Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), civil-military joint teams created by the U.S. government, are intended to assist in development and reconstruction projects throughout Afghanistan. The mission of PRTs involve locally grounded engagement linking security and community assistance as a central means of supporting the larger counterinsurgency model. Humanitarian activities as undertaken by PRTs attempt provide stability to civilians that they might otherwise turn toward an insurgent group to find. Ideally, PRTs should understand the factors that cause individual and group insurgency against a state and utilize that knowledge when attempting to address the conflict that results. This study focuses on the successes and shortcomings of the Jalalabad PRT and their implementation of a new project development model in the Nangarhar province in Afghanistan in 2006. It was successful because it directly worked to remediate the underlying causes of insurgency as proposed by the technocratic conceit, with a focus on improved water sanitation and sewage, agriculture, and basic infrastructure. It was unsuccessful because it failed to promote local ownership, the development of a community identity, or a methodology to measure the effectiveness and impact of its projects.
According to the lessons from the conflict literature, the Jalalabad PRT’s actions only partly reduced the factors that lead to individual and group defection into an insurgent group.
In actively working to incorporate the lessons from the conflict literature into the Jalalabad PRT project development model, PRTs will more aptly and successfully achieve their stated goals of providing stability, reconstruction, and security. Without addressing the potential other underlying causes of insurgency, however, U.S. PRTs are unable to produce measurable, empirical reductions to insurgency in Afghanistan.
Billionaires are a relatively new phenomenon, yet their influence is immense. Some billionaires hide in the shadows, and others are at the forefront of our society. With the advent of social media, the reach of billionaires at the forefront has expanded exponentially. Some sport their fancy lifestyles, some preach their views on the world, and some share what it takes to become like them. With 2.562 billion monthly YouTube users and millions of views for any video with or about billionaires, the reach the highly wealthy have is immense. So many are watching, raising two questions are the viewers watching with the intent of learning how to become a billionaire themselves or are they purely focused on entertainment value? Additionally, what purpose does speaking to the masses through YouTube serve for the wealthiest individuals in the world? This paper will attempt to answer these questions and dive deeper into the billionaire YouTube landscape. There will be a discussion of the immense power of billionaires, what it means to be one, and an analysis of a select few of America’s wealthiest individuals. Hopefully, this will give a better perspective on the wealth-based social media landscape.