Rubber match: a third Lebanon war

Israel and Hezbollah have applied the lessons learned from the 2006 Lebanon War and have been preparing for a future conflict with both sides aiming for a more decisive victory. With improved capabilities from 2006, future hostilities will be far more destructive. This article analyzes their performance in 2006 and the lessons they have drawn to predict what a future conflict is likely to look like. The article analyzes both parties in three categories: ground forces; rockets, missiles, and anti-armor weapons; and lastly, Israel's air and sea dominance and Hezbollah's efforts to counter that dominance. Finally, this article argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, a large-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is unlikely to become a larger regional conflict involving Syria and Iran.     

At war with social theory: Instrumental and communicative action in US military doctrine during the War on Terror

As US counterinsurgency campaigns draw to a close, doctrine for asymmetric warfare written during the War on Terror has come under heavy criticism. While many have argued that this shift to ‘winning hearts and minds’ is evidence that the United States is taking humanitarianism and nation-building seriously, others argue that a wide gap exists between US counterinsurgency doctrine and the protection of civilians afflicted by conflict. In this article, I show that the latter is true by comparing theories of instrumental and communicative action to US doctrine for operational design, stability operations, and counterinsurgency. I argue that these texts treat the people as an object to be manipulated for the achievement of pre-determined self-interested strategic goals rather than members of a community that jointly designs operations to fulfill shared objectives. However, US doctrine does contain communicative elements that, if prioritized, would better support humanitarian and state-building objectives otherwise subordinated in the War on Terror.     

Comprehensive approaches,diverse coherences: the different levels of policy coherence in the Dutch 3D approach in Afghanistan

Since 2000, international organisations such as the UN, NATO and the EU, but also countries, have started to apply what has been called the comprehensive approach to crisis management. This article unpacks this comprehensive approach implemented by the Dutch in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. It first borrows and expands a conceptual framework developed by De Coning and Friis. Subsequently, it maps the different sorts of coherence in the mission by applying the framework. It shows how in practice there was not one single comprehensive approach, but many different forms of interaction between a number of organisational units. Each interaction had its own distinct issues and its own level of coherence. The level of coherence differed depending on the level at which the interaction took place – strategic at headquarters level versus operational at field level – and at what point in the mission it happened – in most cases it moved towards more cohesion.     

Reassessing private military and security company (PMSC) ‘competition‘ in civil war: lessons from Sierra Leone

ABSTRACT

This paper challenges recent claims that competitive market dynamics incentivize Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) to fully commit to providing effective services, thereby reducing the duration of civil war. Our assessment of a most-likely case scenario for this argument – Sierra Leone – reveals four critical problems. First, there is rarely direct competition, even if numerous companies are present. Second, the presence of multiple PMSCs usually represents a collaboration among subsidiaries providing distinct services, often under the same corporate umbrella. Third, data aggregation obfuscates the overlap of PMSC presence, inflating the amount of perceived competition. Finally, we raise concerns regarding how quantitative analyses can conflate conflict intensity with conflict termination.     

军事任务推演的时空模型与驱动机制

针对军事信息系统的作战任务推演需求,提出了一种基于时空事件序列的、较为完备的高效任务推演方法。论述了基于层次化分解的任务表达机制与实体化策略;针对保障数据定制问题提出了面向任务的时空数据应用模型,以任务最小需求为准则对一体化时空数据集进行多维筛选,有效降低数据的冗余度;详细讨论了时空事件序列模型的定义及其在军事任务推演中的数据驱动模式;结合具体仿真实例进行了应用探讨。原型系统的实现证明了该思路的有效性和可行性。     

谈谈政治理论课的基地教学

当前,军队院校的政治理论课教学,以教员课堂讲授为主,重课堂理论教学、轻社会实践锻炼的现象比较严重。这种传统的教学模式不利于创新型人才培养和教育转型的需要。政治理论课必须向基地教学延伸。     

以党在新形势下的强军目标为牵引扎实推进军队院校保密工作科学发展

习主席提出的党在新形势下的强军目标,为进一步推进军队院校保密工作科学发展提供了根本遵循。院校保密工作必须以强军目标为牵引,铸牢强军之魂,牢牢把握军队院校保密工作发展的正确方向;扭住强军之要,切实提升搞好军队院校保密工作的能力水平;夯实强军之基,积极适应军队保密工作新要求抓好落实。     

军事教学中训练损伤的调查与研究

训练损伤在军事教学训练中较为常见,不仅给学员造成了生理上的痛苦和心理上的负担,也影响了学员的正常学习和生活,甚至严重地影响了院校的正常教学与训练。采取问卷调查、查阅文献资料和现地考察的方法,详细分析了军事教学中训练损伤产生的原因,并提出可行的预防措施和建议,以达到减少训练损伤发生的目的。     

基于建构文化的我军第一代营房建筑解读

从建构文化的发展历程与内涵入手,透过建构的视角审视我军第一代营房,对其在材料与技术的选择、建构表现以及建造者与建筑的关系等方面进行了分析,发现第一代营房在建设经费短缺的条件下重视建筑材料、建筑结构、构造技术等建筑本体内容,展现出建筑的朴素真实之美,并在无形中蕴含了建构的精神。这不仅反映出我军一些优良的营房建设传统,也反衬出当下营房建设的一些不良倾向。希望借助建构这一有力工具,在完成对第一代营房重新审视的同时从中获得启示,对今日方兴未艾的我军现代营房建设提供有益借鉴。