[PDF] Strategic Assessment 1999 eBook

Author : Hans Binnendijk
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 12,54 MB
Release : 1999-10
Category :
ISBN : 9780160590320

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The past year has seen many thresholds crossed and turning points reached in the international security environment. With events like the NATO intervention in Kosovo, tension between India and Pakistan, more failing states, and rising access to dangerous weapons and delivery systems, the job for Department of Defense planners has not become easier. This volume examines trends, U.S. interests, and consequences for U.S. policy, followed by a net assessment for each key area. The international security situation is clearly changed from 1 year ago. The nebulous multipolar environment has been stressed by forces of polarization in recent months. Yet, transition states still cooperate with the Western democratic core states on important issues. As the world continues the process of transformation, we need to properly assess our priorities. The volume contains the following chapters: Global Political Trends: Integration or Disintegration?; Economic Globalization: Stability or Conflict?; Energy and Resources: Ample or Scarce?; Global Military Balance: Stable or Unstable?; Europe: How Much Utility, How Effective? Russia and its Neighbors: Faltering Progress; Greater Middle East: Managing Change in Troubled Times? Asia-Pacific Region: Murky Future? South Asia: Nuclear Geopolitics? Sub-Saharan Africa: Progress or Drift? The Western Hemisphere: Rethinking Strategic Relations? The Democratic Core: How Large, How Effective? Transition States: New Destinies? Rogue States and Proliferation: How Serious is the Threat? Troubled States: How Troubling, How Manageable? Transnational Trends: New Threats? Conventional Operations and Warfare: A New Era Ahead?. Strategic Forces and Deterrence: New Realities, New Roles? Global Arms Control and Disarmament: Cloudy Prospects? Space and Oceans: Can They Be Controlled?

Author : Scott Sigmund Gartner
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 12,51 MB
Release : 1999-01-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780300080698

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How do military organizations assess strategic policy in war? In this book Scott Gartner develops a theory to explain how military and government leaders evaluate wartime performance, how much they change strategies in response to this evaluation, and why they are frequently at odds when discussing the success or failure of strategic performance. Blending history, decision theory, and mathematical modeling, Gartner argues that military personnel do reevaluate their strategies and that they measure the performance of a strategy through quantitative, "dominant" indicators. But different actors within a government use different indicators of success: some will see the strategy as succeeding when others see it as failing because of their different dominant indicators. Gartner tests his argument with three case studies: the British shift to convoys in World War I following the German imposition of unrestricted submarine warfare; the lack of change in British naval policy in the Battle of the Atlantic following the German introduction of Wolf Packs in World War II; and the American decision to deescalate in Vietnam after the Tet Offensive. He also tests his approach in a nonwar situation, analyzing the Carter Administration's decision to launch the hostage rescue attempt. In each case, his dominant indicator model better predicts the observed behavior than either a standard-organization or an action-reaction approach.

Author : Eric A. Croddy
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 1086 pages
File Size : 23,49 MB
Release : 2004-12-22
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1851094954

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The first accessible reference to cover the history, context, current issues, and key concepts surrounding biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. A collection of information on everything from aerosols to zones of peace, these two volumes cover historical background, technology, and strategic implications of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, thus providing facts, terms, and context needed to participate in contemporary policy debate. This encyclopedia is the only comprehensive reference dedicated to the three types of weapons of mass destruction. With over 500 entries arranged alphabetically, volume one covers biological and chemical weapons, while volume two focuses on nuclear weapons. Experts from eight countries cover issues related to these weapons, policies, strategies, technologies, delivery vehicles, arms control concepts, treaties, and key historical figures and locations. Entries are written to make difficult concepts easy to understand by cutting through military and scientific jargon. Students, lay readers, scientists, and government policy makers are provided with the broad range of information needed to place today's policy discussions in proper strategic or historical context.