Global counterinsurgency and US army expansion: the case for recruiting foreign troops

Given the nature of global counterinsurgency operations, the demands of military expansion, and the need for cultural, linguistic, and regional expertise, the United States Army should evaluate the establishment of US-led foreign troop units for its evolving force structure. This article proposes the creation of an American foreign legion based upon the recruitment of US-led, ethnically homogeneous tribal force units to meet the grist mill of counterinsurgency operations. This structured approach would be more beneficial than the current reliance on a de facto American Foreign Legion, represented by private military contractors (PMCs), many of them comprised of foreigners. These PMCs carry a number of oversight, accountability, and legal risks not found in a fully integrated, and US-officered foreign legion. The British Brigade of Gurkhas, the South-West African Police Counter-Insurgency Unit (Koevoet), and the Kit Carson Scouts serve as relevant historical examples where foreign troops were used to supplement national manpower resources.     

‘God willing,I will be back’: Gauging the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's capacity to deter economic crimes in Liberia

Recently, in July 2012, the high-profile and bitterly fought nine-month race for the post of Chair of the African Union (AU) Commission, between Dr Jean Ping of Gabon, and his main challenger, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, culminated in the latter's victory. Her victory came after the deadlock at the Eighteenth AU Summit in January 2012. Borne out of the considered need for a quick fix through reliance on a vote of expediency, the election of Dr Dlamini-Zuma represented a political resolution to the crisis that arose due to the earlier ongoing electoral deadlock. Far from being a competitive election by design, the 2012 AU Commission election by default became transformed into an intensely fought campaign that put the AU in the limelight. This article briefly introduces the electoral process, explains in detail the voting behaviour of AU member states, and offers five specific reasons for the victory of Dr Dlamini-Zuma. On the surface the election looks very competitive, but the article explains why this is not the case. To create greater competition for these posts, the AU needs to overhaul the nomination process and the voting procedure. In this regard, the article proffers detailed analysis and proposes a radical revision of the existing criteria for the nomination. The article also proposes specific recommendations for the amendment of the rules of procedure of the AU Assembly to allow for a qualified majority as a deadlock breaker in the fifth round. It also assesses whether the integrity of the AU Commission election was damaged during the campaigning and voting process. In this regard, it recommends the development of a code of conduct for future elections at the AU.     

THE AU MISSION IN BURUNDI

Abstract

Even though the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, MPLA) managed to take firm control of the state as the war ended in 2002, this article contends that its hegemony is not absolute. At the fringes of the state administration, emerging regional elites have established associations that seek to provide a remedy against the centralised system, which essentially deprives regions of political influence and sufficient economic resources. As in many other countries on the African continent, political identities that were legally enforced and institutionally reproduced in colonial times have hardly been transcended in the post-colonial period. Even if the associations' influence today does not yet reach further than bringing some insecurity to an otherwise secure polity dominated by the MPLA, the associations could play a role in reinforcing strong regional solidarity and give political expression to feelings of exclusion. Such sentiments could in turn lead to an increase of exclusivity ideas about citizenship, or even xenophobic violence. Much will depend on the strategies of the MPLA, and to what extent it will accommodate these emergent forces in the post-war era, not the least through the current sub-national state reforms.     

基于创新人才培养模式的高校人文地理课程群实践教学体系构建研究

实践教学是人文地理课程群教学的重要环节,是学生获取人文地理直观信息的主要渠道。本文在分析高校人文地理课程群实践教学的必要性及现状的基础上,以培养创新型人才和注重学生人文地理创新精神为目标,构建了高校人文地理学实践教学的基本模式,以期对人文地理课程群的人才培养模式有所启示。     

论人力资源管理的重心——人本管理

人本管理是人力资源管理的重心,对提高人员工作效率和敬业精神均有重要意义。本文从人本管理的实质、西方人本管理理念和新世纪人本管理发展三方面就人本管理的现实意义和重要作用做了论述。     

钢框架梁柱焊接连接抗震性能试验研究

以梁端腹板的扇形孔形状为主要参数,进行了4个足尺钢框架梁柱焊接节点往复加载下的破坏试验。通过对弯矩—塑性转角和弯矩—累积塑性变形倍率试验曲线对比分析表明,扇形孔是节点变形能力和破坏形式的主要影响因素。改进扇形孔构造是一种有效措施,既可提高节点的抗震性能,又能保持制作工艺与传统节点基本相同。     

高重合度人字齿轮传动动态性能优化设计

对人字齿轮传动进行高重合度设计的分析,基于人字齿轮副承载接触分析技术,针对人字齿轮传动中主动小齿轮轴向浮动安装的特点,综合考虑齿轮时变啮合刚度、啮合冲击激励及误差激励等因素的影响,采用集中质量法建立了考虑修形的人字齿轮副弯-扭-轴耦合非线性振动模型,推导了系统无量纲运动微分方程,求解得到齿轮传动系统的振动加速度。以齿轮的振动加速度均方根值为优化的目标函数,针对该类复杂实际工程优化设计中适应值计算费时的缺点,提出了一种改进的具有适应值预测机制的遗传算法,优化得到了人字齿轮的基本设计参数及修形参数,提高了计算效率,通过实例分析验证了该优化方法的有效性。对加工的人字齿轮在减振降噪试验台上进行带载试验,对比优化前后的噪音分贝值,进一步验证了该优化方法对齿轮副减振降噪具有一定作用。     

无监督特征学习的人体活动识别

针对人的局限性可能会导致在提取特征中丢失重要信息,从而影响最终的识别效果问题,提出无监督特征学习技术的惯性传感器特征提取方法。其核心思想是使用无监督特征学习方法学习多个特征映射,再将所有特征映射拼接起来形成最终的特征计算方法。其优点是不会造成重要信息的损失,而且可以显著减少所使用的无监督特征学习模型的规模。为了验证所提出的特征提取方法在活动识别中的有效性,运用一个公开的活动识别数据集,使用三种常用无监督模型进行特征提取,并使用支持向量机进行活动识别。实验结果表明,特征提取方法取得了良好的效果,与其他方法相比具有一定的优势。     

应用局部约束二维稀疏表示识别SAR图像目标

在分析典型稀疏表示分类方法和局限性的基础上,提出了一种基于局部约束的二维稀疏表示方法,以有效解决SAR图像目标识别问题。该方法对SAR图像进行图像预处理,在兼顾图像相邻列(行)对应稀疏表示系数邻近性和样本间局部性的基础上,构建了局部约束目标函数,并通过解闭式解,实现稀疏表示系数的更新求解。利用美国实测MSTAR数据对算法进行了仿真验证,实验结果表明所提出的方法可实现SAR图像目标的有效识别,并对训练样本数目具有一定的鲁棒性。     

图像制导导弹火控系统设计

针对车载图像制导导弹武器打击任务多样、作战使用灵活、多弹种、多人协同操作等特点,详细描述了火控系统功能需求分析、系统构型、工作原理、人机配合和信息交互等设计过程。由于系统任务的高效执行取决于操作人员对综合信息的准确掌握和对设备的便利操控,重点说明了以人员操控为主导,设备智能化处理配合完成工作流程控制的设计思想。该设计方法已成功应用于某型导弹武器火控系统的设计过程中,经试验验证,火控系统的功能、性能及操纵效果满足要求,且满足模块化、信息化、智能化等通用要求。