Defense Projects Research Articles

Constructing the Spanish Empire in Havana: State Slavery in Defense and Development, 1762–1835 by Evelyn P. Jennings

Reviewed by: Constructing the Spanish Empire in Havana: State Slavery in Defense and Development, 1762–1835 by Evelyn P. Jennings Jonah Rowen Evelyn P. Jennings. Constructing the Spanish Empire in Havana: State Slavery in Defense and Development, 1762–1835. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780807173947 Hardcover: 280 pages Historians who study construction have to confront the fact that built artifacts obscure the people whose labor produced them. Finding archival traces of those builders can be particularly difficult in cases in which they were enslaved. In the superbly researched Constructing the Spanish Empire in Havana: State Slavery in Defense and Development, 1762–1835, Evelyn P. Jennings describes her task as revealing “the tremendous labor of thousands of enslaved people that is embedded in the massive structures of Havana’s defensive colonial infrastructure but today is largely invisible.”1 Historians of the material culture of slavery may choose to treat manufactured artifacts as sufficient evidence for making meaningful assertions about the enslaved people who created them. A converse, if not mutually exclusive, approach focuses on the evidence of labor management, using textual sources that document enslavers’ actions to illuminate the work of coerced construction. Jennings leans in the latter direction. Constructing the Spanish Empire in Havana lays out an engrossing story detailing the fabrication of the fortifications and material for defending colonial Havana. Beginning in the sixteenth century, this history follows the secular devolution of state power to private agents into the nineteenth century. Jennings’s chronological narrative lends coherency to complicated stories of decrees, interpersonal tussles, and near-constant funding shortages. Where tales of empire can often become mired in official actions that operate at cross-purposes, Jennings masterfully develops historical arcs that will draw in even readers unfamiliar with the intricacies of Spanish imperialism. Drawing evidence from official records and correspondence that document enumerated lists of enslaved people, Jennings weaves details together into a cogent sequence of events. The book’s first chapter describes the Spanish state’s history of enslavement up to 1700, enumerating the major categories of employment of enslaved people, including nimble task forces, undifferentiated workers, families, and fighters. The second chapter deals with the first half of the eighteenth century, including the establishment of the chartered Royal Company of Havana. Concluding on the pivotal 1762 British Siege of Havana, this chapter documents the wealth increases and lagging defenses that made the city a target of attack. Chapter three discusses the Spanish response to defeat, which included substantial rebuilding projects and thus greater enslavement activity, and delves into the specific tasks—unskilled and skilled—expected of enslaved people. It also points in the direction of diversification, including convict laborers and people hired out from private enslavers. Chapter four procedes from the remaining part of the eighteenth century into the nineteenth, during which enslaved people actively fought in military campaigns abroad in addition to continuing to work on defense projects in Havana. As funds dried up with diminished income from the loss of mainland colonies, Spain was forced to find new modes of managing its empire. Finally, the fifth chapter demonstrates even greater adjustments, as pressures to end the slave trade mounted. Colonial agents nevertheless continued their reliance on coerced work regimes, even as the state itself accounted for fewer enslaved people. One of Jennings’s most convincing arguments is that we can detect the emergence of a particular strain of capitalism by following the crown’s or individual enslavers’ respective treatment of people whom these putative owners claimed as [End Page 79] chattel. Accumulating wealth by stealing labor from agricultural workers, the bourgeoisie gradually amassed power over an entrenched monarchy. Even as the state relinquished its monopolies and ceded power to the private sector, however, it reserved the capability to grant favors to planters to solicit stolen labor. Thus Jennings argues that what differentiates the case of Cuba from, for example, the British planter class is the centrality of the state in acquiring or commandeering enslaved people of its own. Spain’s Caribbean competitor nations generally extracted capital from slavery indirectly, from duties on goods made by enslaved people. The Spanish state, on the other hand, owned and rented royal slaves and levied corv...

