After ISAF: partners and proxies in Afghanistan after 2014

The conclusion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan at the end of 2014 has generated substantial uncertainty about the duration and level of international commitment to Afghanistan. The fate of local allies of international forces is therefore deeply in doubt. This article is of necessity speculative rather than empirical, but it attempts to draw on the history of previous intervention in Afghanistan as well as more general patterns of local and external alliance to sketch plausible scenarios for the fate of local allies. It proceeds in four parts. First, it draws distinctions between different types of local allies in Afghanistan based on position and relationship to the Afghan state and an external actor. Second, it examines the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan for relevant lessons for the fate of local allies. Third, it presents a scenario based on the foregoing that assumes there will be an ongoing small but significant international military presence and accompanying resources. Fourth, it presents a scenario that assumes there will be no or minimal international military presence and accompanying resources.     

低开销的软错误免疫寄存器设计

随着工艺尺寸的逐渐缩小,集成电路中由放射性粒子引起的软错误不断增加,在设计时必须考虑由软错误引起的可靠性问题.使用软错误免疫寄存器对电路敏感部分选择性加固是降低逻辑电路软错误率简单有效的方法.总结了常用的软错误免疫寄存器结构,并使用可靠性分析方法对8种寄存器进行量化研究和比较,得出双模时空冗余寄存器具有更高的可靠度;针对现有可靠寄存器开销较大的缺点,设计了一种基于时钟延时的动态主级时空双模冗余寄存器--DMTS-DR,不仅能很好地免疫自身的SEU,还能对前级组合逻辑的SET进行有效屏蔽.与其它可靠寄存器相比,DMTS-DR的面积和延时开销都有大幅降低,在可靠性、面积和速度间实现了较好的折中.     

Reforming the bras tendus? The Congolese National Police reforms, 2003–2016

The security sector reform (SSR) programme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has failed, according to a former high-level member of the United Nations (UN) mission in the DRC, as a large section of the country remains outside government control, and the security institutions of the state continue to constitute one of the predominant sources of insecurity for the local population in a number of ways. Based on several field studies, this article critically scrutinises the SSR of the Congolese National Police (Police nationale congolaise; PNC) and the efforts to reform it between 2004 and 2016. It further attempts to explain why so little progress was made in the SSR of the PNC, despite extensive involvement from donors. The article shows that the instrumental and traditional approach to SSR is partly to blame, because in this case it failed to address the root problems and initiate the needed fundamental reform and reconstruction of the police force. It also shows that reforming local security institutions becomes even more difficult when the local authorities do not support the effort.     

基于GIS的战场电磁环境可视化研究

针对当前战场电磁环境不可见特征,部队指挥员对其认知的模糊性,运用地理信息系统GIS(Graphic Information System)探索战场电磁环境可视化问题。提出用空间聚类分析模型解决分析处理电磁辐射源空间分布上的一种或几种特征问题,并对系统数据库设计、功能模板设计、逻辑结构设计进行详细阐述。得到可视化系统设计方案,将为指挥员进行电磁态势分析、指挥作战提供有效的辅助决策工具。     

LiDAR点云纹理特征提取方法

针对图像纹理应用于LiDAR点云分类过程中存在的多义性问题，提出点云纹理特征的概念。该特征属性反映了点与其邻域点的属性值分布情况，提取过程基于KD树数据检索结构和灰度共生矩阵算法。分析搜索邻域、移动步长和灰度等级等参数对点云纹理特征的影响，并利用支持向量机分类方法验证点云纹理特征，可以有效地辅助高程和强度信息以改善LiDAR点云的地物分类结果。实验还证明了相比于栅格格式的图像纹理特征，点云纹理特征约束的地物分类具有更高的分类精度，并且点云纹理特征在微小地物的甄别和水陆的区分方面具有突出的能力。该特征的这些优秀特性可以为海岸带机载LiDAR数据的精细化分类、海岸带高精度DEM构建和海岸线提取等工作发挥重要作用。     

Asia-Pacific Demand for Military Expenditure: Spatial Panel and SUR Estimates

This article investigates the demand for military expenditure for a sample of key Asia-Pacific countries. Spatial panel demand estimates are presented for three joined spatial units using a fixed-coefficient spatial lag model based on a two-step efficient GMM estimator. Spatial autoregression estimates are next presented for 1991–2015, founded on alternative kinds of country connectivities, such as contiguity, inverse distance, discrete distance, and power-projection considerations. Finally, 11 select countries’ demands for defense equations are estimated using seemingly unrelated regressions. From alternative perspectives, these estimated models indicate how Asia-Pacific countries respond to the defense spending of other countries. In the spatial runs, free riding is prevalent despite the growing military might of China, which apparently is not generally viewed as a threat. For the sample period, the projection of Chinese or American power is a relevant spatial factor. The main threat is reflected in non-U.S. allies’ reaction to U.S. allies’ defense spending during 1991–2015 and to Chinese defense spending after 2002.     

Sharing the load: factors in supporting local armed groups in insurgencies

Most counterinsurgency campaigns have featured the use of some form of local defense forces. Such forces have had a somewhat mixed record, both in their usefulness in actually countering insurgents and in their longer-term impact on internal security. This article focuses on historical cases that provide lessons for the best operational and strategic uses of local defense forces and measures to control their activities.     

英汉委婉语的语用共性与差异

委婉语（Euphemism）是人类语言使用过程中的一种普遍现象。英汉两种语言都有大量的委婉语，它们在使用领域、语用功能及特点方面具有颇多相同之处。但因为它们分别属于不同的语系，以不同文化背景和历史传统为生存基础，所以在其使用方面又有很大不同，折射出明显的文化痕迹，主要表现在宗教信仰、历史传统和社会价值观三个方面。     

住宅小区消防给水设计问题探讨

住宅小区消防给水设计不同于城市给水设计,也有别于普通建筑给水设计,在一个住宅小区内可以考虑消防给水系统设施的共享,建立区域消防给水系统。以两个住宅小区的消防给水设计为例,从水泵结合器的设置,消防水泵、屋顶消防水箱以及自动喷洒给水系统的共用等方面对区域消防给水设计进行了讨论。     

Morts pour la France: Demographic or Economic Factors?

This article offers a comprehensive analysis of the database ‘Mémoire des hommes’, which is a record of more than 1 million French soldiers officially recognized as dead during the World War I (WWI). Integrating this source with the 1911 census, we evaluate the potential numbers of recruits by French regional department. From this, a model identifies the factors affecting the number of deaths. While demographic factors are the principal determinants, adding significant economic, political and spatial factors reduces the unexplained variance between regions and significantly improves the explanation of the disparity in the number of deaths by region.