Naval Postgraduate School

This book examines the broader federalism implications of fusion centers. From a constitutional perspective, these bodies matter because they stand squarely at the crossroads of federal, state, law enforcement, and intelligence concerns. Although collating state law enforcement information existed prior to 9/11, the growing linkage with a national homeland security mission spawns an entirely new set of issues. The lines separating the levels and responsibilities of government, once clear and distinct, have now become ambiguous and confusing, thereby enabling states to reassert their power vis- -vis the federal government. The decentralized nature of the overall homeland security apparatus and the growing complexity of the assigned tasks enables fusion centers, and thus the states themselves to rise in stature. Because each state is free to tailor its own security framework, fusion centers enjoy the kind of flexibility urgently needed in todays domestic security environment.

This book provides a longitudinal review of the Mexican military's relationship with the state. From 1910 to 2014, the events, rhetoric, and geopolitical representations of the Mexican Revolution are assessed in terms of the resulting changes to the military's mission, role, and organization. The research identifies the revolutionary influence that still remains after the seventy-one year rule of the PRI. Additionally, it discusses some of the historical effects of civilian control within the institution and how the military is controlled under legislative rule today. Furthermore, it provides a review of military policy through the peaceful transition from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, referred as the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional), to the National Action Party, referred as the PAN (Partido Acci n Nacional), and back to the PRI in 2012. Finally, it discusses the contemporary Mexican military in terms of how its loyalty and professionalism will propel it into the international scene despite the human rights violations.

The Syrian uprising began as a secular, nationalist struggle in 2011 but gradually devolved into a vortex of sectarian warfare with more than 200,000 dead and another 10 million displaced. Amid the chaos, the radical Sunni Islamist groups Ahrar al-Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra, and the Islamic State became the most prominent in the conflict. This book explores why and how the groups emerged in Syria, rose to power, and proliferated to unprecedented levels by tracing the progression of the Syrian conflict through three cycles of contestation: protest, insurgency, and civil war. Combining elements from social movement, insurgency, and radicalization theories as well as civil war literature, this book dissects the radical Islamist ideology, the institutional legacies from prior struggles, and the role of external sponsors; and places each in the context of the Syrian conflict. History has proven that the radical Islamists fighting in Syria today are the next generation of leaders in the global jihad movement. Understanding their rise to power provides crucial insight to our future enemies. This book seeks to go beyond a recitation of facts and links multiple frameworks with the rise of the most powerful radical Islamist groups in the Syrian conflict.