“Les Sçioux n’étoient bons qu’à manger”: La Colle and the Anishinaabeg-Dakota War, 1730–1742

La Colle was an influential Anishinaabe ogimaa (leader) and mayosewinini (war chief) who led the Monsoni (moose) doodem (clan) in the Rainy Lake region during the 1730s and 1740s. A biographical study of La Colle not only restores an individual Indigenous voice to the tapestry of Native North America but also provides insight into a conflict between the Anishinaabeg, Nêhiyawak (Crees), Nakoda (Assiniboines), and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Dakota, Yankton, Yanktonai, and Lakota) that took place in the borderlands between Lake Superior and the Upper Missouri Valley. Ultimately, the conflict saw the beginning of a considerable reorientation of Indigenous geopolitics west of Lake Superior, which were, in part, driven by the actions of a cunning political and military leader—La Colle. By uniting Anishinaabeg, Nêhiyawak, and Nakoda into a coalition powerful enough to challenge the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, La Colle made one of the most significant bids for power in eighteenth-century North America, one that eventually reconfigured the political, demographic, and environmental landscapes of the Northwest.

The role of the officers’ mess in inclusive military leader social identity construction

Leadership is fundamentally a social phenomenon, and a leader’s legitimacy in personal and social terms is determined partly by how effectively they incorporate the prototypical leader identity. Using the historical British officers’ mess as a case study, this article presents a conceptual examination of the function place can perform in the construction of collective leader identities and the interconnected influence shared history, materiality and social interaction can have in encouraging inclusivity in leadership. Leadership identity is an integral feature of military life which has historically drawn on complex cultural and legal traditions to underwrite the individual’s right to command. This article will argue that social places such as the officers’ mess have been utilised as a means of cultivating cohesion in the past and that they may have an application in furthering inclusive collective leader identities in the future.

Rapports intertextuels et (re)constructions identitaires dans le roman Bois rouge de Jean-Marie Touratier

Published in 1993, the novel Bois rouge by Jean-Marie Touratier brings to life the history of the short-lived French colony of Brazil, the Antarctic France, whose existence, reduced to only five years (1555-1560), was described in the travelogues written in the 16th century by André Thevet (Les Singularitez de la France Antarctique - The New Found World, or Antarctike) and Jean de Léry (Histoire d’un voyage faict en la terre du Brésil – History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil). Beneath the appearance of a simple story told by an ironic voice, sometimes even satirical towards the military leader of the French colony, the Knight of Malta Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon and his chaplain, André Thevet, future cosmographer of the kings of France, the novel delves into issues of great complexity, such as (the issue of) identity and the relationship to the Other (the American “savage”).

THE HISTORY OF POPULATION MIGRATION FROM EASTERN TURKESTAN IN THE FERGHANA REGION AT THE END OF THE XIX CENTURY

The article discusses the problem of the peoples of East Turkestan fleeing the oppression of the Chinese Manchus and moving to two regions of Central Asia: the 70s and the Fergana Valley.An independent state will be created in East Turkestan by the military leader and diplomat Yakubbek. After his death in 1877, a struggle for the throne began between his sons, which passed into the hands of the Chinese. The occupation of the Etishahr state led to a massive resettlement ofthe population to the Fergana Valley. As a result of migration, large numbers of ethnic Uyghurs migrated to the Fergana Valley and Uyghur villages emerged.

The influence of Xenophon’s didactic writings on the military leadership practice of Alexander the Great

