Wartime paradigms and the future of western military power

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 401-418
Author(s):  
Olivier Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Power ◽  
Force Structure ◽  
Heuristic Device ◽  
Perception Of Time ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Technological Improvements ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract From the perception of the imminence of threats at the political level to the seizing of initiative through proper timing at the tactical level, temporality is directly related to war and warfare. Yet, despite some analyses of the importance of time at the political/grand strategic level (usually by scholars) and at the tactical level (usually by military professionals) there is surprisingly little discussion of the impact of time on the preparation and the conduct of warfare. This article introduces the concept of ‘wartime paradigm’ as a heuristic device to understand the relationship between the perception of time and the conduct of warfare, and argues that after the Cold War, a specific ‘wartime paradigm’ combining an optimization for speed and an understanding of war as risk management has guided western warfare, from force structure to the conduct of actual operations. It shows how the changing character of warfare directly challenges this wartime paradigm and why, if western forces want to prevail in future conflicts, the establishment of a new wartime paradigm guiding technological improvements and operational concepts is critical.

scholarly journals A Relation Shaped by Geopolitical Ambitions: The United States and Cambodia during the Cold War

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Vibol Neak
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Third Party ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The diplomatic relation between the United States and Cambodia began during the Cold War, before Cambodia achieved independence from France in 1953. This article  examines the political constellation between the two states during the Cold War. The United States had been an ally and a firm supporter of Cambodia at certain times, while also being controversial enemies in other moments. The relationship worsened during the Cold War, and the two countries had gone from allies to enemies. It could be argued that the relationship deteriorated due to several reasons: the US’ foreign policy, which was crafted to contain communism, Cambodia’s failure to be truly neutral as it was often biased to the communist bloc, and the impact of third-party states.

scholarly journals The Impacts of the Adjustment of India’s Foreign Policy for India — Myanmar Relations (1992–2014)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 436-460
Author(s):  
Tuan Binh Nguyen ◽  
◽  
Xuan Hiep Tran ◽  
Hoang Long Tran ◽  
Minh Hung Vo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Asian Country ◽  
The Political ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
New Development ◽  
The Look ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

India and Myanmar are two neighboring countries that share a border of nearly 1500 kilometers and have a relationship based on history, politics, culture, and ethnicity from over 2000 years to the present. India officially established diplomatic relations with Myanmar after the Southeast Asian country gained independence in 1948. Since 1992, the implementation of India’s Look East Policy in addition to the strategic importance of Myanmar as a neighbor created a catalyst for new development in relations between the two countries. India — Myanmar relations have shifted from a cold and strained status (1962–1991) to improvement, consolidation and development in the years 1992–2014. Furthermore, the relationship between the two countries was developed on the basis of inheriting the achievements of the previous period (1948–1991) that were not only in the political sphere. There was a complete development in many aspects (politics — diplomacy, economy, security — defense, etc.) for two decades after the end of the Cold War. This article focuses on analyzing the adjustment of India’s foreign policy, especially the implementation of the Look East Policy and the “Act East” strategy, and the impact of this adjustment for the development of India — Myanmar relations during 1992–2014.

scholarly journals The new development of India - Myanmar relations during two decades after the Cold War: The bases and achievements

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-17
Author(s):  
Nguyen Tuan Binh
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
The Political ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
Political Field ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
New Development ◽  
Logical Method ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Research Period

India and Myanmar are two mutual neighboring countries which have the traditional, longstanding and close relations. Over many periods of ups and downs in history, the links of politics, culture, religion, society... between India and Myanmar are the basis of this relations in the modern. After formally establishing the diplomatic relations in 1948, the relationship between two countries entered the period of peace, cooperation and development. From 1962 to 1991, the relations between two countries have become cold and declining. After the end of the Cold War, the trend of dialogue, peace and cooperation along with the development needs of India and Myanmar created new catalysts for the development of this relations. India - Myanmar relations have shifted from a cold and trained status (1962 - 1991) to improvement, consolidation and development in the years 1992 - 2014. In addition, the relationship between two countries was developed on the basis of inheriting the achievements of the previous period (1948 - 1991) but instead of being mainly in the political field, there was a complete development in many aspects (politics - diplomacy, economy, security - defense...) for two decades after the end of the Cold War. By the historical method and logical method are mainly, this article focuses on analyzing the bases which promote India - Myanmar relations's development in the years after the Cold War and this relationship's major achievements in politics - diplomacy, economy, security - defense. On that basis, the article's author drew conclusions about the development of India - Myanmar relations in the research period.  

scholarly journals The Pugwash Conferences and the Global Cold War: Scientists, Transnational Networks, and the Complexity of Nuclear Histories

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Kraft ◽  
Holger Nehring ◽  
Carola Sachse
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Transnational Networks ◽  
Political Actor ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Introductory Essay ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Global Cold War ◽  
Cold War History

This introductory essay elucidates the purpose and major themes of the special issue. The contributors to the issue provide an in-depth look at the Pugwash Conferences for Science and World Affairs (usually referred to as just Pugwash) to explore important themes in Cold War history. Among other topics covered in the issue are the impact of Pugwash in many countries, the nature of its organization, and the distinctive way in which it worked, as well as its importance for the relationship between scientists and the Cold War states and its role as a political actor and as a transnational actor. All of these issues and more make Pugwash a compelling subject for scholars of the Cold War.

