The RUSI Journal最新文献

{"title":"Truck Platooning","authors":"Dominik Juling","doi":"10.1080/03071847.2023.2195897","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2023.2195897","url":null,"abstract":"Truck platooning is a technology that allows trucks to drive in a convoy one behind the other, communicating with one another and adapting themselves to the convoy. There are various configurations with differing degrees of autonomy but, in most cases, there is still a driver on board, which distinguishes the concept from fully autonomous vehicles. In this article, Dominik Juling examines the advantages, hurdles and limits of military truck platooning in Europe, and provides examples of projects and technologies that are already operational. The benefits include fewer drivers, increased safety for the crew and reduced resource consumption.◼","PeriodicalId":221517,"journal":{"name":"The RUSI Journal","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123895530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Bear in the Labyrinth","authors":"Guillem Colom-Piella","doi":"10.1080/03071847.2023.2177193","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2023.2177193","url":null,"abstract":"On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine, sparking the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War. The war is a remarkable opportunity to observe Russia’s military capabilities in a high-intensity conflict and to reflect on military trends witnessed in recent conflicts. Guillem Colom-Piella sets out a series of initial impressions on Moscow’s military performance in this ongoing conflict.◼","PeriodicalId":221517,"journal":{"name":"The RUSI Journal","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115517208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Scourge of War: The Life of William Tecumseh Sherman","authors":"Julian F. Thompson","doi":"10.1080/03071847.2023.2178775","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2023.2178775","url":null,"abstract":"Another interesting angle that Backfire explores is the ‘dark side’ of sanctions – that is, how targeted countries and affected companies manage to circumvent or bypass sanctions regimes. Knowing that sanctions ‘have a massive impact on the dealings – and strategy – of foreign firms’ (p. 75), the book offers many telling examples of how countries such as Russia, China or Iran have managed to bust US sanctions by using alternative trade and currency mechanisms. This situation could ultimately lead to the dreaded ‘decoupling’ of the US and Chinese economies (p. 175). Demarais concludes the book with a warning: through adaptation, international transactions might become ‘immune’ to US sanctions (p. 126). Indeed, as sanctions use established financial channels controlled or overseen by US regulators, targeted countries are slowly learning how to shield themselves. For a country such as China, the ultimate goal would be to create an alternative financial world order insulated from the Bretton Woods-inherited institutions. The shift towards a less US-centric financial order will happen at an ‘incremental pace’ (p. 154) but the process has already started within several states and central banks. A good example is Beijing’s willingness to challenge the ‘supremacy of the dollar’ by investing in a statebacked cryptocurrency, the digital renminbi (p. 143). In its final sections, Backfire shows that geo-economics will therefore be increasingly linked to geo-technological competition, especially between tech companies. In the field of sanctions, more research is needed to understand the future of such challenges. Post-financial, ‘geo-tech’ sanctions might be an avenue – namely targeting the silicon-based economy and semiconductors (p. 164). And with the first US-led ‘crypto-sanctions’ on the blockchain perhaps just around the corner, clearly those designing sanctions are keen to adapt their approach. Backfire offers important insights on what the future of sanctions might look like and therefore represents a welcome contribution to this field of research. n","PeriodicalId":221517,"journal":{"name":"The RUSI Journal","volume":"167 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129462027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editor’s Note","authors":"Emma De Angelis","doi":"10.1080/03071847.2022.2178777","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2022.2178777","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":221517,"journal":{"name":"The RUSI Journal","volume":"63 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115049038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Introduction: The UK’s Tilt to the Indo-Pacific","authors":"J. Gaskarth","doi":"10.1080/03071847.2022.2160594","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2022.2160594","url":null,"abstract":"This special feature emerged from a workshop on the UK’s tilt to the Indo-Pacific, organised by the Open University and the Council on Geostrategy and involving academics as well as UK government officials. It aims to unpack the assumptions of the 2021 Integrated Review and to offer practical insights into the opportunities and challenges of the UK’s future engagement with the region. British foreign policy post-Brexit has characteristically focused on partnerships, minilaterals and looser forms of multilateralism. This feature examines the practicalities of this approach, in terms of the networks with which the UK is engaging, its bilateral partnerships with three key actors in the region (the US, Japan and Australia), its security commitments in the region, and relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As such, the authors aim to provide a broad assessment of how the ‘tilt’ is operating, and its future prospects, from networked, bilateral, minilateral and multilateral viewpoints. In my piece, I argue that what underpins much of the strategic logic and effort of the Indo-Pacific tilt is the existence of networks in world politics. The Integrated Review’s stated aims and objectives are reasonable but to achieve them will require a more sophisticated and rigorous analysis of the social dynamics of regions such as the Indo-Pacific, as revealed by social network analysis. John F Bradford provides an analytical history of the UK tilt to the Indo-Pacific from a US perspective. He traces UK engagement with the US in the region to 2007, when a Royal Naval officer was brought into its Pacific Command HQ, and charts how this deepened as the UK began to engage more with Japan. Early involvement was focused on naval cooperation, scaling up to the deployment of the Carrier Strike Group in 2021. According to Bradford, this has been welcomed by the US as making an important contribution to gap filling during the Afghanistan evacuation; but he argues the tilt has not been sold to US policymakers by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and there is still a level of ignorance about what it entails. Ian Hall’s contribution looks at UK–Australia relations, particularly the prospects for AUKUS – the new agreement between Canberra, London and Washington. Hall sees the chance of a ‘substantive strategic partnership between Australia and the UK, underpinned by shared concerns about China’. His historical account notes a deep-seated fear of abandonment and insecurity in Australian strategic culture, which still taints