Low-intensity Conflict Research Articles

ПСИХОЛОГО-ПЕДАГОГІЧНІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ ЯК УМОВА ПІДВИЩЕННЯ ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ ПІДГОТОВКИ ПРИКОРДОННИКІВ У РЕСПУБЛІЦІ ІНДІЯ

The article focuses on the analysis of psychological-educational technologies applied in the process of professional training of border guards in the Republic of India. The author outlines the purpose of the article – to describe three types of psychological-educational technologies in the process of professional training of border guards in the Republic of India and study the peculiarities of their implementation. Firstly, the notion of «psychological-educational technology» is defined as the use of combination of actions for improvement of educational process and systematic iterative process of application of various methods for enhancing of efficiency of professional training of future border guards; complicated and integrated process embracing all participants of training, their actions, ideas, devices and organization in order to analyze, develop, implement, evaluate and solve specific pedagogical tasks connected with formation of psychological readiness to perform service duties. On the basis of analysis of scientific literature we have revealed three psychological-educational technologies: yoga, traditional games and dance rhythmic therapy which have positive influence upon future specialists of border agencies. Psychological-educational technologies are used during lessons of physical training, hours of independent work, leisure time under supervision of ranking officers.Having found some unique psychological-educational technologies in the process of professional training used to develop psychological readiness to perform service duties in extreme situation, during conflicts of low intensity or in various geographical and climatic conditions, we have come to the conclusion that it is important to investigate the system of professional training of border guards in the Republic of India in details and reveal its strength with possible creative usage while training personnel of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

CSDP-UKRAINE RELATIONS IN THE FACE OF THE CONFLICT THE EXPERIENCE AND PERSPECTIVES

Ukraine has been an important partner for the European Union in the eastern part of Europe, especially in the post-Soviet security area. The European Union has been implementing not only the political and economic, but also the security integration with Ukraine by the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The aim of the article is to present the relationship in the sphere of security and defense between the European Union and Ukraine, particularly, in the face of the greatest challenge to the stability and security of the European continent in the 21st century. The author used the combined research methods to analyze the content and decisions and sources as well as the observation of current processes in the area of security in Ukraine. The author’s main goal is to focus on the relations between the European Union and Ukraine in the area of security and defence, especially, in managing during the political and military crisis 2013-2015. The conflict in Ukraine, which we have witnessed, has a several phases. The reaction of the European Union in each phase of the conflict was adequate to the situation and consistent and was also adequate to the permissions in the area of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The European Union, in its sense of responsibility for shaping security at its borders, should have reacted adequately to circumstances. The author have attempted to describe the relations, the process of their shaping and practical implementation by the involvement of the European Union in the conflict in the Eastern part of Ukraine. The practical outcome of the reaction of the European community to the events in the eastern Ukraine consisted primarily in the establishing and organizing of an OSCE monitoring mission and the European Union Advisory Mission for Ukraine (EUAM) in this region. The decision to establish it was meant to be a clear signal of Russia regarding the EU's position on supporting Ukraine's stability, independence and integrity. The advisory mission gives the EU the opportunity to be at the crisis area, as well as to promote the declar’s values and, most importantly, to improve its image in the international environment, but it is hard to be perceived as a success of the CSDP. However, we cannot ignore influence on the development of the situation. A comparison of EU actions with NATO activities illustrates the capabilities of the Member States regarding the role and potential of both organizations. However, it was not possible to discuss military-type issues at the EU summits because of the fundamental differences between these two organizations. Based on the current CSDP implementation practice, that the importance of the EU in solving military conflicts is systematically decreasing. The real task of CSDP is to manage crises and conflicts of low intensity of military operations in peripheral countries (mainly African), and above all, post-conflict reconstruction of civilian security systems. If the European Union intends to play a key role in the management of military crises, the first and main objective of its operation should be to effectively ensure the survival and consolidation of vulnerable states, and in the second stage to shape high standards of state management. The main task of government administration in Ukraine is to achieve effectiveness in law enforcement and to achieve a high level of efficiency and in the functioning of bodies responsible for internal security and defence. The countries which aspire to enter the Western European political system in a credible way to change its current model of functioning, which is not always in line with the democratic one and a transparent model of the European Union Member States. And the EU can help in this by CSDP. The potential loss of Russia's influence in the Black Sea region has stimulated its efforts to shape all areas of strategic security policy in the region. The operational cooperation with the EU should be continued by initiatives such as the EU Combat Groups as this is an important element that will contribute to a more complete integration with the EU, and even with NATO in the future. the basic condition of maintaining the stability of the region is the consistent and common way of acting of EU member states in relations with the Russian Federation. Thus, the way for the effectiveness of the European Union is its unconditional unity in conducting foreign policy, especially in sensitive area of security. Key words: The European Union, Ukraine, military crisis, CSDP.

