Military Modernization and Defence Transformation Research Papers (original) (raw)

Military transformations are usually understood as linear processes involving diverse, steady, and costly initiatives to be achieved during a specific timeframe. However, other influencing elements, such as assessment, follow-up, and feedback from the personnel in charge of enforcing and evaluating their implementation, are often disregarded. This article seeks to bridge this information gap and provide a model to analyze the transformation of the military forces of Colombia as avirtuous cycle using the perceptions of its future implementers as its core and main evaluating resource. The questionnaire developed focuses on national interests and the roles and functions of the military forces, gathering the perceptions of officers who will be responsible for implementing the transformation. The statistical findings suggest that determining threats, factors of influence, obstacles, enhancers, and priorities such as drug trafficking, defense expenditure, conflict of interests, fiscal responsibility, and doctrine and policy are central to obtaining successful outcomes.

- by and +1
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- Colombia, Defense and National Security, Military Modernization and Defence Transformation

In the 1970s, the Park Chung Hee administration (1961-79) leveraged all defense-related civilian industries to build an independent system of weapons production. In keeping with Park's advancement of military modernization driven by strong private-sector growth, an agenda that he promoted with his banner slogan “rich nation, strong military,” large Korean companies known as chaebŏl (재벌) were transformed to serve as government contractors that drove both national economic development and military modernization. A case study of one such company, Hanwha, illustrates how the state's hyper-militarization of Korean industries determined the distinct course and character of South Korea's national development. The study highlights the dynamic interplay that occurred between state actors and private-sector CEOs, managers, and laborers in shaping the chaebŏl-centered economic and defense industrialization.

- by Peter B Kwon
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- Military History, Business History, Korean Studies, South Korea
- by Guillem Colom-Piella
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- Fuerzas Armadas, Defence Planning, España, Seguridad Y Defensa

Whereas the role of the military in African politics continues to receive wide attention, the internal leadership process of the armed forces has practically become an analytic black hole. This paper seeks to fill this lacuna by using the Nigerian Army (NA) as a case study of “context specific leadership events” as a framework to understand the conditions under which leadership is produced, and how those conditions shape their leadership paths. The most important context-specific event in the Fourth Republic (1999-present) has been the series of efforts to “transform,” re-professionalize, and “re-invent the military as a political actor” for democratic stability after 29 years of military dictatorship. These efforts culminated in the adoption and implementation of a “Nigerian Army Transformation Agenda” from October 2010 until 14 January 2014 that sought “To transform the Nigerian Army into a force better able to meet contemporary challenges.” The “transformation” agenda, however, coincided with and was truncated by the emergence of the Boko Haram Islamist terrorists whose battlefield successes have cast serious doubt on the organizational effectiveness and combat readiness of Nigeria’s armed forces in a changed asymmetric war environment or “Fourth Generation wars.” Extant studies of civil-military relations and security sector reforms assume that civilian leaders will prioritize control over the military or even actively participate in, or structure, the military’s concept of transformation. In Nigeria, those attempts were largely cosmetic and lacked civilian control and guidance to the military to truly eradicate old habits of human rights abuses, corruption, nepotism, deterioration of professionalism, and the privileging of organizational and individual material interests. In this vacuum, the NA designed and implemented a narrowly defined “Nigerian army transformation agenda” (NATA) from 2010 until 14 January 2014. Although it led to laudable changes within the NA, the “transformation” merely addressed the symptoms rather than the real problems and sources of institutional decay, and thus failed to prepare the NA to respond to the biggest security threat Nigeria has faced since the end of the civil war in 1970. The resultant inability to defeat the insurgency by a once revered army exemplifies the limits of contemporary leadership in Africa’s conventional armed forces. Several factors — the cascading effects of failed or incomplete transformation; the impediments created by entrenched military organizational interests; the politicization of the military and insertion of its leadership into the crossfire of Nigeria’s ever-widening fault lines in the run-up to the 2015 presidential elections; the ambivalence of African rulers and their foreign partners about enhancing the capacity of African armies; inter-service rivalry and institutionalized corruption; and the increasing realization that Fourth Generation wars are becoming un-winnable — all help explain the paradox of a transformative leadership and the failure or ineffectiveness of institutional response to threats to stability and national security.

This article provides an alternative view for examining Revolutions in Military Affairs (RMAs), perceiving them both as sociopolitical institutions and as war-fighting models. The weaknesses in the ways in which the RMA theory has been approached are analyzed, resulting in the formation of three different, but parallel, paradigms of the RMA phenomenon (the Social Wave, the Radical Transformation, and the Continuity and Evolution). Two historical case studies, the Napoleonic RMA and the First World War RMA, are used in order to draw out the lessons learned regarding past revolutions and to examine the validity of the paradigms.

