Book Reviews

Men, Ideas and Tanks: British Military Thought and Armoured Forces, 1903–1939. By J. P. Harris, Manchester University Press, (1995) ISBN 0 7190 3762 (hardback) £40.00 or ISBN 0 7190 4814 (paperback) £14.99

Fighting for Ireland. By M. L. R. Smith. London and New York: Routledge, (1995) ISBN 0–415–09161–6.

The Fundamentals of British Maritime Doctrine (BR1806) HMSO London (1995) ISBN 0–11–772470‐X £9.50

Regional Conflicts: The Challenges to US‐Russian Co‐Operation Edited by James E. Goodby SIPRI: Oxford University Press 1995 ISBN 019‐S29–171X, £30.00

SIPRI Yearbook 1995 ‐ Armaments, Disarmament and International Security Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995. ISBN 019–829–1930, £60.00.

Drug Trafficking in the Americas Edited by Bruce M. Bagley & William O. Walker III Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, (USA), 1994 ISBN 1–56000–752–4.

Raglan: From the Peninsula to the Crimea By John Sweetman, Arms & Armour 1993. ISBN 1–85409–059–3. £19.00.     

United States special operations forces and the war on terrorism

Those leading the war on terrorism have emphasized from the beginning that this war would be unlike other wars. Special Operations Forces (SOF) are military forces unlike other military forces. The implication is that SOF and the war on terrorism are thus made for each other. This contribution examines this assumption, the war on terrorism and SOF in greater detail.     

Book reviews

Security and Arms Control in Post-Confrontation Europe. By Jenonne Walker, SIPRI, Oxford University Press, Oxford (1994), ISBN: 0-19-829176-0, £20.00

Arms Export Regulations. Edited by Ian Anthony. New York: Oxford University Press (1991) ISBN 019-829-1582 £25.00

The Causes and Prevention of War (second edition) By Seyom Brown. New York: St. Martin's Press (1994) ISBN 0333618505. Price £11.99     

Poland's national potential and its international position within the European Union – research remarks

This article examines Poland's national potential and its international position within the European Union (EU) with respect to security issues. It presents research results based on a comparison of Poland's national potential as it relates to other EU countries, which is useful when evaluating Poland's power within the EU. The article also evaluates Poland's crisis potential, i.e. it identifies those factors that may potentially be treated as threats to national and regional security. Finally, it enables the identification of challenges to Poland's security in the second decade of the twenty-first century. The research is conducted according to a multidimensional comparative analysis, which is perceived by the author as the best available to measure a country's power despite its weaknesses.     

Book reviews

The Balkanization of the West: The Confluence of Postmodernism and Postcommunism By Stjepan G. Mestrovic, Routledge, London (1994). ISBN: 0-414-08755-4, Price £40.00 hardback, £13.99 paperback.

A Naval History of World War I By Professor Paul G. Halpern, UCL Press, 1994. pp. 624 ISBN 1-85728-295-7. Price £25.00

Arms Watch - SIPRI Report on the First Year of the UN Register of Conventional Arms By Edward J. Laurance, Siemon T. Wezeman and Herbert Wulf, Oxford University Press for SIPRI (1993) ISBN 019-829-1795, Price £25.00 hardback, £16.50 paperback.

A League of Airmen By J. A. Winnefeld, (Ed.), RAND, Santa Monica, ISBN 08330-1503-6, Price $30.00 (Hardcover) $15.00 (Softcover)     

An integrated electric power supply chain and fuel market network framework: Theoretical modeling with empirical analysis for New England

In this article, we develop a novel electric power supply chain network model with fuel supply markets that captures both the economic network transactions in energy supply markets and the physical network transmission constraints in the electric power network. The theoretical derivation and analysis are done using the theory of variational inequalities. We then apply the model to a specific case, the New England electric power supply chain, consisting of six states, five fuel types, 82 power generators, with a total of 573 generating units, and 10 demand market regions. The empirical case study demonstrates that the regional electric power prices simulated by our model match the actual electricity prices in New England very well. We also compute the electric power prices and the spark spread, an important measure of the power plant profitability, under natural gas and oil price variations. The empirical examples illustrate that in New England, the market/grid‐level fuel competition has become the major factor that affects the influence of the oil price on the natural gas price. Finally, we utilize the model to quantitatively investigate how changes in the demand for electricity influence the electric power and the fuel markets from a regional perspective. The theoretical model can be applied to other regions and multiple electricity markets under deregulation to quantify the interactions in electric power/energy supply chains and their effects on flows and prices. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2009     

Consumer drone evolutions: trends,spaces, temporalities,threats

ABSTRACT

While the drone has become synonymous with the War on Terror, the asymmetric iconography of the battlefield is shifting. Commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) drones are increasingly prevalent features of global battlefields, employed by non-state actors in both visualising such spaces, and the directing and inflicting of harm. As such usage increases, so too do concerns around their evolving adoption, adaptation, and potential portability into homeland spheres. While cognizant of the range of positive drone applications, it is asserted that drones nonetheless remain simultaneously bound to an inverse potential for exploitation. In examining drone risk, this article approaches the consumer drone through a series of sites and spaces through which it is technically and socially constructed. Reflecting upon industry innovation, community-driven experimentation, and evolving airspace – it calls for greater attention to the drone’s malleability, arguing that understandings of COTS drones must remain attentive to both drone potential and potential drone threat.     

The Central Asian Militants: Cannon Fodder of Global Jihadism or Revolutionary Vanguard?

Central Asians have long been present within the ranks of organisations linked to the global jihad movement, but has there been an acceleration in their recruitment in recent years? There is growing evidence of substantial numbers of Central Asians (mostly Uzbeks and Tajiks) present in Syria in the ranks of the Islamic State and of a number of organisations linked to Al-Qaida. There is also growing evidence of recruitment inside Kyrgizstan and Tajikistan at least (as opposed as among Central Asian emigrants). The authors argue that distrust towards information provided by the Central Asian regimes should not blind analysts towards an emerging trend, which has substantial destabilising potential. The factors driving this recruitment also seem to be much more complex than a rejection of the authoritarianism of the ruling elites.