Threat Of Warfare Research Articles

Book Review: Holding Their Breath: How the Allies Confronted the Threat of Chemical Warfare in World War II by M. Girard Dorsey

Book Review: <i>Holding Their Breath: How the Allies Confronted the Threat of Chemical Warfare in World War II</i> by M. Girard Dorsey

Middle powers and minilateralism against hybrid threats in the Indo-Pacific: South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan

ABSTRACT Asian middle powers are adopting strategies to address emerging hybrid warfare threats by building a web of partnerships with capable and advanced states. This shows an inflection point in the foreign behaviours of Asian states, which have been largely regarded as hedgers between the US and China. To demonstrate the relationship between hybrid threats and complex alignment, this study focuses on three second-tier Indo-Pacific states: South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. South Korea has opened a new era of the trilateral relationship with the US and Japan, and has released its revised cybersecurity strategy emphasising liberal international cooperation against North Korea’s and other hybrid threats, while deepening its cyber and technology cooperation with like-minded states. Singapore has sought to further develop its relationship with the US, whilst maintaining ties with Taiwan; such an arrangement provides an opportunity for the two countries to promote joint leadership to support minilateral efforts in countering Chinese hybrid warfare threats. Over the past two decades, minilateral cooperation has become increasingly popular among Asian states that are implementing institutional balancing against the newly emerging threats.

CONJUNCTURES OF DEMOCRACY EROSION

The paper aims to examine and understand the recent developments in Brazilian democracy in a sociological perspective. It offers an analysis of the conjunctural preconditions for the recent rise of authoritarian populism, presenting ways in which Brazil can be viewed as paradigm of democratic erosion and/or resilience. The article describes the foundational premises that made the development of contemporary democracies possible, and it proceeds from this description to explain how features common to authoritarian populist movements in Brazil and elsewhere are detrimental to these premises. It is argued that democracies are likely to thrive when welfare provisions and access to human rights are open to increasing sectors of the population, generating an inclusionary citizenship effect. The political polarization regarding the Brazilian welfare system and the discourse against international human rights, culminated in the weakening of the Brazilian welfare net and setbacks in the recognition of human rights by courts. These processes preceded, and were aggravated by, the rise of authoritarian populism in Brazil, generating an exclusionary view of citizenship that tended to intensify social conflict, with increasing militarization at both governmental and social levels. Arguably, the absence of warfare or an imminent warfare threat in the most recent democratic transition in Brazil reduced the capacity of welfare and constitutional human rights provisions to limit the influence of the military on democracy. While the efforts to build up the welfare system and protect human rights are still ongoing, the militarization element remains latent, posing a constant threat to democratic consolidation in Brazil.

An Overview of Radiation Countermeasure Development in Radiation Research from 1954 to 2024.

Preparation for medical responses to major radiation accidents, further driven by increases in the threat of nuclear warfare, has led to a pressing need to understand the underlying mechanisms of radiation injury (RI) alone or in combination with other trauma (combined injury, CI). The identification of these mechanisms suggests molecules and signaling pathways that can be targeted to develop radiation medical countermeasures. Thus far, the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) has approved seven countermeasures to mitigate hematopoietic acute radiation syndrome (H-ARS), but no drugs are available for prophylaxis and no agents have been approved to combat the other sub-syndromes of ARS, let alone delayed effects of acute radiation exposure or the effects of combined injury. From its inception, Radiation Research has significantly contributed to the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of radiation injury and combined injury, and to the development of radiation medical countermeasures for these indications through the publication of peer-reviewed research and review articles.

A ameaça da guerra cognitiva na América: desafios e oportunidades para a cooperação interamericana.

This article deals with the threat of cognitive warfare on the American Continent within the scope of hybrid threats. Through bibliographical research and case studies of cognitive warfare against national states, it was possible to outline the characteristics of this phenomenon, its objectives, strategies, and tactics. The accelerated technological evolution, the emergence of social media and the hyperconnectivity of people have shaped that type of war and Sun Tzu's thought of defeating opponents without necessarily facing them in a kinetic way. It is plausible to consider that America is already at war. The great challenge is to define how to preserve democracies without tending towards authoritarianism and restricting freedom of expression; and without succumbing to the change in people's minds. On the other hand, the threat, if well understood, can be transformed into an opportunity to integrate efforts, and establish a cognitive defense of countries and the hemisphere.

