The Role of the Armed Forces in the Americas: Civil-Military Relations for the 21st Century

In November 1997, the United States Army War College joined with the U.S. Southern Command, the Inter-American Defense Board, the National Guard Bureau, and the Latin American Consortium of the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University to cosponsor a conference entitled The Role of the Armed Forces in the Americas: Civil-Military Relations for the 21st Century. The meeting was held from 3 to 6 November in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was hosted by the New Mexico National Guard. The conference brought together over 150 prominent civilian governmental and military leaders and some of the most noted scholars from throughout the Americas. It was designed to support the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Southern Command\u27s objectives of strengthening democratic institutions, assisting nations in eliminating threats to their security, supporting economic and social progress, and enhancing military professionalism. In addition, the meeting sought to promote the Army Chief of Staff\u27s goals of conflict prevention through peacetime engagement, strategic outreach to organizations and institutions outside the Department of Defense, and the enhancement of Active and Reserve component integration. Included in this publication are the papers and speeches delivered at the conference, rapporteurs\u27 synopses of the working group discussions and an analysis, with recommendations, of the implications for civil-military relations and U.S. policy. These presentations, the level and scope of participation, the candor of the dialogue, the outstanding support provided by our cosponsors, and the charming atmosphere of Santa Fe all contributed to making the meeting a success.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1860/thumbnail.jp

Mexico in Crisis

This is the first of a two-part report on the causes and nature of the crisis in Mexico, the prospects for the future, and the implications for the United States. In this initial study, the author analyzes the crisis as it has developed over the past decade-and-a-half, with the primary focus being on the 6-year term of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and the first few months of his successor, President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon. Contrasting the euphoric hopes generated by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the explosive events of 1994 and early 1995, he explains how a country with such seemingly bright prospects went so wrong. He argues that the United States has few foreign policy concerns more profoundly consequential for its national interests including its security interests than the political stability and general welfare of Mexico. For that reason, it is especially important that we understand what has happened and why. Dr. Schulz s preliminary findings are sobering. Despite some promising moves by the new administration with regard to judicial and police reform and a more cooperative approach to the political opposition, he questions President Zedillo\u27s willingness to challenge the Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI) elite and the narcotraffickers. The fundamental problem, he suggests, is that Mexico s political economy is dominated by an oligarchy that has grown accustomed to borrowing from foreigners to enrich itself. If he is correct, then there is likely to be trouble ahead, for the current bailout will only perpetuate the system, virtually assuring that there will be another crisis down the road.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1882/thumbnail.jp

Colombia\u27s Three Wars: U.S. Strategy at the Crossroads

Colombia is the most troubled country in the Western Hemisphere. Drug criminals, guerrillas, and paramilitary groups are feeding a spiral of violence that makes colombianization a metaphor for a failing state. The authors address the strategic dimensions of the crisis. It argues that Colombia\u27s future deeply affects regional security and U.S. interests. The country\u27s afflictions are spilling over its borders, threatening Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and the Caribbean. At the same time, Colombia is the origin of most of the cocaine and heroin entering the United States. The fear is that, if the situation continues to worsen, the country may become balkanized, with large areas under the de facto control of guerrilla and paramilitary regimes based, in large part, on narco-economies. U.S. policy is now at a critical juncture. A decision has been made to become more engaged in the war against narcotrafficking. Yet, the question remains: Can counternarcotics be separated from counterinsurgency? The authors believe that it cannot—that everything is related to everything else—and that unless the Colombian and U.S. governments address the problem through the creation of a coherent, holistic strategy, the situation will become much worse. In the latter half of their report, they discuss both the military and nonmilitary components of such a strategy. Among other things, they contend that restrictions on U.S. police training and counterinsurgency assistance should be removed or revised in order to enable the Colombian security forces to halt the momentum of the insurgents and paramilitaries and give them incentives to negotiate seriously. They also argue that a respect for human rights is of strategic importance.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1849/thumbnail.jp

Haiti Update

Recent developments in Haiti including political assassinations attributed to both former Haitian military personnel and members of President Preval\u27s presidential security unit have once again thrust that troubled country into the international spotlight. In the process, questions have been raised about the viability of the nascent Haitian democracy and the political stability on which it rests. In turn, that has led to questions about the length and nature of the international commitment, including that of the United States. Thus it was that in September 1996 Dr. Donald E. Schulz, the author of two previous Strategic Studies Institute reports on Haiti (Reconciling the Irreconcilable: The Troubled Outlook for U.S. Policy Toward Haiti, coauthored with Gabriel Marcella, 1994; and Whither Haiti?, 1996), spent a week in country gathering information about the current situation and the prospects for the future. During that visit, he spoke with numerous people, including U.S., Haitian and other nationals, on a not-for-attribution basis. This report is the product of those conversations, his personal observations of what he saw, and his continuing research on Haiti.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1867/thumbnail.jp

Responding to Unexpected Urine Drug Test Results: A Phenomenological Approach

As a response to the opioid epidemic in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain in 2016. This document served as a means to reduce risks and address harms of opioid use by recommending that clinicians conduct periodic urine drug testing for patients on chronic opioid therapy. As an unintended result of this recommendation, providers began using unexpected urine drug test results as a reason to dismiss patients from practice, both out of concern for their patients’ wellbeing as well as their own legal risks. Using Husserl’s and Heidegger’s phenomenology, we argue that this science-based, black-and-white practice does not heed the patient as a whole person. Instead, we recommend a more contextual, patient-centered approach that can help us to better understand and manage patient needs in such contexts. Keywords: Martin Heidegger, Edmund Husserl, Opioid Epidemic, Medical Ethics, Chronic Pai