The Presence of Maoism in Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 176-196
Author(s):  
Daniel Lemus-Delgado
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
The Political ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Revolutionary Period ◽  
Agency And Structure

During the Cold War, the influence of Maoism as a third way of establishing a new international order inspired several Latin American guerrilla groups, including some in Mexico. This article analyzes the influence of Maoism in Mexico in particular, and pays specific attention to how Florencio Medrano, a peasant leader, was motivated by Maoist thought to establish the Rubén Jaramillo Proletarian Neighborhood, a self-governing neighborhood, and how this site was considered a critical factor for his development as a guerrilla. In the continuing debate over the relationship between agency and structure, the life and work of Florencio Medrano evidences how both social context and personal history influenced his aspirations and demands. By conducting an analysis of primary and secondary sources, this article analyzes some elements of Maoist thought and its diffusion in Latin America in the context of the Cold War. In addition, the article explains the political formation of Florencio Medrano in the Mexican post-revolutionary period, examines Maoist influences on his political formation and participation in pro-communist organizations, and reviews Maoist influence on the organization of the Rubén Jaramillo Neighborhood. Finally, the conclusions emphasize how the peasant origins of Medrano gave rise to his particular understanding of Maoism.

The Cold War in the Village

2020 ◽  
pp. 163-195
Author(s):  
Marcel Thomas
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Cold War ◽  
The Other ◽  
Economic Recovery ◽  
The Political ◽  
The West ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Village

This chapter examines in more detail how the inhabitants of the two villages engaged with the other Germany and the division of their nation. The Neukirchers and Ebersbachers lived far away from the inner-German border, but in their everyday lives they nonetheless were forced to confront the impact of division. By analysing everyday practices through which the villagers positioned themselves in the political landscape of the Cold War, the chapter sheds new light on the asymmetry of (be)longing and othering in the divided nation. It demonstrates how the Neukirchers and Ebersbachers constructed their own respective imaginary East and imaginary West shaped by local concerns and searches for identity. In Neukirch, the villagers increasingly built up the West as an object of longing in their attempts to deal with the daily struggles of life in a shortage economy. The Ebersbachers, on the other hand, used the East as a Cold War ‘other’ to express pride in their economic recovery and gain a stronger sense of their own identity in a divided nation. These distorted images of the other Germany led to widespread alienation and misunderstandings in the first German–German encounters in the reunified nation. It was difference, rather than a shared sense of national identity, that dominated the experiences of the Neukirchers and Ebersbachers when the inner-German border disappeared in 1990.

Excerpts from Japanese Demon Lore

2019 ◽  
pp. 319-336
Author(s):  
Noriko T. Reider
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
War On Terror ◽  
The Political ◽  
Child Soldier ◽  
Historical Revisionism ◽  
Captain America ◽  
Political Allegory ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines the relationship between the superhero and the sidekick to problematize the hero’s complicity in violence, focusing on the relationship between Captain America and his sidekick-turned-antihero Bucky Barnes, AKA the Winter Soldier. The political allegory of Captain America as a heroic figure in wartime is problematized by Bucky as a child soldier in WWII, an assassin during the Cold War, and a villain seeking redemption during the War on Terror. The diegetic revisions of Bucky’s character make him a fascinating proxy for the necessary omissions in superhero storytelling and historical revisionism that separate heroism and villainy.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Anne Searcy
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The Introduction argues that reception is key to understanding cultural diplomacy. Using an analogy to the process of transliteration, it shows that audiences interpreted cultural-exchange performances through the parameters set out by their own aesthetic backgrounds and expectations. Just as the sounds of one language are read through the symbols of another in the process of transliteration, so too in cultural exchange performances are sounds, gestures, and forms of a ballet read through the aesthetic contexts of the host country. During the Soviet-American ballet exchange, the resulting aesthetic misinterpretations determined the impact of a cultural diplomatic event. As such, the Introduction explains how dance and music impacted political attitudes during the Cold War. This then also provides a model for understanding the relationship between music, dance, and politics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Aerial Bodies in Polish Cinema

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Ostrowska
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
The Body ◽  
State Socialism ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

This chapter focuses on the representation of the dynamics of the body in flight in selected Polish films from the period of state socialism including The Case of Pilot Maresz, Against Gods, To Destroy the Pirate and On the Earth and in the Sky. The discussion centers on the idea of ‘socialist aerial bodies’, which is informed by Paul Virilio's reflection about the relationship between the body and technologies developed for the most part during the Cold War, which coincided with the period of state socialism in Poland. Virilio’s arguments are not nuanced in the way that reflects the differences in the impact that war technologies, such as flying, might have had in the socialist context as opposed to the non-socialist one with which he was much more familiar. This chapter is an attempt to fill this gap in Virilio's reflection on the aerial body by discussing the development of a specific representation of the body, referred to here as a ‘socialist aerial body’, which is impacted not only by the advancements in the technologies of flying, but also by ideological concerns - some of them unique to the socialist context.

EU-Russia Energy Relations: From a Liberal to a Realist Paradigm?

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Siddi
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Energy Trade ◽  
Competition Rules ◽  
Energy Relations ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Two Sides

Energy trade has been an important and largely cooperative field of the EU-Russia relationship for nearly five decades. After the Cold War, liberal theories of international relations, which highlighted the two sides’ interdependence, became entrenched as an explanatory framework for EU-Russia energy relations. From the late 2000s, Russia’s increasingly assertive foreign policy, culminating in the annexation of Crimea in 2014, changed dramatically the political framework of the energy relationship. As a result, realist understandings of Russia’s energy policy (re)gained popularity. However, despite the political crisis, EU-Russia energy trade has continued without major disruptions; indeed, Russian gas exports to Europe have grown after 2014. This article examines the evolution of the EU-Russia energy relationship and argues that it continues to respond to a commercial logic. Russia’s use of an ‘energy weapon’ appears highly unlikely. Meanwhile, eu market and competition rules have strengthened the case for a liberal understanding of the relationship.

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