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Cruser News [October 2012]
This newsletter from the Naval Postgraduate School's (NPS) Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER) contains the following articles: "Passive UxV Navigation Using Visual Sensors"; "Legal Implications of Autonomous Weapons Systems"; "Qualitative Metrics for Autonomy"; and "Warfare Innovation Workshop".
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
2012-10
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Cruser News [June 2012]
This newsletter from the Naval Postgraduate School's (NPS) Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER) contains the following articles: "High Speed USVs [unmanned surface vehicle] for River Recon"; "Students Learn about World War II Shipwrecks at MATE [Marine Advanced Technology Education] Center's Annual Robotics Competition: Underwater Robots Help Students Assess and Remediate Simulated Shipwrecks"; and "Unmanned Technologies Assessed in Navy's Trident Warrior".
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
2012-06
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Cruser News [October 2011]
This newsletter from the Naval Postgraduate School's (NPS) Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER) contains the following articles: "4K Video Aloft"; "UUV [Unmanned Undersea Vehicle] Will Double as Offensive and Defensive Tool in Undersea Warfare"; "CRUSER Warfare Innovation Workshop"; "Roboethics: Rhetoric vs Reality, A Symposium for the Warfighter"; and "Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Technology Consortium (ISRTC)".
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
2011-10
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Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER) [website]
"At the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, the Naval Postgraduate School [NPS] leverages its long-standing experience and expertise in the research and education of robotics and unmanned systems to support the Navy's mission. The Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER) serves as a vehicle to align currently disparate research efforts and integrate academic courses across discipline boundaries. CRUSER provides a collaborative environment for the advancement of educational and research endeavors across the Navy and Marine Corps. The Consortium seeks to capitalize efforts, both internal and external to NPS, by facilitating active means of collaboration, providing a portal for information exchange among researchers and educators with collaborative interests, fostering innovation through directed programs of operational experimentation, and supporting the development of an array of educational ventures. CRUSER is a facilitator for the Navy's common research interests in current and future unmanned systems and robotics. The Consortium, working in partnership with other organizations, will inject a focus on robotics and unmanned systems into existing joint and naval field experiments, exercises, and war games, as well as host specific events, both experimental and educational. The Consortium hosts classified and unclassified web spaces to serve as collaborative environments for the community. Furthermore, with the operational needs of the Navy and the Marine Corps at its core, CRUSER will be an inclusive, active partner for the effective education of future military leaders and decision makers. Refining existing courses of education and designing new academic programs will be an important benefit of CRUSER, making the Consortium a unique and indispensable resource for the Navy and highlighting the educational mission of the Naval Postgraduate School."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
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Whole of Government Approach for National Security
From the thesis abstract: "The national security system the President uses today allows little flexibility and agility to protect this nation from ever changing national threats. The lack of a common national government culture that facilitates a shared vision is evident. Additionally, the lack of inter-agency coordination and cooperation forces departments to focus on their own objectives and goals. However, with today's challenges, the demand for inter-agency collaboration has grown, and it has been identified as a necessity to achieve an adequate level of national security for the nation. The national security structure needs to operate as a system rather than a collection of separate components. A whole of government approach to planning, and programming and budgeting national security is a concept that could establish a unified effort between inter-governmental agencies to maximize all available resources in a collaborative effort. 'Addressing new security challenges is less about an objective of dominance and more about predicting, preventing, and managing disruptions, such as proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorist acts, global contagions, and natural disasters. This has led to the call for a whole of government approach to national security' (Gockel, 2008, p. 6). This project investigates how this approach could be developed and implemented across the federal government."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Percy, Jason L.; Fellows, Terry A., Jr.
