The Cold War: the golden age of arms control

For anyone of a squeamish disposition the Cold War, with its intermittent crises and its underlying spectre of nuclear confrontation, was a dispiriting experience. But for those of us in the arms control business, this really was the golden age.     

Winning a War with Words: oaths as means in military conflict in early modern Scandinavia

From a distance, the many wars that took place during the early modern period were fought by kings and armies, conquering territories and losing them, signing peace treaties and breaking them. Wars fought with armies were, however, costly and, if possible, the rulers did what they could to avoid them while still trying to acquire and protect territories. One strategy employed was to persuade the people of a disputed territory to surrender to the conquering state by swearing an oath of allegiance to its king. Seen in this perspective, territories could be acquired and lost by using the oaths as means in military conflict. The following article discusses the role of oaths in keeping and conquering territories in the early modern Scandinavian countries, with a special focus on Sweden and to some degree Sweden’s constant enemy during this period, Denmark-Norway. It also studies the same oaths from the people’s point of view, and what happened after an oath was sworn and the war ended. By taking examples from areas under dispute, the article investigates how oaths could be used by both authorities and subjects in warfare and after in the early modern context.     

Imagined productive communities: Industrial rationalisation and cultural crisis in 1930s France

This article discusses the French interwar movement in favour of the rationalisation of work and its ideas for a new industrial order. It argues that these ideas were shaped by anxieties about the social consequences of mass production and that a preoccupation with the (re-)creation of productive communities was central to the rationalisation project in France. Rather than embracing American-style mass production as the only model for modernisation, the French modernisers discussed here sought to map out a distinctive route: they sought ways in which goods could be produced on a mass scale, while workers were organised on a human scale, or even returned to the land. Such ambitions gesture just as much towards the passéisme of the Révolution nationale as to the model of Fordist America or the postwar transformation of France.     

From equalisation to rationalisation: public health care provision in New South Wales

This article examines the changing nature of the resource allocation formula for health care provision in New South Wales. It looks at the technical changes to the formula reviewing its problems and limitations and subsequent modifications. The impact of the formula on actual resource provision is established and this provision is placed in the context of health policy and public expenditure debates in Australia. Finally, the formula and its use as a rationalisation device are examined in relation to economic crisis and state practice with the suggestion being made that certain features of the Australian state may lead to a review of aspects of the theory of the state.     

Algorithmic War: Everyday Geographies of the War on Terror

Abstract:  Technologies that deploy algorithmic calculation are becoming ubiquitous to the homeland securitization of the war on terror. From the surveillance networks of the city subway to the biometric identifiers of new forms of border control, the possibility to identify "association rules" between people, places, objects and events has brought the logic of pre-emption into the most mundane and prosaic spaces. Yet, it is not the case that the turn to algorithmic calculation simply militarizes society, nor even that we are witnessing strictly a commercialization of security. Rather, algorithmic war is one form of Foucault's sense of a "continuation of war by other means", where the war-like architectures of self/other, here/there, safe/risky, normal/suspicious are played out in the politics of daily life. This paper explores the situated interplay of algorithmic practices across commercial, security, and military spheres, revealing the violent geographies that are concealed in the glossy techno-science of algorithmic calculation.     

The medieval to early modern transition in a digital age: new developments relevant to the study of domestic buildings

SUMMARY: Transitions in the archaeological and historical record are difficult to discuss and frequently avoided. The authors briefly outline here how this topic has been studied, particularly in Post-Medieval Archaeology, reviewing differences of approach between European-based archaeologists, who stress continuities with medieval times, and archaeologists in the USA and elsewhere, who commence their studies with the arrival of Europeans. This outline is then used to explore how this earliest formative era of the post-medieval period can be studied via modern digital techniques, using a case study drawing on the study of buildings archaeology to further understanding of the transition. This 50th-anniversary contribution therefore intentionally bridges the old and the new.     

The Singing War: Canadian Soldiers' Songs of the Great War

Singing was an important leisure activity for Canadian soldiers serving overseas in the Great War. Soldiers sang popular songs of the day and religious hymns, while also parodying them to better suit their wartime experience. Singing was a group activity that brought men together, forged bonds of comradeship, reinforced belonging in the group, and helped the soldiers endure the strain of unending combat and service. Wartime songs reveal the culture from below and shed new light on the soldiers' experience.     

日本的国际战略与中日战争的扩大化——论联接中日战争和太平洋战争的一个关键原因

本文旨在考察日本的国际战略在联接中日战争和太平洋战争中所起到的关键作用。分析的重点包括这个国际战略所包含的五个方面:对中国问题的解决方针;对第三国的政策;对九国公约与既有世界秩序的态度;对国际形势的判断;对"中国问题"与"世界问题"相互关系的应对。文章提示:日本最初在国际战略上采取了不刺激第三国的方针,以期将战争限定在中日两国的范围内单独解决。但是,它的实际行为同它的主观意图背道而驰,不自觉地步步推动美国和国际力量走向援华抑日。在深陷困境之后,面对欧洲局势的变化,在对"东亚新秩序"的执着情结和对包括东南亚在内的"大东亚新秩序"的期待心理的推动下,日本决策层在国际战略上与中国殊途同归,确定了"国际性解决"中日战争的方向。随之,其不仅拒绝退出中国,且进一步结盟德意,刻意通过南进收一举多得之效,从而把战争从中国扩大到东南亚和太平洋。在这一过程中,日本的文职官员在很多场合冲到了军人的前面,反映出日本决策背后的深刻背景。     

Digging in the Dark: The Underground War on the Western Front in World War I

Throughout the First World War, with the trenches largely static, the combatants tried to break the deadlock by tunnelling under one another’s trenches. The Tunnelling Companies of the British Royal Engineers were engaged in a bitter struggle against German Pioneers that left both sides with heavy casualties. A project to determine the location of one particular act of heroism in that underground war has resulted in the erection of a monument to the Tunnellers at Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée in northern France.