EU security sector reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Reform or resist?

ABSTRACT

Attempts to explain the failure to reform the security sectors in post-conflict countries have often resorted to two sets of explanatory factors: international and local factors. This article seeks to move from that unhelpful dichotomy to an explanation linking both factors. Drawing on a Foucauldian approach and the concept of “counter-conduct,” it examines the rationality and practices of European Union (EU) governmentality and how governing technologies are resisted and reversed by local elites involved in security sector reform (SSR). Instead of understanding power and resistance as binary opposites, this article argues that counter-conduct can be conceived as implicated in the very relations of power that it seeks to resist. To tease out these relations, the article analyzes the EU's efforts in SSR in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it identifies four forms of counter-conduct: upholding European standards, using the local ownership trap, simulating reforms, and lowering the bar.     

The queueing system MX/G/1 and its ramifications

This paper deals with the bulk arrival queueing system M^X/G/1 and its ramifications. In the system M^X/G/1, customers arrive in groups of size X (a random variable) by a Poisson process, the service times distribution is general, and there is a single server. Although some results for this queueing system have appeared in various books, no unified account of these, as is being presented here, appears to have been reported so far. The chief objectives of the paper are (i) to unify by an elegant procedure the relationships between the p.g.f.'s

     

Stock control in a many depot system

The chief problems considered are: (1) In a parallel set of warehouses, how should stocks be allocated? (2) In a system consisting of a central warehouse and several subsidiary warehouses, how much stock should be carried in each? The demands may have known, or unknown, distribution functions. For problem (1), the i-th stock n_i should usually be allocated in proportion to the i-th demand m_i; in special cases, a significant improvement is embodied in the formula (N = total allocable stock)

     

Military expenditure and the profit rate in Greece

This paper examines the effect of military expenditure on the profitability of the Greek economy for the 1962-1994 period. In the theoretical debate on the role of military expenditures they have alternatively been viewed either as a "burden on growth" (i.e. an unproductive drain of resources) or as a stimulating factor for demand, profitability and economic performance. This distinction is reflected in the Marxist tradition as well where in different theories of crisis, military expenditures have been treated either as an unproductive burden or as a savior of the capitalist system, mainly through their effect on the rate of profit. Our empirical tests for the relationship between military expenditure, the general Marxian rate of profit and the net rate of profit indicate that those expenditures have had a contradictory effect on profitability, stimulating effective demand in the short run, but affecting negatively both rates of profit over the long run.     

The multidimensional nature of the Boko Haram conflict

ABSTRACT

The debate concerning the Nigerian terrorist Boko Haram is typically simplified across two false dichotomies. First, it is treated as either a local conflict in northeast Nigeria with its epicentre in Borno State or part of a broader conflict in Northwest Africa (and beyond), encompassing northern Cameroon, southern Chad, Niger, and reaching into Libya and Mali. The second dichotomy concerns whether it is animated by local material conditions on the ground, or is part of a broader anti-West jihad. The Boko Haram insurgency is not that simple. It is, rather, a multidimensional conflict and can change overtime.     

The Cultural Revolution in Counter-Insurgency

Michael C. Fowler, Amateur Soldiers, Global Wars: Insurgency and Modern Conflict.Westport, CT: Praeger, 2005. Pp.183. $49.95/£28.99, HB. ISBN 0-275-98136-3.

Roger Trinquier, Modern Warfare: A French View on Counterinsurgency, first published in France as La Guerre Moderne (1961), trans. by Daniel Lee, foreword by Bernard Fall, introduction by Eliot Cohen. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006. Pp.95. $74.95/£41.95, HB. ISBN 0-275-99267-5. US$29.95/£16.95, PB. ISBN 0-275-99268-3.

David Galula, Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice first published 1964, foreword by John A. Nagl. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006. Pp.107. $74.95/£41.95, HB. ISBN 0-275-99269-1. $0.00/£0.00, PB ISBN 0-275-99303-5.

Richard H. Shultz, Jr. and Andrea J. Dew, Insurgents, Terrorists and Militias – The Warriors of Contemporary Combat. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. Pp.316. $29.50/£19, HB. ISBN 0-231-12982-3.