The article examines the influence of Xenophon’s didactic works on the military activities of Alexander the Great. It is re-vealed that messages from ancient sources containing direct in-dications of the fact that Alexander was familiar with Xeno-phon’s works are either fundamentally unreliable or subject to different interpretations. Nevertheless, a comparison of the rec-ommendations proposed in “Kyropedia” and other Athenian au-thor’s writings the with Alexander’s practical activities reveals obvious similarities in their views on training military personnel, organizing competitions in military skill, providing soldiers with richly decorated weapons, and caring for the sick and wounded. A set of coincidences is associated with the political and admin-istrative activities of Alexander, who, like Cyrus the Elder in Xenophon’s writings, demonstratively showed mercy towards the vanquished, attracted representatives of the local elite to the ser-vice, wore clothes traditional for a conquered country. A large number of similarities, good education of Alexander and the popularity of Xenophon’s writings in the second half of the 4th century BCE allow us to conclude that the Macedonian king was familiar with the works of the Athenian author. However, the components of Xenophon's didactic legacy associated with the methods of warfare do not correlate well with Alexander's mili-tary leadership practice. The fundamental differences are re-vealed in the armament of the cavalry and their tactics, the depth of the infantry formation, the role of army branches on the battle-field. They were caused by a significant breakthrough in the art of war that took place in Macedonia during the time of Philip II. This breakthrough also led to the emergence of new tactics that provided for crushing the enemy not with a frontal attack of heavy infantry, but through the combined use of various types of troops. Alexander as a military leader was raised under the con-ditions of a new, more developed military art. Thus, the over-whelming majority of Xenophon's recommendations, which de-scribed the cavalry as a purely auxiliary branch of the army and considered the classical hoplite phalanx a decisive force in battle, were clearly irrelevant for him and therefore ignored.

Exorcising the Body Politic

This study examines thirteenth to twentieth century Tibetan and Mongolian monastic memorializations of the bodily violence enacted upon Köten Ejen at the center of the “Buddhist conversion of the Mongols.” Koten Ejen (Tib. Lha sras go tan rgyal po, 1206–1251) was Chinggis Khan’s grandson and a military leader involved in Mongol campaigns against the Song Dynasty and against Buddhist monasteries in eastern Tibet. In 1240, Koten famously summoned the Central Tibetan Buddhist polymath Sakya Pandita, by then already an old man, to his court at Liangzhou. Examining Tibetan and Mongolian accounts about their meeting from the last seven centuries, this study shows that it was neither compelling philosophy nor some turn of faith that converted the Mongols. It was, rather, Sakya Pandita’s violent therapeutic intervention into the space of Koten’s ill body that wrenched the Mongol body politic into the Dharmic fold.

The Life and Death of the Manghit Qarachi-bek, Divei

Research objectives: To trace the fate of the sixteenth-century aristocrats from the Mansur kin of the Crimean Manghits, namely the brothers Baki, Khoja-Akhmed, Ak-Bibi, and Divei. To identify their role in political events in Eastern Europe and to establish the circumstances of the capture, stay in captivity, and the death of Divei – the most famous of these brothers. Research materials: Chronicles, Razriad books, diplomatic documents, folklore, and secondary materials of historical research. Results and novelty of the research: The author traced the fate of the brothers from the noble Maghit kin of Mansur, namely Baki, Khoja-Akhmed, Ak-Bibi and Divei, three of whom became Qarachi-beks in Crimea. They participated in the political life of Crimea, the Nogai Horde, Astrakhan, Azov, the Russian state, Hungary, and Iran. Prince Divei was a typical steppe bagatur, a seeker of fame and fortune, as well as an active enemy of the Russian State. He repeatedly raided the Russian lands and displayed outstanding abilities as a commander. He was aggressive, brave, determined, and cruel. In 1572, he commanded the Crimean troops in the Battle of Molodino and was captured by the Russians. The capture of their commander was one of the reasons for the defeat of the Crimeans. This event once more saved the Russian state from external dependence. Devlet-Girei Khan made considerable efforts to free the Qarachi-bek during the battle, but these were in vain. Attempts to redeem or exchange the prisoner were likewise in vain. Ivan the Terrible was aware of the threat posed by this figure and did not want to free his noble prisoner. In 1576, the death of Prince Divei was announced in Moscow. Historiography calls into question his death in 1575. There is an opinion that Divei was baptized and entered the service of Ivan the Ter­rible under the name of Daniil-murza. In this article, the author contends that those historians who compared Divei with Daniil-murza approached the issue superficially, not considering all the sources, and therefore came to the wrong conclusions. These began to be repeated in subsequent publications. Prince Divei and Daniil-murza were different persons. Divei did not agree to accept Orthodoxy and was executed. The elimination of the famous military leader from its political life contributed to a decrease in the aggression of the Crimean Khanate towards Russia as well as the destabilization of the political situation in Crimea.