An Intuitionistic Linguistic DEMATEL-Based Network Model for Effective National Defense and Force Innovative Project Planning

The COVID-19 pandemic will accelerate the shift toward multipolarity, and will have major long-term impacts on territorial security within the Indo-Pacific. In addition, COVID-19 is likely to have a long-term effect on risk evaluation in the Indo-Pacific states. Therefore, it is vital to oversee and execute remedial activities quickly and successfully, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper proposes a national defense and military budget planning strategy. It applies a decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory linguistic data strategy for group decision-making, in order to collect group opinions and analyze the causal relationship of complicated social science issues in indistinct situations. These concepts are divided into causal and impact groups, to provide an improved understanding of the relationship among them, as well as making recommendations to improve their general execution. This paper employed the fuzzy DEMATEL method to analyze the model and considered suggestions as the key influencing factors in budget planning strategy. Through this well-constructed fuzzy DEMATEL approach our research results show that a proper operations strategy and management of both resource usage and task arrangement in accordance with policy making will accomplish excellent budget planning strategy results. The results reveal that the Mission Requirement is a major causal factor. The study can provide a successful national defense and military budget strategy assessment with satisfactory criteria that fit the decision-makers’ requirements, particularly when the assessment criteria are various and entwined. We offer recommendations for government authorities to plan national defense and military budget planning strategies.

Discriminant Method of Sand Liquefaction

With the proposal of 1.8 billion mus of cultivated land red line and the rise of land reclamation in China, more and more national defense and civil projects are built on poor geological soil, such as reclamation reefs in the South China Sea. The liquefaction damage caused by earthquake, such as water spraying, grouting and surface cracks, has a great impact on such buildings, and poses a threat to people's lives and property. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the liquefaction of sand in foundation soil. Since Academician Huang Wen-xi first proposed to use indoor dynamic triaxial test to study liquefaction, a series of achievements have been made in the liquefaction of foundation soil. The research methods of sand liquefaction have developed from simple single sample of numerical simulation, numerical simulation and test. Referring to the literature at home and abroad, this paper sorted out the discriminant method of sand liquefaction, experimental study of sand liquefaction and post-liquefaction analysis.

A Hybrid Algorithm for Face Detection to Avoid Racial Inequity Due to Dark Skin

There has been significant development in the facial recognition technology during past few decades. This technology has been widely used by different organizations and governments for defense, security, and surveillance projects. Furthermore, it has now been incorporated into our daily usages, such as consumer applications, personal data protection, or cyber-security, particularly while using smartphones. Most of these systems work very efficient, however, there are some challenges related to the accuracy of results of facial recognition systems when tested on images of people with dark skin. As a matter of fact, various studies demonstrate higher accuracy when tested on data set with white skin personnel, while exhibit a much lesser accuracy when the same algorithms are tested on dataset of people with dark skin. This article highlights the variation in accuracy of existing facial recognition algorithms when applied to dark-skinned people. Furthermore, as a principal contribution it presents a hybrid algorithm based on Gaussian and Explicit rule model that improves the accuracy for face-detection for dark skinned people. Thorough experimental evaluation has been conducted with a data set of black faces by first identifying skin and non-skin regions and then applying skin segmentation. The results have been compared with existing face detection algorithms with a clear improvement in the accuracy of 89% for dark skin.

PESCO, CARD, EDF: Strategy, Analysis, and Financing in the European Union Security Guaratee

In the article the authors analyze the institutional basis for strengthening the EU security and the implementation of specific projects designed to expand cooperation between the Member States in the defence and security sectors. The point at issue is about Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO); the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the European Defence Fund (EDF). The relevance of the comprehensive study of PESCO, CARD, EDF, which activities are aimed at ensuring the strategic component of cooperation, the analysis of the defence sector and funding priorities in the security sphere of the Union have been proved. The authors claim that PESCO has become a key strategic initiative of the EU, CARD allows coordinating the development of military capabilities in the Member States; the EDF was created to coordinate, increase investment and improve defence interoperability between EU member states. The challenges faced within the functioning of these initiatives have been analyzed. It is alleged that a key challenge for the CARD is the unwillingness of Member countries to share national defence plans, as well as the available and potential coordination and harmonization of defence planning within NATO’s Defence Planning. The peculiarities of specific projects financed within the European Defense Fund (“Ocean 2020”, “Eurodrone”, “SPIDER”, “EuroSWARM”, “TRAWA”, “ACAMSII”, “Gossra”, “Vestlife”) have been analyzed. There is continued progress in the field of the EU security and defence: numerous defence projects have been initiated under PESCO; there is a synchronization of defence planning through the CARD; the investments in defence are stimulated by financing the defence research projects through the EDF, the improving military mobility is continuing; coordination of the EU-NATO cooperation is improving, etc.

