On “The Lure of Strike”

This commentary is in response to the special commentary, “The Lure of Strike” by Conrad Crane published in the Summer 2013 issue of Parameters (vol. 43, no. 2)

Still Shortchanged: Some Observations About the New Army/Marine Corps COIN Doctrine

Evaluation of complex systems is as necessary now as ever.To conduct a successful evaluation, in other words an evaluationthat shows something interesting and perhaps unknownabout the system, one should be structured and planwell. This degree project used the goal question metric approachto conduct an evaluation of how the system MAMA,a media flow system used for television broadcasting services,was used during one year. By using the goal questionmetric approach it was possible to specify goals, questionsand metrics that provided data interesting for system operators.The model facilitated the planning phase of the evaluationof MAMA and clearly showed how one keeps a goodstructure throughout an evaluation. This degree projectreport may serve as a guide of how to conduct a fruitfulevaluation of any system. Automation and dynamic flowcontrol are in high demand when human workers are expensive.A natural step in modernising flow systems is tomake more flows automated and dynamic. A suggestion ofhow to set the time of deadline of an order was produced.By constructing a fuzzy logic controller it was found theoreticallypossible to obtain reasonable results. The fuzzylogic controller that was suggested, aims to mimic the decisionsthat otherwise would be made by human operators.The suggested controller was believed to be able to providea reasonable deadline, with the restrictions in the system

When does an Unsafe Act Become a Crime?

In public opinion, protection against asteroids impact has always been on the agenda of space engineering. Actually it started from 1994 when Shoemaker Levy stroke Jupiter. This protection works in two steps: detection of threat and deflection. Some space agencies and foundations monitor the sky and set up scenario. Although the sky is nowadays well monitored and mapped, there is no global plan nowadays against this threat. This paper focuses on the deflection step, and aims at forecasting which variables are involved and their consequences on the deflection mission. In fact the result depends on several factors, like the time before hazardous moment, the accuracy of detection tools, the choice of deflection method, but the most unpredictable are human factors. This study shows a strategy and so tries to give some new response parts to the global deflection problem

No Good Options Against ISIS Barbarism? Human Shields in 21st Century Conflicts

One of the most vexing conundrums of 21st century warfare has been not just the explosive growth in the use of human shields, but the apparent systemization of the tactic, particularly by nonstate actors. In noting the international prohibition, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) defines the practice as the “intentional co-location of military objectives and civilians or persons hors de combat with the specific intent of trying to prevent the targeting of those military objectives.