Military Rise Research Articles

American Caesars: lives of the presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush

Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars became a classic of classical times: a virtuoso literary imperial portrait gallery by an already distinguished author, not only remarkable for its frank dissections (in contrast to contemporary commemorations) of Rome's great emperors, but also because the twelve men whom he chose were the embodiment - both good and bad - of Rome's greatest century. The twentieth century has been called 'the American century', given its economic and military rise to superpower status in World War II, as well as its seemingly irresistible influence over global popular culture , politics and language ever since. The time is ripe for a new work on the U.S. presidents of our own lifetime: from FDR to George W. Bush. In what will become an essential book for our times, eminent biographer Nigel Hamilton offers an informative but intensely readable gallery of historical portraits that will encapsulate the age of American empire through the lives of its chief executives and the women they loved.

Regional security cooperation in East Asia: what can Japan and Australia usefully do together?

This article discusses Japan–Australia security cooperation in the context of changing regional dynamics in the Asia-Pacific. The combined influences of the rise of China, the US position in the world after two years under an Obama administration, and the changing structure of regional cooperation are setting new challenges and a historically distinct context for security relations between Japan and Australia. After examining each of the above regional changes, this article discusses the effects of political transitions over the last several months in both Japan and Australia. It then highlights three natural areas for Japan and Australia to pursue increased cooperation: denuclearisation, addressing China's policy on territorial integrity, and the rise of China's military, in particular in terms of naval power. The article concludes by providing the author's perspective on Japan–Australia security cooperation and suggests the future direction of relations.

Challenges and Considerations for Managing Suicide Risk in Combat Zones

As suicide rates in the military rise, increased attention has been placed on the effective management of high-risk service members. Military mental health professionals deployed to combat zones face a number of challenges and barriers for effective risk management that are unique to the deployed setting. To date, there exists no body of literature identifying areas in which suicide risk management differs between garrison and combat settings to guide mental health professionals in improving clinical decision making with respect to managing suicidal service members in combat zones. On the basis of experience gained during deployments to combat zones, the authors outline several key features of the deployed context that can impact suicide risk and its effective management in combat zones and integrate empirical findings relevant to each issue. Considerations for clinical care and risk management are discussed.

Civil and Defence Science and Technology: China 2025

The rise of China is an accomplished fact. Many analysts are today trying to describe the various aspects of that rise. Military power is probably the foremost of the aspects that we in India will like to define. This article attempts to put together the facts behind what China is trying to build indigenously and through reverse engineering. The overarching facts of China's military rise are unabashedly described by the Chinese themselves. By 2030, they expect that they will be at the same level of GDP as the United States. The Chinese foresee a decline in the currency of nuclear weapons thereby improving the importance of their huge conventional forces that separate them from the rest of the world. How will they arm this conventional force? The Chinese are even keener than the Indians that they should arm their armed forces without outside dependence. An attempt is made here to describe how successful they can be.

From foot soldier to finance minister: Takahashi Korekiyo, Japan's Keynes

Introduction 1. A Remarkable Beginning, 1854-67 2. Takahashi in San Francisco, 1867-68 3. Many Mentors, Few Teachers: Takahashi's Career in and out of Government, 1869-81 4. First Trademark and Patent Laws, 1881-89 5. Maeda Masana and the Debate over Industrial Policy, 1882-85 6. Managing a Silver Mine in Peru, 1889-90 7. Entering the Bank of Japan, 1892-1904 8. Fundraising During the Russo-Japanese War: 1904 9. Fundraising During the Russo-Japanese War: 1905 10. The Lessons of Wars, 1906-18 11. Taisho Democracy, 1918-27 12. Japan's Keynes: Japan and the World Depression, 1929-34 13. Takahasi's Fiscal Policies and the Rise of Militarism, 1932-36 Conclusion: Takahashi's Economic Philosophy and Its Roots Appendix: Takahashi's Memoirs Notes Works Cited Index

Archivo Gomá: Documentos de la Guerra Civil (review)

