Organizing for the ‘gray zone’ fight: early Cold War realities and the CIA’s Directorate of Operations

ABSTRACT

Despite its portrayal as something new, the concept of the ‘gray zone’ is not novel. It was the Cold War battleground in which the USA and the Soviet Union waged rival unconventional campaigns, and it was there that the newly formed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was given responsibility for operating. This was not the organization’s original purpose, but Cold War exigencies forced Washington to improvise and build an organization with unique capabilities. These early years shaped the CIA’s operations directorate, creating two distinct cultures within the larger agency, one focused on intelligence collection and the other focused on covert action.     

Initiating a cooperative denuclearization effort with North Korea

ABSTRACT

As the United States and North Korea pursue negotiations on a “denuclearization” agreement, the two countries should consider initiating cooperative measures as a way to build confidence and encourage finalization of a complete agreement. Based on lessons from the initial engagements carried out under the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program in states of the former Soviet Union (FSU), initial cooperation should focus on safety and security, training, and infrastructure elimination. By offering to implement these initiatives now while negotiations are underway, the United States could gain additional insights into North Korean intentions. These early initiatives could be proposed without compromising the US maximum-pressure campaign on North Korea by using the current authorities of the CTR program and carefully designing specific exemptions that may be required for any agreed measures. If North Korea is truly interested in pursuing disarmament efforts, the initial cooperative projects would enable them to begin reaping potential benefits while negotiations continue with sanctions still in place. These initial proposals could also be expanded to include additional international partners such as Russia, China, South Korea, and Japan. Such programs and initiatives would support and supplement longer-term strategies to address North Korean weapons-of-mass-destruction challenges.     

Chinese views of the nuclear endgame in North Korea

ABSTRACT

This article examines Chinese views of North Korea’s nuclear-weapon program during the Donald J. Trump administration. It shows that China has portrayed itself as a responsible country that promotes regional stability, unlike the United States, which has engaged in military brinkmanship with North Korea. Some Chinese foreign-policy experts have asserted that Beijing should back Pyongyang in the event of war because of their shared history of humiliation by great powers, while others have favored working with other regional partners. Another theme in Chinese discourse about North Korea is that Pyongyang is an impetuous, ungrateful regime that impedes Beijing’s ability to attain its core interests of regional stability, economic development, and heightened global influence. This negative assessment of North Korea drove Beijing’s endorsement of stricter UN sanctions in 2017. While Beijing has punished Pyongyang for its wayward policies, China responded favorably to North Korea’s decision in April 2018 to stop nuclear tests and partake in international dialogue. Beijing seeks to help Pyongyang gradually disarm and develop its economy within a Chinese-led East Asian order. The article concludes by explaining how Beijing’s recent, more positive view of Pyongyang is likely to affect its support for American efforts to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear-weapon program.     

Influence of high overload on the collimating lenses of laser ranging systems

Collimating lenses are an important component of laser ranging systems, and high overload environments severely affect the beam shaping effect of such lenses. This study proposes a buffer isolation method on the basis of impact stress wave attenuation theory for collimating lens spacers. ANSYS finite element software was applied to simulate the high load dynamics of collimating lenses, and the buffer isolation performance of different materials and composite structures was compared and analysed. Optical simulation analysis of the collimating lenses under different buffer conditions was performed using ZEMAX software to study the mechanism by which a high overload affects the collimating lenses. High overload and optical shaping experiments based on theoretical analysis were further conducted. Results showed the superiority of butadiene rubber to polytetrafluoroethylene after application of 70000 g impact acceleration. The combination-gasket method was superior to the single-gasket method, and the sandwich combination-gasket method was superior to the double-layer combination-gasket method.     

基于偏差熵的专家聚类赋权方法

在群决策专家聚类赋权过程中,可能出现专家给出的判断矩阵一致性比率与排序向量信息熵都相等但专家意见不同,却被赋予了相同权重的情况。针对上述问题,提出一种基于偏差熵的专家聚类赋权方法。该方法采用聚类分析的思想,基于比例构建相似系数,实现对专家群的分类;引入专家判断矩阵的一致性权重,并综合类容量构建权重指标来反映类别间的差异,确定专家类间权重;最后,在各专家类中建立偏差熵模型,依据类中专家达成一致性意见的贡献程度确定专家的类内权重,并得到专家的总体权重。具体算例表明,该方法可行有效。     

A Cursed and Fragmented Island: History and Conflict Analysis in Bougainville,Papua New Guinea

This paper is a review piece examining the main factors responsible for the civil war, lasting from 1988 to 1998, on Bougainville island, an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea. History, economy, and social aspects of the island – especially traditional society features, mining activities, the effects of colonization and industrialization – are highlighted. The aim of the article is to identify which factors best explain the outbreak of the conflict. The main assumption is that no single factor can explain the civil war, as these elements require a comprehensive analysis. The ‘resource curse’ theory, i.e. the presence of natural resources leading to economic failure, and the existence of ethnic cleavages, are proposed as explanations, although further factors must also taken into account. Finally, the analysis helps to contextualize the unfolding events in Bougainville and its path to democratization.     

一类二阶微分方程Poincaré分岔极限环的不存在性

讨论一类二阶微分方程x¨+εf(x,x.)x.+g(x)=0的Poincar分岔极限环的不存在性,利用一阶Mel’nikov函数直接从整体上进行分析讨论,得出了若干充分条件和判别准则。     

基于Sobol’法的歼击机需求影响因素灵敏度分析

针对歼击机需求确定影响因素众多、传统分析方法仅能进行定性分析的问题,提出了基于Sobol’法的歼击机需求影响因素灵敏度分析方法。在构建了歼击机需求确定模型的基础上,提出了基于Sobol’法的歼击机需求确定模型参数灵敏度分析步骤,并结合算例验证了方法的可行性和有效性。分析结果表明:我方拟夺取空中优势等级的概率、敌方出动歼击机的数量和敌我双方歼击机作战效能的比值对歼击机需求的影响较大,战术运用系数、协同作战系数和管理优劣系数的影响微乎其微。     

磁隐身坦克的实验设计及性能检测

通过模拟实验,研究了磁隐身坦克的核心元件——同轴密绕消磁线圈的使用性能。实验室对其消磁效应的数据分析表明:同轴密绕消磁线圈能够消除坦克周围因被地磁场磁化而产生的磁场标志,其中近轴区域的消磁效果更为明显;如果在消磁线圈中通入反向电流,消磁物体的磁场反而会增强,呈缓慢磁化的趋势,这与电磁场理论相符。本实验设计的消磁线圈属于一种新功能的电磁装甲,能提高坦克在电磁战中的生存能力。