Use Of Military Force Research Articles

Hybrid Peace: Ethnographies of War

The article observes the latest ethnographic research on modern warfare, which sheds light on interconnected internal security regimes, military invasions abroad, and so-called hybrid or rhizomatic warfare. The paper critiques two analytical categories: notions of hybrid warfare and the “state of exception” (Giorgio Agamben). Hybridity in the context of modern warfare is generally used to describe the enemy or threat, rather than self-description. The author of the article proposes the notion of “hybrid peace” in the dual meaning of peace as space and peace as the opposite of the state of war. This notion points to the ontological uncertainty of the world at the beginning of the 21 st century as a state of undeclared wars, and this state of uncertainty is no longer a “state of exception.” The new normality of the hybrid world is examined in terms of those zones where the use of military force is possible and military violence is justified, and those where it is not. Examples of the study of such military interventions include works on drone warfare in the Middle East, the extraterritoriality of garrisons and guerrilla movements in Central and West Africa, and the rhizomatic operations of the Israel Defense Forces. To understand these and many other cases, the author finds productive the notion of Carl Schmitt’s “nomos of the Earth” and his “theory of the guerrilla.”

China’s Russia/Ukraine Problem, and Why It’s Bad for Almost Everyone Else Too

The war in Ukraine, the international responses targeting Russia, and China’s reaction to the conflict point to complex and possibly growing China-related challenges for international order and security, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. On issues of great power diplomacy, state sovereignty, economic sanctions, and the use of military force, the lessons Beijing’s behavior appears to teach and the lessons Beijing may be learning in the context of the Ukraine crisis are complex but mostly bode ill. These Ukraine-related developments are greater causes for concern because they are consistent with, and likely to reinforce, prior trends and patterns in China’s perceptions and behavior.

ОТ БОЛЬШОЙ ИГРЫ К ХОЛОДНОЙ ВОЙНЕ: МАЛЫЕ ВОЙНЫ НА ВОСТОКЕ В БРИТАНСКОЙ И ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ ВОЕННОЙ МЫСЛИ ПЕРВОЙ ТРЕТИ XX В.

The understanding of a small war as a model of a colonial insurgency was a characteristic feature of the development of the military thought of European empires that were expanding their borders. The authors see this process as a reflection of discussions about the role of military authorities in ensuring the colonial order. Comparison of the Russian and British cases in the first third of the 20th century allows us to move beyond the traditional framework of the “Great Game” in studying the peculiarities of the use of military force in the eastern outskirts of the Russian and British empires. An analysis of the evolution of the military thought of these countries demonstrates that on the eve of the Great War, their professional military communities shared common ideas about the spectrum of priority potential threats to their security in Asia, giving priority to training personnel and officers in conventional conflicts. The study proves that in the Interbellum, the attitude of the military of the Great Britain and the USSR to small wars changed under the influence of new global ideological trends (nationalism, communism, pan-Islamism). We have succeeded in proving that, despite all the differences in ideological approaches and the methodology of analysis, both British and Soviet military thought came to the conclusion that in non-European theaters of small war, military measures represent only a part of the overall policy of appeasement of a particular territory and should be combined with social, economic and political measures designed to overcome the crisis of loyalty in relations with the native population.

Social and professional determinants of military profession as methodological guidelines for socio-professional responsibility development of a military specialist

The development of the socio-professional responsibility among a military specialist is relevant due to the increasing threat of the use of military force in modern conditions and the innovative nature of the development of means and methods of armed struggle, expanding the destructive potential and scale of professional activity of a military specialist. The purpose of this study is to analyze the content and interrelation of the social and professional determinants of the military profession, to determine on the basis of the results of the analysis of methodological approaches to the development of socio-professional responsibility of a military specialist. The study proves that the unity of military and military professional activity, manifested in the military profession, allows us to consider social and professional responsibility as professionally important as a military specialist. Socio-professional responsibility is a personal new formation in the system of professionally important qualities of a military specialist, combining awareness and acceptance of socio-professional values, a high level of professional competence, readiness for socially-oriented responsible behavior in the military profession and achieving success in military labor. The methodological basis is highlighted, including value-acmeological, praxiological and situational approaches, ensuring the development of socio-professional responsibility of a military specialist. We consider the pedagogical patterns and principles that determine the organization and content of the development of socio-professional responsibility of a military specialist. A well-founded set of methodological approaches is characterized by interconnectedness and complementarity and is the most optimal for the development of socio-professional responsibility of a military specialist.

