VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Dixit, Priya"

Browsing by Author "Dixit, Priya"

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The All-Volunteer Force and Presidential Use of Military Force
Nasca, David Stephen (Virginia Tech, 2019-10-16)
The creation of the All-Volunteer Force (AVF) in 1973 allowed U.S. presidents to deploy American military power in times and places of their own choosing with fewer concerns that the electorate would turn against their leadership. A reaction to the trauma of the Vietnam War, the AVF did away with conscription and instead relied on volunteers to serve and fight in U.S. military operations. The AVF's ranks were mostly filled with those willing to deploy and fight for their country, without the U.S. having to rely on conscription. When U.S. presidents had to use the AVF to fight in conflicts, they could expect to enjoy a higher degree of public support than those presidents who led the U.S. military during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Drawing from casualty, financial, and public opinion statistics from 1949 through 2016, this thesis argues that with the adoption of the AVF in 1973 U.S. presidents have been better able to deploy the AVF in combat with less resistance from the American people. It examines the circumstances behind the creation of the AVF, looking second, at the deployment of the AVF from the Gulf War to the Global War on Terror to determine if U.S. presidents enjoyed popular support and were encouraged to rely on military force as the primary option in foreign policy. Finally, the study compares casualties, financial costs, and public support for conflicts relying on conscripted forces to those depending on the AVF to examine if U.S. presidents were better able to involve the U.S. in military conflicts of questionable interest with fewer worries about organized anti-war movements. The conclusions of my research revealed that my hypothesis was wrong in that the creation of the AVF did not mean the U.S. presidency enjoyed a higher degree of support during conflicts. With the exception of the Gulf War, presidential approval when using the AVF was less than 50% in every conflict by the time military operations ended. The majority of conflicts disclosed that public approval and disapproval was based on casualties, regardless if service members were draftees or volunteers, as well as financial costs. For Korea and Vietnam, high casualties and financial costs resulted in approval levels dropping quickly while Afghanistan and Iraq took longer because casualties and spending did not escalate as quickly. As a result, I discovered that public approval and disapproval levels influenced political change. In the case of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, it forewarned changes in political leadership while conflicts such as Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo were kept short and inexpensive to prevent political opposition from organizing against the presidency.
An Analysis: Complex Interdependence and the Chinese-United States Cyber Relationship
Morrison, Robert Maxwell (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-19)
The United States and the People's Republic of China maintain a unique relationship due to the high levels of interdependence between the countries' political, economic, military, and social functions. This association has been complicated in the past by Chinese industrial cyberespionage (CE) carried out against United States organizations and individuals in pursuit of economic advancement. This paper examines the nature of Chinese-American relations and determines whether its features adhere to Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye's theory of complex interdependence in Power and Interdependence. Further, this paper also explores possible reasons for a decline in Chinese CE beginning in mid-2014 and what impact this could have on the two countries' relations moving forward.
Bodies and Borders: Gendered Nationalism in Contemporary Poland
Palermo, Rachel Elizabeth (Virginia Tech, 2019-07-10)
The 11th of November 2018, marked the 100th year anniversary of Poland regaining independence in 1918, following nearly 123 years of partition. To commemorate this centennial anniversary, museums and cultural institutions around the country hosted exhibitions presenting national identity and narratives. In this thesis, I compare two such exhibitions in Warsaw, one hosted by the Warsaw National Museum and the other housed in the Warsaw Modern Art Museum. I argue that the employment of feminine figures as allegorical representations of the nation within the Krzycząc: Polska! Niepodległa 1918 (Shouting: Poland! Independence 1918), exhibition of the Warsaw National Museum, serves as an illustrative example of how women have historically, and continue to be, made physical and symbolic bearers of an exclusivist version of Polish national identity. The Niepodległe (Independent Women) exhibition housed in the Warsaw Modern Art Museum, on the other hand, presents an alternative, and more inclusive, means of national identity formation through acknowledging the heterogenous roles and identities taken up by the actual women of the nation.
