PRISM :: Browsing by Author "Terriff, Terry"

Browsing by Author "Terriff, Terry"

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Open Access
A Contradiction in Will: Understanding China's Strategic Culture in a Civil-Military Context
(2014-01-28) Rakebrand, Jeff; Terriff, Terry
Given China’s civil-military relationship, how consistent is its military’s perspectives on the use of force with those of the party-state government? By adopting a cultural framework of analysis, this study utilizes a methodology rooted in social constructivism to examine the strategic policies of the party-state government, followed by an analysis of the government’s relationship with the military and its beliefs and values towards the use of force. Interactions between the ruling Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army frame the discourse and narrative underscoring how military force is conceived, perceived and implemented within China. This study concludes that China’s use of force is impacted by the military’s willingness to use force on behalf of the party-state government. This impact is most evident in the internal use of force where trends suggest that the military’s interests conflict with those of the party-state government.
Open Access
A muslim marriage: the United States and Saudi Arabia after the Iraq war
(2012) Ahmad, Mustafa A.; Terriff, Terry
Open Access
'All Four Seasons and I Will Die': A Typology of Displacement Atrocities
(2019-07-15) Basso, Andrew Robert; Hiebert, Maureen S.; Terriff, Terry; Ray, Donald Iain; Huebert, Robert N.; Alvarez, Alex
In this dissertation I answer the question: why is displacement used to commit genocide? To answer this question, a typology and theory of Displacement Atrocity (DA) crimes is offered. Perpetrators of DA crimes uniquely fuse forced displacement with systemic deprivations of vital daily needs in order to destroy populations in whole or in part. DA crimes are typically perpetrated in large political geographies which are transformed into spaces of annihilation. There are two subtypes of DA crimes. First, perpetrators of kettling DA crimes use area squared to displace populations into and confine them in these large areas to annihilate them. Second, perpetrators of escorting DA crimes use linear distance to forcibly march their targeted populations along and annihilate them. This potent indirect killing method has yet to be fully understood in relevant literatures. The inductive typology I present is based on comparative historical analysis of Germany’s Genocide of the Herero (Herero Genocide) in German South-West Africa (1904-1908) and the Ottoman Genocide of Christian Minorities (1914-1925) in the Ottoman Empire/Turkey. The DA crime theory is then tested against two counter-cases which occurred in the same political geographies: Germany’s Genocide of the Nama (Nama Genocide) (1905-1908) and the Hamidian Massacres (1894-1896). The potential future uses of the DA crime concept in the 21st-Century are offered in the conclusions section.
Open Access
Ally, Enemy or Something Else? How and Why the United States Drone Program Implementation and Operation in Pakistan Changed their Relationship
(2021-05-11) Stone, Allison Nicole; Terriff, Terry; Boucher, Jean-Christophe; Huebert, Robert
This papers’ focus concerns the relationship between the United States and Pakistan around the implementation, use, and regulation of militarized drones in Pakistan. In analyzing the emergence and operation of militarized drones, this paper reconciles how their relationship has been affected legally, militarily, politically, diplomatically, and socially. To develop these arguments, I examine the pertinent historical evolution and statistical figures that exemplify drones’ trajectory from a newly developed technology strictly for intelligence gathering to an exceedingly popular weaponry system used in numerous combat situations. Subsequently, an examination of how specifically drones have altered the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and the United States is explored by analyzing the military impact and other tangible hard areas of focus, including the legality of strikes as well as softer, less easily quantifiable concerns of political, diplomatic, and social consequences. I argue that it has been militarily successful by improving intelligence cooperation, eliminating high-value targets, and assisting Pakistan to be better equipped at preventing future terrorist or insurgent attacks. Further, the drone program unified the two after the triple whammy of Raymond Davis killing two Pakistani citizens, bin Laden being found in the country, and the Salalah incident shutting down borders and airspaces, which left the relationship on the brink of total dissolution. Its redeeming feature was the still existent security concerns that required drone use to respond appropriately; without which it may have been irredeemable. However, outside the military realm the legal, political, diplomatic, and social consequences have been detrimental to their bilateral relationship by leaving them in a state of flux as to the potential future trajectories of their partnership. Where one individually falls on assessing whether it has been positive or not is ultimately a matter of opinion based on priorities. If military strategy and security are paramount, one would agree it has been a positive program. If one prioritizes the expansion of their dynamic beyond transaction military arrangements, then it has failed spectacularly. This thesis argues the former is still a victory; a relationship by any means is better than the alternative when it concerns such a tenuous partnership.
