US–China military relations: competition and cooperation

ABSTRACT

China’s efforts to build a ‘new type of great power relations’ and a ‘new type of military-to-military relations’ do not constitute a major turning point in relations with the United States. Political relations set limits on military cooperation, and the two sides have been unable to construct a sustainable strategic basis for relations. This has contributed to an ‘on-again, off-again’ pattern in military ties. Trends show a pattern of frequent disruptions in military-to-military relations from 2000 to 2010, followed by an increase in interactions beginning in 2012. Nevertheless, obstacles on both sides are likely to limit mutual trust and constrain future development of military-to-military relations.     

An exact method for finding shortest routes on a sphere,avoiding obstacles

On the surface of a sphere, we take as inputs two points, neither of them contained in any of a number of spherical polygon obstacles, and quickly find the shortest route connecting these two points while avoiding any obstacle. The WetRoute method presented here has been adopted by the US Navy for several applications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 63: 374–385, 2016     

Factors that affect the optimal amount of central control in complex systems

Whereas much of the previous research in complex systems has focused on emergent properties resulting from self‐organization of the individual agents that make up the system, this article studies one vital role of central organization. In particular, four factors are conjectured to be key in determining the optimal amount of central control. To validate this hypothesis, these factors are represented as controllable parameters in a mathematical model. For different combinations of parameter values, the optimal amount of central control is found, either analytically or by computer simulation. The model is shown to provide results that match well with the level of control found across a broad spectrum of specific complex systems. This model also provides general guidelines as to how combinations of these factors affect the desirable level of control and specific guidelines for selecting and evaluating leaders. These results indicate that all of these factors, though not exhaustive, should be considered carefully when attempting to determine the amount of control that is best for a system. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

Credibility over Courage: NATO's Mis-Intervention in Kosovo

NATO officials have cited various reasons for conducting their air campaign in Kosovo. Though not emphasised as much, the concern that NATO's credibility was at stake stood out as the most paramount on the basis of logical comparison. In fact, NATO intervened in Kosovo primarily to maintain its credibility as the Trans- Atlantic's only multilateral security mechanism because its continued existence depended on it. While NATO's search for its new role in the post-Cold War strategic environment has been fraught with several problems, the inclination towards collective security and crisis management has placed it in a position of proactive military obligation. Predictably, NATO's venture in the Balkans this time around has had various implications on its future prospects as an organisation.