Local Wars Research Articles

Identities in the “posthuman” condition: locality of war and global world

“Posthuman” is considered now to be one of the most important concepts in contemporary political philosophy, cultural studies, theory of literature and art, sociology of the body and identity, etc., which keeps in focus a detailed discourse regarding the knowledge of the “posthumanity” condition (R. Braidotti, N. Gane, N.K. Hayles, F. Fukuyama, and others). This concept is no longer necessarily confined to the image of a “cyborg” as an ironic political fiction that skillfully reinvents social reality and everyday life in the context of eroding boundaries between nature and culture, or a metaphor that remains symbolically significant due to the ethical impulse and social commitment of its author (D. Haraway). Even a fragmentary involvement in the “posthuman” discourse cannot but encourage reflection on the structure of our common identity as people in the modern global world of high technology and local wars, complex interactions between science and technology, commodification of the natural world, as well as politics and international priorities; this cannot but promote rethinking the imperatives of anthropocentrism. In the case of identities, whether individual or collective, we are talking about partial, contradictory and always open constructions, about their impossibility of relying upon a single essentialist foundation, which can be skillfully intercepted by ideological and political rhetoric but not recognize obvious social and cultural differences; however, such a foundation is unlikely to lose the image of possible unifications in future, effective attraction and solidarity-driven identifications. Depending on the degree of subjects’ involvement in the transitional states of interaction between nature and culture, identities are fragmented and “denaturalized” in various ways; and it is precisely these transitional states, flows that cross borders, whether they are defined metaphorically or instrumentally, that become, first of all, the objects of control strategies, not without activating the mechanisms of informatics of domination, ignoring local knowledge in a military context, which takes into account the status of partial explanation but does not insist on the total substantiation of statements, conclusions and perspectives.

PECULIARITIES OF REPLENISHMENT OF SUPPLIES OF MATERIAL AND TECHNICAL MEANS IN TROOPS (FORCES), IN OPERATIONS IN THE ARMIES OF NATO MEMBER COUNTRIES AND THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

The task of replenishing troops (forces) with material and technical means instead of spent and lost ones due to increasing the efficiency of the use of forces and means of material and technical support (supply of material and technical means) in the modern conditions of the russian federation – the Ukrainian war is becoming more and more acute. It was determined that not all problematic issues regarding the effective use of forces and means of logistical support in the process of equipping troops (forces) with material and technical means have been sufficiently resolved.
 The main features of equipping material and technical means in troops (forces) in operations in the armies of NATO member countries are analyzed based on the experience of local wars and armed conflicts, and the relevance of this problem in partner countries is determined.
 In order to solve these problems, the main shortcomings in the process of replenishment of troops (forces) with material and technical means instead of those spent and lost in the conditions of combat operations in the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been identified.
 It has been investigated that the insufficient effectiveness of the use of forces and means of logistical support (providing with material and technical means) and their great vulnerability to the enemy’s firepower due to the unsuccessful choice of deployment areas (places) requires an immediate solution based on the construction of an effective system of material and technical support, which is capable of timely fully satisfy the needs of troops (forces) in spent material and technical means and provide for the creation of an extensive system of protected bases for their storage to ensure their survivability, taking into account the influence of modern means of reconnaissance and defeating the enemy.
 On the basis of the analysis of the peculiarities of the process of replenishment of troops (forces) with material and technical means instead of spent and lost ones, a conclusion was made regarding the need to substantiate the basic standards of the use of forces and means of logistical support (provision with material and technical means) and to determine the areas of their deployment (location) in further studies.

