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Copyright of Historia Regional is the property of Historia Regional 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 main goal of this paper is to present and compare the main developments in the Russian wars in Ukraine and Syria by considering the main patterns, parallels, and changing trajectories that could shed more light onto both of these war zones, which are highly interlinked due to Russia's leading role in both. It analytically, comparatively, and contemplatively approaches those developments by highlighting multiple similarities and the main differences in global responses to these conflicts. Both conflicts should be seen as highly unpredictable, dynamic, and unnecessarily extended asymmetric proxy wars in which global powers test their new military doctrines and their competitors' responses to their unconventional actions and other unsolicited and indirect interferences in the local dynamism of both wars. Unlike in Syria, the Ukrainian war zone is wholly transformative and ready for the adoption of partial hybridization and the utilization of the new software-defined warfare in combination with conventional weapons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, health care providers and facilities are facing growing risks due to political instability, sieges, and warfare. Public health is indisputably at the forefront of saving lives during military operations. In the current climate of global adversity, public health professionals have the responsibility to be prepared at all times and well-informed when responding to medical crises in conflict situations. Complex humanitarian emergencies cause great disruption, disabling, damaging, destroying community well- being. Public health services are evidently at the leading edge of health planning and provision in mass casualty incidents. This editorial letter draws attention to the critical and current subject of health care and medical workers under attack in war zones. Criminal violence is against the law and an action that requires punishment. Lawful conduct that is part of a legally legitimate military operation must comply with the fundamental principles that govern armed conflict. It is important not to confuse the two actions in terms of clarity and purpose. As for the extremely topical and vital issue, this editorial letter calls upon all parties in relevant fields to refresh and update their knowledge of the International Humanitarian Law, the Geneva Conventions and the additional protocols in relation to current crises. Particular emphasis is placed on alerting both national and international audiences at this seminal turning point in history. When health care is faced with war-torn ethical damage, it is incumbent upon every professional to understand the context, to refrain from getting caught up in dilemmas, avoid getting carried away by popular tabloid trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated how Mississippian residents of the Central Illinois River Valley (CIRV) altered their hunting strategies in response to climate change and warfare in the 13th and 14th centuries. The CIRV, located in west-central Illinois just north of Greater Cahokia, was characterized by optimal climatic conditions in the 11th and 12th centuries, followed by centuries of drought and warfare. We integrated paleoclimatic reconstructions and evidence of violence with bone collagen and apatite isotopic analyses on white-tailed deer remains to investigate how CIRV residents minimized risks associated with white-tailed deer hunting. This is the first study in this region to effectively use δ13C apatite measurements to show the selective consumption of maize by white-tailed deer. Our results indicate that there were varied responses to climate change and conflict that were socially contingent upon community size. Notably, deer hunted by residents of Roskamp, occupied in the 13th century during the period of warfare, had highly elevated δ13C apatite values, demonstrating residents partook in garden hunting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Headhunting – the practice of acquiring human heads for ritual purposes – was historically widespread around the world. We hypothesize that headhunting represented a cultural response to frequent inter-tribal warfare and served as a mechanism to train warriors ready to defend their community. The practice was effective since, first, it allowed verification of warrior quality based on performance in headhunting raids and, second, it offered a system of rewards for men to develop and refine warfare skills. We use phylogenetic comparative methods and ethnographic data to empirically investigate this hypothesis in a sample of preindustrial Austronesian societies. Headhunting turns out to be substantially more prevalent in societies exposed to frequent warfare, accounting for shared cultural ancestry and a host of potentially confounding characteristics. Furthermore, Bayesian estimation of correlated evolution models suggests that, consistent with our hypothesis, the adoption of headhunting typically followed increases in warfare frequency and the decline of this practice was preceded by reduced intergroup conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The war of the future represents an increasingly difficult concept to model through the implementation of emerging and disruptive technologies in a Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) context. The study of wars is essential in conflict prevention and peace building. In our paper we analyze the determining parameters of the contemporary operational environment against which we estimate possible directions of evolution of this phenomenon. The technological approach to war allows the identification of indicators of the development of emerging and disruptive technologies in an ethical framework and reinforces the strategies of forming a security culture through the mass education of citizens. The results of the research and the conclusions formulated can also constitute priorities for the strategies to strengthen the resilience of the national security and defense infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unjustified invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation created the necessary conditions for the development and testing of technologies in the operational space of the traditional war theater. Considering that Ukraine has lost a large part of its naval forces in the first days of the conflict, there was an essential need to develop new technologies that would allow this state to defend itself. Moreover, given the innovative character of the surface and underwater technologies developed by the Ukrainians, they were able to be used for offensive actions, which surprised the naval forces of the Russian Federation repeatedly. Access to operational vehicles was made easier and more accessible with the introduction of smaller, lighter and less expensive equipment. The article proposes an analysis of the evolution of naval drones and how they were used in the most recent conflict in the Black Sea area. The main objective of the study is to identify and present the main types of underwater technologies that have enabled the development of naval drones, the analysis of how they have been used in a contemporary conflict and the recent evolution of their actions. The conclusions of the study are focused on the potential use of these technologies and how they can be used in combination with other combat technologies in armed conflicts of various types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ayer: Revista de Historia Contemporánea is the property of Asociacion de Historia Contemporanea 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.)