Reviewed by: Archivo Gomá: Documentos de la Guerra Civil William J. Callahan Archivo Gomá: Documentos de la Guerra Civil. Edited by José Andrés-Gallego and Antón M. Pazos. Vols. 7, 8. (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. 2005. Pp. 666, 747. Paperback.) These volumes of the personal archive of Cardinal Isidro Gomá y Tomás, archbishop of Toledo and primate of Spain during the Spanish Civil War, cover the four months between August and December of 1937. During this period, the war between the Republic and the Nationalist regime of General Franco continued unabated, although the military balance had begun to tilt toward the rebel armies. It was also during these months that Franco began to lay the institutional and ideological foundations for his "New" Spain, although the precise form that these would take was still far from clear. As the leader of the hierarchy through his position as primate and president of the Committee of Metropolitans, Gomá supported the military rising in public without hesitation, but, in private he was apprehensive about the possible emergence of a totalitarian, fascist state and its consequences for the Church. The documents published, organized chronologically, cover an immense range of topics from the trivial to the important, from the imposition of export duties on olive oil destined for the Vatican to critical questions such as church-state relations and the strategy the Church required to recover from the mass assassinations of clergy and the destruction of churches in the republican zone. Gomá's personal correspondence reveals a less self-confident figure than his public figure suggested. Often beset by bouts of poor health, he struggled to meet a multitude of challenges that taxed his energy to the fullest and, at times, left him depressed about the Church's situation in the "New" Spain of the generals. A substantial portion of the documentation revolves around the effect of the cardinal's celebrated and controversial 1937 Collective Letter to the Catholic bishops of the world. This justification of the rising against the Republic as a defense of Christian civilization produced an outpouring of letters of support from bishops throughout the Catholic world, all reproduced in these volumes. Gomá also worked unceasingly to promote the translation and publication of the letter in as many countries as possible. But, in some respects, he was more concerned with the criticism directed against the letter by clergy and laypeople, especially by Basque priests who supported the political autonomy of the Catholic Basques within the Republic and by progressive Catholic opinion in France. The documentation shows a constant sense of frustration with the refusal of his Catholic critics to accept the premises of the Collective Letter. The most important contribution of these volumes for historians is that that they reveal in abundant detail the complex and shifting relations between the Church and the Franco regime. Gomá maintained an abiding confidence in the general to restore the Church to what he saw as its rightful place within the new order. But he was not naive. For example, although his correspondence [End Page 686] was exempt from official censorship, he suspected that the authorities did not always respect the exemption. He recognized that the Church was just one of the interest groups seeking to achieve its objectives within a political system in process of formation and that not all of them, especially the regime's single party, the quasifascist party, the Falange, were disposed to allow the Church the ample autonomy that it desired, particularly in the fields of education and associational activity. On several occasions, Gomá had to appeal to the authorities to halt attacks on the Church's position in Falange publications. The cardinal's political views were straightforward. He wished the regime to restore the privileges that it had enjoyed prior to the proclamation of the Republic in 1931. He had no particular views about the constitutional form of the state, but whatever its form, he believed that the "liberty of the Church" should be respected and that it should not become a political arm of the new political order. For this reason, he objected to the clergy occupying official positions in the Falange. These were...

THE PROSPECTS FOR A SINO-AMERICAN INCIDENTS AT SEA AGREEMENT

Abstract The Military Maritime Consultative Agreement was signed by the representatives of the People's Republic of China and the United States in December of 1997. The conceptual origins of the MMCA can be found in similar agreements established between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and more recently in the rapid military rise of China since the Cold War's end. This article assesses the desirability of a concomitant formal arms control agreement by examining the principal stumbling blocks. It proposes that any arms control agreement would need to provide confidence-building measures, bring stability to the bilateral military relationship, and minimize the likelihood of conflict escalation. These include problems with managing air and submarine forces, the Chinese reliance on asymmetric warfare, and the regulated announcement of naval exercises. It warns that wrongly handled, an arms control agreement may aggravate the Sino-American rivalry without producing any of the intend...