Was treibt die Stimmbürger an die Urne? Eine empirische Untersuchung der Abstimmungsbeteiligung in der Schweiz, 1981 - 1999

First, theoretical considerations and selected empirical results of previous studies explaining participation in elections and referenda are presented. We consider the decision hypothesis, the mobilisation hypothesis, the expressive voting approach as well as two hypotheses which have been developed by political scientists. To test these hypotheses, we use data of Swiss referenda and initiatives from 1981 to 1999. The empirical results strongly support the mobi­lisation but not the decision hypothesis. That the expected financial consequences of a pro­posal have an impact on the turnout of optional referenda but not of initiatives is at least somewhat at odds with the expressive voting approach.Expected Closeness, Expressive Voting, Campaign Expenditure, Turnout, Direct Democracy

Inkubationsversuche zum Einfluss von Sorte und Textur auf den Umsatz von Lupinenkörnerschroten im Boden bei unterschiedlichen Temperaturen

Organically produced legume seed meals are an upcoming alternative to established fast mineralising organic fertilisers based on plant and animal waste products with suspect origin (e.g. hornmeal). The turnover in soil was investigated with respect to the influence of legume variety and seed meal texture. Variety specific differences in net N mineralisation could be attributed to differences in C/N ratio and cellulose content. The influence of texture classes on net N mineralisation was considerably smaller than the influence of differences between the investigated species

Seshadri-Kostanten auf abelschen Flächen

Christoph Schulz, Seshadri-Konstanten auf abelschen Flächen, Zusammenfassung: Gegenstand dieser Arbeit sind Seshadri-Konstanten von amplen Geradenbündeln auf glatten projektiven komplexen Varietäten. Zu einem amplen Geradenbündel L und einem Punkt x definiert man die Seshadri-Konstante durch das Supremum der positiven Zahlen e, sodass das Bündel f*L-eE noch nef ist über der Aufblasung der Varietät in x mit exzeptionellem Divisor E. Auf diese Weise wird ein Maß für die 'lokale' Positivität von L definiert. Eine explizite Berechnung von Seshadri-Konstanten ist im Allgemeinen recht schwierig und nur unter Zuhilfenahme spezieller geometrischer Eigenschaften der Varietät möglich. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, explizite Methoden für die Berechnung von Seshadri-Konstanten auf abelschen Flächen zusammenzutragen. Neben den Methoden für beliebige komplexe projektive Varietäten aus Kapitel 1 werden in Kapitel 2 und 3 spezielle Methoden für abelsche Flächen entwickelt. Hier werden einige bekannte Resultate dargestellt und im Anschluss eigene Berechnungen präsentiert. Die zentralen neuen Ergebnisse finden sich in Kapitel 3, hier werden Seshadri-Konstanten auf den folgenden Produkten zweier elliptischer Kurven betrachtet: (1) das Produkt von zwei nicht isogenen elliptischen Kurven, (2) das Produkt einer elliptischen Kurve ohne komplexe Multiplikation mit sich selbst, (3) das Produkt spezieller elliptischer Kurven mit komplexer Multiplikation mit sich selbst. Es gelingt, die Seshadri-Konstanten aller Geradenbündel explizit zu berechnen, wobei mit (2) und (3) die ersten Ergebnisse für abelsche Flächen mit Picard-Zahl 3 und 4 erzielt werden. Hierbei zeigt es sich, dass die elliptischen Kurven auf den untersuchten Flächen eine besondere Rolle spielen. Daher wird eine Parametrisierung der numerischen Äquivalenzklassen der elliptischen Kurven angegeben, mittels derer sich durch zahlentheoretische Überlegungen submaximale elliptische Kurven finden lassen, die für die Berechnung der Seshadri-Konstanten von Bedeutung sind. Es werden explizite Formeln zur Berechnung der Seshadri-Konstanten anhand der numerischen Äquivalenzklasse eines Geradenbündels angegeben und das Verhalten der Seshadri-Funktion auf dem Nef-Kegel untersucht. Nach einer Einleitung werden im ersten Kapitel grundlegende Begriffe, wie Seshadri-Konstanten, Submaximalität und abelsche Flächen erläutert. Das zweite Kapitel beschäftigt sich mit Seshadri-Konstanten auf abelschen Flächen. Hier werden neben allgemeinen Ergebnissen und Abschätzungen auch erste Ergebnisse für die Berechnung der Seshadri-Konstanten auf einfachen abelschen Flächen dargestellt, insbesondere das Resultat von Thomas Bauer über abelsche Flächen mit Picard-Zahl 1. Das dritte Kapitel ist der expliziten Berechnung der Seshadri-Konstanten auf nichteinfachen abelschen Flächen gewidmet. Es gelingt hier insbesondere die Berechnung der Seshadri-Konstanten auf Kreuzprodukten zweier elliptischer Kurven

Ertrag und Qualität von Winterweizengenotypen unter integrierten und ökologischen Anbaubedingungen

An annually identical assortment of each of 32 winter wheat varieties and lines bred under conventional conditions was tested between 2004 and 2007 both in a conventionally and in an organically managed environment. Previously the assortment had been evaluated with respect to yield and indirect parameters of baking quality. The objective was to obtain evidence for a targeted selection of lines for their later use as bread varieties in organic farming. It was discovered that for a successful selection of lines for the subsequent cultivation under organic conditions especially the evaluation of yield must be conducted strictly under the same conditions