The effect of hair and beard on the airtightness of gas masks

This study aims to quantitatively analyze the correlation between hair and beard and the airtightness of gas masks in response to the escalating threat of chemical and biological warfare, changes in military personnel regulations, and grooming standards. Airtightness refers to the ability of a gas mask to fit snugly on the user face, thereby preventing the infiltration of harmful external substances, that is among the primary functions of the mask. Although hair and beard are known to affect the airtightness of gas masks, research is lacking in this area, domestically and internationally, and no studies have analyzed the correlation between gas mask airtightness and hair, including beards, under controlled variables. Therefore, research on the correlation between gas mask airtightness and hair, including beards, is necessary to respond to the current evolving threats. For this purpose, gas masks that passed the airtightness performance test specified in military standards were selected. The masks were fitted on a SMARTMAN (SiMulant Agent Resistant Test MANikin) mannequin head with artificial hair and beard attached, and changes in airtightness were measured based on the presence and condition of the hair and beard. The experimental results showed that the presence of hair and beard at the gas mask–face contact surface decreased the airtightness of the mask, and that the highest airtightness was observed with gas masks of the optimal size. The findings of this study can be used as an important reference material for maintaining the performance of gas masks and the combat effectiveness of the military.

Bioterrorism in the Twenty-First Century: Exploring the Threat of Potential use of Biological Weapons by Anti-State Agents

Bioterrorism involves the intentional dissemination of biological agents, such as bacteria, viruses, toxins, or fungi, with the aim of causing widespread fear, illness, and death among targeted populations. Anti-state agents, including terrorist organizations or individuals with extremist ideologies, may employ bioterrorism as a means to achieve their political, ideological, or religious objectives. The study explores the motivation behind the potential use of bioterrorism by anti-state agents, the threat of biological warfare, and the state readiness in the case of a biological attack. It examines the history of biological warfare, the factors that make biological warfare attractive to terrorist organizations including potential for mass casualties, psychological factors behind the attacks, access of biological agents, and the issues and challenges associated with detection, responses, and prevention of a biological attack by anti-state agents. The research used securitization theory to understand the phenomenon behind biological warfare. The study identified that despite the small scale of biological attacks in the past by anti-state agents, the threat has increased in the recent times as the technological advances and access to these agents make the people vulnerable to such attacks by the non-state actors . The study also concluded that strengthening global surveillance systems, enhancing public health infrastructure, and promoting information sharing among states and international emergency response services are vital in preventing and mitigating the impact of bioterrorist attacks.

Inter-Caste Marriage and Caste Prejudice: A Study of Perumal Murugan’s Novel ‘Pyre’

The 21st century is an era of science and advancement. Due to this advancement, there is an evident threat of climate change, global warming, health issues and biological warfare. In this scenario, our lives are changing rapidly. But one thing that has not changed yet is the caste-system. People are still embedded in caste. The notion of purity and practice of endogamy have contributed in the establishment of the caste system. Endogamy is a founding element of the caste system. It is because of this that caste has become an unaltered force of Indian society. The consequences of inter-caste marriage are often horrible. Couples are rarely accepted by the family and society. Excommunication, torture, honor killing and murder are the consequences of inter-caste marriage. Inter- caste marriage is a great contribution in the eradication of the caste system. Inter-caste marriages not only cast the caste but also bring social harmony and feeling of interdependence among people belonging to different caste. But unfortunately, inter-caste marriages are unaccepted and considered offensive. The present novel ‘Pyre’ illustrates the ethos that leads a community to give their judgment against inter-caste marriage.

