Naval Postgraduate School

This research will describe and assess the Marine Corps Mentoring Program (MCMP). The MCMP is meant to help shape future leaders, increase unit cohesion, reinforce solidarity, foster relationships of genuine concern and better prepare Marines to handle the increased challenges of today's operational climate. This research will document the motivation, goals and implementation plan of the program and assess the extent to which the actual implementation is consistent with the plan. It will examine how extensively the program is used and also examine mentors' and prot g s' assessments of the program. These data is used to compare the MCMP planned versus the actual implementation and perceived effectiveness in order to make recommendations for improving any identified shortcomings.

The sudden increase in crime and violence in some Mexican cities and regions has raised security concerns not only in Mexico, where President Felipe Calderon categorized these crimes as a threat to Mexican society, but also in the United States, where Department of Homeland Secretary head Janet Napolitano referred to stemming the violence as "vital to core U. S. national interests." Mexico is concerned with the latent threat of violence spreading all over the nation, while the U. S. is trying to guard against spillover. Both governments are concerned by the increased violence and its impact on communities along the U. S.-Mexican border. Because of its geopolitical location along the southern U. S. border, Mexico is susceptible to possible undesired effects of U. S. strategies. These unintended, second-degree consequences are known as "balloon effects," after the airflow inside a balloon when constriction applied to one area sends pressure to another area in the balloon, thinning and weakening its wall. Since 2006, Mexico's strategy for countering transnational organized crime and related activities has sent the balloon effect in two directions: first, inside Mexico, where government actions have unbalanced the criminal structure, creating balloon effects inside Mexican territory; and second, within the U. S. while asking to escalate the Mexican effort to improve its anti-crime strategy with U. S. assistance has escalated conflict and led to a holistic strategy against transnational organized crime and related activities in the Americas.

The reunification of Germany has raised renewed concerns regarding German national identity and national security. Germany has been a pivotal point for some of the most momentous historical events in Europe for over a century. The reunification of Germany in 1990 has once again created a large and powerful German nation at the center of the continent. Many of the initial reactions to reunification have reflected deep concern and skepticism regarding the power and role of a united Germany. Indications of extremist violence, xenophobia, and increased assertiveness in foreign affairs have fueled these concerns. Behind many of these fears is the belief that the German "national character" is unchanged and could reassert itself in renewed aggressive nationalistic policies. This book examines the development of German national identity and the problems of national security since the beginning of the nineteenth century. The primary aspect of national identity examined is the way that Germany seeks security for itself. During the Cold War, the Federal Republic developed a national identity based on a liberal internationalism. Although reunification will undoubtedly cause some changes, it is unlikely that Germany will deviate from its commitment to democratic ideals and further European integration.

This work examines whether Sino-Brazilian trade or investment significantly influences Brazil's voting in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). To examine this relationship, this work regresses a dataset of UNGA votes, which the literature commonly uses to represent political influence, with trade and investment data. Understanding whether the growing Sino-Brazilian economic relationship politically impacts Brazil is important both to Brazil and to the United States. Any increase in Chinese influence on Brazil may translate into a corresponding decrease in U. S. influence, which may have implications for the health of Brazil's democracy, regional stability and U. S. national security. This work crafts, for the first time in the literature on Sino-Brazilian relations, an estimable empirical model that examines whether trade or investment influences UNGA voting behavior between these two nations; this is an improved methodology for evaluating this relationship as previous studies relied on simple correlations. This work makes five hypotheses, and tests them with two types of voting affinity measurements using both regression analysis and simple correlations. This work finds that Brazil's exports to China have a statistically significant, positive relationship, and U. S. aid has a statistically significant, negative relationship, to Sino-Brazilian voting affinity.

Today, with NATO incorporating policy and strategic changes amid the new perceived threat since September 11, 2001, France must again rethink and recalibrate its nuclear policy. At least since the end of World War II, France has wanted to play a larger role within European politics, financial affairs, defense, and, specifically, it has signified that Paris would offer regional nuclear deterrence for Europe. On the one hand, such an enhancement of France's profile within European defense and deterrence would fulfill the fondest Gaullist aspirations for France as a world power and for European defense autonomy. On the other hand, practical considerations-economic, political, and strategic- may break French ambitions. Thus, ultimately, this thesis argues that although France may aspire to take center stage in European nuclear defense, it is in no practical or political position to do so. And even if France could present a credible nuclear deterrent for the region on its own, further strategic and political considerations militate against France assuming a different role in European defense. Without question, there may be more for France to do in this regard, but only in connection with NATO and the United States.

The U. S. Canada relationship encompasses strong partnership and economic interdependence; however, policy conflicts are prevalent throughout its history. Acute events for example, the September 11, 2001, terror attacks exacerbate the conflict, while raising the stakes of disunity between these two long standing allies. Opposing policy priorities also undermine and interfere with their relationship. American policymakers have a security first mindset while Canadians are primarily focused on efficient cross border trade. Caught in the middle are the Great Lakes regional states that must straddle this policy divide. This work addresses the policy imbalance between the United States and Canada and considers how this dynamic affects both countries and the Great Lakes regional states through historical and contemporary lenses. In addition, a potentially disastrous but plausible future scenario addresses the detrimental consequences of maintaining the status quo in Washington and Ottawa. This analysis draws on numerous scholarly works and a variety of governmental reports, hearings, and strategies. The examination then turns to federal, state, and local border concerns, as well as institutional capabilities for comparison. Finally, policy recommendations focus each of the primary border players in the Great Lakes region on balancing their various economic and security interests along the shared border.

There has been a dramatic unconventional warfare (UW) renaissance in recent years. Much of the published material on the subject has been focused on what unconventional warfare is, re-defining it, and attempting to frame the concept of its use as it relates to the current military operational environment. Little work has been produced that examines the more basic question: Why UW? This research begins where the 2009 redefinition of UW left off. Identifying an expanded field of 51 cases of U. S.-sponsored unconventional warfare from 1892 to 2010, the authors select four cases that represent a wide variety of UW methods, locations, and goals. These four cases of UW are compared with one case of conventional warfare focusing on the question: What are the factors that lead to the use of unconventional warfare as a strategic policy option? This study empirically identifies what factors lead to the use of unconventional warfare. The results of this study provide recommendations for the advancement of UW as a strategic option. By understanding the why first, as in why unconventional warfare is chosen as a method of operation, the subsequent questions of how and who become easier to answer