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In 2000 the Howard government formed a consultative committee to review defence policy and gauge public opinion on defence issues. It concentrated on the impact of budgetary stringency and dramatic strategic change and supported increased defence spending on equipment to cater for high-level threats. Was there a thorough review? Inconsistencies occurred in the reports developed from the review and statements made by senior policy-makers while it was being conducted. The way the review was undertaken points to conceptual tensions in Australia's strategic culture and serious problems with entrenched interests in the services. Unless these challenges are addressed, a thorough review of defence policy cannot be undertaken. The review process itself needs to be reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper’s main argument is that Israel’s security policy, which traditionally focused on defending its territorial integrity against regular Arab armed forces, was, by the 2010s, transformed into one that focuses on facing a variety of state- and non-state-based threats. Neo-realist explanations could neither account for the contested nature of the security debate during this period, nor the inconsistent evolution of the policy. The present study aims to solve this conundrum by introducing an alternative approach known as 4th generation strategic culture research. The paper is comprised of four parts. First, the origins and evolution of strategic culture are reviewed, with emphasis placed on the commonly accepted weaknesses that, to date, have prevented it from being used as a testable theoretical concept, and subsequently as an explanatory factor for security policy changes. The second part presents the “modernist constructivism” approach that bridges the gap between traditional constructivism and hypothesis-driven research design. Next, the paper introduces the emerging fourth generation in strategic culture literature, followed by a conceptual framework designed to resolve the inherent weaknesses of the more traditional approaches. Finally, this conceptual framework is applied to analyse the transformation of Israel’s security policy between 1982 and 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the early 1990s Japan's defense policy has been under incremental significant change, revealed mainly in the legislative field. This paper explores the extent to which Japan's defense policy is changing in military terms. Analysis of Japan's latest security posture in Iraq (2003-2006) brings to light changes in Japan's overall defense policy in terms of defense priorities and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that closer defense cooperation between the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) of Japan and United States forces under the 1997 Guidelines for United States-Japan Defense Cooperation has brought about an issue of exercise of the right to collective self-defense, which might infringe on Article 9 of Japan's Constitution. The article explores Japan's options in cases of emergencies such as those in Japan, the Taiwan Strait, and the Korean peninsula and concludes that Japan has no choice but to follow U.S. policy as long as it maintains a Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States of America and Japan. The United States fully understands the importance of Japan's strategic location to its security, particularly Okinawa's. From Okinawa, U.S. forces could easily cover the Korean peninsula, China, and Taiwan. Therefore, the United States will not give up its bases in Japan, and so the argument of a "fear of abandonment" on the side of Japan is a myth. The article further examines the importance of the 2001 dispatch of the Maritime SDF to the Indian Ocean and the 2004 dispatch of the Ground SDF to Iraq from the viewpoint of the right to collective self-defense and Article 9. It also analyzes Japan's recent defense efforts. utilizing the concepts of alliance dilemma and complex security dilemma. Finally, the article concludes that a new Japan with the right to collective self-defense would become more assertive in conducting its foreign policy using the SDF overseas. Such a Japan would have an impact on security in East Asia, causing a problem for China and both Koreas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoinstitutionalists applying the logic of rational choice institutionalism have leavened our understanding of public agency design and evolution in the domestic and national security policy domains. This paper seeks to advance theory building in empirically grounded ways by assessing the explanatory power of an important theoretical perspective (rational choice institutionalism), in an understudied “hybrid” policy domain where domestic and national security aims interact (domestic environmental policy and national security policy), and in an organizational type (the U.S. military) that has drawn scant attention from students of bureaucracy in political science, public administration, or public management. Analysis of three major efforts to green the U.S. military suggests that the patterns of politics accompanying agency evolution involving hybrid policy domains differ from domestic and national security domains in ways that limit the generalizability of rational choice institutionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that it was the flawed design of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) rather than the conventionally ascribed reasons of security, international status, or domestic imperatives that provided the necessary incentive for India to conduct nuclear tests in 1998 before the treaty foreclosed such an option altogether. The mandatory nature of the entry-into-force (EIF) clause of the CTBT was a departure from other international agreements in that membership was not voluntary. This suggests that any regime that impinges on a state's sovereign right to make security decisions on behalf of its people is likely to meet failure by formal or informal defections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.

Department of Defense regulation of weapons contracting uses incentive devices common to public utility regulation. This paper examines parallels between fixed-price contracts in weapons acquisition and the use of price caps to motivate public utilities. It uses defense contracting experience to identify limits to the efficiency and administrability benefits one can expect adoption of a price caps regime to produce in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Security & Defense Studies Review is the property of National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies 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.)