From frequency to intensity – A new index for annual large-scale cropping intensity mapping

Continuous population growth, global warming, extreme weather and local wars pose considerable challenges to agricultural production. Excessive agricultural intensification may lead to serious environmental problems such as water resources depletion and non-point source pollution. Sustainable agricultural intensification is a potential solution, and cropping intensity and its spatio-temporal patterns are of great significance to the planet hearth, human well-being and sustainable development of agriculture. However, traditional methods for cropping intensity mapping lack the deep analysis of crop phenology and failure to consider the spatial detail, spatial coverage and time continuity simultaneously. Existing cropping intensity indicators, such as cropping frequency or multiple crop index, have their limitations in China because of its diverse topographies and fragmented landscapes. In actual fact, few indicators for fine cropping intensity have been developed that address this problem. Time series vegetation index data contain meaningful vegetation phenology information. Information mining on these data can provide new insights for cropping intensity mapping. In this study, the concept of systematic mapping was put forward to measure cropping intensity with a fresh perspective. A new phenology-based cropping intensity index (PCII) was proposed to reach the goal of “from frequency to intensity” in cropping intensity mapping. Through thoroughly exploring the temporal spectral characteristics of croplands and considering the crop pattern as a whole, PCII set up the mapping between cropping intensity and land-cover types. The method can accurately map cropping intensity even though the study spanned a vast area, and can handle the effects of geographical differentiation caused by vegetation phenology differences. It can also precisely measure cropping intensity at the abundance level and reflect the heterogeneity within a pixel. It’s a novel method for annual fine cropping intensity mapping at large-scale and long-term.

Research on the Inflation and Unemployment under COVID-19 and Ukraine Conflict

The global economy has been under a lot of stress and volatility since the COVID-19 virus broke out in 2020. The Russian-Ukrainian war that broke out in early 2022 not only escalated regional tensions but also brought more instability factors to the global economic development in the post-epidemic era. A symbiotic system of various nations has been created by the growth of economic globalization, and because the industrial, supply, capital, and service chains are all intertwined and have a strong linkage effect, the financial effects of emergencies like epidemics and wars will be greater. This article examines the development of the world economy under the dual impact of the epidemic and local wars through the analysis of major economic indicators of the United States, the European Union, and China from 2019 to 2023, including GDP, unemployment, and inflation. In addition, we will systematically analyze the monetary policies adopted by the three countries in response to economic shocks, evaluate their effects, and predict future economic development trends.

Digital Competencies of Russian Civil Servants

Relevance. In order to prevent and eliminate such modern challenges as pandemics, local wars, man-made disasters, it is necessary to accelerate the introduction of digital technologies into public administration processes. This creates a need for the development of digital competencies of Russian civil servants. Research on this topic in scientific publications is limited and fragmentary. There is a request for the development of scientifically-based and practically applicable models for the development of digital competencies of modern civil servants.The purpose is theoretical and applied research of the current state of digital competencies of Russian civil servants.The objectives: to reveal the theoretical aspects of digital competencies of Russian civil servants (their definitions, models); to conduct a study in the format of professional self-testing aimed at establishing the level of development/non-development of digital competencies by Russian civil servants; to give recommendations on improving digital competencies.Methodology. In the course of the research, theoretical research methods were used: analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, idealization, analogy, formalization, modeling; special research methods: traditional analysis of documents on the topic of digital competencies of civil servants, self-testing of Russian civil servants, as well as a systematic approach and assessment of the regulatory framework in the field of competencies in the civil service Of the Russian Federation.Results. Based on the data of self-testing of civil servants, it was revealed that Russian civil servants have a certain basic set of competencies in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT), but do not possess digital competencies focused on the development and implementation of modern "end-to-end" digital technologies in the public sphere.Conclusions. To strengthen the digital preparedness of civil servants, it is necessary to develop mechanisms, algorithms, technologies for the formation and development of digital competencies that are uniform for all civil servants. Civil servants will be able to orient themselves and draw up certain ways to improve their personal, professional and official level with the help of practice-oriented activities aimed at adapting to the conditions of digital transformation of public administration.

Evolution of Repertoire of Military Ego-Documents Publications in Modern Russia (1990–2020s)

The purpose of the article is to provide an overview of the modern practice of publishing military ego-documents (memoirs, diaries, correspondence). Over the past 30 years of post-Soviet history, this process, according to the observations of the author of the article, has gone through two stages. The first one, chronologically related to the period of the 1990s, manifested itself in domination of repeated re-publication in large quantities of printed materials in high demand – memoirs and diaries of the leaders of the White movement, famous “white” generals and other emigrant publications of 1920–1930.The second (currently ongoing) stage included the republication of the Soviet military memoir heritage; revival of the traditions of publishing memoirs and diaries of military leaders (and then ordinary participants in wars) of pre-revolutionary Russia; scientific academic publications of little-known memoir sources extracted from archives; memoirs and diaries of Soviet/Russian participants in local wars in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Africa and other foreign countries. The most characteristic feature of modern book publishing on military topics is the appearance of a large number of memoir books, mostly self-published by participants in the Great Patriotic War, in ranks from a private soldier to a junior officer.

