Pub Date : 2023-03-04DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2023.2182110
H. Park
Abstract As North Korea succeeds in developing hydrogen bombs, ICBMs, and SLBMs capable of destroying U.S. cities, the current U.S. extended deterrence may not work. The United States must empower South Korea with a nuclear option to exercise its right of self-defense by prescribing an on-site nuclear balance. This article presents and compares two options for the United States: (1) South Korea’s nuclear armament and (2) another nuclear sharing system in Northeast Asia. As a result, this article recommends the second option with sea-borne sharing and incremental implementation.
{"title":"Searching for on-site nuclear balance against North Korea","authors":"H. Park","doi":"10.1080/01495933.2023.2182110","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2023.2182110","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract As North Korea succeeds in developing hydrogen bombs, ICBMs, and SLBMs capable of destroying U.S. cities, the current U.S. extended deterrence may not work. The United States must empower South Korea with a nuclear option to exercise its right of self-defense by prescribing an on-site nuclear balance. This article presents and compares two options for the United States: (1) South Korea’s nuclear armament and (2) another nuclear sharing system in Northeast Asia. As a result, this article recommends the second option with sea-borne sharing and incremental implementation.","PeriodicalId":35161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Strategy","volume":"42 1","pages":"242 - 263"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47157695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-04DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2023.2182113
Andrew Brown
Abstract Forecasts about how terrorists will utilize emerging technologies often outstrip the materialization of actual threats. The concern is not which technologies terrorists can access, but rather which will prove transformative to the terrorist cause, as the Internet has. These forecasts can be bettered through the application of an adoption model and the concept of proof of practicality. Utilizing these conceptualizations, it is possible to assess if and how emerging and increasingly commercialized technologies like 3D printing, commercial drones, and synthetic biology may be utilized by terrorist organizations both now and in the future.
{"title":"Terror, tech, and transformation: Will emerging technologies revolutionize terrorism?","authors":"Andrew Brown","doi":"10.1080/01495933.2023.2182113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2023.2182113","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Forecasts about how terrorists will utilize emerging technologies often outstrip the materialization of actual threats. The concern is not which technologies terrorists can access, but rather which will prove transformative to the terrorist cause, as the Internet has. These forecasts can be bettered through the application of an adoption model and the concept of proof of practicality. Utilizing these conceptualizations, it is possible to assess if and how emerging and increasingly commercialized technologies like 3D printing, commercial drones, and synthetic biology may be utilized by terrorist organizations both now and in the future.","PeriodicalId":35161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Strategy","volume":"42 1","pages":"308 - 320"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45947718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-04DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2023.2182109
Michail Ploumis
Abstract War technology, as it was tested in the War of Nagorno-Karabakh (2020), demonstrates that future large-scale ground combat in a symmetric theater of war will be planned and commanded in a centralized manner, while firing from modern weapon systems will play the role of force multiplier. Deception, flanking and envelopment tactics, as they were implemented by Napoleon the Great, are expected to reemerge in order to defeat a potential enemy in a world characterized by the Great Power competition. In this context, the necessity for leaderships which will simultaneously operate throughout the levels of warfare (strategic, operational and tactical) becomes apparent. At the same time, the protection and survival of the landpower in the areas of dispersion, the capacity for rapid advancement of the combative formations to the decisive point of engagement and their capability to apply flanking and envelopment tactics, will decide the victor of a potential war.
{"title":"Strategy and grand tactics of Napoleon the Great for the 21st century","authors":"Michail Ploumis","doi":"10.1080/01495933.2023.2182109","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2023.2182109","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract War technology, as it was tested in the War of Nagorno-Karabakh (2020), demonstrates that future large-scale ground combat in a symmetric theater of war will be planned and commanded in a centralized manner, while firing from modern weapon systems will play the role of force multiplier. Deception, flanking and envelopment tactics, as they were implemented by Napoleon the Great, are expected to reemerge in order to defeat a potential enemy in a world characterized by the Great Power competition. In this context, the necessity for leaderships which will simultaneously operate throughout the levels of warfare (strategic, operational and tactical) becomes apparent. At the same time, the protection and survival of the landpower in the areas of dispersion, the capacity for rapid advancement of the combative formations to the decisive point of engagement and their capability to apply flanking and envelopment tactics, will decide the victor of a potential war.","PeriodicalId":35161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Strategy","volume":"42 1","pages":"227 - 241"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44429698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-04DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2023.2182111
H̊akan Edström, Dennis Gyllensporre
Abstract This article seeks to theorize the transformation of the armed forces in Northern Europe by examining its drivers during previous NATO enlargements in the region. The exploration includes the German reunification in 1990, the Polish entry in 1999, and the joining of the three Baltic States, i.e., Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, in 2004. Based on these experiences, the article identifies some theoretical considerations for transformation in conjunction with the current accession process of Finland and Sweden. Based on a realist logic, we conclude that the ongoing transformation should be underpinned by a new operational design, hence considering the need for flexibility and for managing potential new expeditionary shocks. To this end, we argue that the focus must initially be internally within the Alliance, i.e., to proceed with novel operational planning for northern Europe before turning the attention to the transformation of the armed forces of the new members.
