‘Brown Bess’ vs ‘Miss Minie’

Following the publication of the article ‘Trusty Bess’: the Definitive Origins and History of the term 'Brown Bess', the author was made aware of an intriguing illustration that perfectly captures the meaning of that famous nickname. This short note details this archival document and sheds light on both its place in the lore of ‘Brown Bess’ and its wide historical context in terms of the Victorian attitudes to military small arms development.     

兵团经济:’98回顾与’99展望

1998年兵团经济形势回顾1998年,兵团各级党委认真贯彻落实党的十五大、江泽民同志视察新疆、兵团时的重要讲话和中央关于进一步加强兵团工作的指示精神,坚定信心,开拓进取,国民经济运行良好,继续保持了增长的态势。全年预计实现国内生产总值163.5亿元(现价),按可比价格计算,比上年增长10%,其中第一产业实现73亿元,增长9.7%;第二产业实现40亿元,增长7.5%;第三产业实现50.5亿元,增长12.8%。这一速度分别比国家和自治区高出2个和3个百分点。一、农业生产稳粮增棉、保证糖油、畜牧业双增15%的目标基本实现1998年,兵团各级党政领导高度重视农业和农牧团场工作,继续将农业放在经济工作首位,多渠道加快了农业投入,进一步加大了农业科研和科技服务的力度。农业     

农村外出‘兵’员宜实行‘双向管理’

社会主义市场经济体制的逐步建立与发展,使农村民兵、预备役兵员外出打工经商的人数日益增多并有继续增多的趋势。这种新情况成为民兵、预备役工作中亟待解决的突出问题。我认为,解决这个问题,应实行户籍属地和流向属地“双向管理”。这是由当前兵员流动中存在的以下几个特点决定的。     

A Quarter Century of ‘Transitory Power-Sharing’. Lebanon’s Unfulfilled Ta’if Agreement of 1989 Revisited

Most countries of the Arab Mashrek are multi-ethnic and multi-sectarian. In recent years, most of them have experienced violent clashes between groups that frame their conflicts along ethnic-sectarian lines. This article investigates the Lebanese Ta’if Agreement of 1989 as a crucial case study of how to manage such conflicts through a transitory power-sharing arrangement. It presents several provisions of this agreement that adhere to three different approaches of how to deal with such conflicts: the consociational and the centripetal models of power-sharing as well as the integrationist paradigm. It thereby seeks to develop a theoretical argument about chances and risks of transitory power-sharing in deeply divided societies and derives some general lessons for managing conflicts in the Middle East.     

Deterring ‘Able Archer’: Comments Arising from Adamsky’s ‘Lessons for Deterrence Theory and Practice’

This is a short commentary on Dmitry Adamsky’s recent article ‘The 1983 Nuclear Crisis – Lessons for Deterrence Theory and Practice’. First, it teases out nuances in the relationship between deterrence and strategy and considers deterrence to be both a strategy and an effect. Second, it explores the culminating point of deterrence in theory and considers it untenable, as it does not conform to the logic of, or to any logic analogous to, Clausewitz’s culminating point of victory. Deterrence logically cannot culminate. Moreover, any culminating point of deterrence would ignore why the potential deteree should perceive the actions of his deterrer in such a way as to render strengthened strategies of deterrence counterproductive. It is the deteree who is the only strategic actor to determine whether the deterrer is actually practising a successful strategy of deterrence or not.     

Armourers’ Tools in England

Abstract

Little literature on the specialist tools of armourers exists, and the principal account is now over a century old. This paper introduces a new, unpublished account of the equipment of the English royal armour workshop in the fourteenth century which provides detailed information about the craft of the armourer in the early phase of plate armour, and illustrates the continuity in the craft in the succeeding centuries.     

‘Fighting for peace’

In Africa, most of the present conflicts are civil, intra-state wars where belligerent groups use guerrilla tactics to achieve various political, economic or ideological objectives. The atrocities and the effect of these on-going wars on innocent civilians, human suffering, poverty and development are beyond comprehension. Not surprisingly, the majority of current peace operations are in Africa, with more than 70 countries contributing forces to these conflict zones. On the continent, South Africa has come to assume a leading role in peace operations and is now a major troop-contributing country to UN and AU missions. In the past 11 years, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has taken part in no fewer than 14 peace missions. This article provides a brief background of the conflicts in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan, the different United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) mandates under which peacekeepers had to operate as well as their objectives, and the extent of South Africa's involvement in the various missions. In the last section, the major challenges, that these operations have posed are highlighted.     

