From Rebel to Quasi-State: Governance,Diplomacy and Legitimacy in the Midst of Afghanistan’s Wars (1979–2001)

Abstract

How do warlords build their legitimacy and eventually exert authority? The case of Afghan leader Ahmad Shah Massoud demonstrates that warlords do not only build legitimacy through the internal provision of goods and services to the population under their control, but also build their legitimacy by projecting authority externally, through the development of their own form of diplomacy. In this article, I show that warlords develop complex and complementary legitimisation strategies that extend beyond their territorial realms to include consequential relationships with foreign actors.     

Civilian Cooperation and Non-Cooperation with Non-State Armed Groups: The Centrality of Obedience and Resistance

Abstract

Terms like ‘support’ and ‘collaboration’ are often used interchangeably to denote a loose set of acts or attitudes that benefit non-state armed groups (NSAGs). However, these terms are seldom defined, and the alternatives available to civilians are rarely identified. Moreover, existing approaches overlook that the interaction between civilians and NSAGs is often one between ruler and ruled, which makes obedience and resistance central. This paper proposes to conceptualize the choices available to civilians as forms of cooperation and non-cooperation, offers a typology, and discusses the implications for theory building on civilian and NSAG behavior, and on the functioning of armed social orders.     

关于法律战的若干问题研究

在军事斗争中,我军应准确把握法律战的含义,使军事斗争与法律战有机结合。在信息化战争条件下,法律战正面临着前所未有的挑战。法律战只有与舆论战、心理战相结合,才能发挥出“三战”整体效益。军事优势是法律战获胜的前提和关键。武警部队应结合军事工作的基本特点,努力提高法律战的作战能力。     

‘Cumulative Deterrence’ as a New Paradigm for Cyber Deterrence

This article suggests that there is a paradigm crisis in the sub-field of cyber deterrence. Cyber deterrence is evolving slowly and unpromisingly as a strategic tool in both theory and practice, mostly due to the ill-fitting theoretical framework and underlining assumptions it borrows from the absolute-nuclear-deterrence context. Therefore, this article suggests replacing the accepted yet inadequate paradigm of absolute deterrence with a better-fitting restrictive-cumulative-deterrence paradigm that draws on the Israeli approach to deterrence, introducing it into the cyber domain. The article further criticizes the current discourse in the field, including some ‘common knowledge’ (mis)understandings of cyberspace and the ways it affects the possibility of deterrence.     

紧密着眼战时需要,加强装备物流建设

装备物流的能力和水平,已经成为决定战争进程和结果的关键性制约因素.以武器装备保障为基础构建符合我国国情、具有我军特色的装备物流研究仍处于孕育阶段.从我军装备保障体系的特点出发,根据高技术战争的需要,论证了建设装备物流的必要性和建设基础,对战时装备物流建设要重点关注的问题进行了研究,同时对现阶段加强装备物流建设的做法进行了重点探讨.     

信息化战争中的纳米科技

纳米材料由于其独特的光、电、力、磁效应近年来受到人们广泛的关注,综述了目前国内外纳米科技的研究动态,着重介绍了现有纳米科技在高科技战争中的应用,及其潜在的发展方向．     

目标选择的一个优化模型

坦克作战过程中 ,经常出现一个坦克群遭遇对方一个坦克群的情况 ,这时每辆坦克往往向威胁自身最大的目标开火 ,但这种选择的整体效果不一定最优。本文提出一种目标选择方法 ,使得最大限度地减轻了对方对己方的威胁 ,大大提高了作战坦克对敌杀伤效果     

装甲机械化部队面临高技术局部战争的挑战

本文通过对典型高技术条件下局部战争的分析,指出了装甲机械化部队所面临的挑战及应战的对策.     

How Is a Man to Decide? Unjust Combatants,Duress and McMahan’s Killing in War

Jeff McMahan’s much-discussed work Killing in War is an important part of the revisionist school of just war studies. This paper avoids discussion of McMahan’s use of human rights and examines the practical consequences of his argument about duress on soldiers to fight an unjust war. These arguments are found to be wanting and to be impractical ones that do not fit battlefield realities. The importance of the Law of Armed Conflict and the legal equality of combatants that is part of it is emphasised and accepted as the most practical way of regulating battlefield behaviour and saving lives. It is concluded that attempts to tell soldiers what to do when they may be fighting an unjust war add to their burdens and are misplaced.     

关于高技术力量平战一体国防动员的思考

坚持向科技创新要战斗力,落实到国防动员建设领域,就是要紧紧围绕党在新形势下的强军目标,积极适应现代战争形态新变化、世界军事变革新趋势、总体国家安全新要求和军队使命任务新拓展,加强高技术力量平战一体国防动员,搭建起高技术力量在经济与军事、地方与军队、潜力与实力、平时与战时的桥梁和纽带,全面提升国防动员战时应战、急时应急、平时服务能力,为保障军队能打仗、打胜仗提供强大科技支撑。