Open Access
An Arctic Nuclear Weapons Free Zone – In Search of a Security Architecture for the Arctic
(2021-06-11) MacDonald, Alexander; Huebert, Robert Neill; Keeley, James; Terriff, Terry
This study seeks to determine why proposals for Arctic nuclear-weapon-free zones (ANWFZ) have thus far failed to come to fruition. In reviewing and analyzing the ANWFZ proposals made by Rich and Vinograndov, Newcombe, Wilkes and Axworthy, which span a time frame of 1964 to 2012, three variables are isolated that account for these proposals’ failures. First, it is shown that proposals have failed to include serious considerations of strategic stability. In failing to fully appreciate or consider the strategic realities of the Arctic region, proposals have remained both improbable and undesirable to governments and strategic commentators. Second, and a consequence of the first, proposals have failed to consider or propose confidence-building measures (CBMs) or intermediary arms control measures which would help to create the conditions necessary to negotiate Arctic denuclearization. Third, proposals have failed to make the best arguments for how and why an ANWFZ should be established by neglecting relevant historic-legal precedents. The isolation of these three variables leads to two key contributions. First, all relevant historic-legal precedents are reviewed in relation to four key obstacles to ANWFZ realization (the inclusion of partial territory, negative security assurances, members of a collective security alliance joining a NWFZ, and the prohibition of the transit of nuclear weapons through the high seas of a NWFZ). The second contribution is the elaboration of a ‘menu’ of Arctic-specific CBMs and arms control measures. The formulation of this menu was guided by the key contention that the foundation of confidence is communication and information sharing. That is, arms control measures, to even be negotiated, must first be preceded by confidence-building measures. Arms control measures require trust, both in the negotiation and execution phase, established dialogue forums and confidence building measures provide just that. These contributions were made in an effort to fill the strategic void which the analysis of this study determined ANWFZ proposals have suffered from. It is an effort to operationalize the discovered factors of failure and to begin the work of putting the proposals in direct dialogue with related commentaries and larger discourses on Arctic security.
Open Access
Can We Settle This: The Role of Settlements in the Occupied Territories and U.S.-Israel Relations, 1967-1981
(2017) Ben-Ephraim, Shaiel; Terriff, Terry; Tal, David; Spangler, Jewel; Ferris, John; Huebert, Robert; Pressman, Jeremy
This dissertation examines the role of settlements in U.S.-Israeli relations. It asks when and how U.S. policy influences the likelihood of Israel substantially moderating its settlement policy? In addition, it explains when the U.S. took an interest in resolving the issue as well as when and why Israel is responsive to U.S. pressure. The dissertation is the first analysis of the topic based on primary documents. It is also a first cut at explaining Israeli settlement policy as part of a strategic interaction, rather than as a phenomenon determined by domestic Israeli factors. The project utilizes an analytical framework based on Powell and Lake’s strategic choice approach. The framework is used to situate the case of settlements in U.S.-Israeli relations in the literature on bargaining, mediation and compliance. The empirical analysis focuses on the 1967-1981 period. In the first empirical chapter, the formative policy of the Johnson administration is analyzed alongside the Israeli policy of trickery and obfuscation designed to protect its nascent settlement enterprise. It continues with a look at the Nixon administration up to the 1973 War focusing on the Meir governments efforts to openly promote “defensible borders” and the gradual U.S. acceptance of that conception. The third empirical chapter focuses on the changes wrought by the war in the estimation of the role of settlements during Rabin’s first tenure and the late Nixon and Ford years. The final empirical chapter analyzes the Israeli decision to evacuate the settlements in Sinai as part of the peace agreement with Egypt as well as the failure of the autonomy talks. The thrust of the argument is that despite possessing greater resources and influence, the U.S. was unable to alter settlement policy within the context of bilateral negotiations. Rather the outcome was dependent on the existence of a willing Arab interlocuter turning U.S. conflict resolution from bilateral bargaining to genuine mediation. Once this occurred, successful mediation depended on U.S. motivation to mobilize its resources and establish credibility. Mediation succeeded when the U.S was biased against the Israeli territorial position and had a genuine strategic interest in promoting Israeli withdrawal.
