Tripwires and free-riders: Do forward-deployed U.S. troops reduce the willingness of host-country citizens to fight for their country?

This article investigates the relationship between U.S. overseas troops and the willingness of the citizens of host states to fight for their country. The study joins the long-running debate about burden-sharing and free-riding among U.S. allies. Unlike most previous empirical studies, we focus on non-material or intangible measures of the underlying concepts. Our dependent variable estimates the proportion of citizens expressing a willingness to fight for their country. Scores at the aggregate-national as well as the individual level are shaped by the presence of U.S. military forces, which act as a “tripwire” signaling credible security commitments. This increases opportunities of (non-material) free-riding. We present both bivariate and multivariate analyses covering the period 1981–2014 to test this supposition. Findings indicate that once U.S. troop levels reach a certain threshold (between 100 and 500 troops), citizens’ willingness to fight drops significantly. This likely reflects non-material free-riding.     

The stability of the nuclear nonproliferation norm: a critique of norm-contestation theory

This article argues that the nuclear nonproliferation norm (NNPN) is a social fact with a relatively independent life of its own and that it has a powerful impact on the behavior of both nuclear-weapon states (NWS) and non-nuclear-weapon states (NNWS). It challenges the application of critical constructivist research on norms to the NNPN and the idea that its legitimacy and structural power depend on contestation “all the way down.” State and non-state actors play an important role in explaining the dynamics of the NNPN, but agential constructivism runs the danger of “throwing the baby out with the bath water,” neglecting the structural impact of the NNPN on state behavior. The article examines the limitations of norm-contestation theory, arguing that some norms are more resistant to contestation than others. The NNPN is more difficult to contest than new norms (such as the Responsibility to Protect) because it is rooted in fifty years of nonproliferation nuclear diplomacy. The US-India nuclear deal is not a case of “norm change” but a violation of the NNPN. The “core” of the NNPN has not changed since the US-India nuclear deal. The conflict confronting NWS and NNWS is about the implementation of “type 2” norms (organizing principles) and “type 3” norms (standardized procedures), and not about the “hard core” of the NNPN.     

Mirror,mirror on the wall,who is the most offensive of them all? – Explaining the offensive bias in military tactical thinking

This article explores why the offensive predominates military tactical thinking. With survey results showing an offensive bias among 60 per cent of senior Swedish officers and as many as 80 per cent in the case of the army, it is clear that this is not just a problem of the past but is equally relevant today. The article asks why there is a tendency to perceive and understand offensive tactics as the preferred choice and the way to conduct battle that should be encouraged and preferred. Drawing on existing research and the findings of a pilot study, ten propositions for why the offensive bias exists are tested using a mixed-method approach. Based on the findings, the article develops a model to understand why the offensive dominates military tactical thinking. It is found that the two key constitutive factors behind the offensive bias are military culture and education. These factors most directly and profoundly influence an officer’s identity, perceptions, and thinking. Military culture and education, in turn, work as a prism for four other factors: military history, the theory and principles of war, doctrine and TTPs, and psychological factors.     

Moving the techno-science gap in Security Force Assistance

This paper looks at the impact of military technology diffusion on military assistance operations (MAO), in the United States known as Security Force Assistance or SFA. The discussion looks conceptually at the role of technological change and how it interacts with martial cultures in military assistant operations. I argue that growing trends in science and technology suggest potential conflicts between culture and technology. Relying on a culture-technology model drawn from anthropology, the paper contends that new technologies will present increasing challenges for the emerging MAO landscape. The paper will illustrate that the techno-science gap will continue to grow as innovations such as robotics, sensors, and networks continue to develop. Finally, the paper will look at ways to overcome this conflict between culture and technology.     