2009-12
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Comparison of 'Functional Concept of Battlespace Awareness' Versus the Concept of 'Power to the Edge,' with a Focus on Integrating Shotspotter Sensors and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
"Current military doctrine is primarily hierarchical in nature with respect to power and authority. The 'Functional Concept of Battlespace Awareness' (FCBA) is a military sensor methodology that employs a hierarchical command structure to test emerging technologies. Asymmetric warfare, however, demands a faster and more adaptive warfighting mentality that distributes power and responsibility across more of the fighting forces, particularly those that are at the frontlines of the battlefield. 'Power to the Edge' is a warfighting concept that emphasizes a departure from traditional military hierarchies and a transition into a configuration that empowers 'Edge' actors with information and authority. The exploitation of tactical opportunities by edge actors is essential to victory for an edge organization, and fundamentally what makes it more effective than traditional hierarchies. This thesis will explore the concept that the 'Power to the Edge' doctrine is a more effective way to fight the enemies the United States will likely face in the Information Age. By analyzing and interpreting data collected at the Extended Awareness (EA) II and Extended Awareness IIB experiments, this thesis intends to explore an example of transition in current U.S. command and control methodology to keep up with a changing enemy. EA investigates how new advances in tactical sensor technologies, fusion systems, and display systems will change the military's battlefield situational awareness. In this thesis, EA data from an acoustic gunshot location sensor called 'Shotspotter' is used to explore the potential effectiveness of FCBA and Power to the Edge."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Elliott, Derek J.; Thompson, Matthew G.
2005-09
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Path Dependence and Foreign Policy: A Case Study of United States Policy Toward Lebanon
From the thesis abstract: "Currently, the US seems to be solely focused on achieving success in the liberation of Iraq and the establishment of a working democracy there. What has been often overlooked is the historical legacy of a tiny nation in the Levant, Lebanon. Many studies show Lebanon as a viable democracy prior to the start of the civil war in 1975. Today, the infrastructure and the institutions for successfully transitioning back to democracy are still present and are already further enforced. Among the Arab states, Lebanon is the most likely to succeed in transitioning to democracy. Considering US national security strategy of propagating democracy and free enterprise, it would be vital to US national security interests to consider Lebanon. Successfully supporting a return to democracy there would not only lessen its appeal as a haven for terrorism, but would also provide the US with a democratic Arab ally in the Middle East. This case study identifies path dependence as a significant factor behind the US policy of disengagement toward Lebanon since 1983. It argues that instead of the vicious cycle of disengagement wrought by the 1980s policy, a new path of engaged political activism could bring a more positive future for Lebanon."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Reyes, Raymond L.
2004-09
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Testing and Demonstrating Speaker Verification Technology in Iraqi-Arabic as Part of the Iraqi Enrollment Via Voice Authentication Project (IEVAP) in Support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)
"This thesis documents the findings of an Iraqi-Arabic language test and concept of operations for speaker verification technology as part of the Iraqi Banking System in support of the Iraqi Enrollment via Voice Authentication Project (IEVAP). IEVAP is an Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) sponsored research project commissioned to study the feasibility of speaker verification technology in support security requirements of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). The intent of this project is to contribute toward the future employment of speech technologies in a variety of coalition military operations by testing speaker verification and automated speech recognition technology in order to improve conditions in the war torn country of Iraq. In this phase of the IEVAP, NPS [Naval Postgraduate School] tested Nuance Inc's Iraqi- Arabic voice authentication application and developed a supporting concept of operations for this technology in support of a new era in Iraqi Banking."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Pena, Edwin D.; Withee, Jeffrey W.
2007-09
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Principles of Strategic Combined Joint Special Operations
From the thesis abstract: "Throughout the history of warfare, different countries have used special operations in their effort to achieve key strategic objectives. The objectives of these special operations ranged from hostage rescue to foreign government overthrow. Nonetheless, all of these objectives were of strategic importance for the high-level decision makers who conceived and ordered the missions. Thus, because of their high potential payoff, these particular special operations aimed at achieving strategic objectives could be defined as 'Strategic Special Operations'. As a consequence of the international terrorism threat within the context of globalization, there is an increased likelihood for 'Strategic Combined Joint Special Operations' to be used in the future as an efficient method for solving potential international crises. This thesis proposes the following principles: a balance between common and national interest, intelligence sharing, interoperability, and a division of responsibilities, as the key factors for the success of 'Strategic Combined Joint Special Operations'. Each principle is analyzed with the intention to highlight the possible issues that may appear during the design, preparation, and execution of Strategic Combined Joint Special Operations. Last but not least, a model of implementing these principles is proposed as a useful tool for political and military decision makers."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Negulescu, Florinel Constantin
2009-06
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Analytic Framework for the War of Ideas
"We develop models for the spread of two opposing ideologies in a closed population based on epidemic models. Based on different interaction rules, we study deterministic and stochastic models of the problem. The goal of our work is to provide a tractable analytical framework for each situation, and to analyze the effect of different initial conditions on the proportion of the population affiliated with each ideology after a large time interval."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Schramm, Harrison
2006-09
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Biological Weapons Attribution: A Primer
"The possibility of an enemy attack using biological weapons (BW) remains one of the biggest threats to U.S. and global security. U.S. defense and deterrence policies are based on the assumption that the perpetrator can be quickly and reliably identified. If perpetrators can conduct attacks without the fear of attribution or punishment, they can act with impunity. The ability to punish, therefore, rests on the ability to identify the perpetrator. Thus, the goal of attribution is at the root of all national security strategies. Unfortunately, there are three reasons why the attribution of BW attacks are very difficult: (1) the nature of biological weapons, (2) the unique restrictions the international environment places on BW attribution, and (3) the bureaucratic constraints and organizational overlap that domestic political environments can impose if a BW attack occurs. This thesis thus provides a basic epistemological framework for analysis for successful BW attribution, detailing the nature, methods, and limits of current BW attribution capabilities."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Stone Bahr, Elizabeth L.
