U.S. War Powers and the Potential Benefits of Comparativism

There is no issue of foreign relations law more important than the allocation of authority over the use of military force. This issue is especially important for the United States given the frequency with which it is involved in military activities abroad. Yet there is significant uncertainty and debate in the United States over this issue — in particular, over whether and to what extent military actions must be authorized by Congress. Because U.S. courts in the modern era have generally declined to review the legality of military actions, disputes over this issue have had to be resolved, as a practical matter, through the political process. For those who believe that it is important to have legislative involvement in decisions to use force, the political process has not proven to be satisfactory: presidents have often used military force without obtaining congressional approval, and Congress generally has done little to resist such presidential unilateralism. The United States is not the only country to struggle with regulating the domestic authority to use military force. This issue of foreign relations law is common to constitutional democracies, and nations vary substantially in how they have addressed the issue. Whether and to what extent such comparative materials should inform the interpretation or revision of U.S. law presents a complicated set of questions that are affected in part by one’s legal methodology and also by how the comparative materials are being invoked. This Chapter begins by describing the exercise of war powers authority in the United States, both before and after World War II, as well as some of the limitations on congressional and judicial checks on presidential uses of military force. It then considers the potential value of studying the war powers law and practice of other countries, as well some of the reasons to be cautious about relying on such comparative materials

Public diplomacy by other means: a constructivist view of U.S. military messages in Polish news outlets

The United States military’s global presence presents a unique opportunity to engage foreign publics in pursuit of foreign policy objectives. This thesis identifies the message the U.S. military seeks to convey to Poland through public diplomacy activities, and how this message is perceived in Polish news outlets. This case also creates linkage between the military and public diplomacy, an actor and a strategy that can seem contradictory. Through interviews with government officials and the application of a two-step methodology of content and qualitative discourse analyses to Polish news articles, this thesis finds that Polish news outlets favorably perceive U.S. military public diplomacy, and that the message of reassurance and deterrence is conveyed through the activities. The military and public diplomacy are compatible in practice and the combination can result in an effective strategy to communicate with foreign audiences. By applying constructivist assertions to concepts of perception and soft power that traditionally fit into other theoretical fields, this thesis contributes to the development of military public diplomacy as a salient academic topic that can offer insight into future cases of militaries conducting public diplomacy.http://www.ester.ee/record=b5143243*es

Military Activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone: East Asia Focus

In August 2014, a Chinese fighter aggressively intercepted a U.S. Navy surveillance plane over the South China Sea. This incident once again raises the issue of the legality of conducting military activities in and over the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) without coastal State notice or consent. All nations have a right under international law to conduct military activities in foreign EEZs. The article discusses the legal bases for conducting these activities and reviews some of the more prominent arguments used by States that purport to regulate such activities in the EEZ. It concludes that the right to engage in military activities in the EEZ is consistent with international law, both customary and conventional, as well as State practice

The Pentagon and Global Development: Making Sense of the DoD’s Expanding Role

One of the most striking trends in U.S. foreign aid policy is the surging role of the Department of Defense (DoD). The Pentagon now accounts for over 20 percent of U.S. official development assistance (ODA). DoD has also expanded its provision of non-ODA assistance, including training and equipping of foreign military forces in fragile states. These trends raise concerns that U.S. foreign and development policies may become subordinated to a narrow, short-term security agenda at the expense of broader, longer-term diplomatic goals and institution-building efforts in the developing world. We find that the overwhelming bulk of ODA provided directly by DoD goes to Iraq and Afghanistan, which are violent environments that require the military to take a lead role through instruments like Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and the use of Commanders’ Emergency Response Program (CERP) funds. This funding surge is in principle temporary and likely to disappear when the U.S. involvement in both wars ends. But beyond these two conflicts, DoD has expanded (or proposes to expand) its operations in the developing world to include a number of activities that might be more appropriately undertaken by the State Department, USAID and other civilian actors. These initiatives include: the use of “Section 1206” authorities to train and equip foreign security forces; the establishment of the new Combatant Command for Africa (AFRICOM); and the administration’s proposed Building Global Partnerships (BGP) Act, which would expand DoD’s assistance authorities. We attribute the Pentagon’s growing aid role to three factors: the Bush administration’s strategic focus on the “global war on terror”; the vacuum left by civilian agencies, which struggle to deploy adequate numbers of personnel and to deliver assistance in insecure environments; and chronic under-investment by the United States in non-military instruments of state-building. We believe that DoD’s growing aid role beyond our two theaters of war carries potentially significant risks, by threatening to displace or overshadow broader U.S. foreign policy and development objectives in target countries and exacerbating the longstanding imbalance between the military and civilian components of the U.S. approach to state-building.Department of Defense, development, foriegn aid

