Showing papers by "Naval War College published in 2019"

The capability/vulnerability paradox and military revolutions: Implications for computing, cyber, and the onset of war

Abstract: The Information Revolution, or the rise in computing power, allowed states to leverage digital capabilities to exert conventional military dominance. But does it also create vulnerabilities...

The Power of Language: Gender, Status, and Agency in Performance Evaluations

Abstract: In the workplace, women often encounter gender stereotypes and biases that reinforce the existing gender hierarchy, may hinder women’s career aspirations and retention, and may limit their ability to be promoted—especially in traditionally male organizations. Long-standing and widely held (although often unconscious) beliefs about gender can reinforce women’s perceived lower status position relative to men’s. Because men are described/prescribed as agentic (often masculine) and women as communal (often feminine), women leaders are often evaluated as being status-incongruent. We explore the gendered assignment of leader attributes with particular attention to associations of agentic competence (deficiency for women) and agentic dominance (penalty for women). We examined peer evaluations of 4344 U.S. Naval Academy students who are assigned attributes from a predefined list. Although men and women received similar numbers of descriptive (positive) attributes, women received more proscriptive (negative) attributes than did men and these individual attributes were predominantly feminine. These findings offer evidence that women leaders’ status incongruity may be associated with perceived competence (agentic deficiency). A contribution of our analysis is theory testing using data from a real-life performance evaluation system. Additionally, our research contributes to our knowledge of gendered language and status characteristics in performance evaluations and can assist researchers and practitioners with developing interventions. Understanding the association of gender status beliefs with evaluation processes may facilitate changing workplace culture to be more gender-inclusive through less biased and stereotypical performance evaluations.

Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?

Abstract: The metaphor in the title of Graham Allison’s 2017 book, Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? refers to Thucydides’s assertion that the Peloponnesian War was inevitable...

Towards resilient health systems: opportunities to align surgical and disaster planning

Abstract: Natural disasters significantly contribute to human death and suffering. Moreover, they exacerbate pre-existing health inequalities by imposing an additional burden on the most vulnerable populations. Robust local health systems can greatly mitigate this burden by absorbing the extraordinary patient volume and case complexity immediately after a disaster. This resilience is largely determined by the predisaster local surgical capacity, with trauma, neurosurgical, obstetrical and anaesthesia care of particular importance. Nevertheless, the disaster management and global surgery communities have not coordinated the development of surgical systems in low/middle-income countries (LMIC) with disaster resilience in mind. Herein, we argue that an appropriate peridisaster response requires coordinated surgical and disaster policy, as only local surgical systems can provide adequate disaster care in LMICs. We highlight three opportunities to help guide this policy collaboration. First, the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction set forth independent roadmaps for global surgical care and disaster risk reduction; however, ultimately both advocate for health system strengthening in LMICs. Second, the integration of surgical and disaster planning is necessary. Disaster risk reduction plans could recognise the role of surgical systems in disaster preparedness more explicitly and pre-emptively identify deficiencies in surgical systems. Based on these insights, National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plans, in turn, can better address deficiencies in systems and ensure increased disaster resilience. Lastly, the recent momentum for national surgical planning in LMICs represents a political window for the integration of surgical policy and disaster risk reduction strategies.

The New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder

Abstract: This is an important and provocative book by Sean McFate, former US Army Officer, faculty member at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and The National Defense University, and a Senior Fellow a...

‘Our Efforts Have Degenerated into a Competition for Dollars’. The ‘Revolt of the Admirals’, NSC-68, and the Political Economy of the Cold War

Abstract: The ‘unification’ of the United States Army and Navy under the 1947 National Security Act, combined with efforts to cut expenditures after the Second World War, spawned vicious inter-service compet...

