Youth Between State and Rebel (Dis)Orders: Contesting Legitimacy from Below in Sub-Sahara Africa

Abstract

The Sahel has gained attention in international politics as one of the central theatres in the war on terrorism. International actors in this war seek alliances with states in the region, reinforcing the latter’s military strength and their legitimacy from outside. At the same time, increasingly-connected young populations question the legitimacy of their states, and contest that legitimacy from within and below. In the absence of states delivering any reasonable form of social contract, young people become torn between different governing orders and find themselves in a liminal space. In this article we present the cases of youth in Mali and Chad, who find themselves in a period of re-definition of their position in society and hence search for legitimate structures representation. In this search they may frame their belonging in terms of ethnicity, religion or political opposition – and increasingly also in adherence to global citizenship. New information flows and connectivity among young people in these regions, and between them and the diaspora, has given a new turn to their search for citizenship/belonging and rightful representation. However, whether their search will be successful in this geopolitical context is questionable.     

媒体在恐怖危机事件中的传播策略刍议

恐怖危机事件与媒体相互依赖,二者之间存在着共生关系。媒体对于恐怖危机事件的处置既具有积极作用,又存在着一定的消极影响。在恐怖危机事件的报道中,媒体必须及时发布权威信息,把握好报道的内容,坚持正确的舆论导向,坚持以人为本的原则。     

新闻媒体对警卫工作的影响及对策

对警卫工作来说,新闻媒体就是一把双刃剑,既有积极影响,又有消极影响。警卫工作者要对新闻媒体的应对之策进行深入研究,力争扬其所长,避其所短,达到互利共赢。     

提高新闻传播学青年教师教学水平及与学生沟通能力的研究

本文以提高新闻传播学青年教师教学水平及与学生沟通能力为研究对象,主要包括课堂教学、教材建设、媒体实践经验和培养沟通素质四个大环节。具体包括了解新闻传播学教师的特质,具有政治家的热情与眼光;实施课程负责人制度,加强教学基本功训练;组织青年教师讲课比赛、课堂教学专题报告,编写高质量的教材;增加青年教师在媒体挂职锻炼、新闻实习或做一些兼职工作,增长媒体从业经验;构建师生立体多维的沟通模式,培养青年教师与学生沟通素质等。     

加载龙伯透镜反射器的靶标RCS改型设计与仿真

针对武器装备试验、训练构建实战化空情模拟条件的要求,提出利用小型靶标加载龙伯透镜反射器模拟空袭武器雷达散射截面(Radar Cross Section,RCS)的方法。基于FEKO电磁仿真软件,分析了龙伯透镜反射器(Luneburg-Lens Reflectors)散射机理和散射特性影响因素,对不同形状、尺寸和位置反射板的龙伯透镜反射器RCS特性进行了数值仿真,总结了反射板对反射器RCS的影响规律,重点基于反射器对靶标RCS起伏特性进行了改型设计,对靶标加载单个和两个龙伯透镜反射器进行了联合仿真计算和分析。结果表明,利用靶标加载龙伯透镜反射器可以实现RCS改型的目的。     

Hiding Death: Contextualizing the Dover Ban

Following the terrorist attacks against the US in 2001, the Bush administration reaffirmed the Dover ban, the policy that prohibited press coverage of military coffins arriving at Dover Air Force Base from conflicts abroad. Conventional wisdom holds that the Bush administration enforced the ban in the hope of maintaining public support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This understanding, though, is incomplete. If the Dover ban were enforced only in response to eroding public opinion, then other coalition states would have responded likewise to this shared incentive. I argue instead that maintaining public support is only one factor among many that led the US to uphold this policy. In addition to considering the influence of factors such as perceived media bias and casualty aversion, I focus on necropolitics and the related impetus for governments to regulate the observation of death. Through this interpretation, part of the American response to the involuntary loss of sovereignty on 9/11 was to exercise control over the observation of death by enforcing the Dover ban. Through comparing the press policies of the US, the UK, and Canada, I show that the necropolitical blow to sovereignty that only the US experienced triggered a repressive policy that only the US was able to maintain.     

EU armed forces and social media: convergence or divergence?

This article explores how armed forces in EU member states work with and view social media in national and international settings, and what the patterns of convergence/divergence are on these issues. To that end, a questionnaire targeted at EU armed forces was constructed. An index of qualitative variation was calculated to explore the relative convergence among respondents (n = 25) on issues of risks and opportunities with using social media nationally and internationally. Consistent with previous research on European armed forces, we found higher levels of divergence than convergence. Contrary to our expectations that similar challenges, joint international standards, and membership in international organizations would foster convergence with regard to social media use in areas of deployment, we found that convergence appeared foremost pertaining to the domestic level. Policy divergence was strongest in areas of deployment.