Open Access
The Development of the 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment in Normandy and the Scheldt
(2019-04-17) McGowan, Victoria; Bercuson, David Jay; Bercuson, David Jay; Marshall, David B.; Terriff, Terry; Stapleton, Timothy J.
The 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment was created in 1939 to provide field reconnaissance for 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in the Second World War. Despite being present at a number of significant engagements, it has been overlooked by historians. Many assumptions have been made about armoured reconnaissance, including a belief that reconnaissance regiments were mostly or entirely support units, rather than combat units. This study aims to show that the 7th played an important role in the combat operations of 3rd Division in Northwest Europe. Building on the well-established histories of combat units in 3rd Division and First Canadian Army, it shows that the 7th developed new doctrine and filled a gap in operations between armour and infantry. On this basis, this study suggests that a closer review is needed of reconnaissance regiments to understand their full impact on the outcomes of First Canadian Army operations in Europe.
Open Access
Friend or foe? Deconstructing the US-Pakistan alliance
(2012-07-19) Richert, Ruth; Terriff, Terry
Are the US and Pakistan friends or foes? A methodological framework of constructivism will be employed to answer this question. First, constructivism will be outlined, and its applicability to the case of the US-Pakistan alliance will be demonstrated. The specific constructivist tools to be used - narrativity and role identity formation - and their applicability to the relationship between Pakistan and the US will be described. The national narrative formation process of both states will then be addressed, and will include such elements as religion, domestic politics, and foreign policy. Interactions between the two states and the process by which role identities are formed will then be described. This will include themes such as victimhood and exceptionalism. Finally, this paper will address the thesis question and conclude that the US and Pakistan are fundamentally foes, not friends.
Open Access
Friend or foe?: deconstructing the US-Pakistan alliance
(2012) Richert, Ruth Allen Vooys; Terriff, Terry
Are the US and Pakistan friends or foes? A methodological framework of constructivism will be employed to answer this question. First, constructivism will be outlined, and its applicability to the case of the US-Pakistan alliance will be demonstrated. The specific constructivist tools to be used - narrativity and role identity formation - and their applicability to the relationship between Pakistan and the US will be described. The national narrative formation process of both states will then be addressed, and will include such elements as religion, domestic politics, and foreign policy. Interactions between the two states and the process by which role identities are formed will then be described. This will include themes such as victirnhood and exceptionalism. Finally, this paper will address the thesis question and conclude that the US and Pakistan are fundamentally foes, not friends.
Open Access
Future War for Fun and Profit: Authority, Bureaucracy, and Masculinity in Defence Industry Software Development
(2016) Collins, Riley; Peric, Sabrina; Terriff, Terry; Hiebert, Maureen
Technological innovation is at the heart of many discussions of understanding military practice, and it is increasingly important to understanding the relationship between states, militaries, and civilian actors such as a corporations and citizens increasingly shaped by militarization. One group of technologies affected and whose development has been conditioned by these discussions is simulation software. Based upon four months of participant observation research at a defence contractor and software development company in Calgary, Alberta, this study explores how contingencies of professional practice in the software industry, authority, corporate hierarchy and reporting practices, gender, and the nature of simulation contribute to developing products for military use. This study suggests that these contingencies not only reproduce and reinforce certain gendered, authoritative, and professional stereotypes during production, but that understanding these stereotypes and their linguistic, aesthetic, and structured facets contributes to understanding the relationship between militarization and the production of technology.
