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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Defence strategy, planning & research > General
As she charts her destiny in lifting her masses from poverty and backwardness, India is also obliged to ward off incessant military aggression from her two near, and most inimical neighbours. Resultantly, she is compelled to spend as much as Rupees three hundred thousand crores annually from her overburdened national income to maintain the world's third largest defence forces. In normal course of state wisdom therefore, one would expect that such a humungous investment would be managed in the most efficient manner to get the maximum purchase out of every paisa. But alas, that is not the case. What else could explain the contradiction that even with so much manpower, hardware and funding committed upon her military power, none of her adversaries are deterred from perpetrating acts of gross military escalation while indulging in brazen acts of sabotaging the Indian nationhood - freely and with immunity. It is also hard to explain as to why must India's massive defence forces have to be left short of their due war wherewithal, burdened with obsolete weaponry and hardware, and saddled with overgrown and over-frigid organisations for higher (mis)management. The answer is straightforward: the Indian military institution is inefficiently managed. The long festering flaw is observed, understood and enthusiastically banished now and then, but corrections are never actually attempted. Solutions are known, more or less, but are held down, diverted and scotched by systemic prejudices, paranoia and partisan machinations, as if by design. The causes of such afflictions too are no secret: political apathy, bureaucratic subterfuge and to some extent, myopic military leadership.This book is devoted to arguments for empowerment of the apex military management system, identification of the hurdles, redress of systemic concerns valid or conjured, and goes on to offer certain options to modernise the system of Indian defence management into an operationally efficient political instrument that would promote the cause of India's sovereignty in a cost-effective manner.
This book provides a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of India's strategic culture in the era of globalization. It examines dominant themes that have governed India's foreign and security policy and events which have shaped India's role in global politics. The author Examines the traditional and new approaches to diplomacy and the state's response to internal and external conflicts; Delineates policy pillars which are required to protect the state's strategic interests and forge new relationships in the current geopolitical climate; Compares the domestic and international security policies followed during the tenures of Narsimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh; and Analyzes how the Narendra Modi era has brought on changes in India's security strategy and the use of soft power and diplomacy. With extensive additions, drawing on recent developments, this edition of the book will be a key text for scholars, teachers and students of defence and strategic studies, international relations, history, political science and South Asian studies.
This book focuses on the disagreements which existed in British political and military circles over nuclear strategy during the period from 1945 to 1964. Based on recently released documents, the book argues that British policy in this important area was much more ambiguous and much less coherent than is usually supposed.
The sudden transformation of the Cold War security order in 1989 altered the structure of the European state system, and necessitates the striking of a new balance between the economic, political and military requirements of security. This volume focuses on the most important institutions of European security, the European Union and NATO. Both institutions are expanding, especially eastwards, in terms of their respective roles and membership. This double expansion raises many questions; most crucially, whether Europe will be a two-speed security order, which suggests openess, inclusiveness and the emergence of an anarchical society, or a two-tiered security order, which suggests a continued hierachical security system with all of its associated historical liabilities. -- .
In 2015, the United States Department of Defense published its long-awaited Law of War Manual making a significant statement on the position of the US government on important military matters. Whilst readers recognise the Manual's legal and strategic importance, they may question whether particular statements of law are legally accurate or complete. This book offers a unique in-depth review of the complete Manual, including revisions, on a paragraph-by-paragraph, line-by-line and word-by-word basis. The authors offer their personal assessment of the DoD's declared view as to the law that regulates the conduct of warfare, a subject of unparalleled current importance. William H. Boothby and Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg offer a balanced, articulate and authoritative critique for readers perusing the Manual in whatever capacity.
