The War Powers Resolution: Asserting Congress\u27s Role Over the Use of Military Force

Immediately following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, Vice President Richard Cheney identified the moment as a turning point in the relationship between the executive and legislative branches. As the representative leaders of the nation responded to the crisis that confirmed the new enemy, they granted the President substantial authority to shape the nation\u27s policies towards the new threat. The nature of the threat called for this milestone in the executive-legislative relationship, which provided near unanimous support for the Commander-in-Chief to secure America and its interests. Yet, this moment has been relatively short-lived and the history of the tenuous executive-legislative relationship overshadows the momentary unanimity of support. Congress must now determine how it will support the campaign against terrorism while maintaining an active role in policy making, particularly over the use of military force. In 1973, Congress enacted the War Powers Resolution as a way to secure its constitutional war powers authorization and role over the use of U.S. military force. The Resolution requires the Commander-in-Chief to provide Congress with the specific details and timetables for any deployment of American servicemen. Since its ratification during the Nixon Administration, every subsequent President has declared the War Powers Resolution unconstitutional; yet none has acted without giving thought to it. The Resolution stirs much debate regarding the conditions and limitations it places on the President. With the close of the Cold War, military interventions have taken on new meaning. Will the institutional constraints of the War Powers Resolution imposed upon the President become legislation that is no longer useful and might even prove harmful? This study will address Congress\u27s role over the use of military force in the context of the 1973 War Powers Resolution in two separate cases: the 1983 Multinational Peacekeeping Force in Beirut; the 1991 Persian Gulf War with Iraq. The objective is to draw on these case studies to assess whether and how the Resolution has outlived its usefulness. In other words, after thirty years of debate and controversy is the War Powers Resolution still an effective and appropriate method for Congress to assert its role over the use of military force? The research shows that as it is currently written, the Resolution would prove detrimental to military operations that are unconventional, lack an explicit strategy, or necessitate expediency. The requirements set forth in the War Powers Resolution compromise expediency, secrecy, and to a certain degree autonomy for the President—all integral to conducting war and maintaining the nation\u27s security. Yet, Congress is reluctant to repeal and even revise any aspect of the Resolution that may compromise its legal right to assert itself over the use of military force. Notwithstanding, new formulas to address the weaknesses of the Resolution during times of national security crises must be explored as the role of the military and the nature of intervention evolve in the 21st century

Assessing Potential Shale Gas Impacts on Groundwater Resources: Recommendations for Groundwater Monitoring and Definition of Baseline Conditions

Exploitation of shale gas by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is highly controversial and concerns have been raised regarding induced risks from this extraction technique. The SHEER project, an EU Horizon 2020-funded project, is developing best practice to understand, prevent and mitigate the potential short- and long-term environmental impacts and risks of shale gas exploration and exploitation. Three major potential impacts were identified: groundwater contamination, air pollution and induced seismicity. This presentation will deal with the hydrogeological aspect. As part of the SHEER project, baseline and operational groundwater monitoring was carried out at an extraction site in Wysin, Northern Poland. Baseline monitoring was carried out from December 2015 to June 2016 in four monitoring wells intercepting the main drinking water aquifer located in Quaternary sediments. Fracking operations occurred in two deviated horizontal wells in June and July 2016. Monitoring continued for 1.5 years post-fracking although no significant gas production occurred during this period. Collected data include measurements of groundwater level, electrical conductivity and temperature at 15-min intervals, field measurements of groundwater physico-chemical parameters and frequent sampling for laboratory analyses. Groundwater samples were analysed for a range of constituents including dissolved gases and stable isotopes. This presentation will provide an overview of the monitoring results and the ensuing recommendations for groundwater monitoring in the context of shale gas exploitation. These recommendations relate to: (1) site characterisation prior to any activity, (2) baseline and on-going groundwater monitoring, and (3) relationships between regulators, operators and general public. During the presentation, we will particularly focus on the monitoring methodology and establishing accurate background values for key parameters for baseline monitoring, including suggestions on how to clearly communicate the information to the general public. We will conclude on techniques to identify deviations from baseline values

The Geometric Growth of M&S Education: Pushing Forward, Pushing Outward

M&S education is experiencing a geometric growth that is placing it front and center as a discipline and as an interdisciplinary tool. This article discusses the evolution of the discipline of M&S. It answers: Why has M&S education experienced a forward and outward growth? What is it that makes this discipline unique? What is the current state of M&S education

Role Of Digital Health Wearables In The Wellbeing And Quality Of Life Of Older People And Carers