Numerical simulation of the dynamic responses and damage of underground cavern under multiple explosion sources

Underground caverns are often subjected to multiple explosions, and the stress wave interaction caused by multiple explosion sources is very complicated. To evaluate the effects of possible explosions around an underground cavern, based on a similarity model test, the finite element software LS-DYNA3D was utilized to analyze the dynamic responses and damage of underground cavern under seven combinations of concentrated charge explosion sources in three places, including the side of the vault, side arch, and sidewall. The propagation law of the blast-induced wave, the formation mechanism of the crack, and the displacement distribution characteristics of the surrounding rock were presented, and the damage of the cavern was described according to the peak displacement and peak particle velocity (PPV) of the measurement points located on the cavern wall. Besides, the effects of rock bolt reinforcement on the anti-blast performance of the cavern were also studied. The research results indicate that when the compressive wave propagates to the free surfaces of the ground and cavern, it will reflect and generate the tensile wave, and then the tensile wave will cause spalling in the surrounding rock. Due to the interaction of the tensile wave, different forms of crack will occur in the surrounding rock. The main difference of the crack distribution between the single explosion source cases and multiple explosion sources cases lies in the middle part of the two explosion sources. The stress wave intensity, peak displacement, and PPV of the surrounding rock at the superposition of stress waves are obviously larger than those of other rock mass. The peak displacement, PPV, and damage of the surrounding rock increase with the increasing explosion source number. Furthermore, the damage assessment of the cavern evaluated by the single degree of freedom (SDOF) method agrees well with the result of the PPV empirical damage criteria. Compared with the unanchored cavern, the peak displacement of the bolt-supported cavern is significantly reduced, and the crack development changes from transverse to axial along the rock bolt direction in the reinforced area, and the blast-resistant performance of the surrounding rock is improved. The research results can provide valuable references and basis for the anti-explosion design of underground defensive projects.

The impact of management method on IT projects success

The current study examined the relationship between the extent to which project management is carried out according to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and project success in 70 IT projects. The study presented prediction tools that assisted in predicting project success. The results exhibit a positive, strong, and significant relationship between managing projects based on the PMBOK and project success. In addition, a significant difference in the success score measure was found between projects managed using the Waterfall and Scrum methods. The current study's implications may be useful for technological organisations that utilise the PMBOK for their project management needs. The study presents insights that may benefit project managers dealing with IT defence projects, by helping them find optimal management methods that will lead to successfully meeting the complex targets of these types of projects.

Is there evidence for defensive projection? The impact of subclinical mental disorder and self-identification on endorsement of stigma.

Is there evidence for defensive projection? The impact of subclinical mental disorder and self-identification on endorsement of stigma.

A burocracia da DARPA: competição controlada entre "conservadores" e "críticos"

Nesse artigo analisamos a formação e composição da mais importante Agência de financiamento a Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (P&D) em Defesa do mundo. Desde 1972 intitulada Agência de Projetos Avançados de Pesquisa em Defesa, a DARPA é conhecida por ter financiado inicialmente os laboratórios que criaram tecnologias centrais para o modo de vida moderno, especialmente os Computadores Pessoais e a Internet, ou que revolucionaram os assuntos militares, como o desenvolvimento dos Caças furtivos e drones. Através do estudo do período entre 1958-1989 desenvolvemos uma tipologia que distingue e relaciona os grupos sociais historicamente envolvidos com a concorrência pelo acesso e controle de sua burocracia, as posições de Gerência e Diretoria. Identificamos, a partir desse estudo, a formação de duas alianças que rivalizam entre si: a dos “conservadores” (associação das Forças Armadas com a Base Tecnológica de Defesa) e as dos “críticos” (associação da Academia e da Base Tecnológica Comercial).

