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The analysis in the 2013 White Paper of international defence engagement highlights the important co-operative activities that Australian Defence Force personnel and Defence officials conduct in, and with, other countries. These activities can create vital synergies for Australia, but their benefits should be neither assumed nor overstated. In particular, they need to be assessed in the broader context of the White Paper's narrative, which is focused primarily on a rationalisation of the gap between the ends and means of defence policy. In that context, the role of Australia's international defence engagement risks being portrayed disproportionately. In the most critical dimension of such engagement, the alliance relationship with the United States, Australia's capacity for burden-sharing and value-adding is diminishing, not expanding. In other forms of international defence engagement, the White Paper's emphases seem designed to compensate for budgetary shortfalls and other deficiencies elsewhere in the policy narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policy permeates the legal principles of a state and its ruling government. The justification of public policy is topical to the ethics and canons acknowledged by that state. These values are determined by the applicable political, social, economic, religious, and legal systems, which differ among states. As public policy usually best illuminates the broad area of government laws, regulations, provincial ordinances, and court decisions, the standards creating public policy alter as states develop. The motif of public policy is critical when the question of enforcement of arbitral awards suffice. There is no definite meaning of the term in the famous Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Arbitration Convention) to enforce foreign arbitral awards. Hence, this paper explores and traces some contemporary trends in defense of public policy as an exception to the enforcement of arbitral awards worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Working from recently declassified Australian and British government files, this paper examines the archival evidence on policy thinking in London and Canberra towards the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) during the period 1970-75. The article argues that one of the main reasons for the Heath government's decision to deploy a token military force in Southeast Asia as part of a multilateral defence arrangement with Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore was the desire to uphold these Commonwealth connections. By contrast, Canberra was beginning to question the value of such arrangements in a rapidly changing Southeast Asian strategic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of URVIO - Revista Latinoamericana de Seguridad Ciudadana is the property of FLACSO - Ecuador (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Discusses Finland's defense policy. Three circles of national security interest; Basing of Finnish defense policy and development plans on Defense White Paper of 2001; Transformation of Finnish national defense based on the Defense White Paper of 2004.

This paper illustrates a methodology to evaluate how dissimilar military systems support the accomplishment of the United States' counterproliferation objectives. The key questions in evaluating counterproliferation systems are identified. By using decision analysis, an influence diagram model is developed that represents military activities in the counterproliferation process. A value model is developed that enables systems to be evaluated against common criteria. An analysis of intelligence, defensive, and offensive counterproliferation systems suggests that intelligence system improvements may provide the greatest potential to meet the United States' counterproliferation objectives. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to determine which factors in the model are most important. To demonstrate the model, nine systems from the Air Force Vulcan's Forge 1995 wargame are evaluated. This paper illustrates the value of decision analysis, and influence diagrams in particular, by involving decision makers and subject matter experts in structuring complex problems for analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The end of the Cold War, the unification of Germany and the removal of US troops has rekindled interest in European defence cooperation. The EC has common security policies on its agenda, the military role of the WEU is being enhanced, and the new NATO strategy emphasizes multilateral European forces. A European Defence Union offers large potential efficiency gains. Power, like any natural monopoly, is generated more effectively and more cheaply by joint forces than by the sum of fragmented individual forces. There are also large economies of scale in weapons production. Trends in budgets, costs and threats are making national provision problematic and national arms industries non-viable. An EDU may appear more attractive than either spending vast sums to attain minimum efficient scale or relying on forces that are so small and ill-equipped as to require either dependence on the US or acceptance of effective neutrality. However, an EDU reduces national sovereignty; poses problems of command, control and organization; risks free-riding and adverse reactions by the US and USSR; and is vulnerable to exploitation and rent-seeking by military industrial interests. This paper examines the economics of these issues and suggests a route towards effective cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1960s and 1970s the creation and analysis of coded international events data became a major tool for the analysis of international relations and crises. Unlike other quantitative projects developed by the academic community, the events data approach was transformed to applied research and used by various national security bureaucracies in the U.S. government. The approach was eventually rejected due to an aversion by bureaucrats to quantitative analysis systems and procedures which did not incorporate their expertise, organizational objectives and need for user-friendly and timely presentation. The lessons learned from this case can be used to inform current efforts by academics to transfer basic research to the foreign policy making community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the end of the Vietnam War Congress has reclaimed a role for itself in the making of U.S. foreign and defense policy. Although the surge in congressional activism has attracted considerable normative commentary, political scientists have devoted relatively little effort to exploring the causes and consequences of Congress's renewed interest in foreign policy. To stimulate more empirical study in this area, this paper summarizes the existing work on foreign and defense policy in Congress and identifies opportunities for new research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper entertains the possibility that a military-industrial complex does in fact exist; that it is not constrained by Congress; that arms policy continues to serve this complex; and that in fact, Congress legitimates MIC activity through ritualistic conflict. Laurance's hypothesis that Congress has recently taken a more active role in the policy process is challenged. Using Yannolinsky's broader conception of arms policy, it is argued that arms policy has not significantly changed even though Congressional action has become more conflictual. Finally, it is argued that the changed Congressional role is best understood in terms of Edelman `s reversal of systems theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ártemis: Estudos de Gênero, Feminismo e Sexualidades is the property of Revista Artemis and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

