Ideology of Military Leadership

This activity will address module outcome 3. Upon completion of this activity, you will be able to:
• Develop a voice-over PowerPoint presentation about final paper (CO5)
During this module, you will prepare a narrated PowerPoint presentation. The narrated PowerPoint presentation of 8 to 10 slides with notes is your opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned to your instructor and your peers. The presentation should promote reflection and display your oral communication skills.
Here are the guidelines to create your PowerPoint presentation:
A. Your presentation will cover the topic that you chose in Module 1 and must contain the following criteria:

1. 8–10 slides in length
2. accurate content that includes AT LEAST 3 peer-reviewed sources; sources must be relevant to the presentation
3. sources must be properly cited using APA style inside the slides
4. sources must be provided on a reference slide
5. for research assistance, please use our library tutorials: Library FAQs (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and Research Databases (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
6. graphics (charts, diagrams, figures, etc.) that are relevant to the topic and help further convey or illustrate the concept
   B. In addition to the above criteria, your presentation will be graded on overall cohesiveness:
7. your ability to express complex ideas with clarity and precision by:
   a. composing an oral presentation based on your written brief (your project research and writing) and
   b. creating a narrated PowerPoint presentation with audio to enhance the content of your brief (your project research and writing)
8. the formatting of each slide, including font and font color that are easy to read and appropriate for a presentation
9. grammar and spelling
10. presentation speaker notes inserted into each slide’s notes pane
11. presentation audio voice is synchronized with the PowerPoint slides
    C. Parameters:
12. Reference the Presentation Rubric in structuring your PowerPoint
13. Slides are grammatically correct
14. Slides tell the story about the selected conflict
15. Slides are well organized, with headers, and form a beginning, middle, and end across presentation sections
16. Citations are included and used appropriately
    Presentation Narration
    When you are ready to record your audio, first write a script to accompany your slides that is between 5 and 7 minutes long.
    Next, you can add the audio (from the script) to your PowerPoint presentation.
    These Microsoft resources will help you develop a 2007 or 2010 PowerPoint presentation and add voice-over audio: Creating your first PowerPoint (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.: This tutorial will introduce you to PowerPoint 2007, but is also useful for understanding PowerPoint 2010. Adding voice-over (narration) to your PowerPoint (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.: This tutorial will teach you how to add voice-over narrations to your PPT presentation.
    Make sure that your audio is synchronized with your PowerPoint presentation, so that when your instructor clicks through each slide of your presentation, s/he will hear the accompanying audio. This presentation consists of one PowerPoint file.
    Your oral presentation element (narration) will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
17. The presentation voice was synchronized with the PowerPoint slides.
18. The presentation was delivered in a logical sequence, with appropriate pacing and flow of content.
19. There was no evidence of mispronunciation, and the presentation was noticeably rehearsed.
20. The presentation was within the required time limit.
21. The use of language was thoughtful and appropriate for the audience.
    Compose your work in a .doc or .docx file type using a word processor (such as Microsoft Word, etc.) and save it frequently to your computer. For those assignments that are not written essays and require uploading images or PowerPoint slides, please follow uploading guidelines provided by your instructor.
    Check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors. When you are ready to submit your work, click “Submit Assignment” in the upper right corner. Click on “Browse,” browse your computer, and select your file. Click “Open” and verify the correct file name has appeared next to the Browse button. Enter your comments, if any, in the Comments area. Click on “Submit Assignment.”
    Your assignment is due before the end of Module 6.

