Explaining the security paradigm shift: strategic culture,epistemic communities,and Israel’s changing national security policy

The paper’s main argument is that Israel’s security policy, which traditionally focused on defending its territorial integrity against regular Arab armed forces, was, by the 2010s, transformed into one that focuses on facing a variety of state- and non-state-based threats. Neo-realist explanations could neither account for the contested nature of the security debate during this period, nor the inconsistent evolution of the policy. The present study aims to solve this conundrum by introducing an alternative approach known as 4th generation strategic culture research. The paper is comprised of four parts. First, the origins and evolution of strategic culture are reviewed, with emphasis placed on the commonly accepted weaknesses that, to date, have prevented it from being used as a testable theoretical concept, and subsequently as an explanatory factor for security policy changes. The second part presents the “modernist constructivism” approach that bridges the gap between traditional constructivism and hypothesis-driven research design. Next, the paper introduces the emerging fourth generation in strategic culture literature, followed by a conceptual framework designed to resolve the inherent weaknesses of the more traditional approaches. Finally, this conceptual framework is applied to analyse the transformation of Israel’s security policy between 1982 and 2014.     

Military Spending and Growth: The Role of Institutions

Recent literature on whether military spending affects economic growth argues that the relationship may be a conditional one. We add to this literature by considering the role that ‘good institutions’ play in the effect of military spending on growth. Using data from a sample of over 100 countries from 1988 to 2010, our analysis suggests that the effect of military spending on growth is generally negative or zero at best, and this effect is mitigated in the presence of good economic and political institutions.     

空降作战中伞降高度选择模型研究

在分析伞降高度选择影响因素的基础上,研究了敌反空降防空火力对伞降高度选择的影响,给出了各类防空火力对不同高度实施空降时运输机和伞兵毁伤数的计算公式;基于伞降高度选择原则建立了伞降高度选择模型.通过实例证明了模型的合理性,可为空降作战决策提供参考依据.     

军用车辆安全轮胎防护性试验评价

介绍了安全轮胎的定义和主要技术类型,根据车辆防护性对安全轮胎的要求,对考核轮胎防护性的试验评价方法进行了研究,提出了相应的道路行驶试验方法。为了获得轮胎防护性的量化特征,建立了轮胎防护性评价指数模型,为评价轮胎防护性能提供了一种分析方法。     

一种防空自动化系统效能的模糊综合评估方法

针对防空自动化系统的组成,给出了防空自动化系统效能的指标体系,并通过分析防空自动化系统静态效能和动态效能的关系,运用模糊综合评估和系统性能评价等级划分的方法,在防空自动化系统静态效能评估的基础上,研究了防空自动化系统的动态效能,提出了一种静态效能与动态效能相结合的防空自动化系统模糊综合评估方法。     

电子干扰对防空兵群射击指挥效率的影响评估

针对防空作战中电子对抗异常激烈的现实,利用概率论和作战运筹方法,描述了电子干扰对防空兵群射击指挥效率影响的主要特点和评估指标,分析了射击指挥方式与群抗击效率之间的数学关系,建立了搜索雷达、通信系统和火控雷达受到电子干扰时群射击指挥效率的评估模型.结合实例计算,得到了电子干扰对群射击指挥效率影响的基本规律,提出了电子干扰时选择射击指挥方式的原则与方法.     

Success and failures of the Gripen offsets in the Visegrad Group countries

The Soviet-led Council for Mutual Economic Assistance member, Central European countries found themselves in a difficult political and economic situation after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Three post-Eastern Bloc countries formed the Visegrad Group to strengthen their ties to the West, but the need for foreign investment, job creation and technology transfer was urgent.

This is when military modernisation also came into the picture and the counter-trade—as known as offset—as a tool to help these economies. A trade practice which was meant to energise these economies via defence acquisitions linked economic programmes.

Two Visegrad Group member countries, Hungary and the Czech Republic decided to sign offset agreement with the defence firm SAAB to license Gripen fighter aircrafts. This study intends to analyse if these deals were able to help governments to reach their objectives or the two countries were unable to take advantage of the offset programmes.     

Guns and butter? Military expenditure and health spending on the eve of the Arab Spring

We examine the validity of the guns-versus-butter hypothesis in the pre-Arab Spring era. Using panel data from 1995 to 2011 – the eve of the Arab uprisings – we find no evidence that increased security needs as measured by the number of domestic terrorist attacks are complemented by increased military spending or more importantly ‘crowd out’ government expenditure on key public goods such as health care. This suggests that both expenditure decisions were determined by other considerations at the government level.     

Private military contractors’ financial experiences and incentives

ABSTRACT

This article analyses findings from an original survey of 187 private military contractors on their incentives for working in the industry. Perceptions of contractors as “greedy, ruthless, and unscrupulous mercenaries” shape both public and military opinions of outsourcing and may impact U.S. military effectiveness, civil–military relations, and contractor identity. We find that contractors are motivated by a range of factors and that their financial experiences are not clearly more positive than that of state military troops. We recommend broad education of military and defense officials and the public in the U.S. and other relevant nations, regarding the true incentives of modern-day, Western contractors, in an effort to dispel misperceptions, increase effective utilisation of contractors, and beneficially shape PMC-military coordination. DoD may consider integrating such training into its current efforts to improve outsourcing, including its Joint OCS Planning and Execution Course, pre-deployment fora, and curricula of advanced military studies schools.