China is modernizing its military to establish regional hegemony in the near term and global preeminence in the far term. The People's Liberation Army's crown jewel is its massive arsenal of missiles capable of ranging the US homeland and critical US bases that underpin US military power projection. To meet this challenge, it is imperative that the United States adapt its missile defense policy and strategy and leverage new technology to increase the capability of US missile defenses, and it must do so with a sense of urgency and purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the transition due to the emergence of a new generation that has the urge to assume power in the Soviet Union. The transition is related to the factors on economic, military and social policy. Several developments have taken place in the Soviet Union including the installation of intercontinental ballistic missiles thereby acquiring massive retaliatory capability, and the holding of new bases for the deep-water navy. In relation to the U.S.-Soviet relationships that began in the mid-1980s on subjective realms, significant developments have been initiated in both the countries. The potential changes in the Soviet Union are more radical due to the fundamental priorities started by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1929.

The article discusses the objectives and policy of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) under the administration of U.S. president Ronald Reagan. Certain developments in the Reagan era caused the agency to be embroiled in controversy. This led to upsetting within the agency which included Eugene Rostow, a law school professor succeeding Michael Pillsbury as the acting deputy director of ACDA. He tried to rewrite most of the policies with an experience of largely academic nature rather than strategic. The foreign policy of the U.S. under Reagan administration is also described as ineffective and disorganized as a whole. There was a strong opinion in the favor of dissolving the agency because of its policies coming in direct conflict with the administration.

The article focuses on issues related to the military use of nuclear power in the United States. With the emergence of atomic power for military use in 1954, the U.S. Congress witnessed an increasing public awareness of the dangers of radiation. Congress admitted that development of the new power source could only be possible if there was public acceptance. The debate over civilian nuclear power has dates back to the 1940s when American public became aware of the biological impact of nuclear radiation.

Using a historical institutionalist approach, this article addresses the future of Southeast Asia’s naval forces. Much analysis on this subject employs a linear Realist model in which Southeast Asia’s navies are expected to be the beneficiaries of declining internal security challenges and a deteriorating external threat environment. However, to date neither of these factors, including increasing Chinese assertiveness in the maritime domain, appear to have significantly accelerated naval force development in Southeast Asia. While there have been some capability increases in areas such as submarines, growth has mainly been in patrol boat and fast attack craft classes. Numbers of larger offshore surface combatants like frigates have fallen. This article argues that in countries where army dominance has become institutionalized, and civil control of the military is weak, governments may be unwilling or unable to reallocate funding away from armies to maritime forces. In a funding environment in which national economic growth is moderate, and spending on defence is a lower priority, naval modernization and expansion can be blocked. This article examines the cases of Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar to demonstrate how their armies became dominant and how this may have diminished the growth prospects of their navies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the reauthorization of America's war on terror as of March 2012, focusing on the U.S. Congress' failure to refine the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), U.S. President Barack Obama's drone aircraft policy, and global anti-terrorism efforts. The jus ad bellum international law doctrine is mentioned, along with a right to self-defense and the legal aspects of America's military counterterrorism operations. Obama's power to use military force is examined, along with several U.S. Supreme Court cases such as Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Boumediene v. Bush.

The article offers the authors' insights regarding the evolution of the international strategic arms control and military policy. The authors argue that the international community constructs an ill-considered and potentially hazardous biochemical weapon regime that trounces its fundamental security purposes. Moreover, they claim that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama preserves the preventive counterproliferation policy by the government of former President George W. Bush.