Book Reviews

Joan Montgomery Byles War, Women, and Poetry, 1914–1945: British and German Writers and ActivistsMichael B. Katz Improving Poor PeopleJennifer Turpin and Lester R. Kurtz, eds. The Web of Violence—From Interpersonal to GlobalKen Conca Manufacturing Insecurity: The Rise and Fall of Brazil's Military–Industrial ComplexBarbara Winslow Sylvia Pankhurst: Sexual Politics and Political Activism

British Hegemony and Militarized Interstate Disputes, 1815-1939

In this paper, we examine some competing explanations of the Pax Britannia, the long era of relative peace that marks the 19th century. We test hypotheses derived from balance of power theory and from theories of hegemonic order (including the hegemonic stability theory of Gilpin, the political long-cycle theory of Modelski, Thompson and their associates, world systems theory, and the economic long-cycle theory of Kondratieff) regarding the occurrence of militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) for 1815-1939. Using indicators of British economic and military capacity, the regression analyses indicate that the rise and fall of British military and economic capacity associates inversely some measures of major power MIDs. From the theoretical models of phases of hegemonic order, we find no support for the implications of the Gilpin and the World systems models. Support for the double cobweb model (Modelski) exists, but the model is very sensitive to a single data point. Finally, eras of world economic expansion (from the Kondratieff model) appear to be positively associated with the incidence of MIDs.

British Political Strategy in the Face of the Military Rising of 1936 in Spain

The military coup of July 1936 against the Republican government of Spain, which rapidly developed into civil war, required an urgent response from the authorities of the United Kingdom. This was as much on account of its effects on British interests in Spain as due to its repercussions on the unstable situation in Europe. During the nearly three years of war, the Conservative-dominated Cabinet adhered to the Non-Intervention pact signed by all European governments in August 1936, which prescribed an arms embargo towards the combatants without a parallel recognition of their rights as belligerents. This peculiar neutrality, which combined respect for the legal status of the recognized government with de facto equal status for the rebels, was defended by British officialdom on the grounds of the over-riding need to restrict the war and avoid its escalation into a general European conflict. The argument served to deflect accusations of hidden antagonism towards the Republic and to justify the continuation of this policy of neutrality despite the support of Italy and Germany for the insurgent forces, so tolerating in practice the sabotage of the policy of non-intervention by the fascist powers. In the face of these official explanations, which have been accepted at face value by many historians, this article will attempt to show that British non-intervention had its origins in antirevolutionary pre-occupations rather than in strictly diplomatic considerations. Furthermore, it will be argued that during the first six months of the war it adhered consistently to a political strategy based on the expectation that the war would be short lived.

‘Our and the world's advantage’: the constructive Commonwealth

The role which any grouping of states can play in world affairs is determined at least in part by the global setting in which it functions. Today, the global setting in which the Commonwealth functions is a particularly challenging one. Heightened suspicion and confrontation between the two superpowers; a decline in the spirit and practice of internationalism, including diminished support for the United Nations; a rise of militarism and increased disregard for established rules and principles of world order; an accelerating arms race acting as both a threat to human survival and a menace to development; a global economic recession from which recovery worldwide is halting: a virtual standstill in the North-South dialogue on international economic cooperation, and faltering responses to the desperate needs of the world's poorest people; failure of the world's financial institutions adequately to adapt to the changed conditions of the 1980s: the environment is unpropitious to multilateral cooperation. Conversely, however, the need for such cooperation was never greater. The apparent drying-up of political will for change in many international quarters means that fresh opportunities, and responsibilities, devolve upon those organizations equipped to make a creative contribution. The modern Commonwealth is, I believe, such an organization. Its unique evolution has given it a character significantly different from other international organizations different in ways which enable it to contribute distinctively to contemporary affairs. The form of this contribution will be shaped, both as to constraints and as to advantages, by the Commonwealth's essential nature, deriving from its history. A beneficiary of the British political tradition of pragmatism, the Commonwealth is most of all a pragmatic, practical association. In many respects it is indeed a 'concert of convenience', in the evocative phrase of Professor Bruce Milter, the Commonwealth's Australian historian. It exists because it has been found by its members to be useful. How it is useful, what it is in the Commonwealth's character which makes it so, and whence that character historically derives, are my subjects in this article. I write with the experience of last November's Commonwealth heads of government meeting in New Delhi still fresh in mind. It was both the spirit and the form of India's decision in 1949 to remain in the association, and the desire of the older Dominions that it should do so, which made the modern Commonwealth possible. India was the first Asian, first non-white member, and later the first republic to be a member. Republican status, in particular, had profound implications for the Commonwealth relationship-a link no longer fashioned from allegiance to the British Crown but from acceptance of Britain's monarch as symbolic head of a Commonwealth pluralistic in forms of political organization as well as in races and religions. In going to New Delhi in 1983, the modern Commonwealth was going