Robert M. Cassidy, Counterinsurgency and the Global War on Terror: Military Culture and Irregular War. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006. Pp.211. US$49.95/£28.99, HB. ISBN 0-275-98990-9.

US Army and US Marine Corps, Counterinsurgency FM 3-24, MCWP 3-33.5 of 15 December 2006. Pp.282 <http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/Repository/Materials/COIN-FM3-24.pdf>.     

Royal Armouries Acquisitions 2013

Abstract

The katar, as we know it today, has undergone very little change in form during many centuries. This can be seen by studying the old paintings, miniatures, hero stones and friezes on the old temples. It is well known, that Ibn Battuta, an Algerian travelling in India in the 14th century, described an attack with a katar, but so far, the roots and the age of the katar have not been researched further back. In this article, the author has traced it back to Orissa in the 10th century, showing a form very similar to how it looks today.     

On a sequential rule for estimating the location parameter of an exponential distribution

Let us assume that observations are obtained at random and sequentially from a population with density function In this paper we consider a sequential rule for estimating μ when σ is unknown corresponding to the following class of cost functions In this paper we consider a sequential rule for estimating μ when σ is unknown corresponding to the following class of cost functions Where δ(X_I,…,X_N) is a suitable estimator of μ based on the random sample (X₁,…, X_N), N is a stopping variable, and A and p are given constants. To study the performance of the rule it is compared with corresponding “optimum fixed sample procedures” with known σ by comparing expected sample sizes and expected costs. It is shown that the rule is “asymptotically efficient” when absolute loss (p=-1) is used whereas the one based on squared error (p = 2) is not. A table is provided to show that in small samples similar conclusions are also true.     

The Force Publique’s campaigns in the Congo-Arab War, 1892-1894

ABSTRACT

Between 1892 and 1894 the Force Publique of King Leopold II’s Congo Free State engaged in a series of little-known counter-insurgency operations against ivory and slave traders from Zanzibar, commonly referred to as Arabs. Without a particularly strong tradition of imperial service, this article argues that the predominantly Belgian officer corps borrowed and adapted methods used by more experienced colonial forces in the 19^th Century. Whether taken from existing literature or learned through experience, it reveals that the Force Publique’s counter-insurgency methods reflected many of the more recognisable aspects of traditional French and British approaches. It suggests that, despite the unique nature of each colonial campaign, basic principles could be adapted by whomsoever to overcome the military and political challenges of colonial conquest. The Force Publique’s campaigns in the Congo-Arab War, therefore, provide further evidence as to how some base theories could be universally applied.     

A general treatment of upper unbounded and bounded hitchcock problems

This paper is designed to treat (a) the problem of the determination of the absolute minimum cost, with the associated assignments, when there is no limit, N, on the number of parcels available for shipment in a modified Hitchcock problem. This is accomplished with the use of a transformed cost matrix. C*, to which the so-called transportation paradox does not apply. The general Hitchcock solution using C* gives the cost T*, which is the absolute minimum cost of the original problem, as well as sets of assignments which are readily transformed to give the general assignments of the original problem. The sum of these latter assignments gives the value of N_u, the unbounded N for minimum cost. In addition, this paper is designed to show (b) how the method of reduced matrices may be used, (c) how a particular Hitchcock solution can be used to determine a general solution so that one solution using C* can provide the general answer, (d) how the results may be modified to apply to problems with fixed N, and hence (e) to determine the function of the decreasing T as N approaches N_u, and finally (f) to provide a treatment when the supplies at origin i and/or the demands at destination j, are bounded.     

The knapsack problem: A survey

A unifying survey of the literature related to the knapsack problem; that is, maximize \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \sum\limits_i {v_i x_{i,} } $\end{document}, subject to \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \sum\limits_j {w_i x_i W} $\end{document} and x_i ? 0, integer; where v_i, w_i and W are known integers, and w_i (i = 1, 2, …, N) and W are positive. Various uses, including those in group theory and in other integer programming algorithms, as well as applications from the literature, are discussed. Dynamic programming, branch and bound, search enumeration, heuristic methods, and other solution techniques are presented. Computational experience, and extensions of the knapsack problem, such as to the multi-dimensional case, are also considered.     