Sifting through business accounts and public records, this article demonstrates the involvement of Medici Bank in the military industry of the fifteenth century, shedding new light on the final years of one of the most important companies in Renaissance Italy. By restating the relation between the public role and the private business of Lorenzo the Magnificent, this article emphasises the exploitation of government operations for his economic gain as well as the use of the family business for his political purposes – in this case, the consolidation of the new, permanent military institutions of the Florentine Republic. Developing this point further, the entire military organisation of the Medicean regime, traditionally assessed as haphazard and inefficient, is re-evaluated. Finally, this article contributes to the current debate on the military entrepreneurship of the preindustrial world, focussing on the cooperation between state administration and capitalist elites in supplying the materiel indispensable to early modern armies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russia-Ukraine war demonstrates the crucial role of technology in modern warfare. The use of digital networks, information infrastructure, space technology, and artificial intelligence has distinct military advantages, but raises challenges as well. This essay focuses on the way it exacerbates a rather familiar challenge: the "civilianization of warfare." Today's high-technology warfare lowers the threshold for civilian participation in the war effort. A notable example is the widespread use of smartphone apps by Ukrainian civilians, who thereby help the armed forces defend against Russian aggression. Through the lenses of international humanitarian law, conventional just war theory, and revisionist just war theory, this essay evaluates the normative dimensions of such civilian participation. The analysis shows that civilians can lose their legal protections when they use these apps to directly participate in hostilities, and this loss of immunity can be justified by Michael Walzer's conventional just war theory. Revisionism, however, puts the justness of the war at the forefront, and so sheds doubt on the moral liability of Ukrainian civilians. Considering the broader implications, including the blurring combatant-civilian distinction, indicates that such civilianization of warfare should not be welcomed; the risks will often outweigh the benefits. At a minimum, states ought to exercise restraint in mobilizing civilians and inform them of the implications of their actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sally Snyder conducted ethnographic field research in the Skagit region of the Pacific Northwest in the 1950s. She focused on ethnopsychology as reflected in folktales and mythology. While still a graduate student, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community asked her to orient her field work on Tribal lands lost in the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855. She adapted her study to include cultural geography and genealogy. She created a set of Field Notes and Exhibits to support her testimony during the Indian Claims Case hearings in 1953 and 1955. In the 1970s, she resumed her work as expert anthropologist during the United States of America v. State of Washington proceedings regarding Tribal claims to traditional fishing territory. She served as ethnographic consultant for Tribal governments and on cultural resource assessment projects. Snyder’s work in the legal realm reveals the importance of her role in this nonacademic context. The ethnographic information contained in her expert reports, depositions, testimony, and exhibits is of significance to Pacific Northwest history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a photogrammetric model and new line drawing of Sacul Stela 3 at the ancient Maya site of Sacul 1, Guatemala. Although virtually illegible in person and from photographs, the inscription on the eroded stela can largely be read or reconstructed in the 3D model. Our reading confirms a previous argument that the kingdom based at Sacul 1 was attacked in A.D. 779 by forces from the site of Ucanal. Traveling by night, warriors from Sacul retaliated with a raid at dawn next day on an unidentified site and, months later, followed up with an attack on Ucanal itself. The same narrative appears substantially on a well-known monument, Ixkun Stela 2, but there are differences between the two texts which suggest that Sacul and Ixkun had their own sculptors and record-keepers and which offer insights into the implications of verbs (pul, "to burn" and ch'ak , "to chop") commonly attested in Classic Maya accounts of war. We then present the results of GIS analysis which suggests that the site area of El Rosario (between Sacul 1 and Ucanal) is an appealing candidate for the unidentified site mentioned in the stela text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offensive cyber operations are an increasingly important tool of authoritarian statecraft, used in the pursuit of foreign policy objectives and functioning as an expression of state power. Our article informs Canadian cybersecurity policy by pulling lessons from Russia's use of cyber aggression against Ukraine between 2014 and 2022. Our analysis explores the nexus between Russian cyber operations and foreign and domestic policy, the relationship between private and public cybersecurity