Defensive weapons and star wars: a supergame with optimal punishments

We model the perspective faced by nuclear powers involved in a supergame where nuclear deterrence is used to stabilise peace. This setting allows us to investigate the bearings of defensive weapons on the effectiveness of deterrence and peace stability, relying on one-shot optimal punishments. We find that the sustainability of peace is unaffected by defensive shields if the latter are symmetric across countries, while asymmetric endowments of such weapons have clear-cut destabilising consequences.     

Goodbye to all that: On small wars and big choices

This article reflects on a decade of British counterinsurgency operations. Questioning the idea that lessons have been learnt, the paper challenges the assumptions that are being used to frame future strategic choice. Suggesting that defence engagement is primarily focused on optimising overseas interventions while avoiding a deeper strategic reassessment about whether the UK should be undertaking these sorts of activities, the article calls for a proper debate on Britain's national security interests.     

Past as prologue: USMC small wars doctrine

Africa is arguably the most important regional setting for United Nations peacekeeping challenges. In the 1990s, extensive efforts have been made by the United Nations in the fleld of peacekeeping with the speciflc aim of reducing the levels of conflicts on the continent. Another significant development relates to the fact that organisations in Africa have started to feature as important peacekeeping instruments in recent years as it is increasingly being accepted that there is a need for such institutions to take care of their own security requirements. However, a key issue at stake is the need to achieve greater consistency with regard to third-party intervention in African conflicts. A look at the more glaring examples of multinational operations in the name of peace and security gives a sense of the magnitude and difficulties often experienced during such endeavours. In addition, both past and current operations have brought to light certain perspectives and lessons that require careful analysis and study. In this article, an overview is given of some of the perils and challenges associated with multinational operations in the realm of peace and security. Specifically, the focus is on Africa and on key issues and challenges regarding the strategic and operational management of such operations in view of the need to consider a more integrated approach towards multinational operations in support of peace and security in Africa.     

Civil wars and economic growth: A regional comparison

The paper examines the impact of civil wars on income per-capita growth at home and in neighbors for four regional groupings of countries: Africa, Asia, Latin America, and a pooled Asian and Latin American sample. Both macroeconomic and civil-war influences on growth differ by region. With the use of a distance measure, we demonstrate that the spatial reach from the negative consequences of a civil war are region and time period specific. Generally, there was less dispersion in Africa than in Asia and Latin America. Moreover, Africa demonstrates a greater ability to recover from the adverse effects of civil wars than the other regions tested.     

Strong powers in small wars: The unnoticed foundations of success

This essay discusses how strong military powers successfully conduct counter‐insurgency campaigns. In particular, it notes the pivotal role savagery plays in such encounters, and the social and institutional conditions that facilitate the resort to extreme levels of brutality. Finally, the essay demonstrates how states (including infant democracies) employ various compartmentalisation techniques in order to win insurgency wars, once the key conditions that facilitate the resort to brutality start to disappear.     

国家空天防御面临的十大威胁

空天防御是信息化空天时代主要作战样式之一,是新时代国家防空概念的拓展。本文分析了国家空天防御面临的空天侦察、航空空间目标、弹道目标、航天空间目标、临近空间目标、电磁空间、网络空间、空天跨域攻击、"低慢小"非军事目标和非传统空天等十大威胁,及其对国家空天防御作战体系提出的严峻挑战。     

装备预研管理数字化转型研究——数字孪生装备预研

数字经济时代,装备预研管理应积极面对数字化转型趋势,构建与数字经济发展相适应的管理体系。结合数字经济的变革属性,借鉴民口科技计划管理数字化实践经验做法,总结和分析当前装备预研管理数字化面临的主要问题及紧迫需求,提出未来装备预研管理发展的一种新范式——数字孪生装备预研,即利用数字孪生助力装备预研管理的数字化转型,并从组成、理想特征和能力、关键技术以及发展路径四个方面对数字孪生装备预研的概念内涵进行了深化阐述,以期对当前装备预研管理的创新起到参考和促进作用。