Suchergebnisse

Current US strategic guidance has articulated a strategic rebalance to Asia to recognize future power trajectories in the region. It is a fact that burgeoning great powers (China and India) will continue to rise and directly exert their interests regionally. These rising regional interests may clash with those of the United States and its key allies (Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand). This study posits that ongoing military-to-military engagement with the Republic of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia will be instrumental to maintaining US influence in the region. To improve future USMC Security Force Assistance efforts in the region it is critical to examine prior bilateral military assistance activities with these countries (whether by the United States or other countries). This study will focus on the history of security force assistance activities in these countries (e.g. training assistance and the transfer of doctrinal practices) from the colonial periods to the present to identify how these activities influence political behavior in the studied countries. Additionally, systematically examining SFA over time will also aid in identifying best practices and areas for correction. By gaining a better understanding of how SFA activities have affected specific countries of interest, the USMC can better shape regional and country-specific Security Cooperation planning. Additionally, with the national strategic guidance, namely the Strategic Landpower Initiative, pushing for an increase in Security Cooperation activities such as SFA, gaining an understanding of the long-term implications will be important to where and to what extent the United States and its armed forces conduct military-to-military engagement activities. ; Naval Research Program ; Prepared for: MCSG Ops POC: Major Jonathan Brown

The article of record as published may be found athttps://doi.org/10.1080/10242694.2018.1558388 ; What are the effects of foreign security assistance on the quality of the peace in post-conflict countries? Despite the stakes, and the tremendous amount of weaponry and other forms of foreign military aid flowing to governments of post-conflict countries, the academic literature provides little guidance as to what effects policymakers and practitioners should expect from this type of aid. Military assistance provided to the govern- ment of a country emerging from the turmoil of civil war could enable the state to establish a monopoly on the legitimate use of force, leading to a more durable peace and greater human security. However, we contend that significant flows of military aid and weapons from foreign governments may encourage regimes to adopt more repressive approaches to governance. We investigate the impact of security assis- tance on human rights conditions after 171 internal armed conflicts that ended between 1956 and 2012 using a novel measure of military aid and an instrumented measure of weapons transfers. We find strong evidence that both military aid and arms transfers to post-conflict governments increase state repression.

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the influence of a training load (TL), oxygen saturation (SO2) and blood pressure (BP) on mood states in a wheelchair marathoner during (7 weeks at sea level (SL), 5 weeks at 3860 m altitude, 1 week returning to SL). TL was obtained with Foster's equation while mood states were obtained with the Profile of Mood States Questionnaire (POMS). Furthermore, SO2 and BP were assessed upon wakening. SO2 (%) decreased at altitude, compared to SL (88.31 ± 2.46 vs. 98.52 ± 0.11) and increased until the last week at altitude (92.64 ± 1.12). Systolic pressure (SP) increased at altitude compared to pre-altitude (126.0 ± 5.1 vs. 107.6 ± 4.4 mmhg), and was not different from the last week at altitude. Controlling for SO2 and SP, differences were also observed in fatigue (97.66 ± 18.92 vs. 17.39 ± 13.71) and vigor (73.23 ± 8.62 vs. 26.48 ± 11.89) as a function of altitude. Upon return to SL, fatigue, vigor, SO2 and SP returned to pre values. This case study demonstrated the POMS was sensitive to worsening patterns in fatigue and vigor at altitude through a practical survey approach combined with daily physiological assessment.