Late Medieval Lance Use: Mounted Combat and Martial Arts in Western Europe from the 14th to the 16th Century

Despite the lance’s status and the amount of attention the couched lance has received in historiography, study of its martial art has been neglected. The various lance types and techniques used by western European cavalry have only recently begun to receive scholarly attention. Additionally, Medieval European lance use has too often been studied in isolation, without an adequate understanding of the idiosyncratic and asymmetrical dynamics of mounted combat. Although the charge with the couched lance was a valid tactic, it was only one of many. Light and heavy lances were used in one hand or two to trip, block, unhorse, and wrestle. These techniques were governed by the harsh laws of distance, speed, impact, iron, and asymmetry. By utilizing the surviving Fechtbücher and several Peninsular and Near Eastern sources, a brief foray into the diverse techniques of lance use and their purposes has been attempted here.     

重塑军队作战力量体系的几点思考

作战力量体系是一个国家军事力量体系的核心组成部分。近些年通过深化国防和军队改革,我军军事力量体系宏观上发生了脱胎换骨的变化,接下来到了对作战力量体系进行重塑的攻坚阶段,本文结合当前作战力量体系发展的一些特点和建设存在的短板,提出了重塑我军作战力量体系的决策建议。      

电磁发射弹丸飞行弹道仿真

针对电磁发射弹丸飞行弹道进行仿真研究,在建立刚体六自由度飞行弹道模型的基础上,采用时频分析和涡流分析方法,建立电磁-动力学耦合模型分析弹丸出膛时由于膛内振动带来的炮口扰动,采用动网格技术建立电磁-气动耦合模型分析弹托分离产生的气动扰动,从而得到了电磁发射弹丸的飞行弹道模型。以得克萨斯大学先进技术研究所设计的IAT-HVP为例,仿真分析了弹丸以1117 m/s初速、0°射角出膛时弹丸出口扰动对弹体速度和气动特性的影响,并得到其飞行200 m的弹道曲线。仿真结果表明,受电磁发射一体化弹丸出口扰动的影响,弹体落点相比理想弹道产生了24%的偏差,其中炮口扰动引起的偏差最大,其次是弹托分离。     

超声速气流中液体横向射流一次破碎过程

发展显微成像方法获得空间分辨率为1.57 μm/pixel的近场射流瞬态图像,分析超声速气流中液体横向射流表面波演化规律。采用流体体积法获得射流的三维形态及近场流场特征,研究近场流场结构及气液作用。射流的一次破碎过程主要有表面破碎和液柱破碎。其中表面破碎由气液剪切引起的K-H不稳定主导,液柱破碎由气液加速引起的R-T不稳定主导;射流柱表面局部压力的脉动是诱导产生射流迎风面表面波并促使其沿射流方向发展的主要原因;射流柱与超声速气流作用形成背风面回流,近壁面液雾主要由表面破碎及背风面回流输运的液滴组成。     

反电动势对无扰载荷航天器精确定向的影响

无扰载荷航天器中非接触式作动器反电动势会引起有效载荷模块与支持模块之间的耦合,影响有效载荷模块的精确定向性能。通过建立无扰载荷航天器的耦合动力学模型,分析非接触式作动器反电动势对有效载荷模块精确定向性能的影响。考虑六支杆立方构型无扰载荷接口,结合拉格朗日方程和牛顿欧拉方法建立有效载荷模块平台动力学模型。推导非接触式作动器的输出力模型,并引入有效载荷模块平台动力学模型,给出考虑非接触式作动器反电动势的耦合动力学模型。将支持模块上飞轮动静不平衡引起的谐振作为干扰力矩,建立了无扰载荷航天器在轨定向状态的Simulink仿真模型。仿真结果表明,反电动势系数越大,干扰力矩对有效载荷模块的影响越大,有效载荷模块精确定向精度越低。     

基于信息需求的情报支持效能分析

经典的侦察与监测(S&R)系统效能分析方法存在模型难以建立、结果不准确等问题。考虑到S&R系统的目的是提供情报支持,提出一种基于信息需求的S&R系统情报支持效能分析方法。该方法以用户的信息需求为度量基准量,比较S&R系统性能对信息需求的满足度,并以此满足度作为S&R系统效能度量的指标。仿真实例表明了新方法的有用性。