Path Planning Problems with Side Observations-When Colonels Play Hide-and-Seek

Resource allocation games such as the famous Colonel Blotto (CB) and Hide-and-Seek (HS) games are often used to model a large variety of practical problems, but only in their one-shot versions. Indeed, due to their extremely large strategy space, it remains an open question how one can efficiently learn in these games. In this work, we show that the online CB and HS games can be cast as path planning problems with side-observations (SOPPP): at each stage, a learner chooses a path on a directed acyclic graph and suffers the sum of losses that are adversarially assigned to the corresponding edges; and she then receives semi-bandit feedback with side-observations (i.e., she observes the losses on the chosen edges plus some others). We propose a novel algorithm, EXP3-OE, the first-of-its-kind with guaranteed efficient running time for SOPPP without requiring any auxiliary oracle. We provide an expected-regret bound of EXP3-OE in SOPPP matching the order of the best benchmark in the literature. Moreover, we introduce additional assumptions on the observability model under which we can further improve the regret bounds of EXP3-OE. We illustrate the benefit of using EXP3-OE in SOPPP by applying it to the online CB and HS games.Comment: Previously, this work appeared as arXiv:1911.09023 which was mistakenly submitted as a new article (has been submitted to be withdrawn). This is a preprint of the work published in Proceedings of the 34th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI

Path Planning Problems with Side Observations---When Colonels Play Hide-and-Seek

International audienceResource allocation games such as the famous Colonel Blotto (CB) and Hide-and-Seek (HS) games are often used to model a large variety of practical problems, but only in their oneshot versions. Indeed, due to their extremely large strategy space, it remains an open question how one can efficiently learn in these games. In this work, we show that the online CB and HS games can be cast as path planning problems with side-observations (SOPPP): at each stage, a learner chooses a path on a directed acyclic graph and suffers the sum of losses that are adversarially assigned to the corresponding edges; and she then receives semi-bandit feedback with sideobservations (i.e., she observes the losses on the chosen edges plus some others). We propose a novel algorithm, EXP3-OE, the first-of-its-kind with guaranteed efficient running time for SOPPP without requiring any auxiliary oracle. We provide an expected-regret bound of EXP3-OE in SOPPP matching the order of the best benchmark in the literature. Moreover, we introduce additional assumptions on the observability model under which we can further improve the regret bounds of EXP3-OE. We illustrate the benefit of using EXP3-OE in SOPPP by applying it to the online CB and HS games

Mythbusting Park Chung Hee: A Reexamination of Park and his Coup

Park Chung-Hee is a divisive figure. For some he is a saint that rescued his country from the brink of collapse and helped it rise into modernity. For others he is a devil, an iron-fisted dictator who cared more about his own power than his people. Both of these are politically slanted myths promoted as part of a corresponding political agenda. But even politically neutral writings on Park unwittingly conduct a mythmaking of their own. This paper is an attempt to show that Park Chung-Hee has become a mythological figure in Korean history because the scope of his power, agency and historical relevance is vastly overstated in the conventional narrative. Often historical analyses and narratives focus on Park Chung-Hee to the virtual exclusion of all other contemporary and relevant agents. By examining various primary sources, this paper attempts to highlight where arguments about Park’s historical agency, often presented with certainty, are in fact far from clear and absolute facts. This paper argues that, at least early on in his time in power, Park Chung-Hee as a historical agent could be much less important than we imagine, and that there were several other actors of note who wielded significant power at the same time

U.S.-Ukraine Military Relations and the Value of Interoperability

Ukraine\u27s destiny is critical to the security of the entire post-Soviet zone. It long has been the stated goal of Ukrainian defense policy to integrate with Euro-Atlantic structures like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and this goal has been one of the chief objectives of the United States, as well. However, to move from rhetoric to implementation is particularly difficult where the defense reform of a post-Soviet state has been concerned, and Ukraine is no exception. Ukraine has begun to make remarkable progress towards its self-professed goal of defense integration with Western structures. This monograph provides a comprehensive account of Ukrainian-American defense relations and of Ukraine\u27s defense reforms over the period since Ukraine became independent in 1991. It clearly points out both the obstacles and the successes that both partners have encountered in building a cooperation mechanism, in practical peacetime engagement, and in accomplishing missions together, as well as outlining the challenges ahead. Given that Ukraine is a major contributor to the stabilization forces in Iraq and a key player in any European and Eurasian security order, this monograph has real policy relevance, especially as the United States seeks to work with its allies and partners in other post-Soviet states to foster their defense and political integration with the West.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1759/thumbnail.jp

The Anchor (1973, Volume 65 Issue 21)

https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/the_anchor/1654/thumbnail.jp

Reinvigorating Maneuver Warfare: An Organizational Learning Analysis of A Failed Strategic Initiative

ABSTRACT Reinvigorating Maneuver Warfare: An Organizational Learning Analysis of a Failed Strategic Initiative. by BP McCoy March 2020 Chair: Richard Baskerville Major Academic Unit: Executive Doctorate in Business The world is a dynamic and turbulent place. Organizations of all types regularly face the dual challenge of learning from the emerging realities of their environment and using that knowledge to accurately adapt to remain competitive. Often, the changes required to remain competitive demand a significant and irretrievable strategic investment of resources and changes in the status quo of how the organization will function going forward. Such strategic changes are often communicated in the form of mission or vision statements, campaign plans, or philosophies. Considering the resources committed and the opportunity costs involved, strategic initiatives must be implemented with care and precision to succeed, as a failed implementation could pose an existential threat to the organization. This case study examines one organization\u27s attempt and failure to sufficiently implement a strategic initiative. This study may be tailored and applied to any organization seeking the adaptive change necessary to succeed in the dynamic and contested environments of business or conflict. The study format is a cross-sectional single case study informed by the Theory of Action. The results of this study revealed five explanatory frames which serve to describe and explain the dynamics of the organization, and they illuminate the influence Model I single-loop and Model II double-loop organizational learning systems have on the implementation of a strategic initiative. Captured within the explanatory frames was the discovery of a surprising anomaly, namely the presence of a sub rosa clan. The sub rosa clan’s Model I behavioral control produced a bête noires[1] effect that countered the senior management’s Model II learning efforts, sustained the status quo, and sunk the strategic initiative. This study contributes to the organizational learning, maneuver warfare, and control theory literature streams and offers managers potential corrective interventions that may be applied proactively and preemptively to enable the successful implementation of a strategic initiative. Keywords: Organizational Learning, Theory of Action, Single-loop learning, Double-loop learning, Clans, Maneuver Warfare, Mission Command. [1] French; the literal translation is “black beast.” A bête noires is avoided by others. It may be a thing that is particularly dreadful