Accounting for violent conflict risk in planetary defense decisions

This paper provides the first-ever survey of the implications of violent conflict risk for planetary defense program decisions. Arguably, the aim of planetary defense should be to make Earth safer from all threats, including but not limited to threats from near-Earth objects (NEOs). Insofar as planetary defense projects affect other risks besides NEOs, these other risks should be taken into account. This paper evaluates three potential effects of planetary defense programs on violent conflict risk. First, planetary defense may offer a constructive model for addressing a major global risk. By documenting the history of its successes and failures, the planetary defense community can aid efforts to address other global risks, including but not limited to violent conflict. Second, the proposed use of nuclear explosions for NEO deflection and disruption could affect the role of nuclear weapons in violent conflict risk. The effect may be such that nuclear deflection/disruption would increase aggregate risks to human society. However, the effect is difficult to assess, mainly due to ambiguities in violent conflict risk. Third, planetary defense could reduce violent conflict risk by addressing the possibility of NEO collisions being mistaken as violent attacks and inadvertently triggering violent conflict. False alarms mistaken as real attacks are a major concern, especially as a cause of nuclear war. Improved awareness of NEOs and communication between astronomers and military officials could help resolve NEO false alarms. Each of these three effects of planetary defense programs on violent conflict risk can benefit from interaction between the communities that study and address NEO and violent conflict risks.

The effectiveness of the project management application analysis in the Kazakhstani defense industrial complex holding

Nowadays, leading world companies widely use methodology, standards, and project management tools in many areas of project-oriented activities, including investment, innovation, and information projects. Last years the implementation and functioning of the country’s enterprises’ project management system have been actively discussed in Kazakhstan.This work aims to identify critical processes of project management planning that affect the effectiveness of projects at the enterprise of the military-industrial complex of Kazakhstan. For this purpose, a survey of top managers of defense industry companies was conducted. A total of 28 respondents were interviewed, working at 18 enterprises of the military-industrial complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan and directly participating in the implementation of projects. Data were personally collected by a questionnaire survey conducted during 2019. To verify the formulated model’s assumptions and success, correlation analysis, and other relevant tests were used. Using the model of project management planning quality (PMPQ), process efficiency has been assessed, and critical factors for the effectiveness of defense industry projects have also been identified. The results show that the Republic of Kazakhstan’s defense industry complex projects has a low level of efficiency and an average score for the use of project planning processes. Project efficiency evaluation has also revealed critical knowledge areas for defense projects like human resource management, schedule development, and define scope. The research expands knowledge in PM, revealing the importance of planning processes for the defense industry that need more focus to achieve top-level success and effectiveness of projects. AcknowledgmentThis study is the second part of grant AP05134488 that has been funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Applying Systems Thinking to Frame and Explore a Test System for Product Verification; a Case Study in Large Defence Projects

AbstractThe test system is a vital part of delivering a verified product to the end customer. The test system used in Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace (KDA) to test missile products today needs to change to be able to cope with future requirements for faster project execution and running more projects simultaneously. This article uses a Systems Thinking approach to see the bigger picture and to ensure understanding of the entire problem domain. The system consists of the following structural elements: Data Preparation System, Mission Planning System, Simulators, Data Analysis System and Storage System. The stakeholders of the test system are testers, system owners, project managers, company, customers, government and suppliers. Several possible value added processes are foreseen to make this necessary transition; automation of test execution and test analysis to avoid bottlenecks, verification on both core product and adaption product level for modularity, combining test arena input over different systems/sub‐systems/components for re‐use of data, and Machine Learning only to trigger necessary manual analysis. These changes will influence the system in several ways and levels, which a possible implementation need to consider. Regarding aspects like facilities, environment, security and safety not to cause issues for the changes in question is important. The main steps in the current test process is that the test system will provide scenario data to the tester to run test scenario to generate test results to the analyzer to perform test results analysis to achieve a verified product. The test structure is a limiting factor in the process of ensuring test maturity. The analysis structure is a limiting factor in reaching the desired verification level. The test structure and analysis structure are leverage points of the test system, which can significantly change the test system. The test system should have an automated test execution and test results analysis process, not requiring tedious manual operations. The automated test process should further introduce Machine Learning to change the focus of everything to managing the exceptions. KDA will increase its probability of success in future projects by applying the proposed changes to its test system.

