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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Defence strategy, planning & research > General
Thalakada argues that the principal purpose of US alliances have
shifted since the end of the Cold War from containing communist
expansionism (balance of power) to preserving and exercising US
power (management of power).He also looks across all US alliances
highlighting the trend from regionally-based to more
globally-active alliances.
This book analyses Japan's security policy after the Cold War and
engages with the question of whether, since the Cold War ended,
Japan has again become a global security player. The contributions
to the book explore Japan's security policy by providing a detailed
overview of the evolution of Japan's security policy after the Cold
War, including the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and the
Senkaku/Daioyu Islands dispute. It also reveals the preeminent
security concerns of contemporary Japan by delving into regional
security issues such as the Layered Security of Okinawa, the
increasing nuclear threat from North Korea, and the Taiwan Strait
Crisis of 1995-6. The book culminates by discussing security in
terms of the essential functions of energy, food, and human
security, including an assessment of Japan's energy policy since
World War II and an assessment of the impact food security on
Japan's agriculture and trade. This book will be of interest to
student and scholars of East Asian Politics, Security Studies and
the International Relations of the Asia Pacific. It is also a
valuable resource for diplomats and policymakers on Japan and East
Asia.
Keohane examines the main British political parties' attitude to
Britain's policy on three key security issues: the use of force;
nuclear weapons; and security in Northern Ireland. He analyzes how
each of the parties viewed conflicts at Suez, the Falklands and the
Gulf, elucidates their perspective on nuclear weapons and concludes
with a review of their attitude towards security in Northern
Ireland. The text concludes that the parties' policies reflect
their distinctive views on security, and that international
conditions often severely affect the policy pursued.
The United States has long exploited Earth's orbits to enhance
security, generate wealth, and solidify its position as a world
leader. America's ambivalence toward military activities in space,
however, has the potential to undermine our future security. Many
in Washington possess a peculiar regard for space and warfare. Some
perceive space as a place to defend and fight for America's vital
interests. Others -- whose voices are frequently dominant and
manifested in public rhetoric, funded defense programs,
international diplomacy, and treaty commitments -- look upon space
as a preserve not to be despoiled by earthly strife.
After forty years of discussion, the debate over America's role
in space rages on. In light of the steady increase in international
satellite activity for commercial and military purposes, American's
vacillation on this issue could begin to pose a real threat to our
national security. Steven Lambakis argues that this policy
dysfunction will eventually manifest itself in diminished
international political leverage, the forfeiture of technological
advances, and the squandering of valuable financial resources.
Lambakis reviews key political, military, and business developments
in space over the past four decades. Emphasizing that we should not
take our unobstructed and unlimited access to space for granted, he
identifies potential space threats and policy flaws and proposes
steps to meet national security demands for the twenty-first
century.
The fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the United Nations
was commemorated in 1995 with a number of conferences and
publications which assessed the history and contemporary role of
this paramount international organisation. This book is the result
of a meeting of scholars and specialists who wished to further
understanding of the challenges faced by the United Nations in its
efforts to intervene in post-cold war conflict. In particular the
experiences in Bosnia, Somalia and in Rwanda, where UN peacekeepers
seemed powerless to act in the face of acts of genocide, gross
violations of human rights and the widespread suffering caused by
war, makes such an analysis timely and important.
"Examines international cooperation in European security from a
transaction cost economics perspective. This book addresses the
puzzle of how to approach differing institutional preferences. It
argues that the reduction and limitation of transaction costs was
the primary determinant of security preferences"--
Iran, Egypt, and Turkey all experienced remarkably similar
coup-installed regimes in the middle of the twentieth century, and
shared comparable state-building ambitions. Despite these
similarities, each followed a different trajectory: Iran became an
absolutist monarchy that was overthrown from below; Turkey evolved
into a limited democracy; and Egypt metamorphosed into a police
state. What accounts for this divergence? In The Power Triangle,
Hazem Kandil attributes the different outcomes to the power
struggle between the political, military, and security components
of each regime. Following a coup, officers immediately divide their
labor: one group runs government, another supervises the military,
and the third handles security. Their interests initially overlap,
but begin to vary as each group becomes identified with its own
institution. The politicians wish to remain in power indefinitely,
but need the support of the custodians of violence; military
officers prefer to withdraw from politics after implementing the
needed reforms, since their prerogatives are usually guaranteed
regardless of regime type, and politicization corrupts the corps;
and security men strive to consolidate authoritarianism in order to
maintain the inflated privileges they have acquired during the
emergency period following the coup. Driven by conflicting agendas,
the three partners struggle to control the regime. Through
comparative historical analysis, Kandil demonstrates that the new
regime is shaped and reshaped through the recurrent clashes and
changing alliances between the team of rivals in this 'power
triangle.' Bringing realism into domestic politics, The Power
Triangle demonstrates that we cannot gain a clear understanding of
pivotal events in Iran, Egypt, and Turkey without a firm grasp of
the balance of power within the ruling bloc of each country.
