Browsing by Author "Dickson, Donald B"

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    Cold War Latin American Counterinsurgencies: A Mixed Record of American Involvement
    (2020-07-16) Kegerreis, Michael Wayne; Bradford, James C; Kirkendall, Andrew J; Blackwelder, Julia K; Dickson, Donald B
    The dissertation process began with the goal of answering two primary questions and determining the methodology to employ. The first question was if there was a single model for explaining the success or failure of the Cold War Latin American Counterinsurgencies? The second, how did the sole superpower in the Western Hemisphere lose two of the three case study counterinsurgencies and yet win the other? While other questions arose during the research project, these two questions remained the main driving force of the dissertation. The methodology encompassed four main tracks. The first was to survey and critique existing models/theories of insurgency. The second was to survey and critique existing models/theories of counterinsurgency. The third was to use the analyses above, combined with existing social science data, to develop a new multidisciplinary model that explains the success or failure of a counterinsurgency. The last track involved choosing which case studies to incorporate and then process them. The argument began with the definition of an insurgency/counterinsurgency as “a violent conflict over the control of the population of a nation or part of a nation.” The definition immediately leads to the observation that success in a counterinsurgency is to maintain the control/support of the population; failure is to lose it. Social science research of past conflicts where opposing intranational groups (sometimes with outside third-party assistance) violently contest for control of the population shows how the population will decide which side it supports. That research shows that the decision turns on a determination of which side provides the most personal security. While a variety of tactics and strategies can lead to the maintenance or acquisition of the most personal security, that status determines success or failure. The preceding leads to a new model of insurgency/counterinsurgency. The new model provides the desired common explanatory framework for the success of counterinsurgencies both for the case studies and the wider regional cases. The new model also explains why the sole superpower in the region failed in two of the three cases and yet succeeded in the third case.
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    Mexican Instability, War Plan Green, and the U.S. Army, 1903 - 1940
    (2013-05-03) Lange, David Michael; Bradford, James C; Linn, Brian M; Dickson, Donald B
    This thesis examines the U.S. Army’s GREEN series of war plans from the establishment of the Army General Staff in 1903 until the final update of the plan in 1940. It focuses on the evolution of the plans from their inception until they were declared obsolete. The content of the plans is analyzed in the context of U.S. relations with Mexico and the evolution of the General Staff and U.S. Army war planning. At present, no comprehensive examination of the U.S. Army’s war plans for Mexico exists. Examinations of the U.S. Army’s interaction with Mexico focus almost entirely on the Mexican-American War and the two interventions in 1914 and 1916. This thesis represents the first examination of how the U.S. planned for military interventions in Mexico. The central area of research of this thesis is the U.S. Army’s strategic plans. Each of the editions and revisions of the plan are described and assessed to identify strengths and weaknesses. The plans are analyzed as a series to identify patterns and trends. This examination determined that, while the plans were feasible, they were often disconnected from political reality, and sometimes had significant omissions, most notably in the area of occupation. This thesis is based on primary sources, including the War Department’s strategic plans, records of the War College and War Plans Divisions, and Joint Board records. Secondary sources are used to place War Plan GREEN in the context of U.S.-Mexico relations and the development of the Army General Staff and Army war plans and war planning.
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    Raiding and Trading Along the Spanish Lake: The Woodes Rogers Expedition of 1708-1711
    (2017-07-25) Abbey, Ian I; Bradford, James; Bickham, Troy; Rouleau, Brian; Dickson, Donald B
    Woodes Rogers is best known for rescuing Alexander Selkirk, the castaway who formed the genesis for Robinson Crusoe and as the governor of the Bahamas who virtually extinguished piracy in the West Indies. However, Rogers first achieved fame through a 1708-1711 cruising voyage in which he circumnavigated the globe and captured a Spanish Manila galleon. His privateers and investors, and their place in the maritime world of the early eighteenth century, are the subject of this dissertation. This study explores how the cruising voyage and its organization illustrate important commercial, legal, and social facets of the contemporary world. Its examination of the socioeconomic status of the “Syndicate” investors who financed and directed the enterprise shows that many were heavily engaged in Bristol politics and charitable organizations before the voyage. The Syndicate obtained letters of marque licensing the two ships of the expedition to capture enemy vessels, and at the same time instructed the expedition to explore the possibilities of trade with Spanish settlers on the Pacific coasts of the Americas. The Syndicate also appointed a “Council” to govern the expedition during its voyage. Next, the dissertation describes the expedition’s circumnavigation of the globe including its raid on Guayaquil and capture of a Manila galleon, and its shift to peaceful trading as it crossed the Pacific and returned to Britain via Dutch-controlled colonies. The final chapter describes the sale of the ships and their cargoes, the payments of wages and expenses, the calculation of the net profit of the enterprise how it was distributed, and the settlement of lawsuits brought by the East India Company and the expedition members against the Syndicate. The conclusion traces what became of many of the investors and sailors after the voyage ended. Many Syndicate members remained in Bristol politics, and others used their profits to engage in Bristol civic life for the first time. Some officers used their profits to become ship-owners themselves while others went back to sea. Again, the work shows how the figures ended their lives as part and parcel of the contemporary maritime and economic worlds.