The Keynesian IS-MR Model and Military Spending

The issue of guns or butter is one of the most fundamental economic questions, yet there is no consensus on a theoretical framework for examining it. Over the last decade, a version of a simple Keynesian macroeconomic model has been applied a number of times to examining the link between defence spending and economic growth in a range of countries. There are reasons for doubting the soundness of this model as a basis for empirical work.     

GLOBALIZING REAGAN'S INF TREATY

When it was concluded more than a quarter century ago, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union was hailed as a disarmament watershed, eliminating entire classes of nuclear missiles from the arsenals of the arms-racing Cold War superpowers. Over the intervening decades, there have been repeated calls to convert this legacy treaty into a new international norm against nuclear and missile proliferation by broadening it into a global prohibition on ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Indeed, variations on this proposal have been knocking around for so long and with so little success that the entire concept has come to be dismissed by many knowledgeable insiders as something of a farce. Looking beyond its inauspicious pedigree, however, this viewpoint suggests that the time is opportune for Washington to give the idea a fresh look. Drawing on a detailed review of the history of “Global INF” and an analysis of the contemporary context, the author recommends that the Obama administration consider a simple declaratory approach that promises modest initial benefits, avoids previous and foreseeable pitfalls, and plausibly lays a solid foundation for achieving significant long-term progress.     

WARFARE IN A NEW DOMAIN: THE ETHICS OF MILITARY CYBER-OPERATIONS

While most normative evaluations of military cyber-operations have emerged from the legal community, this article assesses the legitimacy of such operations from a philosophical-ethical perspective. After reviewing the relationship between rights forfeiture and the jus ad bellum and jus in bello criteria of the just war tradition, it applies these criteria to several aspects of cyber-operations, including responses to cyber-activities, the use of cyber-capabilities affecting combatants and civilians, and the use of these capabilities by contractors. Finally, it briefly addresses the legitimacy of limiting rights to privacy and anonymity in service of preventing cyber-harm.     

脑机协调控制技术及其军事应用前景

脑机接口技术为人们提供了一种不依赖外周神经和肌肉系统的新的控制和通讯方式。文章以脑机接口技术为基础．以多关节机械臂为控制对象,设计并实现了将大脑直接控制与设备自动控制这两种方式在同一个控制系统中的有机结合,充分发挥人脑的智能与机器的性能,并对脑机协调控制技术的军事应用前景进行了讨论,旨在为通过生物交叉技术显著提升武器装备的使用效率提供参考。     

The nexus between military expenditures and economic growth in the BRICS and the US: an empirical note

This empirical note re-examines the causal linkages between military expenditures and economic growth for the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and that for the USA during the period 1988–2012. Results of Granger causality tests show that military expenditures influence economic growth in the USA, economic growth influences military expenditures in both Brazil and India, a feedback between military expenditures and economic growth in Russia, and no causal relation exists between military expenditures and economic growth in China and South Africa. The findings of this study can provide important policy implications for the BRICS countries and also for the USA.     

Military spending and budget deficits: the impact of US military spending on public debt in Europe (1988–2013)

The aim of this paper is to study the relationship between military spending and sovereign debt in a panel of 13 European countries. In particular, under the assumption of the interdependence of military spending between US and European countries, we analyse whether US military spending affected European sovereign debt in the period 1988–2013. The empirical estimation is based on different steps: (i) a unit root test; (ii) an Arellano–Bond panel estimation and a linear fixed effect model; and (iii) a FMOLS estimation to highlight the long run relationship between debt and relevant variables. General results highlight that debt burden of European countries is: (1) positively associated with US military burden and (2) negatively associated with average military burden of other European countries.     

The effects of local elections on national military spending: A cross-country study

In this paper, we study the domestic political determinants of military spending. Our conceptual framework suggests that power distribution over local and central governments influences the government provision of national public goods, in our context, military expenditure. Drawing on a large cross-country panel, we demonstrate that having local elections will decrease a country’s military expenditure markedly, controlling for other political and economic variables. According to our preferred estimates, a country’s military expenditure is on average 20% lower if its state government officials are locally elected, which is consistent with our theoretical prediction.     

A Revolution Too Far? US Defence Innovation,Europe and NATO’s Military-Technological Gap

The United States is launching another defence innovation initiative to offset the growing military-technological might of countries such as China, Russia and Iran. However, by utilising emerging technologies from the commercial sector to achieve greater military power the US may further open up the technology gap within NATO. This raises serious questions for NATO’s European allies. This article probes the nature of the US’s latest innovation strategy and sets it within the strategic context facing Europe today. Whether European governments, firms and militaries will join the US in its new defence innovation drive will hinge on politico-military and industrial considerations.     

网络中心环境下的军事通信超网络结构模型

网络中心环境下的军事通信网络是一个多重边异构的人工功能网络。为了分析、设计和构建网络中心环境下的军事通信网络,通过扩展、综合Jeff的作战网络模型和Hans的网络兵力参考模型,提出了一种能够清晰描述网络节点功能和链路传输类型的军事通信超网络结构模型,给出了模型的数学描述,并说明基于它可将军事通信网络分解为多个具有军事特征的功能子网或专业通信网。最后通过分析某联合作战部队通信的超网络结构特征,验证了模型的有效性。     

虚拟现实技术的军事应用

虚拟现实(VirtualReality,简称VR)技术属于国防高科技发展的重要领域,迄今已成为开发研制大型军事电子信息系统、复杂武器装备、作战环境下多武器平台和体系对抗的重要工具。VR技术作为人类认识客观世界和改造客观世界的有效手段正日益发挥着重要的作用。扼要阐述VR技术的内涵与特点、构成与关键技术及其军事应用。