Deterrence under nuclear asymmetry: THAAD and the prospects for missile defense on the Korean peninsula

The 2016 decision to deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) to South Korea has generated multitude of intensely politicized issues and has proved highly controversial. This has made it challenging to alleviate, let alone clarify, points of analytical and policy tensions. We instead disaggregate and revisit two fundamental questions. One is whether THAAD could really defend South Korea from North Korean missiles. We challenge the conventional “qualified optimism” by giving analytical primacy to three countermeasures available to defeat THAAD–use of decoys, tumbling and spiral motion, and outnumbering. These countermeasures are relatively inexpensive to create but exceedingly difficult to offset. Second, we assess the optimal way to ensure South Korean national security against North Korean missiles. By examining the balance of capability and issues of credibility/commitment, we show that the U.S. extended deterrence by punishment remains plentiful and sufficiently credible even without enhancing the current defense capability.     

Security Assistance in a Post-interventionist Era: The Impact on Limited Statehood in Lebanon and Tunisia

Abstract

Post-interventionist security assistance is premised on non-normative security understandings and flexible arrangements between external and local actors. In hybrid political regimes or areas of limited statehood, these forms of assistance, while strengthening specific aspects of a country’s security context, reinforce some domestic actors vis-à-vis others thanks to processes of selective borrowing by local political elites. This paper demonstrates how such processes contribute to the proliferation of hybrid elements in the country’s security sector. In two contrasting case studies, we illustrate how security assistance packages in Lebanon and Tunisia have diluted emerging democratic reforms, producing more coercive manifestation of state power.     

Grand Strategy vs. Emergent Strategy in the conduct of foreign policy

Does a great power need to formulate a long-term Grand Strategy to guide its foreign policy actions? While some scholars continue to debate the competing merits of various grand strategies, a growing literature now emphasizes emergent learning and improvisation as the keys to success, as opposed to implementing a long-term design. In this article, I explore these scholarly arguments by framing the debate as one between two schools of thought, Grand Strategy and Emergent Strategy. After presenting the main arguments and the historical examples associated with each school, I evaluate the two approaches across four categories: the type of international security environment each of them is most suited for, the way each approach deals with short-term vs. long-term priorities, the domestic political conditions needed for each approach to be successful, and the type of presidential management qualities each school demands. Lastly, I discuss the implications of these arguments for the scholarship and the practice of foreign policy and national security strategy.     

What explains the failure of U.S. army reconstruction in Afghanistan?

ABSTRACT

This author wrote his doctorate thesis on post-conflict army reconstruction, submitting it in 2011. Continued research on the subject in the intervening seven years indicates that his theoretical propositions can be refined and improved. This article examines refinements to the model, and then applies those refinements in detail to the Afghan case. In so doing, it shifts the focus from potentially altruistic state-building to a case that was driven by pure national-strategic interests. Issues surrounding the liberal peace ideology dominate recent army reconstruction in conflict-affected states. The liberal peace underpinning is of supreme importance, so much so that in many discussions, it is internalised and accepted virtually without thought. This paper will advance the body of knowledge by establishing, for the first time, a theoretical basis for the widespread failure of army reconstruction in Afghanistan. The empirical basis builds on extensive previous research by other scholars. The resulting model can also be applied to better explain outcomes in other similar cases.     

Brazilian National Defence Policy: foreign policy,national security,economic growth,and technological innovation

ABSTRACT

With the world’s ninth largest economy and comprising nearly 60% of South America’s GDP, 47% of its territory, and 49% of its population, Brazil has become a regional power and an important actor in world affairs over recent decades. This scenario has led the government to re-evaluate its role in the world order, resulting in the enactment of the National Defence Policy, whose objective was to consolidate the country as a regional power while at the same time addressing national security issues, promoting economic development through a series of defence programmes, restructuring the defence industrial base, fostering innovation through technology and knowledge transfer to Brazil, and indigenous research and development. However, the policy’s implementation suffers from several challenges discussed in this article, which may test the capability and competence of Brazilian policymakers, military, industrialists, and other individuals and organisations involved in its implementation.     

美国“国家实验室”的属性辨识

美国国家实验室是美国国家创新的核心力量。常规英文搜索引擎通常检索不到"美国‘国家实验室’清单",目前国内已有文献大都将"联邦资助的研究与发展中心"等同于"国家实验室"。本文通过对"联邦资助的研究与发展中心"的深入比对分析,对美国"国家实验室"的类型进行了定量辨识,认为只有该国能源部"国家实验室"系列、国防部主管的Lincoln Laboratory、Aerospace Federally Funded Research and Development Center、National Defense Research Institute和美国国家航天局主管的Jet Propulsion Laboratory等与国内对"国家实验室"的共识基本一致。     

谋划未来 加快发展——学习十六大精神的几点思考

联系武警学院办学实际 ,阐述学习十六大精神和“三个代表”重要思想的几点体会和思考 ,较为明确地提出了学院建设与发展的几个值得重视和关注的问题     

公安现役部队干部培训之我见

受普通教育影响,公安现役部队干部教育培训模式有普教化现象。根据干部学习特点,研究适应其教育培训的方式方法,在实践中创造性地运用多种教学方式和手段,有利于提高干部培训的效益。     

新疆边境地区恐怖活动特点及打击对策

近年来以“东突”为主的恐怖势力在新疆边境地区活动十分猖獗,呈现出联合,渗透对象多元、低龄等特点。公安边防部队地处边境一线,任务艰巨,责任重大,要通过加强反恐情报建设、健全装备保障体制、加强战法研究与战术训练、加强边境管理以及加强国际警务合作等多种对策,不断提高部队打击和防范恐怖活动的能力与水平,为维护边疆稳定做出贡献。     

乡村先进文化对社会软治理的引领作用——以河北边防总队实施爱民固边战略为鉴

河北公安边防总队通过实施爱民固边战略,发挥了乡村先进文化对社会软治理的引领作用,用承栽着乡村先进文化内容的、群众喜闻乐见的形式来影响群众,从而实现了社会协调,加深了沿海地区村民对于社会的认同感以及对于社会价值的遵从。