'Cyber security' is a recent addition to the global security agenda, concerned with protecting states and citizens from the misuse of computer networks for war, terrorism, economic espionage and criminal gain. Many argue that the ubiquity of computer networks calls for robust and pervasive countermeasures, not least governments concerned about their potential effects on national and economic security. Drawing on critical literature in international relations, security studies, political theory and social theory, this is the first book that describes how these visions of future cyber security are sustained in the communities that articulate them. Specifically, it shows that conceptions of time and temporality are foundational to the politics of cyber security. It explores how cyber security communities understand the past, present and future, thereby shaping cyber security as a political practice. Integrating a wide range of conceptual and empirical resources, this innovative book provides insight for scholars, practitioners and policymakers.
After a decade and a half of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, US policymakers are seeking to provide aid and advice to local governments' counterinsurgency campaigns rather than directly intervening with US forces. This strategy, and US counterinsurgency doctrine in general, fail to recognize that despite a shared aim of defeating an insurgency, the US and its local partner frequently have differing priorities with respect to the conduct of counterinsurgency operations. Without some degree of reform or policy change on the part of the insurgency-plagued government, American support will have a limited impact. Using three detailed case studies - the Hukbalahap Rebellion in the Philippines, Vietnam during the rule of Ngo Dinh Diem, and the Salvadorian Civil War - Ladwig demonstrates that providing significant amounts of aid will not generate sufficient leverage to affect a client's behaviour and policies. Instead, he argues that influence flows from pressure and tight conditions on aid rather than from boundless generosity.
- When do individuals radicalise? - Can terrorism be rational? - How can we define terrorism? - What is the role of women in terrorism? - Can states be terrorist? World leading experts answer these questions in Contemporary Terrorism Studies, the first textbook to provide a multi-disciplinary, methodologically plural, and richly diverse introduction to terrorism studies. Contemporary Terrorism Studies covers the main approaches in terrorism studies, and is structured into three comprehensive sections. The first on 'The State of Terrorism Studies' maps the development and historical context of the discipline, and looks to the future of terrorism studies. Part two on 'Issues and Debates in Terrorism Studies' examines key contentious questions and debates such as the role of women, technology, and the media in terrorism. The final part, part three on 'Countering Terrorism' focuses specifically on counterterrorism: it's instruments, foreign policy, legal frameworks, and organisations. Overall, text will engage students, and establish a confident understanding of the subject. The textbook has been developed with pedagogical features to help enhance student learning. Each chapter contains case studies to highlight real world examples of political violence, questions for reflection to encourage critical thinking, and suggestions for further reading which provide useful sources for further reading, essays, and exam preparation. Furthermore, a consistent, accessible tone, and jargon-free writing style makes Contemporary Terrorism Studies the clearest guide to understanding terrorism. Digital formats and resources Contemporary Terrorism Studies is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supported by online resources. - The e-book offers a mobile experience and convenient access along with hyperlinks to question pointers, and a library of web links, helping you to broaden your knowledge and understanding terrorism studies: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks - Student resources: additional case studies, guidance on accessing databases, pointers for tackling the questions for reflection, and suggested web links organised by chapter are available online. - Lecturer resources: customisable PowerPoint slides to adapt and use in teaching
Tactics is the art and science of employing all available means to win battles and engagements. Specifically, it comprises the actions taken by a commander to arrange units and activities in relation to each other and the enemy. Filled with diagrams of attack plans, defensive strategies, and troop movements, U.S. Army Tactics Field Manual is the playbook the U.S. Army uses to employ available means to win in combat. This book provides combat-tested concepts and ideas modified to exploit emerging Army and joint capabilities. This book focuses on the organization of forces, minimum essential control measures, and general planning, preparation, and execution considerations for each type and form of combat operation. It is the common reference for all students of the tactical art, both in the field and the Army school system.