On the Origin of the Commander Burundai

Research objectives: This work focuses on the origins of Amir Buruldai (also recorded as Burundai). He was an eminent military leader of the Horde during the time of the Mongol conquests and an active participant in the seven-year-long Western campaign, defeating the main forces of the Principality of Vladimir at the Sit’ River. Research on the origin of the generals living at the time of formation of the Mongol Empire and the Golden Horde is not a simple task. Synchronous and late sources carry information mainly about the relatives of Chinggis Khan and his closest associates. Biographies of many participants of the Western campaign are reconstructed with great difficulty; almost nothing is known about them, or extremely confusing, fragmentary, and contradictory information is found. Amir Buruldai can be included among such figures, left in the shadow of Chinggis Khan, his children, and grandchildren. A famous Mongol commander, Buruldai is distinguishable in the sources during the conquest of Eastern Europe and the campaigns against Hungary and Poland. In the research literature, the figure of Burundai is given some attention. However, he is mentioned occasionally in connection with the fate and lives of Russian princes, and a complete biography or historical portrait was not made. This is largely due to the state of the source material. Its information does not give us a clear picture of one of the more illustrious generals of the time of the Mongol-Tatar conquests. At the same time, a holistic picture of the life and activities of individual military commanders during the Mongol conquests, reconstructed on the basis of written sources, can give us valuable information for generalizations about warfare waged by the Mongol Empire and the ulus of Jochi, its development in a historical perspective, and the impact on the development of weapons and warfare among neighboring countries and peoples. Research materials: The main sources of information about Burundai are epic and chronicle works of Mongolian and Chinese origin, as well as Persian and Russian chronicles. Additional and indirect information is provided by official documentation and archaeological material. Results and novelty of the research: This article concludes that among the persons mentioned in written sources, Ogelen-cherbi can be considered the most plausible figure for Boorchu’s brother. Accordingly, he is to be recognized as the father of Buraldai. The latter, in all probability, was born in about 1200.

Qassem Soleimani, Targeted Killing of State Actors, and Executive Order 12,333

The targeted killing of the Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani in an American drone strike in January 2020 marked a novel development in the operation of the United States' drone programme; targeting a member of a state's armed forces as opposed to a member of a non-state armed group. Soleimani's killing offers an opportunity to re-examine the scope of Executive Order 12,333, which prohibits employees of the United States Government from committing assassinations. This article applies Executive Order 12,333's "assassination ban" to the Soleimani strike. The assassination ban's scope varies depending on whether it is applied in a wartime or peacetime context. This article concludes from the surrounding factual and legal context that the strike should be analysed according to the peacetime definition of assassination, which necessitates an analysis of the strike's compliance with the jus ad bellum, the legal framework applicable to uses of interstate force. It finds that the strike's non-compliance with the jus ad bellum, in addition to its likely political motive create a strong argument that the strike would constitute a prohibited assassination under the terms of the Executive Order, but the legal framework surrounding the Executive Order limits its direct enforceability with respect to presidentially authorised uses of force. It ultimately concludes that, despite the assassination ban's lack of direct enforceability, it nevertheless creates a strong normative counterbalance against an increasing tendency toward expansive uses of extraterritorial force.

Pliny the Elder: Lessons from the Naturalist as an Early Neuroscientist

Pliny the Elder was a prolific Roman author, naturalist, and military leader. Yet, his impact on modern-day neuroscience, psychiatry, and neurology has been little explored. Here, we aimed to trace the origins of our current understanding of the brain in ancient Rome through Pliny and his work, Natural History. As his magnum opus, this 37-book tome catalogs the facts and observations of natural life collected by Pliny, reflecting the knowledge of his time. Following the cephalocentric school of thought, Pliny places the brain as an agent for consciousness and details its diseases. Further, we explore Pliny’s methods, which allow him to build a thorough collection of clinical descriptions and remedies. This body of work serves as an important lesson for future neuroscientists on the power of observation, the role of the humanities, and the necessity of understanding the origin of modern scientific thinking.