The Mechanism of Optimal Development of the Regional Spatial and Sectoral Structure in the Conditions of Transition to the Digital Economy

In article approaches to justification of the mechanism of optimum development of regional spatial-industry structure in the conditions of transition to digital economy are generalized theoretical-methodological. In the conditions of the next multidimensional crisis of a world economic system caused by competitive wars and local wars with use of lethal weapon the frailty of the existing economic theories at their checking is shown by order and chaos. It indicates the need of application of the basic theory for economy for which the existing economic theories are the first and second derivatives with the specific set of the principles of development. As such basic theory the chaotic theory of inflation of economic space (CTIES) as an analog of the chaotic theory of inflation of the Universe which is the basic theory in a modern general scientific picture of the world can serve in economy. The author offers based on CTIES use of the principles of sustainable development as the transitional stage to a noonomy, at the same time needs the solution of problems of balancing of developments on the chosen parameters by means of application of a triad of matrixes paradigmatic, management and matrixes of technological effectiveness within trinities «society – ​economy – ​ecology», «organization – ​motivation – ​informatization» and «labor instrument – ​objects of the labor – ​work» respectively. The most acceptable methodology for this purpose is the methodology based on the geometrical theory of optimal management. Such approach assumes work with Big Data, Data Science, Data mining, Machine learning, etc. characterizing transition to digital economy and, respectively, to researches on the basis of the Fourth paradigm of science (Science 4.0, E-science).

Combat Training of the Assault Troops of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

Most of the military thinkers in Austria-Hungary believed in 1914 that the new warwould be fought in the same way as the previous ones. They thought so despite thefact that local wars at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th centuryshowed otherwise. However, the proliferation of new, modern military equipmentand the unprecedented number of mass armies put the military perspectives in theFirst World War in a new dimension. The war of positions with its endless trenchesdemanded a transformation, and one of the many opportunities was the setting upthe stormtrooper units.

PROSPECTS OF CREATION AND USE OF MODELS OF WEAPONS AND MILITARY EQUIPMENT

In order to achieve high efficiency in the use of military equipment in the conditions of hostilities, it is necessary to constantly support the training of specialists. The article examines the ways of using mock-ups of military equipment, taking into account the experience of using mock-up samples in the conditions of combat use, as well as when they are used as simulators for training specialists. The experience of modern local wars (conflicts and operations) shows that a significant role in achieving the goal of war is given to the development and training of qualified personnel. This, in turn, determines the objective necessity of creating mock-ups of models of equipment that could be used during the training (re- and re-training) of specialists. High efficiency in the use of military equipment cannot be achieved without support at a high level of the skills and abilities of specialists. The experience gained during the anti-terrorist operation and the operation of the joint forces in the east of Ukraine and the open military attack of the russian federation indicates the relevance of tasks related to the implementation of new organizational and technical solutions and approaches to the training of the military, using models of military equipment and models of weapon simulators , taking into account the real conditions of its use. Thus, the relevance of the research lies in the fact that at the current stage, in the conditions of combat use, there is a need to create and actively use samples of military equipment. The purpose of the article is to determine the most important possibilities and mechanisms of the system of creating and using samples of military equipment.
 Regarding development prospects, it is worth noting that the experience of modern local wars (conflicts and operations) shows that it is now relevant to create and use models of military equipment to strengthen one's position in the process of training professional military personnel.
 Summarizing the above, it should be noted that the use of models of military equipment in the training of military specialists will help to obtain the ability of both quick and high-quality training taking into account the real conditions of its use and high efficiency in the conditions of combat use, namely to mislead the enemy.