Outline and Thesis Statement for Final Paper
The environment in today’s world is rampant with a myriad of issues that offer up several challenges for military leadership. Military leaders of the 21st Century are now confronted by unconventional warfare that is characterized by ideological divisions, political proxies, the balance between hard and soft power, economic development and technological advancement. Further, personnel management has become a critical leadership issue due to the increase in diversity within the military.
Outline
Unconventional warfare defines the irregular patterns of conflict that are preferred over the normal capabilities that characterize the warring factions. Previously, militaries that went to war followed their basic structures and the strategies used were reliant on the knowledge that clearly informed combat operations. This cannot be said of today’s conflict landscapes where wars are no longer waged between militaries but unorthodox groups whose motivations are not apparent from the onset. Amidst all these is the diversity factor. Militaries are infamous for their rigidity as they hold onto long-standing cultures and traditions.
Ideological Divisions
This subtopic deliberates the fundamental changes in the factors that lead to wars. As Matthews (2014) found out, today’s militaries go to war with ideologies rather than other nations. It is the task of military leaders to develop new tactics to fight an enemy they are virtually unfamiliar with, who does not follow any rules of engagement and has almost nothing to lose.
Political Proxies
Today, the main players in military conflicts are proxy actors. Opposing governments offer militarily support to natural factions in countries where their interests collide in order to maintain plausible deniability (Marshall, 2016). Such unconventional means of waging war often leads to high civilian casualties. While it eliminates the need for public accountability for civilian leaders, military leaders are required to ensure conventions of war are adhered to.
Economic Development
Today, many countries are highly urbanized populations. The challenge for military leaders is how to navigate such environments and the strategic concessions that they would have to give in order to optimize their operations in such developed places (Lasky, 2017).
Technological Advancement
This subtopic addresses the shift from dependence on infantries to machines as the primary means of waging war. While there are many advantages attributed to the use of machines, such as reduction in battle casualties, several other factors come into play.
Integration of technology. Today, technology has given the military a scientific element that was not previously attributed to the profession. Defense modernization has seen militaries acquire higher capabilities of conducting their activities remotely. However, while the benefits are apparent and undeniable, military leaders grapple with the issue of efficiency and effectiveness. As Greenemeier (2011) found out, use of technology opens up the military to several unconventional vulnerabilities. How best should technology be used to ensure military activities and operation are efficient? What level of human involvement should still be maintained to ensure critical operations remain effective?
Redefining the human role. Military personnel often number in their hundreds of thousands and into the millions. However, technology has taken up several traditional human roles and continues to do so as it advances. Military leaders have to find the optimal balance between personnel numbers and the level of reliance on technology. In traditional conventional warfare, military troops often fought on the ground, but with the use of remote abilities, military leaders now have to repurpose these people and utilize them in unconventional ways. In order to fit in with the increased use of technology, military leaders have to redesign training programs to impart personnel with new knowledge and skills in order to fill new roles.
Managing costs . Technology is expensive. Military leaders are often in charge of defense budgets and have to balance between the capital-intensive research & development and other competing needs. This challenge is especially more acute for smaller nations that are likely to face a strain on their resources in the future (]eppsson, 2006).
Ethical issues. Military leaders are well aware of the sensitive relationship between law and ethics. This forces them to answer any questions regarding the proper deployment of dangerous technology in war. This subtopic examines the fine line between armed conflict resolution and armed violence. Does the use of remote military technology reinforce compliance with international rules of war or denigrates human rights? While existing ethical frameworks answer such pressing questions on the use of technology, the emergence of cyber warfare may yet raise more question (Coleman, 2013).
Hard and Soft Power
The military plays several roles in today’s environment. Military activities have many far-reaching repercussions for the political and economic outlook of a country. They often shape the relations between nations, a factor that gives military leaders great responsibility. Woods (2011) suggests that contemporary military leaders should acquire higher relational skills and not only war strategy. This is important to enable them become more flexible and adaptable ensuring leadership changes according to the shifts in roles.
Inclusivity
Proper personnel management is essential for the performance of any military. The challenge that military leaders encounter is determining the role of both men and women in the modern environment (Dansby, Stewart & Webb, 2012). This subtopic evaluates the need for militaries to pursue gender integration for the benefit of leadership.
References
Coleman, S. (2013). Ethical challenges of new military technologies. New Technologies and The Law of Armed Conflict, 29-41. doi: 10.1007/978-90-6704-933-7_3
Dansby, M. R., Stewart, J. B., & Webb, S. C. (Eds.). (2012). Managing diversity in the military: Research perspectives from the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute. Transaction Publishers
Greenemeier, L. (2011). Post-9/11 technology brings exoskeletons, laser cannons to 21st century U.S. military [Slide Show]. Retrieved from
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/post-911-military-technology/
]eppsson, T. (2006). Challenges facing future military strategic leadership – views reflecting a
small state perspective. Tiede Ja Ase, 64(64), 84-92. Retrieved from
https://journal.fi/ta/article/view/47918
Lasky, J. (2017). Five key trends, and challenges, facing the U.S. military. Retrieved from
https://medium.com/@laskyjoshua/an-early-look-at-the-future-of-warfared53ed31b7ac0
Marshall, A. (2016). From civil war to proxy war: past history and current dilemmas. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 27(2), 183-195. doi: 10.1080/09592318.2015.1129172
Matthews, M. (2014). 21st Century military leadership. Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-strong/201410/21st-century-militaryleadership
Woods, K. (2011). Ceasefire capitalism: military–private partnerships, resource concessions and military–state building in the Burma–China borderlands. Journal of Peasant
Studies, 38(4), 747-770. doi: 10.1080/03066150.2011.607699
M1A1: Final Paper Topic Proposal
Re-submit Assignment
• Due May 13 by 11:59pm
• Points 100
• Submitting a text entry box or a file upload
This activity will address module outcome 3. Upon completion of this activity, you will be able to:
Develop a 150-word topic proposal for your final capstone paper
Since this is an eight-week course, it is critically important that you begin to think now about the final paper you will write. The intervening module assignments will allow you to build a number of resources and portions of the project, so that when you get towards the end of the course you will not be writing a 10–12 page paper from scratch in one week, but building on your previous work with added insights, analysis and an overall synthesis of ideas, themes and theories into a cohesive whole. The final paper will pull together all the previous module topics which are focused on the learning outcomes for this course.
A. Topic Proposal (150 words description)
Your topic needs to focus on a major problem facing the military globally and also has a major impact on the world at large. You can select a problem from those listed below and then identify a focused area of that larger problem or you can present you own idea of a problem to be explored. The list is here to help you get started and to give some examples of the types of problems and issues you should be examining.
B. Students will select a topic from the list below. If students want to select a different topic, it must be approved by the instructor. As with any research, findings must be based on research and not opinions. Students will have to compose a thesis, and paper must support such thesis. You will select one of the topics below for your research.

1. Strategic Communications in the 21st Century
2. Military ethics and the Military Decision Making Process
3. Military leadership challenges for the 21st century
4. Strategic Military challenges in a global environment
5. Military transformation in the midst of conflict
   C. Your topic proposals need to be clear and precise. Use bulleted points to clearly state the topic and address the following parameters in at least one or two sentences.
6. How did the problem arise?
7. Why is it a problem?
8. Who is impacted by this problem?
9. Compare and contrast the impact on developed and underdeveloped countries.
10. You may create more of these “Parameters” depending on your problem. This is a first step in outlining your project so more thought and effort now will make it easier later on.