FROM INTERVENTION TO EXIT: AN ANALYSIS OF POST-9/11 US STRATEGIES IN AFGHANISTAN

Following the US exit from Afghanistan, the debate revolves around why US intervention in Afghanistan, the longest and one of the most expensive in its history, has failed in defeating the Taliban and realising a durable state-building. The debate considers endogenous factors that explore US and Taliban strategies and exogenous factors that underline the role of regional and extra-regional actors in determining the outcome of the Afghan conflict. This paper, therefore, focuses on faults and inconsistencies within and across US strategies in Afghanistan, i.e., the use of military force, political settlement, and state-building. It also examines US strategies vis-à-vis conflict in Afghanistan under four US administrations – from Bush to Biden – to ascertain why these strategies proved ineffective. These strategies have been analysed by following the conceptual framework of Game Theory. The paper argues that US strategies for entering Afghanistan were detached from the ground realities, which was the critical factor for its failure to achieve the desired outcome of the conflict. Bibliography Entry Shad, Muhammad Riaz, Sajid Iqbal. 2021. "From Intervention to Exit: An Analysis of Post-9/11 US Strategies in Afghanistan." Margalla Papers 25 (2): 23-34.

An Unusual Role: Soviet Diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang in 1968

The seizure of the USS Pueblo, an American intelligence ship, on 23 January 1968 triggered one of the most acute and dangerous international crises during the Cold War. The US government comprehensively studied the situation and concluded that a forceful response to the North Korean action was futile, and any action with the use of military force was fraught with the unpredictable escalation and internationalisation of the conflict. In addition, President Lyndon Johnson’s administration had the goal of saving the lives of internees from the ship. The solution to this problem acquired particular importance in connection with the upcoming presidential elections. Negotiations were chosen as a way to overcome the crisis, during which Washington repeatedly appealed to the Soviet government with requests for support in its difficult dialogue with the DPRK leadership. North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, for his part, chose the tactic of delaying negotiations. Both sides were in contact with the USSR, as a result of which Soviet diplomacy had to, on the one hand, facilitate the return of American sailors to their homeland, and, on the other, maintain their image of the leader of the world socialist system, condemning US espionage actions near the shores of a state friendly to the USSR. The purpose of this article is to show Soviet diplomacy in the unusual role of a mediator in the dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, and to assess the significance of these efforts for resolving a conflict fraught with global consequences. It is concluded that the actions of Soviet diplomacy in the context of this crisis contributed to the relaxation of tensions in US-Soviet relations.

Protection of the environment in times of international armed conflict: الحماية الدولية للبيئة من التلوث في زمن النزاعات المسلحة

The study aims to identify the most important international principles for protecting the environment in times of armed conflict, Whereas the environment is an ecosystem that consists of an interconnected group that differs in size and type of organisms and organic and inorganic elements that are balanced in a relatively stable manner. Since man is one of the most important living creatures, which necessitates human protection to preserve the environment and its balance, the international community has set controls for the use of military force, since wars are an inevitable evil, Among the most important of them is the principle of balance between military necessity and humanitarian considerations. And we used the analytical method in the study by analyzing and studying the principles of international humanitarian law. And from the above, we divided the study into three demands, the first demands dealt with the concept of military necessity in international humanitarian law, while we discussed in the second demands the concept of the principle of balance in international humanitarian law, and in the third demands we dealt with the principle of balance between military necessity and humanitarian considerations. One of the most important findings of this study is that the principle of military necessity protects the natural and civilian environment through its association with the principle of humanity, which constitute the principle of balance between military necessity and humanitarian considerations, The principle of balance between military necessity and humanitarian considerations regulates the use of weapons during armed conflicts and prohibits the use of weapons of mass destruction to protect the environment during armed conflicts. The researcher recommends that the United Nations Organization renew international agreements prohibiting the use of weapons of mass destruction in line with modern science and developments in scientific fields.