Historical cataclysms of the second decade of the twentieth century and their influence on the development of scientific knowledge in Azerbaijan (1914-1917)

The First World War, putting at risk the existence of many states, led to a controversial reaction from the scientific community. On the one hand, the war suspended many studies requiring a peaceful course of life and contradicted the very humanistic content of science, on the other hand, gave a powerful impetus to the development of many branches of chemistry, physics, agriculture etc. Scientists of all countries, including Germany and Russia, were called upon to actively participate not only in the implementation of military defense projects, but also in the creation of new technologies and weapons. At the same time, the war became the main reason for the break with the practice and ethical norms of scientific internationalism that existed in the 19th and early 20th centuries.During the First World War, it became clear that a new super-powerful weapon – oil had appeared. İn the war years, Azerbaijani oil was the only energy sourse in Russia, not counting firewood, since coal exports to Russia were stopped and Ukrainian coal mines were seized by the Germans. The First World War turned out to be a watershed in human history: for the first time, an internal combustion engine working on petroleum products was opposed to the muscular strength of horses and people — and they could not resist. The article highlights the development of science, especially the oil industry in Azerbaijan during the First World War and the two revolutions in Russia that followed in 1917. The role of the world famous scientists D.I. Mendeleev, I.M. Gubkin, D.I. Golubyatnikov, the Polish engineers P.Pototsky, V.Zglenitsky in the development of new technologies in the oil business, the construction of the first oil pipelines in Russia is shown.The article discusses the activities of the Baku Branch of the Imperial Russian Technical Society (BO IRTO), as well as features of its work during the war. In this society was carried out the work on the practical production of benzene and toluene from oil and coal in wartime. In addition, even before the war, the BO IRTO established the Emmanuel L. Nobel (the brother of Alfred Nobel) Prize,, whose main activity took place in Baku. The third brother Ludwig Nobel Prize was established in St. Petersburg and was awarded for outstanding achievements in the oil business. The article highlights the activities of the laureates of the Baku and St. Petersburg Nobel Prizes.

CENTO: the forgotten alliance in the Middle East (1959-1979)

This article sets out to explore the formation of the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO), 1959-1979. It seeks to determine the aims with which CENTO was established, its failings, and the struggle that was undertaken against it by hostile countries. It examines the events surrounding its formation, development and collapse, and Anglo-American attempts to contain the Soviet Union in the Middle East. It also deals with British and American post-war defence policies in the Middle East and their collective defence projects in the region, such as the Middle East Command, the Northern Tier and Baghdad Pact, which led to CENTO. In addition, it looks at the policies of the local members and the organisation’s internal structure. It poses questions of how the members of CENTO perceived the question of Middle East defence, what their basic aims were, and what problems they faced while trying to achieve these aims and implementing their chosen solutions. CENTO had its genesis in the Pact of Mutual Cooperation signed by Turkey and Iraq in Baghdad on 24 February 1955. Britain joined the Baghdad Pact on 5 April 1955, followed by Pakistan on 23 September and Iran on 3 November of the same year. While the United States strongly supported the creation of the Pact, for purely technical reasons of budgeting procedures, it never took up formal membership. On 14 July 1958, there was a military coup in Iraq, led by Brigadier Kassem, in which King Faisal, the Crown Prince, and the Prime Minister, Nuri Said, were all murdered. The new military regime did not immediately withdraw from membership, but it no longer participated in the work of the alliance. For the Baghdad Pact as a whole, the result was serious but not fatal. In October 1958, the Pact headquarters was moved from Baghdad to Ankara. On 24 March 1959, Kassem withdrew Iraq from the alliance and on 19 August 1959, it was announced in Ankara that the name had been changed from the ‘Baghdad Pact’ to the ‘Central Treaty Organisation’, abbreviated as CENTO. The membership remained unchanged: namely Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Britain, with the US as a full participant. CENTO survived until 1979 when Iran withdrew from CENTO on 11 March following the Islamic revolution, claiming that ‘it only protected interests of the imperialist states’. Pakistan followed suit on 12 March, because it believed that ‘the organisation was not able to protect Pakistan’s security’; and the next day Turkey proclaimed that ‘CENTO had in effect lost its function in the region’. The history of CENTO has not so far been extensively researched and, as a result, the formation of CENTO and its overall aims are still surrounded by controversy. There are no comprehensive studies on the subject, though general information is given in a number of scholarly works. This article is based upon a range of primary and secondary sources. Much of material for this study was gathered from the National Archives, the United Kingdom.