Istoricheskij analiz kitajsko-v'etnamskoj vojny: kitajskij vzglyad na strategiyu lokal'nyh konfliktov

In today' world war has become an important means to maintain stability, and security when necessary. To achieve the goal, deterrence of the enemy is an important, but by no means the only way to solve the problem. In this article, strategies in local wars and conflicts are analyzed from the Chinese perspective. A clear strategic intention and strategic goal before the war are prerequisites for winning the war.

Socio-Psychological Features of the Value System of Volunteers Participating in the War and Strategies for Coping and Self-Control of Behavior

Key words: combat stress, coping strategy, combat situation, values, war, life purpose, problem solving Currently, the problem of mental health of participants in local wars (combatants) is one of the socially significant issues for health care. Its scientific and practical relevance lies in the need to improve the system of psychological assistance to participants in local wars for their adaptation in the post-war period. When examining the psychological effects of war, if we set aside political considerations, it is evident from research data that the impact on the human psyche during hostilities and, particularly, during the time of post-war adaptation, is similar in various situations. This is demonstrated by the same age groups of the fighters, the swift and striking transition from the battlefield to civilian life, and most importantly, the attitude of people toward combatants. The article describes the socio-psychological features of the value system and coping strategies of combatants. Formed and more clearly manifested during the war, their psychology changes after its end, leaving its characteristic mark on the life of society as a whole. The feelings and behavior of a person in a moment of danger demonstrate their specificity in comparison with the emotions and actions of everyday life situations, revealing the characteristics of one’s personality from a completely unexpected side. The specificity of the combat situation significantly determines the formation and consolidation of certain values, suggesting that combat veterans differ from people who did not participate in hostilities by a particular system of values that discover the general direction of behavior in a wide range of situations, including stressful ones. It was revealed that combatants are characterized by problem-oriented coping, active behavioral strategy in which they try to use all possible personal resources to effectively solve problems. The latter indicates a closer connection with future life goals that enrich life with meaning, guidance, and chronological perspective.

PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANIES: LEGAL ASPECTS OF APPLICATION

Article is devoted to the problems of development of private military companies in Russia. It shows the practice of private military companies in the current political situation in the world. The phenomenon of private military companies (PMCs) is a rather controversial and ambiguous topic. Over the past more than thirty years, PMCs have played an increasingly important role in local wars and regional conflicts. With further globalization of the world economy, the role of PMCs in future wars and armed conflicts will be increasing. The authors study international documents regulating the activities of these organizations. They point out the necessity of adopting a law to allow this type of activity on the territory of the Russian Federation. Private military companies actually exist within the country and their legalization would allow to introduce their activities into the legal field. Private military companies influence the sphere of human rights, is connected with corruption and dishonest performance of obligations in implementation of contracts. The penalties for establishing and participating in illegal armed groups are shown. The possibilities of their application, both in Russia and abroad, are highlighted.

Combat stress research prospects in Russian academic publications analyzed using to VOSviewer software (2005–2021)

Relevance. Last decades have seen an increase in local wars and armed conflicts, that more often than not are associated with manifestations of combat stress and other types of stress-associated psychic disorders in the military and civilians. Prompt prevention of acute (short-term) events of combat psychic trauma (combat stress) can be associated with subsequent adaptive stress response and general increase physical adaptability to extreme pathogenic impacts (including combat-specific factors); in absent, such events transform into chronic (persistent) conditions within clinically defined stress-associated psychic disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) in the long-term and comorbid psychosomatic pathology.The objective is to use VOSviewer software to study research prospects in publications by Russian investigators on combat stress (2005–2021).Methods. The search engine yielded 894 references to publications on combat stress issues, indexed with the Russian Science Citation Index from 2005 through 2021. Publications on the special military operation in Ukraine were not considered. In terms of content, the papers were aligned with rubrics of the classifier. Investigators who had published the largest number of articles underwent scientometric assessment. VOSviewer software was used to identify the largest scientific clusters and networks. The paper reports median values, the upper and lower quartiles (Me [q25; q75]) of mean annual number of published papers.Results and discussion. Annually, fifty-seven 57 [44; 64] papers on combat stress published in Russia were indexed. The distribution by research field included general combat stress problems issues – 7 %, biological aspects – 11.1 %, medical aspects – 23 %, social and psychological aspects – 58.9 %. Content structure dynamics revealed an upward trend in the number of papers devoted to general, biological, social and psychological problems, with a decrease in the number of papers on medical issues. With 9 repetitive key words or 4 repetitive authors, VOSviewer software identified 5 clusters of papers and 11 academic co-authorships. Cluster 1 included a set of papers on combat stress disorder with Total Link Strength of 40.1 %, cluster 2 – social and psychological problems of combat stress (22.2 %), cluster 3rd – psychosomatic disorders in combat veterans (13.1 %), cluster 4 – human behavior in extreme environments (12.4 %), cluster 5 – stress manifestations in civilians during combat operations (12.2 %).Conclusion. The conducted research demonstrates a focus shift of content in Russian academic publications on combat stress from medical issues to social and psychological repercussions, as well as increased number of papers on the diagnostics of human behavior amid vital stress conditions, development of stress-related mental resistance, psychoprophylaxis, psychological correction and psychotherapy of stress and post-stress disorders. An academic e-library provides researchers with for excellent information resources and tools, with about 80% of papers on combat stress available in full version free of charge.