There is a long history of state governments providing support to
nonstate armed groups fighting battles in other countries. Examples
include Syria's aid to Hamas, Ecuador's support for FARC, and
Libya's donation of arms to the IRA. What motivates states to do
this? And why would rebel groups align themselves with these
states? In States in Disguise, Belgin San-Akca builds a rigorous
theoretical framework within which to study the complex and fluid
network of relationships between states and rebel groups, including
ethnic and religious insurgents, revolutionary groups, and
terrorists. She proves that patterns of alliances between armed
rebels and modern states are hardly coincidental, but the result of
systematic and strategic choices made by both states and rebel
groups. San-Akca demonstrates that these alliances are the result
of shared conflictual, material and ideational interests, and her
theory shows how to understand these ties via the domestic and
international environment. Drawing from an original data set of 455
groups, their target states, and supporters over a span of more
than sixty years, she explains that states are most likely to
support rebel groups when they are confronted with internal and
external threats simultaneously, while rebels select strong states
and democracies when seeking outside support. She also shows that
states and rebels look to align with one another when they share
ethnic, religious and ideological ties. Through its broad
chronological sweep, States in Disguise reveals how and why the
phenomenon of state and rebel group alliances has evolved over
time.
The Rhetorical Invention of America's National Security State
examines the rhetoric and discourse produced by and constitutive of
America's national security state. Hasian, Lawson, and McFarlane
illustrate the importance of rhetoric to the expansion of the
American national security state in the post-9/11 era through their
examination of the global war on terrorism, enhanced interrogation
techniques, drone crew stress, activities of Edward Snowden, rise
of Special Forces, and popular representations of counterterrorism.
The coauthors contend this expansion was not the result of lone,
imperial executives or a nefarious state within a state, but was
co-produced by elite and non-elite Americans alike who not only
condoned, but also in many cases demanded, the expansion of the
national security state. This work will be of interest to scholars
in communication studies and political science.
The Middle East has been the arena of three cataclysmic events
since 1979 - the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf
War. All of these have brought about major changes in the
inter-regional politics and relations between Middle East countries
and the outside world. This book seeks to analyze the impact of
these events on Iranian-Arab relations. The authors examine Iran's
relations with the Arab states of the Gulf in detail and sheds
light on the changing patterns of Iranian-Egyptian and Lebanese
relations.
Demonstrating that none of the various perspectives under review
has emerged as the clear winner in the struggle for theoretical
hegemony in security studies, this book shows that eclectic
perspectives, like democratic realist institutionalism, can better
explain peace and security in the Asian Pacific. The Asian Pacific
has emerged as one of the most important regions in the world,
causing scholars to pay increased attention to the various
challenges, old and new, to peace and security there. Peace and
Security in the Asia-Pacific: Theory and Practice is a
comprehensive, critical review of the established theoretical
perspectives relevant to contemporary peace and security studies in
the light of recent experiences. Illuminating ongoing debates in
the field, the book covers some 20 theoretical perspectives on
peace and security in the Asian Pacific, including realist,
liberal, socialist, peace and human security, constructivist,
feminist, and nontraditional security studies. The first section of
the book discusses perspectives in realist security studies, the
second part covers perspectives critical of realism. The author's
goal is to assess whether any of the perspectives found in
nonrealist security studies are capable of undermining realism. His
conclusion is that each theoretical perspective has its strengths
and weaknesses, leaving eclecticism as the best way to understand
the region's dynamics. An extensive bibliography covers various
theoretical perspectives in the field of international
relations/security studies and materials on the Asian Pacific
Helpful indexes include specific countries, security issues, and
theoretical perspectives
Using the European Defence Community (EDC) as a case-study, this
book examines the competing and often conflicting view of the
British and American governments towards European integration in
the early 1950s. The British, fearing an 'agonizing reappraisal' of
the American defence commitment to Europe if the supranational EDC
failed, went to great lengths to ensure the success of the scheme.
