Hello I am Dr. Cox from the School of Advanced Military Studies

[D. Cox]

Hello,

This forum was recommended to me by a colleague and it seems to be right up my alley.

I am an associate professor of political science at the United States Army, Command and General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies.
We teach a diverse group of Joint, International, Interagency, Military (JIIM) students here at SAMS. I have taught people for the US Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines as well as Canadian, German, Dutch, Australian, British, and Colombian military personnel. Each class also has someone from the civilian interagency like the US Agency for International Development (USAID), State Department, or even the Directorate of National Intelligence. I am having a blast here and learning a great deal every day. Given the multinational and interagency nature of this website, I think my colleague is correct in asserting this is a great place to interact with others of like mind.

My research and discussion interests include but are not limited to: terrorism/counterterrorism, insurgency/counterinsurgency (COIN), interagency and international military cooperation, and culture and conflict (especially human terrain systems)

Here is a brief list of selected publications that I think shed some more light on my research interests and are relevant to discussion on Defence Talk Forum:

BOOKS
Cox, Dan G., John Falconer and Major Brian Stackhouse. Terrorism, Instability, and Democracy in Asia and Africa. (July 2009). Lebanon, Hew Hampshire: University Press of New England.

(MY FIRST BOOK! I Have to admit I am a bit excited over it).

ARTICLES
Cox Dan G. “Is Al Qaeda a Global Insurgency?” Joint Force Quarterly. (Forthcoming 4th Quarter 2009).

Cox, Dan G. and Diane L. Duffin. (Spring 2008) “Cold War, Public Opinion, and Foreign Policy Spending Decisions: Dynamic Representation by Congress and the President,” Congress and the Presidency. Volume 35, Number 1: 29-51.

Cox, Dan G. and Cooper Drury. (November, 2006). “Democratic Sanctions: The Connection Between the Democratic Peace and Economic Sanctions,” Journal of Peace Research. Volume 43, Number 6: 709-21.

Cox, Dan G. (2005). “Political Terrorism, Democratic and Economic Development in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.” In Democratic Development and Political Terrorism. William Crotty, editor. Boston: Northeastern University Press: 255-70.

Cox. Dan G. (August 2002). “Making Sense of Poll Results: Ambiguity in the Interpretation of Foreign Policy Questions Regarding the United Nations.” International Journal of Public Opinion Research. Volume 14, Number 2: 213-2

 

[Rayna]

Well, hello you got my intrestes....

Can I pick your brains?
I was wondering how much you know about the Germans role in the Vietnam war. My father came by this ring about 30 years ago in LA, loved it and brought it. Turned out it was an officers ring. We assumed it was a US one.

Although i managed to get it off him for my birthday and searched around looking for more. It turned out it was a German officer ring of early Vietnam. I still have photos of the ring, but that's all i got now because when we were robbed the other day, that was one of the pieces that was taken... :'( but i am still interested in what they would have done and what ranking officer they would have been... Green Beret ring pictures by Bournes_associate - Photobucket is the photos, ignore the title, I named it that when i thought it was a US officers ring
Would you be of any help there?

 

[kato]

If it's authentic from Vietnam, it might have come from one of the many Germans fighting for the French Foreign Legion against the Vietminh until 1954.

Other than that, there was pretty much no German involvement in Vietnam, even if McNamara touted that "Berlin is defended at the Mekong" (something repeated more recently by German politicians in "Germany is defended at the Hindukush") and demanded German troops for Vietnam in 1963 and 1965.

The only German involvement was the MS Helgoland, which served as a hospital ship for the civilian population from 1966 to 1972, first in Saigon, later in Da Nang; however, there were no soldiers onboard, the ship was operated by the DRK / German Red Cross (which also served and serves as the government's civilian medic corps in wartime). Sending that ship was explicitly seen as a better alternative to sending troops by the German government.

The ship even had to leave the harbour and run to international waters in order to be resupplied (by a supply ship chartered by the DRK) regularly. There was zero combat involvement by the ship's crew and zero casualties, the first DRK Medic to die after WW2 was in 1982 in Lebanon, when Helgolands successor was hit by artillery rockets.

