The challenge of cyber attack deterrence

National security planners have begun to look beyond reactive, tactical cyber defense to proactive, strategic cyber defense, which may include international military deterrence. The incredible power of nuclear weapons gave birth to deterrence, a military strategy in which the purpose of armies shifted from winning wars to preventing them. Although cyber attacks per se do not compare to a nuclear explosion, they do pose a serious and increasing threat to international security. Real-world examples suggest that cyber warfare will play a lead role in future international conflicts. This article examines the two deterrence strategies available to nation-states (denial and punishment) and their three basic requirements (capability, communication, and credibility) in the light of cyber warfare. It also explores whether the two most challenging aspects of cyber attacks – attribution and asymmetry – will make cyber attack deterrence an impossible task.     

Changes in surveillance of regulatory enforcement progragrammes in Singapore

In recent years Myanmar underwent drastic political changes. While many see these changes as first tentative steps towards democratization, we argue that the current political transformation is not a deliberate process of liberalization, but a survival strategy of the military regime. Using arguments of the ‘new institutionalism’ as a theoretical foundation, this article explores the hypothesis that the high degree of professionalization of the Burmese military creates the incentive to institutionalize power-sharing among the ruling elite. Our empirical analysis finds evidence for both a highly professionalized military and institutions that by securing the military's continuing dominance serve the purpose of institutionalizing military power- sharing. These results imply that further democratization is unlikely as it must be initiated from within the still dominating military itself.     

军事法制概念再析及其体系重建

时至今日,对军事法制概念在军事法学界仍未作出统一、准确的界定。军事法制应定义为调整涉及国家军事利益社会关系的法律制度以及保证其创制、实施的有关法律制度的总和。军事法制体系是由不同层次、不同方面和不同环节的军事法律制度组成的有机整体。     

Regional Arrangements as Agents of the UN Security Council: Some African and European Organisations Contrasted

The increased burden placed upon the UN Security Council in the post-Cold War era in respect of its discharge of its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security has fuelled calls for the greater use of regional arrangements as agents of the Council, to relieve its burden. However, the various agendas and capabilities of different arrangements make it difficult to adopt a uniform template of the role which regional arrangements can play as conductors of peace support operations authorised by the Security Council. This article attempts to provide a framework against which the potential role of different arrangements as viable agents to which the Security Council can entrust military enforcement operations, before going on to assess how selected African and European organisations fare against this framework. It will be demonstrated that when assessed against this framework, the organisations selected for comparison are remarkably similar.

以全争于天下——试析孙子的强国思想

从政治思想层面去解读《孙子兵法》,它无疑是一部深刻说明如何"强国"的纲领性著作,其核心是"全争"的战略思想,"争"的直接目的是取"胜"。孙子强调"知胜"、"能为胜败之政"、"奇胜"、"胜可为"、"胜可全"。孙子"全争"的思想具有强大的生命力。     

日本战略走向与中日关系前景

进入新世纪,伴随日本政治的右倾化,日本对外战略也发生着深刻的变化。2005年以来小泉内阁加紧推行“右倾化大国路线”,造成日本同中国等亚洲邻国关系更趋恶化。中日关系的改善还需两国付出长期不懈的共同努力。     

Fear,greed, or garage sale? The analysis of military expenditure in East Asia

This paper examines the determinants of military expenditures in eight East Asian countries from 1983 to 1993. In a pooled cross-sectional time-series analysis, it finds that the security threats (either external or internal) have not been a factor in determining the governments' defence burdens. Instead, economic and bureaucratic budgetary factors are better predictors of their defence decision-making. Military corruption and subsidized defence industries are the main domestic elements driving up the budgets; but this bureaucratic 'irrationality' is checked and balanced by economic rationality, for the defence burdens generally correlate with the availability of economic resources.     

独立学院军事理论课教学改革与创新的新思路

军事理论课是高校国防教育的基石,是培养大学生爱国主义精神的重要途径,独立学院开设军事理论课是一项具有战略意义的重要决策。以中山大学新华学院为例,通过教学内容的精简和优化、教学方法的改革、教学手段的更新、考试模式的创新等途径,对军事理论课的教学模式进行改革与创新。     

界定中国国家安全利益

对国家安全利益的认识 ,具有显著的国家本位主义特征。在概念上 ,国家安全利益是国家利益中关系到主权独立、领土完整、基本制度的稳定、民族团结、经济繁荣等国家生存利益的部分 ,它是国家利益的主要成分和重要基础。在目前和今后的一段时间内 ,我国的安全利益着重体现为 :1、主权独立、领土完整与国家统一 ;2、基本制度与文化意识形态的保持 ;3、反对民族分离势力和宗教极端势力 ,保障各民族和睦共处 ;4、维护经济安全。中国国家安全利益主要集中在亚太地区 ,是多元化的 ;既有传统的安全利益 ,同时新型安全利益正在变得越来越突出。从内容看 ,政治安全利益、军事安全利益、经济安全利益是中国在亚太地区安全利益的核心成分。政治安全利益内容广泛 ,包括政治稳定、主权独立、国家统一、民族关系稳定等 ;军事安全利益着重表现为维护领土完整、捍卫祖国统一、防范军事威胁以及军控和防止核扩散 ;经济安全利益涵盖金融安全、稳定的资金来源和良好的投资环境、资源安全特别是能源安全、市场安全、运输线安全、海外投资安全等