When, despite these efforts, the EDC finally collapsed in August
1954, NATO was plunged into arguably the most severe crisis in its
history. The crisis also possessed an Anglo-American dimension,
with London and Washington badly divided on how it should be
resolved. In the end, the British were instrumental in the creation
of the Western European Union as a successor to the EDC. Their
crisis management, however, had been rooted in fear of the
'agonizing reappraisal', a danger dismissed by many historians as
exaggerated but which the British, in 1954, were perhaps right to
take seriously.
This is the only current book on maritime Djibouti, and the only
one available in English since 1968. It describes the geography,
naval history, and present strategic role of this small country,
and indicates its possible future. Naval Strategy East of Suez
includes previously little-known facts of French covert action in
"Italian East Africa, 1938-1941"; and of "Operation Toreador
"(1956), which served to aid Operation Musketeer. It also turns a
spotlight on the Allied blockade of Djibouti in 1940-1942. In a
sense, this book is a more readable, and less technical, treatment
of what sailors call sailing directions.
Djibouti's naval base, 600 miles closer to the Strait of Hormuz
than Diego Garcia, is the nearest base to Middle East oil centers
likely to be available to France and its allies in the
future--facts often ignored or unknown to all but the most
specialized of specialists. Koburger believes that the troubles in
the Middle East are only beginning. His book offers a background
and strategy about an area little known to Anglophones that is of
considerable potential usefulness.
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 assesses the UAE's increasing power
and the future challenges to regional security it could pose. 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, including the 2011 Arab
Uprisings, the impact of the US-announced 'Pivot to Asia' and the
perceptions of waning US power in the Middle East, and the 2015
nuclear deal. The UAE's changing role in the region will 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.
The culmination of 25 years of research, Alex Bennett's
groundbreaking English translation of Miyamoto Musashi's The Book
of Five Rings reveals the true meaning of the original work. Plus,
definitive translations of five more known works of Musashi! This
piece of writing by famed samurai Musashi (1584-1645) is the
single-most influential work on samurai swordsmanship, offering
insights into samurai history, the Zen Buddhist state of "no-mind"
that enables warriors to triumph and the philosophical meaning of
Bushido--"the way of the warrior." Until now, English translations
of The Book of Five Rings have been based on inaccurate copies of
Musashi's long-lost original manuscript. Bennett's translation is
the first to be based on a careful reconstruction of the original
text by Japan's foremost Musashi scholar. By identifying
discrepancies among the existing copies, adding missing texts and
correcting over 150 incorrect characters, this source is the
closest representation of Musashi's original work possible.
Utilizing this new source, Bennett captures the subtle nuance of
the classic Japanese text, resulting in the most accurate English
translation of The Book of Five Rings available Enjoy complete,
richly annotated translations of Musashi's most-known works: The
Book of Five Rings Mirror on the Way of Combat Notes on Combat
Strategy Combat Strategy in 35 Articles The Five-Direction Sword
Pathways The Path Walked Alone The texts are richly annotated by
Bennett, who includes an extensive introduction on Musashi's life
and legacy. This paperback edition also includes a new introduction
by Kendo Kyoshi 7th Dan Graham Sayer, who talks about the influence
Musashi's writings have had on him as a person and martial artist.
The Complete Musashi: The Book of Five Rings and Other Works will
be widely read by those interested in Japanese culture, Samurai
history and martial arts--setting a new standard against which all
other translations will be measured.
Now more than ever, in the arenas of national security, diplomacy,
and military operations, effective communication strategy is of
paramount importance. A 24/7 television, radio, and Internet news
cycle paired with an explosion in social media demands it.