Book reviews

G. C. Peden, British Rearmament And The Treasury: 1932–1939. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1979. Pp. 227; £6.00.

B. Mitchell Simpson (Ed.), War Strategy and Maritime Power. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1978. Pp. 356; $19.50.

Paola E. Coletta, Admiral Bradley A. Fiske and the American Navy. Lawrence, Kansas: The Regents Press, 1979. Pp. 306; $25.00.

James L. George, Problems of Sea Power as We Approach the Twenty‐First Century. Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1978. Pp. 365; $11.75, clothbound and $5.75 paperback.

Donald C. Daniel (Ed), International Perceptions of the Super‐Power Military Balance. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1978. Pp 198;£13.50.

D. Frei (ed.), International Crises and Crisis Management. Farnborough: Saxon House, 1978. Pp. 154; £10.00.

Yaacov Ro'i (Ed.), The Limits to Power: Soviet Policy in the Middle East. London: Croom Helm, 1979. Pp. 376; £10.95.

E. J. Feuchtwanger and R. A. Mason, (Eds.), Air Power in the Next Genera‐tion. London: Macmillan Press, 1978. Pp. 151; £10.00.

J. David Singer (Ed.), The Correlates of War: I Research Origins and Rationale. New York: The Free Press; 1979. Pp. 405; £13.45.     

France and the Gulf War of 1990–1991: Political‐military lessons learned

Kathleen Burk, Britain, America and the Sinews of War 1914–1918. Boston and London: Allen &; Unwin, 1985. Pp.x + 286; £20.00.

Keith Jeffery, The British Army and the Crisis of Empire 1918–1922. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984. Pp.viii + 200; £21.00.

Carlo D'Este, Decision in Normandy. London: Pan Books in association with Collins, 1984. Pp.xii + 555; £3.95.

R. J. Overy, Goering: The ‘Iron Man’, London: Routledge &; Kegan Paul, 1984. Pp. x + 310; bibliography; index; £14.95.

John Barron, KGB: The Hidden Hand. New York: Reader's Digest Press, 1983. Pp.489. $15.95.

Edward Van Der Rhoer, The Shadow Network: Espionage as an Instrument of Soviet Policy, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983. Pp.359. $19.95.

David Holloway and Jane M. O. Sharp (eds.), The Warsaw Pact: Alliance in Transition? London: Macmillan Press, 1984. Pp.290; £25.

A. Ross Johnson, Robert W. Dean and Alexander Alexiev, East European Military Establishments: The Warsaw Pact Northern Tier. New York: Crane, Russak, 1982. Pp.xiii + 182; $19.50.

Condoleezza Rice, The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army, 1948–1983: Uncertain Allegiance. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985. Pp.xiv + 303; £40.40.

Trevor Taylor, European Defence Cooperation (Chatham House Papers, No. 24). London: Routledge &; Kegan Paul for RIIA, 1984. Pp.97; £4.95.

Phil Williams, US Troops in Europe (Chatham House Papers, No. 25). London: Routledge &; Kegan Paul for RIIA, 1984. Pp.87; £5.95.

Daniel Frei, Assumptions and Perceptions in Disarmament. New York and Geneva: United Nations, 1984. Pp.xiv + 321; NP.

Joseph Rotblat and Alessandro Pascolini (eds.), The Arms Race at a Time of Decision, Annals of Pugwash 1983. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1984. Pp.xxiv + 291; £20 (hardback) and £7.95 (paperback).

Philip H. Frankel, Pretoria's Praetorians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Pp. xx + 215; £23.50.

Brian May, Russia, America, the Bomb and the Fall of Western Europe. London: Routledge &; Kegan Paul, 1984. Pp.vii + 248. £11.95.

Robert Jervis, The Illogic of American Nuclear Strategy. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1984. Pp.203; $19.95.     