organizations, and the purported intent and effectiveness of Russian cyber operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Costly ritual behaviours have frequently been of interest to evolutionary researchers seeking to understand whether they have an adaptive benefit. Here we examine the costliness of initiation rituals across a large group of hunter-gather societies in Pama-Nyungan Australia and compare these with a range of possible adaptive benefits, including warfare, food sharing, demography, and mate competition. We find that in Australia, desert habitat was mostly strongly associated with these rites. Such rites may support the collective action, such as food sharing, necessary for survival in such a precarious environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed insight into the global military robot industry with an emphasis on products and their applications. Design/methodology/approach: Following an introduction which includes a brief historical account, this provides an industry overview, including various market dimensions and a discussion of the geopolitical and technological factors driving market development. The three following sections provide details of land, airborne and marine robots, their capabilities and deployments in recent conflicts. Finally, brief conclusions are drawn. Findings: Military robots which operate on land, in the air and at sea constitute a multi-billion dollar industry which is growing rapidly. It is being driven by geopolitical tensions, notably the military-technology arms race between China and the USA and the conflict in Ukraine, together with technological progress, particularly in AI. Many robots possess multi-functional capabilities, and the leading application is presently intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. An increasing number of heavily armed robots are being developed, and AI has the potential to impart these with the capacity to deliver lethal force without human intervention. Although heavily criticised in some quarters, this capability has probably already been deployed on the battlefield. With ever-growing military budgets, escalating political tensions and technological innovations, robots will play an increasingly significant role in future conflicts. Originality/value: This provides a detail account of military robots and their role in modern warfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Outbreaks of Violence and traumas cause mortality, disability, and imperceptible psychological damage to children. Living in conflict zones such as Middle Eastern countries, especially Gaze, forced displacement, and migration, can develop the risk for expansive mental health disorders. This study aimed to overview on the effects of warfare and forced displacement on mental health of children . Methods: Articles from databases such as PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science in 2023 were included regarding mental health disorders in children. Keywords and terms included appropriate combinations of mental health, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD, child, children, risk, war, flight, prediction, or predisposition . Results: Studies showed that children exposed to trauma demonstrate a broad spectrum of potential PTSD, depression, distress, and aggressive behaviors. The physical and mental consequence of traumatic events such as war is connected to the severity of the trauma, time, and the influence of the stressors and support procedures post-trauma. War and displacement can expose children who are weak to early marriage, sexual violence, and harassment. So, daily stressors can trigger other mental health disorders such as PTSD, depression, and sexual disorders . Conclusion: There is no doubt that Middle Eastern countries, especially Gaze, that have suffered from war and forced displacement require agencies with specialists, funding, and supplies to equip them with their essential requirements, social help, and suitable screening. Also, developing rehabilitation schedules with approvingly enlightened professionals is essential to equip people with adequate coping procedures and societal re-involvement . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of drones among both state and non-state actors, as evidenced by their widespread use, signals a shift towards more accessible forms of military engagement. In this context, the paper discusses how drones, as unmanned, remotely operated aircraft, have revolutionized warfare by enabling remote engagement and minimizing personnel risk. Concepts such as risk compensation, the 'body bag syndrome', and the potential for drones to lower the threshold for use of force has also been explored. The precision and long endurance of drones, coupled with their cost-effectiveness, emerge as double-edged swords, enhancing military capabilities while raising questions about the ease of resorting to force. The paper highlights the operational advantages of drones over manned aircraft, including rapid deployment, reduced training requirements, and operational flexibility. This paper also explores the transformative role of drone technology in contemporary military operations and examines the impact of drones on the threshold of use of force in contemporary times. Following the thematic analysis of qualitative sources backed by quantitative data, this paper explores how drones have lowered the threshold for the use of force.