Propaganda for War the Dissemination of the Crusading Ideal in the Twelfth Century

It was accepted in western Europe, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, that there was an obligation upon the military classes, and indeed on Christians generally, to take up arms in defence of the Holy Sepulchre, or to participate in other expeditions authorised by the ecclesiastical hierarchy. War ceased to be, for Christians, a regrettable necessity, and became a virtue, and armies were summoned by the trumpet-blasts of the Prince of Peace. There has been a great deal of work by historians in recent decades on the transformation of earlier Christian ideology, and we now understand much more about the origins of crusading ideas, the discussion of warfare by theologians and canon lawyers, and the profound changes in spirituality which accompanied the rise of militarism. There is however a technical aspect of the subject which is less often considered: the actual methods by which the new ideals were communicated to western society generally. By any standards, it was a remarkably successful exercise in publicity. It was also, in the first instance, very rapid. Urban II announced the expedition to Jerusalem at the Council of Clermont in November 1095, and he fixed the date of departure as 15 August 1096. The summons was heard by groups far wider than the princes and their households, and by Easter 1096 an army led by Peter the Hermit had already arrived in Cologne on its way from northern France. Within a few months, therefore, and well in advance of the papal deadline, the message had spread to all levels of society over a wide geographical area. A system of communication as effective as this deserves our respect and study. It would be a mistake to conclude from the total absence of modern technology that the control of opinion was unimportant in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

The Military on Capitol Hill: Prospects in the Quest for Funds

Public backing for defense expenditures is at its lowest ebb in recent history. Despite pervasive disenchantment, public knowledge about military programs remains limited and the translation of that disenchantment into effective political action even more restricted. Congressional lobbyists on both sides of military issues remain relatively ineffective. Congress, reacting to waste and poor weapons system performance, is doing an improved job of scrutinizing military programs and weeding out proven failures, but has remained impotent in canceling new programs its members consider ill advised. Overall, Congress has very little impact on military expenditure levels. Presidents regularly succeed in getting approved virtually the full range of military programs they request from Congress. During President Nixon's second term, that trend is expected to continue. While he might prefer to see his 1976 military budget rise above $100 billion, the President's greater wish to hold down taxes and total federal spending is likely to produce a 1976 military budget slightly in excess of $90 billion.

The Military Rising in Istanbul 1909

The Military Rising in Istanbul 1909

Conspiracy at Mukden: The Rise of the Japanese Military. Takehiko Yoshihashi

Conspiracy at Mukden: The Rise of the Japanese Military. Takehiko Yoshihashi

Second Thoughts on Asian Democracy

RESPONSIBLE LEADERS in Asia are concerned that the democratic institutions and ideals to which they were devoted during the fight for independence may prove inadequate to fulfil public expectations in the crucial years of nation building. Second thoughts indeed are in order. Military rule, authoritarian tendencies of the political leadership and in administration, compounded by demagoguery, nepotism, corruption and apathy, have been more the rule than the exception in the region in recent years. The communist overthrow of the Republic in China in 1949 and the rapid rise of Chinese military and economic strength on mainland Asia have posed competitive ideological and power threats to the newly independent Asian countries that cannot be ignored. It is not given to these new states to experiment slowly and cautiously. The compulsions urging rapid economic growth and demanding national unity and loyalty press for results, and a variety of totalitarian techniques to achieve short-term goals await adoption if democratic institutions falter. The flag of Asian democracy is at half mast these days at best.