2007-06
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Continuity and Transformation in the United States' Nuclear Posture
From the Thesis Abstract: "This thesis created a matrix to compare the four post-Cold War Nuclear Posture Reviews (NPRs) published by the United States Department of Defense. Side-by-side comparison of these white papers revealed remarkable trends in U.S. nuclear policy. The matrix began by assigning themes within NPRs to paradigms common to international relations research. These paradigms are declaratory policy, procurement policy, employment policy, and deployment policy. This thesis began by analyzing the history of NPRs and reactions to them in the scholarly and international communities. Next, it created an impartial summary of the identified themes as they are tracked through the NPRs. This thesis then analyzed and critiqued the trends in nuclear policy based on the matrix, scholarly reactions to NPRs, and other research related to U.S. force structure and the worldwide threat environment such as the economic interdependence between the United States and China and how it affects the two countries' relationship. Some policy trends followed party lines; others did not. Some were erratic and others were more predictable. The value of these trends validates some concerns and disproves others with regard to the U.S. nuclear posture and the worldwide threat environment. The thesis concluded that the world is a safer place with nuclear weapons, and although a world free of nuclear weapons is a responsible goal for future policymakers, it is simply not practical for the foreseeable future."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Metz, Andrew D.
2019-12
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Digital Infrastructure's Connection Between Citizens and the Cultivation of Homeland Security Terrain
From the Thesis Abstract: "The purpose of this research is to investigate the shift of the homeland security landscape in response to rapid urbanization and integration of technology in cities. Governments and municipalities are rushing toward the utilization of advanced technologies to solve challenges dealing with urban expansion and the increase of high-tech threats. Privacy concerns and vulnerabilities in associated 'smart city' design are becoming apparent and related to the adoption of new security measures. This thesis answers the question: How will the transformation of Homeland Security terrain, influenced by smart city infrastructure, affect how governments deliver services and security to citizens? The effects are revealed through the use of a comparative analysis between Singapore and Denmark, highlighting the governmental composition, social dynamics and policy approaches involved with smart city development. The comparison discloses that the effectiveness and implementation of a smart city design in part depends on the level of collaboration, training, and policy formulation in security planning that occurs among public-private, academic and citizen stakeholders. The results suggest that stakeholders should be involved from the beginning in smart city planning. Their initial involvement allows for security and privacy issues to be mitigated beforehand. It also encourages the public's trust of government services that are delivered in an advanced technological city environment."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Valero, Noah R.
2019-12
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Measuring the Effectiveness of Surveillance Technology at the U.S. Southern Border
From the Thesis Abstract: "The United States' investment in southern border security has consistently been a topic of discussion regarding technological improvements and measurements of effectiveness. There have been multiple failed programs designed to combine infrastructure, personnel, and technology, ranging from the America's Shield Initiative (ASI) to the Secure Borders Initiative Network (SBInet). These efforts have resulted in billions of dollars of wasted funding. The latest initiative, named the Southwest Border Technology Plan, claims to use lessons learned from previous failures and focuses on integrating systems tailored to individual sectors of the border. A related issue is the use of apprehension rates and other passive metrics as the measures of effectiveness for the security of the southern border, continuing the historical inconsistency of inaccurate reporting methods. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recognized the problem of inadequate measurement and is developing new methods with the assistance of improved data captured with biometric systems; however, the issue of inaccurate reporting remains. An alternate and more active option to consider for measuring security effectiveness is red teaming. This thesis explores the following questions: what technologies are currently utilized for border security and how can their effectiveness be measured? And, can red teaming be used to improve on existing measures of effectiveness?"
