Browsing by Subject "War"
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Item A strange history of Vietnam: the history of the Vietnam War through film(Texas Tech University, 2006-08) Foster, Jason Everitt; Reckner, James R.; Walker, Donald R.History is being taught by film and as a result many people obtain an "Impression" of history and learn incomplete or in some cases biased history. This is especially true for the Vietnam War, where war films have been used to create a form of history termed "Impressionist history." This historical theory is explained in the context of a two other contemporary historical phenomena called epimethianism and reflectivity. Epimethian history occurs when the historian, who in this work is generally the filmmaker, applies contemporary values and ideas to the past. Reflectivity is a property of historical documents and narratives, including films that describe the degree to which the historian or filmmaker has inserted epimethianism into their analysis of the past. This work tells the history of the Vietnam War through selected films. It then deconstructs each film according to historical accuracy, epimethianism, and reflectivity.Item Anarchy, uncertainty, and dispute settlement : an endogenous-war model(2002-05) Kim, Dong-won; Wagner, R. Harrison (Robert Harrison)Belligerents are usually bargainers–they negotiate to reach an agreement and they fight to affect the negotiations. In general, a government at war considers a compromise peace when it has become sufficiently skeptical of its ability to subdue the adversary on the battlefield at tolerable costs. Thus even disputants that have started a war due to the collapse of prewar bargaining may not have to fight to the finish. The dissertation examines how dispute outcomes vary because even at war disputants can negotiate for a compromise settlement, and how treating war as a simple matter of military strategy can be misleading about the causes of war. If diplomacy does not stop despite the initiation of hostilities, then a belligerent can employ its forces more efficiently for conflict resolution by improving its bargaining strategy whenever it gains new information about the true state of affairs, and by holding out for the adversary’s concession until its assessment of the future development on the battlefield becomes sufficiently pessimistic. Thus an ironical situation can arise with two antagonists acting strategically against each other: a disputant which would not go to war if it should fight to the finish can decide to risk a war and a disputant which is actually resolved to fight long enough to coerce its terms on the adversary may not be able to demonstrate its determination without fighting long indeed. As a result, a monotonic relationship hardly arises between disputants’ expected war costs, their relative military strength, the scope of the stake at issue, or the status quo distribution of that stake on one hand and the probability of war initiation or dispute settlement on the other. The dissertation uses deduction to derive the main arguments and induction to test their empirical relevance. For deduction, it develops and analyzes a gamble engaging horse races and a two-person asymmetric bargaining game that encompasses prewar bargaining and the process of negotiating while fighting on the assumption that the conflict terminates whenever the players reach an agreement. For induction, it statistically analyzes the battles fought at the initial stages of the First World War and the militarized interstate dispute data (1996) and the Correlates of War interstate war data (1992).Item Bargaining and fighting in the moonlight(2011-08) Cohen, Matthew Leonard; Lin, Tse-min; Wagner, R. Harrison (Robert Harrison); Trubowitz, Peter; McDonald, Patrick; Granato, James"Audience costs" models of international relations suggest a purely informational role for domestic politics in conflict settings. Here, domestic politics serve as a rich signal of belligerents' true intentions, allowing them to more quickly resolve disagreements, decreasing the likelihood and duration of war. But if belligerents can have different beliefs about publicly available information, then domestic politics might confuse rather than clarify conflict situations, increasing the likelihood and duration of war. I present empirical evidence of conventional "audience costs" models' shortcomings in explaining the dynamics of the US counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and the response of Iraqi insurgents to those efforts. I then develop a formal model to show how differences in beliefs between insurgents and counterinsurgents about domestic political audiences in Iraq may have contributed to the prolonged nature of the conflict. I argue that the underlying cause of the conflict's duration is disagreement between belligerents about whether and how Iraqi civilians contribute to a successful counterinsurgency, leading belligerents to disagree not only before fighting about who is likely to win, but during fighting about who is actually winning.Item The Ludic wars : the interactive pleasures of post-9/11 military video games(2011-08) Payne, Matthew Thomas; Strover, Sharon; Straubhaar, Joseph; Kackman, Michael; Tyner, Kathleen; Cloud, DanaThis dissertation examines how commercially successful military-themed video games produced after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks are crafted, marketed, and played with the goal of understanding the interlocking technological, cultural, and social practices that contribute to their interactive pleasures. The systematic inquiry into the production and experience of media pleasure carries with it vexing questions about how such affect is created and how it is situated within broader cultural fields. This interdisciplinary project accordingly utilizes multiple methods including close textual readings of seminal games, a critical discourse analysis of marketing materials, and an ethnography and focus group of a war gaming fan community to track how these sites of practice give post-9/11 military-themed gameplay its