Discounted production scheduling and employment smoothing

We consider the problem of minimizing the sum of production, employment smoothing, and inventory costs over a finite number of time periods where demands are known. The fundamental difference between our model and that treated in [1] is that here we permit the smoothing cost to be nonstationary, thereby admitting a model with discounting. We show that the values of the instrumental variables are nondecreasing in time when demands are nondecreasing. We also derive some asymptotic properties of optimal policies.     

On some stochastic inequalities involving minimum of random variables

Let X_i be independent IFR random variables and let Y_i be independent exponential random variables such that E[X_i]=E[Y_i] for all i=1, 2, ? n. Then it is well known that E[min (X_i)] ≥E[min (X_i)]. Nevertheless, for 1≤i≤n exponentially distributed X_i's and for a decreasing convex function ?(.). it is shown that .     

Two machine flow shop scheduling problems with sequence dependent setup times: A dynamic programming approach

This paper considers the two different flow shop scheduling problems that arise when, in a two machine problem, one machine is characterized by sequence dependent setup times. The objective is to determine a schedule that minimizes makespan. After establishing the optimally of permutation schedules for both of these problems, an efficient dynamic programming formulation is developed for each of them. Each of these formulations is shown to be comparable, from a computational standpoint, to the corresponding formulation of the traveling salesman problem. Then, the relative merits of the dynamic programming and branch and bound approaches to these two scheduling problems are discussed.     

Multinational rapid response mechanisms: Past promises and future prospects

Military rapid response mechanisms are generally understood as troops that are on standby, ready to be deployed to a crisis within a short time frame. Yet, the overall track record of the existing multinational rapid response mechanisms within the European Union, the African Union, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization remains disappointing, and the United Nations does not even have a rapidly deployable capacity anymore. Meanwhile, despite that calls for the further development of these mechanisms are still being voiced politically, scholarly literature remains fragmented. This is problematic as many of the obstacles faced by these organizations are similar. This forum uniquely compares experiences from the four aforementioned organizations. Drawing on these insights, this introductory article identifies some key factors that hamper or enable the development and deployment of multinational rapid response mechanisms.     

The US NATO and military burden sharing: post-Cold War accomplishments and future prospects

NATO burden sharing has become an especially timely issue in the past several years as a result of a number of factors, including Russian annexation of Crimea and destabilization of eastern Ukraine in 2014. This article argues that alliance unity among the great democracies of Europe and North America is indispensable to peace and stability on the Eurasian continent. A fractured NATO, and especially, a large divide in purposes or commitments as between the United States and its European security partners, invites aggression and the possibility of inadvertent escalation. Past successes and failures in US-involved multinational peace and stability operations, within and outside of Europe, show that mission accomplishment requires give and take, including the occasional acceptance of unequal costs and benefits among the members, in order to achieve peace and security objectives.