Open Access
General Chaffee's Small Wars: Institutional Culture, Command Intention, and Restraint in American Expeditionary Wars, 1899-1902
(2016) White, Stuart; Ferris, John; Terriff, Terry; Randall, Stephen; Jameson, Elizabeth; Huebert, Robert; Perras, Galen
This study examines U.S. conduct in two small wars in the Pacific at the turn of the twentieth century in order to examine the forces which contribute most directly to the maintenance or rupture of combatant restraint. The literature on the Philippine War and the Boxer Uprising often exaggerates the extent and influence of racism on combatant conduct, and prioritizes anecdotes of atrocity over a more contextualized survey. That interpretation masks the extent of real U.S. restraint in interactions with Chinese and Filipino populations in those conflicts, and ignores factors which play a greater role in determining troop behaviour. This study demonstrates that those factors, such as command intention, support from mid and low level officers, and limited operational objectives, are shaped by a number of internal and external forces, such as the nature of the conflict, the nature of the enemy, and the institutional norms of the military organization. It concludes that U.S. forces of that period applied violence instrumentally, and shied away from direct attacks on civilian populations. Restraint is possible but only where multiple factors align to create favourable conditions.
Open Access
Habitus, Field Theory and the ‘Bridge’: Using a Bourdieusian Approach to Examine and Explain Cold War Continuities in Britain’s Post-Cold War Foreign Policy
(2016) Smythe, Jason A; Terriff, Terry; Huebert, Robert; Keeley, James
This thesis examines the Anglo-American ‘special relationship’ and the ‘bridge’ role the United Kingdom has played within it since 1945, with the British seeing it as an important part of what Tate calls the post-war Anglo-American “hegemonic division of labour.” Playing this ‘bridge’ role made sense given the logic of Cold War bipolarity, but the post-Cold War shift to unipolarity has significantly decreased the need for ‘bridges’ in the international system, yet successive post-Cold War British governments remained committed to playing this role. This paper asks why this occurred and if the British are still playing this role. By applying a Bourdieusian approach the need to examine microstructures when studying British foreign policy is revealed, with the concepts of field theory and habitus highlighting the important role the unique individual experiences and beliefs of the prime minister play in the crafting of British foreign policy.
Open Access
The Last German Victory: Combat Doctrine and Tactical Performance in Operation Market Garden, September 1944
(2020-01-30) Bates, Aaron Christopher; Hill, Alexander; Terriff, Terry; Stapleton, Tim J.
This thesis reevaluates Operation Market Garden, the failed Allied airborne invasion of German-occupied Holland in September 1944 by comparing the combat doctrines and practices of the British and German forces that engaged in the campaign, particularly with regards to command and control and the employment of firepower, and seeks to assess the degree to which each force was actually suited to the circumstances that they faced during the operation. The study concludes that German combat doctrine and training, based around a highly decentralized and proactive command ethos and a high level of small-unit tactical proficiency, was a major factor in their ability to effectively cope with the unexpected Allied attack and the confused combat situation it created. Conversely, the British forces were hampered by the fact that their own doctrine, based around rigid centralized control, cautious set-piece battle planning and the maximal use of artillery and aerial firepower, proved itself ineffective in adapting to the confused and fast moving situation that their own surprise offensive created, ensuring that they were unable to achieve their objectives.
Open Access
NATO Infantry Weapons Standardization: Ideal or Possibility?
(2016) Zhou, Yi Le (David); Terriff, Terry; Hill, Alexander; Keeley, James
This thesis examines the efforts that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has taken regarding the standardization of rifles and small arms ammunition from the Cold War to the present day and the limitations of these standardization efforts. During the Cold War, NATO was unsuccessful at standardizing a common rifle and its member states only agreed to standardize ammunition calibers. This thesis will discuss the factors that prevented all of the alliance’s militaries from adopting the same rifle models and the problems associated with NATO’s ammunition standardization efforts. Many NATO members intend on procuring new small arms during the 2020s period but there are no plans for the adoption of a common NATO rifle. In the absence of a common rifle for the future, NATO needs to undertake efforts that would both modernize its small arms capabilities and improve the degree of standardization within the alliance.