{"title":"Exploring NATO’s enlargements in Northern Europe: Theorizing military transformation","authors":"H̊akan Edström, Dennis Gyllensporre","doi":"10.1080/01495933.2023.2182111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2023.2182111","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article seeks to theorize the transformation of the armed forces in Northern Europe by examining its drivers during previous NATO enlargements in the region. The exploration includes the German reunification in 1990, the Polish entry in 1999, and the joining of the three Baltic States, i.e., Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, in 2004. Based on these experiences, the article identifies some theoretical considerations for transformation in conjunction with the current accession process of Finland and Sweden. Based on a realist logic, we conclude that the ongoing transformation should be underpinned by a new operational design, hence considering the need for flexibility and for managing potential new expeditionary shocks. To this end, we argue that the focus must initially be internally within the Alliance, i.e., to proceed with novel operational planning for northern Europe before turning the attention to the transformation of the armed forces of the new members.","PeriodicalId":35161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Strategy","volume":"42 1","pages":"264 - 286"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44561123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2022.2130676
H̊akan Edström, Jacob Westberg
Abstract Scholars of Strategic Studies have seldom problematized the concept of military strategy beyond identifying the three elements constituting the phenomenon, that is ends, means and ways. Moreover, we see a need for contextualizing the presumably universal conceptualization of military strategy. This article contributes to previous research by operationalize each of the three elements one-step further, thereby introducing an analytical framework for systematic comparisons of states’ different priorities regarding military strategy. Additionally, in order to explain these different priorities, the proposed analytical framework introduces tools related to both relative power and position in the international system, and to regional systems and unit-level characteristics. The usefulness of the analytical framework is illustrated by a summary of some of our findings from a research project on comparative strategy including more than 30 states.
{"title":"Comparative strategy – A new framework for analysis","authors":"H̊akan Edström, Jacob Westberg","doi":"10.1080/01495933.2022.2130676","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2022.2130676","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Scholars of Strategic Studies have seldom problematized the concept of military strategy beyond identifying the three elements constituting the phenomenon, that is ends, means and ways. Moreover, we see a need for contextualizing the presumably universal conceptualization of military strategy. This article contributes to previous research by operationalize each of the three elements one-step further, thereby introducing an analytical framework for systematic comparisons of states’ different priorities regarding military strategy. Additionally, in order to explain these different priorities, the proposed analytical framework introduces tools related to both relative power and position in the international system, and to regional systems and unit-level characteristics. The usefulness of the analytical framework is illustrated by a summary of some of our findings from a research project on comparative strategy including more than 30 states.","PeriodicalId":35161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Strategy","volume":"42 1","pages":"80 - 102"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41586974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2022.2158033
C. Dale Walton
{"title":"The polar pivot: Great power competition in the artic and Antarctica","authors":"C. Dale Walton","doi":"10.1080/01495933.2022.2158033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2022.2158033","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Strategy","volume":"42 1","pages":"171 - 172"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59111406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2022.2158031
Christopher Whyte
Abstract Why do some strategic concepts come to dominate over alternative, often-entrenched views of warfighting? And what determines the staying power and proneness to change over time of the prevailing vision? Focusing on cyberspace, I describe the Internet as an artifact interpreted differently by competing interest groups. I show that reconciliation of these interpretations comes from individuals with the position and motivation to make technology work for a specific vision of use and spread that vision to other parts of the organization. By tracing the role of such key network nodes in the evolution of strategic concepts, I show that information technologies themselves act to break down barriers to engagement between social sub-elements of complex organization, making the whole susceptible to narrow parochial change. Moreover, I illustrate how the cyberspace concept is both impermanent and an attempt at problem redefinition leading to an ill-fitting lens, rather than simply a rhetorical-institutional reorientation.