The EU’s maritime operations and the future of European Security: learning from operations Atalanta and Sophia

Abstract: The study of maritime operations has generally been neglected in a European Security and Defense Policy debate that often focuses on political will, bureaucratic incoherence, and military interoperability. Nonetheless, maritime operations have played an increasingly important role in the last decade and deserve deeper analysis. First, they provide a valuable optic for identifying a dynamic change in policy priorities over time. Second, they suggest the conditions under which the EU can and cannot fulfill the Brussels leadership’s avowed role as a “global player.” Finally, they also illustrate the EU’s presiding tensions when it comes to external challenges: between rhetoric and behavior, institutionally with NATO, and of the shifting political priorities among national governments. In this article, we compare the EU’s two major maritime operations. The first, Atalanta, is a counter-piracy multilateral operation in cooperation with NATO and non-EU states off the Somali coast. The second, Sophia, has evolved from search and rescue to thwarting migrant flows in the Mediterranean. Among several conclusions, we suggest that the evolution of maritime operations demonstrates an increasing gap—between the EU’s rhetoric of having a global strategy and its regional operational security focus.

The Making of the Modern Chinese Navy

Abstract: 'The Making of the Modern Chinese Navy' includes 14 historical case studies that help to illuminate a number of special characteristics of the modern-day Chinese navy. The Chinese Navy embodies a number of special features that modern-day Chinese naval officers perhaps take for granted, including a belief in the Mandate of Heaven, tributary system, and the fear of 'losing face' either in a diplomatic setting or by risking valuable equipment in battle. Ethnic and language differences, regional loyalties, and political mistrust potentially exacerbate these problems. Special peculiarities include the Mongol dual-officer diarchy that led to the political commissar system utilized by the People's Liberation Army. Outside influences, such as blockade, sanctions, and embargoes, can exert a profound impact on China, just as foreign intervention or, equally important, a decision not to intervene, can often determine the outcome of major maritime events. The 14 case studies discuss many of these characteristics, while the Conclusion examines all case studies together and places them in a historical perspective. Do Chinese still worry about 'face', and in particular about 'losing face'? What impact does the Mandate of Heaven have on modern Chinese? Will Han Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait go to war to determine which dynasty should rule all of China? Does the PLAN worry as much about mutiny as earlier dynasties? What is the impact of foreign intervention, foreign decisions not to intervene and secret diplomacy? 'The Making of the Modern Chinese Navy' assesses which of these historical characteristics and peculiarities are still present in full force in China and which ones may no longer have as great an impact on the contemporary Chinese navy.

Mapping women’s presence and importance in the Brazilian maritime community

Abstract: This paper aims to present the initial results of mapping women’s participation in the maritime community of Brazil. The authors reflect on persistent symbols and historical advances related to women professional roles in Brazil, analysing the theme through the lenses of gender and feminism. The maritime community is understood as a diversified and open concept, which ranges from the civilian to the military groups, including women within shipping and chartering companies, local fishing communities and naval officials. By the methods of literature review and online surveying, it is possible to detect women’s main difficulties and challenges in working and thriving in what is considered to be essentially a masculine environment. This study is especially important to Brazil, a developing country with historical gender inequality and a patriarchal society.

Furthering regional energy security instead of national approaches

Abstract: This paper argues that furthering energy security should move beyond a national approach and consequently consider a regional one. The case study considers Mercosur and UNASUR, covering the period between 2015-2050. The methodology is based on energy modeling and scenarization using the Open Source Energy Modelling System – South America Model Base (OSeMOSYS-SAMBA), a model of planning for the expansion of long-term energy systems. The modeling exercise supports the argument that greater electricity integration in Mercosur (and in South America as a whole) promotes a reduction in the need to increase installed capacity, as well as lower geographic and socio-environmental impacts. Keyword: Energy Security; Energy Integration; Mercosur; UNASUR. JEL Codes: C6, N76, O13, Q4

Decision-Making in American Foreign Policy: Translating Theory into Practice

Abstract: This foreign policy analysis textbook is written especially for students studying to become national security professionals. It translates academic knowledge about the complex influences on American foreign policymaking into an intuitive, cohesive, and practical set of analytic tools. The focus here is not theory for the sake of theory, but rather to translate theory into practice. Classic paradigms are adapted to fit the changing realities of the contemporary national security environment. For example, the growing centrality of the White House is seen in the 'palace politics' of the president's inner circle, and the growth of the national security apparatus introduces new dimensions to organizational processes and subordinate levels of bureaucratic politics. Real-world case studies are used throughout to allow students to apply theory. These comprise recent events that draw impartially across partisan lines and encompass a variety of diplomatic, military, and economic and trade issues.