- by Andrew N Liaropoulos
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- Military History, Strategy (Military Science), War Studies, Napoleonic Wars

Niezależnie od okresu historycznego siły zbrojne zawsze stanowiły istotny element prowadzenia polityki wewnętrznej i zewnętrznej przez państwo. Przyczyniały się one do ekspansji terytorialnej, obrony suwerenności, jak również do wzrostu ogólnej siły poszczególnych krajów. Rezultatem starć pomiędzy nimi były liczne przesunięcia granic, powstawanie nowych państw, upadek imperiów i zmiany władz. Wojsko a polityka zagraniczna Z punktu widzenia analizy neogeopolitycznej sprawne i nowoczesne siły zbrojne mają podwójne znaczenie – przede wszystkim są gwarancją zachowania podmiotowości w wymiarze bezpieczeństwa państwa, a po drugie są istotnym elementem obecności geopolitycznej poprzez uczestniczenie w misjach zagranicznych. Stąd też wniosek o trwałości " sytuacji strategicznej " w polityce zagranicznej, która wymaga posiadania przez państwo sił zbrojnych jako instrumentu polityki na globalnych arenach.

- by Tomasz Wójtowicz
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- Geopolitics, NATO, Poland, Geopolitcs and Geostrategy

In 1592, King Philip II of Spain commissioned Tiburzio Spannocchi, an Italian engineer, to analyse both the defensive system of the central Pyrenees and the fortification of the city of Zaragoza. Spannocchi developed the commission for five years, and the result of his work is the San Pedro Castle in Jaca and the design of a low-lying fortification with bastion-shaped elements using the preexistence of the Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza.
The political situation and the revolts that followed the practical abolition of the Aragonese code of laws in 1592 changed the aim of the Zaragoza project. It turned into an element to control of the city itself rather than defend it against a possible French attack, generating a hybrid image between a modern and medieval fortress. We will study this mixed appearance using the drawings that the engineer himself sent to the king as a report of his work.
Through the analysis of these drawings, we will display the varied ways in which Spannocchi created them according to the direct practical objective of each one, and the consequent choice of techniques and means used.

Donald Rumsfeld was right. Force transformation works. The techniques that led to the initial victories in Afghanistan in 2001 were precisely those that produced success in Libya in 2011. Small-scale deployments of special forces backed by precision strike and deep attack capabilities used to support an allied indigenous armed group proved an effective military tool for achieving specific strategic outcomes. In contrast, the results of large-scale troop deployments as part of counterinsurgency (COIN), stabilization and nation-building activities over the past ten years in Iraq and Afghanistan have been less definitive. Despite intensive investment in blood, treasure, and military effort, the precise long-term outcomes of these two campaigns remain unclear and will be open to debate for years to come. This challenging operational experience has, however, highlighted some necessary and enduring truths about the use of military force. Despite great advances in military technology and the increasing sophistication with which organized violence can be applied in a range of situations, all warfare remains characterized by uncertainty; there exists no silver bullet that can guarantee enduring political success from the barrel of a gun.

- by Matthew Ford and +1
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- Military Intelligence, Counterinsurgency, Military Intervention, Military Power

Everything that is done in a military’s learning has an impact; understanding it allows leadership to make informed decisions based on verifiable observations and valid scientific reasoning. This article provides a learning philosophy to drive the evolution of service members from recruitment through retirement and the proficiency of units. Learning is a foundation that can be used to inform leaders on the development of leadership traits, problem-solving skills, and intangible attributes valued by military leaders and documented in the history of successful military organizations—that win in war. Learning can be verified and validated. It can bring specifications for tasks, conditions, and standards into a keener and complete correspondence with doctrinal requirements not only for training and education but also self-development within the military.

The article is aimed at studying the evolution of the United States’ strategic thought since the end of the Cold War until the present day. Its development can be divided into three different periods – the immediate post-Cold War (1989-2001), the war on terror (2001-12) and nowadays (2012-) – any of which based on a paradigm that has determined the country’s strategic thought, defence policy and military posture. Regardless of those transformations aimed at anticipating to the risks or respond to the threats, the American strategic thought has maintained a great deal of continuity.

