Homes for heroes? Assessing the impact of the UK’s Military Covenant

The British Military Covenant can be located in and from many sources and from 2011 onwards in primary legislation. This article argues that the provision of military housing amounts to an early test of how the military covenant is understood and used by those involved in defence policy, and those in the armed forces affected by it. It finds that housing was a prominent feature of how service personnel understood how they were valued, but was not explicitly understood as a covenant issue by those personnel or the officials in charge of the Defence Estates. We locate three reasons for this: (1) the covenant has been poorly translated from aspiration into policy practice, (2) the covenant is unevenly understood across its stakeholders which has the effect of generating disappointment through misaligned expectations, (3) those engaged in the reform process surrounding the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) saw the covenant as a means to energise reform. Ultimately housing was seen as a dry and technocratic business area and thus an issue ripe for being refracted through the covenant was ultimately left outside of its remit.     

Majority rule,minority issues: The Macedonian question in the Dekemvriana

This article examines the role of the Macedonian Question in the 1944 December Uprising (Dekemvriana) in Greece. While the Dekemvriana is commonly portrayed in right–left terminology in the historiography, this article argues that part of the reason for the left’s failure was their inability to manage the Macedonian ethnic component of the struggle, either within their armed forces or in their relationship with Yugoslavia. As such, this article integrates the early phases of the Greek Civil War into the broader literature on minorities in civil conflict, while simultaneously exposing some of the myths about Macedonian involvement that result from its contemporary political ramifications.     

Competing for Control over the State: The Case of Yemen

Abstract

This article argues that the current conflict in Yemen is better understood as a competition over who controls the state, rather than as a conflict between the state and a non-state actor. It traces the development of the Houthis and shows how the movement managed to seize key government institutions. However, the Houthis lack internal legitimacy and have not been able to position themselves as a nationally relevant political elite. The fragmentation of the Yemeni state has resulted in a shift to more localized struggles over access to resources and power that involve both internal and external actors.     

From Westphalian Failure to Heterarchic Governance in MENA: The Case of Syria

Abstract

The problematic export of the Westphalian system to MENA is examined, taking Syria as exemplar. The export model is juxtaposed to actual non-lineal trajectories, semi-sovereignty and hybrid or failing states. This is manifested in post-uprising Syria in failing statehood, fragmented and overlapping governance, permeable and collapsing borders, the loss of sovereignty to trans-state movements, “competitive regime-building” between the Asad regime and jihadist warlords, and “competitive interventionism” by external powers filling the governance vacuum with their own proxies. The result is heterarchic zones of limited statehood in which state sovereignty is contested by both international (supra-state) penetration and sub-state fragmentation.     

Israel’s Security Nexus as Strategic Restraint: The Case of Iran 2009–2013

This article examines the debates in Israel between 2009 and 2013 over Iran’s nuclear programme as a reflection of a particular type of civil–military or civil–security relationship. It analyses how key actors within that relationship – particularly those with an intelligence background – engaged with media outlets in Israel and further afield to influence domestic and international opinion over how best to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions. In so doing, it seeks to address one fundamental question: are governments in Jerusalem any longer the final arbiters over deciding what is in the national security interests of the State of Israel?     

应对混合战争的人防工程安检设施设置研究

冷战结束后,"混合战争"的威胁日益增加,人民防空工程和其他各类城市安全设施都亟需改进安全防护手段,增设安全检查设施,防控敌对势力的恐怖袭击和后方破坏.人防工程在战时对于出入口通行效率的要求远比地铁设施高,且出入口区域空间有限,无法照搬现有的地铁安检措施.本文从防范标准、安检流程以及技术手段等方面进行分析,提出运用新的检...     

单层及多层民用建筑防火间距探析

通过分析单层与单层、单层与多层、多层与多层民用建筑之间的防火间距 ,发现《建筑设计防火规范》在规定上有不妥之处 ,认为两建筑之间在其总建筑面积不超过一个防火分区要求时防火间距可以不限     

当前民用建筑防火设计有关问题探讨

结合工作实践,对《建筑设计防火规范》和《高层民用建筑设计防火规范》中关于民用建筑商业服务网点疏散及自动消防设施的确定、消防车道及其与建筑的距离、剪刀楼梯间的适用范围和正压送风系统、彩色镀锌钢板聚苯板夹芯板的使用问题、单元式住宅的安全出口及窗间墙宽度和窗槛墙高度的有关规定进行了重新分析探讨,并提出自己的建议和措施。     

地方物流资源动员研究

物流是将国民经济转化为军事战斗力的桥梁和纽带,是支援战争、保障军事行动胜利的重要前提。物流资源决定着物流能力的大小和物流水平的高低,而地方物流资源动员则决定着军事物流活动的效率和效果。从地方物流资源动员的内涵着手,分析了其重大意义,总结归纳了当前存在的突出问题,并就提高地方物流资源动员效益的方法举措进行了探析。     

论边防在中国和平崛起中的作用

中国的和平崛起是指中国以和平的方式崛起,但这并不意味着崛起会抛开以国防为依托。而边防是国防的有机组成部分,边防在维护国家领土完整和主权独立中扮演着非常重要的角色。试图根据边防的各种职能,分析边防在中国和平崛起中的具体作用。