The Anglo-American military relationship: Institutional rules,practices, and narratives

The Anglo-American military relationship is a vital yet neglected area of study. This article argues that the British military have actively cultivated a relationship with the U.S. military that has contributed to the longevity of the broader so-called “Special Relationship,” even in the Trump era. The article contends that the complexities of the military relationship can best be captured by the theoretical lens provided by Lowndes and Roberts that combines different strands of institutionalism to focus on rules, practices, and narratives. The intense linkages between the United States and United Kingdom have become routinized, enabling them to adapt their peacetime cooperation to conflicts, and thereby address post-Cold War security challenges. The article draws upon semi-structured interviews with senior British military officers as well as policy documents to explore how these patterns of collaboration have become ingrained in patterns of both thinking and behavior.     

基于层次分析法的军校学员体能训练评估

针对目前军校学员军事体育训练评估难以量化考核的问题,提出了基于层次分析法的军校学员体能训练评估方法。首先,通过建立评估指标体系,构建评估指标判断矩阵;其次,进行归一化并计算指标组合权重,构建评估基本模型;最后,利用评估模型对学员体能训练进行综合评估。结果表明本文提出的方法能够对军校学员体能训练进行有效评估,相比于传统考核评估方法更能反映出学员体能的真实状况,突出学员体能特征,开展针对性训练。      

信息化战争背景下联合特种作战任务新特点

文章从任务内涵向新域拓展、任务效应向战略辐射、任务空间向多维扩展、任务环境向复杂发展和任务标准向精确要求等方面,分析了现代陆军重要作战形式“信息化联合特种作战”遂行任务的新特点和新变化,研究新型陆军未来作战。     

Coordination as showcasing: the establishment of Norway’s Afghanistan Forum

In complex operations such as the interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, where multiple government ministries are involved in putting together a state’s contributions, the use of national-level coordination bodies has become more widespread. Research has taken for granted that the rationale behind these bodies reflects their declared aim – enhanced coordination as a means to improve mission effectiveness. However, they appear to have had modest effect on coordination. That notwithstanding, they seem to remain popular. This prompts us to ask why such bodies are actually established. This article – based on in-depth interviews and archival records – critically explores the establishment of Norway’s ad hoc, inter-ministerial, political-level Afghanistan Forum. Distinguishing between a structural-instrumental, a cultural-institutional and an environmental perspective from organizational theory to structure the analysis, this article shows that the declared purpose of the forum, inter-ministerial coordination, proved less important than showcasing coordination efforts and keeping the coalition together. In addition, national traditions in handling coordination challenges in the central government apparatus and powerful international reforms helped bring the forum about. This has implications for research on the rationale and effectiveness of these bodies, and also for understanding their policy relevance.     

Armed Conflict,Military Expenses and FDI Inflow to Developing Countries

This paper investigates the relationship between military expenditure and FDI inflow conditioning on the exposure of a country to armed conflict in the long run. We apply the band spectrum regression estimator, and the maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform, to a panel of 60 developing countries, for the years 1990 to 2013. The estimated results indicate that military expenditure, in the absence of armed conflict, reduces FDI inflow. However, the negative effect is mitigated by increased military expenditure, in the presence of armed conflict. We also show that the effect of military expenditure on FDI is time sensitive, in that it takes time for military expenditure to affect FDI inflow. FDI inflow in response to higher military expenditure is higher for the country that faces higher armed conflict than the country that faces lower armed conflict. The findings are robust in the case of overall as well as internal conflict. These results are also robust to the alternative specification, subsample analysis with different armed conflict thresholds, and the estimation using the time variant long-run models.     

Development of proxy relationships: a case study of the Lebanese Civil War

Proxy warfare is a consistent element in international warfare. However, it is unclear why proxy relationships form in cases where states have multiple options of groups to support. Existing research identifies the presence of transnational constituencies, shared interstate rivalries, and moderate relative strength of militant groups as highly influential on the development of a proxy relationship. This study examines the presence of these variables within the context of the Lebanese Civil War. The results of this demonstrate that each state places greater importance on some variables and ignores others when choosing a proxy. Additionally, this study further demonstrates the presence of new variables that are key to the development of proxy relationships.     

基于复杂网络理论的岸防作战体系骨干网络研究

随着信息技术在战争中的大量应用,现代战争越来越呈现出网络化和体系对抗性,研究其拓扑特性已十分必要。基于复杂网络理论,首先建立了岸防作战体系网络模型,然后提出一种基于贪心思想的骨干网挖掘算法,最后对模型的骨干网络进行了研究。结果表明该方法能够快速、准确地挖掘出岸防作战体系的网络骨干,并能为军事对抗体系的复杂网络应用研究提供借鉴和参考。     

舰炮制导弹药发展研究

从舰炮制导弹药的基本概念出发,结合其使命任务,对比中美两栖作战力量区别,指出发展低成本高精度制导兵器的必要性。总结当前国内外对制导弹药的研究现状,提取其关键技术,对比中外在顶层概念设计、系统交联、弹药实验测试等方面的发展差距,为下一步制导弹药的研究,提出了阶梯式、螺旋式发展、加强基础性研究工作、开展制导弹药协同控制技术研究等重要建议。     

The cyber conceptual framework for developing military doctrine

Militaries rely on secure communications. Despite the permeation of cyber-systems throughout the operational environment, there is little readily available doctrine on cyber-warfare. Doctrine that does exist has not been coherently integrated. This paper introduces a Cyber Conceptual Framework, consisting of five questions pertinent to the future use of cyberspace. The authors enunciate a definition of cyberspace, expand on existing military doctrine to reject the conceptualisation of cyberspace as a domain, define cyber-conflict, define cyber-attack and describe the four components and five levels of a cyber-attack. This work develops a common framework from available doctrine and a lexicon for future discussion.     

Tipping the scales: short-term interventions and counterinsurgency

Particularly in African operations, United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces have faced significant problems in restoring stability. In at least a few situations, unilateral national military interventions have been launched in the same countries. In the cases of Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire, the British and French interventions respectively played a significant role in re-establishing stability. Lessons from these operations suggest that if effective coordination and liaison channels are established, such hybrid unilateral-UN missions can in fact be more successful than “pure” peace operations.