The Strategic Impasse in Low-Intensity Conflicts: The Gap Between Israeli Counter-Insurgency Strategy and Tactics During the Al-Aqsa Intifada

Over the past 15 years Israel has been involved in a bitter counter-insurgency campaign against the Palestinians. Palestinian insurgency, particularly during the current Al-Aqsa Intifada, has posed serious challenges to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Whilst being able to adapt successfully its tactics to Palestinian terror and urban guerrilla warfare in order to reduce the level of Palestinian violence, the IDF has not been able to achieve a battlefield decision or victory. This has been due to the nature of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which ultimately necessitates the provision of a political solution by the Israeli political leadership, which has relied too often on the IDF as a panacea for its own strategic and political indecisiveness vis-à-vis the Palestinian national question.     

Hard Line: The Republican Party and US Foreign Policy since World War II Shaping Strategy: The Civil-Military Politics of Strategic Assessment

This article examines the Dhofar campaign in Oman (1965–75), and the role Britain played in assisting the Omani royal government against left-wing insurgents. Using existing secondary sources and declassified British government papers, it reassesses the contribution of British military advisers and special forces to the counter-insurgency (COIN) campaign, the balance between military action and civil affairs, the external dimension of the conflict, and intelligence and covert operations. It concludes by assessing whether the Dhofar War offers any guidance to Western armed forces involved in contemporary COIN campaigns such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq.     

A Cursed and Fragmented Island: History and Conflict Analysis in Bougainville,Papua New Guinea

This paper is a review piece examining the main factors responsible for the civil war, lasting from 1988 to 1998, on Bougainville island, an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea. History, economy, and social aspects of the island – especially traditional society features, mining activities, the effects of colonization and industrialization – are highlighted. The aim of the article is to identify which factors best explain the outbreak of the conflict. The main assumption is that no single factor can explain the civil war, as these elements require a comprehensive analysis. The ‘resource curse’ theory, i.e. the presence of natural resources leading to economic failure, and the existence of ethnic cleavages, are proposed as explanations, although further factors must also taken into account. Finally, the analysis helps to contextualize the unfolding events in Bougainville and its path to democratization.     

Organizing for the ‘gray zone’ fight: early Cold War realities and the CIA’s Directorate of Operations

ABSTRACT

Despite its portrayal as something new, the concept of the ‘gray zone’ is not novel. It was the Cold War battleground in which the USA and the Soviet Union waged rival unconventional campaigns, and it was there that the newly formed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was given responsibility for operating. This was not the organization’s original purpose, but Cold War exigencies forced Washington to improvise and build an organization with unique capabilities. These early years shaped the CIA’s operations directorate, creating two distinct cultures within the larger agency, one focused on intelligence collection and the other focused on covert action.     

Honeypot系统研究与比较

Honeypot系统是构建一个跟实际系统类似的网络陷阱,成为现有网络安全体系的重要补充手段。它可以诱惑攻击者将时间和资源都花费在攻击Honeypot上,从而保护真实工作系统免于攻击。它能监视和跟踪入侵者,收集入侵者的信息,以分析系统所面临的威胁,研究入侵者所用的入侵工具、策略和动机,在网络安全中起着主动防御的作用,是现有安全体系的重要补充。文章分析了构造Honeypot的分类及其优缺点,对Honeypot的实现软件进行比较,并指出了Honeypot系统存在的不足。     

多源目标识别中冲突证据的融合策略研究

随着防空反导作战环境的日益复杂,快速准确地进行真假目标识别显得尤为重要。针对多源目标决策级识别中冲突证据融合问题,在综合分析现有改进证据理论方法的基础上,引入新的冲突度量系数,提出了一种通过在融合流程中增加智能判断环节,以冲突系数为判断依据,对具有不同冲突系数证据选择不同组合规则进行证据组合的融合方法,并给出了策略的流程图。最后进行了实例验证,结果表明新策略能对不同未知信度和不同识别框架冲突证据进行快速有效的融合。     

冲突与调适:民办高校教务处长角色构建研究

教务处是民办高校教学管理的主要职能部门,教务处长是教务处的主要负责人,对学校的教学质量具有重要的影响作用.由于教务处长在角色实践中扮演多重角色,故存在角色内冲突、角色间冲突和角色外冲突等多种形式的角色冲突;总的来说,原因主要在于民办高校教务处长角色期望形式多样、角色认知不足和角色规范缺失等.为了完善民办高校教务处长角色构建,应采取协调角色期望、提升角色认知能力和完善角色规范等策略.     

The Bullet in the Brick: The Materiality of Conflict in Museum Objects

Tangible traces of conflict in visual artefacts can take viewers uncomfortably close to the realities of war—violence, destruction and fatalities. This article questions the evidential force of objects associated with conflict and their eventual display in exhibitions. Through a study of the display of a brick in which is embedded a bullet that is said to have passed through the body of Francis Sheehy Skeffington when he was executed by firing squad during the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, this article explores the historical configuration of the brick and analyses its public display in the National Museum of Ireland (NMI). By examining the actions carried out by the NMI in collecting and archiving the object and analysing the narrative strategies of its display, this article considers how the visual aspects of exhibition displays can perpetuate a particular version of historic events and accredits objects with assumed authenticity.     

The Long and Winding Road: The US Army Managerial Approach to Command and the Adoption of Mission Command (Auftragstaktik)

The purpose of the current paper is to examine the adoption and adaptation process of mission command (Auftragstaktik) in the US Army. This concept, developed by the Prussians, denotes a decentralized command approach wherein superiors dictate their intent and allow subordinates to formulate their operational plans independently and change it according to the emerging situation. The paper examines the US command approach prior to the adoption of mission command. It argues that it was heavily influenced by corporate management practices which inherently contradict mission command approach. It continues and investigates how the US Army endeavored to emulate the approach in its doctrine and in major operations.