What causes arms races between rival states? Traditional international relations theories view arms build-ups as deterrence motivated reactions to real or perceived threat. Research on the consequences of arms races, however, suggests that military build-ups can have unintended negative consequences. I offer an alternative explanation for arms race onset built on the assumption that leaders understand the potential costs of military build-ups and, consequently, wish to avoid arms races if possible. According to the model, states only engage in arms competitions when there are particularly salient stakes at risk. I posit and test a model arguing that territorial stakes, because of their inherent salience, represent the stakes most likely to produce arms races. Tests of the model on a population of rival states confirm the hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hungary's constitutional commitment to support kin-nationals beyond its borders (nation policy) has been a central feature of its post-1989 foreign policy and highlights a particularly important national security concern - the societal security of national identity, culture, language and tradition. This article examines Hungary's societal security concerns and the policy methods it utilises, including its EU membership and the promotion of minority rights at the European level, to help combat these concerns. It is suggested that Hungary has found it somewhat difficult to balance its societal security policy objective with internal economic demands on its welfare system and its external foreign policy objective to maintain good neighbourly relations. This article also notes that Hungary's attempts to Europeanise, or rather 'EU-ise', minority and ethnic rights issues as a means to enhance societal security for the Hungarian nation has certain political consequences for the EU. This suggests that societal security provision is an issue that cannot be overlooked when trying to understand the longer-term implications of EU eastern enlargement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the strategic assessment of the military power in Canada. Reference to the Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1818 between Canada and the U.S.; Percentage of the Gross National Product allocated for the defense sector in Canada; Dependence of Canada's political, economic, and military power on the U.S.

In recent years nonlethal weaponry has become increasingly available for widespread application as a means of promoting national security. Among the fascinating questions raised by this development, the deterrence impact of nonlethal weaponry seems particularly ripe for scrutiny. After a background discussion of definition, motives, history, and dangers surrounding this trend, this article develops a set of highly tentative propositions about the conditions under which nonlethal weaponry is most beneficial and detrimental as an instrument of deterrence. It is hoped that these propositions provide guidance for policymakers in using this coercive instrument to manage domestic and foreign turmoil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the policy of the United States towards the use of nuclear weapons in retaliation for an adversary's use of chemical or biological weapons. Deliberate ambiguity of policy; Consideration of ambiguity as essential to the security of the country.

The article discusses the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) regional security and integration prospects. The author relates that the military cooperation between member-states has become a pressing matter for the GCC. The rising regional threats, the GCC's primary concern is with external security, and it is through the Joint Defence Arrangement that the organization seeks to face challenges to its politico-military stability. With respect to internal security, GCC states continue to discuss the adoption of the Internal Security Agreement, blocked by Kuwait's insistence that certain extra-territorial rights conceded to Saudi Arabia be revoked.

Determines the factors which influenced the balance of power in Asia. Political and military influences in Asia; Identification of important points in the United States Arms policies during the post-cold war period; Decline of defense industrialism in Asia.

Provides information on the early 1950s Defense Department policy which focused on the issue of whether human experiments involving atomic, biological and chemical welfare should be continued based on documents released by the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. Motivations for policy creation after the second world war; Robert S. Stone controversy of 1950; Adoption of the Nuremberg code.

Analyzes the potential effects of the Military Retirement Reform Act on military personnel retention in the United States. Terms and conditions of the reform policy; Purpose of the military retirement policy; Policy options that can be taken by the U.S. government to dilute the negative effects of the reform act.

The article focuses on the U.S. nuclear strategy regarding the deployment of Pershing II missiles. The Pershing II missiles are long range, short flight time and high accuracy missile system. The nuclear war guidance plans of the U.S. provides much wider scope to the Pershing II and other medium range weapons. Niles J. Fulwyler, director of the Nuclear and Chemical Directorate within the U.S. Army, extols the capability of Pershing II to strike a number of critical targets in the Western Military District of the Soviet Union.

The article presents a letter from the editor of "Interfaces" concerning the November-December, 2006 issue. The issue focuses on the United States Department of Homeland Security's Operations Research division, which aims to give the department a scientific framework for considering problems and decisions. In addition, articles within the issue also discuss other aspects of homeland security, ranging from attack detection, identification, and prevention to response preparedness in the case of successful attacks.