Trading coups for civil war

This paper investigates civil conflict as a product of the survival strategies of African leaders. Specifically, the paper offers a theory of risk substitution that predicts coup-fearing leaders will undermine the military effectiveness of the state when making an effort to extend their own tenure. While ‘coup-proofing’ practices have often been noted as contributors to political survival, considerably less attention has been paid to the influence of these strategies on other forms of conflict. Utilising data from a number of cross-national datasets, the analyses show that having a higher number of ‘coup-proofing’ counterweights significantly worsens a state's civil conflict prospects. A brief consideration of multiple episodes of conflict further suggests that in addition to coup-proofing undermining the counterinsurgency capacity of the state, some leaders are simply indifferent to – or can even potentially benefit from – the existence of an insurgency.     

现代战争计划的设计

现代战争的战争形态和作战样式发生了巨大改变,传统战争计划的制定难以适应新的作战指挥方式。为提高作战指挥的时效性和作战决策的正确性,对现代战争的战争计划的设计要求和设计流程进行了分析,总结了需要解决的关键技术,对深入开展战争计划的设计研究具有一定的启示。     

现代战争制胜机理的理论探讨

现代战争是信息化条件下的高技术常规局部战争。现代战争制胜机理必须适应战斗力生成新要求,突出战斗力标准。从军队作战能力的视角,可将现代战争的制胜机理分为:信息力制胜、杀伤力制胜、防护力制胜、机动力制胜和保障力制胜五个方面,即所谓的"五力制胜",它们相互融合成一个有机整体,共同构成现代战争中克敌制胜的法宝。     

网络舆论战的理论探析

网络舆论战是一种新型作战样式。加强网络舆论战研究,既是信息化战争的时代要求,又是实现强军目标的客观需要,对于丰富具有我军特色的现代舆论战理论体系,推动我军政治工作的创新发展,具有十分重要意义。文章通过论述网络舆论战的地位作用和主要特点,对开展网络舆论战的基本战法进行了探讨。     

分布式指挥控制决策冲突问题的一致性模型

基于复合标度的二元语义评价方法,提出了一种用于分布式指挥控制决策冲突问题的一致性模型。该模型首先对决策者的一致程度进行判断;其次,测量出个人与整体的偏好偏差,并由模型中的反馈机制提出相关反馈建议;最后通过算例表明该模型可以较好解决决策过程中由于个人认知不同而产生的冲突问题。     

关闭部分导航信号阻止区域授时对全球定位授时性能的影响分析

在导航战中,在区域范围内阻止对手使用授时服务可通过关闭战区目标点的所有可见卫星信号来实现.以关闭部分导航信号阻止区域授时服务为例,描述了阻止区域授时服务的导航信号关闭仿真流程,提出了定位授时性能评估方法,并就关f闭部分导航信号阻止区域授时服务对全球定位服务和授时服务产生的影响进行了分析讨论.仿真结果表明,关闭部分导航信...     

试论构建我军遂行非战争军事行动的科学机制

我军拥有丰富的遂行非战争军事行动理论总结和实践经验,但总体来说,还缺乏一个遂行具体任务的科学机制。从构建我军遂行非战争军事行动的操作机制、运行机制和保障机制入手,构建我军遂行非战争军事行动的科学机制,为新形势下我军更好地遂行非战争军事行动提供理论指导。     

Civil–military relations and organisational preferences regarding the use of the military in Chinese foreign policy: insights from the debate on MOOTW

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the positions of the Chinese civilian leaders and military elites on Military Operations Other Than War in order to shed light on their preferences about the use of the armed forces in foreign policy between the late 1990s and the early 2010s. Over time, a significant divergence developed between civilians and soldiers until 2011, when the Libyan crisis happened. The study also prompts important considerations about our understanding of civil–military relations in China and future role of the People’s Liberation Army as a tool of statecraft in foreign policy.     

Legitimate Authority as a Jus Ad Bellum Condition: Defense of a Procedural Requirement in Just War Theory

ABSTRACT

Today, it is widely held that while authorization may be helpful in assuring that the other jus ad bellum criteria are met, legitimate authority is not itself a condition for just recourse to war. Or, if it is necessary, it is said to be a trivial requirement, as mobilization for war requires some political authorization. Those who would retain the legitimacy requirement have differing views about who the proper authority is. I argue that, reasonably understood, legitimate authorization is necessary for jus ad bellum. Considerations of agency and consent in force combine with the social contract to commit us to deferring to recognized authorities. These obligations are strengthened by the epistemic reliability and pragmatic value conferred by governing institutions and procedures limiting recourse to war. These same rationales imply that the U.N. Security Council should regulate the international use of force. I qualify that if higher authorities fail to act, other subsidiary authorities may then authorize force. However, the move to each subsequent level of authorization must be justified. Understood in this way, the requirement that wars not be fought without legitimate authorization is a non-trivial, necessary procedural jus ad bellum condition.     

The Changing Nature of Legitimate Authority in the Just War Tradition

ABSTRACT

The legitimate authority principle has become reduced to the issue of state authority. In its current formulation, the state has the sole authority to wage war, and because non-state actors, by their very definition, cannot satisfy this principle, their use of force is inherently unethical. This does not reflect the reality that non-state actors are increasingly engaging in the use of force, sometimes legitimately. As a result, the legitimate authority principle can and should look beyond the state. This article navigates a terrain in which non-state actors engage in the use of force, and in which revisionist just war thinking proposes that the concept of legitimate authority is irrelevant to thinking about the ethics of war. It proposes a principled approach to the inclusion of some non-state actors under the rubric of legitimate authority. This approach draws upon the historical development of the legitimate authority principle and incorporates the factors important to early writers on the subject.