This article draws from the Japanese phenomenological approach (Kyoto School, particularly Kitaro Nishida and Watsuji Tetsurō) concerning the embodied experience of time-space. It unravels crucial concepts behind Möbius Strip, a mixed-media performance along the way with a particular focus on peripeteia. Having been triggered by the current warfare in Ukraine, Möbius Strip deals with the phenomenon of war. The aim of this article is to disentangle the meaning of peripeteia as a term in a concrete fashion by identifying its role and impact in the dramaturgy of Möbius Strip. The term is further circumscribed under a comparative point of view, which narrates peripeteia as a term that is primarily encountered in Ancient Greek tragedy and unravels its connection with cognate terms from Asian tradition.

The purpose of writing the article is to study the effectiveness of water resources management in the Black Sea region of Ukraine in the context of sustainable development under the conditions of military operations. The theoretical approaches to defining the essence and functions of water resources management through the prism of sustainable development goals have been considered. The main problems of water resources management in the regions of Ukraine are systematised and the ways of their solution at the present stage of the reform are outlined. The author’s approach to evaluating the effectiveness of water resources management in the context of the model of sustainable development is proposed using the example of the Black Sea region of Ukraine. Methodical approaches to assessing the effectiveness of regional water resources management that includes the main stages, the criteria for assessing, indicators for each criterion, and a mathematical apparatus for their calculation have been developed. In accordance with the author’s approach, a diagnosis of the effectiveness of regional water resources management was conducted based on the example of the Black Sea region.

Scholars have neglected at a theoretical level the structuring role of warfare in the rise of nations and states. I argue that war‐making has been a constitutive force in the emergence and persistence of many national identities in four ways. First, wars can act as ‘turning points’ for good or ill to become national mythomoteurs. Second, they can create enduring popular we–they stereotypes against significant others. Third, they can generate a gemeinschaft of national sacrifice that anchors the nation after a return to peace. Finally, the outcomes of wars can legitimate ruling establishments or mobilise peoples against them. However, warfare can also disable nation formation. I shall focus on the impact of imperial wars on Eurasian borderland populations. While generating nationalism in these regions, such wars create shatter zones, marked by ethnic diversity and conflict that frustrate the formation of stable national communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may have cognitive decline, a risk which can be particularly threatening at old age. However, it is yet unclear whether initial cognitive decline renders one more susceptible to subsequent PTSD following exposure to traumatic events, whether initial PTSD precedes cognitive decline or whether the effects are reciprocal. Objective: This study examined the bidirectional longitudinal associations between cognitive function and PTSD symptoms and whether this association is mediated by depressive symptoms. Method: The study used data from two waves of the Israeli component of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), collected in 2013 and 2015. This study focused on adults aged 50 years and above (N = 567, mean age = 65.9 years). Each wave used three measures of cognition (recall, fluency, and numeracy) and PTSD symptoms following exposure to war-related events. Data were analyzed using mediation analysis with path analysis. Results: Initial PTSD symptoms predicted cognitive decline in recall and fluency two years later, while baseline cognitive function did not impact subsequent PTSD symptoms. Partial mediation showed that older adults with more PTSD symptoms had higher depressive symptoms, which in turn were linked to subsequent cognitive decline across all three measures. Conclusions: This study reveals that PTSD symptoms are linked with subsequent cognitive decline, supporting approaches addressing this direction. It further indicates that part of this effect can be explained by increased depressive symptoms. Thus, treatment for depressive symptoms may help reduce cognitive decline due to PTSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall trajectory for the human–environment interaction has been punctuated by demographic boom-and-bust cycles, phases of growth/overshooting as well as of expansion/contraction in productivity. Although this pattern has been explained in terms of an interplay between population growth, social upscaling, ecosystem engineering and climate variability, the evoked demographic–resource-complexity mechanisms have not been empirically tested. By integrating proxy data for population sizes, palaeoclimate and internal societal factors into empirical modelling approaches from the population dynamic theory, we evaluated how endogenous (population sizes, warfare and social upscaling) and exogenous (climate) variables module the dynamic in past agrarian societies. We focused on the inland Atacama Desert, where populations developed agriculture activities by engineering arid and semi-arid landscapes during the last 2000 years. Our modelling approach indicates that these populations experienced a boom-and-bust dynamic over the last millennia, which was coupled to structure feedback between population sizes, hydroclimate, social upscaling, warfare and ecosystem engineering. Thus, the human–environment loop appears closely linked with cooperation, competition, limiting resources and the ability of problem-solving. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Florence Nightingale rose to fame early in 1855 at a time when provincialism was assuming unprecedented importance in Victorian culture. The London papers The Times and the Illustrated London News linked Nightingale to the typically provincial domain of the parish and the home: her public image reflecting the wish to extend domestic comfort to soldiers, adrift on foreign land and neglected by uncaring military authorities. Nightingale's campaigns to improve soldiers' conditions then galvanized the charitable enthusiasms of households across Britain and its colonies, as the public sent contributions ranging from knitted slippers to bedsheets repurposed as wound dressings on ships to the Crimea. Nightingale subsequently introduced army reading rooms stocked with works of regional and provincial fiction, either as actual volumes or as instalments in periodicals such as Household Words , to bring the imaginative connections between the parish and the Scutari hospitals closer still. While recent work by Stefanie Markovits and Holly Furneaux has shown how the cultural lives of 'home' and 'the East' were closer than previously thought, I contend that two distinctively provincial features of Nightingale's place within the conflict have not been sufficiently recognized. First, Nightingale drew on gendered notions of the home and domesticity that were crucial to the provincial as it gained appeal and meaning during the middle of the century. Second, in facilitating imaginative connections between soldiers and the reading public many thousands of miles away, Nightingale showed that the provincial operated most effectively at distance, where its effects were felt most strongly among an increasingly dispersed and fragmented nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Civil wars constitute an element without which the history of humanity is incomprehensible. Since 1917, they alone claimed some 20 million lives and displaced 67 million people, standing alone as the undisputed primary form of armed conflict worldwide since the end of the Second World War. Their definition is crucial to understand them and to place them within intrastate and transnational policies. However, in its definition, the historical dimension has been systematically undervalued. In this paper, we address both a history of the concept and the elements that, in our opinion, help defining civil wars in historical terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article follows the steps of the guerrilla led by Florencio el "Güero" Medrano in the Chinantec mountains of Oaxaca. This text outlines the peasant movement that developed in the district of Tuxtepec, located on the limits of the Chinanteca Region and the plains of the Papaloapan Basin, between 1965 and 1983. Various left-wing organizations participated at the national level of this movement, for example, the Union General de Organizaciones Campesina de México (UGOCM), initially led by Jacinto López in Sonora, or the normalista and student movements of Oaxaca such as the Coordinadora de Obreros, Campesinos y Estudiantes de Oaxaca (COCEO), the Coordinadora Obrero Campesina Estudiantil del Istmo (COCEI) and the Centro Regional de Educación Normal de Tuxtepec Oaxaca (CRENTO). Some survivors of the Liga Comunista 23 de Septiembre also became involved. El Güero Medrano, one of the last participants in Lucio Cabañas guerrilla in Guerrero, and was an important participant in peasant struggles in the region until his death on March 26, 1979 in the municipality of San Pedro Yolox in the Sierra de Juárez, Oaxaca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how algorithmic innovation in contemporary warfare unfolds through new alliances and contestations among civil and military actors in the face of an overarching rhetoric around the need to lead in "information manoeuvre". Drawing on assemblage thinking and applying it to the case of the Land Information Manoeuvre Centre (LIMC)—a data centre founded by the Dutch Army that unlawfully tracked and algorithmically predicted its citizen's sentiment and behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic—the authors identify three logics that held this centre together and helped ward off critique: entrepreneurialism, informality, and experimentation. Emulating innovation practices elsewhere, together, these logics have important political repercussions beyond the Dutch case, pushing the expansion of military surveillance, pattern-finding and targeting, while undermining the rule of law and democratic accountability within algorithmic warfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the appearance, formation and development of dragoon units in the army of the Cossack Hetmanate. The origins and historical context of the emergence of mounted infantry, its organization, tactics and participation in wars are clarified. The formation of dragoon units began during the hetmans' attempts to create a standing army during the Cossack Revolution of the mid17th century. The organization, weapons, and tactics of the dragoons were based on Western European models with which the Cossack Officials were familiar from the time of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in whose army similar formations arose earlier. The first units of dragoons were created during the reign of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi (1648-1657) and Ivan Vyhovskyi (1657-1659). Officers and sergeants for dragoon regiments were recruited from foreigners, and privates from deserters of the Polish and Lithuanian armies. However, most of the rankandfile dragoons were recruited from among the free Ukrainians and Litvins. The armament of the dragoons consisted of short carbines, sabers and pistols. The tactics of the dragoons provided for combined fighting in horse or foot formation. Dragoons performed the functions of combat units of the hetman's army and were also the hetman's personal guard. The payment of dragoons on average exceeded the payments of Cossacks and other categories of mercenaries; weapons and equipment were also much more expensive. Therefore, due to the difficulty of financing and training these formations, they did not become widespread. The Hetman's Treasure did not have enough funds to turn dragoon units into an independent military corps. The cost of providing foreign cavalry units, for which weapons and ammunition were purchased from abroad, the maintenance of foreign officers was too expensive. On the other hand, the stable staffing of these units was hindered by strong competition between the Central European states in the mercenary markets. Small dragoon units existed at the court of hetmans Ivan Samoilovych (1672-1687) and Ivan Mazepa (1687-1709). The successors of these hetmans finally abandoned the creation of dragoon units. Thus, the dragoon cavalry never developed into a fullfledged army, remaining only an exotic