EU Military Operations as a Tool in the EU's Foreign Policy Toolbox - The Main Trends and Limitations

The main aim of the article is to characterise and analyse EU military operations, taking into account their objectives, assumptions, successes as well as their limitations and weaknesses. The author focusses his research on EU activities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The following research questions were posed: what is the specificity and characteristic features of EU military crisis management operations; to what extent and in what direction are military operations launched by the EU evolving; in what way do EU military operations influence the perception of the EU as a civilian and normative power and affect the development of the EU as a security actor; what are the main limitations and weaknesses of EU military operations; what is their future in EU foreign policy? The author applied the following research methods: factorial, comparative, scenario, quantitative, and qualitative analysis. The main conclusion is that the EU's military operations and its military training missions should solely be perceived as one of the elements (measures) in EU foreign policy. As has been indicated in the title of the article, they are "a tool in the EU’s foreign policy toolbox"

Statement of Quartermaster Intelligence Interest

According to the forward, the “Statement of Intelligence Interest reflects the over-all interest of the Office of the Quartermaster General in intelligence data and is intended as an aid to persons engaged in the collection, processing, and dissemination of Intelligence. “ In 1960, the Quartermaster Corps was one of the technical services of the Department of the Army. The Army technical services were bureaus providing the Army with supplies, equipment, training, and services. Each was headed by a chief. The Quartermaster General was the chief of the Quartermaster Corps. The Quartermaster Corps was responsible for the procurement, storage, and distribution of food, clothing, fuel, and other materials of a nonmilitary nature, and for conduction research in the fields of food and nonmilitary supplies; also the burial of deceased military personnel, the maintenance of national cemeteries in the United States and abroad and the repatriation of deceased military personnel. Each technical service was responsible for intelligence pertaining to the principles of design and operation, nomenclature, physical characteristics, performance, operational capabilities and limitations of foreign material and facilities used by or for the support of military forces. In a broad sense, technical intelligence may also embrace the manufacture, storage, installation, maintenance, and operating aspects of foreign materiel and facilities, including the effects of weather, terrain, other environmental factors, and military action thereon, as well as the nature, organization, and activities of foreign agencies having the functions analogous to those of the technical service in the United States Army. This is a detailed listing of subjects of interest to the Quartermaster Corps, including: Information about organizations that perform missions similar to the US Quartermaster Corps in foreign armies. Information about equipment and rations used by foreign forces. Information about quartermaster industries, foreign trade, and agriculture in foreign countries. Information about storage facilities and practices for food, fuel, and supplies in foreign countries. Information about the physical geography of foreign countries that might affect quartermaster activities in US forces in the field. Information about sociological factors which might affect quartermaster activities in US forces in the field. Information about transportation facilities of various types for the full range of quartermaster supplies and equipment in foreign countries. Information about quartermaster-related research in foreign countries. Note that the interests in transportation facilities overlaps with the interests of two of the other technical services, the Corps of Engineers and the Transportation Corps