 

[Rayna]

nice, thanks had a friend check he said it was authentic just couldn't go much further. He said something about advisory did they serve in any capacity such as that?

 

[kato]

No. Zero german troops in Vietnam, not even as advisors. Can't even be from embassy protection personnel, because that isn't done by the military in Germany.

 

[Rayna]

Interesting, Well i am feeling slightly lost...
It was Germany and Afghanistan that use(d) star sapphires correct? Is there any other country that used star sapphires in their rings?

 

[kato]

With a closer look, and some googling: Definitely not postwar Bundeswehr. The Bundeswehr rings usually use a black stone, and always have the German Eagle on the ring and the unit on the stone itself. And not Wehrmacht either - those always had a swastika on em.

 

[Rayna]

Don't think it was a natzi ring or anything of the sort was only like $350USD at the time, Natzi gear apparently is worth a lot. And the pawn shop that he brought it from so long ago would have noticed that. Not usual you get a bargain from one of them that and the owner had been Jewish he wouldn't have had anything to do with such a thing.

What started this off as trying to find out it was a officers ring was once my father brought it he was wearing it on the bus through Santa Monica and suddenly this man stood up on the bus, walked over to him and saluted him, requesting permission to speak and that's when the guy told my father what it was. Other he was legit or some crazy. (he never wore the ring after that) Although a friend of mine did look said it was an officers ring most prob German or Afghanistan but wasn't completely sure. :/

Ah well, Thanks anyway... Would you know of anyone who this could be more of their specialty?

 

[D. Cox]

Well, hello you got my intrestes....

Can I pick your brains?
I was wondering how much you know about the Germans role in the Vietnam war. My father came by this ring about 30 years ago in LA, loved it and brought it. Turned out it was an officers ring. We assumed it was a US one.

Although i managed to get it off him for my birthday and searched around looking for more. It turned out it was a German officer ring of early Vietnam. I still have photos of the ring, but that's all i got now because when we were robbed the other day, that was one of the pieces that was taken... :'( but i am still interested in what they would have done and what ranking officer they would have been... Green Beret ring pictures by Bournes_associate - Photobucket is the photos, ignore the title, I named it that when i thought it was a US officers ring
Would you be of any help there?

that is really a very specific question for my history colleagues. i'll ask on monday but i believe kato has it right. i am geared more toward modern and future problems as a political scientist, although i feel all modern problems are rooted in history and, most especially, historical identity formation. now if we move into modern terrorist/insurgency, we are in business.

yours

d. cox

 

[OPSSG]

that is really a very specific question for my history colleagues. i'll ask on monday but i believe kato has it right. i am geared more toward modern and future problems as a political scientist, although i feel all modern problems are rooted in history and, most especially, historical identity formation. now if we move into modern terrorist/insurgency, we are in business.

yours

d. cox

Welcome to DT.

PS. We've got some threads on JI and the recent Jakarta bombings, Mas Selamat, a JI operative and some discussions on other dimensions.

 

[D. Cox]

Thanks

Welcome to DT.

PS. We've got some threads on JI and the recent Jakarta bombings, Mas Selamat, a JI operative and some discussions on other dimensions.

I was having some difficulty finding threads like these.

 

[OPSSG]

I was having some difficulty finding threads like these.

1. No worries, my pleasure. I hope, in time, you would find time to share some of your thoughts in those threads mentioned earlier.

2. Singapore enjoys strong military ties with both Indonesia and the US. If you don't mind, I'll list two examples, for your ease of reference.

i. Did you know that COL Mike Tan (the current commander of Singapore's Army Officers' Advanced School) previously represented the SAF as a Strategic Planner at US Central Command in the Global War on Terror and the military campaign in Afghanistan for which he was awarded the US Army Meritorious Service Medal? COL Mike Tan is a Singapore commando by vocation. He also graduated from the Indonesian Command and Staff College in 1999.

ii. Did you also know that our former Chief Defence Scientist (a post he relinquished in 2008) Professor Lui Pao Chuen is a Naval Postgraduate School Hall of Fame Recipient and is the first non-American to be honoured as a Distinguished Alumnus of NPS?​

3. BTW, the RSS Persistence is on a 3 month deployment in the Gulf of Aden (starting April 9, 2009) and operating as part of CTF-151, which is covered in a thread on pirates. There is even a little discussion on relevant national and international laws hidden within that long thread.