Open Access
Pursuing Postponement: The Eisenhower Administration's Policymaking for the Developing World
(2016) Smith, Brenan; Randall, Stephen; Terriff, Terry; Chastko, Paul; Jameson, Elizabeth; Keeley, James; Pach, Chester; Laumonier, Lucie
This dissertation examines the Eisenhower administration’s positions and policies towards the developing world. During the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, the complications involved in conducting an increasingly global Cold War presented Eisenhower and his officials with extensive and expanding problems. Nationalism, anti-colonialism, pushes for economic rebalancing, and other forms of self-assertion surged in regions across the globe described in this dissertation as the “Third World.” In Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia a variety of drives against the status quo confronted the Eisenhower administration, and Eisenhower in particular, with challenges of immense importance. The central focus of this dissertation is how Eisenhower chose to meet those challenges, and how officials like John Foster Dulles and Richard Nixon supported and agreed or (more often in Nixon’s case) diverged and disagreed with the President on his choices. This dissertation argues that Eisenhower chose to pursue a policy of postponement toward the Third World; not necessarily attempting to maintain the status quo, but seeking to delay and otherwise slow the forces of change at work in the Third World. Richard Nixon, by dint of his contentious mentor-protégé relationship with John Foster Dulles, and the fact that he simultaneously served as a crucial tool in, and active critic of Eisenhower’s policies and positions in the Third World, provides a representative example of the many officials in Eisenhower’s administration who perceived and disagreed with the pursuit of postponement. Dulles too, though more often than not a strident supporter of Eisenhower, was intrinsically torn between his duty and his fundamental belief in the necessity of dynamic foreign policies. This study explores the means by which Eisenhower pursued postponement in the Third World, and complications and frustrations which arose during this ultimately doomed pursuit.
Open Access
Rising from the Shadows: Understanding the Adaptation of U.S. Special Operations Forces 2003-2015
(2022-01) Finn, Samuel; Terriff, Terry; Peric, Sabrina; Huebert, Rob; Terriff, Terry
The Global War on Terror presented a significant challenge to the United States Military. Asymmetric actors employed irregular warfare tactics and strategies combined with technological advances to exploit weaknesses in the conventional military’s traditional combat process. Faced with an acute crisis, the U.S. Military’s special operations forces emerged as the most viable practitioner in these wars. However, this was not an easy task as special operations forces had traditionally been designed around short-term tactical operations or small wars. The Global War on Terror presented a long-term campaign that required special operations forces to make significant changes to succeed. This thesis seeks to answer the question: What factors influenced the adaptation of U.S. special operations forces during the Global War on Terror? This study follows the scholarly work in the field of military innovation studies to understand how external threats, leadership, and culture affected the adaptation of special operations forces from 2003-2015. Three case studies from the Global War on Terror will examine how the interplay of these variables led special operations forces to adapt their competencies to bridge the gap between the traditional American way of war and that of their adversaries. This will contribute to the growing field of military adaptation studies, which seeks to provide civilian and military policymakers with a better understanding of how militaries can change to meet their immediate challenges.
Open Access
A Study of Military Change: The Transformation of Army Special Forces and Naval Special Warfare in the Vietnam War
(2022-09-28) Cooper-Takada, Patrick; Terriff, Terry; Hiebert, Maureen; Stapleton, Tim; Boucher, Jean-Christophe
This work serves to investigate the nature of the changes experienced by the Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and Naval Special Warfare (NSW; Underwater Demolition Teams, and Sea, Air, Land [SEAL] Teams) during the Vietnam War, using contemporary military change literature to evaluate the processes and results. In conducting the research, this thesis used a combination of primary and secondary sources for a qualitative analysis of military change. The result of this investigation was two clear examples of military innovation that resulted from different processes in environments that were vastly different in terms of leadership conditions and mission requirements. Naval Special Warfare experienced innovation through the inception of the SEAL Teams, which gave them increased capabilities not seen before by a permanent Navy Special Operations Force unit. This revolutionary innovation was not directly impeded by Navy bureaucracy due to intervention by the Kennedy Administration on behalf of NSW. The Army Special Forces underwent a different kind of innovation; because of their open mindset, high level of training, and misappropriation by Army leadership, the Green Berets adapted to multiple new roles in the Vietnam War. As a result of these multiple smaller changes, the entirety of their existence was altered and they became a force transformed over 14 years of sustained adaptation, rather than the rapid changes experienced by Naval Special Warfare. These lessons of these two case studies are significant as they demonstrate different learning processes in similar combat environments as a result of variables in leadership, demands, experience, unit culture, skills, and relationships with external agencies.
