Size Still Matters: Explaining Sri Lanka’s Counterinsurgency Victory over the Tamil Tigers

The military effectiveness literature has largely dismissed the role of material preponderance in favor of strategic interaction theories. The study of counterinsurgency, in which incumbent victory is increasingly rare despite material superiority, has also turned to other strategic dynamics explanations like force employment, leadership, and insurgent/adversary attributes. Challenging these two trends, this paper contends that even in cases of counterinsurgency, material preponderance remains an essential—and at times the most important—factor in explaining battlefield outcomes and effectiveness. To test this, the paper turns to the case of the Sri Lankan state’s fight against the Tamil Tiger insurgency, a conflict which offers rich variation over time across six periods and over 25 years. Drawing on evidence from historical and journalistic accounts, interviews, memoirs, and field research, the paper demonstrates that material preponderance accounts for variation in military effectiveness and campaign outcomes (including military victory in the final campaign) better than strategic explanations. Additionally, a new quantitative data-set assembled on annual loss-exchange ratios demonstrates the superiority of materialist explanations above those of skill, human capital, and regime type.     

应急航材配送网络需求缓冲策略设计

航空装备是空军武器装备的主体,做好航材保障工作对于充分发挥装备作战效能,确保装备的作战使用具有重要意义。描述了应急需求冲击条件下缓冲控制问题,建立了应急航材配送网络影响缓存因素模型,进而建立了完整的应急航材需求冲击的缓冲策略设计框架,并进行了应急航材缓存分配建模。分别采用BP-GA方法对应急航材需求进行测算;保噪正态分布进行了缓冲策略公式的推演,需求冲能模型进行了单个缓存分配,并结合算例说明了其有效性。     

PD雷达干扰的若干问题

从 PD雷达的工作原理出发 ,讨论了对 PD雷达实施有源噪声干扰所需的压制系数和欺骗干扰信号应具有的特性。给出的基本结果可供 PD雷达干扰系统设计中干扰信号形式设计和干扰参数的选择。     

谈集贸市场火灾原因及防火对策

针对集贸市场规模大、可燃物多、火灾荷载大、人员密集等特点,分析其火灾发生的原因,提出宏观管理控制、合理制定消防技术标准、建立统一的消防管理体制等消防工作对策.     

自适应滤波在有源消声中的应用

从分析有源消声的难点出发 ,综述了自适应滤波算法在有源消声中的应用 ,给出了相应的实例 .对自适应滤波在有源消声中应用的未来发展趋势作了展望 .     

舰载有源相控阵雷达的发展现状

有源相控阵雷达是一种致力于达到真正多功能的雷达系统,它适应环境和实时安排任务先后次序的能力,使它在对付目前威胁和未来威胁方面所具有的作战性能水平,要远高于普通雷达所能达到的水平。经过多年的开发研究,这种多功能雷达系统已在多个国家的多艘舰艇上安装使用。     

Bolstering components for maximizing system lifetime

This article considers the problem of which component should be “bolstered” or “improved” in order to stochastically maximize the lifetime of a parallel system, series system, or in general, k-out-of-n system. Various ways of bolstering including active redundance, standby redundancy, and burn-in are studied. Also the method of reducing working temperature or stress level according to Arrhenius models is investigated. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 45: 497–509, 1998     

The Dao of foreign policy: Understanding China’s dual strategy in the South China Sea

In the South China Sea, China neither implements power-maximizing policy nor engages a peaceful approach. Instead, China implements both coercion and cooperation in pursuing its strategic interest in the disputed area. How can we explain China’s paradoxical behavior? This article claims that the best way to explain China’s policy in the South China Sea is to understand the character of dualism in China’s strategic culture. Following constructivist theory that stresses culture, this article argues that Chinese duality approach in the South China Sea is rooted in the philosophy of Daoism. The symbol of Yin-Yang depicts Chinese assertive as well as cooperative behavior in dealing with the South China Sea dispute. Although from a normative perspective Daoism recognizes pacifism and non-violent behavior, the most important feature of Daoism is the assumption that reality consists of two opposing elements that are mutually embedded.     

Land power in the age of joint interdependence: toward a theory of land power for the twenty-first century*

This essay outlines a theory of land power. After explaining the absence of such a theory, the article establishes the modern context for such a theory, specifically within the concept of joint interdependence. The analysis defines key terms and premises behind the theory, to include a definition of land power. The argument then outlines the national elements of power that contribute to a theory of land power. The analysis next applies the theory to the fundamental purposes of military power: defeat, deter, compel, assure, shape and support to the nation. The analysis then tests key definitions, supporting premises, and utility of the theory. The essay argues that historical experience validates the applicability and utility of the theory, and offers a solid basis for extrapolating the validity of the theory into the near future.     

Military autonomy: its origins,limits, and the politico-military dialectic of war

Military officers often oppose political interference in the conduct of war. Political leaders respond by citing Clausewitz’s contention that “war is the continuation of politics with the addition of other means.” Scholarship in security studies and civil-military relations argues that civilians are right to oppose military autonomy because it serves the parochial interests of the military. However, through the dialectical relationship between the violent essence of war and its political nature, Clausewitz provides an alternative explanation for military demands for autonomy. He shows that military and political leaders are prone to an incomplete understanding of war that can undermine strategy and policy.