The Buddhist and the Khaek: A Study of the Thai State's Ontological Security and Self-Identity
Chatikavanij, Wansit (Virginia Tech, 2021-05-21)
This thesis seeks to examine and analyze the manifestations of the ontological security and self-identity anxiety of the Thai states through its rhetoric in relation to Thai and Malayu Muslims. The main question being posed in this thesis is how the Thai state justified the use of force during the Tak Bai Incident in 2004 and the Ratchaprasong bombing in 2015. This thesis examines the rhetoric of the Thai state through speeches and media before, during, and after in the selected cases. Such rhetoric involves the framing and constructions of "Thainess" or Thai identity in relation to the "other" or Thai and Malayu Muslims during the events. This framing is related to ethno, religious, and cultural nationalism and draws on those narratives. The theory that this research draws from is the Ontological Security theory by Jennifer Mitzen and Brent Steele which allows us to analyze the Thai state's actions and identity construction during the events. Ontological security is the security of the self, which all states strive for since it is linked to self-identity constructions. States will take actions that are at times detrimental to the physical self in order to protect ontological security because it is crucial to its survival. The methodological approach draws from Roxanne Lynn Doty's Discursive Practices Approach which allows us to examine how power and roles are constructed from rhetoric. The key results show that both the Tak Bai Incident and Ratchaprasong bombing disrupted the Thai state's ontological security and self-identity construction. In response, the Thai state engages in security-seeking behavior by reconstructing its self-identity in relation to the Thai and Malayu Muslims in order to regain its sense of ontological security. In doing so, the Thai state and media use rhetoric such as "Farang" and "Khaek" to define the Thai and Malayu Muslims as different and inferior subjects to the Buddhist majority. This enables the Thai state to justify its use of force in order to regain control over its compromised ontological security by way of military actions and violence. We see that the Thai state's perception of ontological security derived from its attachment to routines which had now been associated with the attachment to the conflict. This attachment had allowed the Thai state a sense of certainty since it knew how to act in the face of challenges. Attachment to routines thus allows the Thai state to dispel uncertainty which causes disruptions to its self-identity by creating anxiety. In analyzing the Thai state's rhetoric during these events, various identities of who is and is not Thai can be noted. These are then used to justify and legitimate the use of force by the Thai state as it seeks to protect and safeguard its ontological security.
China and the South China Sea: The Emergence of the Huaqing Doctrine
Durani, Luis A. (Virginia Tech, 2015-12-23)
China and the South China Sea region will play an important role in global and US strategic policy for the foreseeable future. Because China is an upcoming global economic power, the US and other nations must become cognizant of China's motivations in the South China Sea in order to avoid conflict, which seems inevitable. The purpose of this thesis is to examine China's conflicts/tensions in the South China Sea, specifically the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Taiwan, ASEAN, and US Navy. Discussions on the evolution of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will also provide additional insight to China's actions in the region. Understanding China's history, role, and claims in the region begins to paint a picture that the PLAN are operating under a principle very similar to the Monroe Doctrine, which allowed the US unfettered access to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Lastly, the thesis will demonstrate that the Chinese version of the Monroe Doctrine as well the country's desire to establish dominance in the South China Sea, which she sees as her "lost territory", is derived from the fear of an encirclement strategy implemented by the US and a nascent US-backed collective security regime, ASEAN.
China in Africa. An assessment of China's role in developing infrastructure and providing aid to development projects. An imperialist model of governance? Or is China redefining the way we assess international relations?
Common, Kaitlin Rebekah (Virginia Tech, 2021-06-29)
"The original meaning of imperialism was a simple one: 'imperial government,' that is, empire in the classical sense (such as existed in ancient Rome, China, and Greece). In more recent times, imperialism has become synonymous with western hegemony in Africa and Asia from the 18th through the 20th centuries and with the spreading cultural influence of the United States" (Webster 2021). The aim of this thesis is to explore whether imperialism can be applied to China's foreign policy agenda through the apparatus of infrastructure. Using Kenya as a case study, it will assess how development, aid conditionality and employment play key roles in China's foreign policy model in Africa. The thesis will assess the role that China has in Kenya's development and adds to a growing field of literature that analyses the role of the Belt and Road Initiative in tackling the infrastructure deficit prevalent in Africa. It will conclude by identifying that gap that exists in China's infrastructure model and that imperialism is not an accurate definition of China's foreign policy agenda.