Open Access
Territorial Disputes in the Arctic: Prospects for Conflict and Cooperation
(2017) Halt, Christian; Huebert, Rob; Terriff, Terry; Yackel, John
This thesis examines the territorial disputes between Arctic states and investigates why the region has not seen conflict resulting from the disputes and whether this state of affairs will persist. The economic, strategic and symbolic value of the disputed territory is considered for all parties involved, as is the role this value has in fostering cooperative or conflictual relations. Through examination of the Arctic’s disputed territory, it is concluded that the Arctic’s harsh environment has played an important role in limiting the value of the disputed territory and therefore allowing Arctic states to avoid both serious management efforts and conflictual relations. However, the value of the disputed territory is growing, as is the need for states to manage activity in these areas. Should Arctic states continue to leave disputes unresolved, future attempts at resolution will involve more contentious negotiations, along with a greater potential for inter-state incidents and clashes.
Open Access
The Energy Frontier: Exploring the Future of Commercial Nuclear Power in Canada, Finland, and Germany
(2017) Torre, David Ignatius; Keeley, James; Bratt, Duane; Dolata, Petra; Cameron, Gavin; Terriff, Terry
A state has a plethora of options when it comes to electricity generation. In the case of nuclear power, it is not a simple yes/no or present/absent dichotomy as it is often portrayed in the literature. A state that has existing nuclear capacity can choose to: expand, maintain, or phase out nuclear power. It will implement one of these three policies towards nuclear power for a variety of political, social, and economic reasons; the challenge is to discern the criteria used in reaching these policy outcomes. Using Finland, Canada, and Germany, this project explores most similar cases with differing outcomes during the nuclear renaissance (2000-2015). Each case is illustrative of one of the three possible trajectories for a state already in possession of at least one commercial nuclear power plant. This dissertation sought to better understand why they choose such divergent policies around nuclear power during this period of study. Its findings confirm the literature’s claim that nuclear expansions are most likely to take place within governance models that are centralized, technocratic, and involve limited public engagement. As electricity planning shifts away from centrally planned, technically-informed decisions among experts to a more democratic process, with an increased emphasis on social considerations, large-infrastructure projects like nuclear power plants will become that much more challenging to advance. Taken together with the rising costs of building new reactors, it will greatly limit where new construction will seriously be considered.
Open Access
The Impacts of Unification and Civilianization on the Culture of the Canadian Forces, 1968-1993
(2012-09-13) Bryson, Rachael; Terriff, Terry
In 1993 the Canadian Forces faced a crisis that reached across all levels of the institution when the events of the Canadian Airborne Regiment in Somalia became public knowledge. The report forthcoming from the civilian Commission of Inquiry into the Deployment of Canadian Forces to Somalia uncovered a deeply flawed organization, rife with personnel unfit for duty, a dearth of leadership, and lacking organizational direction. One of the major questions that arose within public and academic discourse following the release of the report was how the Canadian Forces had reached this point of crisis. This thesis argues that two major institutional changes- unification in 1968 and civilianization in 1972- had profoundly negative impacts on the culture of the Canadian Forces, and are key to understanding the military’s fall from grace. Using the theory of sociological neo-institutionalism to understand change within military organizations, this thesis will demonstrate a strong correlation between unification, civilianization, and the cultural changes experienced by the Canadian Forces during this period. Leadership will be used as a qualitative indicator for measuring the changes in the military’s culture.