Peran Intelijen Melalui Perumusan Kebijakan Pertahanan Negara dalam Perang Hibrida

Hybrid warfare, with its blend of conventional military tactics, irregular warfare, cyber attacks, and information operations, presents complex challenges to national security. The role of intelligence in understanding, countering, and formulating effective defense policies in hybrid warfare contexts is crucial. This qualitative research study examines the multifaceted role of intelligence in addressing hybrid warfare threats and shaping national defense policies. Utilizing secondary data sources, including government reports, academic publications, and policy analyses, the study employs thematic analysis to explore three key areas: (1) the role of intelligence in understanding and countering hybrid warfare threats; (2) integrating intelligence insights into formulating national defense policies to address hybrid threats; and (3) challenges in employing intelligence-led defense policies in hybrid warfare contexts. Findings highlight the significance of intelligence in providing situational awareness, informing policy decisions, and mitigating risks in hybrid warfare scenarios. The study ends by stressing how important it is for leaders to be able to adapt, for institutions to work together, and for ethical concerns to be taken into account when improving intelligence capabilities and making the best use of them to deal with the changing challenges of hybrid warfare.

Anticipative Urban Warfare Strategies on the Neo'post-Truth Era in Indonesia

Objective: The objective of this research was to explore the Universal People's Security Defense System that has not been well socialized in anticipating future threats. The aim of this research is to realize an anticipatory Urban Warfare strategy by creating a General National Defense Policy for 2025-2030 in the Neo' Post-Truth Era in Indonesia. Method: The qualitative method used in this research is a case study approach. Through literature study data collection and analyzing several rules regarding the urban warfare strategies, the research focused on how these elements mold the future policy on the neo ‘post truth era in Indonesia. Results: The facts about the threats of radicalism, terrorism, insurgency, separatism and social revolution change the arrival of military, non-military and hybrid threats into a new categorization of threats in the form of asymmetric, proxy, hybrid and information threats as urban warfare threats. Various countries have experienced the problem of urban warfare starting from the Arab Spring in the Middle East, African countries, South Asia and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. The results of this research show, first, the forms of threats in the world and Indonesia in the form of asymmetric, proxy, hybrid and information threats. Second, the policy and implementation are in accordance with the General State Defense Policy in the Neo' Post-Truth Era in Indonesia in the form of a policy of balancing security and prosperity. Third, Anticipatory Strategy for Urban Warfare in the Neo ‘Post-Truth era in Indonesia in the form of intelligence cooperation, diplomacy and operations. The conclusion of this research requires the creation of the latest 2025-2030 jakum hanneg in anticipating Urban Warfare in Indonesia. Conclusion: Urban warfare is complex and challenging. This operation is not only military in nature, but also has many aspects because it must take into account the economic, social and other characteristics of the city. Successful urban operations require specialized strategy and training, as well as adapted weapons and equipment. Implementation policy general national defense can involve development strength reliable military and non -military for capable face threat in environment urban areas, including effective strategies and tactics in face urban warfare. This is possible involve training special for personnel military in urban battle, development appropriate technology and equipment for operation urban, as well good planning and coordination between various units and agencies involved in national defense. Apart from that, implementation policy general national defense can also cover effort to build cooperation with parties related in face threat of urban warfare. This can involve cooperation with police, government region, and society civil in effort for increase security and preparedness in face threat in urban environment.

Cyber Preparedness of the Indian Armed Forces

The Indian armed forces today face a significant threat of cyberattacks, particularly from hostile neighbouring states like China and Pakistan. Cyberattacks could potentially damage or cripple critical weapons platforms, major communications and ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) systems, and vital infrastructure, undermining the military’s preparedness and war-fighting capabilities. How prepared is the Indian military to neutralise cyberattacks from adversaries such as China and Pakistan? This is the central question that this article attempts to address. The article contends that the delayed development of technical, policy, and organisational measures in the cyber domain indicates vulnerabilities in the Indian military’s current state of cyber preparedness, leaving room for enemy cyberattacks. It emphasises the need for immediate actions to address the critical gaps in India’s cybersecurity strategy. In particular, the Indian military must focus on drastically strengthening its defensive cyber capabilities to neutralise potential enemy cyberattacks on weapons platforms, communication and ISR systems, and critical infrastructure. The article concludes that without enhanced defensive cyber capabilities, India’s military modernisation may fall short of responding adequately to technology-driven warfare threats from the hostile states in the neighbourhood.