COINTELPRO and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Classification of Threats
David, Alyssa Michelle (Virginia Tech, 2023-05-15)
COINTELPRO was a formidable and extremely controversial counterintelligence program conducted by the FBI from 1956 to 1971. Its exposure showcased the covert methods in which the FBI targeted US citizens it identified as threats to the internal and domestic security of the United States. Since the program's end, the FBI continues to explore and identify the current and potential threats to the United States. However, what exactly does this program say about the FBI at the time of its inception and what does it say about how it had classified threats? And what could it tell us about how it classifies threats today? This study examines how the FBI treated two identified targets of COINTELPRO, "black extremists" and "white hate groups", and whether the differences found between the treatment of the two targets as threats was a result of internal or external institutional factors. In conducting such study, I seek to determine if the factors that influence the Bureau's threat classification may have either been internal, a result of the Directors' influence or the influence of the organization's structure, culture, and/or function, or external, a result of the President's or Congress' influence. I hypothesize that the differing treatment of these targets, where "black extremists" were identified and prioritized as more of a threat than "white hate groups", was a result of internal institutional factors within the Bureau. Within this study, I examine reports and memos from the FBI database, the Vault, from 1968, to best determine which hypothesis is more accurate.
The Commodification of Nature: Power/Knowledge and REDD+ in Costa Rica
Mosley, Evan Christopher (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-29)
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is a global carbon trading program intent on mitigating or reversing carbon emissions from forestry in the global south. REDD+ was negotiated at the 2005 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and is coordinated by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), administered by the World Bank Group. In this project, I explore REDD+ activity in Costa Rica, drawing on Michel Foucault's concept of governmentality. Costa Rica became a participant in the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility in July of 2008. Since then, indigenous peoples throughout the country have contested the program. This project is a single-case study of the Bribri contestation of REDD+ schemes, one of the larger indigenous communities in Costa Rica. Bribri argue that REDD+ disrespects their worldview and further endangers their local rights to land and forestry. This project argues that REDD+ and Bribri have different perceptions of nature, enabling disagreement on REDD+ goals. Whereas REDD+ perceives nature as commodifiable for the purposes of neoliberal climate policies, Bribri express a spiritual, harmonious relationship with nature. I conclude by noting that REDD+ can pose negative implications for indigenous life and culture. This is not only because REDD+ draws external and domestic actors to land and forestry for incentive-based purposes. But also because REDD+ defines 'rightful behavior' among forestry resources, challenging indigenous conceptions of environmental management. However, the Bribri are resisting REDD+ imposition and, particularly, the program's external governing of indigenous behavior amongst forests.
Decision Making During National Security Crisis: The Case of the JFK Administration
Beckner, Lauren Renee (Virginia Tech, 2012-09-07)
Decision-making during crises is an important task that many elected officials face during their time in office. This thesis seeks to identify principles that make up a sound policy decision-making process and may lead to more positive outcomes. The analysis here is a comparative case study of three national security crises that faced the John F. Kennedy administration: the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam conflict. Each case is examined for the presence of indicators of groupthink. I hypothesize that the relative absence of groupthink is related to a positive outcome. That hypothesis is examined by reviewing each case; the cases that contained higher levels of the indicators of groupthink tended to have a poorer quality process than those with less evidence of groupthink.
The Democratic Peace Theory and Biopolitics
Nagy, Michael Lewis (Virginia Tech, 2017-06-23)
The purpose of this thesis is to inquire into the hard decisions that democracies are making in the 21st century in the context of working to spreading democracy and maintaining peace through foreign policy. Ever since the American-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq after the 9/11 terror attacks, democratic peace theorists have been pushed further to the sidelines as their theory has been put to the test and struggled to stand up to the challenges of political realities in contemporary world politics. The idea that the diffusion of democracy would help build a Kantian world peace would seem to have taken a severe blow with the rise of populist candidates and policies in the West in recent years. The democratic peace theory (DPT) is in crucial respects about the mechanisms to indirectly control other countries' economies and politics through forcibly installing democratic regimes. Though done in the name of safety and security for western nations, this foreign policy looks an awful lot like an attempt at biopolitical engineering. Has DPT morphed into a form of biopolitics? The goal of this thesis is to delve into this question and to learn what the implications are if this is the case, and what it means for the West, democracies, terrorism, and societies. For if democracies are less and less able to justify their role in driving the proper conditions for peace, we must scrutinize the role they play in international affairs in a much broader political perspective.