Autonomização da Defesa Europeia por Via da Diferenciação: Cooperação Estruturada Permanente

The Lisbon Treaty provided for the establishment of Permanent Structured Cooperation (CEP). In 2017, a group of 25 Member States decided join the CEP jointly in order to facilitate defence cooperation. To this end, the participating E-M have collaborated in several defence projects and sectors with the gradual goal of building common defence. The AR / VP is the figure who coordinates a fully orchestra, in tune with the European Defence Agency and the European External Action Service, so that CEP projects have a good progress. It will be demonstrated that the CARD, the CDP and the EDF are essential for CEP to provide the necessary assets for the real impact on the Union’s defence capabilities. Portugal proved to be careful, but assertive in this process and can provide an important contribution in the industrial and research fields.

Urban Economy of Orlovskaya and Tambovskaya Guberniyas in the Late 18th-Early 19th Centuries (General Land Survey Data)

The article poses a problem of a multi-style character of the urban economy in Russia in the late 18th - early 19th centuries and its reflection in the General Land Survey taken in European Russia at that period. These are the Economic Comments to the General Land Survey which recorded the main parameters of the urban economy within the framework of the unified description program that provide for comparing its agrarian, commercial and industrial components. The study uses the materials of the Economic Comments on 26 cities of two Black Earth Region Guberniyas of Russia – Orlovskaya and Tambovskaya ones. The specificity of the region is determined by its relatively late development and the formation of the urban network within the framework of large defensive projects of the Moscow state. Statistical analysis and GIS-mapping of the Comments data allowed one to come to the following conclusions. This region is commonly characterized by the formation of large agricultural complexes with large (more than 5 thousand desyatins) areas of arable and hay fields surrounding the cities during the General Land Survey. This circumstance significantly increased the area of the city within the framework of the "general urban boundary", but to a much lesser extent influenced the total size of its population. The industry of the cities of the region consisted almost exclusively of small "plants" while big manufacturing production was at its early stage of development and was not dependent on the processes of concentration of small enterprises in individual cities. The function of the cities of the region as centers of trade was much more pronounced. Fairs and/ or weekly auctions were held in most of them. The results of the Economic Comments statistics correlation analysis allow one to assume that further development of the Black Earth Region cities was mainly related to commercial and industrial branches of their economy.

Cost Contingency and Cost Evolvement of Construction Projects in the Preconstruction Phase

The current literature discusses the methods to estimate the costs and cost contingency. The literature also distinguishes “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” contingencies. Little is written, however, about the evolvement of total project cost estimates during the preconstruction phase of construction projects. Moreover, not many studies are investigating the “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” contingencies in real construction projects. Practice expressed the need for getting more insight into the development of the estimated costs of the projects in the preconstruction phase. This paper, therefore, discusses the estimate of the total project costs (and cost contingency) in the preconstruction phases of 29 Dutch flood defense projects using a case study approach. Altogether, the projects have experienced an 11.51% increase in the estimated costs compared to the initial estimates, which is low compared to previous studies. This increase in the cost estimates of the flood defense projects can be explained by “technical” reasons. The investigation of “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” contingencies shows that the percentage of the “unknown unknowns” contingency has increased in the preconstruction phase while a reduction was expected. This increase suggests that the projects were not confident about their estimates and the increase can be explained by a lack of experience, organizations’ culture, or the phenomenon of “pessimistic bias.” Practitioners can avoid “pessimistic bias” behavior by asking for opinions about their estimates and using historical project data. Further research is suggested into realized cost contingency after project execution.