(Dis)information warfare: Risks for businesses

This issue of Out-of-the-Box addresses the threat of information warfare for commercial organisations, and examines the role of information professionals in mitigating those risks. It first explores the nature of information warfare, before examining the threats to business posed by aggressive actions in the information domain. Finally it looks at the role of information professionals in assessing, understanding and managing risk.

Geographies of the impossible

In this commentary, I trace the potential of ‘the impossible’ as a spatio-temporal category for geographical research. I proceed from the assumption that the impossible takes on an ever more prominent role in the contemporary zeitgeist, especially in light of current crisis dynamics, such as pandemics, climate change, or the threat of nuclear warfare. When the impossible ‘takes place’, it receives a geography, or means the end of geography. Geographies of the impossible suspend taken-for-granted facts, pave the way for new actors, function according to their own logic, and create spaces for extraordinary encounters. Studying these geographies encourages scholars to engage with dystopian and apocalyptic but also utopian and revolutionary spatialities as well as follow the desire to make possible tomorrow what is impossible today.

Radar signal waveform based on Costas and Walsh‐Hadamard codes as electronic counter‐countermeasure

AbstractBelligerent sides of current military conflicts are first and foremost counting on intelligence, air supremacy, and electromagnetic spectrum dominance. Actual concepts of conducting military operations can be characterised by the massive employment of air defence systems, radars, and electronic warfare systems. An approach is aimed to strengthen air‐defence potential by improving the resilience of pulse radar against electronic warfare threats, such as an electronic attack. To cope with the above‐mentioned situation, a radar intrapulse modulation was designed, where a combination of Costas codes and Walsh‐Hadamard codes is applied. Using a particular waveform together with the proposed model for radar signal processing results in increased resilience against an electronic attack, especially against repeater jamming methods. Furthermore, it is also possible to process radar echoes at low levels of Signal‐to‐Noise Ratio (SNR), which enhances radar electronic counter–countermeasure capability. The main scientific contribution of the paper is in the unique design of the Pulse Compression Filter for Combined Intrapulse Modulation (PCF‐CIM) and in its modelling. Based on the statistical evaluation of results, using the proposed radar waveform together with PCF‐CIM, it is possible to detect radar signals with combined intrapulse modulation in the case of SNR ≥ −14 dB with TPR ≥0.9999 and FPR ≤10−6, where SNR stands for Signal‐to‐Noise Ratio, TPR stands for True Positive Rate, and FPR stands for False Positive Rate.

The Role of Molecular Biology for National Defense related to Bioterrorism and Biological Warfare Threat

The Role of Molecular Biology for National Defense related to Bioterrorism and Biological Warfare Threat

Force development against irregular and hybrid warfare in Indonesia

The development of national defense is directed to be able to answer various possible threats and actual problems that are adjusted to the geographical conditions and dynamics of the strategic environment. Current and future threats are growing very fast and increasingly complex. Threats to the state can essentially be classified into three types, namely military threats, both armed and unarmed, non-military threats, and hybrid threats. The threats that have emerged during the co-19 pandemic are irregular warfare and hybrid threats. This research will discuss the analysis of force development to face the threat of irregular warfare and hybrid warfare in Indonesia. This research uses a qualitative method with a literature study approach. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that Indonesia as a country that has a strategic location and attractiveness of various spectrums needs to always prepare itself by implementing relevant strategies in accordance with the capital already owned in the Indonesian nation itself, this is needed to avoid national disunity due to irregular warfare that enters the joints of state life.

D3GF: A Study on Optimal Defense Performance Evaluation of Drone-Type Moving Target Defense Through Game Theory