Discourses and Notions of Identity in United States Foreign Policy: Israel and the 2014 Gaza War
Johnson, Elizabeth Anne (Virginia Tech, 2019-06-21)
This paper examines U.S. political and social discourse on the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict and attempts to better understand U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, specifically on Israel. By examining official U.S. government documents, media articles, and pop culture platforms, this project identifies dominant narratives within the United States on Israel and the Palestinian territories. The complicated notions of identity that were discursively expressed within the United States on the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict are deconstructed and discussed to further the academic discussion on U.S. relations in the Middle East.
The Discursive Construction of National Security Threats from 2001-2018
Stieper, Erica Marie (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-29)
This thesis seeks to explain the discursive construction of national security threats facing the United States from 2001-2018. The driving argument is that the nation's perception of threats and conceptualization of itself are vulnerable to Presidential rhetoric. Presidents convey threats through rhetorical frameworks, a simplified means to present a manipulated perception of reality to a wider audience, which intentionally provoke reactions from the nation to garner consensus towards executive decision-making. Presidents apply frames from prior administrations as well as new frames to define adverse states, organizations, groups of people, etc., and to justify disciplinary practices, military action, or policy implementation against threats. Primarily, they portray threats as the binary opposite of the American national identity to reinforce the country's legitimacy in national security decision-making. This discourse influences how the public internalizes major issues facing the nation and triggers emotions that can either unite or divide the national identity. This research maps variation among the rhetorical frameworks and strategies of President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama, and President Donald J. Trump to evaluate: how national security threats are constructed, how the nation interprets threats, and the resulting social and political effects.
Framing Terrorism: Implications for Public Opinion, Civil Liberties, and Counterterrorism Policies
Miller, Kathryn Elizabeth (Virginia Tech, 2021-05-11)
The competing values of national security and civil liberties have been contested as conflicting ideas during times of national emergencies and war, in which the canonical knowledge asserts that the temporary secession of civil liberties is sometimes necessary to protect national security. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack there has been increased pressure on the U.S. government to provide safety and security, which has required Americans to accept certain restrictions on their freedoms, leading to debates about whether liberty or security should be prioritized. The increasing popularization of securitization in post 9/11 discourse justified by a perpetual state of emergency via the War on Terror, has reinforced the racialization of reified "others," specifically Muslims or people who are perceived to be descendent from the Middle East. The conceptualization of Middle Easterners as 'terrorists' and 'threats' to be securitized has been constructed by political elites and media narratives to garner support for security measures leading to the diminished civil liberties of those stereotyped as "terrorists." Using the theoretical approach of racialized "othering" and the minority threat perception, this research seeks to analyze public opinion on counterterrorism policies when the race/ethnicity and ideological motivations of perpetrators in a hypothetical terrorist attack scenario are manipulated. To investigate this premise, an online survey experiment distributed through Amazon MTurk was conducted to gather public opinion data on counterterrorism policies. Regression analyses were conducted from the 314 respondents to evaluate support amongst various social groups for the counterterrorism policies and whether or not this support was affected by the presence of either American-born, White, men motivated by the teachings of far-right extremism or American-born, men of Middle Eastern descent motivated by the teachings of Islamic extremism. Respondents were asked to evaluate two counterterrorism policies, one that required ceding the civil liberties of the public at large, and the other required ceding the civil liberties of suspected terrorists specifically – which is also referred to as the 'punitive' policy throughout the research. Overall, respondents were more likely to support the policy requiring ceding civil liberties in general, than the punitive policy that would take away the civil liberties of suspected terrorist. When factoring in survey type, respondents in general were more likely to support the punitive policy when taking the White/Far-right extremism survey and were also the most likely to support the policy requiring the public to cede their civil liberties when taking the Middle Eastern/Islamic extremism survey. The willingness to cede civil liberties increased for Black and Asian respondents with the presence of the White/Far-right extremism survey, while willingness to cede civil liberties decreased for White respondents taking the same survey. In general, conservatives were more likely to cede their civil liberties than liberals, and liberals were more likely to view counterterrorism policies as ineffective. When accounting for the effects of survey type on ideology, the results show that conservatives were the least likely to cede their civil liberties when taking the White/Far-right extremism survey, while liberals were the most likely to cede their civil liberties when taking the Middle Eastern/Islamic extremism survey.
