The politics of renewed quest for a Biafra Republic in Nigeria

The quest for a Biafran Republic by the Igbo ethnic group has become a recurring demand in Nigeria since the late 1960s. The agitation has been premised on claims of marginalisation and exclusion of the Igbo people in the Nigerian body politic. In spite of the consistency of the agitation through various Administrations, there was a noticeable lull in such demands during the time of President Goodluck Jonathan, only to assume a frightening proportion since the advent of the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. This article locates the factors in the outcomes of the 2015 general elections: the question of inclusion and representation; the unfinished nature of the Nigerian civil war; economic challenges, miscalculation both on the part of the Igbo people and indiscretion in the initial appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari. The article recommends political restructuring of Nigeria as one of the ways to address secessionist tendencies.     

Strategic spectrum occupancy for secondary users in cognitive radio networks with retrials

This article investigates joining strategies and admission control policy for secondary users (SUs) with retrial behavior in a cognitive radio (CR) system where a single primary user (PU) coexists with multiple SUs. Under a certain reward‐cost structure, SUs opportunistically access the PU band when it is not occupied by the PU. If the band is available upon arrival, an SU decides with a probability either to use the band immediately or to balk the system. If the band is occupied, the SU must decide whether to enter the system as a retrial customer or to leave the system. Once the PU requests for service, the service of SU being served, if any, will be interrupted, and the interrupted SU leaves the band and retries for service after a random amount of time. In this article, we study the equilibrium behavior of non‐cooperative SUs who want to maximize their benefit in a selfish, distributed manner with delay‐sensitive utility function. The socially optimal strategies of SUs are also derived. To utilize the PU band more efficiently and rationally, an admission control policy is proposed to regulate SUs who enter the system in order to eliminate the gap between the individually and socially optimal strategies.     

Some distributions arising as a consequence of errors in inspection

In this article, the authors survey and consolidate their investigations during the years 1980-1983 dealing with consequences of errors in inspection sampling models. Some indication of the current and future research is given.     

Optimal dynamic rules for assigning customers to servers in a heterogeneous queuing system

We consider a queuing system in which both customers and servers may be of several types. The distribution of a customer's service time is assumed to depend on both the customer's type and the type of server to which he is assigned. For a model with two servers and two customer types, conditions are presented which ensure that the discounted number of service completions is maximized by assigning customers with longer service times to faster servers. Generalizations to more complex models are discussed.     

Landmarks in defense literature

The Power of Personality in War. By Major General Baron Hugo von Freytag-Lorighoven, Military Service Publishing Company, Harrisburg, PA (1955)     

CREATING SUNS ON EARTH

Concerns about climate change and energy security have prompted some countries to revive dormant nuclear fission power programs to meet growing energy demands and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. However, this so-called nuclear renaissance based on fission would have major drawbacks in the areas of safety, security, and nonproliferation. Nuclear fusion, however, is portrayed by its proponents as mitigating these drawbacks, and scientists continue to pursue fusion's promise with two large-scale projects: the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), and the Laser Inertial Fusion Engine (LIFE) reactor. Although supporters often hail fusion as proliferation resistant, the technology could be used to create weapons-usable fissile material. This article explains how fissile material could be created in ITER or LIFE and analyzes other nonproliferation implications of fusion; the authors discuss the various challenges faced by ITER and LIFE.     

Hybrid War and Its Countermeasures: A Critique of the Literature

This article examines critically the literature of hybrid war and evaluates the countermeasures often proposed. It explains the concept of hybrid warfare and its varied interpretations, illustrating how it is a manifestation of current anxieties in armed conflict. The selection of the literature is based on works that are referenced, that offer a scientific approach, and which review either the phenomenon of hybrid warfare or its countermeasures empirically. Unscientific works have been omitted. The analysis of the literature presented here shows that the antidotes to ‘hybridity’ lie not in the operational or tactical sphere but in strategic and political domains.     

The Illusion of Afghanistan’s Electoral Representative Democracy: The Cases of Afghan Presidential and National Legislative Elections

This article is the latest in a series of published articles systematically examining Afghan Presidential and legislative elections. Structural problems including fraud, ethno-linguistic block voting, and the Single Non-Transferable Vote have had significant impacts on the development of Afghan democratic elections. The challenge now facing the current Afghan government and future elections is the daunting task of uniting the Afghan people while not repeating the electoral mistakes of the past. The tricky balancing act of fostering an overarching national identity without being perceived as privileging particular identities requires strong leadership and a willingness to challenge traditional ethnic, linguistic, and religious norms when need be. Karzai and Ghani Administrations have seriously failed relative to this dynamic.