ON MILITARY STRATEGIES, REVIEW

ON MILITARY STRATEGIES, REVIEW

Capital and Control: Neocolonialism Through the Militarization of African Wildlife Conservation

Biodiversity loss is occurring at catastrophic rates worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, wildlife conservation efforts have centred around creating and managing protected areas. However, contemporary African states and their environmental policies are inseparable from the legacies of their former colonial powers, who sponsored the creation and continued management of protected areas to best serve their interests. By reviewing existing literature and a case study on the colonial history of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this paper examines how African wildlife has been accumulated as capital belonging to the nation-state, legitimizing the use of military force against perceived threats. Through this framing, former colonial powers have funded and sponsored militarized conservation in Africa, effectively retaining control over the narratives and management of the continent’s natural resources in the postcolonial period.

Revisiting the remoteness of remote warfare: US military intervention in Libya during Obama’s presidency

ABSTRACT This paper aims to develop the study of remote warfare’s constitutive “remoteness.” It proposes a novel definition of remoteness as the degree of the American public’s socio-psychological detachment from the realities of political violence fought at a physical distance from the continental United States, as mediated through spectatorship of the use of military force. The remoteness of remote warfare has physical, psychological, and social properties. We argue that it exists on a continuum subject to change over time and should not be approached as a fixed condition measured solely by the physical distance separating combatants involved in armed fighting or as the use of various weapons technologies. The numerous dynamics associated with the remoteness of remote warfare are illustrated through an examination of American military intervention in Libya during Obama’s presidency. From the height of the 2011 NATO intervention in the country onwards, US military operations in Libya became more “remote” for the American public. Whilst other contextual factors contributed toward this outcome, we argue that the diminished spectacle surrounding the 2016 Operation Odyssey Lightning helps explain the American public’s increasing remoteness from military intervention in Libya.

Medical Ethics for the Military Profession

This paper summarizes medical ethics in the military profession to raise military leaders’ awareness of Military Medical Ethics (MME) and the ethical issues that may impact their medical services and personnel. First, it summarizes core concepts, including the four principles of medical ethics (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice), the two legal frameworks for the use of military force in war, jus ad bellum and jus in bello, and the concept of dual loyalty. It then examines MME issues during conflict, in garrison healthcare, and during the COVID-19 epidemic. Finally, it concludes by arguing that MME is an important domain of military ethics that should be taught to military leaders to complement the detailed education of MME for military medical professionals.

The American role in the Anti-Soviet Afghan War (1977- 1980)

Purpose of the study: This study aims to discuss the American role in the anti-Soviet Afghan war and disclose the reasons for the Soviet worry about the growth of the fundamentalist terrorist groups inside Afghanistan.
 Methodology: This is library-based research work.
 Results: The article has come up with some main points on that severe war. One of these was that the American President Jimmy Carter's Doctrine in 1980. Carter's Doctrine could be considered a sort of policy that allows the use of military force in case American interests are exposed to Soviet threats. As a result, the American administration promised to militarily support the Afghan fighters against the Soviet control in Afghanistan. But, at the same time, the Americans failed to realize the ethnic, ideological, social, lingual, and theological structure of the Afghan society.
 Application: This study could have many applications in the faculties of politics and the contemporary altogether to teach the ways of public and secret or hidden political relationships between the secular states or so-called superpowers that employed the extremist groups to overwhelm the stable states that do not subdue to the western domination.
 Novelty: This study explores the incorrect claim of the superpowers in general and of the United States of America in particular of the theory of separation religion and the state, which is often used in the double standard.