Engaging “Care” Behaviors in Support of Employee and Organizational Wellbeing through Complexity Leadership Theory

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the attributes of nurturing, empathy, and relating rather than directing moved into the spotlight as important skills for leadership. These skills are representative of the concept of “care” that is often associated with women’s or feminine leadership. The importance of care as a component of leadership had not received significant attention in the leadership literature until the pandemic brought the need for care onto center stage. This article argues that care will continue to be an important attribute of leadership and an essential attribute of an androgynous leadership style—that includes behaviors typically classified as male and those behaviors typically classed as female—that is needed to navigate the increasing complexity of the world most effectively. The article further argues that complexity leadership theory provides the most appropriate leadership approach through which complex adaptive organizations can initiate and foster the development of “care” behaviors as part of an androgynous approach to leadership which produces system-wide benefits in complex systems more capable of addressing the global challenges of the climate crisis and increased environmental disasters, future pandemics, local wars, terrorist attacks, and other phenomena.

Surgical intervention on the wound channels of gunshot non-penetrating craniocerebral injuries

Objective – to optimize of surgical approaches to damaged tissues of the head and methods of primary surgical treatment for gunshot non-penetrating gunshot craniocerebral injuries in accordance with the principles of comprehensive and single-stage surgical treatment accepted in military field surgery. Materials and methods. An analysis of the surgical treatment of 155 wounded people with non-penetrating gunshot wounds of the skull vault and brain for the period from 2014 to 2020 was carried out. Anatomical and morphological features of wound canals were studied depending on the traumatic agent. Variants of surgical approaches for the primary surgical treatment of non-penetrable gunshot wounds of the skull and brainwere developed based on the clinical X-ray and computed tomography characteristics of the affected head tissues. Results. The choice of surgical approaches depends on the nature of the wound canals (single fragment blind, multiple fragment blind, ball and fragment tangent) and the presence of concomitant epidural and subdural hematomas. Primary plasty of the skull defect with a titanium plate during primary surgical treatment is indicated for gunshot impenetrable craniocerebral injuries with a single fragmental blind wound channel. Such plastic surgery was performed in 33.5% of cases with a favorable postoperative course. Peculiarities of surgical approaches to damaged tissues of the head in case of single fragmentary, blind wound canal; with multiple blind fragmental wound canals, the adjacent wound canal and the sequence of their surgical treatment were established. Conclusions. Planning of surgical approaches to damaged tissues of the head in case of gunshot impenetrable craniocerebral wounds in modern local wars should be carried out taking into account clinical and computed tomography data. The high proportion of comprehensive and one-time early primary surgical treatments (92.9%) performed on the first day after the injury testifies to the high efficiency of the system of providing specialized medical care during the local war.

