Rapid developments in information technology and precision weaponry are said to herald a 'revolution in military affairs' (RMA), making possible quick and decisive victories with minimal casualties and collateral damage. But has such a revolution taken place? The issues that drive conflict will persist, and many of the technical advances associated with the RMA will not necessarily produce a transformation in the nature of warfare. The end of the Cold War has highlighted another revolution one in political affairs. Major powers appear less likely to go to war with one another than they are...
Rapid developments in information technology and precision weaponry are said to herald a 'revolution in military affairs' (RMA), making possible qu...
There is no recipe for democratisation that can be readily applied to all countries. Every country presents unique factors that influence the fate of its democratic reforms, which must therefore be evaluated within their specific socio-political, cultural and historical context.
Building on this premise, this paper examines military reform and democratisation through the experiences of Turkey and Indonesia, two democratising countries with predominantly Muslim populations, secular regimes, and militaries that are deeply involved in politics.
The paper strives to explain why...
There is no recipe for democratisation that can be readily applied to all countries. Every country presents unique factors that influence the fate ...
This Adelphi Paper will explain how Iran’s nuclear programme developed to the point where it threatens to achieve a weapons capability within a short timeframe, and will analyse the Western policy responses aimed at forestalling that capability. In examining Iran’s prospects for nuclear-weapons breakout, the paper will also weigh policy options for keeping this capability latent and not actualised. Key questions will be addressed – will the world have to accept an Iranian uranium enrichment programme? And how we will know when Iran has crossed the threshold?
This Adelphi Paper will explain how Iran’s nuclear programme developed to the point where it threatens to achieve a weapons capability within a s...
From 2003 to 2008, the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq posed a key challenge to political stability in the country and to Coalition objectives there. This paper explains the onset, composition and evolution of this insurgency. It begins by addressing both its immediate and deeper sociopolitical origins, and goes on to examine the multiple ideological strands within the insurgency and their often conflicting methods and goals.
Despite organisational incoherence due to the existence of a large number of competing groups, the insurgency in Iraq sustained a particularly high tempo of...
From 2003 to 2008, the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq posed a key challenge to political stability in the country and to Coalition objectives there....
This is a pioneering interpretation of the role of the UN Security Council in facing constantly evolving threats to international security. In contrast to the common perception that the UN is, or should become, a system of collective security, this paper advances the proposition that the Council embodies, at best, a selective approach.
This is a pioneering interpretation of the role of the UN Security Council in facing constantly evolving threats to international security. In contras...