{"title":"Cyberspace is what states make of it: The social construction (and deconstruction) of strategic concepts","authors":"Christopher Whyte","doi":"10.1080/01495933.2022.2158031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2022.2158031","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Why do some strategic concepts come to dominate over alternative, often-entrenched views of warfighting? And what determines the staying power and proneness to change over time of the prevailing vision? Focusing on cyberspace, I describe the Internet as an artifact interpreted differently by competing interest groups. I show that reconciliation of these interpretations comes from individuals with the position and motivation to make technology work for a specific vision of use and spread that vision to other parts of the organization. By tracing the role of such key network nodes in the evolution of strategic concepts, I show that information technologies themselves act to break down barriers to engagement between social sub-elements of complex organization, making the whole susceptible to narrow parochial change. Moreover, I illustrate how the cyberspace concept is both impermanent and an attempt at problem redefinition leading to an ill-fitting lens, rather than simply a rhetorical-institutional reorientation.","PeriodicalId":35161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Strategy","volume":"42 1","pages":"128 - 151"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47252339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2022.2158029
S. Gogna
Abstract The deployment of the Tactical Nuclear Weapon (TNW) “Nasr” by Pakistan has led some experts in India to question the credibility of India’s nuclear deterrence. They have called for a change in India’s nuclear doctrine from the stand of “massive retaliation” to a “flexible response” to permit the use of similar weapons. This article examines Indian nuclear thinking to illustrate that the raison d’être of India’s nuclear weapons is deterrence within the strategic domain, not conventional. It further explains how India’s civil-military relations along with its nuclear command and control system have evolved to preclude the use of TNWs.
{"title":"The Nasr and India’s nuclear command structure, strategy and doctrine","authors":"S. Gogna","doi":"10.1080/01495933.2022.2158029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2022.2158029","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The deployment of the Tactical Nuclear Weapon (TNW) “Nasr” by Pakistan has led some experts in India to question the credibility of India’s nuclear deterrence. They have called for a change in India’s nuclear doctrine from the stand of “massive retaliation” to a “flexible response” to permit the use of similar weapons. This article examines Indian nuclear thinking to illustrate that the raison d’être of India’s nuclear weapons is deterrence within the strategic domain, not conventional. It further explains how India’s civil-military relations along with its nuclear command and control system have evolved to preclude the use of TNWs.","PeriodicalId":35161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Strategy","volume":"42 1","pages":"50 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47757867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2022.2158032
Rubina Waseem, Zafar Khan
Abstract There is a need for mainstreaming South Asian Non-NPT Nuclear Weapon States. India is an emerging market and Pakistan has the potential to become a future market for nuclear energy. Furthermore, they have nuclear weapons, making it important to take them on board in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime (NPR). Given the reality that they are not ready to roll back their nuclear program, there is a need to explore options for mainstreaming them especially in nuclear export control mechanisms. This article investigates the policy imperatives for the international community to address the South Asian Non-NPT-NWSs in the NSG.
{"title":"Mainstreaming South Asian nuclear rivals for nuclear suppliers group: Imperatives for strengthening the nonproliferation regime","authors":"Rubina Waseem, Zafar Khan","doi":"10.1080/01495933.2022.2158032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2022.2158032","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract There is a need for mainstreaming South Asian Non-NPT Nuclear Weapon States. India is an emerging market and Pakistan has the potential to become a future market for nuclear energy. Furthermore, they have nuclear weapons, making it important to take them on board in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime (NPR). Given the reality that they are not ready to roll back their nuclear program, there is a need to explore options for mainstreaming them especially in nuclear export control mechanisms. This article investigates the policy imperatives for the international community to address the South Asian Non-NPT-NWSs in the NSG.","PeriodicalId":35161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Strategy","volume":"42 1","pages":"152 - 170"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47468596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2022.2158026
Christopher Spearin
Abstract Given calls for the United States to launch privateers against China, the article contends that such an effort would be unsuccessful for two reasons. First, the contemporary private military and security industry – the focal point of present calls – is not attuned to privateering. This is because of the following: its defensive posture; quantitative and qualitative issues related to maritime vessels; its non-U.S. ownership; concerns about innocent passage; and the nature of its expertise. Second, the article contends that despite legal uncertainty regarding privateering, the necessary international relationships for privateering to function are not in place.
{"title":"U.S. privateering and China in the 21st century: Tied at anchor","authors":"Christopher Spearin","doi":"10.1080/01495933.2022.2158026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01495933.2022.2158026","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Given calls for the United States to launch privateers against China, the article contends that such an effort would be unsuccessful for two reasons. First, the contemporary private military and security industry – the focal point of present calls – is not attuned to privateering. This is because of the following: its defensive posture; quantitative and qualitative issues related to maritime vessels; its non-U.S. ownership; concerns about innocent passage; and the nature of its expertise. Second, the article contends that despite legal uncertainty regarding privateering, the necessary international relationships for privateering to function are not in place.","PeriodicalId":35161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Strategy","volume":"42 1","pages":"1 - 13"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45640380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}