Strategic partners or an emerging alliance? India and the United States in an era of global power transition

Abstract: The Indian Ocean region (IOR) is on the frontline of a global shift in the balance of power involving such countries as China, the United States, and India. Underpinning this transition is the grow...

The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order

Abstract: Pakistan’s division. General Farman’s perspectives and analytical introspection on the events leading to the secession of Bengal (East Pakistan) offer a unique lens through which to see the events that unfolded from the late 1960s through the early 1970s. The brutality of the division is heartwrenching in terms of victim impacts on all sides. This book is Farman’s articulate and heartfelt, yet highly logical, autopsy of the division of West and East Pakistan, the latter of which established itself as Bangladesh. He identifies the causal factors on both sides that drove Bengali nationalism and hatred of West Pakistan, as well as the gross ineptitude of political leaders on all sides, who preferred denial over realism. Farman’s daughter presents the foreword, and then he sets the stage in the preface, consisting of questions and answers translated from the Urdu edition of his memoirs, published in 1999. He frankly addresses the causal factors behind the Bengalis (of East Pakistan) wanting to secede. He explains that the leaders of both West and East Pakistan were wholly selfinterested, as opposed to meeting the public’s needs. He contends that there really was no need for military action, because the East Pakistan rebellion could have been avoided, and political and diplomatic tools could have been used to defuse the tensions. Farman pointedly criticizes poor decision-making on both sides. He also blames both sides for committing atrocities. The first chapter, “Changing Patterns of Muslim Bengal,” explains the circumstances in West and East Pakistan prior to hostilities. One of the most important points he makes is about the disconnect between the state and the emotional sentiments of the nation. He writes, “A state has a physical form; a nation an emotional cohesion,” which the West Pakistan–based government failed to appreciate (7). Farman blames the Pakistani leadership for being more focused on money and self-interest than on taking the indicators of discontent in East Pakistan seriously. Some of these indicators included the hate-Urdu campaign, rising Bengali nationalism, and increasing hatred of West Pakistan. In particular, Farman provides an insider’s perspective on the dynamics between military officers. He gives the examples of West and East Pakistan’s military officers refusing to speak to each other; how Bengali officers stuck together; and that communication, in general, was not possible because the West Pakistani officers did not know the Bengali language. Chapter 2, “Estrangement,” discusses the differences between West and East Pakistan regarding foreign and domestic policies. In the realm of foreign policy, the main issue was India, which East Pakistanis viewed as a potential trade partner, but West Pakistanis viewed as enemy number one. East Pakistanis resentfully viewed West Pakistan as neglecting their needs and deliberately marginalizing them in terms of political representation and resource allocation. Linguistic differences added to their resentment, especially when West Pakistan nationalized Urdu. Governing a country that was geographically partitioned, with India wedged in the center, further complicated the situation. The next few chapters focus on elections, their outcomes, and their impact in both flanks of the country. Then, the middle of the book provides details about military actions, including India’s intervention. Chapter 12 analyzes Pakistan’s operational successes and failures, and this is followed by postwar delineations of friends and foes. In chapter 16, Farman specifies the “Politicians’ Responsibility in the Breakup of Pakistan” (239). Woven throughout the book are painful reminders for the general and his military colleagues about how West Pakistanis blamed the army for the defeat in the 1971 war. However, Farman is steadfast in critiquing the woeful failures of the politicians and decision-makers on all sides. He assails Mujibur Rahman for stoking anti–West Pakistan hatred in “an open revolt,” and for fanning the flames of hatred based on ethnic and linguistic differences between both flanks. India took advantage of the situation, resulting in “the breakup of our country” (246). The final chapter presents Farman’s critique of the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report. It is a firsthand account of how Farman was raked over the coals in the after-action report following the 1971 debacle, which, at the time, was considered a military failure. Then, he explains how the tables were turned and the politicians, including Bhutto, came under scrutiny. Farman feels that the politicians failed the country. He does an outstanding job explaining how that happened. His references and research are impeccable. Moreover, having served as an insider in these events strengthens the credibility of this book. The appendices and graphic maps at the end of the book are extremely resourceful. Farman’s book is an indispensable resource in the form of a first-person account of a historical tragedy in South Asia. In the present, reading this book begs the question: have the region’s politicians learned from history?

