The Long and Winding Road: The US Army Managerial Approach to Command and the Adoption of Mission Command (Auftragstaktik)

The purpose of the current paper is to examine the adoption and adaptation process of mission command (Auftragstaktik) in the US Army. This concept, developed by the Prussians, denotes a decentralized command approach wherein superiors dictate their intent and allow subordinates to formulate their operational plans independently and change it according to the emerging situation. The paper examines the US command approach prior to the adoption of mission command. It argues that it was heavily influenced by corporate management practices which inherently contradict mission command approach. It continues and investigates how the US Army endeavored to emulate the approach in its doctrine and in major operations.

While it has officially incorporated mission command into its doctrine, it has been less successful in utilizing it in operational situations. This state of affairs has to do with the cultural legacy of the managerial approach to command that still persist. Despite the partial success, the US Army has recently reaffirmed its commitment to this approach.     

Insights from a Database of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Militants

This article uses a novel database of 1,625 posthumously published biographies of members of two Islamist militant organizations (Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM)), all of whom were killed in the course of carrying out militant attacks. In general, each biography provides data on the militant’s birthplace, education, recruitment, and training. The number of observations in this database is a full order of magnitude larger than those of previous databases assembled from militant biographies. While the sample of militants in this database is the product of multiple selection effects, analysis of the database undermines many common myths about Pakistani militants and casts doubt on current policy approaches to mitigating Islamist militancy in Pakistan.     

New Sources on the Role of Soviet Submarines in the Cuban Missile Crisis

Drawing on evidence collected from eyewitness interviews, new Russian secondary sources, as well as recently declassified documents from both sides, the author significantly widens the academic understanding of the maritime dimension of this gravest crisis of the Cold War. Most significant is her conclusion that Soviet commanders were led by complex and challenging tactical circumstances, including unreliable communications and malfunctioning equipment, which might have prompted them to contemplate a resort to tactical nuclear weapons on more than one occasion. Almost as disturbing is the revelation that US forces were not aware of this particular threat. This research reveals how a chain of inadvertent developments at sea could have precipitated global nuclear war, underlining the extreme danger of the crisis.     

War as a System: A Three-Stage Model for the Development of Clausewitz’s Thinking on Military Conflict and Its Constraints

This article presents a new model for the development of Carl von Clausewitz’s thinking on the factors that constrain warfare. The model posits three stages in his thinking that are determined by two system theoretic dimensions. The three stages are friction as a constraint on the effectiveness of the execution of military plans on paper, suspension as a constraint on the intensity of military action and political objectives as a constraint on military objectives. The two dimensions consist of an interactive perspective in the form of causal feedback loops and a holistic perspective in the form of a political system that forms the context of the military subsystem.     

Reconsidering American strategy in South Asia: destroying terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas

Over seven years after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, Afghanistan is again at the forefront of the headlines, faced with a brutal insurgency and a resurgent Taliban. Many scholars and policymakers attribute the instability in Afghanistan to a terrorist sanctuary in the neighboring Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Pakistan has attempted to eliminate this sanctuary through negotiation and armed force. This paper argues that Pakistani strategy has failed to achieve its desired results because of local tribal norms, the weak nature of previous agreements, military units ill-equipped for a counterinsurgency and counterterrorism role, as well as ideological fissures in the Pakistani establishment. Afterward, the paper argues that the United States and Coalition forces should pursue their strategy remaining cognizant of local tribal norms, step up training efforts for Pakistani forces, promote development of the tribal areas, and cultivate options for eliminating the FATA sanctuary through covert means.     

基于DM2的体系结构可执行模型构建方法

基于元模型的体系结构设计思想和基于可执行模型的评估方法是体系结构领域研究的两个热点,但当前的研究没有将两者结合起来。文章基于DoDAF2.0提出的元模型数据(Meta-Model Data,DM2),将元模型的思想和基于可执行模型的评估方法相结合,分析了基于DM2的逻辑数据与可执行模型各构建要素的对应关系,构建了基于DM2的逻辑数据模型直接转可执行模型的过程框架,重点研究了如何直接从体系结构底层数据转可执行模型的方法,从而为进行基于元模型的体系结构可执行评估提供模型基础,也为进一步实现体系结构自动化验证评估提供技术支持。实例验证了文章提出的方法。     

基于时频单源点检测和聚类验证技术的欠定混合盲辨识算法

针对欠定混合盲辨识问题,提出了一种基于时频单源点检测及聚类验证的盲辨识算法。检测各个源信号的时频单源点,利用奇异值分解的方法求解不同单源点集合对应的混合矢量,利用基于k均值的聚类验证技术完成源信号数目和混合矩阵的联合估计。算法放宽了已有方法对时频单源区域的假设,不需要假设信号存在时频单源区域,可以完成仅存在离散的时频单源点条件下的欠定混合盲辨识;同时克服了传统算法需要假设源信号个数已知的不足,可以有效地估计源信号数目。仿真结果验证了算法的有效性。     

基于AHP和DEA综合评判的反恐分队综合作战效能评估

通过分析影响反恐分队综合作战效能的主要因素,建立了反恐分队综合作战效能评估的指标体系.然后,运用模糊AHP评估模型对反恐分队综合作战效能进行定位评估.最后,运用DEA模型对一级指标进行了有效性分析,并指出了无效指标需要提高的幅度.     

从治国理政的高度大力推进生态文明建设

建设生态文明是我们党对人类社会发展规律和社会主义现代化建设规律认识的新发展,也体现了我们党执政理念的进一步完善。因此必须从治国理政的战略高度认识并推进生态文明建设。建设生态文明是破解我国发展中种种难题的现实途径、全面建成小康社会的迫切要求、实现中华民族永续发展的客观要求,必须从树立生态文明理念、转变经济发展方式、建立完善生态文明制度机制着手。同时,生态文明建设也是军队建设科学发展的题中应有之义。     

中国特色社会主义的“四大特色”浅析

党的十八大报告将社会主义的“中国特色”概括为“实践特色、理论特色、民族特色、时代特色”。正确理解和把握“四大特色”,是推进中国特色社会主义事业的一项重要任务。实践特色是我党在长期的革命、建设及改革开放中,始终坚持实事求是这一思想路线的集中体现;理论特色是我党在长期的革命、建设及改革开放中,立足国情、勇于创新的集中体现;民族特色是我党在长期的革命、建设及改革开放中,继承民族文化精华、努力实现民族伟大复兴的集中体现;时代特色是我党在长期的革命、建设及改革开放中,顺应时代潮流、与时俱进的集中体现。“四大特色”连为一体,互为参照,相互支撑。