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Hudspeth, Robert A.
2019-12
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Homeland Human Security: A New Framework for America's Approach to Homeland Security?
From the Thesis Abstract: "The current understanding of the concept of homeland security in the United States--measures taken to protect the United States from terrorist attacks and to recover from natural disasters--has resulted in a practical approach that largely ignores many threats to the security of the average American. A deeper analysis of the insecurities faced by the American people reveals that the security of the homeland is a complex system of interconnected varieties of security including food, health, personal, economic, environmental, community, and political. This thesis suggests an alternate approach to homeland security based on the human security framework--a non-traditional approach to understanding security that seeks to shift the referent object of security from the state to the individual and ensure a world where the individual is free from fear, free from want, and free to live in dignity. This research explored the nexus of homeland security and human security by examining the development of the concept of homeland security, identifying the shortcomings of the current approach, and outlining the applicability of the human security framework to the understanding and practice of homeland security. This thesis finds that an approach to homeland security based on the steps for applying the human security framework is not only plausible, but would result in overall increased security for the American people."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Schiavone, Michael V.
2019-12
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Biothreat Response: Local Emergency Response Efforts for Suspicious and Unknown Substances
From the Thesis Abstract: "In 2001, the United States faced two attacks that ultimately changed how emergency responders mitigate and recover from terrorism events: the devastating attacks of 9/11 and a case known as Amerithrax, in which letters tainted with anthrax were mailed to media outlets and politicians. While the nation was initially unprepared to take on a biological weapon of mass destruction such as anthrax, government agencies and first responders collaborated to overcome this silent adversary, and the FBI closed its Amerithrax investigation in 2010. This thesis presents a historical analysis of Amerithrax to assess how the federal and state resources that were developed with this case have affected the nation's preparedness for future weapons-of-mass-destruction attacks with a biological nexus. The analysis shows that, as a result of Amerithrax, response agencies adopted laws and procedures to standardize equipment, training, investigative methods, and emergency preparedness and response efforts. Furthermore, the thesis analyzes policies of local law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical response teams, showing that local decision-makers have failed to take the same posture as their state and federal partners, which weakens their response capabilities. Finally, the thesis compares efforts in the United States to efforts of foreign governments and provides recommendations to help local agencies respond more successfully to cases involving suspicious and unknown substances."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.); Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Dowdell, Craig S.
2019-12
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Department of Defense Counterdrug Mission: Can the Effectiveness Be Measured?
From the Thesis Abstract: "For the last 30 years, the Department of Defense (DoD) has been asked in various ways to measure the effectiveness of the DoD counterdrug mission. In this thesis, I advance the idea of using the drug purity data as the best and only stand-alone metric to determine if drug interdiction efforts are reducing the amount of illicit drugs available in the United States. I also present a cost-benefit equation the DoD can utilize to determine the cost effectiveness of the counterdrug mission. The intangible benefits and unintended consequences of the DoD counterdrug mission are relayed and include developing partner nation relations and building partner capacity, positive and negative impacts on military readiness, and promoting the incorrect idea that the military can and should be used to solve any national problem. I conclude that the DoD cannot measure the outcomes of the counterdrug mission; however, it can combine counterdrug mission data already collected with key performance indicators inside of a pattern and trend methodology to better correlate the DoD counterdrug mission and supply-side outcome goals."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Berry, Brian F.
2019-12
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Assessing the Potential Value of Autonomous Vehicles in Emergency Medical Services Using the Knowledge Value Added Methodology
From the Thesis Abstract: "Directors and fire chiefs throughout the emergency services are facing staffing shortages as emergency medical technicians and paramedics migrate to higher-paying, less-hazardous jobs in the medical field or emergency management environment. These shortages are compounded by a continually increasing service demand. This research compares the current 'As Is' model in the multi-tiered, fire-based, advanced-life-support emergency medical system with the 'To Be' model, which incorporates autonomous vehicle technologies. The two models were assessed using a knowledge value added (KVA) methodology to determine whether autonomous technology would increase productivity and add value by decreasing unit workload and increasing system capacity. The 'As Is' model showed a return on knowledge (ROK) across all medical-based subprocesses but an inverse relationship between ROK and subprocess time, meaning that ROK drops when responders perform non-medical tasks and worsens the longer a subprocess takes. Moreover, driving is a poor use of the employee's overall knowledge as ROK for driver subprocesses was as low as 38 percent during long transport times. The 'To Be' model showed superior ROK across all variations of driver and most medical subprocesses, and all driver subprocesses showed exponential increases in ROK. This thesis finds that increased transport times and call volumes increase ROK in the 'To Be' model, indicating a quantifiable value-add from autonomous technology."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.); Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Hillhouse, Joseph S.