CHOISE OF THE OPTIMAL SCENARIO OF TACTICS OF COMBAT ACTIONS BY VARIOUS UNITS IN THE COMPOSITION OF BATTALION TACTICAL GROUPS

Taking into account the experience of local wars and armed conflicts of recent decades, in particular the events in Syria, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh and in the East, the theory of domestic martial arts and the practice of combat use of various groups in Luhansk and Donetsk operational areas exist a number of problems. One of them is the development of new tactics of total combat in special operations. For the first time, battalion tactical groups play a key role in the implementation of special operations plans. Therefore, the work considers the reasons for the creation of such united groups of troops from different parts and units, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of such groups. Analysis of the work of specialists in the assembly and combat use of such groups. Taking into account modern views on the conduct of war, the works of modern experts do not contain systematic and generalized conclu- sions and do not consider possible scenarios of the tactics of conducting combat operations for different purposes and functions of units within the same military formation. To solve these issues, examples of combat episodes and methods of choosing a tactical scenario of different units of battalion tactical groups in bilateral combat, when one side has one unit and the opposite one includes several different units, show signs of changing principles, methods and tactics of combat. In addition, the work reveals the dynamics of combat operations of individual units of the unified command and predicts the final outcome of the combat operations. The purpose of the article is to determine the ways of choosing possible scenarios (options) of the tactics of conducting combat operations by different units of BTGr in specific conditions.

Geopolitics of separatism

Geopolitics of separatism

Non-Lethal Weapons as a Means of Expanding the Capabilities to Defeat the Enemy

The subject of the study is the impact on the enemy during armed conflicts of varying intensity, the object of the study is the features of the so-called "non-lethal" weapons used in this process. The author has studied in detail the process of influencing enemy objects during the conduct of military operations with the use of non-lethal weapons, analyzed the features of its use in local wars and armed conflicts. The relevance of the study is determined by the appearance in leading foreign countries of updated conceptual and combat documents defining the principles and conditions for the use of non-lethal weapons. When writing a review article, general scientific research methods – analysis and synthesis - were used. Based on the analysis of the features of the use of non-lethal weapons during local wars and armed conflicts of recent times, the particular consequences of its use are analyzed. Based on the results of the analysis, the author concludes that the purpose of using such weapons is not the humanization of conflicts stated in a number of conceptual documents, but to increase the effectiveness of defeating the enemy in difficult conditions of modern warfare. Thus, it is determined that the increasing role of non-lethal weapons in modern operations is determined by its physical properties, which make it possible to solve the tasks of defeating enemy objects and defending their objects in difficult background-target conditions characteristic of modern local wars and armed conflicts

Refugee Resettlement by Extending Group Multirole Assignment

The World Bank estimates that the number of refugees worldwide will reach 140 million by 2050 due to global warming and local wars. Considering the rapid increase in the number of refugees, an efficient and feasible assignment method is required for refugee resettlement. This article formalizes the refugee resettlement issue using the Environments-Classes, Agents, Roles, Groups, and Objects (E-CARGO) model. A novel solution is designed for Refugee reSettling (RS) by extending the Group MultiRole Assignment (GMRA), which applies the agent stability evaluation method as a feedback mechanism while optimally resettling refugees. With this proposed solution, decision-makers can swiftly resettle refugees from multiple suffering countries while appropriately ensuring host countries’ benefit. Finally, large-scale simulation experiments based on the Python PuLP platform are carried out to demonstrate the practicability and robustness of the proposed solution. The simulation results provide a solid decision-making reference for the leaders of the world.

Maritime Front on the Basque Coast, a Battlefield in the Rear of the Great War: U-Boats and Espionage

This article aims to analyse how World War One became a total war which eventually involved neutral countries, particularly Spain. Although officially neutral, Spain became an espionage nest in which foreign agents cooperated with local sympathizers. The Allies and its collaborators tried to secure maritime supplies, while the Central Powers’ spies mainly aided and provided information to U-Boots, so that they could torpedo any cargos sailing towards France or Great Britain. Spies acted throughout Spain with particular intensive activity on the Basque Coast. In addition to extensive national and foreign trade in the Gulf of Biscay, Basque industry became a significant supplier of the Triple Entente. Nonetheless, the local population hoped that neutrality could spare them, and were shocked by being unexpectedly drawn into submarine warfare after 1916. Civilians tried to minimise the effects of torpedoing by helping local war casualties. Additionally, local sailors participated in the war too, by rescuing torpedoed seamen or themselves fleeing from German attacks in the open sea.