Abstract: This paper draws upon the findings of the AIDS, Security and Conflict Initiative (ASCI) to reach conclusions about the relationship between HIV/AIDS, security, conflict and governance, in the areas of HIV/AIDS and state fragility, the reciprocal interactions between armed conflicts (including post-conflict transitions) and HIV/AIDS, and the impact of HIV/AIDS on uniformed services and their operational effectiveness. Gender issues cut across all elements of the research agenda. ASCI commissioned 29 research projects across regions, disciplines and communities of practice. Over the last decade, approaches to HIV/AIDS as a security threat have altered dramatically, from the early anticipation that the epidemic posed a threat to the basic functioning of states and security institutions, to a more sanguine assessment that the impacts will be less severe than feared. ASCI finds that governance outcomes have been shaped as much by the perception of HIV/AIDS as a security threat, as the actual impacts of the epidemic. ASCI research found that the current indices of fragility at country level did not demonstrate any significant association with HIV, calling into question the models used for asserting such linkages. However at local government level, appreciable impacts can be seen. Evidence from ASCI and elsewhere indicates that conventional indicators of conflict, including the definition of when it ends, fail to capture the social traumas associated with violent disruption and their implications for HIV. Policy frameworks adopted for political and security reasons translate poorly into social and public health policies. Fears of much-elevated HIV rates among soldiers with disastrous impacts on armies as institutions, have been overstated. In mature epidemics, rates of infection among the military resemble those of the peer groups within the general population. Military HIV/AIDS control policies follow a different and parallel paradigm to national (civilian) policies, in which armies prioritize command responsibility and operational effectiveness over individual rights. Law enforcement practices regarding criminalized and stigmatized activities, such as injecting drug use and commercial sex work, are an important factor in shaping the trajectory of HIV epidemics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Examines the efforts to reform the German Armed Forces or the Bundeswehr from 1990 to 2003. Need for a fundamental realignment of Germany's military structures and capacities; Endeavors to reform characterized by controversy and hampered by financial uncertainties; Existence of a substantial inconsistency between Germany's stated security policy goals and growing openness to use armed forces on the one hand and the Bundeswehr's actual physical material capabilities on the other.

The United Kingdom's integrated defense and security review put "grey zone" or "hybrid" challenges at the center of national security and defense strategy. The United Kingdom is not alone: The security and defense policies of NATO, the European Union, and several other countries (including the United States, France, Germany, and Australia) have taken a hybrid-turn in recent years. This article attempts to move the hybrid debate toward more fertile ground for international policymakers and scholars by advocating a simple distinction between threats and warfare. The United Kingdom's attempts to grapple with its own hybrid policy offer a national case study in closing the gap between rhetoric and practice, or stagecraft and statecraft, before an avenue of moving forward is proposed—informally, through a series of questions, puzzles, and lessons from the British experience—to help international policy and research communities align their efforts to address their own stagecraft-statecraft dichotomies. [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]

The article focuses on public policy which is a concept that students of the Presidency employ with some frequency but it does not dominate their analyses. It is of much importance in the U.S. government's case of the Presidential policies. In this regard, studies of presidential policy-making, of the President's impact particularly on foreign and defense policy, and of the effect of organization on presidential policy-making have sought to develop analytical approaches to the Presidency. Neither bureaucratic politics nor multiple advocacy, provide a comprehensive or integrating framework for analyzing presidential policy-making. Their focus is on the processes and structures employed in top-level decision-making for national security.

The article discusses the military policies and capabilities of various Asian nations, and it mentions the deterrence-related impact that China's increasing maritime and air-warfare capabilities have on U.S. naval deployments. The Chinese military's development of advanced anti-ship cruise missiles is mentioned, along with India's national security concerns and Chinese-Japanese relations. China's defence economics and defence spending across Asia are also examined.