Based on the paradigm shift in modern warfare, ground forces conduct pilot operations of wireless unmanned maneuvering systems, such as tactical drones, in the form of manned and unmanned cooperative tactics after deploying the relevant systems in the battlefield. However, security considerations for relevant systems are limited to the scope of using only the existing end-to-end encryption and public key authentication modules, and no defense strategy to actively respond to specialized cyber-electronic warfare threats has been officially established. To drastically reduce both the potential attack surface and security vulnerabilities of drones employed in network-centric-warfare, a proactive defense technology that expires the effectiveness of attacks by avoiding invasive action at the target is expected to be essential. Accordingly, this paper proposes the concept of active moving-target-defense (MTD), an element of cyber deception that minimizes the rate of success of cyber-attacks while conversely maximizing both defense predominance and attack complexity asymmetrically, exclusive according to partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP)-based threat modeling that considers both the internal and external operation sequences of target drones. To optimally design the proposed drone-type MTD based on the Pareto frontier, we additionally advanced and simulated a drone-based defensive deception game framework (D3GF), which represents a general-sum combat framework reflecting decision logics such as the perfect Bayesian Nash equilibrium, stochastic Stackelberg, and partial signal game. This study was conducted to compare and calculate the efficiencies of the drone-type MTD’s deceptive defense, which had not been considered in prior studies, by unique environmental features inside and outside the drone. Furthermore, we conducted a detailed performance evaluation considering game metrics based on sensitivity analysis. Hereafter, the drone-type MTD will be extended into an actual active drone protection technology combining cyber flare-type avoidance strategies and cyber camouflage-type disarrangement strategies by expanding its optimization domain as a hypergame, while integrating it with drone decoy elements.

Understanding situation awareness in SOCs, a systematic literature review

Situation awareness is shown through human factors research to be a valuable construct to understand and improve how humans perform while operating complex systems in critical environments. Within cyber security one such environment is the Security Operations Center (SOC). With the increasing threat of hybrid warfare, knowledge about situation awareness within SOC environments, where human error or low performance may be detrimental, must be developed. This paper reports on the results of a Systematic Descriptive Literature Review of the current research on situation awareness within SOCs. The goal of the paper is to analyze how situation awareness is understood in the current research. To achieve this goal three aspects of understanding were addressed: Theoretical foundations; levels of conceptualization; and measurement of situation awareness. Theoretical foundations in the literature were assessed by how situation awareness was defined and the presence of references to theoretical models of SA. The results show a clear trend of basing the research on Endsley's three level situation awareness model; this model has been developed into a domain specific formulation called “Cyber Situation Awareness”. Some parts of the literature, particularly in research aimed at developing tools for improving situation awareness, lack a theoretical foundation; some refer to alternative theoretical foundations of situation awareness like Stanton et al.’s Distributed Situation Awareness. Further, a balance between conceptualizations on the individual, group and system level has been identified. Within research aimed at developing tools for improving situation awareness there are some examples of specialized and precise measurements of situation awareness, but in general the research seems too reliant on indirect measures of situation awareness. The paper concludes with the proposition of connecting the systems-based theoretical perspective of distributed situation awareness into the research, utilizing a systems level conceptualization of situation awareness. This might prove to be a useful bridge between the human cognitive perspective of situation awareness and the development of the complex technical environment of critical importance that SOCs represent.

Health and Safety Threats to Ukraine From Nonconventional Weapons

This Viewpoint discusses the potential for use of nonconventional warfare threats (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives) in the conflict in Ukraine and how health care professionals need to recognize and respond to these threats.

An analysis of Pak-Russia relations in the evolving new regional order: 2013-2022

As regional political order has been shifting, Pakistan is faced with the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan and its aftereffects, Indian inference in the region political paradigm, the building of new trilateral cooperative blocs in the regional context, and the threat of fifth-generation and hybrid warfare. Therefore, the study is designed to interpret and evaluate Pakistan-Russian foreign policy achievements and their futuristic consequences. The occurrence of multiple political events like hybrid warfare from a geo-strategic perspective has signalled major geopolitical and socio-economic competition in the global market; for which Pakistan and Russia are gearing up. Given existing geopolitical compulsions like Moscow’s quest for playing a decisive role in Afghanistan’s security calculus, Pakistan’s pursuit of coming out of the US straitjacket and finding alternative regional partners offer the reasons, challenges, and outlook for reshaping ties. Pakistan and Russia require a balanced strategic plan to counter the regional threats after the departure of NATO forces from Afghan soil. This article also discusses the core socio-economic strategies between Pakistan and Russia for diluting their gaps. The main point which can play a vital role in creating a close bilateral nexus between both states is the decisive foreign policy initiative from both ends.