part of the hetman's guard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses G.E.M. de Ste. Croix's contentions about the effect of Helotage on Spartan foreign policy articulated in chapter IV of Origins of the Peloponnesian War , namely that Sparta's Helot population was uniquely dangerous, constraining Sparta's ability to send large numbers of citizen hoplites abroad lest it be exposed to the threat within. It shows that while certain arguments advanced by Ste. Croix are no longer tenable in light of subsequent research, others still stand up to critical scrutiny fifty years on; furthermore, other points neglected by Ste. Croix reinforce his overall claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mysterious attacks on the human brain have begun plaguing U.S. diplomats and officials with increasing frequency, ranging from overseas diplomatic outposts. Known in the media as Havana Syndrome, these attacks appear to be signaling a new form of warfare. Indeed, the human brain is at the center of a biotechnological revolution currently underway. At the same time, great power competition has returned to the forefront of international relations, as China and Russia seek to contest America’s global leadership. By highlighting recent attacks targeting the brain and revealing research from the United States and its two main competitors, China and Russia, this article seeks to argue that neurowar is not just coming, but rather is already here and is likely to fundamentally alter conflict and warfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces 'DIY warfare', a paradigm where soldiers utilize advanced commercial technologies with support from private tech firms, and civilians contribute technologically, often near conflict zones. This convergence blurs traditional combatant-non-combatant lines, challenging existing warfare doctrines. Employing a '3Cs' analytical framework—compute, compatibility, and collaboration—it explores the shift towards a decentralized, technology-driven conflict, highlighting the potential for increased operational flexibility alongside the complexities of civilian-military integration and reliance on private entities. This article suggests DIY warfare could significantly alter military engagement at the tactical level in the digital era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the military operations conducted by the opponent during and after the 2020 Artsakh war, as well as potential future risks and threats, the Republic of Armenia faces the challenge of ensuring the secure livelihoods of border settlements and implementing programs aimed at territorial development. Therefore, raising the issues regarding the resistance of these settlements to possible military operations is of strategic importance and demands immediate attention. The research examines normative and technical documents adopted from both international and local experiences to mitigate the impact of military attacks. It delves into the potential for reducing casualties and material damage by organizing the spatial environment of settlements. Furthermore, it emphasizes the necessity of defining new terminology and formulating key assessment criteria. The proposed solutions can be the basis for proposing a new scientific theory in architecture and contributing to the development of new resistance solutions in architecture along with military technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational Systems have remained the same for decades while the technology and its effect on our daily lives has undergone tremendous progress. Technology has been incorporated in various other fields with great success while education has been conservative and slow to adapt, this has been problematic in a number of ways, since entertainment, news, social media have evolved to better suit the human psyche. This creates a gap between these aforementioned systems and education where education is way behind in terms of engagement and immersion compared to entertainment and such. We propose one way to tackle this divide is to use "Educational Games" which use technology to make education engaging and entertaining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trend toward the "humanization" of international law reflects a greater emphasis on individuals rather than simply states as objects of concern. The advance of human rights law (HRL) has been an important impetus for this trend. Some observers suggest that humanization can be furthered even more by applying HRL rather than international humanitarian law (IHL) to hostilities between states and nonstate armed groups, unless a state explicitly declares that it is engaged in an armed conflict. This essay argues, however, that a court should not defer to a state's characterization of hostilities, but should base its analysis on whether hostilities meet the criteria for an armed conflict. Applying HRL to hostilities that effectively are an armed conflict but not acknowledged as such risks diluting the legitimacy and normative force of HRL. On the one hand, if a court applies conventional stringent HRL standards, this body of law may be seen as unrealistic and is likely to be ignored. On the other hand, a court that adapts HRL standards to armed conflict may need to take a consequentialist approach at odds with HRL's deontological foundations. Clearly differentiating between HRL and IHL may thus best promote the humanization of warfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking risks might be encouraged, both in business and military strategy, when the potential price of losing would not be excessive while the gains in winning, worth wagering such a bet. In military contexts, a side set on aggression and conquest might take such a risk. Chance, fortuna, determining the outcome of risk taking has been seen differently throughout history – fatalistically, as prevalent in the Middle Ages – as been something that could not be influenced, or, as in Antiquity and in more recent times, as a factor open to influence by the astute and forceful military commander, or to prudent planners. New situations could be seen as dangerous and risky, with risks against which one has to hedge. Or they could be seen as a chance to change things in one's own interest. This might be done through extensive contingency planning, or by seizing an opportunity quickly, applying the genius general's coup d'oeil to turn a new development to one's