Gas,power, and norms: competing logics for the declining use of chemical warfare

ABSTRACT

What restrains states from employing chemical weapons during modern war? Despite widespread and consistent efforts by the international community to outlaw chemical weapons in the twentieth century, major deviations from this goal occur. Two of the strongest explanations that exist for this trend are the logics of deterrence and norms that consider the use of chemical weapons to be a taboo. We test these theories using factor analysis and find that norms provide a better explanation of non-use in the twentieth century among states with a chemical-weapon capability. We then conclude with avenues for future research in this burgeoning field of study, which includes closer qualitative examination of norms, as well as the expansion of the dataset to include intrastate warfare and non-state warfare.     

ASSESSING RUSSIAN ATTITUDES TOWARD PHASED,DEEP NUCLEAR REDUCTIONS

As the United States and Russia contemplate the next stage of nuclear arms reductions beyond the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, another issue enters the agenda—that of the impact of possible deep reductions on the shape of the global nuclear balance. As the gap between the US/Russian arsenals and the arsenals of “second-tier” nuclear weapon states narrows, the familiar shape of the global balance, which remains, to a large extent, bipolar, is likely to change. The article explores the Russian approach to the relationship between further US-Russian reductions and the prospect of “nuclear multipolarity,” and assesses the relative weight of this issue in Russian arms control policy as well as the views on the two specific regional balances—the one in Europe (including UK and French nuclear weapons) and in Asia (the possible dynamic of the Russian-Chinese nuclear balance).     

NUCLEAR STABILITY AT LOW NUMBERS

Chinese writings on the workings of nuclear stability, deterrence, and coercion are thin and politicized. Nevertheless, it is possible to glean, from direct and inferential evidence, rather pessimistic conclusions regarding Chinese views of nuclear stability at low numbers. While China has been living with low numbers in its own arsenal for decades, today it views missile defense and advanced conventional weapons as the primary threat to nuclear stability. More generally, China views nuclear stability as wedded to political amity. Because none of these would be directly addressed through further US and Russian arsenal reductions, China is unlikely to view such reductions as particularly stabilizing. While there is little in Chinese writing to suggest lower US and Russian numbers would encourage a “race to parity,” there are grounds to worry about China becoming more assertive as it gains confidence in Beijing's own increasingly secure second-strike forces.     

The 1983 Nuclear Crisis – Lessons for Deterrence Theory and Practice

This article distills insights for the scholarship of deterrence by examining the 1983 nuclear crisis – the moment of maximum danger of the late Cold War. Important contributions notwithstanding, our understanding of this episode still has caveats, and a significant pool of theoretical lessons for strategic studies remain to be learned. Utilizing newly available sources, this article suggests an alternative interpretation of Soviet and US conduct. It argues that the then US deterrence strategy almost produced Soviet nuclear overreaction by nearly turning a NATO exercise into a prelude to a preventive Soviet attack. Building on historical findings, this article offers insights about a mechanism for deterrence effectiveness evaluation, recommends establishing a structure responsible for this endeavor, and introduces a new theoretical term to the strategic studies lexicon – a ‘culminating point of deterrence’.     

New Sources on the Role of Soviet Submarines in the Cuban Missile Crisis

Drawing on evidence collected from eyewitness interviews, new Russian secondary sources, as well as recently declassified documents from both sides, the author significantly widens the academic understanding of the maritime dimension of this gravest crisis of the Cold War. Most significant is her conclusion that Soviet commanders were led by complex and challenging tactical circumstances, including unreliable communications and malfunctioning equipment, which might have prompted them to contemplate a resort to tactical nuclear weapons on more than one occasion. Almost as disturbing is the revelation that US forces were not aware of this particular threat. This research reveals how a chain of inadvertent developments at sea could have precipitated global nuclear war, underlining the extreme danger of the crisis.     

UN-Consistent: A Comparison of Australia's Military Interventions in Somalia and Rwanda

This article seeks to compare Australia's involvement in two key 1990s peace missions: those to Somalia in 1992–93 and Rwanda in 1994–95. While there are many similarities between the two missions in terms of time, scale and theatre, the differences are more important. Both missions are usually recalled as failures despite the Australian troops having been extremely successful in their roles during both deployments. Moreover the experiences with intervention in Africa seem to have forever blighted Australian participation in peace missions on that continent.     

外军轻型机械化部队综合技术保障研究

研究了外军轻型机械化部队综合技术保障的保障体制、保障内容和保障方式,分析了外军轻型机械化部队综合技术保障的特点,为我军轻型机械化部队综合技术保障提供了可供借鉴的经验。     

对光的半波损失的探讨

本文根据光的电磁波理论 ,对光的半波损失产生的条件及本质进行了深入的探讨 ,并对几个光学实验进行了分析。证明了光只有在特定的角度入射时才会发生半波损失 ,在一般斜入射时 ,反射光并没有半波损失 ,但有相位的突变     

长杆射弹对钢纤维混凝土靶开坑特性的实验研究

为考察射弹对钢纤维混凝土靶的侵彻特性,采用57mm轻气炮,进行了小尺寸模拟射弹对钢纤维混凝土靶(钢纤维的体积分数为2%)的侵彻实验。实验中观察了钢纤维混凝土靶的开坑形状,测量了射弹的击靶速度,并且采用注沙法测出靶体的开坑体积,计算出射弹对靶体的侵彻体积,得到了长杆射弹的动能与侵彻体积的关系。引入射弹单位面积的冲击动能和靶体单位侵彻体积的冲击动能,结合钢纤维混凝土靶的实验数据,考察了两者之间的关系。     

深弹武器系统效能分析

针对火箭深弹反潜武器系统的组成及其特点,运用可靠性理论和效能评估理论分析系统的作战效能.利用随机过程理论中的马尔可夫过程理论,采用美国工业武器系统效能咨询委员会(WSEIAC)提出的ADC效能模型,建立了系统的效能评估模型.借助Matlab工具对该效能模型进行了仿真研究,经对仿真结果分析后表明,该模型能较符合实际地反映系统各组成要素性能对系统总体效能的影响,较好地满足系统效能评价的需求,有助于系统装备的研制和战术使用决策.