4. See this thread for more details on the recently concluded 15th annual CARAT Singapore exercise between the USN, US Coast Guard and the RSN.

5. On the issue of counter-terrorism, Singapore belatedly moved to place SAF's tier 1 and tier 2 special forces (from both the Army and the Navy) under one unified command. The newly created Special Operations Task Force (SOTF) recently participated in Exercise Northstar VII (a large scale anti-terrorist exercise). This year's exercise simulated the attacks on India's Mumbai city last November, with terrorists launching simultaneous assaults on key public areas. For more details see this thread.

P.S. What are your thoughts on the 2003 NBR Analysis on "Theater Security Cooperation in the U.S. Pacific Command: An Assessment and Projection"? Do you think the findings of the study are still valid (given the passage of time)?

 

[SABRE]

Welcome D. Cox. Its always nice to have scholars here. Looking forward to your posts and comments on the forum.

 

[webmaster]

Hellor Dr. Cox,

Welcome to DefenseTalk and thanks for taking the time to register. Please do share DefenceTalk with your friends and associates.

Thanks and enjoy!

 

[D. Cox]

Hellor Dr. Cox,

Welcome to DefenseTalk and thanks for taking the time to register. Please do share DefenceTalk with your friends and associates.

Thanks and enjoy!

No problem. I am going to be sporadic in my replies until we get the current class up and running. A massive number of meetings always accompanies the beginning of a new teaching year.

D. Cox

 

[D. Cox]

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. These are the types of topics I am dying to talk about. My research is generally on terrorism and insurgency and culture and conflict and I tend to focus on Asia (although I am getting very interested in Africa and even some European states as well). I have not read the document you referred to but I will do so soon and let you know what I think.

I am scheduled to visit PACOM in the Fall and I think I will be far better spun up at that point. I should state in a general sense that many here at SAMS see the massive benefits of mil to mil cooperation. I have honestly yet to see a donwside.

In terms of Singapore in particular, I believe or mil to mil cooperation coupled with the Singaporean response to JI and other terrorist/insurgent threats has been a shining example of what can be accomplished to thwart these movements and threats.

I do not know Colonel Tan or Professor Lui Pao Chuen but I am not suprised by their accomplishments or the fact that they studied/worked with the US. Here at the Command and General Staff College we have hundreds of foreign officers attending school. It is of great cultural benefit to all involved and I believe it provides everyone with what critical constuctivists argue is so important; namely intersubjective understanding.

Thank you for all of the information. I will certainly share this with my colleagues. I am not the only one interested in security issues in Asia or mil to mil and international, interagency cooperation.

 

[OPSSG]

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. These are the types of topics I am dying to talk about. My research is generally on terrorism and insurgency and culture and conflict and I tend to focus on Asia (although I am getting very interested in Africa and even some European states as well)...

Thank you for your kind words and we hope to see more of you in the forum when your time permits.

IMO, there is no need for any undue urgency to reply to any post, as posting here is something we do in our free time.

 

[zimmerlip]

Welcome aboard, good Doctor! I'm an old member, but haven't been active for quite some time. Way back in the dinosaur era, I considered myself a COIN expert when I read everything I could lay my hands on while we created the USAF Special Air Warfare School at Hurlburt Field, Floriday. Of course, much of that consisted of "Street Without Joy" and reading Larteguy's novels about Indochina... On the positive side, I also got to read the CHECO monographs coming back from our historical teams in Southeast Asia before they became ossified by the professional historians at Maxwell AFB. At least I won't be completely thrown off by many of your terms of reference...