Governance, Identity, and Counterinsurgency Strategy

The premise of most Western thinking on counterinsurgency is that success depends on establishing a perception of legitimacy among local populations. The path to legitimacy is often seen as the improvement of governance in the form of effective and efficient administration of government and public services. However, good governance is not the only possible basis for claims to legitimacy. Prompted by recent experience in Iraq, the research presented here formally considers whether in insurgencies where ethno-religious identities are politically salient, claims to legitimacy may rest more on the identity of who governs, rather than on how whoever governs governs. Specifically, this dissertation poses and tests the hypothesis that in the presence of major ethno-religious cleavages, good governance will contribute much less to counterinsurgent success than will efforts toward reaching political agreements that directly address those cleavages. The dissertation reviews and synthesizes the record of scholarship and policy regarding insurgencies and counterinsurgencies, the politics of ethnic identity, governance, and legitimacy. Building on this synthesis, it presents an analytic framework designed to formalize the terms of the main hypothesis sufficiently to enable empirical tests. It then applies that framework to brief analyses of counterinsurgent experiences in Malaya, Algeria, South Vietnam, and then of two detailed local cases studies of American counterinsurgency operations in Iraq: Ramadi from 2004-2005; and Tal Afar from 2005-2006. These Iraq case studies are based on primary research, including 37 interviews with participants and eyewitnesses. The cases examined yield ample evidence that ethno-religious identity politics do shape counterinsurgency outcomes in important ways, and also offer qualified support for the hypothesis about the relative importance to counterinsurgent success of identity politics versus good governance. However, the cases do not discredit the utility to counterinsurgents of providing good governance, and they corroborate the traditional view that population security is the most important element of successful counterinsurgency strategy. Key policy implications include the importance of making strategy development as sensitive as possible to the dynamics of identity politics, and to local variations and complexity in causal relationships among popular loyalties, grievances, and political violence

Governance, Identity, and Counterinsurgency: Evidence from Ramadi and Tal Afar

The premise of most Western thinking on counterinsurgency is that success depends on establishing a perception of legitimacy among local populations. The path to legitimacy is often seen as the improvement of governance in the form of effective and efficient administration of government and public services. However, good governance is not the only possible basis for claims to legitimacy. The author considers whether, in insurgencies where ethno-religious identities are salient, claims to legitimacy may rest more on the identity of who governs, rather than on how whoever governs governs. This monograph presents an analytic framework for examining these issues and then applies that framework to two detailed local case studies of American counterinsurgency operations in Iraq: Ramadi from 2004-05; and Tal Afar from 2005-06. These case studies are based on primary research, including dozens of interviews with participants and eyewitnesses. The cases yield ample evidence that ethno-religious identity politics do shape counterinsurgency outcomes in important ways, and also offer qualified support for the argument that addressing identity politics may be more critical than good governance to counterinsurgent success. Key policy implications include the importance of making strategy development as sensitive as possible to the dynamics of identity politics, and to local variations and complexity in causal relationships among popular loyalties, grievances, and political violence.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1531/thumbnail.jp

Scenario Planning and Strategy in the Pentagon

Scenario planning should be one of the Pentagon’s most important tools for developing strategy for an uncertain future. However, the formalized joint scenario planning process to support strategy and force development—Support for Strategic Analysis—has faced many challenges over the past 2 decades, and has ultimately proven less influential than intended on strategic decision-making. Explaining why is the main purpose of this monograph. It argues that scenario analysis has been most effective in supporting capability and program development, while it has fallen short in shaping strategy and force structure. The reasons for this are numerous and are rooted in intrinsic, structural characteristics of decision-making in large organizations. The monograph concludes with several recommendations for rejuvenating scenario planning in the Pentagon.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1384/thumbnail.jp

Deforestation in central Saskatchewan : effects on landscape structure and ecosystem carbon densities