‘Mowing the Grass’: Israel’sStrategy for Protracted Intractable Conflict

‘Mowing the Grass’, Israel’s strategy in the twenty-first century against hostile non-state groups, reflects the assumption that Israel finds itself in a protracted intractable conflict. The use of force in such a conflict is not intended to attain impossible political goals, but a strategy of attrition designed primarily to debilitate the enemy capabilities. Only after showing much restraint in its military responses does Israel act forcefully to destroy the capabilities of its foes, hoping that occasional large-scale operations also have a temporary deterrent effect in order to create periods of quiet along its borders. The Israeli approach is substantively different from the current Western strategic thinking on dealing with non-state military challenges.     

KICKING THE HORNETS’ NEST

This article applies the concept of nuclear ambivalence to the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nuclear ambivalence differs from other approaches to understanding nuclear proliferation in that it focuses on the deeply misunderstood relationship between the two potential uses of nuclear power: energy and weapons. According to this theory, the civilian applications of nuclear technology cannot be separated from the potential military applications and vice versa. Ambivalence, therefore, extends into the realm of states’ nuclear intentions, making it impossible to know with certainty what a potential proliferator's “true” intentions are. This article will demonstrate that the concept of nuclear ambivalence applies in the case of Iran, suggesting that current international nonproliferation efforts run the risk of encouraging rather than discouraging Iranian weaponization. The final section outlines recommendations for policy makers to reverse this counterproductive nonproliferation approach.     

The ‘African COP’

The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) had been anticipated as the ‘African COP’, not only due to the African venue but also due to the opportunity it would afford African countries – with South Africa at the helm – to steer the debate on a global climate change regime. With the conference now over, lobby groups, international organisations, negotiators, observers and commentators alike have been taking stock of its outcome. Despite the litany of developmental and security implications of climate change, COP17 got underway with little hope that much might actually be achieved. In light of the discouraging condition of the global economy, with leading developed economies suffering financially, states were hardly in a mood to be making concessions that would impact their fiscal health. Nonetheless, an agreement was reached. Questions remain, however, about the significance of the outcome of the African COP for the world at large, but ultimately also for Africa.     

China’s ‘Three Warfares’: Origins,Applications, and Organizations

Entering the twenty-first century, China has demonstrated an assertive foreign policy, not only in employing various types of economic and military leverage but also in conducting the Three Warfares (三战) – psychological warfare, public opinion warfare, and legal warfare. This article attempts to identify the motives and methods of China’s Three Warfares by analyzing its history, logic, and agents. Based on this analysis, the author also presents the position of the Three Warfares in China’s foreign policy and the warfares’ impact on the international security environment involving other major powers and China’s neighbors.     

THE ‘PRICE’ OF TERRORISM

Security measures are said to increase the price of terrorism. This price has not been hitherto defined in an economically meaningful way. This paper provides a precise definition by treating the terrorists’ resource endowment as a parcel of contingent claims to political influence with a price equal to the summed value of those contingent claims in potential states of the world. Equipped with this definition, an equilibrium model of the price of terrorism is deployed. Important insights are gained into the effect of terrorists’ risk aversion at the level of the price of terrorism in different states of the world and the theoretical conclusion is reached that higher security is associated with a lower price of terrorism rather than a higher price. The implications for policy are discussed.     

应防止刊‘觉’

去年以来,笔者在一些乡镇武装部看到,《中国民兵》、《西南民兵》等民兵刊授教材迟迟没有分发到民兵手中,有的办公桌上已堆成了书山。据民兵反映,他们有时少则一二月,多则半年看不到刊授教材。据了解,这一现象在很多地方普遍存在,刊授教育根本没有达到应有的效果。     

’95印尼国际舰队大阅兵

今年8月15日至21日,由168导弹驱逐舰、548导弹护卫舰和大型综合补给船东运615船组成的中国海军舰艇编队,在南海舰队司令员王永国少将的率领下,应邀对印度尼西亚共和国进行正式友好访问。访问期间,我舰艇编队参加了印尼为庆祝独立50周     

Burgers’方程的守恒律

守恒律历来是物理学研究的中心课题之一.在数学中借助运动常数,对偏微分方程的解作出先验估计,这些估计是方程的解存在性、唯一性及稳定性的核心关键.在计算数学中较好的稳定差分格式,也用到守恒律.在Noether's定理求守恒律的基础上,利用Burgers'方程的对称群构造出相关的伴随因子得出了Burgers'方程的一类守恒律.     

’96世界海洋大扫描

纵观1996年世界海洋形势,岛屿争端此起彼落,渔事纠纷有增无减,海上操戈时传惊闻,各国海军武备争相发展,可以归纳为3个突出特点:     

且看2008’海洋风云

2008年的第6天,在波斯湾的霍尔木兹海峡,伊朗的5艘快艇与美国海军的3艘军舰对峙,险些火拼。此举预示着2008年的海洋注定是风波迭起、诡秘莫测,这里既有美丽的风光和友好的握手,同时也有互不相让的明争暗斗,直至明火执仗。