Winning Hearts and Minds: Population-centric Counterinsurgency in the North Caucasus Federal District

In International Relations, war and security comprise a large role because it generally affects multiple countries. The insurgency in the North Caucasus Federal District is not only a threat to stability in the region or the Russian Federation, but to international peace and security as a whole. The Caucasus Emirate terrorist organization has declared jihad against the Russian government and any country or individual which they consider wages war against “Muslims”. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian government has implemented an enemy-centric strategy to neutralize insurgent numbers without addressing the root causes of instability in the region such as weak governance, corruption, lack of identity, economic stagnation, and military abuses. In 2010, the Russian government created the North Caucasus Federal District and unveiled a new strategy to counteract the root causes of instability in the region. This thesis analyzes to what extent the Russian government is implementing a population-centric counterinsurgency strategy to bring stability to the North Caucasus Federal District since the new strategy took effect to the end of the year 2012. Population-centric counterinsurgency is a strategy implemented by a government to win the “hearts and minds”, meaning the support of the target population to create an environment of support for the counterinsurgent, whereby support for an insurgency decreases and long-term stability is achieved through nation-building, encompassing the strengthening and maintenance of all forms of national power: the political, informational, military, and economic elements. In this thesis it is framed into three Logical Lines of Operation (LLOs): governance, economic development/essential services, and combat/civil security operations based upon the United States Army Counterinsurgency Field Manual No. 3-24. I also address the Russian government’s information campaign to enable stability since psychological warfare comprises a large part of population-centric counterinsurgency. Using ethnography as my method, I travelled to the North Caucasus Federal District for three weeks in the North Caucasus Federal District to observe the implementation of the government’s strategy under the framework of the three LLOs plus information campaign as well as conduct interviews with six Russian citizens: five in the North Caucasus Federal District and one from outside the region, regarding their thoughts on what the government’s strategy in the region. I have also read over 350 articles, news and government reports on the conflict and government’s strategy, some of which I use in this thesis to support or question my findings. One can conclude from this thesis that the Russian government, although still suffering to reform, is making considerable effort to solve the instability in the North Caucasus Federal District through economic development and a country-wide information campaign while still largely failing to gain the trust of the regional population due to gross levels of corruption, a closed political process for the people to decide their future, and continual abuses by military and security personnel who are still determined to solve the instability through violence. I have concluded that the Russian government implements a population-centric counterinsurgency strategy in terms of its information campaign and economic development, fails in terms of governance and drastically fails in combat/civil security operations. Keywords: Caucasus Emirate, Chechnya, Counterinsurgency, Dagestan, Hearts and Minds, Ingushetia, International Relations, Jihad, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Caucasus, North Caucasus Federal District, North Ossetia, Population-centric Counterinsurgency, Russi

Support from the father of the baby and preterm birth among Black women

While maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy have been linked to preterm birth, little has been reported on potential buffering factors, particularly for Black women. We examined the association between depressive symptoms and preterm birth in pregnant Black women, with father of the baby support as a potential buffering factor

Transformative Community Planning Can Advance Mobility Justice

Top-down transportation planning practices have historically ignored the needs and concerns of low-income communities of color. Federal funding guidelines, agency objectives, regional and local planning processes, and community priorities often conflict with each other at the expense of the health, safety, and livelihood of vulnerable populations. Decades of discriminatory government policies and disinvestment have enabled gentrification, particularly in underserved neighborhoods where new transportation investments make these areas more accessible and attractive to wealthier, often white, residents, which can lead to residential and commercial displacement as public investments increase land values and rents. Mobility justice, which treats mobility as a fundamental human right and promotes a version of transportation planning that incorporates distributive, procedural, and recognition justice, offers an alternative framework

Sustainable Futures for Linden Village: A Model for Increasing Social Capital and the Quality of Life in an Urban Neighborhood

IMPACT. 1: The OSU project team, community partners and involved students have worked to enhance local revitalization efforts by providing technical assistance to the community and increasing the awareness, knowledge, and skills of local community residents, teachers/students, and organizations in sustainable community and housing development. -- 2. This project is innovative in that it integrates larger scale healthy community and green infrastructure planning, GIS mapping for urban opportunity, and micro-scale green home renovation and new construction.OSU PARTNERS: Landscape Architecture; City and Regional Planning; Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering; College of Engineering; College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental SciencesCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: Greater Linden Development Corporation; The Columbus Foundation; Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; City of Columbus Department of Development Planning Division; Habitat for Humanity; SIMCO-ConstructionPRIMARY CONTACT: Jesus J. Lara ([email protected]); Victoria Chen ([email protected]); Charisma Acey ([email protected])The "Sustainable Futures for Linden Village" project is a partnership between OSU faculty in the Colleges of Engineering, Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Greater Linden Development Corporation (GLDC). It closely relates to a comprehensive local redevelopment initiative, designed to revitalize and improve a target urban area surrounding the Linden McKinley STEM Academy. This initiative integrates urban revitalization, home rehabilitation, energy retrofit, repair and maintenance with sustainable development goals

Physical Assault During the Perinatal Period by Disability Status and Racial/Ethnic Background.

