Search

Begin New Search Topic Security

3621. Catastrophic Interdiction: Air Power and the Collapse of the Iraqi Field Army in the 2003 War

Author:
Carl Conetta
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project on Defense Alternatives
Abstract:
This report analyzes an important aspect of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF): the interdiction of Iraqi ground units by coalition air forces. Based on air campaign statistics, observations from the field, and the experience of past air campaigns, the report assesses the likely impact (in terms of combatant casualties) of coalition air attacks on the Iraqi army in the field. Our approach is a comparative one that views the OIF air interdiction campaign in light of the experience of the 1991 Gulf War. Among the issues we explore is the contribution of coalition air power to the catastrophic collapse of the Iraqi Republican Guard and regular army.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

3622. Trends in the Incidence of International Terror Attacks on Americans After the Cold War

Author:
Charles Knight and Melissa Murphy
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project on Defense Alternatives
Abstract:
This briefing memo addresses trends in the incidence of terror in the post-Cold War period by comparing the number of international terror attacks on American interests with the overall number of terror attacks worldwide. We present the data year by year and as three year moving averages. We use data from the U.S. Department of State which is frequently cited as authoritative and usefully summarizes annual statistics.
Topic:
Security and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

3623. Toward a More Secure America: Grounding U.S. Policy in Global Realities

Author:
David Cortright, Alistair Millar, George A. Lopez, and Linda Gerber
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
In just two years the Bush administration has squandered the sympathy our country received from the rest of the world in the wake of the September 11 attacks, when the French daily Le Monde declared "We are all Americans now." Without reducing the threat of international terrorism, the administration has pursued a bullying form of unilateral militarism, which has belittled the United Nations, lampooned traditional allies, and offended Muslims around the globe. These actions have made Americans less secure and the world a more dangerous place. In Iraq, the unauthorized invasion and ill-conceived occupation have broadened the recruitment base for extremist organizations, created a magnet for terrorist infiltration, and increased the risks of terrorist attack at home and abroad. U.S. troops face continuous attack there and in Afghanistan. The enormous military, economic, and political costs of occupying Iraq are depleting American power and global leadership.
Topic:
Security and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, America, and North America

3624. End Game? Removing Sanctions in Iraq

Author:
David Cortright, Alistair Millar, George A. Lopez, and Linda Gerber
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
The Anglo-American proposal now before the Security Council calls for an immediate end to UN sanctions. The lifting of sanctions is necessary to clarify procedures for the resumption of Iraqi oil exports and to remove trade and investment barriers that impede Iraq's economic recovery. The stakes in this debate go far beyond the question of freeing trade, however. Fundamental issues of international law also hang in the balance. The verification of Iraq's disarmament, the UN role in Iraq's reconstruction and political transition, the prospects for restraining weapons proliferation in the region, and the fate of hundreds of billions of dollars of debt and compensation claims—all hinge on how sanctions are lifted.
Topic:
Security, Political Economy, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

3625. Anti-terrorism and Peace-building During and After Conflict

Author:
Ekaterina Stepanova
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Since the tragic events of 11 September 2001, much has been said about potential links between the fight against terrorism and peace-building. In the meantime, the fight against terrorism and peace-building have, by and large, continued to be implemented separately and by different sets of actors. The events of 11 September might have led the world's leading states to reassess terrorism as a security threat, but could hardly fundamentally alter the nature of peace-building operations and tasks, from institution- and democracy-building to post-conflict recovery and reconstruction. It is not surprising that the way the threat of terrorism is addressed by actors involved in peace-building activities is often limited to its possible effect on the security environment for their operations. It is thus seen as a problem to be solved either by the security component of the mission, or by an ad hoc international security force, or by national security structures (if any). A certain reserve towards the fight against terrorism on the part of the peace-building community is not without foundation, and may be seen as a natural reaction to the declaration after 11 September 2001 of a global 'war on terrorism' which goes far beyond traditional anti-terrorist priorities and needs. In fact, many of the adverse effects of this global campaign stem precisely from a lack of clarity about its nature and operational goals.
Topic:
Security, Peace Studies, and Terrorism

3626. Lifting the Winner's Curse and Avoiding Buyer's Remorse: Lessons from HR Outsourcing Experiences

Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The National Academy of Public Administration
Abstract:
As the title of this forum suggests, both the government and contractors can lose when outsourcing does not work. At the same time, the prevailing view expressed by the panelists was that outsourcing presents a promising opportunity for the public and private sectors to improve performance and minimize costs.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Government, and Industrial Policy

3627. Protecting the Homeland: Lessons from Prior Government Reorganizations

Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The National Academy of Public Administration
Abstract:
This might well have been the greeting card on the desk of the nation's first Secretary of Homeland Security: Officially launched January 24, 2003 with 180,000 employees and a budget of nearly $40 billion, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is, at its inception, the third largest cabinet agency in the U.S. government. No U.S. government reorganization of this magnitude has been accomplished since the creation of the Department of Defense following World War II.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Government, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
United States

3628. The Caribbean Security Scenario at the Dawn of the 21st Century: Continuity, Change, Challenge

Author:
Ivelaw L. Griffith
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The North-South Center, University of Miami
Abstract:
The two epigraphs — one by a noted scholar and erstwhile policyactor and the other by a respected policymaker with intellectual acumen — capture core elements of the twin realities of continuity and change that define the security scenario of the contemporary Caribbean. Proximity, vulnerability, and instability are not new features of the Caribbean or of Caribbean-United States dynamics; they represent some of the continuity from times past. However, they assume special character because of the terrorism tragedy that has “cast a pall across the whole hemisphere,” to quote Barbados Prime Minister Arthur.
Topic:
Security and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, Latin America, Caribbean, and North America

3629. Nuclear Dimensions of the Iraqi Crisis

Author:
Morten Bremer Maerli
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
In accordance with Resolution 1441, unanimously passed by the UN Security Council, Iraq on November 7th, 2002, submitted a declaration of its activities concerning weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Copies of the declaration were forwarded to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and later to the permanent members of the Security Council. The declaration described the various methods used by Iraq in trying to produce nuclear material suitable for weapons, as well as the many sites involved in the nuclear program. In the nearly 12,000-page document Iraq claimed that it had no current WMD programs. However, intelligence analysts from the United States and other nations immediately began to scrutinize the document, and senior US officials quickly rejected the claims made by Iraq.
Topic:
Security, Nuclear Weapons, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

3630. Small arms problems in Belgrade - a survey of young people's knowledge and attitudes

Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Abstract:
The wars in which the Republic of Serbia1 took part during the nineties left behind a multitude of easily accessible small arms that soon appeared on the streets of all Serbian cities. The ready availability of uncontrolled firearms in any society is concern enough, but in Serbia's case this diffusion of small arms into society occurred against a backdrop of economic crisis, an unprecedented growth of criminal activity, and a nationalistic discourse of 'patriotic wars' in which violence, gun-use, militarism and machismo were mythologised to serve political ends.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Civil Society
Political Geography:
Europe and Serbia