Ever since the quickening of social and technological change that began during the Napoleonic era, there have been many strategic debates inspired by those developments. Six are discussed in this thesis: Jomini vs. Clausewitz - How useful are principles of war? Mahan vs. Mackinder - Is either land or sea power inherently more valuable for achieving national aims? Bernhardi vs. Bloch - Did industrialization make war an impractical endeavor? Douhet vs. Mitchell - What is the role of air power in national defense? Brodie vs. Wohlstetter - Is nuclear deterrence robust, or is there a "delicate...

Seek to answer the question of how the Chinese government's policies towards the Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim group living predominantly in the northwestern Chinese province Xinjiang, have influenced the political consolidation of the Uyghurs. Three aspects of this question will be explored: Uyghur identity, interests, and Islamic mobilization. First, have Chinese policies helped to strengthen or weaken Uyghur identity? Second, how have Chinese policies shaped Uyghur interests? Finally, is there any evidence of Islamic radicalization and mobilization of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, evaluated in the...

Maintaining an accurate Common Operational Picture (COP) is a strategic requirement for efficient and successful missions in both disaster response and battlefield scenarios. Past practices include utilizing cellular, radio, and computer based communication methods and updating individual maps accordingly. A drawback of these practices has been interoperability of these devices as well as accurate reporting and documentation among different entities of the effort. Recent advances in technology have led to the utilization of collaborative maps for maintaining a COP amongst command centers....

Today, women constitute over 50% of the United States' population. Yet, women are still a minority in many workforce fields, including homeland security. A woman currently leads the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and women have achieved high levels of leadership within the federal homeland security apparatus. While great strides are being made, women are still clearly the minority and hold an average of 20% of leadership positions in homeland security related professions, such as law enforcement, fire, and emergency management. These numbers do not reflect the success that women who...

In recent years, Huawei Technologies Inc. has become one of the most powerful telecommunication companies in the world. While it has been very successful, it has been surrounded by controversy. The United States has presented multiple accusations against Huawei; however, the supporting evidence is often lacking. This thesis examines the U.S. strategic implications of Huawei's expansion into Latin America. First, the U.S. economic impact of this expansion is examined. Next, the security concerns posed by Huawei and accusations of espionage, intellectual property infringement, and an...

J.S. Trimingham has famously described Ethiopia as a "beleaguered fortress in the midst of a sea of Islam," implying Christians in Ethiopia have consistently been besieged by Muslims, not vice versa. This thesis challenges this common conception by demonstrating that throughout Ethiopia's medieval period (1270-1555), the time of greatest conflict between the Ethiopian Empire and its Muslim neighbors, Muslim forces did not besiege the Ethiopian Empire. On the contrary, the Ethiopians militarily subjugated their neighboring Muslim sultanates, most prominently Ifat and Adal, and politically...

Brazil transitioned to democracy from an authoritarian military regime just over twenty six years ago, yet is still struggling to subject the military to effective civilian control. This retraces the evolution of civil-military relations through three significant events that have shaped the current state of civil-military relations and complicated defense reforms in Brazil. First, the transition to democracy, a tenuous and complicated task, was further complicated by the death of the president elect thus weakening the position of the newly elected civilian government. Second, the military...