Medieval and Modern C2: Command and Control in the Field during Western Europe’s Long Twelfth Century (1095–1225)

‘Command and control’ has become ever more important in the postmodern military world even though there is no universal consensus among contemporary militaries on what ‘command and control’ encompasses. Military histories, manuals and handbooks of the Anglo-American world concede that classical armies and leaders understood the concepts but dismiss eras like the long twelfth century entirely or present them with a lack of understanding or context. Why is this? This can be partially answered through the following factors: (1) the nature of ancient vs. medieval source material; (2) perceived lack of professionalism in medieval armies; (3) the existence of discrete tactical formations in the ancient world but not medieval; (4) the perceived existence of a professional officer class or political career in the ancient world but not the medieval; and (5) the nature of ancient and medieval authority and strategic, operational and tactical objectives. Twelfth-century commanders exhibited command and control although they faced different challenges compared to their ancient or modern counterparts.     

Classes,elites and Iranian politics: an exchange

The Politics of Iran: Groups, Classes and Modernization. By James Alban Bill. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, 1972. ix + 174 pp.     

China’s Global Image Management: Paper Cutting and the Omission of Politics

ABSTRACT

China is highly concerned about its global image and is thus increasingly active in promoting itself globally. The most prominent and most controversial tool of China’s global image management is the Confucius Institute (CI). Launched in 2004 to introduce Chinese language and culture globally, CIs are normally joint ventures between Chinese and international universities, and are partially funded by the Chinese government. These close links with official China have raised concerns about their aims and have triggered heated debates about their intentions. While proponents describe CIs as a benign instrument of cultural exchange, critics define them as the propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist Party. This paper provides empirical evidence related to these debates as it critically engages with the actual content CIs present to their audiences by analysing internal work reports from 50 CIs in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The paper outlines the specific narratives CIs present to global audiences and finds a clear agenda to present an apolitical version of China by emphasising elements of traditional Chinese culture and mostly avoiding controversial political topics.     

Book reviews

Small Firms, Technical Services and Inter‐firm Cooperation. Frank Pyke, Geneva, International Institute for Labor Studies, 1994, 126 pp, 20 Swiss francs, ISBN 92 9014 527 7

Uneven Regional Change in Britain. Alan Townsend, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993, £9.95 ($19.95) pb, ISBN 0 521 40870 9.

European Fort Cities in Transition. B. S. Hoyle and D. A. Pinder (Eds), London, Belhaven Press, 1992, 207 pp, £35.00 hb, ISBN 1 85293 170 1.

Introducing Town Planning. Clara Greed, Harlow, Longman, 1993, 283 pp, £12.99 pb, ISBN 0 582 09107 1.

Contemporary Transport Trends. Michael Asteris and Peter Green (Eds), Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing, 290 pp, £35.00 hb, ISBN 1 85628 2848.

The Rise of Regional Europe. Christopher Harvie, London, Routledge, 1994, 92 pp, £6.99 pb, ISBN 0 4150 9523 9.     

New Statistical Approaches to Intra‐individual Isotopic Analysis and Modelling of Birth Seasonality in Studies of Herd Animals

This paper introduces improved methods for statistically assessing birth seasonality and intra‐annual variation in δ¹⁸O from faunal tooth enamel. The first method estimates input parameters for use with a previously developed parametric approach by C. Tornero et al. The second method uses a non‐parametric clustering procedure to group individuals with similar time‐series data and estimate birth seasonality. This method was successful in analysing data from a modern sample with known season of birth, as well as two heterogeneous archaeological data sets. Modelling indicates that the non‐parametric approach estimates birth seasonality more successfully than the parametric method when less of the tooth row is preserved. The new approach offers a high level of statistical rigour and flexibility in dealing with the time‐series data produced through intra‐individual sampling in isotopic analysis.