2019-12
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From Golden Handcuffs to Pig Iron: Projecting Pension Reform's Impact on the Homeland Security Enterprise
From the Thesis Abstract: "The chronic underfunding of numerous public pensions, along with historic capital-market setbacks, has created a public pension debt crisis throughout much of the nation. The depth of this crisis makes pension reform inevitable, and that reform will transform the nature of public-servant compensation in the coming decades. This thesis explores the impact pension reform will have on the effectiveness of public-sector organizations with homeland security missions. To approach this issue, this thesis draws on existing academic literature from a wide range of disciplines, including economics, public administration, organizational behavior, sociology, and social psychology. Emerging from the research is a clear recognition that pension reform will change employee behavior, organizational culture, and the market for human capital through second- and third-order effects. Exactly how such change will play out is not so clear. The thesis turns to scenario-planning techniques to synthesize the diverse literature and provide plausible responses to the question of what pension reform's impact will be within the homeland security domain. The thesis offers three different potential outcomes and recommends more robust, collaborative scenario-planning initiatives for which the thesis itself provides a useful launching pad."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.); Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Waldman, Jeffrey H.
2019-12
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Regulating Hawala: Thwarting Terrorism or Jeopardizing Stability?
From the Thesis Abstract: "This thesis uses the case study method to investigate the unintended consequences that have resulted from the United States' efforts to deter criminal abuses of hawala. It explores the illegitimate and legitimate uses of hawala in Africa and the Middle East in the post-9/11 era. Despite extensive regulatory blocks, hawala has been a key financial node for the Taliban, Islamic State, and al-Shabaab. On the other hand, hawala serves as a lifeline for victims of terrorism in Africa and the Middle East. Any disruption in service jeopardizes their survival and protection. This study identifies how regulatory action has caused financial exclusion and is counterproductive to the United States' anti-money laundering efforts and campaigns against terrorism financing. Practices like de-risking encourage the growth of alternative money transfer systems. This assessment concludes with a recommendation to use mobile money platforms to reinvigorate the formal financial sector and promote financial inclusion. Mobile hawalas are already leveraging digital delivery channels and have gained rapid momentum. In lieu of further regulatory action, Western institutions can employ these emerging technologies to transform into more adaptive and advantageous competitors of hawala and avoid compromising the essential service it provides."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.); Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Mali, Monika
2019-12
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Reforming U.S. Immigration Policy: A Case for Merit-Based Immigration?
From the Thesis Abstract: "The thesis investigates how U.S. national interests have been defined in the country's immigration policy, and whether the current policy, which prioritizes family-based immigration, supports those interests. The Donald J. Trump administration has looked to Canada's points-based system, which has brought highly skilled and educated immigrants into the country. Through a comparative analysis of Canada's and the United States' immigration policies, this research provides perspective on whether screening immigrants is an effective way to meet a country's national interests, particularly economic interests, and whether other factors must be considered for immigration policies. Ultimately, this thesis found that current U.S. immigration policies do not best serve national interests. This is not because the U.S. prioritizes family-based immigration but rather because the stagnant immigration policy does not respond to the changing needs of the country. Common-sense immigration reform requires more than looking to foreign partners for solutions; it requires us to review current practices and identify ways to enhance existing policies."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.); Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Garza, Daisy
2019-12
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Plan Bee--Understanding Threats to the Honey Bee Population and Examining Strategies to Promote and Protect Pollinators
From the Thesis Abstract: "In the early 2000s, a series of pollinator colonies, including honey bee colonies, collapsed--an early warning of a serious threat to our nation's environmental, economic, and food security. Two national initiatives (the creation of the White House Pollinator Health Task Force in 2014 and the subsequent implementation of a national strategy to promote pollinator health in 2015) demonstrate that the government is serious about improving pollinator health. This thesis seeks to determine if pollinator health is a homeland security issue, and reviews policies in the United States and the European Union that protect the health of pollinators. These topics are explored through a comparative policy analysis centered on four considerations: a holistic focus on all pollinators, pesticide regulation, the inclusion of regional plans in national policy, and climate change. Research indicates that decisive governance in the quest for pollinator health is essential for national security. This thesis offers a limited scope that must be enhanced to attain a more robust and resilient national pollinator plan and to improve environmental, economic, and food security in the United States."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.); Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Pfrogner, Mildred G.
