareness, induces a variety of reactive cognitive processes which may lead individuals to choose more meaningful and personally valued goals to pursue. The purpose of this thesis research was to discover whether a mortality salience (MS) induction leads participants to strive for goals that are more self-concordant across three experimental conditions (MS, MS with delay, or control group). In addition, the contents of those goals were analyzed so that both the "what" (goal contents) and the "why" (motivations) of personal goals could be compared across conditions. It was found that the extent to which participants chose self-concordant goals differed by gender such that females chose self-concordant goals regardless of condition while males in the mortality salience with delay condition selected more self-concordant goals to pursue than the other two conditions. Controlling for these gender differences yielded a significant effect of condition such that those in the mortality salience with delay group scored higher on the self-concordance of their goals than both of the other groups. In terms of goal contents, marginally significant differences were found between conditions such that participants in the mortality salience with no delay group reported goals with higher relative intrinsic content, on average than the other two conditions. Further analyses and explorations of these constructs are discussed in the context of relevant theories.Includes bibliographical references

Is it ever appropriate to encourage a survivor of sexual trauma to forgive? : a theoretical analysis

The topic of forgiveness is pervasive in popular culture and is being written about in psychological literature. This theoretical study was undertaken to examine the theoretical basis of forgiveness interventions and how these theories intersect with trauma-informed treatment. This study specifically explores the theoretical basis of the therapeutic value of a survivor of sexual trauma choosing to forgive her perpetrator in an attempt to determine the potential risks and benefits of forgiveness interventions. Literature was reviewed on the treatment of sexual trauma, including current practices. Then, a review of the literature on the treatment of sexual trauma and how forgiveness is understood from a cognitive behavioral perspective and a psychodynamic, specifically object relations, perspective was completed. The literature shows that sexual trauma significantly disrupts a survivor\u27s core beliefs and internal object worlds and that forgiveness may be one way to repair this disruption. However, in order to do no harm, the therapist must determine for each individual survivor whether forgiving the perpetrator would be beneficial or is contraindicated. A careful assessment must be done of the survivor\u27s ego defenses and object relations, the trauma circumstances, and the existence and nature of any preexisting relationship between the survivor and the perpetrator before a therapist considers discussing the topic of forgiveness in therapy

Fifty Years After the Passage of Title VII: Is it Time for the Government to Use the Bully Pulpit to Enact a Status-Blind Harassment Statute?

(Excerpt) This Article provides a blueprint for how Congress can accept Justice Ginsburg’s challenge to protect workers, particularly in precarious economic times when employees cannot easily switch jobs and in an era in which the vast majority of workers do not have the protection of a collective bargaining agreement. Not only should Congress redefine “supervisor,” but Congress should also consider a related underlying factor that was not raised in the Vance case—the issue of workplace bullying. If workplace bullying were a viable cause of action, Maetta Vance likely would have prevailed in a state that entitled her to relief because she could have added that claim to her federal discrimination and hostile work environment claims. Vance is just one of an estimated thirty-seven million victims—twenty-seven percent of the U.S. workforce—of this pervasive problem. The problem extends far beyond the reach of Title VII—indeed, most bullying is same sex—and only twenty percent of bullying cases could also pass muster as cognizable harassment claims. The problem is so serious that legislators in twenty-eight states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands introduced bills to ban bullying in the workplace and provide remedies for its victims

Aetna v. Davila/CIGNA v. Calad: A Missed Opportunity

On June 21, 2004, the United States Supreme Court decided the health law “case of the year” in the two consolidated cases of Aetna Health, Inc. v. Davila and CIGNA HealthCare of Texas, Inc. v. Calad. The Court held that section 502(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) “completely preempt[s]” and thus invalidates the tort liability provisions of the Texas Health Care Liability Act (THCLA). The case could potentially affect the rights of millions of Americans in a matter of vital concern—whether they will receive the health insurance coverage promised them if they become unable to pay for medical bills out of their own resources. The Court justified its decision as effecting “clear congressional intent.” In reality, congressional intent was anything but clear. The Court’s decision was inconsistent with long-established and logically valid interpretations of procedural statutes, as well as the wording, structure, and underlying policies of ERISA. The decision was also inconsistent with constitutional principles that should inform all jurisprudence. Instead, it was based on Supreme Court precedent that the Court itself had already partially disavowed as “not [giving] much help [in] drawing the line.” This article does not suggest that the Davila/Calad holding was unexpected or completely incongruent with earlier Supreme Court decisions. To the contrary, if the Court had decided the case differently, it would have had to break with its own precedent. This article argues that the Court should have done just that—that the correct decision would have favored more fundamental considerations than the mere desire to remain superficially consistent with its previous holdings and rationales. The Court missed an opportunity to correct what has been called “an unjust and increasingly tangled ERISA regime.” This case had huge national importance, and the issue deserved better and more careful analysis than it was given by the Court