distinctive experiential character and cultural import. The case studies examined herein reveal that the affective dimensions of militarized gameplay are intimately linked to the political and cultural forces undergirding their production, marketing, and reception, and that the games industry mobilizes anxieties about terrorism to entice gamers into virtually striking back against foreign aggressors.Item On witnessing : postwar cinema in Iran and Lebanon(2013-08) Kim, Somy; Ghanoonparvar, M. R. (Mohammad R.); Richmond-Garza, Elizabeth; El-Ariss, Tarek; Ali, Samer; Ramirez-Berg, Charles; Aghaie, KamranThis dissertation examines the particularly dynamic postwar cinema of Iran and Lebanon (1988-2007). Through a comparative approach, I consider the cinematic narratives that emerged from this critical period of national reconstruction in these two Middle Eastern countries. I argue that the precarious condition of the postwar, globalizing period allowed the untold stories of class and gender for instance, to appear from within the fabric of the discourse of war storytelling in particular ways. By comparing these two contexts I am able to draw from a shared visuality, and specifically the visual trope of the martyr that was popularized in Iran and Lebanon in the war periods. In Chapter One I trace the formidable production of the visual rhetoric of war in Iran and Lebanon through posters and cinema. In Chapter Two I highlight the emergence of an auteur filmmaking of the globalizing period in the Middle East, which emphasized the instability of representation and ‘true’ witnessing. In Chapter Three, I argue that an aesthetics of performing witnessing illuminated the class issues troubling cities like Tehran and Beirut. Finally, in Chapter Four I show how the generic conventions of popular genres like comedy and musical allowed for otherwise controversial social issues to be articulated in war films.Item ...That the children may learn(2012-05) Capps, Justin Taylor; Welcher, Dan; Pinkston, Russell; Drott, Eric; Tusa, Michael; O'Hare, Tom...That the Children May Learn is a 28-minute musical parable about the process by which children are indoctrinated into cultures of war through play, parental influence, and propaganda. Specifically, the composition focuses upon the universality of these overarching sociopolitical structures. It is the composer’s personal response to Igor Stravinsky’s L’histoire du soldat. Material is often drawn from or related to external sources, particularly national anthems and the so-called “Ur-song,” familiar to individuals of many nations (sol-sol-mi-la-sol-mi). Texts are original or comprise fragments from letters and diaries of soldiers and their families during wartime separation. Performance of the work may be accompanied by an optional multimedia projection, and may be conducted outside of the normal concert setting in an effort to motivate the closer examination by individuals from a broad variety of backgrounds of the issues raised in the piece. The analytical paper discusses the raison d'être for the composition as well as its micro- and macroorganization, and the variety of methods used to reinforce its strength as an agent of communication.Item The metrics of death: emotions and the effects of casualties on public opinion in militarized disputes and terrorism(2009-05-15) Mosher, Katrina N.Recent terrorist events (e.g., London, Madrid, and Bombay train bombings), as well as the attacks on September 11, 2001, have highlighted the impact casualties can have on domestic audiences. These incidents led to major foreign policy shifts, massive security expenditures, and the removal of an incumbent government (i.e., Spain). Yet, when we compare the number of those killed in terrorist events to those killed in militarized disputes, there are more negative public responses to casualties of terrorism than to militarized disputes. My dissertation examines this ?over reaction? by comparing reactions to different casualty contexts. The comparison of casualties across different hostility contexts is a unique contribution to the field. I posit a model in which the characteristics of the casualty event generate emotional reactions. The emotional response affects the way information about the event is processed by individuals, and alters individual?s support of aggressive/non-aggressive foreign policies. Furthermore, my model proposes that different types of negative emotions have different impacts on the process, as well as on the preferences for distinct foreign policies. I expect that different casualty characteristics such as the hostility context (terrorism and militarized disputes) and the characteristics of the targets (number killed and their identity) influence the specific negative emotions experienced by individuals. Thus, variations in these characteristics should alter public preferences for foreign policies. I use a multi-method approach to test my theoretical propositions. First, I utilize experimental methods that introduce different scenarios to the participants. Each scenario varies the casualty characteristics, and measures individual preferences for foreign policies. Second, I compiled a daily event data set that contains both terrorism and militarized dispute casualty statistics and public reaction data for Israel in 1969. This period provides wide variations along the independent variables. My results support the idea that casualty characteristics play a pivotal role in emotional responses to these events as well as in how individuals respond to casualty events. This work is unique in that it examined the role of the number of casualties in conjunction with the context in which they occur and who those casualties are.Item Veto players and dispute settlement(2012-08) Popal, Aziz; Rider, Toby J.; Patterson, Dennis; Lektzian, DavidThis thesis explains why some dyads succeed in reaching a negotiated settlement to their dispute than others. The main argument in this thesis is that the number of veto players directly affects the likelihood of the dyads reaching a negotiated settlement. first, two contradicting arguments (positive and negative effects theories) are presented in this thesis regarding the effects of domestic veto players on the negotiated settlements of dispute and later on the two hypotheses derived from both of the comparative arguments are tested in the statistical model and results are reported. After the statistical tests of both the arguments, I find support for the positive effects theory indicating that dyads with higher number of veto players are more likely to reach a negotiated settlement than otherwise. The positive effect of veto players is a valuable finding which contradicts the traditional view held by the existing literature about their negative effects on negotiations. The theory is tested in a logit model with the data from the MID dataset ranging from 1816 till 2001. There are 2670 dyadic disputes in the dataset compiled for this study.Item War and peace in contemporary international relations: an empirical study of the concept of intermediacy in international law and politics(Texas Tech University, 1991-05) Aikhionbare, Edoisiagbon VictorThe conventional understanding of war and peace in international relations is that nation A is either at "war" or at "peace" with nation B. War as a legal condition is usually viewed as an aberration from the norm, a malfunction of an organism whose normal condition is one of peace. Recent theoretical developments question the rigid adherence to this old dichotomous approach of defining contemporary relations between nations. This study, therefore, raises a general question as to the juxtapositioning of the legal and political nature of war and peace since the end of World War II. Three dyadic relations--U.S. and U.S.S.R. from a global perspective, Israel and some selected Arab neighbors from a regional perspective, and Algeria and France from a national perspective--were used as case studies. With data from the Conflict and Peace Data Bank (COPDAB) and using a simple frequency distribution, the researcher analyzed dyadic events that may have led to cooperation and conflict from 1948 to 1978 on a 15-point conflict and cooperation scale. Findings suggested that the either-war-or-peace paradigm does not apply to the characterization of the behavior of the selected actors in the period the data covered. It was found that the conventional use of the terms "war" and "peace" gives an unrealistic image of the characterization of how nations behave in contemporary international relations because these conditions were found to be in a state of flux and constantly evolving. Therefore, the conclusion was that nations are neither at war nor at peace. Their affairs are conducted in a state of intermediacy. These findings further suggested that the conditions of war and peace in today's international relations should be seen from a holistic point of view in which war and peace are interdependent, interconnected, and interrelated, and simply different aspects of the same phenomenon. The difference between them is relative within an all-embracing unity. Such pair of opposites constitute a polar relationship where each of the two poles is dynamically linked to the other.Item War as Aesthetic: The Philosophy of Carl von Clausewitz as the Embodiment of John Dewey's Concept of Experience(2011-10-21) De Berg, Oak HerbertThis dissertation confirms war as the zenith of aesthetic experience and demonstrates the pragmatic nature of war through explication of John Dewey?s aesthetic philosophy. Likewise, the coherency of Carl von Clausewitz?s philosophy parallels Dewey as it too leads to complete development, or flourishing, of the individual in a complex, ever-changing world. Von Clausewitz?s sets his philosophy in the context of war, but his philosophy transcends that milieu. The timelessness of the General?s philosophical concepts guarantees the appropriateness of these concepts in today?s inconstant world. To exemplify this point, this paper applied von Clausewitz?s concepts to the range of contemporary wars in which the demands on modern warriors are often perceived as qualitatively different from demands placed on individuals in the armies of the early 1800s. This perception is shown to lack credibility and, even though the methods and technologies of war are in continuous flux while the basic nature of war remains unchanged, the germane nature of the General?s philosophy to contemporary times remains unsullied and follows logically. Rather than simply asserting that the concepts of these two philosophers are apropos in the contemporary context of war, this dissertation concludes by contending that modern military thinkers employ the Clausewitzian philosophy, as synthesized by John Boyd, as a basis for fighting in today?s contemporary environment. As an exemplar, the current doctrine of the United States Marine Corps is offered as a template of the philosophy of von Clausewitz and, by extension, Dewey. Modern war, once established as an archetype of the Deweyan philosophy, can be claimed as the primary illustration of the aesthetic.Item The war at home : a veteran's use of critical design methods for post-deployment reintegration(2015-05) Perez, Jose Manuel; Catterall, Kate; Sonnenberg, StephenMany combat veterans underestimate the on-going traumatic effects of war, effects that eventually surface in civilian life, causing health, relationship and career problems. During a deployment, emotions such as vigilance, anger, and fear are beneficial for the soldier and aide in coping with multiple combat-related adversities. Suppression of emotions that do not assist the soldier or mission during deployment is necessary and becomes habitual as it helps the soldier stay motivated and focused for the duration of the deployment. Post-deployment, the coping mechanisms previously necessary for survival, contribute to the difficulties of reintegration. The problems encountered by veterans can include, but are not limited to: social withdrawal, economic decline, self-medication, and most problematic, suicidal tendencies. As a veteran myself, I began to ask, is there another way to prepare veterans for re-entry to civilian