Los modelos estratégicos: de la Revolución Francesa a la guerra de Vietnam

An in-depth understanding of military history includes a strategic perspective. In practice, this covers a broad range of factors that have subsequent actions in the historical evolution, as well as in the strategic thinking. Since this point of view, it is of importance to bring to the table of discussion the strategic models. Therefore, this paper will address the relationship among five strategic models developed by Andre Beaufre: direct threatening, indirect pressure, successive actions, low-intensity conflict, and violent conflict. In this spectrum, it will be studied the social phenomenon of “contemporary wars”, in a particular period of time from French Revolution to Vietnam War.

Lessons Unlearned: Army Transformation and Low-Intensity Conflict

This article examines the US Army’s experiences and lessons learned during military interventions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. It explores why these lessons did not affect the Army transformation, directed in the late-1990s by James M. Dubik, John W. Hendrix, John N. Abrams, and Eric K. Shinseki.

Peace economics in a changing world

Even though the global economy continues to grow and technological advancements expand horizons, over half of the world’s population experiences profound want and fear on a daily basis. The global poor are predominantly found in countries that are underdeveloped and/or conflict-affected. Traditional economics has failed to provide an analytical framework that is both appropriate and transferrable, particularly in contexts where Westphalian assumptions of statehood do not hold true. Globalization, the rise of nonstate actors, and the existence of persistent low-intensity conflict have reconfigured the geostrategic landscape. By emphasizing the use of economic principles to promote peace through the design and implementation of strategies that foster efficiency and inclusion, peace economics could provide a viable framework for the development and security of fragile states and regions. This article examines the evolution of the discipline, analyzes potential challenges posed by fragile states, and proposes six recommendations for contemporary peace economists.

Afterimages: photography and U.S. foreign policy

Afterimages is a powerful book. Contained within its brevity are fundamental questions on the way in which we look at the world, how we see it and, more particularly, the way we regard war and US foreign policy over the last half century from Vietnam to the open-ended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, clustered within the singular ‘war on terror’. Liam Kennedy notes in his ‘ecology’ of images and photojournalism that ‘as the nature of warfare changes so photography must shift its strategies to reflect this’ (p. 178). Ultimately, he concludes, ‘photography retains the potential to be a critical mirror of international affairs and … will continue to play a significant role in giving form to the intangibilities of war by embodying abstractions and illuminating collective values and assumptions about violence, otherness, and humanity’ (p. 179). Such observations are especially apposite as part of the discussion of an era defined by ‘postphotography’ and the ubiquity of image production in our digital age; they are pertinent too in the age in which war and, to use Mary Dudziak's phrase, ‘war time’, have become more and more ambiguous. Kennedy's book moves through an analysis of several photographers and images from Vietnam, to the low-intensity conflicts of the 1980s, the ‘virtual’ war in the Gulf, the humanitarian crises in the Balkans and to seeming ‘wars without end; … wars without a principal enemy’ (p. 128).

It takes a village to raise a militia: local politics, the Nuer White Army, and South Sudan's civil wars

AbstractWhy does South Sudan continue to experience endemic, low intensity conflicts punctuated by catastrophic civil wars? Reporters and analysts often mischaracterise conflicts in the young country of South Sudan as products of divisive ‘tribal’ or ‘ethnic’ rivalries and political competition over oil wealth. More nuanced analyses by regional experts have focused almost exclusively on infighting among elite politicians and military officers based in Juba and other major cities who use patronage networks to ethnicise conflicts. This paper argues instead that civilian militias known as the Nuer White Army have consistently rebelled against elites who they blame for mounting inequalities between urban areas and the rural communities regardless of their ethnicity. While unable to stop governments and NGOs from funnelling almost all their resources to the cities, these militias have consistently mobilised local resources for violent campaigns that redistribute wealth by pillaging urban areas.

Youth Bulges and Civil Conflict

The presence of an exceptionally large youth population, that is, a youth bulge, is often associated with an elevated risk of civil conflict. In this article, we develop an instrumental variable approach in which the size of the youth cohorts in Sub-Saharan Africa is identified using variation in birth-year drought incidence. Our results show that an increase in the size of the population group aged fifteen to nineteen raises the risk of low-intensity conflict. A 1 percent increase in the size of this age-group augments the likelihood of civil conflict incidence (onset) by 2.3 (1.2) percentage points. On the other hand, we do not find any association between the size of the two adjacent youth cohorts, that is, the population groups aged ten to fourteen and twenty to twenty-four.