Parliamentary involvement remains a key tool for the democratic control of executive policies. This article explores the web of parliamentary involvement in decision-making on European Union (EU) military operations, using insights gained in an in-depth case study on the EU's anti-piracy mission Atalanta. We find that parliaments at all levels became involved only after key political decisions had already been made. At the member state level, we find highly uneven involvement with only some parliaments being very well informed and closely monitoring, if not influencing government policy. The European Parliament became active only after the launch of the mission but then scrutinised it intensely, profiting (in contrast to national parliaments) from its access to top military officials and key decision-makers. Finally, transnational parliamentary assemblies as well as more informal networks provided opportunities to transmit information across the boundaries of individual parliaments and party-groups thus potentially enhancing the ability of parliamentarians to scrutinise government policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Immigration policies serve a number of functions for states. Governments may use policies as instruments of foreign policy, economic growth, population growth, and/ or national security. In this post-September 11, 2001 global environment, integration policies have become more assimilationist and immigration restrictions toward nationals from Muslim countries of origin have increased in the name of national security. While this trend is common among many Western states, Britain's immigration stance toward Muslim migrants remains unchanged. This study examines changes in policies toward immigrants--changes that make these policies de facto immigration policies though they may not have been conceived as such--in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and the absence of this change in the UK. It seeks to answer the question: what explains reforms in the Netherlands, Germany, and France while British immigration policy remained unchanged? In this effort, the article emphasizes the impact of these changes on potential migrants from predominantly Muslim countries of origin. Based on a comparative case study analysis using process tracing, findings indicate that Dutch immigration/integration policy choices influence government policy changes in other West European countries. Through a learning process, governments experiencing similar socio-political challenges observe overlapping societal responses to them and optimize in creating policy alternatives by using short-cuts and adopting policies implemented in comparable states and situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strain of the past decade's military operations - both in terms of financial overextension and the toll on the armed forces - has called into question the age of liberal intervention begun in Kosovo in the 1990s. As the full impact of the SDSR's costcutting measures are felt in the UK, a mixed approach may be emerging that would balance Alliance commitments, bilateral co-operation and small-scale international missions whilst at the same time managing expectations about the UK's reach and capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insights from Disruptive Innovation theory (DI) are often used in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of national security policy. DI explains why successful companies are sometimes defeated by new competitors with relatively unsophisticated products. Although DI is highly influential in the business literature, its applicability to military doctrine has not been persuasively shown. Proposed here is a more abstract and general version of DI, which improves its foundations, adapts it to militaries, and suggests a framework for the reliable identification of disruptive innovations. This new theory is tested by examining the Royal Navy before and during World War I and evaluating how well it explains the Royal Navy's success at developing Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) to protect the battlefleet from submarine attacks and the near failure at implementing convoy tactics to protect merchant shipping. This generalized version of DI successfully explains several key features of the case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the interplay between security sector developments and national unity in East Timor since the Indonesian occupation ended in 1999. Particular attention is paid to the regional distinction between Loromonu and Lorosae - people from the west and east of East Timor, respectively. In 2006, East Timor experienced a crisis that saw the disintegration of the military and police forces, and widespread violence that led to massive internal displacement. It was during this crisis that the Loromonu-Lorosae distinction first emerged as a major societal cleavage. The article argues that the independence cause and the guerrilla force Falintil had been an important focus of East Timorese national unity in 1999. In the years that followed, however, the implementation of flawed security policies led to new military and police forces that were politicized, factionalized and lacking in cohesion. Prior to the 2006 crisis, the Loromonu-Lorosae distinction was primarily an issue within the army. As the crisis escalated, however, the violence was to a large extent framed by the east-west dimension, and popular perceptions of the military as 'eastern' and the police as 'western' hardened. A year after the crisis, little if any progress had been made towards reducing the increased salience of the Loromonu-Lorosae distinction in society. The main internal security challenges - gang activity, the unresolved issue of the so-called 'petitioners', and the destabilizing role played by fugitive former head of military police Alfredo Reinado - all had an east-west dimension. The article also finds that new initiatives aimed at reforming East Timor's military and police forces appeared to be lacking in both depth and relevance for addressing the country's new level of internal division, and its immediate, internal security challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forthcoming US Nuclear Posture Review should broaden the traditional focus of such policy reviews on deterrence requirements and include a thorough analysis of how US nuclear declaratory policy influences the likelihood of nuclear proliferation, the consequences of proliferation, and perceptions of the illegitimacy of nuclear terrorism. Such a broader frame of analysis leads to the conclusion that it would be in the US national interest to adopt a no-first-use declaratory policy, stating clearly that 'the role of U.S. nuclear weapons is to deter nuclear weapons use by other nuclear weapons states against the United States, our allies, and our armed forces, and to be able respond, with an appropriate range of second-strike nuclear retaliation options, if necessary, in the event that deterrence fails'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevailing opinion that the Bush administration took the United States to war against Iraq in March 2003 under false pretenses has led many to believe that Israel’s security was the secret rationale for the war. According to this “war for Israel” thesis, neoconservative policymakers in the Bush administration, the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, and Israel’s government all pushed the United States to go to war with Iraq for the sake of Israel’s security. This article critically assesses this controversial claim and examines Israel’s role in the U.S. decision to invade Iraq. I argued that while neoconservatives were instrumental in promoting the Iraq war, Israel was not their primary concern and that although American Jewish organizations and the Israeli government did largely support the Iraq war, they did not seek it or actively lobby for it. [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]