advantage, always conscious that this was a gamble and the outcome uncertain. While such a gamble could win or lose a battle and in turn a war, in the nuclear age, such a gamble would seem difficult to justify given the potential negative outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can strategists reduce the adversary's capability or will to fight through militarily inspired awe? While strategic and emotion theories suggest an affirmative answer, evidence from strategic history indicates awe does not work well in practice. Historically, military power has only inspired awe on a limited scale, unreliably, disparately and not repeatedly. Furthermore, the emotion does not translate into favourable strategic effects because of the fluid emotional landscape which characterizes combat and politics. These findings question the wisdom of relying on awe in strategic practice but also hold implications for the extant and future strategic thought, particularly the emotion centric one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several historical literatures in the field of Strategic Studies (Gray, 2013; Heuser, 2010; Kane, 2013) have always centered its Hellenic and ancient Oriental origins, ignoring (or negating) the contributions of other cultures (African, Islamic, etc.) to the discipline. Furthermore, in the modern era, references to the Islamic strategy of warfare have been reduced to one of its components: Jihad (Bar 2008, Zabel 2007, Spencer 2019). This is due, in part, to the recent theology of Islamic militants (Al Qaeda, for example), who have portrayed (erroneously) Jihad as the sole strategy of Islamic warfare in contemporary times. As a result, this research highlights the contributions of Islamic thoughts on Peace and Warfare. This paper aims to highlight major Islamic scientific thoughts on warfare through a historical attempt. The goal of this exercise is to correct two errors: first, to reintroduce Islamic perspectives on peace and warfare into the canon of Strategic Studies, and second, to correct the contemporary perception of Islamic warfare contributions as primarily jihadist in nature. This study employs comparative historical research methodology to describe the vast literature of Islamic strategic thoughts and events in order to demonstrate the historical shortcomings of the west's rejection or ignorance of Islam's contributions to the field of strategic thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the purpose of ravaging in Greek warfare was not to goad the enemy into fighting or to cause systematic economic harm but to facilitate plundering. The cereal harvest was commonly chosen as a time for invasion, because it maximized the amount of plunder an invading force could expect to find in the enemy countryside. While ravagers were unlikely to cause permanent economic harm to a community as a whole, they could imperil the livelihoods of individual farmers, both directly through theft and destruction and indirectly by preventing farmers from processing the harvest in a timely fashion. This explains the consistent fear of plundering and ravaging present in our sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional literature on sanctions tends to overfocus on measuring their political efficacy on targeted countries, accused of carrying out terrorist activities. More critically, other studies have focused on the ethical problems arising from the consequences that sanctions have on entire populations. Departing from these approaches, this article draws on Fidel Castro's concept of the "Battle of Ideas" and argues that sanctions should be studied as a form of US-led imperialist warfare over the Global South. Taking the case of Libya, the article relies on archival sources (CIA [Central Intelligence Agency], US and Libyan government, and UN documents) as well as secondary literature, and argues that sanctions act as a form of economic warfare that supplants or complements the use of other forms of warfare, including military and non-military. In doing so, the article calls for a deeper and renewed engagement with the Third-Worldist Marxist theoretical lineage, when studying the question of financial subordination, dependency, war, and imperialism in the Arab world, and the Global South at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze a dynamic model of bargaining and war with two states located on a linear territory. One state demands a portion of the other state's territory each period such that if the latter state makes a concession, the former state takes control of the demanded portion. If otherwise, the two states engage in warfare to decide which state controls the disputed portion of territory. À la Fearon, we consider a model in which the states bargain over objects that influence future bargaining power. That is, it is valuable to have more territory, not only because it brings higher utility, but also because it increases future bargaining power, as it can be used to generate military resources in wars to come. We implicitly characterize the unique Markov perfect equilibrium of the model, and utilizing a set of parameter values, we illustrate that there are six different types of equilibrium outcomes. We then provide a variety of historical examples and argue that our model is able to capture their patterns and characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the military operations conducted by the opponent during and after the 2020 Artsakh war, as well as potential future risks and threats, the Republic of Armenia faces the challenge of ensuring the secure livelihoods of border settlements and implementing programs aimed at territorial development. Therefore, raising the issues regarding the resistance of these settlements to possible military operations is of strategic importance and demands immediate attention. The research examines normative and technical documents adopted from both international and local experiences to mitigate the impact of military attacks. It delves into the potential for reducing casualties and material damage by organizing the spatial environment of settlements. Furthermore, it emphasizes the necessity of defining new terminology and formulating key assessment criteria. The proposed solutions can be the basis for proposing a new scientific theory in architecture and contributing to the development of new resistance solutions in architecture along with military technologies.