From 9/11 to 1/6: Lessons for Congress from Twenty Years of War, Legislation, and Spiraling Partisanship

Two decades on from the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks, and in the wake of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 (1/6), it is appropriate to appraise Congress’s performance over the past twenty years in providing “for the common Defence. This invited symposium essay finds the record mixed. Going forward, Congress certainly can and urgently must summon its foresight, civic courage, and institutional resolve to do a better job providing for the common defense while also doing its constitutional duty to “insure domestic Tranquility.” Part I of this essay takes stock overall. Congress helped the nation to mitigate the foreign terrorist threat more effectively than most probably expected immediately after 9/11. That is the good news. But Congress has done worse regarding the domestic terrorist threat than almost anyone twenty years ago would have predicted. Additionally, Congress has provided the Executive Branch a predictable but dangerously expansive degree of latitude in national security. Part II of this essay sets out particular lessons learned and actionable steps toward national and institutional redemption. These recommendations center on stemming the spiraling partisanship that now—worse than any foreign actor—threatens the nation’s ability to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Legislators must lead opinion: they must show integrity and put constitutional conscience ahead of partisan and personal self-interest. Congress will better play its constitutional role by asserting more confidently and carefully its abundant national security constitutional authorities vis-a-vis the Executive Branch. This essay recommends that Congress vigorously examine Executive claims about intelligence and use of force; reclaim its powers over use of force by repealing and replacing existing statutory Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMFs); reigning in standing statutory grants of emergency authority to the President; legislate with future threats and risks in mind; and enact a framework statute on to prevent repeat of the kind of radical secret reinterpretations of the law that were part of the post-9/11 era's most searing scandals regarding surveillance and torture.

Obama and the use of force: a discursive institutionalist analysis of Libya and Syria

What factors explain variation in decisions to use force in American foreign policy? Consider the Obama administration’s decision to intervene in Libya. Upon assuming office, Obama outlined a foreign policy marked by a self-professed doctrine, ‘don’t do stupid shit’. In short, Obama sought to avoid the unnecessary use of military force, but when the threat of mass atrocity emerged, despite strong protests from senior advisers, he became drawn into the 2011 Libya intervention. By contrast, following chemical weapon attacks in Syria in 2013, Obama reneged on upholding his so-called ‘red-line’, pursuing diplomatic measures even though support for a military response was strong. But what explains this variation? Rationalist perspectives across the board have tended to overrate interpretive efficiency. Yet, such assumptions obscure the capacity for interests to be interpreted in different ways. To redress this issue, I build on discursive institutionalist insights, developing a model to show how principled and cognitive ideas act as weapons in institutional debates, serving to repress or displace information. To show how agents come to rely on principled or cognitive ideas, I develop a three-part model offering two mechanisms – cognitive repression and normative displacement – by which agents displace and repress certain types of information, depending on the ‘form’ in which that information is presented. This enables a more comprehensive understanding of how different interpretations lead to policy variation at critical moments of decision.

Legalizing a Political Fight: Congressional Abdication of War Powers in the Bush and Obama Administrations

AbstractFor decades, presidents and members of Congress have actively shifted the separation of powers to provide the executive branch with more room for unilateral action in the realm of war. While this imbalance is clearest when presidents decide to act without the consent of Congress, it is still present and arguably more dangerous when Congress does provide authorization. By examining the legal language used in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the subsequent Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), I demonstrate how members of Congress crafted documents that were not designed to ensure presidential accountability and this allowed for the execution of poorly designed policy. Drawing on the work of scholars who emphasize the positive ends of constitutional grants of power, this essay establishes a metric for evaluating congressional deliberations on military operations. I apply this metric to deliberation about the 2003 war in Iraq and the military operation against ISIS in 2014. Neither operation compelled deliberation about the merits of action from Congress or ensured accountability from the executive after the fact.