Copyright of International Journal of Urban & Regional Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

The article contributes to the debate about the emergence of a European strategic culture to underpin a European Security and Defence Policy. Noting both conceptual and empirical weaknesses in the literature, the article disaggregates the concept of strategic culture and focuses on four types of norms concerning the means and ends for the use of force. The study argues that national strategic cultures are less resistant to change than commonly thought and that they have been subject to three types of learning pressures since 1989: changing threat perceptions, institutional socialization, and mediatized crisis learning. The combined effect of these mechanisms would be a process of convergence with regard to strategic norms prevalent in current EU countries. If the outlined hypotheses can be substantiated by further research the implications for ESDP are positive, especially if the EU acts cautiously in those cases which involve norms that are not yet sufficiently shared across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the challenges faced by the German security and defense policy. Reinforcement of co-equal transatlantic partnership; Transformation of the Bundeswehr; Assessment of the deficiencies in structure and equipment.

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.

The metaphor of the vicious circle is deeply embedded in analysis of protracted conflicts. Yet in at least some instances conflicts that appear to be self-reinforcing in the short term are in the longer run producing conditions out of which new political orders can emerge. These protracted conflicts are thus dynamic, not static, crises and require post-conflict assistance strategies that are informed by accurate trend analysis. The case of Somalia is used to illustrate the dramatic changes that occur over time in patterns of armed conflict, criminality, and governance in a collapsed state. These changes have produced a dense network of informal and formal systems of communication, cooperation, and governance in Somalia, helping local communities adapt to state collapse, manage risk, and provide for themselves a somewhat more predictable environment in which to pursue livelihoods. Crucial to this evolution of anarchy in Somalia has been the shifting interests of an emerging business community, for whom street crime and armed conflict are generally bad for business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

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.

The article examines the factors that have helped shape Indian strategy and some of the characteristics of Indian strategic behavior. It examines the four factors which influenced the Indian strategic behavior, which includes India's geography, culture, the discovery of India's history, and the British Raj. It also discusses the importance of India's subcontinent, which is defined by geography and culture, the lack of strategic thinkers in India, India's non-agressive tradition, India's land-oriented strategy, India's naval strategy, and India's self-reliance and non-dependence. It concludes that India's strategic vision will extend far beyond the subcontinent and will focus primarily on the region of the Indian Ocean.

The article presents a discussion on the role of military strategy in arms control in Europe. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the military doctrines and strategies of countries in long-term arms regulation. The article discusses several past negotiations in arms control, including the Mutual and Balance Force Reductions talks and talks on the reduction of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. It describes the limitations of the talks including their focus on reduction of military forces and power without comprehending their broader effects on military strategy. The article also provides an overview of efforts in arms control by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact.

The article focuses on security management of Southeast Asia in its existing mechanisms and processes towards regional conflicts. The conspiracy of history, geostrategic location, political calculations and the involvement of outside powers foster disparate set of security mechanisms and processes in the region. It has been stressed that regional conflicts are taken to encompass the perceived threats, security problems and conflicts affecting the region such as those coming from the outside region. However, they exclude security problems and conflicts which are of domestic nature and with negligible external repercussions. It is also focused more on multilateral arrangements for the management of security issues.

The article focuses on some considerations relevant to national policy. There are social situations which do not allow the possibility of "rational" behavior so long as the conditions for mutual trust do not exist. A characteristic symptom of such non-rational situations is that any attempt on the part of any individual or nation to increase its own welfare or security (without regard to the security or welfare of others) is self-defeating. Thus, for example, if the Soviet Union attempts to increase its security by taking over Berlin, it will decrease its real security by increasing the likelihood of nuclear war. In such situations the only way that an individual or nation can avoid being trapped in a mutually reinforcing, self-defeating cycle is to attempt to change the situation so that a basis of mutual trust can develop. To induce a mutual welfare orientation in another, one has to demonstrate toward the other that its own behavior is based upon such a premise and that one cannot improve its welfare by violation of it.