Lloyd George and the American Naval Challenge: “The Naval Battle of Paris”

Abstract: In the immediate aftermath of the First World War, naval competition loomed between Great Britain and the United States. This American naval challenge frustrated Britain’s leaders, who were determi...

Haig’s Enemy: Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany’s War on the Western Front

Abstract: In Peace at Last, Guy Cuthbertson, associate professor of English literature at Liverpool Hope University, draws together various accounts of the story of how Britons dealt with and thought about Armistice Day. Cuthbertson has provided a detailed account of how that day was experienced by people at the time, attempting to avoid the retrospection of the Second World War that has undoubtedly altered the way Armistice Day has been understood in popular memory. What Cuthbertson offers is an aesthetic and cultural evaluation of the events that shaped that day, from the time the Armistice agreement was crafted in a forest in France to the moment the Armistice was declared at 11 a.m. to Armistice night, when the thrill of the day brought both continued excitement and solemn reflection. Although there was much celebrating in Britain on November 11, 1918, Cuthbertson is mindful of more earnest responses, notably from war poets like Robert Graves, but also from those who saw the celebrations of Armistice Day as ignorant, vulgar, and un-British. Cuthbertson, Guy The scope of the book is necessarily narrow, given that it traces events over a single day and night, but Cuthbertson both invokes a larger cultural history of victory celebrations in Britain and contextualizes the rites and rituals that were central to the public response to peace. Although he is careful not to extrapolate too much meaning from earlier events, he is connecting cultural dots that, ultimately, may have very little to do with one another. In some cases, the connections are illuminating and compelling, if not entirely convincing. For example, Cuthbertson finds significance in the effigies of the Kaiser that were burned in Oxford near sites where Protestant martyrs were burned during the reign of Bloody Mary (169). This does not necessarily detract from the overall quality of the book, but it does often conflate coincidence with causality. Peace at Last both extends and challenges the attention given to the final moments of the First World War. Though much ink has been spilled on understanding the domestic response to the outbreak of the war, comparatively little has been devoted to how Britons experienced Armistice Day. For Cuthbertson, this was a “magical day” that could “be remembered and commemorated” (225) but could never—and has never—been repeated. In the final chapter, he explains that, although the day was one of pleasure and happiness, it was also a day that brought the war suddenly into focus, and the joyous atmosphere, though it did not disappear all at once, was fleeting. Largely avoiding the antiwar perspective of the 1920s, Cuthbertson argues that celebration turned to commemoration very quickly in the days and weeks after November 11 and, most important, that this change was irrevocable once viewed through the sobering prism of another world war. Cuthbertson weaves together a variety of primary and secondary sources, relying heavily on newspaper articles, poetry, and literature produced either on that day or in the period of the war more generally. This strategy offers corroboration for his conclusions and also validates the documentary quality of literature. Cuthbertson acknowledges that literary works were not free from political or ideological influences, just as popular responses were simultaneously spontaneous and reflective. Whether Britons experienced the excitement or the solemnity of that day, none were ignorant of the incredible cost of peace. First World War historians will particularly welcome the attention paid to the final moments of the war and the diversity of responses from the men stationed on the Western Front and from soldiers and civilians in London and major metropolitan areas, as well as the distinctiveness of rural experiences. If London experienced an outburst of carnivalesque euphoria, rural areas were usually slower to receive the news that peace had returned. Their response to the news may have been equally genial, but the intensity, pace, and duration of the celebrations were more muted. Some limited comparisons are offered with France and Germany, but Cuthbertson’s focus is on the complexity of British experiences. Peace at Last is a very readable book that sustains interest through expressive prose, illuminating juxtapositions, and an engaging use of source material. Although more context is needed to support some of its conclusions, it is an important contribution to the literature and will be of interest to historians, literary critics, and general readers interested in the First World War.