relations between the two countries. From 2011, AUKMIN dialogues have provided an annual forum for discussion and AUKUS has accelerated technological cooperation; however, Hall notes that political will and conscious effort will be needed to identify and build links between the two countries.","PeriodicalId":221517,"journal":{"name":"The RUSI Journal","volume":"102 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114369004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Strategy, Tactics and Tilts","authors":"J. Gaskarth","doi":"10.1080/03071847.2022.2159515","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2022.2159515","url":null,"abstract":"The 2021 Integrated Review was informed by two assumptions: that leaving the EU would allow a more agile foreign policy based on ad hoc groups; and that a global shift in power towards the Indo-Pacific meant that the UK needed to engage more with the region. Jamie Gaskarth argues that the missing element to this strategy is a networked approach. Using the insights of network theory and social network analysis, policymakers should be aiming to analyse the social dynamics of the region in a more systematic way. This would allow them to better identify opportunities for greater connectedness and the benefits these may bring, as well as the limits to UK engagement, and non-linear effects that network spillovers can produce.◼","PeriodicalId":221517,"journal":{"name":"The RUSI Journal","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128077345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assurance and Deterrence in the UK’s East Asia Policies","authors":"Catherine Jones","doi":"10.1080/03071847.2023.2176918","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2023.2176918","url":null,"abstract":"East Asia is essential to the UK’s post-Brexit international strategy. Within a complex web of bilateral and multilateral arrangements, the UK needs to manage historical ties, new strategic objectives and ongoing partnerships. Underpinning these interactions is trust and some of the dynamics more commonly associated with formal security alliances. Post-Brexit, there is a need to assure these states of the UK’s place in the world and particularly its commitment to, and strategic objectives in, the region, but also recognise that there is an increasing risk of moral hazard for the UK in seeking to achieve some of its objectives. Catherine Jones offers a framework for understanding the challenges and opportunities for the UK’s current planning in the region.◼","PeriodicalId":221517,"journal":{"name":"The RUSI Journal","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129749034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Countering Kaliningrad’s Threat to NATO","authors":"William DiRubbio","doi":"10.1080/03071847.2023.2176917","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2023.2176917","url":null,"abstract":"Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave situated between Poland and Lithuania, rarely receives interest in the public sphere despite its strategic implications. Acting similarly to a forward operating base, the sovereign Russian territory is host to both conventional and nuclear forces. If desired, through operations originating from Kaliningrad, Russia could deny airspace across the Baltic states and much of Poland, or strike deep into NATO. William DiRubbio argues that the Alliance must develop a more effective strategy towards the Kaliningrad oblast. This involves a prioritisation of targets in Kaliningrad and forward-placing NATO capabilities near the oblast to facilitate a quick response.◼","PeriodicalId":221517,"journal":{"name":"The RUSI Journal","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122006210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Backfire: How Sanctions Reshape the World Against U.S. Interests","authors":"Mathieu Boulègue","doi":"10.1080/03071847.2023.2178774","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2023.2178774","url":null,"abstract":"Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Syria, Russia – the seemingly endless list of countries under international and targeted sanctions shows how much they have become a hot-button policy issue. Sanctions are notably much discussed among Western countries – which are at the forefront of sanctioning noncompliant states – including in the US, where the country’s regulator oversees the implementation of most of the ongoing sanctions regimes. Backfire: How Sanctions Reshape the World Against U.S. Interests offers a critical contribution to the field by explaining to laypersons, policymakers and international affairs experts alike what sanctions are about and what they do in ‘real’ life. Agathe Demarais uses an impressive number of examples and anecdotes to surgically decipher how sanctions work, first by looking at the different types of sanctions and explaining their force-multiplier effect, before exploring their consequences on the US-centric financial order. This is where Backfire takes an innovative approach to discussing the topic of sanctions: explaining how they are mostly US-designed, -engineered and -implemented. Modern Western sanctions mirror the Bretton Woods-inherited financial institutions and will only work as well (and for as long) as the US keeps its worldwide financial dominance. Sanctions are an instrument of power at the disposal of states (and the US in particular) seeking to deter or alter the behaviour of another state. Sanctions are an integral part of the ‘toolkit’ (p. 6) of modern Western policy and represent a form of economic, financial and psychological warfare. If sanctions are a form of modern deterrence, it means they must have an impact on targeted countries. Despite the existence of factors determining the effect of sanctions and measurable metrics, Demarais explains with honesty that ‘gauging whether sanctions will work is akin to fortune-telling’ (p. 39). From the reviewer’s perspective, the example of Russia is quite telling. Moscow has been under US (and international) sanctions since 2014 and the illegal invasion of Crimea. However, the multiplication of sanctions regimes did not achieve the intended deterrence effect against the Kremlin leadership. Sanctions did not prevent Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine a second time in 2022. Sanctions cannot deter a worldview shaped by 30 years of grievances against the West and the alleged trauma inherited from the fall of the Soviet Union. The economic and financial impact of sanctions against Russia, however, can be clearly measured: increased capital flight; decreased foreign direct investments; asset freezes; price hikes for most commodities; currency slump; and depreciation of the value of the oil and gas sector, to name a few.","PeriodicalId":221517,"journal":{"name":"The RUSI Journal","volume":"38 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122639052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How to Grow a Navy: The Development of Maritime Power","authors":"Sidharth Kaushal","doi":"10.1080/03071847.2023.2173389","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2023.2173389","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":221517,"journal":{"name":"The RUSI Journal","volume":"53 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117119022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}