Space Situational Awareness and Space Object Identification are vital to discovering and assessing space-based threats. The current ground-based mission architecture and operational concept do not provide enough detailed information on space objects to give planners and strategists a true picture of the space order of battle. This thesis looks at the possibility of using space-based assets, based on the CubeSat standard, to perform these missions to a higher level of quality. How this system would be folded into the current space systems operational concept is analyzed, as well as some...

To interdict dark networks and prevent terrorist attacks, security forces require consistent access to relevant intelligence and targeting data. Dark networks often react to a security force's targeting pressure by obscuring their activities and becoming increasingly covert. Network adaptation to targeting pressure can frequently lead to intelligence gaps and lulls in targeting that may be both predictable and preventable if identified early. This study will examine the efficacy of the two prevailing modes of targeting and their impact on resilient dark networks. To achieve this goal, this...

This book explores the use of a computerized aircraft maintenance system cost model to analyze the F/A-18 engine maintenance system. The Dependability Cost Model is a Paradox Data Base model, developed by the Boeing Corporation, and is currently used in the airline industry to estimate costs associated with maintaining aircraft or the implementation of service bulletin changes to the aircraft. Research was conducted to determine the feasibility of adapting this model to the F/A-18 using existing maintenance information systems, and the possibilty of forecasting future funding requirements...

Social movement theories have evolved rapidly during the latter half of the twentieth century, and they offer an enhanced understanding of the organizational dynamics in Hezbollah. Armed resistance theories have also evolved, and shed some light on the decision making process of the organization. These theoretical frameworks coalesce to show that Hezbollah's resolute radical agenda was malleable as the situation changed. As the movement grew, it demonstrated the same concerns as all large groups. This book asks two important questions: why did Hezbollah moderate its political stance, and what...

This thesis examines the sources of legitimacy for the North Korean regime in an effort to explain what role, if any, economic performance has played in keeping the Kim family in power. This thesis provides a historical look at the development of the North Korean regime from the beginning under Kim Il-sung to the current generation of rule under Kim Jong-un. The core argument of the thesis is broken into two major time periods, with the economic downturn of the early 1990s serving as the dividing point. Furthermore, comparisons with South Korea under Park Chung-hee and reformist China under...

The U.S. military operates and maintains a vast forward basing infrastructure in countries throughout the world. Periodically, these bases become the central focus of either protest or violence from the citizens of the host nation. Questions have recently surfaced as to whether NAVCENT headquarters in Bahrain is in danger of experiencing protest or violence following the Arab Spring. This thesis seeks to understand the causes of protest and violence toward U.S. personnel stationed overseas. To answer this question, this thesis uses case studies from base conflicts in Okinawa, Germany, and...

In 1898, the United States forced Spain to release the colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands. Over the next 20 years, the United States Senate debated whether to keep, how to govern, and finally how to set some of those territories free while making others permanent possessions of the republic. These debates reveal a legislature, and by extension a nation, reevaluating its basic principles and changing place in the world. A review of international relations and domestic politics preceding the Spanish-American War establishes a pattern of legislative deference....

This thesis examines the sources and character of U.S. policy that have maintained United States military forces in Germany from 1944 until the present, despite the multiform changes of the international political environment and the consistent global restructuring of U.S. troops in these decades. From the moment the decision was taken to transform the occupying forces in West Germany into stationed forces in the late 1940s until 2003 the presence of such forces has been the subject and debate about policy and strategy of remarkable consistency. Despite outward appearances of continuity in...

This thesis considers whether or not the presence of the United States military is a necessary or sufficient condition to eradicate insurgencies in the Philippines. Through the analysis of three case studies, we examine relationships among insurgent activities, government actions, and U.S. involvement. This analysis aids in determining how a U.S. presence can help or hurt in defeating insurgencies in the Philippines. Approaching our cases historically, we evaluate how some countries, like Sri Lanka, have been able to eliminate their insurgency with minimal to no U.S. support, and how others,...

Terrorist activity in Southeast Asia remains a challenge to U.S. national security. In particular, terrorist organizations in the Philippines continue to conduct deadly attacks and attract more recruits despite U.S. and Philippine government counterinsurgency (COIN) efforts. Within the last seven years following the 9/11 terrorist attack, the Philippine and U.S. governments have combined efforts to address insurgency as a threat that hinders peace and security within the Philippines as well as Southeast Asia. Despite the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in Mindanao, the southern region of...