life, to prevent unnecessary hardships and tragedies, educate them in unfamiliar ways, and perhaps contribute to an effective healing process? As a designer I approached these questions, searching for a way to communicate the adversities veterans face from an unexpected angle. Presented here are prototypes, diagrams, and warning systems designed to help veterans 1) be more self-aware and alert to the symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression, 2) engage the armed forces and the VA in a discussion about innovative and more effective ways to talk about and treat the psychologically damaged soldier, and 3) foster communities to support veterans in their re-entry to civilian life. The objects I designed for my thesis exhibition are not intended to correct a complex problem such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or moral injury. Instead, they are created as a collection of tools to facilitate difficult conversations, provoke thought, and as an alternative approach to reach combat veterans who are in their own process of reintegration. My work is one method to process the effects of war through a non-destructive practice for those veterans who may not pay attention to the wall of pamphlets or other forms of disseminating information.Item War initiation by weaker powers : Georgia-Russia war 2008(2010-08) Cherkasova, Anna, 1987-; Busby, Joshua W.; Wynn, ChartersThis paper tries to determine to what extent US diplomatic and military support for Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries influences these countries’ decisions to become more assertive in the region, thereby provoking Russia’s aggressive behavior. It employs Robert Jervis’s framework of ‘deterrence and perception’ which, among other things, suggests that a weaker state will or will not be deterred from initiating a conflict against its stronger adversary depending on whether this state receives strong signals of third-party support and whether this state receives strong signals of threat. The case studies explored are Georgia and Ukraine, with particular attention to both countries’ relations with the United States (as the source for third-party support) and Russia (as the source for threat). The main finding is that Georgia’s perception of the US support was not sufficient to motivate Georgia to invade South Ossetia and thereby initiate a five-day war with Russia in August 2008. Georgia’s perception of Russia’s threat to carry out the policy of “creeping annexation” of South Ossetia and Abkhazia was the primary motivator behind Georgia’s behavior.Item "What makes the war" : everyday life in a military community(2010-05) MacLeish, Kenneth Thomas; Hartigan, John, 1964-; Stewart, Kathleen; Ali, Kamran; Keeler, Ward; Cvetkovich, AnnThis dissertation investigates the various levels at which the multi-scaled dynamics of war take shape in the everyday, embodied lives of the people whose job it is to produce it—soldiers and their families and communities at and around Ft. Hood, in central Texas. As the largest military installation in the world and the single biggest point of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan for all U.S. forces, Ft. Hood and its surround may represent the greatest single concentration of Americans directly involved in the production of global military force outside of Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. The repercussions of war and routinized war-making extend throughout the lives of the people who inhabit, serve and surround the base. The length, scale and distinct character of the Iraq War have exposed these soldiers and their family members to new and chronic hardships and forms of vulnerability, including the stresses of longer and more frequent tours, unprecedented rates of posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, overburdened institutional supports, and an abundance of extreme characterizations of soldiers in American public culture. These vulnerabilities are bodily and affective, intersubjective and shared, and bases for scrutiny and recognition. I base my analysis on the difficult and distinctive role that the soldier occupies as at once the agent, instrument and object of state violence. The soldier’s life is simultaneously shaped by discipline, empowered by the right to kill, and allowed to be exposed to harm and death. I use soldiers’ “exceptional” status as a starting point for understanding the dense sets of material, institutional, discursive, and social relations in which they are embedded. The dissertation chapters are organized around broad themes that emerged from my informants’ words, actions and experiences and that capture the impacts of war across diverse arenas of everyday life. I treat each theme as a field within which to explore not merely the effects of war, but its lived affects—-the “feelings” of war that are the variously sensory, psychic and emotional imprints of the everyday, organized production of military violence.Item When heaven fell : the development of "Paradisia"(2011-08) Nourbakhsh, Armineh; Kelban, Stuart; Thorne, Beau“Paradisia” is a feature screenplay that is set in Iran during the opening days of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq. It follows the story of a young couple in a war-torn border town, who, accompanied reluctantly by a random stranger, set off to bury the girl’s deceased father before they leave the city. This document is a report on the process of the development of the script, from the conception of its original idea, to the formulation of its plot, characters and structure, based on my sources of research and inspiration. It offers a brief account of the events of the first days of war, and compares and contrasts it to what I have chosen to portray in the script. It also lays out the major plot and character flaws of the original draft of the story, as were pointed out by my supervisor and readers, and demonstrates how I have attempted to address each one of them in order to improve the composition of my characters, the organization of the plot, and the consistency of the story’s structure.