American Foreign Policy Fiascos

The US policy toward the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua represented one of the most complex and most controversial chapters in the history of American foreign policy. The tiny Nicaragua, a nation of 2.5 million, retained the complete attention of a superpower 100 times larger. In fact, few foreign policy issues commanded the attention of the foreign policy establishment as much as the Nicaraguan Revolution. For over a decade, US policy makers directed an exceptional amount of human and intellectual energy to design the lines of a complex policy. US efforts to contain the Nicaraguan revolution took the shape of an extended low-intensity conflict based on diplomatic pressure, economic pressure, intelligence operations, and a covert counter-revolutionary war, mixed with a colossal public relations campaign. The US-Nicaraguan relations stimulated severe political debates in Washington, caused one of the most noticeable Executive-Legislative disagreements, and even led to one of the most delicate presidential scandals in the political history of the United States. But why was Washington so worried about the Nicaraguan Revolution? Why did such a tiny country with no vital strategic resources, and with less than one percent of total US foreign investment, warrant so much attention from the American power elite? This article tries to offer some answers to the Nicaraguan issue through a description of the various strategies and instruments of policies used by the Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations.

Low-intensity conflict in multinational corporations

PurposeThis paper aims to identify antecedents for, and consequences of, low-intensity inter-unit conflict in multinational corporations (MNCs). Inter-unit conflict in MNCs is an important and well-researched theme. However, while most studies have focused on open conflict acknowledged by both parties, much less research has dealt with low-intensity conflicts. Still, low-intensity conflicts can be highly damaging – not least because they are rarely resolved.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a qualitative approach to understanding low-intensity conflict relying on 170 interviews in four Danish MNCs.FindingsThey describe consequences of low-intensity conflict and identify three types of actions by headquarters’ representatives that could lead to the development of low-intensity conflicts, namely, ignoring, bypassing and educating.Originality/valueVery few studies have dealt with low-intensity conflict – not least in international business research. The authors argue that the study of low-intensity conflict in MNCs can provide relevant, novel knowledge of MNC functioning.

The analysis of Basque conflict and ETA in the 1990s: The kidnapping of Miguel Angel Blanco

Since the fall of the Franco’s regime in Spain, the Spanish governments have been dealing with the low-intensity conflict in their country, namely the Euskadi Ta Askatusuna (ETA) attacks. This article analyzes the Basque conflict within the framework of the conflict analysis and resolution perspective. First, it highlights the conflict issues among the Basque conflict parties. Second, it clarifies the conflict issues by focusing on kidnapping and assassination done by the ETA during 1990s. The special case of Miguel Angel Blanco who was a local Basque councilman is a case study. In order to shed light on the Blanco case, it is necessary to focus the conflict resolution dynamics of the Basque conflict. Third, the paper aims to examine the Blanco case in terms of conflict issue identification, conflict issue clarification, and conflict cultural analysis perspectives. The issue identification perspective focuses on identity, face, and instrumental issues of the Basque conflict. The issue clarification perspective concentrates on two conflicting parties’ perceptions and positions in the conflict. The cultural analysis perspective mainly attempts to analyze the cross-cultural differences between ETA and the Spanish government. Based on the analysis of Miguel Angel Blanco, this study concludes that it is necessary to reframe, re-identify and re-clarify the Basque conflict within the framework of conflict and peace studies.

Infrared Technologies for Defence Systems

<p> Infrared technology has seen phenomenal growth since its inception during World War II. Defence applications have been the main driver of infrared technology development all over the world. Infrared systems have been mainly developed for night vision, all weather surveillance, search and tracking and missile seeker applications. Ever demanding defence system requirements have facilitated considerable investment. Research has been mainly directed towards the product development. Medical applications such as thermographs, transportation applications such as enhanced vision systems for airplanes, helicopters, sea vehicles, and automobiles, law enforcement applications in drug prevention and criminal tracking, managing forest fires and environmental monitoring are some of the spin-offs. Infrared technology has proven to be a force multiplier in war as well as low intensity conflict situation. Intelligent vision sensor development covering visible-infrared spectrum for automated surveillance, change detection, 3D machine vision systems, dynamic particle metrology, missile and ballistic testing/imaging, faster, more precise and more manoeuvrable robotic applications will drive the future research.</p>

Quel rôle pour les inégalités dans les conflits ? Étude du cas des conflits religieux en Inde