This article examines a ten-year failure to adapt US security policy to post-Cold War realities and assesses how well three different concepts of military transformation correspond to these new realities. Originally published as a chapter in Security After 9/11: Strategy Choices and Budget Tradeoffs by the Security Policy Working Group, January 2003.

Military transformations are usually understood as linear pro- cesses involving diverse, steady, and costly initiatives to be achieved during a specific timeframe. However, other influen- cing elements, such as assessment, follow-up, and feedback from the personnel in charge of enforcing and evaluating their implementation, are often disregarded. This article seeks to bridge this information gap and provide a model to analyze the transformation of the military forces of Colombia as a virtuous cycle using the perceptions of its future implementers as its core and main evaluating resource. The questionnaire developed focuses on national interests and the roles and functions of the military forces, gathering the perceptions of officers who will be responsible for implementing the transfor- mation. The statistical findings suggest that determining threats, factors of influence, obstacles, enhancers, and priorities such as drug trafficking, defense expenditure, conflict of inter- ests, fiscal responsibility, and doctrine and policy are central to obtaining successful outcomes.

- by Gustavo A. Tovar Cabrera and +1
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- Phase Transformations, Military Modernization and Defence Transformation

El artículo estudia los cambios sociales, políticos, demográficos, económicos y tecnológicos que han experimentado las
sociedades avanzadas y que han comportado la sustitución del paradigma militar contemporáneo por otro de modelo militar
posindustrial que refleja la sociedad actual. Estos cambios son constitutivos de una Revolución Militar que ha transformado el
Estado, la sociedad y la manera de concebir la guerra.

The end of the Cold War gave rise to a new strategic environment very different from the one that existed when the Atlantic Alliance was formed in 1949. The Alliance began a process of adaptation to the new era and transformation of its military forces to fight and manage new risks and threats. Although this process was initially articulated in a similar way to the American one for dealing with the Revolution in Military Affairs, at present, the allied military transformation is at a turning point since its pillars have been abandoned and new challenges have been identified. This article provides an overview of the history, evolution and current situation of the process of military transformation in the Atlantic Alliance. Resumen: El fin de la Guerra Fría dio lugar a un nuevo entorno estratégico muy distinto del que existía cuando se constituyó la Alianza Atlántica en 1949 para combatir la amenaza del Pacto de Varsovia. Ello exigió que esta organización iniciara un proceso de adaptación al nuevo ambiente y transformara su músculo militar para combatir los nuevos riesgos y amenazas. Aunque este proceso empezó a articularse de forma similar al estadounidense y relacionado con la conquista de la Revolución en los Asuntos Militares, hoy en día la transformación militar aliada se halla en un punto de inflexión después de que sus principios definidores hayan sido abandonados y nuevos retos y necesidades hayan sido identificados. Este artículo ofrece una visión panorámica de los antecedentes, evolución y situación actual del proceso de transformación militar aliado. Palabras clave: Alianza Atlántica, transformación, posguerra fría, siglo XXI, planeamiento estratégico, fuerzas armadas. Las opiniones expresadas en estos artículos son propias de sus autores, y no reflejan necesariamente la opinión de UNISCI. The views expressed in these articles are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNISCI.

El artículo estudia la Revolución Americana en los Asuntos Militares, eje del planeamiento estratégico estadounidense de la inmediata posguerra fría, promotora de su proceso de Transformación militar y responsable de los logros iniciales... more

The article is discussing the overall situation in Polish Air Force in the context of its technical modernization. The topic is especially important in the context of evolving role of airpower in contemporary warfare during last decades. Another aspect has been changes in the Poland's security environment, the threat to the NATO East Flank, and Russian narrative and modernization of armed forces. The study is based on official documents, open-source data and the authors' experiences in the field utilizing qualitative research methods. The technical modernization is exceptionally ambitious and expensive, but necessary. Nevertheless , its continuity and focus could be treated from differing angles requiring raising that topic in academic studies.

Como as Forças Armadas dos Estados Unidos chegaram à concepção contemporânea sobre a conduta da guerra? Este trabalho analisa o processo de Transformação Militar norte-americana. A partir de um enfoque histórico são apresentados os debates basilares sobre o tema: Revolução Técnico-Militar, Revolução em Assuntos Militares e Transformação Militar (Military Technical Revolution, Revolution in Military Affairs e Military Transformation). A variação no sentido e no significado da mudança militar é abordada por meio da revisão da literatura especializada e da análise documental. Por fim, são apresentadas as principais conclusões acerca da transformação e de seus desafios para o momento contemporâneo. Palavras-chave: transformação militar; estratégia de compensação; conduta da guerra; Estados Unidos.

