Taiwan, located in the South China Sea, plays a vital role in America's strategic objectives and leverage on the global stage. The South China Sea is essential for trade, travel, and geopolitical dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region. Tension is rising between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China as they struggle for influence in this region. International relations are complex but critical to navigating diplomatic ties to ensure global safety and security. The world functions on a delicate balance, threatening to tip any moment. Cultural clashes, economic disparities, and military differences constantly threaten this balance. Nowhere is this dynamic more pronounced than in Asia, where the United States is navigating a tricky relationship with China. The high tensions surrounding the US-China relationship in the South China Sea and with Taiwan underscore the urgency of the American government taking action. America must have a strong military presence, cultural influence, and partners in the area to be able to correct the path the CCP is pushing the Indo-Pacific down; America must have leverage. By understanding the complexities of this region, the United States can navigate the challenges posed by China. The United States has implemented a multifaceted strategy in the Indo-Pacific region to address China's imminent threat and safeguard regional stability. These strategies consist of strengthening the military capabilities of the US and its allies, creating a political culture of democracy, and promoting robust international trade. Collaboratively, these strategies will protect Taiwan, the South China Sea, and global freedom from a forceful takeover by The CCP, which hopes to upset the international balance in their favor forever.

This thesis examines a convergence point between civil society and the military: the Reserve Officer's Training Corps (ROTC). Specifically, it is centered on how sexual assault is managed within ROTC, a hybrid entity of both the university and the military, two institutional arenas where sexual assault has emerged recently as a social problem. The U.S. military and public universities have distinct laws and legal processes as well as institutional cultural influences that address sexual assault. Therefore, I will explore how the hybrid ROTC program governs sexual assault while being simultaneously beholden to similar and/or possibly competing norms of the military and public university. Drawing on multidisciplinary research literature, this exploratory study of the management of sexual assault in a ROTC program in a large public university will be completed using several research methods, including: 1) observation of ROTC sexual assault education programs currently in place and being administered; 2) interviews with ROTC cadets; 3) surveys of ROTC cadets on perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs related to sexual assault and prevention efforts; and 4) analysis of Congressional, Department of Defense, ROTC, and university documents such as legislation, code, sexual assault policies and procedures, education materials, and reports. The study seeks to identify what policies, procedures and laws are in place at the university and in the ROTC program to address sexual assault and harassment, and to measure cadet's understandings and perceptions of such policies, procedures and laws.

Though information warfare has been around for centuries, the advent of the Information Age has made this type of warfare increasingly utilized by both state and non-state actors to varying effects in conflicts across the world. Technological advances have ignited increases in computing power, information computerization, the proliferation of powerful information technology, and communication speeds. This study investigates Russian information warfare doctrine- specifically, the tactics employed in information warfare campaigns and the effects of such campaigns. The Russian hybrid warfare campaigns in Ukraine and Syria will serve as the focal case studies. I argue that Russian information warfare doctrine is inelastic, in that the core tactics used do not change in different conflicts. This study will dissect Russian information warfare principles, provide an overview of the Russian political objectives in both battlespaces, analyze the effectiveness of information warfare tactics when applied in two different engagement spheres, and will explore the reasons why the same tactics had different effects. The study finds that doctrinally identical information warfare tactics were used in both Ukraine and Syria. To provide further significance, the study discusses the policy implications that static Russian information warfare doctrine has regarding the future of information warfare in conflict.

Stability in Afghanistan has always been and will always be impossible to achieve, so long as Afghanistan remains the most corrupt country on earth, and so long as the nation's illicit drug trade continues to flourish unchecked. Longstanding conflict in Afghanistan has fostered an environment in which the interest of the nation's influential individuals tips more in favor of instability than in favor of creating a peaceful, stable country under the rule of law. Progress in securing the nation and defeating the Taliban insurgents will not win the counterinsurgency campaign alone. Dramatic political and economic reforms are required if the nation is to have a future after the withdrawal of ISAF troops and eventual reduction in foreign aid. Only permanent changes in behavior in the country can have permanent effects on the government, economy, and welfare of the population.

Stability in Afghanistan has always been and will always be impossible to achieve, so long as Afghanistan remains the most corrupt country on earth, and so long as the nation's illicit drug trade continues to flourish unchecked. Longstanding conflict in Afghanistan has fostered an environment in which the interest of the nation's influential individuals tips more in favor of instability than in favor of creating a peaceful, stable country under the rule of law. Progress in securing the nation and defeating the Taliban insurgents will not win the counterinsurgency campaign alone. Dramatic political and economic reforms are required if the nation is to have a future after the withdrawal of ISAF troops and eventual reduction in foreign aid. Only permanent changes in behavior in the country can have permanent effects on the government, economy, and welfare of the population.