Frankincense (Boswellia spp.) resin is an internationally renowned non-timber forest product (NTFP), generating more than $1 billion USD annually for its use in aromatherapy, incenses, perfumery, cosmetics, and medicines. However, many Boswellia species that produce commercially traded frankincense resins grow in arid, resource-poor environments where human conflict and warfare are common, such as the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. Despite this, the impacts of violent conflict on frankincense or other NTFP production systems have been underexplored in the literature. Drawing on anecdotal reports in frankincense and case studies from other species and geographies, we discuss the likely impacts of both acute warfare, such as the recent Tigray war in Ethiopia, and chronic, low-level conflict, such as the ongoing insurgencies by ISIS and Al-Qaeda-linked groups in Somalia and the Sahel. The effects of conflict are wide-ranging and may include direct damage to forests, disruptions of land tenure, management, and governance systems, reduced monitoring capabilities, and limited capacity for sustainable supply chain operations. We explore these potential impacts, outline an agenda for further research, and urge that further attention be given to conflict as an important driver of forest management and conservation outcomes.

Abstract: The evolution of obligate kleptoparasitism, the theft of food, has led to remarkable innovations, including physical weapons and chemical signals that can evolve into chemical weapons. Stingless bees in the genus Lestrimelitta are excellent examples of this phenomenon because they are obligate kleptoparasites that no longer collect floral resources and instead steal brood resources from other bees. Their ability to raid successfully is thus essential to their fitness even when they fight species that are physically bigger, have larger defense forces, or both. We conducted morphometric analyses, quantified Lestrimelitta niitkib mandibular gland pheromone (MGP) components, and carried out individual fighting trials between L. niitkib and the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana, a common victim species, to shed light on the detailed reasons for their success at robbing. Measurements showed that L. niitkib mandibles have thicker exoskeleton cuticles and overall greater width, particularly in the medial and proximal sections, than S. mexicana, which is quite similar in body size. In all fights, L. niitkib bit victims and released MGP, as it does during raids. Scaptotrigona mexicana victims exhibited significantly increased uncoordinated behaviors and showed partial or complete paralysis. We analyzed and quantified the major components of MGP, which consisted of large quantities of geranial (mean of 253 μg) and neral (48 μg) per bee. Microinjections of 1 bee equivalent (BE) of natural or synthetic MGP and ≥ 0.1 BE of geranial significantly increased deleterious behaviors and paralysis as compared to control injections. We suggest that the large quantities of MGP used during raiding have led to an unexpected outcome, a semiochemical evolving the additional function of a toxin, and contribute to the ability of Lestrimelitta to rob its victims. Significance statement: Kleptoparasites, organisms that steal food resources, employ multiple physical and chemical tools to survive. The success of kleptoparasitism requires a balance between honesty and coercion in interspecific communication. The genus Lestrimellita consists of a group of kleptoparasitic stingless bee species that raid other bee colonies for food and therefore depend upon winning these raids. However, why they succeed remains not fully understood. We studied differences in morphology between L. niitkib and its victims, the pheromones they release during raids, and ran individual fight trials between L. niitkib and a common victim to identify why they are successful. We suggest that the release of pheromones at the beginning of raids, in concert with the pheromone’s toxicity, has been combined to improve L. niitkib’s ability to successfully rob.