Civil casualties and collateral damage have been long considered as an undesired outcome of military activity that has to be reduced. While most of the contemporary discourse on this topic has been primarily concentrating on three main factors: the legal aspects of causing civil casualties, the impact of war on local population, and different factors of military professionalism required to avoid disproportional harm to civilians; this book asks an entirely different question. As the subject of civil casualties during military operations seems to be highly politicized, this book takes this discourse out of its usual niches and suggests that the indirect responsibility rests with the politicians and the public, which they represent. When a society, in the beginning of the 21st century, sends its troops to a battle, does it really care about the enemy civilian casualties? To answer this question, this book traces the political and cultural factors that have led to the failure of Non-Lethal Weapons - the great promise of the 1990s, which was intended to make the war significantly less lethal than it was known before. Examining three different cases, this study explains that the idea of minimizing civil casualties is no more than an illusion, and, in fact, neither politicians, nor societies, feel really stressed to change this situation.

En este artículo se estudia la construcción del concepto Revolución en los Asuntos Militares,
empleado para definir un cambio en el estilo de combatir motivado por la integración de nuevas tecnologías,
tácticas o formas de organización militar. Esta idea centró los debates acerca la transformación de la
guerra durante los años noventa. Su configuración teórica arranca con el análisis de sus antecedentes inmediatos
—la Revolución Militar (un cambio que altera la relación entre el Estado, la sociedad y la guerra) y la
Revolución Técnico-Militar (un cambio táctico provocado por la entrada en servicio de un nuevo sistema
de armas)— y termina observando la consolidación de la Revolución en los Asuntos Militares

- by Guillem Colom-Piella
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- Geography, NATO, Strategic Studies, Political Science

Culture has a profound impact in many different fields of human activity, from political and ideological preferences to religious practices and social habits. It influences the way policymakers and strategists think about matters of war and peace, since a deeper understanding of cultural issues can reduce policy failures and advance national interests. In this context, some contemporary scholarship argues that the strategic culture approach offers highly relevant perspectives on foreign policy decision-making, grand strategy, strategic behavior, and military doctrine, since, by applying that approach to certain cases, scholars have been explaining continuity and change in a country’s foreign and national security policies. However, such approach is limited by a substantial focus on major powers, particularly the American, Russian, and Chinese cases. This paper seeks to explain how a rising power such as Brazil, still on the periphery of the international system and on the margins of...

- by Marcos Degaut
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- International Relations, Political Science, Strategic Culture, Brazil

Culture has a profound impact in many different fields of human activity, from political and ideological preferences to religious practices and social habits. It influences the way policymakers and strategists think about matters of war and peace, since a deeper understanding of cultural issues can reduce policy failures and advance national interests. In this context, some contemporary scholarship argues that the strategic culture approach offers highly relevant perspectives on foreign policy decision-making, grand strategy, strategic behavior, and military doctrine, since, by applying that approach to certain cases, scholars have been explaining continuity and change in a country's foreign and national security policies. However, such approach is limited by a substantial focus on major powers, particularly the American, Russian, and Chinese cases. This paper seeks to explain how a rising power such as Brazil, still on the periphery of the international system and on the margins of the global distribution of power, has historically behaved, reacted and constructed a discourse that, at the same time, constrains/motivates its decisions, explains its actions, and legitimizes its behavior.

- by Guillem Colom-Piella
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- NATO, Fuerzas Armadas, Seguridad Y Defensa, OTAN

China’s political and military objectives in Asia and worldwide differ from those of the United States and Russia, reflecting a perception of that nation’s own interests and of its anticipated role in the emerging world order. Its growing portfolio of smart capabilities and modernized platforms includes stealth aircraft, antisatellite warfare systems, quiet submarines, “brilliant” torpedo mines, improved cruise missiles, and the potential for disrupting financial markets. Among other indicators, China’s already deployed and future Type 094 Jin-class nuclear ballistic
missile submarines (SSBN), once they are equipped as planned with JL-2 submarine launched ballistic missiles, will for the first time enable Chinese SSBNs to target parts of the United States from locations near the Chinese coast. Along with this, China’s fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines supports an ambitious anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy to deter US military intervention to support allied interests in Asia against Chinese wishes. China’s diplomacy creates additional space
for maneuver between Russian and American perceptions. While China may lack the commitment to arms control transparency, the nation’s current and future military modernization entitles Beijing to participate in future Russian-American strategic nuclear arms control talks.