Effective in battle: conceptualizing soldiers’ combat effectiveness*

How do we understand combat effectiveness – soldiers’ performance in battle? Despite the broad consensus that understanding combat effectiveness is important both for scholars and policymakers, there is widespread disagreement about what combat effectiveness is. More specifically, studies of effectiveness tend to focus on either the skill of soldiers in battle, or their will to fight. Yet both skill and will are essential components of an effective fighting force. This article argues that understanding combat effectiveness requires understanding both of these key components of effectiveness. In other words, combat effectiveness requires both the skill and will to engage the enemy in an organized manner. It then demonstrates the usefulness of this conceptualization by applying it to the cases of British, Indian, and Australian forces fighting the Japanese during the Second World War. Only when scholars are talking about the same concept will our understanding of the conditions under which militaries are effective in battle progress. By comparing different units fighting the same opponent under the same material conditions, I demonstrate that units vary both in their combat skill and their will to fight, and that understanding their effectiveness in battle requires analyzing both of these key factors.     

War,vagueness and hybrid war

It has frequently been observed in the literature on hybrid wars that there is a grey zone between peace and war, and that hybrid wars are conflicts which are not clear cases of war. In this paper, I attempt to illuminate this grey zone and the concept and nature of war from the philosophical discussions of vagueness and institutional facts. Vague terms are characterized by the fact that there is no non-arbitrary boundary between entities which lie in their extension, and entities which do not lie in their extension. I apply a theory of vagueness to notions such as “war” and “peace” and go on to suggest that the exact boundary for what counts as a war or not is arbitrary. However, the context in which the conflict occurs determines a range of possible locations for this boundary. The most important contextual parameter is in this respect how the parties to the conflict themselves conceptualize the conflict. I suggest that this can in various ways help us understand grey-zone conflicts.     

后现代主义思潮对我国大学生的影响及对策

在全球化、网络化的时代境遇里和我国对外开放的现实背景中,以反基础主义、反本质主义、反理性主义、反中心主义为基本理论取向的西方后现代主义思潮,对思想上独立性、开放性和包容性很强的当代我国大学生发生了一系列的影响。它一方面有利于培养大学生的创新精神、有利于激发大学生的主体意识和有利于升华大学生的思维方式,另一方面也容易使大学生在价值观念上陷入虚无主义、在思维方式上滑向相对主义和在行为方式上掉进无政府主义。要有效应对西方后现代主义思潮的影响,应该加强对其的研究,以社会主义核心价值体系武装大学生,同时推进高校德育改革和加强校园文化建设。     

基于贝叶斯方法的大学生学习成绩影响因素分析

本文采用社会科学研究中常用的贝叶斯方法,利用MCMC模拟中的Gibbs抽样技术,分析了新疆大学某学院本科生的学习成绩的影响因素,研究发现,高考分数和地域因素对该系学生的学业影响较大,同时发现地域和高考分数的交互作用对学生学习成绩也具有较明显的影响。为分析新疆大学学生的学习差异提供了科学依据。     

新疆高校大学生社会主义荣辱观现状分析与教育对策

本文分析了新疆高校大学生荣辱观的主流和特点,结合主要问题进行归因分析,提出了创新教育内容、创新教育途径、建立保障机制的教育对策。     

论中国维和警察培训与国际接轨的途径

中国维和警察培训要赶超世界先进水平 ,就必须高目标定位 ,高起点切入 ,高质量培训 ,高标准评估 ,高层次交流 ,努力探索中国维和警察培训与国际接轨的有效途径     

论新形势下高校学生党建工作

高校的主要任务就是培养社会主义事业的建设者和接班人,作为基层党建工作的重要组成部分,学校的党建工作应紧紧抓住大学生在成长过程中的这一关键时期,在学生中开展多种形式的学习与教育活动,并注重从新生入学开始就加强党的知识教育,积极引导其中的优秀分子向党组织靠拢。     

民族学生实习中常见问题及对策

大学本科生的综合实习不仅可以让学生把理论知识运用于实践,而且还可以使学生在实习中得到实践的锻炼。无论从做人还是做事,综合实习对学生来说都是非常重要的。实习是培养既具备系统理论知识,又具备较强动手能力高素质科技人才的关键一环。     

计算机实验教学软件环境规范化管理初探

根据实验教学的要求和不同的机型 ,对实验教学软件进行规范化管理 ,利用“克隆”技术和硬盘保护卡有效地保护数据和快速恢复数据 ,确保教学用机的安全和有效率     

在《民族问题概论》教学中加强对大学生的民族团结教育

<民族问题概论>课教学与民族团结教育相辅相成、相得益彰.通过讲授中华民族概况、马克思主义民族理论及党和国家的民族政策,不仅拓宽了大学生的知识面,而且增强了大学生的理论、政策水平和实际能力.以树立马克思主义民族观,坚持民族平等团结原则来正确认识、分析和处理民族问题.