Killing Your Own: Confronting Desertion and Cowardice in the British Army During the Two World Wars

Military units can become to some extent self-governing in war-time battle. At times, they may take the discipline of their soldiers into their own hands and such discipline may be severe. This paper examines incidents in the British military, in both World Wars, where British soldiers were killed by their comrades because they would not fight in the heat of battle. The judicial execution by the military authorities of deserters in the First World War led to much controversy in Britain. It may be much less well-known that in both World Wars there was, on occasion, an extra-judicial practice within the British military of executing soldiers who would not fight in the heat of battle. In such situations ethical dilemmas become very difficult indeed and some of the relevant issues are examined here.     

Understanding China’s goals and strategy in the South China Sea: bringing context to a revisionist systemic challenge – intentions and impact

ABSTRACT

The slow moving conflict in the South China Sea has been characterized by some as “not worth the candle.” China claims the entirety of the South China Sea pursuant to a nine-dash line, the legal impact of which has been limited by international courts. At the same time, China has changed the reality of control over the South China Sea by building a number of fortified islands in the Spratly Islands and elsewhere. The US has either refused to stand up to China's behavior (Obama) or responded unevenly (Trump). This paper examines the impact of China's behaviour on local parties, US interests, and the liberal international system.     

Local contestation against the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo

ABSTRACT

This article examines local contestation against the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), manifesting itself in local actors publicly demanding a change in the mission’s mandate and/or its operations. The article investigates how EULEX’s actions and its effectiveness are perceived and reacted upon by the local actors. It shows that local contestation is mainly fueled by (1) conflicting sovereignty claims by the majority Albanians and the minority Serbs; (2) the understanding of sovereignty by parts of society as entailing exclusive authority; and (3) dissatisfaction with the mission’s effectiveness. By addressing EULEX from a bottom-up perspective—that of the local actors—the article underlines the limitations of EU policies in post-conflict Kosovo.     

Local ownership as international governmentality: Evidence from the EU mission in the Horn of Africa

ABSTRACT

While some Foucault-inspired studies construe local ownership in international interventions as a form of liberal governmentality that aims to govern through freedom, others lambast it as an illiberal governmentality that is likely to be resisted because it undermines local autonomy. However, we still do not know what is the rationality behind local ownership, how it is being operationalized, and why a principle that aims to govern through freedom ends up curtailing it. I argue that local ownership, echoing the colonial principle of indirect rule, is driven by the rationality of advanced democracies on how best to govern global insecurities at a distance. Consequently, ownership is operationalized as responsibilization for externally designed objectives. This often gives rise to local resistance which undermines international efforts to achieve ownership. I illustrate my arguments with evidence from the EU Mission on Regional Maritime Capacity Building in the Horn of Africa (EUCAP Nestor).     

基于平衡计分卡的武器装备维修绩效评价指标体系构建

武器装备维修是武器装备维修保障的重要内容,加强装备维修绩效评价,建立科学规范的绩效评价指标体系,对深入推进装备维修工作健康发展将发挥积极作用。以平衡计分卡为研究手段,运用"5M1E"分析法,从一个内核和四个维度出发,分析武器装备维修绩效评价的影响因素,据此建立评价指标体系,并应用于装备维修管理实践,为有效提高装备维修保障效益提供有益借鉴。     

考虑扰动引力影响的弹道助推段误差传播解析计算方法

针对地球扰动引力对弹道导弹惯性导航精度影响日益突出这一问题,研究了沿弹道扰动引力的多项式拟合方法,并基于线性系统理论和弹道摄动思想推导了用于求解扰动引力对弹道助推段状态影响的完整解析表达式。同时考虑扰动引力影响与导弹视加速度之间的耦合特性,将扰动引力引起的视加速度偏差视为扰动引力影响的附加补偿项,并进行迭代修正。仿真结果表明:扰动引力拟合残差小于3×10~(-7)m/s~2,考虑耦合项修正的弹道误差传播解析模型计算残差减小为原有方法的1/3,计算时间仅为直接采用弹道积分求差法的1/10。     

A Dangerous Method: How Mali Lost Control of the North,and Learned to Stop Worrying

Abstract

This article analyses changes and failures in the northern Mali system of security governance, taking into account the period running from the declaration of the Malian Third Republic (1992) to the present. Considering northern Mali as an area of limited statehood, the article develops a comparative diachronic analysis, distinguishing between three phases, namely Militiarisation (1992–2002), Fragmentation (2002–2012) and Multiplication (2013–ongoing). For every phase the focus is on (1) the mechanisms of coordination among actors, (2) the distribution of coercive capacities and ruling power and (3) the forms of authority. Unintended consequences and collective problems are highlighted, in order to understand the current situation of insecurity in the area.     

Insurgent courts in civil wars: the three pathways of (trans)formation in today’s Syria (2012–2017)

As part of research on the meso-foundations of conflict, the field of ‘rebel governance’ examines political institutions that regulate the affairs of civilians in wartime as well as their relations with armed actors. Judicial institutions play an important role in this and research has shown that they are widespread among both historical and current insurgencies. However, usually these bodies have been analysed in the context of one hegemonic faction like the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the Afghan Taliban. What is missing so far is an analysis of different pathways of (trans)formation of rebel courts. As exemplified by the three case studies of judicial institutions in Eastern Ghouta, Idlib and Aleppo, these are shaped by the distribution of power between ‘same-side’ groups, yielding unipolar, bipolar, or multipolar constellations. The analysis is located on the meso or movement level of insurgent social structures, complementing research on the micro and macro levels.     

图像恢复中的稳健交替方向乘子法

交替方向乘子法在解决线性逆问题(包括图像恢复)中取得了良好的效果,但是其效果对惩罚参数的选择非常敏感,不利于具体的应用。提出基于惩罚参数自适应选择原理的稳健交替方向乘子法,对其优化条件和收敛性进行了详细分析。实验表明,在基于Parseval紧框架的图像恢复应用中,该算法不但对惩罚参数的选择表现出良好的稳健性,而且效果优于交替方向乘子法,并优于其他目前热门的算法。     

反临近空间高超声速目标拦截弹中末制导交接班窗口

在视线旋转坐标系下建立拦截弹与目标的相对运动方程,分析采用纯比例导引律捕获高超声速目标的充分条件,并推导出在交接班处的最优拦截几何,即零控拦截流型。定性分析了拦截弹速度、高度、导引头特性以及末制导捕获条件等在中末制导交接班时所受到的限制,在此基础上定义了中末制导交接班窗口的概念,并介绍了交接班捕获窗口的影响因素、用途、特性以及计算步骤。以纯比例导引律拦截高速目标为例,定量描述了交接班捕获窗口和零控交接班区域,并通过数字仿真实验验证了交接班捕获窗口的合理性。