Third beach nourishment project with submarine sands along Emilia-Romagna coast: geomatic methods and first monitoring results

Emilia-Romagna coast consists of 110 km of low and sandy beaches, which are particularly exposed to coastal erosion. Among different defence projects, the current trend is going towards soft interventions, such as beach nourishment. In 2016, the third intervention of “Security projects through submarine sand nourishment for critical areas of the regional coastline” was completed. This paper concerns the analysis of the eight coastal stretches involved by this project. A Monitoring Plan for the years 2017 and 2018 has been arranged to evaluate the evolution of each beach and the intervention effectiveness. Morphological variations in terms of shoreline, height, beach profiles and accumulated or eroded volumes have been evaluated by comparing surveys performed on each beach at different times. In the specific case of this project, the presence of a new geodetic infrastructure along Emilia-Romagna coast, the Coastal Geodetic Network (RGC), ensured advantages to surveys’ realization. All the observed results show good evolutions from a general point of view, even if it is difficult to deduce a single trend for the eight beaches. On the other hand, the increasing availability and spatial coverage of data from monitoring surveys could provide powerful instruments for coastal studies. This paper confirms monitoring activities as an efficient way to evaluate beaches’ morphological changes and coastal defence intervention effectiveness.

Nanotechnology in Development of Vital Engeniring Projects (Introductory Course for the Preparation of Bachelors, Masters and Specialists in Nanotechnology)

This article is devoted to the introductory course program for students of any technical and humanitarian specialties. This course provides examples of the implementation of modern nano -and biotechnologies in the most important modern engineering projects. Any methodical work intended for the student, its global goal is to encourage students to their own active work. Naturally, the scientific and prospective applied interests of each student are exclusively individual. We hope that this work will help our students choose the right guidelines and look at the possibilities of nanotechnology in the implementation of the most common engineering projects. There are only a few such projects called national projects in Russia: road construction, housing construction, medical projects, food projects, defense projects, etc. Each student of the proposed introductory course is obliged to choose the subject of their abstract work and must provide the appropriate report (15-20 pages). Our experience shows that students are happy to perform such tasks and almost every second after completing the course publishes a small scientific article. At least 14 of the 24 students who took this course in the 2018-2019 academic year have written interesting articles (6 of which have already been published, and the rest have been sent to various publishers). The subjects of these 14 papers are very broad and non-standard from mathematics and Biomedicine to solar cells and graphene oxides.

«Европейская оборона» через призму французских интересов и возможностей

The article is devoted to the analysis of the complex of problems associated with the organization of the defence structures of the European Union and the role of France in this process. The focus of the project «European defenсe», the possibility of its implementation within the EuroAtlantic space are investigated. The continuity and evolution of the European defence potential building program are shown. The concepts of «European defenсe», «European army» are analyzed and their real content is revealed. The pairing of France’s national efforts with partners in the framework of the Permanent Structured Cooperation on Security and Defence (PESCO) projects is shown; the importance of a pragmatic approach to building a «European defenсe» on the basis of a number of interstate programs of military-industrial cooperation is highlighted. The connection between the new stage of scientific and technological progress and the revitalization of plans to strengthen the defence potential of the EU is revealed. The evolution of the French leadership’s approach to building a «European defenсe» is presented, its assessment of the current state of this project, and in connection with this, features of its views on the prospects for developing a dialogue with Russia. Against the background of a slowdown in the development of the EU Common Security and Defence Policy, the role of interstate initiatives outside the EU, aimed at accelerating and increasing the effectiveness of military operations, has been highlighted. The examples of individual actions emphasize the key role of states, in particular France, in the implementation of missions of a pan-European character. As a result of the analysis, a conclusion was made about the sustainable and non-opportunistic nature of the transformations in the field of military construction in the EU. A forecast is given regarding the possible scale and real fulfillment of European defence construction plans. The conclusion about the significance of the «European defenсe» project for the implementation of France’s geopolitical plans and the strengthening of its positions in the EU and in the Euro-Atlantic field is substantiated.