Ce papier traite du lien entre conflits et inégalité de revenus, et montre l’importance de désagréger les indices d’inégalités par groupes. Plus spécifiquement, il teste le lien entre trois mesures de l’inégalité et les conflits religieux de faible intensité dans les villages indiens. Les trois mesures de l’inégalité sont l’inégalité agrégée (verticale), et sa décomposition pour les groupes religieux, entre une composante intergroupe (horizontale) et une composante intra-groupe (au sein des groupes). Les résultats montrent que les deux composantes de l’inégalité agrégée ont des liens opposés avec les conflits. En effet, l’inégalité intra-groupe augmente l’incidence des conflits entre les groupes religieux. A l’opposé, quand l’inégalité intergroupe joue un rôle significatif, elle diminue l’incidence des conflits. La distribution des revenus au sein des groupes est donc corrélée avec l’incidence de conflits, même pour des conflits identitaires de faible intensité. De plus, la relation empirique identifiée est cohérente avec les théories les plus récentes, qui soulignent l’importance de la contrainte de mobilisation dans l’incidence de conflits. A l’inverse, les résultats sont incohérents avec une interprétation des conflits liés aux griefs ou à la cupidité.

Leadership Challenges for Joint Force Commanders during the Transition from a High-intensity to a Low-intensity Conflict

A Joint Force Commander (JFC) leading military joint operations faces several complex challenges. The purpose of this article is to investigate some of the challenges a Joint Force Commander may face when a conflict changes character from being a high-intensity conflict to becoming a low-intensity conflict. Sources of evidence: In connection with command and control, especially issues concerning different cultures and the understanding of this can be the biggest challenge for a Joint Force Commander during the transition to a low intensity conflict as a peace support operation setting. Main argument: Being able to anticipate some of these problems will be essential to a Joint Force Commander's ability to exercise leadership and command and control. Conclusions: Furthermore, target selection and information operations have proven to be two factors that will have a greater importance in the planning and conduct of operations during a transition from a high-intensity conflict to a low-intensity conflict.

International mediation in low intensity conflicts

Purpose Success and failure in mediation are widely understood to determine whether a state will receive positive or negative reputation outcomes from undertaking a mediation role in an international conflict. Research from mediation in domestic settings contradicts this view, finding that peer mediators in school and community settings received positive mediator outcomes from undertaking their role, even when they failed to facilitate an agreement between disputants. This paper aims to test this assumption and argues that mediation success and failure are only weakly correlated with observable reputation outcomes for mediating states and proposes an alternative explanatory framework. Design/methodology/approach The hypothesis was inductively generated through a comparative analysis of single-state mediation attempts selected from the Uppsala Conflict Database Project MILC data set. The cases selected were South Africa’s mediation attempts in Côte d’Ivoire from 2004 to 2005 and Comoros from 2003 to 2004, and Mexico’s mediation attempts in Colombia (National Liberation Army) in 2004 and Guatemala (Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity) between 1994 and 1996. To contextualise the findings and develop the explanatory framework, South African mediation attempts in Burundi and the DRC are discussed in the closing sections of the paper. Findings This paper finds that mediation success and failure are only weakly correlated with mediator outcomes. Mediator outcomes are explained by the activity level of the mediating state in providing mediation services; the positive intention of the mediator to assist in resolving the conflict; the scale of the conflict mediated; the severity of spill over effects from the conflict in question; the regional importance of the conflict; the proximity of the government which a mediating state looks to develop relations with to the conflict; the importance of the mediation attempt within the peace process; the level of contestation of the mediation attempt, meaning the extent to which mediation attempts are themselves sites of regional or global international power politics; and the success or failure of the mediation attempt. Originality/value An explanatory framework for state mediator outcomes in which the outcome of a mediation attempt for the third-party state is not determined solely, or even primarily, by mediation success or failure bridges mediation research applying to international and domestic issue areas and provides additional information for policy makers regarding the costs and benefits of committing their state to processes of mediation in conflicts with low probabilities of resolution. This is particularly important for state policy makers, given that mediation is successful on average in only one out of every three attempts.

How women’s silence secures the peace: analysing sexual and gender-based violence in a low-intensity conflict

ABSTRACTMost studies of the gendered impact of conflict focus on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) atrocities committed in high-intensity conflict environments. In contrast, this article focuses on the patterns of SGBV in Mindanao, Philippines – an environment of protracted low-intensity conflict within a fragile state. We examine the current Mindanao peace process to highlight the disempowerment of survivors of SGBV, due in large part to the reporting constraints that affect those most likely to be targeted for sexual violence by rival groups, some of whom are closely associated with the peace process. By making visible the significant social, political-economic, and institutional barriers affecting the recognition and reporting of SGBV, we discuss how and why conflict-related SGBV continues in fragile and low-intensity conflict environments.

