CIVIL SOCIETY AND VIOLENCE—HOW TO MANAGE IN THE TOWNSHIPS WITHOUT THE ARMY

This article discusses the validity of national security threats in Botswana and whether they justified the creation of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS), which has been controversial since its formation. Since its inception in 2008, the DISS has been accused of many human rights violations and politicisation. Without fully deliberating on the basis for its creation, some discourses have focused on the politicised operations without relation to what the DISS is supposed to be doing. The author works under the assumption that debates should be shaped by whether it was necessary to create the DISS, and, if so, how we can shape and steer debates on its oversight, management, reform and operations. This article argues that despite the politicisation of the DISS, Botswana's national security threats are both real and imagined; and that domestic threats to national security have moved from the conceptual ‘imagined’ category to the ‘real’. However, that in itself did not warrant the design and mandate of the DISS, and the article argues that it was external threats that really warranted the creation of a civilian intelligence agency. The article concludes that Botswana faces a plethora of external security threats – traditional and non-traditional – that warranted the creation and continuance of the DISS.     

OPTING OUT OF THE IRON TRIANGLE

Between the 1960s and the 1990s, the US chemical industry went from lobbying against the Geneva Protocol and promoting increased funding for chemical warfare to refusing to produce binary chemical weapons and assisting with the negotiations of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)—even though the treaty included provisions that could be costly to industry. What happened in those thirty years to make the US chemical industry reverse its position on chemical weapons? This article argues these changes were largely caused by the chemical industry's desire to reform the negative public image it had acquired due to its involvement in the Agent Orange scandal and other high-profile incidents during the 1970s and 1980s. The chemical industry's assistance with CWC negotiations may be explained after an examination of the US public policy literature, which argues that industry will support apparently costly regulations if doing so helps it repair a damaged public image and ensures greater profits in the long run.     

Models of scientific and technological review for the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

ABSTRACT

Science and technology (S&T) review is key to anticipating developments in the life sciences that may benefit or run contrary to the aims of the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. It serves as a mechanism for both preparing against novel biological threats and identifying the best opportunities for developing and sharing the life sciences to the fullest extent. In the age of rapidly advancing biotechnology, S&T review needs to be wide ranging, involve a diverse set of inputs, and be transparent about its methods and data. This viewpoint considers four models of S&T review and their capacity to respond to the challenge of the life sciences: standing advisory boards; ad hoc working groups; peer review; and wikis. It then identifies a hybrid model that is suitably broad, diverse, and transparent.     

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

As the potential for the involvement of corporations in the manufacture of nuclear weapons has increased, particularly through dual-use technology, global regulation has failed to keep pace. Where regulation of private corporations does exist, in the form of treaties, UN resolutions, or more informal arrangements, the obligations fall only on states. This state of affairs is a result of international law's traditional deference to state sovereignty; yet, it has led to significant shortcomings in the global regulatory regime, where states are unwilling or unable to meet their obligations. While radical departures from the traditional model of international law might remove the regulatory gaps caused by noncompliant states, such changes are unrealistic in the current political climate. More realistic changes must be focused on, offering greater recognition of the role of private corporations in nuclear proliferation and increasing state compliance with existing regulation.     

信息化条件下的军备控制

军备控制的目的是维护国家的安全和减少国家安全威胁.随着现代科学技术的发展和世界经济一体化进程的加快,国家安全威胁的因素与国家军事能力同步增长.尤其是现代信息技术的快速渗透和发展,不仅带来了安全隐患的增加,也加速了武器装备的更新换代,对国际军备控制产生了广泛的影响.     

动物飞行控制技术在军事中的应用

半机械动物飞行器代表了微型飞行器的未来方向。文中对动物飞行控制技术仅作简要介绍,对半机械动物飞行器在军事领域中的应用价值和应用前景作了重点讨论．综述了近年来动物飞行控制技术的重要研究动态,结合甲虫机器人介绍了本实验室的近期研究成果。最后,基于动物飞行控制技术的研究瓶颈给出了动物飞行控制技术未来的研究方向。     

基于奇异值分解的潜艇磁场推算

针对潜艇磁性防护,基于磁偶极子阵列模型,建立了潜艇磁性目标高精度磁场计算模型。提出了利用奇异值分解的方法对模型进行求解,利用该求解算法进行了模型计算与实测数据比对,结果表明,该计算方法能够有效适用于计算高精度潜艇磁场。基于奇异分解的方法计算了潜艇高空磁场,计算结果可供潜艇防护磁性探测参考。     

基于多Agent的网络防御建模与仿真

为了提高网络防御建模的有效性,本文提出了应用多Agent对网络防御进行建模的方法。并且分析了多Agent的建模仿真流程,通过多Agent建模仿真方法,建立了分布式拒绝服务攻击的防御模型。最后,用Netlogo软件进行了仿真实验,通过仿真结果验证了防御模型的有效性。     

防空系统目标威胁评估与火力分配模型

首先运用层次分析法建立了防空系统对空袭目标价值评估模型的层次结构,并获得空袭目标的价值权重系数。其次,在综合考虑目标价值权重的基础上,运用模糊决策的方法推导出防空系统目标威胁综合评估数学模型。最后运用军事运筹学0-1整数规划的方法,给出了防空系统目标优化火力分配0-1整数规划数学模型。     

区域防空反导预警系统

在区域防空反导作战过程中 ,首先需要解决的是预警问题 ,反导预警系统是区域防空反导体系的重要组成部分。在分析区域防空面临的威胁目标的基础上 ,对区域防空反导预警系统的组成、任务、作用进行了说明 ,讨论了反导预警过程及其特点 ,最后对反导预警系统进行了分析 ,并就预警系统的建设提出了初步的看法。