Winner of the Helen and Howard Marraro Prize A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year "Perhaps the greatest study ever written of Renaissance political thought." -Jeffrey Collins, Times Literary Supplement "Magisterial...Hankins shows that the humanists' obsession with character explains their surprising indifference to particular forms of government. If rulers lacked authentic virtue, they believed, it did not matter what institutions framed their power." -Wall Street Journal "Puts the politics back into humanism in an extraordinarily deep and far-reaching way...For generations to come, all who write about the political thought of Italian humanism will have to refer to it; its influence will be...nothing less than transformative." -Noel Malcolm, American Affairs "[A] masterpiece...It is only Hankins's tireless exploration of forgotten documents...and extraordinary endeavors of editing, translation, and exposition that allow us to reconstruct-almost for the first time in 550 years-[the humanists'] three compelling arguments for why a strong moral character and habits of truth are vital for governing well. Yet they are as relevant to contemporary democracy in Britain, and in the United States, as to Machiavelli." -Rory Stewart, Times Literary Supplement "The lessons for today are clear and profound." -Robert D. Kaplan Convulsed by a civilizational crisis, the great thinkers of the Renaissance set out to reconceive the nature of society. Everywhere they saw problems. Corrupt and reckless tyrants sowing discord and ruling through fear; elites who prized wealth and status over the common good; religious leaders preoccupied with self-advancement while feuding armies waged endless wars. Their solution was at once simple and radical. "Men, not walls, make a city," as Thucydides so memorably said. They would rebuild the fabric of society by transforming the moral character of its citizens. Soulcraft, they believed, was a precondition of successful statecraft. A landmark reappraisal of Renaissance political thought, Virtue Politics challenges the traditional narrative that looks to the Renaissance as the seedbed of modern republicanism and sees Machiavelli as its exemplary thinker. James Hankins reveals that what most concerned the humanists was not reforming institutions so much as shaping citizens. If character mattered more than laws, it would have to be nurtured through a new program of education they called the studia humanitatis: the precursor to our embattled humanities.
Historical research on the German army of the interwar period has concentrated on the development of the so-called 'Blitzkrieg'. However, Matthias Strohn shows that for most of the time the German army, restricted by the terms of the Versailles Treaty, was too weak to launch an offensive war or even effectively repel an invader. Accordingly, the army focused instead primarily on planning a defensive war against superior enemies, especially France and Poland. Making extensive use of German archival sources, Strohn explores the development of military thought and doctrine for the defence of Germany and shows how these ideas were tested in war games and staff rides. His findings comprehensively revise our understanding of the German army in this period, shedding new light on the ideas of leading figures in the German military and how events, such as the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923, influenced military planning.
In light of the intertwining logics of military competition and economic interdependence at play in US-China relations, Trading with the Enemy examines how the United States has balanced its potentially conflicting national security and economic interests in its relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC). To do so, Hugo Meijer investigates a strategically sensitive yet under-explored facet of US-China relations: the making of American export control policy on military-related technology transfers to China since 1979. Trading with the Enemy is the first monograph on this dimension of the US-China relationship in the post-Cold War. Based on 199 interviews, declassified documents, and diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks, two major findings emerge from this book. First, the US is no longer able to apply a strategy of military/technology containment of China in the same way it did with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This is because of the erosion of its capacity to restrict the transfer of military-related technology to the PRC. Secondly, a growing number of actors in Washington have reassessed the nexus between national security and economic interests at stake in the US-China relationship - by moving beyond the Cold War trade-off between the two - in order to maintain American military preeminence vis-a-vis its strategic rivals. By focusing on how states manage the heterogeneous and potentially competing security and economic interests at stake in a bilateral relationship, this book seeks to shed light on the evolving character of interstate rivalry in a globalized economy, where rivals in the military realm are also economically interdependent.
This book is a major new study of the extent to which national mentalities, or 'ways of war', are responsible for 'national styles' of insurgency and counterinsurgency. Leading scholars examine the ways of war of particular insurgent movements, and the standard operational procedures of states and occupation forces to suppress them. Through case studies ranging from British, American and French counterinsurgency to the IRA and the Taliban, they show how 'national styles' evolve, influenced by transnational trends, ideas and practices. They examine whether we can identify a tendency to resort to a particular pattern of fighting and, if so, whether this is dictated by constants such as geography and climate, or by the available options, or else whether there exists a particular 'strategic culture' or 'national style'. Their findings show that 'national style' is not eternal but can undergo fundamental transformations.