2019-12
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International Police Cooperation on Countering Transnational Terrorism
From the thesis abstract: "Since the inception of modern police organizations, the police have been on the front lines of counter terrorism operations. The changing concept of terrorism into a more transnational nature has driven police organizations to devise new means to counter this challenge. International police cooperation on countering transnational terrorism is the product of this evolution. There have been several initiatives to build a competent and effective international police cooperation organization to fight against transnational terrorism, and new ones are steadily proposed by different stakeholders in the international arena. Without understanding what makes an international police cooperation organization effective in countering transnational terrorism, these initiatives will only yield to further duplication of efforts, waste of resources, and a steep decrease in the overall performance of those organizations. This project analyzes four international police cooperation organizations using the level of structural relations within the organization and geographic proximity as the independent variables. The cases are evaluated based on the performance of these organizations in achieving three organizational functions information exchange, ad hoc assistance and capacity building, and policy coordination and contracting."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Yapsan, Hikmet
2012-06
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Utilizing Twitter to Locate or Track an Object of Interest
From the thesis abstract: "Data in online social networks can be used as a resource to locate persons of interest. The two key issues are the accuracy and the length of time to carry out the necessary categorization, correlation, and sifting. Literally millions of data items most unintentionally prepared to facilitate analysis are posted and made available through public data feeds. The lack of appropriate tools and schemas inhibit efficient identification and extraction of information. The broad applicability of locating persons of interest extends to humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief efforts, finding missing person(s), reconstructing movements of people, and prognosticating future movement of people. This research defines a method that was shown to be effective in utilizing social network data (Twitter) to locate and track a person of interest. A combination of C# programming language and structured query sequences was integrated with SQL [Structured Query Language] to correlate and sort hundreds of thousands of data items."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Nauta, Jeremy T.
2012-06
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Southern Thai Insurgency and the Prospect for International Terrorist Group Involvement
From the thesis abstract: "This thesis explores the cause of the southern Thailand insurgency and the possibility that international terrorist groups have become involved in it. The insurgency began as an ethnic struggle by Malay Muslims for independence from predominantly Buddhist Thailand. But with the advent of the global war on terrorism, some scholars believe it has become an increasingly religious one. They fear that if the insurgency has become Islamist, it will attract support from international terrorist groups, which will bring funds, training, and ideology to the already violent conflict. This thesis investigates these possibilities. It finds that Islam has grown in importance, but the struggle remains driven primarily by ethnic separatist, not religious, aims. Since it remains ethnic in nature, international terrorists have not taken a significant role in the movement. The ideological gap between them and the insurgents remains too wide. Nevertheless, it is worth monitoring the situation as the danger of international terrorists becoming involved exists if the insurgency becomes a religious struggle."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Brannon, Bradford M., III
2012-06
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Crime Trend Prediction Using Regression Models for Salinas, California
From the thesis abstract: "Salinas, California has been battling an above average crime rate for over 30 years. This is due primarily to two rival gangs in Salinas the Norteos and the Sureos. The city and the surrounding community have implemented many methods to mitigate the crime level, from community involvement to the inception of a gang task force. As of yet, none of the efforts have had long-lasting effects. In a 2009 thesis, Jason A. Clarke and Tracy L. Onufer postulated that various socio-economic variables are influential on the crime level in Salinas. They characterized crime as a summation of homicides, assaults and robberies reported. Their thesis determined that to lower overall violence levels, officials in Salinas should focus on reducing the unemployment rate, the number of vacant housing units, and the high school dropout rate, and increasing the high school graduation rate and average daily attendance. A deeper examination of the data could lead not only to assumptions about how to lower crime rates, but also to a means of predicting future crime rates by using various methods of multiple value regression."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Shingleton, Jarrod S.