Statement of Quartermaster Intelligence Interest

According to the forward, the “Statement of Intelligence Interest reflects the over-all interest of the Office of the Quartermaster General in intelligence data and is intended as an aid to persons engaged in the collection, processing, and dissemination of Intelligence. “ In 1960, the Quartermaster Corps was one of the technical services of the Department of the Army. The Army technical services were bureaus providing the Army with supplies, equipment, training, and services. Each was headed by a chief. The Quartermaster General was the chief of the Quartermaster Corps. The Quartermaster Corps was responsible for the procurement, storage, and distribution of food, clothing, fuel, and other materials of a nonmilitary nature, and for conduction research in the fields of food and nonmilitary supplies; also the burial of deceased military personnel, the maintenance of national cemeteries in the United States and abroad and the repatriation of deceased military personnel. Each technical service was responsible for intelligence pertaining to the principles of design and operation, nomenclature, physical characteristics, performance, operational capabilities and limitations of foreign material and facilities used by or for the support of military forces. In a broad sense, technical intelligence may also embrace the manufacture, storage, installation, maintenance, and operating aspects of foreign materiel and facilities, including the effects of weather, terrain, other environmental factors, and military action thereon, as well as the nature, organization, and activities of foreign agencies having the functions analogous to those of the technical service in the United States Army. This is a detailed listing of subjects of interest to the Quartermaster Corps, including: Information about organizations that perform missions similar to the US Quartermaster Corps in foreign armies. Information about equipment and rations used by foreign forces. Information about quartermaster industries, foreign trade, and agriculture in foreign countries. Information about storage facilities and practices for food, fuel, and supplies in foreign countries. Information about the physical geography of foreign countries that might affect quartermaster activities in US forces in the field. Information about sociological factors which might affect quartermaster activities in US forces in the field. Information about transportation facilities of various types for the full range of quartermaster supplies and equipment in foreign countries. Information about quartermaster-related research in foreign countries. Note that the interests in transportation facilities overlaps with the interests of two of the other technical services, the Corps of Engineers and the Transportation Corps

“Strike Up” and Mobilize the Band: Musical Activities in the United States Military During World War II

After the United States’ entry into the Second World War, music was one of the most prominent forms of art and popular entertainment to be repurposed by the federal government as part of the mobilization for war. The military implemented numerous music programs produced and consumed by a wide range of service personnel. These activities functioned as a means of building morale among military and civilian audiences, both on the domestic home front and in foreign nations, and disseminating an image of American culture that reinforced a set of values integral to the war effort. In order to present this argument, I will analyze the various motivations behind the measures undertaken by both the military and other government agencies, most notably the Office of Wartime Information (OWI), to expand and develop musical activities for military and civilian applications. I will then shift perspectives towards investigating how military personnel themselves undertook these duties and the roles in the war effort that they perceived for themselves as musicians

СУЧАСНІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ ФОРМУВАННЯ ІНШОМОВНОЇ КОМУНІКАТИВНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНЦІЇ У ВИЩИХ ВІЙСЬКОВИХ НАВЧАЛЬНИХ ЗАКЛАДАХ (MODERN TECHNOLOGIES FOREIGN COMMUNICATIVE COMPRTENCE FORMATION IN HIGHER MILITARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS)

У статті визначається умови досягнення високого рівня оволодіння іноземною мовою у вищих навчальних закладах. Розглядаються інформаційно-комунікативні технології при викладанні іноземних мов у вищих військовихнавчальних закладах. Зазначаються наукові основи технології навчання з використанням інформаційно-комунікативних технологій. Описується метод застосування відеоматеріалів, що сприяє підвищенню комунікативної компетенції військовослужбовців. Пропонується визначення поняття сучасні технології в освіті. (In the article the conditions of achievement of high levels of foreign language in higher educational institutions are determined. Information and communication technologies in teaching foreign languages in higher military educational institutions are considered. Scientific fundamentals of using information and communication technologies are learned. The method of video application that improves the communicative competence of soldiers is offered. The definition of modern technology in education is proposed. Modern technologies in education – a professionally oriented foreign language learning, project work in education, the use of information and communication technologies, work with educational computer programs in foreign languages (multimedia systems) technology in distance learning foreign languages, creating presentations in the program PowerPoint, using Internet resources, learning a foreign language in the computer sector (forums, blogs, e-mail), new test technology. The article describes the peculiarities of work with video and possible activities for the learners. The aim of intensifying training in higher military school – through integrated use of the most effective forms, methods and means of teaching and the organization of close cooperation between them to ensure better satisfying the current requirements to practice training of military specialists.

The North Caucasus, the Future of Russia, and Foreign Fighters in Ukraine

The article documents the different groups of Caucasian foreign fighters in Ukraine and their relationships with other military groups. It then investigates the potential impact of those foreign fighters on the North Caucasus and the stability of the Russian Federation. It concludes by challenging the assumption that the North Caucasus might become the epicenter of a national movement leading to the collapse of Russia and suggesting that insurgent activities might increase in Western Russia instead