The crisis of American military assistance: strategic dithering and Fabergé Egg armies

ABSTRACT

The United States has provided substantial amounts of military assistance and aid since the end of World War Two. During the Cold War, it proved vital in protecting numerous regimes from communist takeovers. Successful outcomes occurred when American leaders made large initial aid commitments, and the states had the capacity and political willpower to use it effectively. However, Vietnam was an example of how U.S. support lagged, as leaders in Saigon preferred political survival instead of creating regime legitimacy. Following 9/11, American security aid focused on making weak countries develop stronger security forces. Unfortunately, this created Fabergé egg militaries: expensive and easily broken by insurgents. This article suggests long-term strategic commitments need to be made alongside more resources for the American State Department and similar organizations to focus on the politics of state-building. Finally, this article suggests strategies, such as “whole-of-government” approaches, to improve long-term security and political institution building.     

The Trump effect downunder: U.S. allies,Australian strategic culture,and the politics of path dependence

Donald Trump’s election precipitated a debate in Australia about the value of retaining close alliance ties with the United States. Similar dynamics are discernible in other U.S. allies as the negative impact of Trump administration policies becomes clearer. Yet despite this “Trump effect,” we argue Australia is unlikely to distance itself from the United States because at the core of Australia’s strategic culture is a very positive “cultural orientation” toward the United States that is highly institutionalized in treaties, formal bilateral ties, Track 2 diplomacy, and public opinion. Such institutionalized ties have powerful path dependent effects. Accordingly, we conclude that the Trump effect does not constitute a powerful enough “exogenous shock” to move Australia off its well-worn grand-strategic path. But this alliance relationship is marked by both high cultural affinity and high institutionalization: American policy-makers should seriously consider whether other U.S. allies can tolerate similar levels of “stress.”     

美军“力量提供者”系统与野营装备建设

以美军“力量提供者”系统为研究对象,介绍其功能参数和模块组成以及部署流程,并对其先进性和不足之处进行综合评价。对照现有野营装备建设现状,提出应该加强野营装备研究、增强战略投送能力、建立专业保障力量等思考,以提高未来信息化联合作战中野营装备建设水平。     

C^3I/M＆S互操作性研究

结合C^3I/M＆S互操作性的主要问题,总结了互操作性技术参考模型,在此基础上对C^3I/M＆S互操作性的数据模型及标准、接口标准进行了详细论述,介绍了北约C^3I/SIM互操作性试验情况,并指出了未来C^3I/M＆S互操作性研究的发展趋势,对军队C^3I系统和仿真系统的建设有一定的指导意义。     

面向构件的测试研究

主要阐述了对构件测试的一种观点 ,并通过对系统测试及集成测试的裁剪 ,给出了对构件的一种测试方法     

基于AD2S80BD设计的双速处理器

AD2SOBD是AD公司生产的一种单片集成电路旋转变压器到数字转换器芯片.本文详细介绍了其功能特点、外部引脚、内部结构、工作特性等.最后给出了以AD2S80BD为核心的一种特殊的双速自整角机(或旋转变压器)到数字的转换器.     

Tilting at windmills: The flawed U.S. policy toward the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war

ABSTRACT

This article examines decision-making mistakes made by U.S. President Nixon and national security advisor Kissinger during the 1971 India-Pakistan crisis and war. It shows that Nixon and Kissinger routinely demonstrated psychological biases that led them to overestimate the likelihood of West Pakistani victory against Bengali rebels as well as the importance of the crisis to broader U.S. policy. The evidence fails to support Nixon and Kissinger’s own framing of the 1971 crisis as a contest between cool-headed realpolitik and idealistic humanitarianism, and instead shows that Kissinger and Nixon’s policy decisions harmed their stated goals because of repeated decision-making errors.     

曲率分析的变分辨率数字高程模型建模算法

传统的数字高程模型一般采用规则网格划分以简化建模过程,因其网格密度缺乏对地形变化的自适应性而不能兼顾地形表达的准确度和地形数据的冗余度,导致其在车辆动力学仿真等领域的应用有所局限。针对这一问题提出一种基于曲率分析的随机节点分布建模方法,其数据节点的密度根据种子节点周围的局域曲面曲率变化而相应变化,实现了在复杂、曲率较大的地形区域自动生成高分辨率数字节点集,而在平缓、曲率较小的区域实现低分辨率的节点分布。在获得此种节点集的基础上,利用Delaunay三角剖分结合三次多项式插值算法,得到满足高精度和低数据冗余度的变分辨率数字高程模型。利用传统规则网格地形模型与所提出的变分辨率数字高程模型对同一个用于星球车动力学仿真的复杂野外地形进行对比,验证了变分辨率算法的有效性。     

基于混响室的雷达回波传输环境模拟

为检验雷达回波传输质量,完成基于莱斯因子K的混响室电磁环境分级,提出混响室条件下雷达回波传输环境模拟评价参数信杂比S,对比分析莱斯因子K和信杂比S的测量原理．实验结果表明：混响室可用于雷达回波传输环境模拟．     

Dundee-made harpoon gun associated with H. M. S. Challenger

Attention is drawn to the existence of a harpoon-gun putatively from H. M. S. Challenger, a ship whose three-and-a-half-year circumnavigation of the globe (1872–1876), marked the beginning of the science of oceanography. The harpoon gun in question was made by Dundee shipsmith and harpoon-gun maker, David Neave. Only a few other examples of his work are known to exist and this example with a Remington rolling-block action is unusual for a British harpoon gun. It is proposed that it came to Millport's Marine Station via links Sir John Murray (1841–1914) had with the Marine Biological Association of the West of Scotland.