Deforestation is recognized as a serious global problem that contributes to biodiversity loss, soil degradation and atmospheric change. This thesis is an investigation of deforestation in central Saskatchewan. The purposes are: to quantify the extent and rates of deforestation and associated changes in spatial structure for multi-jurisdictional boreal landscapes; and to estimate the magnitude of carbon losses associated with agriculture-induced deforestation at sites within one of these landscapes. Deforestation was analyzed using topographic map chronosequences for two 460 000 ha landscapes in central Saskatchewan. An estimated 16 400 ha was deforested between 1963 and 1990 within the Waskesiu Hills landscape (53° 45' N, 106° 15' W) and 371 000 ha was deforested between 1957 and 1990 within the Red Deer River landscape (52° 45' N, 103° 00' W). Federal and provincial legislation establishing publicly owned parks and forests served to inhibit deforestation within portions of these landscapes. On agricultural lands within the two landscapes, where private holdings dominate and forests are not protected under federal or provincial law, deforestation occurred at rates exceeding 1.2 % yr-1 over the time periods examined even though human populations declined. Within the two study areas, extant forests that are unprotected by legislation remain vulnerable to deforestation. Spatial structure was analyzed for portions of these two landscapes using landscape metrics. A positive correlation between largest patch size index and proportion of land area wooded was evident for both 1975/76 (r2 = 0.99, p < 0.01) and 1990 (r2 = 0.99, p < 0.05). Since past deforestation disproportionately reduced the sizes of the largest wooded patches, future reforestation efforts should be aimed at expanding large patches. Reforestation with large patches contiguous to protected forests may initiate a reversal of the process of fragmentation that has impaired forest wildlife and ecosystem processes. Vegetation carbon densities were compared at six forest sites, six pasture sites and six cultivated sites on hummocky glacial till landforms across three townships within the Waskesiu Hills landscape. Medians for aboveground biomass (60 Mg C ha-1 for forests, 1 Mg C ha-1 for pastures and 4 Mg C ha-1 for cultivated sites) were significantly different (p < 0.15). Including estimated losses of coarse roots, deforestation and subsequent agricultural land use led to losses of approximately 70 Mg C ha-1 for vegetation. Statistically significant losses of soil organic carbon were not detected between the forest sites and the agricultural sites. The experimental design accounted for land use and topographic landform effects, but these were small ( 50 Mg C ha-1 for natural forest sites). Across all sites regardless of land use, there was a positive correlation (rs = 0.76,

Transcriptome analyses reveal reduced hepatic lipid synthesis and accumulation in more feed efficient beef cattle

peer-reviewedThe genetic mechanisms controlling residual feed intake (RFI) in beef cattle are still largely unknown. Here we performed whole transcriptome analyses to identify differentially expressed (DE) genes and their functional roles in liver tissues between six extreme high and six extreme low RFI steers from three beef breed populations including Angus, Charolais, and Kinsella Composite (KC). On average, the next generation sequencing yielded 34 million single-end reads per sample, of which 87% were uniquely mapped to the bovine reference genome. At false discovery rate (FDR)  2, 72, 41, and 175 DE genes were identified in Angus, Charolais, and KC, respectively. Most of the DE genes were breed-specific, while five genes including TP53INP1, LURAP1L, SCD, LPIN1, and ENSBTAG00000047029 were common across the three breeds, with TP53INP1, LURAP1L, SCD, and LPIN1 being downregulated in low RFI steers of all three breeds. The DE genes are mainly involved in lipid, amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism, energy production, molecular transport, small molecule biochemistry, cellular development, and cell death and survival. Furthermore, our differential gene expression results suggest reduced hepatic lipid synthesis and accumulation processes in more feed efficient beef cattle of all three studied breeds

A Nexus of Eyes: The Praxis of Chaplaincy in One Faith Based Educational System Through Emerging Emic Perspectives

Internationally chaplaincy as a whole, and school based chaplaincy in particular, is morphing into new forms within emerging national uncertainties, and cultural diversity. Drawing on their work in Ireland, King and Norman (2009) believe that the role of school chaplains everywhere needs to be carefully realigned and rethought. This paper seeks in part to address this situation, unpacking the initial ‘emic-journey’ of a three year multi-case study research agenda that seeks to holistically investigate how key stakeholders in three faith based schools understand the role and practice of school chaplains. In this instance, the stakeholders included administrators, chaplains and students. The multi-case study approach and the stratified sets of respondents were deemed to be the best ‘goodness of fit’ as Parekh’s (2000) axiom clearly states an understanding that one group’s place within an organisation needs to be considered not in isolation, but as intersecting forces that act as a “locus of identity.

Glycolytic reprograming in Salmonella counters NOX2-mediated dissipation of ΔpH.

The microbial adaptations to the respiratory burst remain poorly understood, and establishing how the NADPH oxidase (NOX2) kills microbes has proven elusive. Here we demonstrate that NOX2 collapses the ΔpH of intracellular Salmonella Typhimurium. The depolarization experienced by Salmonella undergoing oxidative stress impairs folding of periplasmic proteins. Depolarization in respiring Salmonella mediates intense bactericidal activity of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Salmonella adapts to the challenges oxidative stress imposes on membrane bioenergetics by shifting redox balance to glycolysis and fermentation, thereby diminishing electron flow through the membrane, meeting energetic requirements and anaplerotically generating tricarboxylic acid intermediates. By diverting electrons away from the respiratory chain, glycolysis also enables thiol/disulfide exchange-mediated folding of bacterial cell envelope proteins during periods of oxidative stress. Thus, primordial metabolic pathways, already present in bacteria before aerobic respiration evolved, offer a solution to the stress ROS exert on molecular targets at the bacterial cell envelope

SpoT Induces Intracellular Salmonella Virulence Programs in the Phagosome.

Guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp) and guanosine pentaphosphate (pppGpp), together named (p)ppGpp, regulate diverse aspects of Salmonella pathogenesis, including synthesis of nutrients, resistance to inflammatory mediators, and expression of secretion systems. In Salmonella, these nucleotide alarmones are generated by the synthetase activities of RelA and SpoT proteins. In addition, the (p)ppGpp hydrolase activity of the bifunctional SpoT protein is essential to preserve cell viability. The contribution of SpoT to physiology and pathogenesis has proven elusive in organisms such as Salmonella, because the hydrolytic activity of this RelA and SpoT homologue (RSH) is vital to prevent inhibitory effects of (p)ppGpp produced by a functional RelA. Here, we describe the biochemical and functional characterization of a spoT-Δctd mutant Salmonella strain encoding a SpoT protein that lacks the C-terminal regulatory elements collectively referred to as "ctd." Salmonella expressing the spoT-Δctd variant hydrolyzes (p)ppGpp with similar kinetics to those of wild-type bacteria, but it is defective at synthesizing (p)ppGpp in response to acidic pH. Salmonella spoT-Δctd mutants have virtually normal adaptations to nutritional, nitrosative, and oxidative stresses, but poorly induce metal cation uptake systems and Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 (SPI-2) genes in response to the acidic pH of the phagosome. Importantly, spoT-Δctd mutant Salmonella replicates poorly intracellularly and is attenuated in a murine model of acute salmonellosis. Collectively, these investigations indicate that (p)ppGpp synthesized by SpoT serves a unique function in the adaptation of Salmonella to the intracellular environment of host phagocytes that cannot be compensated by the presence of a functional RelA.IMPORTANCE Pathogenic bacteria experience nutritional challenges during colonization and infection of mammalian hosts. Binding of the alarmone nucleotide guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp) to RNA polymerase coordinates metabolic adaptations and virulence gene transcription, increasing the fitness of diverse Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as that of actinomycetes. Gammaproteobacteria such as Salmonella synthesize ppGpp by the combined activities of the closely related RelA and SpoT synthetases. Due to its profound inhibitory effects on growth, ppGpp must be removed; in Salmonella, this process is catalyzed by the vital hydrolytic activity of the bifunctional SpoT protein. Because SpoT hydrolase activity is essential in cells expressing a functional RelA, we have a very limited understanding of unique roles these two synthetases may assume during interactions of bacterial pathogens with their hosts. We describe here a SpoT truncation mutant that lacks ppGpp synthetase activity and all C-terminal regulatory domains but retains excellent hydrolase activity. Our studies of this mutant reveal that SpoT uniquely senses the acidification of phagosomes, inducing virulence programs that increase Salmonella fitness in an acute model of infection. Our investigations indicate that the coexistence of RelA/SpoT homologues in a bacterial cell is driven by the need to mount a stringent response to a myriad of physiological and host-specific signatures

Remedial solutions to control excessive propeller induced hull vibrations on a landing craft

Although landing craft are not sophisticated vessels, their functional/operational requirements often result in a hull shape which may encounter unusual hydrodynamic phenomena, requiring remedial attention. One such instance is discussed in this paper, which presents hull form solutions adopted to address excessive vibration experienced on-board an enhanced landing craft operating in the Arabian Gulf region. Through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, the sources of excessive vibration experienced by this vessel were identified. The sources included the current bow design, which promoted aeration; an extensive flat bottom, which channelled the air to a shallow buttock-flow stern region; angled pram type stern fitted with blunt-ended appendages generated a non-uniform flow that was too severe for the existing propeller-hull clearances. The combination of these unfavourable flow conditions with the cavitating propellers resulted in undesirable Propeller-Hull Vortex Cavitation (PHVC) which manifested itself with excessive aft end vibrations and noise. To remedy the situation and to control the excessive vibrations, further CFD simulations guided the necessary hull form modifications. The identified countermeasures included anti-Propeller Hull Vortex (PHV) plates and streamlining of stern appendages. Subsequent sea trials showed horizontal vibration levels were reduced by 85%, which significantly improved the conditions on-board. This paper presents a technical summary of the above countermeasures, their implementations on the vessel, which included full-scale trials to measure the speed-power performance, hull vibrations and cavitation observations using a borescope system, and discussions of the results of these countermeasures. The paper concludes with an outline proposal for further design study, which could reduce on-board vibrations even further as well as providing other operational benefits regarding propulsive efficiency and manoeuvrability using the recently developed "Gate Rudder System®" as a novel Energy Saving Device (ESD)