The ‘ultimate insurance’ or an ‘irrelevance’ for national security needs? Partisanship, foreign policy attitudes, and the gender gap in British public opinion towards nuclear weapons

AbstractOnly two European countries – France and the UK, both NATO members – have nuclear weapons, and leading politicians have called for the UK and EU to maintain close military and security links post-Brexit. In the context of the Trident renewal debate and the UK government's recently published integrated defence and security review, this article uses data from the new UK Security Survey to analyse attitudes towards the possession of nuclear weapons among the British public. It assesses three key theorical strands in the wider scholarly literature on public opinion and states’ use of military force: domestic political attitudes, foreign policy predispositions, and the ‘gender gap’. We find that all three theoretical perspectives contribute to the underpinnings of contemporary public opinion towards nuclear weapons. Support for the retention of Britain's nuclear deterrent is associated with being a Conservative Party supporter, favouring Brexit, endorsing superior military power worldwide as an important foreign policy goal, wanting to protect the transatlantic relationship, and with being male. The article makes a distinctive contribution to the growing subfield of research on public opinion and foreign policy, while the findings advance wider empirical understanding of contemporary citizen engagement in a key dimension of security policy.

Biden Administration Relies on Constitutional Authority and Unwilling or Unable Theory of Self-Defense for Airstrikes in Syria

On February 25, 2021, the United States conducted a strike targeting Iranian-backed militia group facilities in Syria. The strike, which came in response to a February 15, 2021 attack on U.S. interests in Iraq, marked the Biden administration's first known exercise of executive war powers. As domestic authority for the strike, President Joseph Biden, Jr. cited his authority under Article II of the U.S. Constitution and did not rely on the 2001 or 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMFs). For international legal authority, Biden relied on individual self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, stating that Syria was “unwilling or unable” to prevent further attacks on the United States by these non-state actors within its territory. The strikes garnered mixed reactions from Congress, where efforts are underway to repeal or reform extant AUMFs as well as the War Powers Resolution (WPR). The Biden administration is also undertaking a review of current U.S. military policy on the use of force, and during this process, it has prohibited drone strikes outside of conventional battlefields, absent presidential approval.

The resort to military force in the COVID-19 health emergency: A justification

The COVID-19 pandemic has been mobilizing the full capacities of societies worldwide to respond to unprecedented threats to national and human security. In many cases, emergency measures have involved military support to civil institutions, including law enforcement operations. This paper aims to understand the legality and legitimacy of these military operations better, using hermeneutic, comparative, and survey methodology. It is based on the assumptions that international human rights standards crucially determine moral requirements for domestic use of military force and that just war theory can be equally helpful in the decision-making on domestic military operations in such circumstances. This study assesses the justification of current military enforcement and recommends criteria for future emergencies.

The Relevance of Community Involvement in Military Counter-Insurgency Operations in North Eastern Nigeria

The paper highlights the increasing in-practicability of post-conflict peace-building in the context of emerging unconventional intra-state wars. It however ascertains the viability of a community-referent peace-building intervention as part of wider efforts to counter the influence of Boko Haram, while tending to humanitarian needs of affected communities. To do so, it employs textual analysis of qualitative secondary data, and builds on the submission of civil-military-relations theory as its framework for analysis. The result of the textual analysis of prior literature suggests counter insurgency operations in the northeast remain highly militarized, with inconsequential attention being paid to the humanitarian needs of affected communities. Despite its relevance, the use of military force has proven to be counterproductive given its state-referent orientation. Further to which sustained use of force has heightens the effect of the conflict on millions of civilians who have fled their communities in fear of Boko Haram and military highhandedness. To address the deficiencies of the pre-existing framework for countering insurgency, the paper proposes the implementation of a community centric, bottom-up approach which emphasizes the security, reconstruction and reintegration needs of civilians and defecting combatants. By prioritizing the inclusive needs of affected communities, the state is likely to win over the population, drawing on the combined expertise and resources of military and civilian actors. The implementation of such an approach will require in amongst others a reorientation of the military roles, a renewed relation of mutual assistance between civilian and military actors in the northeast.

The Point Is to Change It

We who are engaged in the struggle for change might ask: "Through what lens of refraction is the evidence of events recalled and related?" If we are to resist the genocidal use of military force, and to oppose the environmental depredation that follows in its wake, we need to see the roots and laws of motion of colonialism and empire