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4752. Thanksgiving in a Place Called Chiapas
- Author:
- Michael Meaney
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Thanksgiving 2010. No turkey. No gravy. No pumpkin pie. Instead: armed men in ski masks, hitchhiking through the mountains, and a Catholic church filled with incense and two thousand candles. I divided the holiday between two villages near San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico. Both of these villages are notable for their distinct cultures. The first place I visited, Oventic, is operated by indigenous rebels who seized autonomy through the 1994 rebellion by the Zapatista Army for National Liberation (the Zapatistas) in protest of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The second place, San Juan de Chamula, is operated by local political bosses and village elders, who serve as the leaders of a distinct belief system that mixes Catholicism and indigenous spirituality into a literally intoxicating local religion.
- Topic:
- Politics
- Political Geography:
- North America and Mexico
4753. American Aid and Human Rights in the Philippines
- Author:
- Christian Pangilinan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The streets of Catmaran, a small town in Northern Samar province in the Philippines, seem wide compared to those of the capital, Manila. There is almost no traffic. Instead of dense rows of aluminum-roofed shacks, rough concrete houses, and stalls with plastic signs for soda and cell phone companies, green farms and bahay kubo, traditional thatch houses on stilts, border the roads. At first glance, the beaches look idyllic.
- Topic:
- Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- America and Philippines
4754. On Political Virtue: A Discussion of Prudence and Fortitude in U.S. Governance Interview with Chuck Hagel
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The Journal sits down with former Senator Chuck Hagel to listen to his perspective on a number of the current pressing issues of U.S. foreign policy: the 2012 presidential elections, engagement in the Middle East, and the ongoing debate regarding the obligation of the United States to protect civilians across the globe.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and Middle East
4755. A Changing Game: Politics and Foreign Affairs Interview with Madeleine Albright
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The Journal talks with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright about her views on the present progression of U.S. foreign policy and the understanding her career has brought about therein.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
4756. Post-Asad Syria
- Author:
- Daniel Serwer
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- The situation in Syria has gone from bad to worse. United Nations (UN) observers have been unable to do more than report on numerous violations of the UN Security Council (UNSC)–sponsored ceasefire as well as atrocities committed against civilians. The authorities restrict their movements, threaten their security, and interfere with their communications. The Syrian government continues to use artillery, helicopter gunships, and paramilitary shabiha (loosely translated as “thugs”) against peaceful protesters as well as armed insurgents. The Free Syrian Army and other insurgent forces control at least some territory and are attacking Syrian security forces and installations. Unknown assailants have committed a series of bombings against government offices and assassinated senior defense figures. Arms are flowing to the government from Russia while Saudi Arabia and Qatar are supplying the Free Syrian Army.
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Syria
4757. "Left of Bang": The Value of Sociocultural Analysis in Today's Environment
- Author:
- Michael T. Flynn, James Sisco, and David C. Ellis
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- Hard lessons learned during counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, counterterrorist operations across continents, and the Arab Spring all contributed to a growing recognition within the Intelligence Community (IC)1 of the importance of understanding the “human terrain” of operating environments. The Department of Defense (DOD), its Service branches and combatant commands, and the broader IC responded to the demand for sociocultural analysis (SCA) by creating organizations such as the Defense Intelligence Socio-Cultural Capabilities Council, Human Terrain System, and U.S. Central Command's Human Terrain Analysis Branch, among others. For large bureaucracies, DOD and the IC reacted agilely to the requirement, but the robust SCA capabilities generated across the government over the last decade were largely operationally and tactically organized, resourced, and focused. What remains is for the IC to formulate a strategic understanding of SCA and establish a paradigm for incorporating it into the intelligence process.
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Iraq
4758. Evolved Irregular Threats
- Author:
- Ben Fitzgerald and Pia Wanek
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- Almost every aspect of national security is colored by uncertainty. While it would be arrogant to consider that this moment in history carries more uncertainty than others, we presently find ourselves facing a multiplicity of uncertainties that pull us simultaneously in different directions. Drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the future implications of those conflicts, the ongoing events of the Arab Spring, the rise and increased assertiveness of near-peer competitors, a variety of nonstate actors with increasingly sophisticated capability, and economic crises in Europe create additional contingencies that require our attention. Simultaneously, economic uncertainty at home limits our means, requiring prioritization and the acceptance of additional risk.
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, and Europe
4759. Challenges Developing Host Nation Police Capacity
- Author:
- James K. Wither
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- Stability operations embrace a wide range of civil-military missions in fragile or conflictaffected states, and they range from traditional peacekeeping to combat with well-armed insurgents or criminal elements. Often different activities, including combat, policing, humanitarian assistance, and reconstruction, occur concurrently in the theater of operations. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has described these operations as: military missions, tasks, and activities conducted outside the United States in coordination with other instruments of national power to maintain or reestablish a safe and secure environment, provide essential governmental services, emergency infrastructure reconstruction, and humanitarian relief.
- Political Geography:
- United States
4760. Logistics Islands: The Global Supply Archipelago and the Topologics of Defense
- Author:
- Pierre Bélanger and Alexander Scott Arroyo
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- For the Department of Defense (DOD), the most important difference between Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan is neither cultural nor political, but logistical. Admiral Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, summed up the difference with terse precision: “We don't have a Kuwait.” Lacking a secure staging ground adjacent to the theater of operations exponentially complicates getting materiel to and from forward operating bases (FOBs) and combat outposts (COPs), in turn requiring a longer and more complex logistical supply chain. Landlocked among non– International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) states, unstable allies (Pakistan and China to the east, Kyrgystan and Uzbekistan to the north), and regional “rogue states” (Iran), Afghanistan is, for logistical operations, a desert island.
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Uzbekistan, and Island