The Federal Republic of Germany has arisen to take a leadership position in the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. This quasi depression has highlighted the economic interdependence of the Eurozone member states and has exposed the fundamental weakness of the lack of a political union between members to coordinate a timely fiscal response. This thesis examines why the Federal Republic of Germany became the cornerstone for Eurozone monetary stability; how the country contributed and what it has sacrificed thus far towards the crisis; and surveys what Germany must do in the future to ensure...

The utility of satellite spectral imagery is analyzed for the detection of submerged mine like objects. The targets that were utilized were sub-meter in size and emplaced in the water off the coast of La Jolla, California for a barnacle study. There were three surface targets and three submerged targets that did not exceed three meters in depth. Two meter multispectral and half meter panchromatic WorldView-2 data were used for image processing and analysis. The multispectral data proved more useful than the higher spatial resolution panchromatic data (sub-pixel vs resolved).For the...

Religious terrorism, as most recently highlighted by the horrendous 9/11 attacks, is not a new phenomenon. It is not restricted to any one particular religion or belief system, nor is it reserved as a weapon against foreign lands. Domestic religious terrorism is just as prevalent throughout history and is brought about by certain converging factors at particularly susceptible times within the society, such as economic difficulties, new or modified technologies, and social uncertainties. Under these conditions, a charismatic leader with an appealing ideology and access to sufficient resources...

Is the current budget and debt of the United States a concern to its national defense? Does debt held by foreign nations, particularly China, give them soft power over the United States? The current national deficit is more than $1.3 trillion dollars each year with the national public debt just over $16 trillion. Congress and the greater civilian population are calling for dramatic cuts to the Department of Defense in order to balance the budget-but the issue is more complicated. Accounting for only 3.7 percent of the FY2012 budget, reducing the DoD will reduce capabilities within the...

The United States of America is for all practical purposes, an empire. It has territories separated by bodies of water that are under its control, has the world's largest economy, and it has the ability to project its force with a large and powerful military. Like other empires, the U.S. is prone to follow the historical model of an imperial rise to power and a later fall from power. I hypothesize that the United States is on the verge of a fall from preeminence. By comparing the United States with the Roman and British Empires, I intend to research the economic causes behind the collapse of...

Recent case studies suggest that states highly motivated to obtain nuclear weapons will eventually succeed. If Iran manages to go nuclear, as Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea have done, what will the Arabian Gulf region look like after Tehran acquires these weapons? This thesis investigates the likely responses of Israel, the Arab Gulf States, and Pakistan to an Iran armed with nuclear weapons. A detailed examination of regional statements and media analysis shows that the region will likely not be further unbalanced. Instead, these states will pursue rational responses to diminish...

The United States currently has interests in the South Atlantic and Antarctica which have traditionally taken a back seat to U.S. interests in other regions. In the closing years of the twentieth century, those interests likely will receive more attention as the United States and the global community shifts its attention from the traditional focus on East- West issues and their conflict potential to more nationalist interests. This thesis examines U.S. interests in the South Atlantic and Antarctica and evaluates the potential challenges to those interests. The thesis concludes that, while its...

The Marine Corps Tactical System Support Agency (MCTSSA) at Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Pendleton is currently conducting evaluation of Wide Area Network (WAN) optimization products. MCTSSA has requested a tool that will conduct stateful TCP replay on large network trace files. This book lays the groundwork and establishes a framework for the development of a testing capability for measuring the efficiency of different WAN optimization products with respect to an excerpt of real-world production TCP flows. It also creates a software tool that will re-create the exchange of data between two...

The purpose of this thesis is to examine two books that advance alternate theories to explain the success or failure of special operations. The first book is Perilous Options: Special Operations as an Instrument of U.S. Foreign Policy, by Lucien S. Vandenbroucke. Vandenbroucke discusses recurrent problems with U. S. special operations and identifies what he believes are the causes of failure of such operations. The second book is Spec Ops, written by William H. McRaven. McRaven examines eight historic cases from around the globe and develops his theory on how to conduct successful special...

Navy Sea Air Land (SEAL) Teams and Army Special Forces (SF) are distinct organizations that often compete for the same missions, and this book provides a comparison of the two organizations. Others have provided detailed accounts of both the operational and political backgrounds that resulted in SEALs and SF being placed under the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). This work provides a narrative of the relevant operational and political events that influenced the present organizational cultures of the SF and SEALs. Most notably, both units had their origins in World War II....