From "Total Liberation" to "Phased Liberation": Temporality and Identity in the Provisional IRA and Hamas
Blessing, Jason A. (Virginia Tech, 2013-06-14)
In this thesis, I examine how violent substate actors—specifically those labeled as ‘terrorist’— are able to change from a strategy of total liberation to phased liberation. Using discourse analysis, shifts in political identity are examined in the Provisional IRA and Hamas. Each case study shows that the organization is undergoing an identity change from a more religiouslyinfluenced identity to one that emphasizes national elements; this shift to a national political identity enables a move from total liberation to phased liberation. The conclusion is reached that these changes in political identity rest on changing conceptions of temporality; ultimately, it is a change in temporal understanding that drives the transformation from total liberation to phased liberation.
How does the US utilize Islamophobia in Counterterrorism Policy
White, Owen Thomas (Virginia Tech, 2021-05-14)
The 'War on Terror' has been the longest ongoing conflict that the US has been involved in and shows no sign of ending in the near future. The threat of terrorism is something that the US government has continually warned the populace about prior to the start of the 'war on terror.' The the fear that the US places on terrorism focuses on Islamic extremism in particular and can be considered to be unjust. This leads to the understanding that the US takes part in Islamophobia because of its continuation of an unjust fear towards Islam. Islamophobia is an idea that has primarily been associated with individuals instead of the state or media. This thesis utilizes the work of Khaled Beydoun to show how the US has kept the idea of Islamophobia away from the state's sphere of responsibility while also creating policy that takes part in Islamophobia. Beydoun provides this thesis with new definitions for Islamophobia that allow for new conclusions to be made when the state is considered. This is combined with an understanding of how the media covers events and protects the state from the ideas of Islamophobia. The understanding of violence, as shown by Asad, created within the state influences this thesis greatly because of its connection to how the state reacts to attacks. The state has historically targeted minority groups as an "other" that can be targeted with policy and seen as a threat to the populace. This has allowed far-right groups who target minority groups to grow without being targeted by the state, these groups are allowed to continue their violence because it aligns with the states goals. This thesis looks to combine these ideas with case studies of different attacks in order to show how the US utilizes Islamophobia in counterterrorism policy.
Killing at a Distance in a Post-Panoptic Society
Mitchell, Courtney Michelle (Virginia Tech, 2015-03-03)
The military's armed surveillance drones are the most elite modernized weaponry in the twenty-first century. They have introduced a new way to see without being seen. In this paper, I investigate the US military's use of drones in warfare, specifically in terms of distance and what that entails for the operator physically, mentally, and emotionally. My analysis will address the question: how are remotely piloted aircrafts connecting distance and humanity in asymmetric warfare? I argue that drones are unlike any other weapon produced thus far because they introduce a completely new way to fight wars at a distance; therefore, a new understanding of humanity and warfare needs to be established. Warfare by remote control in a post-panoptic society has ended the era of mutual engagement and created one of extensive asymmetry. This thesis also examines the militaries historical motives for pursuing weapons that make the enemy into an objective target below. The data that I use to explore these implications is second-hand anecdotes and interviews of former RPA operators, and various media accounts. Based on this data, I find that drones have made it more difficult to kill a target due to the added surveillance technology that allows the operator to see the effects of his or her weapon in real time. This visualization then has the effect of creating intimacy/reducing emotional distance between the operator and the target.
Making War for Women? An Analysis of UN Resolution 1325 and the Gendering of International Intervention
Harris, Sabrina Kylie (Virginia Tech, 2021-06-22)
This thesis explores how UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security and its ensuing National Action Plans for gender equality inform justifications of international intervention. I ask the following questions: how does Resolution 1325 and its ensuing National Action Plans for gender equality construct subjectivities of gender? How have states appropriated these gendered subjectivities in the legitimation of conflict? I review feminist, postcolonial, and poststructuralist literatures to argue that Resolution 1325 is aligned with broader United Nations governmental strategies for framing and justifying international intervention. Resolution 1325 produces dualistic subjectivities of gender, where women are constructed either as victims or as empowered, albeit within the limits deemed acceptable in masculinized contexts. I analyze the case of German National Action Plans for gender equality and the official policy texts related to its intervention in Afghanistan. I demonstrate that the foreign policy of a seemingly progressive state embraces Resolution 1325's dualistic subjectifications of women in conflict to construct logics that legitimize the Afghan intervention. My study findings show that Germany discursively constructs women and gender equality in accordance with the UN's guidelines and its good governance framework, which do not challenge existing structures of masculinity. In addition, they function as a means through which Germany legitimizes neoliberal and neocolonial policies as acceptable, ultimately failing to challenge the international war system.