This is a major study of French foreign and security policy before, during and after the First World War. Peter Jackson examines the interplay between two contending conceptions of security: the first based on traditional practices of power politics and the second on internationalist doctrines that emerged in the late nineteenth century. He pays particular attention to the social and political context in which security policy was made and to the cultural dynamics of the policy-making process. The result is a comprehensive reassessment of France's security policy in the era of the Great War. The book reconsiders the evolution of French war aims and reinterprets the peace policy of the Clemenceau government in 1919. It provides a perspective on the foreign policy of successive French governments in the early 1920s, and also shows that internationalist ideas were far more influential over this entire period than is commonly understood.
" This revised and updated edition identifies the cultural factors and specific administrative agendas that have shaped the way we view ballistic missile technology. Three new sections connect our recent, sudden shifts in foreign policy to ongoing historical patterns. Whether cautioning against the "almost neurotic pursuit of absolute security" or examining the powerful influence of religion on military buildup, Ernest J.Yanarella uncovers the deeply ingrained attitudes that will determine the future of American missile defense.
For over a decade now, thinking on regional relations in the Gulf has focused on the competition for regional hegemony between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Today, this perspective is outdated. The smaller Gulf Arab states, led by the United Arab Emirates, are calling for their own goals and interests to be considered and a new regional order has emerged. This book asesses the UAE's increasing power and the future challenges to security it poses. It is a contemporary history and analysis of the changing role of the UAE. Dina Esfandiary argues that the UAE has become more assertive in the pursuit of its own interests in the region and beyond - even when this puts it at odds with its regional allies. This behavior includes the build-up of its military and non-military capabilities, the diversification of its partners, and its willingness to use these resources. The book examines the regional causes of the UAE's growing assertiveness - especially the 2011 Arab Uprisings - as well as the international context such as the impact of the US-announced 'Pivot to Asia', the perceptions of waning US power in the Middle East, and the 2015 nuclear deal. The UAE's changing role in the region will profoundly affect regional security. This book points towards how smaller states in the region will interact with regional hegemons in the long term, as they learn from the UAE's assertiveness and seek to imitate it.
Military coalitions are ubiquitous. The United States builds them regularly, yet they are associated with the largest, most destructive, and consequential wars in history. When do states build them, and what partners do they choose? Are coalitions a recipe for war, or can they facilitate peace? Finally, when do coalitions affect the expansion of conflict beyond its original participants? The Politics of Military Coalitions introduces newly collected data designed to answer these very questions, showing that coalitions - expensive to build but attractive from a military standpoint - are very often more (if sometimes less) than the sum of their parts, at times encouraging war while discouraging it at others, at times touching off wider wars while at others keeping their targets isolated. The combination of new data, new formal theories, and new quantitative analysis will be of interest to scholars, students, and policymakers alike.
This book explores how different publics make sense of and evaluate anti-terrorism powers within the UK, and the implications of this for citizenship and security. Drawing on primary empirical research, the book argues that whilst white individuals are not unconcerned about the effects of anti-terrorism, ethnic minority citizens (including, but not only those identifying as Muslim) believe that anti-terrorism powers have impacted negatively on their citizenship and security. This book thus offers the first systematic engagement with 'vernacular' or 'everyday' understandings of anti-terrorism policy, citizenship and security. It argues that while transformations in anti-terrorism frameworks impact on public experiences of security and citizenship, they do not do so in a uniform, homogeneous, or predictable manner. At the same time, public understandings and expectations of security and citizenship themselves shape how developments in anti-terrorism frameworks are discussed. -- .