Physical assault of women at the intersection of race/ethnicity and physical disability is not well studied. This study seeks to assess the prevalence of physical assault-related emergency department or hospital visits among women with physical disabilities during different stages of the perinatal period, stratified by racial/ethnic background. This study used 1998-2020 data from the Massachusetts Pregnancy to Early Life Longitudinal Data System. Unique singleton deliveries were classified into 10 cohorts by combining maternal physical disability status (yes/no) and racial/ethnic background (White, Black, Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander [API], and American Indian/Alaska Native [AIAN]); nondisabled White mothers served as referent. Outcomes assessed were the presence of assaults up to 1 year before conception, during pregnancy, and up to 1 year postpartum. Compared to nondisabled White mothers, Black, Latinx, and AIAN mothers with physical disabilities were at the highest risk and experienced 16.0, 12.0, and 12.0 times the risk, respectively, of preconception assault; 15.3, 12.7, and 11.6 times the risk of prenatal assault; and 9.0, 8.2, and 9.3 times the risk of postpartum assault (p < .001 for all risk ratios). Adjusting for sociodemographic differences between groups reduced the magnitude of disparities, but Black, Latinx, and AIAN mothers with physical disabilities remained at greatest risk among all cohorts. Women with physical disabilities from minoritized racial/ethnic backgrounds experienced compounded risk of perinatal violence, with risks exceeding those of nondisabled women in the same racial/ethnic groups as well as White women with physical disabilities. Violence against women with physical disabilities, especially during pregnancy, is a major and ongoing public health crisis. Urgent needs include screening and outreach efforts to Black, Latinx, and AIAN mothers with physical disabilities

The relationship between anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and HIV prevention among sexual and gender minoritized youth

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to estimate the longitudinal associations of state-level anti-LGBTQ+ policies and county-level politics with individual HIV prevention outcomes among sexual and gender minoritized (SGM) youth. DESIGN: Keeping it LITE-1 prospectively enrolled 3330 SGM youth and young adults (ages 13-34) at increased risk of HIV throughout the United States from 2017 to 2022. METHODS: Semiannual surveys collected self-reported HIV prevention measures [current preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use, weekly PrEP adherence, HIV/STI testing in the past 6 months]. Geolocation was linked with state-level LGBTQ+ policy data and county-level election data. Generalized linear models with GEE estimated the single and joint longitudinal associations for two exposures [state-level policy climate (more discriminatory vs. less discriminatory) and county-level political majority (Democratic/swing vs. Republican)] with each outcome. RESULTS: Among participants living in a state with more discriminatory laws, those in a Democratic/swing county had a 6-percentage point increase in PrEP use (95% confidence interval: 0.02, 0.09) compared to those in a Republican county. Those living in a Republican county but a state with less discriminatory laws saw a similar increase (0.05; -0.02,0.11). Residing in both a Democratic/swing county and a state with less discriminatory laws, relative to a Republican county and a state with more discriminatory laws, was associated with a 10-percentage point increase in PrEP use (0.10; 0.06,0.14) and a 5-percentage point increase in HIV/STI testing (0.05; 0.00,0.09). CONCLUSION: More progressive state and local policies were each associated with increased PrEP use, and together, doubled the magnitude of this association. PrEP is underutilized among SGM youth, and anti-LGBTQ+ policies may exacerbate this gap in coverage

Characteristics of Hospitalized Children With a Diagnosis of Malnutrition

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141004/1/jpen0623-sup-0001.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141004/2/jpen0623.pd

Umbilical cord care practices in the Volta Region of Ghana: A cross sectional study

Session presented on Saturday, July 23, 2016: Purpose: In developing countries such as Ghana, care of the umbilical cord is a major concern because it is one of the leading sources of neonatal sepsis (Black et al., 2010). Most women and sometimes healthcare workers including Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) lack the necessary knowledge and skills to care for the umbilical cords of the new newborns (Asif Padiyath, Bhat, & Ekambaram, 2010). Few studies across developing countries show that various substances including cow dung, mustard oil, ash, mud, breast milk, saliva, water, ash, mud, rat feces, turmeric, oil and shea butter are commonly applied on the umbilical wound to promote healing (Mullany et al., 2007; Soofi et al., 2012). These practices are associated with an increased risk for omphalitis which is directly associated with increased neonatal mortality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge of health workers and mothers in the Volta region of Ghana and to learn about the current practices in this community. This study was conducted in collaboration with the Volta Regional Health Directorate of Ghana Health Servic. Methods: This was a cross sectional study of 102 mothers and 66 health workers in 11 health centers and hospitals in the Volta region of Ghana. Health workers in this study included nurses and midwives who provided prenatal, intra partum and postnatal care to the mothers. Survey data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data collected from mothers included their socio-demographic characteristics, the cord care treatment they used for the most recent child, and their sources of information regarding the treatment method. Healthcare workers were asked about their education and credentials, and their recommendations for cord care. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the survey findings. Results: The most commonly used practice was methylated spirit (68%). While majority of the study participants used methylated spirit (68%) the recommended practice, a significant number of mothers used non-recommended practices including shea butter (18%), toothpaste (4%), oil (2%), water (2%) and 6% used nothing. Overall 79% of the mothers surveyed received recommendation from healthcare workers on the best medical practice. Mothers residing in the southern Volta region or in urban areas and those with higher education levels were most likely to follow recommended best practices for cord care. Distrust in healthcare workers and low education levels were found to be the main barriers for adherence to the recommended practices. Health workers reported they were knowledgeable and confident in cord care practices (61%) and most (97%) supported medically recommended practices for cord care. Nurses and midwives were taught best practices of newborn cord care during their pre-licensure training. Conclusion: More than one in five mothers are not following the recommended practices in newborn cord care. This study has public health and policy implications in addressing child mortality especially from neonatal sepsis. Public health interventions are needed to promote best practices for cord care especially in the northern Volta, in rural areas and among women with low education levels. Further studies will focus on education intervention that will inform the community on best practices in cord care