“The Cube” Viewing National Security From Multiple Perspectives Utilizing a Multilayered Cartesian Coordinated System

Abstract

This dissertation presents “The Cube,” a layered Cartesian coordinate framework designed to improve national security analysis within complex adaptive systems. It argues that while today’s security challenges are not necessarily more complex than in the past, they are harder to interpret due to increased data volume and faster data collection. Current analytical methods often examine security issues in isolation, limiting decision-makers’ understanding of how political, military, economic, social, informational, infrastructural, environmental, and systemic pressures interact.

“The Cube” offers a multidimensional model for examining security domains alongside a central Human Insecurity Index, which monitors shifts toward or away from conflict. The framework incorporates anticipatory governance, complex adaptive systems, decision-space analysis, human security studies, and machine learning-supported decision tools. The dissertation also explores how patterns and tensions within the system affect outcomes, and how using multiple perspectives and weighted analyses can clarify grey-zone conflict and emerging instability.

Disciplines

International Relations | Political Science | Systems Science

Subject Area

Political science; Systems science; International relations; Computational physics

Department

Humanities (HUM)

First Advisor

O'Callaghan, Sean

Second Advisor

Gvosdev, Nikolas

Third Advisor

Shaw, Jeff

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

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