An informal framework to aid the analysis and design of military posture

The design of military posture is an exercise in confronting potential enemies’ capabilities within the context of geographic, technological, temporal, political and economic constraints. No formal model is capable of encapsulating the essentials of so complex an environment for closed or simulated analysis, but it is useful to have an informal framework within which to reason interactively within these dimensions.

This paper presents such a scaffolding, patterned on the notion of a military posture as the output of an economic process whose structure reflects important determinants of the characteristics and extents of weaponry and expenditures that are appropriate to the environment within the feasibility set determined by the constraints. The analysis remains at an abstract level, but it does highlight the important shifts toward preparation for littoral warfare, greater reliance on reserve rather than active forces, and necessary changes in missions among military departments.     

The Tower at War 1914–18: Foreman Buckingham Goes To War

Abstract

A small part of the White Tower displays at the Royal Armouries at the Tower is marking the centenary of the First World War and the role the Tower of London played in the War, the links between the site, its staff and the great event are described. The importance of Charles ffoulkes as curator in developing the collection is emphasized. The choice of display content and the way the exhibition will change to reflect each year of the war is described, starting with material from 1914 displayed during 2014 in ‘Foreman Buckingham goes to war’.     

From Civil War Victor to Cold War Guard: Positional Warfare in Korea and the Transformation of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, 1951–1953

This article analyses the impact of the Korean War on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), particularly the period of positional warfare from 1951 to 1953. In the war of movement between October 1950 and June 1951, the PLA relied on its civil war era weapons and experience, including the doctrine of ‘battle of annihilation’. Operations in early 1951 suggested that the civil war legacies of the PLA no longer applied to the realities of combat in Korea. Based on both Soviet aid and domestic mobilisation, the PLA managed to build the material foundation for positional warfare and rapidly improved its logistics. Operationally, on the defensive, the PLA developed combined operations integrating infantry, artillery, and armoured forces. The PLA learned the lessons of the Korean War and strengthened its ties with the Soviet armed forces in order to modernise itself. The Korean War thus transformed the PLA from Civil War victor to Cold War guard.     

《孙子兵法》谋略思想在反劫持战斗中的运用

用兵作战是一种诡诈之术。“诡道”“奇袭”“利诱”交织而成的战略思想贯穿孙子兵法思想的始终。它们是战斗克敌制胜的法宝。研究借鉴并灵活运用孙子谋略思想,对提高武警部队反劫持战斗行动能力,具有十分重要的现实意义。     

从震网病毒分析“网络物理战”作用机理

震网病毒被认为是史上第一种"网络物理战"武器,文章介绍了两个版本震网病毒的作用机理,分析了网络物理战的作战思想,提出了层次化的网络空间、过程中的网络漏洞和网络物理威慑等新概念,并总结了其对网络战研究的启示。     

Counterinsurgency or irregular warfare? Historiography and the study of ‘small wars’

This article argues that the history of irregular warfare provides a valuable analytical and critical perspective for the study of counterinsurgency campaigns and counterinsurgency doctrine. A focus on the history of irregular warfare highlights the close relationship between warfare in Europe and in the colonies. Moreover, it enables us to identify more exactly the intersection of multiple factors that lead to an escalation of violence in small wars. Finally, it also sheds light on the lack of strategic reflection on the use of irregular auxiliaries that is characteristic for many counterinsurgency campaigns.     

The German wars of liberation 1807–1815: The restrained insurgency

In the Age of Napoleon, ‘small wars’ and ‘revolutionary war’ were closely connected. There were, however, different strands of this phenomenon: speaking professionally, conservative officers condemned small wars as an irregular regression to previous less disciplined forms of warfare. The Prussian state continually tried to discipline and regulate spontaneous risings. Yet the irregular character of small wars offered the opportunities for a less complex way of fighting, thus enabling the arming of the ‘people’ to fight. Individual undertakings, such as Ferdinand von Schill's doomed campaign in 1809, were designed to spark off a general popular uprising. But they were cheered by many and supported by few. Meanwhile, Neidhardt von Gneisenau conceived guerrilla-style Landsturm home-defence forces, which were designed for an irregular people's war. These concepts were put into practice in the ‘war of freedom’ – or ‘war of liberation’ – in 1813. Eventually both the mobilisation and the tactics remained regular, however, despite the emphatic appeal to a national ‘people's war’.     

《孙子兵法》“五德”思想对现代化武警警官素质修养的借鉴与启迪

古代《孙子兵法》要求为将之道必须具备“智”、“信”、“仁”、“勇”、“严”五德要素。新时期部队指挥员应当借鉴历史经验,努力提高自身素质修养,大力培育部队优良战斗作风,为履行新使命、新职责打下坚实基础。