All Questions
Tagged with military armed-conflict
58
questions
46
votes
10
answers
18k
views
How is Russia able to maintain the 2nd most powerful military in the world at a fraction of the cost of the US & China?
The 2020 Military Strength Rankings list Russia's military as #2 in strength:
United States
Russia
China
However, their defense budget rankings show that Russia's only #8 in spending:
United States ...
CDJB♦
- 108k
44
votes
7
answers
16k
views
Why does the U.S military use mercenaries?
With a defense budget now totaling ~686-billion dollars a year – which is about the size of the next 8 largest defense budgets combined (figure) – why does the U.S military see the need to ...
- 747
29
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Based on International law, to what extent can Ukraine take aggressive military action within the territory of Russia?
I wonder, based on international law, if Ukraine takes aggressive military action in the territory of Russia, such as occupying some cities of Russia (I am not considering Donbas, Luhansk and Crimea ...
- 5,068
25
votes
5
answers
6k
views
What incentives (or stated motives) did the US have to attack Syria?
What were the motives stated for for the US attacking Syria or incentives to do that?
It doesn't seem like there was any immediate threat from Syria to the US. (After all, they neither have ICBM's ...
- 1,893
21
votes
8
answers
4k
views
Did the U.S. lose the war against the Taliban?
We know that the U.S. has a much stronger military than the Taliban, they could have deployed more troops in Afghanistan to beat the Taliban, but they consciously didn't. This makes me wonder, did U.S....
- 638
19
votes
3
answers
7k
views
Why does the "Tanks for Ukraine" discussion focus on the Leopard 2?
It may simply be my media bubble but it seems that the discussion on providing main battle tanks to the Ukraine focuses strongly, almost entirely, on the German Leopard 2. Why is that?
Now I ...
- 301
18
votes
6
answers
9k
views
Why is sending so few tanks to Ukraine considered significant?
It is reported that thousands of tanks are currently being used in the Ukraine War. To help Ukraine, Britain is sending 14 Challenger 2 tanks and America is sending a few (50) Bradley infantry ...
- 1
18
votes
4
answers
5k
views
What is the role of the U.S. Marines under contemporary joint warfare doctrine?
Is the U.S. Marine Corps, as a separate branch, largely a historical artifact, or does it fulfill a distinct purpose within the context of modern joint warfare doctrine?
Please note, this is not ...
- 305
17
votes
3
answers
2k
views
When may the President of the United States order military action without congressional approval?
The USA has many times in the past taken military action with only the President's order to back it up legally. It was Jefferson that set the precedent of using the military to enforce foreign policy ...
user2578
16
votes
10
answers
6k
views
Why are European countries increasing their defense budgets if they are members of a nuclear-armed NATO?
Mirror question to Why would Russia care about NATO troops on its borders if it has nuclear weapons?
Naively one would think that Russia should not worry about NATO because they have nuclear weapons. ...
- 36k
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How much is Russia spending on the war each day?
A former Russian politician, Illya Ponomarev, stated that the war costs Putin 20 billion dollars a day. This seems to be an exaggeration to me. Of course it is impossible to talk about precise figures,...
- 303
12
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Have the contents of the letters of last resort ever been revealed?
The letters of last resort are the letters written by the UK Prime Minister to the naval officers in command of the four nuclear submarines which provide the UK's nuclear deterrent, containing ...
CDJB♦
- 108k
10
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Based on the current/planned cost of the war, is Israel able to sustain the war in Gaza without extra aid from United States?
I wonder based on the current economic situation of Israel, if it could sustain the war against Hamas by itself without external aid.
It is reported that the United States committed over $3.3 billion ...
- 5,068
8
votes
3
answers
2k
views
When can "civilian, including commercial, infrastructure elements in outer space" be legitimate military targets?
The following quote of the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Konstantin Vorontsov found in Fox News' October 27, 2022 Russia threatens to target Western commercial satellites like Elon Musk's ...
- 17k
5
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Are Ukrainian civilians forced to fight against their will?
Multiple European newspapers stated that the Ukrainian government was doing everything in its power to allow the Ukrainian civilians to flee the country safely. I was under the impression that ...
- 193
5
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Approximately how many civilian deaths were caused by Bashar al-Assad's regime in the Syrian civil war?