A void and a challenge: Rules of engagement at sea in a low-intensity conflict environment

ABSTRACTThe armed forces are usually conversant with the rules on the use of force against the enemy in the traditional battle space. However, military forces are usually ill-equipped for this when the opponent is not a regular combatant but an un-uniformed person – a militant or even a criminal – operating in seemingly benign environs. This constitutes a serious legal void, particularly given the emerging environment wherein navies would be increasingly tasked to perform non-traditional constabulary functions. The trend is best exemplified by the case of the Indian Navy that was entrusted with the responsibility for the nation's overall maritime security, including coastal and offshore security. This paper examines the concept and the salient issues relating to rules of engagement (RoE) for maritime forces operating in the low-intensity conflict environment.

Scientific Methods in Social and Humanitarian Researches

The article analyzes the importance of methods of scientific disciplines for the research methodology of social and humanitarian processes, and discusses interdependence of life and culture sciences in terms of the complexity theory. It emphasizes that cognition in a social human sphere is based on polyparadigmatic principles which provide both the necessary completeness of the cognitive process and cross-case analysis of the subject under inquiry taking into account specific characteristics of different explanatory models. Quantitative estimations and integral values in scientific methods of social and humanitarian studies provide an opportunity of modeling and predicting social processes and tendencies of political development. The article particularly focuses on the scientific tools for studying micro- and macro-politics in the framework of psychological theories of communication and forms of interaction among influential politicians in the complex multilevel political processes. The author comes to conclusion that an analytical set of research mechanisms based on the principles of naturalistic philosophy can be a basis for system analysis and models of interaction among the main antagonists, taking into account their basic resources and behavior tactics, which in its turn, lets us identify the most likely scenario of development of a situation in a certain time period and on a certain territory. System analysis of structural elements of the social community under inquiry or a certain event line will allow us identifying sources of disfunctionality and latent development of low-intensity conflicts which can involve escalation of confrontation among political actors at the micro and macro levels, which can break down stability, integrity and dynamic equilibrium of the system. The article considers contemporary importance of transformative technologies and engineering capabilities of social theories as a functional problem of the scientific discourse.

Cross-border firing and injury patterns

Introduction:Cross-border firing are increasingly being common in the modern era. The injuries resulting from these low intensity conflicts are a source of anxiety among treating physicians and their respective governments. The provisions are required to minimise the suffering of the victims viz. Mode of injuries, mortality patterns, adequacy of treatment at pre-hospital and tertiary care hospital and provisions to decrease morbidity and mortality for the people living in these areas.Materials and Methods:A retrospective study was conducted in GMCH, Jammu who suffered injuries due to cross border firing in the month of October, 2014. 68 patients were reported in the causality wing. All the patients were referred from level 2 trauma centre. There were 51 males and 17 females out of which 5 were children. The cause of injury, involvement of organ system, cause of mortality and morbidity and loopholes in prehospital management were identified.Results:Sharpnel were the most common cause of injury followed by indirect trauma. The common cause of mortality was abdominal and thoracic injuries. There were 4 deaths at hospital 2 of which were brought dead and 2 died during the course of treatment. There were twenty patients with extremity injuries, fourteen with chest trauma, eleven with abdomen including parineal injuries, three with head injuries, eight with ENT injuries, three with eye injuries and nine with splinters in the back out of which two were in the spinal canal.Conclusion:Prehospital stabilisation, early transport, in-transit resuscitation, immediate surgery if required and implementation of triage model and ATLS protocol has been the key to reduce mortality and morbidity.

Civil Community-Peacekeeper Relations in UN Peacebuilding: The Case of South Asian Peacekeepers

Building peace to prevent the recurrence of conflict is an inevitable role of United Nations peacekeeping operations today. As this activity increasingly occurs in populated, low-intensity conflict areas, relations between peacekeepers and civil communities become significant. Peacebuilding cannot achieve any level of success unless it is directly relevant to the communal needs of the local people. Building an alliance for peace in civil communities is vital not only for strengthening civil community-peacekeeper relations but also for fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility in local minds. By examining the peacebuilding experience of South Asian states, this article shows that the complex, sensitive and volatile nature of today’s operational environments have necessitated employing soft aspects of military science as part of a community-centered approach to peacebuilding.