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.     

A conceptual framework for the analysis of civil-military relations and intelligence

ABSTRACT

The article argues that current conceptual approaches in civil-military relations are deeply flawed resulting in its irrelevance in analyzing major issues including war and the collapse of democracy. After highlighting major flaws in the work of the late Samuel Huntington and those who follow his approach, the article argues that other conceptual approaches, including Security Sector Reform, are also flawed, or in the case of the “military effectiveness” literature, largely irrelevant. In explaining the main causes of the flawed conceptual literature, the article highlights the absence of good data and challenges in methodology. While arguing that military forces are very unlikely to engage in armed combat, it highlights the roles and missions which in the world today are implanted by these forces. As it is virtually impossible to prove effectiveness of the armed forces in these roles and missions, the article proposes a conceptual approach based on requirements.     

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 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).     

自我革新的坚实逻辑起点——解读“党的先进性是具体的历史的”

十六大报告指出 :“党的先进性是具体的、历史的” ,这是江泽民同志和党中央在深深的忧患意识支配下对我们党自身前途和命运深刻反思的结果 ,是我们党在新的历史条件下自我批判自我革新的宣言 ,为我们坚持党的先进性找到了一个坚实的逻辑起点和实践上的切入点、着力点。进步从来不是抽象的 ,工人阶级的先进性、党的先进性也从来不是抽象的 ,这不仅因为是否先进要看实践 ,更因为党的实践是具体的历史的 ,社会进步的标准是具体的、历史的、全面的和相对的     

论建设社会主义政治文明的伟大意义

江泽民提出“建设社会主义政治文明”并把它作为“全面建设小康社会的重要目标” ,具有重大的理论意义和现实意义。它是对马克思主义文明观的新发展 ,是我国进一步解放思想、推进政治体制改革的突破口 ,是社会主义现代化建设的推进器和社会安定团结、长治久安的稳定器     

关于扩大中等收入者比重的几个问题

中等收入者与中产阶级是两个不同的概念 ,这可以通过两者的内涵和外延、外部特征及其形成的社会背景、阶级分析方法和阶层分析方法的比较等几个方面加以区别 ;应该把收入水平作为中等收入者的唯一划分标准 ;扩大中等收入者比重的关键在于提高低收入者收入水平 ,调低高收入者收入 ;扩大中等收入者比重这个新观点丰富和发展了邓小平同志的“先富、后富”理论 ,体现了社会主义的优越性 ,是共同富裕的最新表现 ,改善了我国的社会阶层结构。     

防空导弹飞行试验的引战配合性能分析方法

提出了一种对防空导弹的引战配合性能进行量化评价的方法。利用飞行试验数据对导弹目标交会及战斗部杀伤目标过程进行了仿真。     

浅论消防工作如何应对新挑战

中国加入WTO后 ,消防工作将受到国际经济全局和区域变化的影响。面对消防工作与国际接轨的实际问题 ,论述如何应对入世后消防工作面临的机遇和挑战     

用SEA法分析预警机指控系统的时效性

分析时效性是对预警机指控系统进行评价的主要内容,利用SEA方法建立了一个时效性分析模型,在典型空情想定下定义了一个时间轴,并在时间轴上定义了一个机会窗口,通过分析系统时延和机会窗口的关系确定了分析模型,最后通过算例验证了模型的正确性和实用性。