According to Wikipedia, the war started In March 2011, violence in the war peaked during 2012–2017, and the situation still remains a crisis, with 12 million Syrians remained forcibly displaced in the ...
- 2,863
5
votes
1
answer
423
views
Where are the weapons and ammunition used by Russia coming from?
Are the weapons and ammunition used by Russia in the Ukrainian war coming from their preexisting storage?
Or, have they increased their production since the start of the war?
5
votes
0
answers
212
views
Risks from proliferation of Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (drones)
When the U.S. gave missiles to the Afghan Mujahidins during the Soviet war in Afghanistan it arguably came back to haunt the United States.
In relation to the current drone strikes it seems to me that ...
- 1,131
4
votes
4
answers
675
views
Reasons for high number of casualties in 2023 Israel-Hamas war
The ongoing Israel-Hamas war results in a much higher number of Palestinian casualties than previous conflicts: nearly 19,000 Palestinians are killed (according to the Hamas run Gaza Health Ministry), ...
- 24.6k
4
votes
2
answers
558
views
Legality of attacking an occupier by third-party forces within partially-occupied state
Suppose state A is (illegally, militarily) occupying some of the territory of state B (denote the occupied part B1 and the unoccupied part B2). Suppose also that state B is allied with state C, and ...
- 8,895
4
votes
1
answer
614
views
What's the official status of the DPR (and LPR) militias under the laws of the Russian Federation?
Interestingly, TASS still posts news about the feats of the DPR militia, e.g. there's one dated Jan 10, and it seems to be from 2023 (as it references M777 howitzers, which Ukraine didn't have last ...
4
votes
3
answers
797
views
What law compels countries to take prisoners who are NOT trying to surrender?
This arose around some comments on "Is it true that the US president can execute anyone without a trial?"
Under the traditional rules of war you are not allowed to simply kill all of your ...
- 92.8k
4
votes
0
answers
201
views
What's the balance of (pro-)Russian forces in Ukraine between regular Russian units and Wagner, LPR+DPR armies etc.?
Are there some official Russian figures and/or Western estimates on what in the balance of (pro-)Russian forces engaged in Ukraine? Basically, how many are regular Russian forces vs various other ...
4
votes
1
answer
232
views
Is there an overview of battles between the Afghan Army and Taliban forces during the Resolute Support Mission (2015-2021)?
According to the Wikipedia page on the Resolute Support Mission (RSM):
Resolute Support Mission or Operation Resolute Support was a NATO-led train, advise and assist mission consisting of about 7,772 ...
JJJ♦
- 39.1k
3
votes
2
answers
522
views
Fate of countries without any army when attacked
What happens to countries which don't have any standing army, when attacked by any other country, terrorists, etc.?
Even though only politically less significant or relatively more peaceful ...
3
votes
3
answers
619
views
Any adverse effects/repercussions due to Ukraine's "serious snub" of German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier lasting longer than a few news cycles?
Wikipedia's Frank-Walter Steinmeier; 2022 Kyiv visit says:
In April 2022, Steinmeier abandoned plans to visit Kyiv after admitting he would not be welcome in Ukraine in what was seen as a serious ...
- 17k
3
votes
1
answer
414
views
What were these two convicted Russian officers in charge of, more exactly? Any similar cases ongoing?
Kommersant reports that a couple of Russian officers (one LtC, one major) were sentence to 4 years in prison in Russia for failing to stop a Tochka-U strike on a Russian base in March or April 2022 (...
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What law compels countries to take prisoners who wish to surrender?
This arose around some comments on " Is it true that the US president can execute anyone without a trial? "
Is there any international law, or convention (including Geneva) which compels any country ...
- 92.8k
3
votes
1
answer
165
views
Does any US defense whitepaper or public policy document espouse boosting the UK's force projection or military power?
Having a regional ally with a powerful and active military may ease pressure on the US military and foreign policy objects.
Does any US defense whitepaper, public policy document or party platform ...
3
votes
0
answers
276
views
Instead of attacking the Russian convoy to Kyiv itself, would it be political advantageous to bombard the access road(s) to the Ukrainian capital? [closed]
AFAFP PHOTO / SATELLITE IMAGE Copyright 2022 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES
An enormous Russian convoy, over 60 km long, has approached to 20 km distance north of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Military experts are ...
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