According to James P. Farwell, an expert in communication strategy
and cyber war who has advised the U.S. Special Operations Command
and the Department of Defense, and worked nationally and
internationally as a media and political consultant, this book
examines how colorful figures in history from Julius Caesar to
Winston Churchill, Napoleon to Hugo Chavez, Martin Luther to Barack
Obama and Ronald Reagan, have forged communication strategies to
influence audiences. Mark Twain said that history doesn't repeat
itself, but rhymes. In showing how major leaders have moved
audiences, Farwell bears out Twain's thesis. Obama and Luther each
wanted to reach a mass audience. Obama used social media and the
Internet. Luther used the printing press. But the strategic mindset
was similar. Hugo Chavez identifies with Simon Bolivar, but his
attitude towards the media more closely echoes Napoleon. Caesar
used coins to build his image in ways that echo the modern use of
campaign buttons. His "triumphs," enormous parades to celebrate
military victories, celebrated his achievements and aimed to
impress the populace with his power and greatness. Adolph Hitler
employed a similar tactic with his torchlight parades. The book
shows how the US government's approach to strategic communication
has been misguided. It offers a colorful, incisive critical
evaluation of the concepts, doctrines, and activities that the US
Department of Defense and Department of State employ for
psychological operations, military information support operations,
propaganda, and public diplomacy. Persuasion and Power is a book
about the art of communication strategy, how it is used, where, and
why. Farwell's adroit use of vivid examples produce a
well-researched, entertaining story that illustrates how its
principles have made a critical difference throughout history in
the outcomes of crises, conflicts, politics, and diplomacy across
different cultures and societies.
An analysis of the CSCE/OSCE process from the perspective of
security regime formation and an evaluation of its contribution to
European security. This book systematically examines the whole
CSCE/OSCE process from a non-European perspective, bearing in mind
the transferability of the OSCE to other regions. This book
displays innovative research on security regimes by presenting an
empirical case-study of the CSCE/OSCE.
In a world that is increasingly unstable, intelligence services
like the American CIA and the United Kingdom's MI6 exist to deliver
security. Whether the challenge involves terrorism, cyber-security,
or the renewed specter of great power conflict, intelligence
agencies mitigate threats and provide decisional advantage to
national leaders. But empowered intelligence services require
adequate supervision and oversight, which must be about more than
the narrow (if still precarious) task of ensuring the legality of
covert operations and surveillance activities. Global Intelligence
Oversight is a comparative investigation of how democratic
countries can govern their intelligence services so that they are
effective, but operate within frameworks that are acceptable to
their people in an interconnected world. The book demonstrates how
the institutions that oversee intelligence agencies participate in
the protection of national security while safeguarding civil
liberties, balancing among competing national interests, and
building public trust in inherently secret activities. It does so
by analyzing the role of courts and independent oversight bodies as
they operate in countries with robust constitutional frameworks and
powerful intelligence services. The book also illuminates a new
transnational oversight dynamic that is shaping and constraining
security services in new ways. It describes how global technology
companies and litigation in transnational forums constitute a new
form of oversight whose contours are still undefined. As rapid
changes in technology bring the world closer together, these forces
will complement their more traditional counterparts in ensuring
that intelligence activities remain effective, legitimate, and
sustainable.
Two Gulf wars and the continuing Arab-Israeli conflict have
highlighted the salience of military factors in the Middle East.
This book argues, however, that many of the most serious 'security'
challenges to Arab states and societies are rooted not in external
military threats but in the imperatives of socio-economic
development. Contributors examine the regional security
environment; the social and political impact of regional
militarization; and underdevelopment as a source of regional
insecurity.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu is the best known book on military
strategy ever written. Although its wisdom is ancient, its
principles and advice are timeless; it remains as influential as
ever in military strategy, leadership roles, business tactics,
legal challenges, martial arts philosophy and more. Everyone from
New England Patriots' coach Bill Belichick to Tupac Shakur have
turned to this time tested treatise. This translation is by Hanshi
Stephen F. Kaufman, one of America's leading martial artists, and
is specifically aimed at martial practitioners to demonstrate how
Sun Tzu's strategies can be applied to martial combat. The book's
thirteen sections present vital information including: Planning
ahead--how a solid battle plan can help lead to victory Attacking
the enemy--considerations when choosing to attack or, perhaps even
more importantly, when to not attack Flexibility in combat--the
importance of changing tactics as the fight evolves Exploiting
weakness--how understanding your enemy's shortcomings is crucial to
success This edition includes 32 pages of full color images,
capturing the pageantry of ancient combat. A new foreword by
martial historian and decorated martial artist Alexander Bennett
explains the importance of Sun Tzu's text and the value of
Kaufman's interpretation for the martial artist.
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