Militants Going Through Changes: A Qualitative Analysis of Ideological Modification and Group Splintering
Carpenter, Matthew Donald (Virginia Tech, 2023-10-10)
The probability of militant group splintering is a relatively rare phenomenon that exponentially increases with the introduction of a peace process and associated negotiations (Duursma and Fliervoet, 2021). Militant groups that do splinter hold the potential for increased violence that can spoil negotiations, prolong conflict, incite more citizens to join militant causes, and erode the credibility of the state (Stedman, 1997; Duursma and Fliervoet, 2021; Rudloff and Findley, 2016; Cronin, 2011). Negotiations inherently require some type of concession from one or more parties involved, and for militant groups, they often require modifying components of or entire ideological objectives. This research explores intergroup dynamics surrounding militant ideological modifications made during negotiations that lead to splintering. The author examines ideological modification across three militant groups identified through an empirical case selection process: Al-Fatah, the FARC, and the PKK. Diagnostic evidence resulting from congruence procedures coupled with theory-building process tracing allowed for the inference of 'militant perceived ideological betrayal' acting as a sufficient causal mechanism that connects negotiations to militant splintering. This dissertation examined intergroup dynamics surrounding ideological modifications, when militants perceive modifications as concessions, and the relative importance of group enforcement measures meant to maintain militant cohesion. Findings provide important evidence related to the relational nature of militant ideology, and raise credible questions surrounding ideological devotion by hardliners depending upon the framing of changes and their legitimacy, and if said changes occur in the face of an adversary or on the militant group's own accord.
Ontological Security: State Identity and Self-Image in the Digital Age
Ralston, Robert James (Virginia Tech, 2014-05-09)
The driving argument of this thesis is that states, particularly the United States, are vulnerable in cyberspace for reasons that go beyond the material vulnerabilities that present studies on state insecurity in cyberspace focus on. This vulnerability in cyberspace is an ontological insecurity. Ontological insecurity reveals itself in the contradictions in official state discourse regarding cyberspace. State security of self—preserving and maintaining the seemingly concrete and consistent nature of what a state is about, how the state is understood in relation to other states, and how the state comes to understand itself through its own conceptions of self-identity—is challenged by cyberspace as a vehicle for massive amounts of information and challenges to state identity in relation to the state's behavior in cyberspace. Therefore, state identity and self-image are challenged in relation to cyberspace in two ways: first, through the vehicle that is cyberspace, and, second, through the practices that the state adopts to secure cyberspace and its broader security aims. The language that states, in this case the United States, use in order to justify surveillance practices and to impose meaning to cyberspace ultimately leads to projections of power that attempt to reinforce state strength and legitimacy vis-à-vis cyberspace, but these attempts fall short; contradictions arise in state discourse, and weaknesses are highlighted through these contradictions. Cyberspace, then, is an ontological as well as physical security threat to states.
An Organizational Analysis of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
Matini, Armand Yousseff (Virginia Tech, 2022-06-28)
Throughout history, radical individuals have caused violence and tarnished the reputation of many communities and beliefs. Following 9/11, Islamic Terrorism put fear into many individuals. New fronts of the War on Terror began to open as militaries began to engage terrorist groups who sought to take action through radical beliefs. Al Qaeda had opened up a new front and joined the ranks of the Sunni Insurgency to confront the armed forces of the United States as the Invasion of Iraq began to unfold. This new group had radical leaders who were able to incite a stiff and violent campaign against their enemies. The U.S. was able to slow down the group, but not the ideology, tactics, and leadership once it withdrew from the conflict zone. As leaders in the area began to divide their societies by violence and marginalization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria were able to come into power and create small, quasi-legitimate caliphate. Although the group may be somewhat defeated in the region, the ideology will carry on. By using organizational theory, we can better compare both groups and learn from their strengths and weaknesses. Through analyzing this parallel case study, new doors may be opened up for research to be able to slow down radical ideologies and thwart violent actions.

Browsing by Author "Dixit, Priya"

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