2012-06
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Technology Strategy Integration
From the thesis abstract: "Techno-strategic integration is the process through which militaries integrate technological advances into a strategy that maximizes their advantages. While sheer military might is a function of a variety of factors, technology has taken center stage in the past two centuries. The industrial revolution changed the way war was fought; and the changes had wide ranging effects. The calamity of the First World War was in some ways a failure to techno-strategically integrate industrial age technology. The history of military technology and strategy illustrates many obstacles to the integration of the two. This thesis shows that successful techno-strategic integration is often highly correlated with effective execution of war and improvement of national security. On the other hand, enduring organizational preferences, inter-service rivalry, and commercial self-interest have often undermined new techno-strategic possibilities. However, with the growth and increasing capability of information age technology, this research shows growing indications that the techno-strategic paradigm of the industrial age is shifting. The United States is positioned to capitalize on its lead in informational innovations, and integrating technologies into new concepts of operations. If managed successfully, the United States might emerge with a leaner, more agile force that can keep its strategic competitors at bay."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Carter, Keith L.
2012-06
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United States Foreign Assistance Programs: The Requirement of Metrics for Security Assistance and Security Cooperation Programs
From the thesis abstract: "Foreign aid has been a signal component of United States foreign policy since the creation of the Marshall Plan. Since that time, as new requirements emerged, numerous foreign aid programs and initiatives were created and subsequently piecemealed together under various U.S. agencies. The confluence of programs, initiatives, and agencies has created a confusing and overly bureaucratized environment for expending funds in an effort to support the democratization and modernization of other countries. This study examines U.S. aid provided to Ukraine and Georgia to determine if they have progressed toward Westernized defense and military structures, in accordance with their stated national goals, within the realm of logistics. The question is whether U.S. security aid in these states has helped to achieve these goals. Addressing this question, this thesis proposes a hierarchal construct with differing assessment criteria based on how and where U.S. aid is applied. In the end, this analysis shows that U.S. aid and assistance programs and funds have assisted both Ukraine and Georgia with their modernization efforts. However, U.S. policy makers and policy implementers need to consideration alternative and new methods to accurately assess how well those funds are spent in-line with U.S. foreign policy goals."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Carl, Stephen J., Jr.
2012-06
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Adaptive COIN in Sri Lanka: What Contributed to the Demise of the LTTE?
From the thesis abstract: "The Government of Sri Lanka declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009, putting an end to a conflict of thirty years. The sudden demise of the LTTE, one of the most ruthless yet successful insurgent organizations, is worth understanding. This thesis attempts to do this by exploring the internal political dynamics, external influence on the conflict, and the Sri Lankan military's adaptations in order to determine what contributed to the demise of the LTTE. This thesis will argue that one of the most critical aspects of success for the government and its military was learning from adversity and the LTTE and adapting the political and military organizations of Sri Lanka. By becoming fast-adapting organizations, both the government as a whole and the military, in particular, managed to conduct a successful counterinsurgency [COIN] campaign that eventually ended the LTTE and eliminated its leadership."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Chandradas, Eranda Malaka
2012-06
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Defeating the Active Shooter: Applying Facility Upgrades in Order to Mitigate the Effects of Active Shooters in High Occupancy Facilities
From the thesis abstract: "The average duration of Active Shooter incidents in Institutions of Higher Education within the United States is 12.5 minutes. In contrast, the average response time of campus and local law enforcement to these incidents is 18 minutes. In the majority of Active Shooter incidents affecting U.S. IHEs [Institution of Higher Education], the emergency response time greatly exceeds the incident duration and affords law enforcement authorities no opportunity to interdict the shooter or prevent further casualties. This stark contrast between response requirements and response capability produces a considerable delta of dead, injured or potential victims and provides the unfortunate motivation for this project. The primary focus of this project is aimed at reducing the Rate of Kill of Active Shooters in U.S. IHEs. This thesis contains 14 case studies that examine lethal Active Shooter incidents that occurred in U.S. IHEs, as well as the Oslo and Utoya Island Active Shooter event that occurred in Norway. Data analysis on each of these incidents revealed facility composition as a critical vulnerability common to all of these incidents. Accordingly, the recommendations included in this thesis suggest a practical implementation of facility upgrades capable of mitigating the deadly effects of Active Shooters."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Ergenbright, Charles E.; Hubbard, Sean K.
2012-06