Originally published in 1936, this book presents the content of an inaugural lecture delivered by the renowned British legal expert Arnold McNair (1885-1975), upon taking up the position of Whewell Professor of International Law at Cambridge. McNair was also a judge of the International Court of Justice and was the first President of the European Court of Human Rights. The text presents a discussion of the role of collective security and 'the true place of force in a system of international law'. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in legal history, international relations and the works of McNair.
Britain is at a crossroads. As we leave the EU, we face a great challenge and also the opportunity to forge a new identity in an increasingly uncertain world. Our Armed Forces will be critical to our power and prosperity. For centuries, they have been the envy of the world. Now barely a day passes without reports of diminishing prowess. The number of Navy workhorse ships has been halved and the Army reduced to its smallest size since the Napoleonic war. Our spectacular new aircraft carriers and the F-35 fighter jet programme are mired in controversy. Meanwhile, the Armed Forces face questions about their purpose. The bitter experiences of Iraq and Afghanistan have undermined the concept of the military as a `force for good.' Voters are now sceptical of discretionary wars in faraway places. Aside from sporadic jihadi attacks, few believe there is any real threat to our way of life. Thus defence spending is no longer a public priority. Politicians know that there are more votes in schools and hospitals, even while they are deploy our troops onto the streets after suicide bombings or, more recently, a nerve agent attack. In what feels like peacetime, no wonder top brass have to justify big budgets. Yet this country faces an array of new and escalating threats, while Brexit and Donald Trump raise difficult questions over the future of our most important alliances. Have we become dangerously complacent? Are we still masters of our own destiny, or have we run up the white flag?
The armed forces of the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan are in dire need of reform to address a plethora of problems including inadequate training, low morale, poor public perception, and low recruitment numbers. This book uses the postmodern military model to measure how public perception of the military is influenced by self-identification in Taiwan, and it shows that the public has little confidence or trust in their military, even as they remain acutely aware of the threat posed by an increasingly belligerent China and its ever-growing People's Liberation Army. While there has been much analysis as to what strategies and weapons systems should be adopted by ROC defense planners, relatively little has been written on how to create a more relevant military within Taiwan society. Ultimately, this book addresses these matters and provides policymakers within the ROC government and military, as well as researchers of Asia Pacific security, with an understanding of the current relationship between military and society, to assist in the creation of a more accountable military.
A wide-ranging rethinking of the many factors that comprise the making of American Grand Strategy. What is grand strategy? What does it aim to achieve? And what differentiates it from normal strategic thought-what, in other words, makes it "grand"? In answering these questions, most scholars have focused on diplomacy and warfare, so much so that "grand strategy" has become almost an equivalent of "military history." The traditional attention paid to military affairs is understandable, but in today's world it leaves out much else that could be considered political, and therefore strategic. It is in fact possible to consider, and even reach, a more capacious understanding of grand strategy, one that still includes the battlefield and the negotiating table while expanding beyond them. Just as contemporary world politics is driven by a wide range of non-military issues, the most thorough considerations of grand strategy must consider the bases of peace and security-including gender, race, the environment, and a wide range of cultural, social, political, and economic issues. Rethinking American Grand Strategy assembles a roster of leading historians to examine America's place in the world. Its innovative chapters re-examine familiar figures, such as John Quincy Adams, George Kennan, and Henry Kissinger, while also revealing the forgotten episodes and hidden voices of American grand strategy. They expand the scope of diplomatic and military history by placing the grand strategies of public health, race, gender, humanitarianism, and the law alongside military and diplomatic affairs to reveal hidden strategists as well as strategies.
Originally published in 1940, this book was written by the British legal academic and educationalist Sir William Ivor Jennings (1903-65). The text presents a discussion regarding the possible nature of a federal Western Europe and the means through which this outcome might be achieved, putting forward the view that 'The desirability of replacing international anarchy by international government is so generally recognised in Great Britain that it needs no demonstration'. Legal, constitutional and economic elements of a possible European government are discussed, along with foreign policy and defence. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in European history and the development of the European Union. |
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