While it has officially incorporated mission command into its doctrine, it has been less successful in utilizing it in operational situations. This state of affairs has to do with the cultural legacy of the managerial approach to command that still persist. Despite the partial success, the US Army has recently reaffirmed its commitment to this approach.     

面向作战任务的作战系统冲突检测与消解研究

以作战任务为中心,动态集成作战系统是当前军事领域研究的新课题,从多个作战任务的时间冲突和作战系统状态能力有限性出发,研究作战系统在执行作战任务过程中存在冲突的问题,给出冲突规则的形式化描述,提出了冲突检测与消解的算法,最后通过实例对算法进行了验证。     

STCN的对岸打击时间协同冲突消解研究

为验证航空兵对岸打击中时间协同计划的可行性以及快速地调整时间协同计划,建立了任务间的简单时间约束网络(STCN),并转化成权值矩阵的形式.根据权值矩阵特点,提出了一种检测STCN一致性的权值矩阵法,大大降低了算法复杂度.为加快时间协同计划的调整速度,基于检测结果,提出了一种代价最小的冲突消解方法,避免了消解过程中的重复检测问题,提高了效率,使计划调整更加快捷高效.     

The Underlying Causes of Violent Conflict in the North Waziristan Tribal Areas of Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Following the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Pakistan and the merged Tribal Districts, particularly the North Waziristan Tribal District (NWTD), experienced increasing violent conflict. This paper examines the causes of conflict in North Waziristan from the perspective of local communities. The study is based on qualitative primary data collected in NWTD. The study identifies deep-rooted internal factors such as poor socio-economic conditions, political exclusion, degradation of local institutions and culture, introduction and promotion of Jihadi culture and militancy as the main drivers of conflict in NWTD. External factors, like the USSR and US invasions in Afghanistan, a porous border and unseen international actors, have contributed to the start and even escalation of the more recent conflict, but mainly through exacerbating internal factors. The study recommends that policies aiming to reduce violent conflict in this region pay due attention to the significance of addressing the underlying internal drivers of conflict.     

中国现代文学史教学中文献史料运用问题探析

中国现代文学史的教学应该有文献史料运用的意识,在文学作品解读的基础上充分利用教材中所列的文献史料,并认真查阅,从文学史现象的历史和文学史叙述本身的过程中掌握现代文学史的知识脉络。同时也需结合时代发展下教材的编写特点和学生学习的新习惯,在互联网教学平台上使用编写者提供的文献史料资源,多方面、多层次地进入到现代文学史的教学中。     

基于并发式检测时序的几何级冲突检测策略研究

以三维CAD实时协同设计为背景,深入研究了实时协同设计中的数据冲突检测问题,提出了三维实时协同设计中的数据冲突本质上就是实体特征冲突的思想。在此基础上,探讨了基于特征的冲突检测方法,并针对其不足之处,提出了一种可行性较高的几何级冲突检测策略及其相应的检测时序方案,研究了其冲突检测数据结构、冲突检测规则。此冲突检测思想在PTC公司的Pro/Engineer平台上进行了算法验证,取得了较好的冲突检测效果。     

The road not taken: Conflict termination and guerrillaism in the American Civil War

Irrespective our views on the rationality of our opponent's continuing to conduct operations against us, unless utterly extirpated, he retains a vote on when and how conflict will end. This is because war is about power — compelling another actor to do something he would not otherwise do, or to cease doing something he would otherwise prefer to do. In planning for conflict termination we should account for the peculiarities of opponents who may decide not to quit when we have beat them fair and square. We do not desire that they cease conventional fighting, but that they cease fighting altogether.     

多分辨率建模航空武器装备体系对抗效能评估

根据多分辨率建模的思想,分析航空武器装备体系对抗的特点,提出基于多分辨率建模的航空武器装备体系对抗效能评估模型框架,通过体系对抗过程物理特性的分析提炼数学描述方法,基于主动元建模技术建立从高分辨率实体仿真模型的仿真元模型,探讨了对仿真元模型进行基于马尔科夫链的串联聚合和基于元胞自动机的空间聚合方法,提出效能评估多维矢量空间指标体系,研究结果对我军航空武器装备效能评估以及作战论证都具有一定的指导意义和参考价值.     

Externalities in Military Spending and Growth: The Role of Natural Resources as a Channel through Conflict

This investigation re-examines the potential sources of positive externalities for the relationship between military spending and economic growth using recent advances in panel estimation methods and a large data-set on military expenditure. The investigation provides a new analysis on the relationship between conflict, corruption, natural resources and military expenditure and their direct and indirect effects on economic growth. The analysis finds that the impact of military expenditure on growth is generally negative as in the literature, but that it is not significantly detrimental for countries facing higher internal threats and for countries with large natural resource wealth once corruption levels are accounted for.     

The Ethics of Cyber Attack: Pursuing Legitimate Security and the Common Good in Contemporary Conflict Scenarios

ABSTRACT

Cyber attack against Critical National Infrastructure is a developing capability in state arsenals. The onset of this new instrument in national security has implications for conflict thresholds and military ethics. To serve as a legitimate tool of policy, cyber attack must operate in accordance with moral concerns. To test the viability of cyber attack, this paper provides a new perspective on cyber ethics. Cyber attack is tested against the criteria of the common good. This involves identifying the four core components of the common good from a conflict perspective: respect for the person; social wellbeing; peace and security; and solidarity. The fate of these components is assessed in relation to the six key characteristics of cyber attack from a moral standpoint: security; the role or absence of violence; discrimination; proportionality; cyberharm; and the threshold of conflict. It is concluded that the common good must be incorporated into developing state cyber strategies.