Linear search with bounded resources

A point is placed at random on the real line according to some known distribution F, and a search is made for this point, beginning at some starting points s on the line, and moving along the line according to some function x(t). The objective of this article is to maximize the probability of finding the point while traveling at most d units. Characterizations of simple optimal searches are found for arbitrary distributions, for continuous distributions with continuous density everywhere (e.g., normal, Cauchy, triangular), and for continuous distributions with density which is continuous on its support (e.g., exponential, uniform). These optimal searches are also shown to be optimal for maximization of the expected number of points found if the points are placed on the line independently from a known distribution F.     

Asymptotic inference about a density function at an end of its range

For each n, X₁(n),…X_n(n) are independent and identically distributed random variables, with common probability density function Where c, θ, α, and r(y) are all unknown. It is shown that we can make asymptotic inferences about c, θ, and α, when r(y) satisfies mild conditions.     

Samudra: India’s convoluted path to undersea nuclear weapons

ABSTRACT

India is advancing slowly toward operationalizing its nuclear triad. Its first nuclear-propelled ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN), the INS Arihant, conducted its maiden deterrent patrol in November 2018. However, doubts exist around the capability of India’s SSBN, the effectiveness of its command and control, and its effects on regional stability in South Asia. This article examines the history and future trajectory of India’s sea-based nuclear forces and describes how India seeks to maintain robust command and control over its undersea nuclear weapons.     

Countering global insurgency

This article suggests that the War on Terrorism is actually a campaign against a globalized Islamist 1 1 In this article, the term ‘Islamist’ describes the extremist, radical form of political Islam practiced by some militant groups, as distinct from ‘Islamic’, which describes the religion of Islam, or ‘Muslim’, which describes those who follow the Islamic religion. In this article the term is used to refer primarily to Al Qaeda, its allies and affiliates. View all notes insurgency. Therefore, counterinsurgency approaches are more relevant to the present conflict than traditional terrorism theory. Indeed, a counterinsurgency approach would generate subtly, but substantially different, policy choices in prosecuting the war against Al Qaeda. Based on this analysis, the article proposes a strategy of ‘disaggregation’ that seeks to dismantle, or break, the links in the global jihad.2 2 This article uses the short form of the Islamic term jihad to mean ‘lesser jihad’ (armed struggle against unbelievers), rather than ‘greater jihad’ (jihad fi sabilillah), i.e. moral struggle for the righteousness of God. View all notes Like containment in the Cold War, disaggregation would provide a unifying strategic conception for the war – a conception that has been somewhat lacking to date.     

Bounds for circular error probabilities

Bounds for P(X + X ⩽ k²σ) are given where X₁ and X₂ are independent normal variables having zero means and variances σ, σ, respectively. This is generalized when X₁ and X₂ are dependent variables with known covariance matrix.     

Who’s at Risk? Reflections on In/Security When Working With/Through Military Brokers in Conflict Settings

ABSTRACT

In this paper, I reflect upon my experience of working with active military officers-cum-research brokers in research on the Congolese (DRC) armed forces. Drawing upon the traditions of autoethnography and Narrative International Relations, I recount the story of an evolving relationship between one particular military broker and myself. It highlights how military research brokers, while frequently cast not only as capable of handling their own security, but as prime sources of insecurity, often share the general (civilian) research broker’s predicaments of insecurity. In doing so, the narrative also challenges dominant gendered, as well as racialized, ideas of who is at risk when conducting research in conflict settings.     

Antelope,Poseidon or a Hybrid: The Upgrading of the British Strategic Nuclear Deterrent, 1970–1974

It is the purpose of this article to illustrate how the British government reached its decision to upgrade the Polaris strategic nuclear deterrent in 1973. Using British and American documentation it is demonstrated that the strategic imperatives for upgrading Polaris were fundamental to the project. Existing accounts of the Polaris Improvement Project, however, have not given the appropriate attention to the wider US–UK political differences in this period. By doing so it is shown how in addition to the wider economic, strategic and political factors, this was of paramount significance in the Heath government opting for the ‘Super Antelope’ method in upgrading Polaris.1 ¹‘Super Antelope’ was the codename for the upgrade of Polaris. This was eventually changed to ‘Chevaline’. Peter Hennessy, Cabinets and the Bomb (Oxford: OUP 2007), 28–9. View all notes