Antarctica as a South Atlantic Maritime Security Issue

Abstract: This chapter outlines the public international law framework of the Antarctic Treaty to analyse the current position of three Antarctic territorialist countries—Argentina, Chile, and the UK—and whether and how their claims have interfered each other and in the Brazilian regional strategic assessment.

Britain: Practising Aggression

Abstract: Historians have hesitated to connect British officer recruitment, training, and deployment to combat effectiveness, but it is undoubtedly the case that Britain’s emergence as the leading naval power in Europe shaped the course of the eighteenth century. This chapter explores the development, significance, and experience of the lieutenants’ exam, as well as officers’ social backgrounds, promotion prospects, and conceptions of honour. Because of their practical experience at sea, regular opportunities to deploy in wartime, and stiff competition for employment and promotion, British officers developed an aggressive approach naval warfare. The execution of Admiral Byng played a significant role in shaping the ethos of the officer corps.

Seapower states: maritime culture, continental empires and the conflict that made the modern world

Abstract: The introduction to Andrew Lambert’s newest book crashes over the reader like a wave, and it requires a few read-throughs to get one’s bearings and find the surface. Here is John Ruskin in Venice e...

Unforced Errors: ISIS, The Baath Party, And The Reconciliation Of The Religious and The Secular

Abstract: The need to bridge the perceived gap between religious and secular allies—individuals or movements incorrectly understood to be in tension with one another—presents a serious challenge for ...

Future-Proofing Navies for Uncertainty

Abstract: Naval planners face a future rendered uncertain by competing priorities that result from competing visions of the international future at sea. To this must be added radical technological and legal change. Managing the consequent problems will require a holistic and considered maritime approach, effective selling of the sea, strategic patience, clarity in operational priorities and cost-effective acquisition and fleet management systems.

National Security Priorities

Abstract: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan faces many national security challenges stemming from demographics, regional and domestic political turmoil, terrorism, and water scarcity. These variables account for creating multidimensional security dilemmas. Generally, the kingdom’s security forces and apparatuses are designed to protect the King and preserve the monarchy. However, recent decades have proven that its national security issues expand beyond the fundamental challenges to the crown. The rise of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) is traceable to its Jordanian founding father, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Jordan relies heavily on Western allies to assist in security cooperation to combat terrorism. This chapter analyses Jordan’s national security priorities.

The Power Puzzle: When Exclusion Increases Security and Inclusion Reduces It

Abstract: The empirical research in this issue explores sources of security and insecurity to reveal paradoxical relationships and dangerous assumptions. Drawing on this research and earlier findings about international and intra-state security, I argue that inclusion can drive insecurity and exclusion can support security. It is normatively appealing to believe that inclusion increases security in ways that benefit humans and polities and that exclusion decreases security. Authors here, however, find that it is not necessarily so. The key to increasing security as a positive good lies in understanding the actors' interests and goals. Some states and non-state actors may want to increase security in ways that do not benefit all. Others may profit by increasing insecurity. Some actors may seek inclusion while others prefer exclusion of self or other. The articles in this issue underline the importance of accurately identifying and examining assumptions in scholarship and policymaking.