The number of adults aged 65 and over has increased by 2% across Europe in the past 15 years, and in Northern Ireland by 22% between 2003-2013. The proportion of the population in this age group is projected to increase by 63% to just under 0.5 million by 2033 – which will be a quarter of the population in Northern Ireland. Given Northern Ireland’s Active Ageing Strategy (2015-2021), there is an increasing focus on encouraging physical activity as we get older to preserve mobility and motor skills, and to enjoy the benefits of living longer and to minimise health problems associated with ageing. Over the last two years, we have been investigating the role of wearable activity tracking technologies in self-monitoring of activity by people aged over 55. Example technologies include activity trackers from Fitbit, Garmin and Samsung, and smart watches. Typically, these devices record steps walked, sleep patterns, calories expended and heart rate. Based on empirical investigations, this policy paper describes the benefits of activity monitors for people aged over 55 for self-monitoring of physical activity, for adopting healthy lifestyles, and for increasing or maintaining physical activity as a way to avoid high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and other medical conditions associated with weight or lower physical activity. It outlines the role of activity trackers in post-operative monitoring of mobility during rehabilitation, in caring, and for possible use of the data for diagnosis and medical interventions. It then discusses the challenges for adoption of these technologies, given currently, off-the-shelf devices are designed and calibrated for use by physically fit (typically young active people) with unrealistic fitness targets for the older generation

From Silence to the Heart of British Values: The Development of Holocaust Consciousness in Contemporary Britain

This thesis traces the development of Britain’s Holocaust consciousness since the 1970s in order to understand the unfolding controversy surrounding the development of a new Holocaust memorial in the Victoria Tower Gardens, London. A comparison will be drawn with developments in Australia to reveal the unique features of the British historical context that have shaped the politics of Holocaust memory in Britain. This politicisation has resulted in the framing of Holocaust commemoration by the Conservative government in an uncritical language of ‘British values’ so as to distance British identity from a European identity

Modeling, Simulation, and Gaming: Student Capstone Conference

Highlights student research and student projects focused on MS&G. Competitive presentations - Volunteer judges from industry, government, military and academic institutions across America. - Evaluate research, presentation expertise, . and ability to answer questions. - Judges also facilitate their assigned conference track

The Hyporheic Zone

This chapter introduces the key concepts of the hyporheic zone. It considers the research context in terms of the Water Framework Directive and the breadth of literature associated with the hyporheic zone. The interplay between hydrological, chemical and biological processes is explained, and a range of different approaches to field sampling and monitoring are described. A framework for considering the factors contributing to the conceptualisation of the hyporheic zone is presented, with an emphasis on the importance of understanding streambed sediments and their architecture to assess hydraulic functioning and modelling of the hyporheic zone. The hyporheic zone in karst catchments is also given specific consideration. Returning to the theme of linked hydrological, biological and chemical processes, the results of two case studies demonstrate the value of integrating hydrological measurements with geochemistry in order to elucidate hyporheic zone functioning

A Two-Population Insurgency in Colombia: Quasi-Predator-Prey Models - A Trend Towards Simplicity

A sequence of analytic mathematical models has been developed in the context of the low-level insurgency in Colombia, from 1993 to the present. They are based on generalizations of the two-population predator-prey model commonly applied in ecological modeling, and interestingly, the less sophisticated models yield more insight into the problem than the more complicated ones, but the formalism is available to adapt the model upwards in the event that more data becomes available, or as the situation increases in complexity. Specifically, so-called forcing terms were included initially in the coupled differential equations to represent the effects of government policies towards both the narco-terrorist or insurgent (I) and susceptible (S) populations. These terms are in general functions of time, since it is to be expected that changes in policy will occur as the outcomes of previously implemented policies are recognized. Both continuous and discontinuous forcing functions can be appropriate for each population. Although nonhomogeneous systems are discussed for both populations, the majority of the analysis focused on a system with forcing terms for the terrorist population only. Two categories of models emerged: 1-in which the time-dependent forcing terms were independent of the two populations, and 2-in which these terms were directly proportional to the respective populations. Model 2 in fact, can be considered as a generalization of the unforced (or homogeneous) version of model 1, and as such is implemented to describe the data obtained for the insurgent population from 1993-2003. This provides some restrictions on the unknown parameters in the model. Because of new government policy towards the insurgent population as a result of the election of President Uribe in 2002, a slight but significant modification of this model is used to describe the I-population from 2003 to the present time, again resulting in useful relationships between the various model parameters. The data suggest that a further simplification in this model is appropriate beyond 2003, and an analytic solution was found for both populations. A further simplification results from examining the related decoupled system of equations, yielding a straightforward predictive model for the behavior of the S-population in particular. Finally, in the Appendix, detailed analysis of model 2 yields a general analytic solution of the system for a wide range of sub-models, expressible in terms of confluent hypergeometric functions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved