The resource-conflict debate revisited: Untangling the case of farmer–herdsman clashes in the North Central region of Nigeria

The resource debate is easily discerned as part of the ongoing history of farmer–herdsman conflict in the North Central region of Nigeria. Scarcity theorists are adept at linking scarcity with the onset of livelihood conflict while on the other hand resource abundance pundits insist it is profusion and not scarcity that impels conflict. This article traverses these wrangles and proceeds to downplay the resource polemic altogether. It is proposed that the resource debate, despite its profoundness, presents a narrow reading of farmer–herdsman clashes in Nigeria’s North Central region. It is suggested that a number of other factors, including elite land grabbing, ethno-religious identity construction, weak state capabilities, the citizenship question, corrupt traditional institutions, the lack of an effective land tenure system and a widespread culture of impunity, make for better readings of the conflict. Owing to the negative impacts of the conflict on state and society, it is recommended that the state in Nigeria should commit itself to addressing the citizenship question, strengthening the capabilities of security institutions, extirpating the culture of impunity and revaluing its policy on land redistribution.     

Resource rents,institutions, and violent civil conflicts

Natural resources have been blamed for inducing slow growth and sparking civil conflicts and violence. This paper first develops a model to account for the hazard of armed civil conflicts as a manifestation of the natural resource curse, which is mediated by the quality of both economic and political institutions. We then use recently published data on institutional quality and natural resource rents to measure the potential impact of the resource curse on violent civil conflicts using a panel of data for over 100 countries in the period 1970–2010. Our model explicitly accounts for the role of good economic and political institutions in deterring the recourse to violence as well as the extent to which they might weaken the resource rents effect.     

Resource Dependence and Armed Violence: Impact on Sustainability in Developing Countries

The dependence on oil, gas, and mineral exports arguably has a negative impact on economic growth in resource-rich, developing countries. This article looks at the impact of resource dependence on adjusted net savings (ANS) as an indicator of weak sustainability. Our results, based on a panel of 104 developing countries during the recent commodity price boom, confirm a negative relationship between resource extraction and sustainable development as measured by ANS. We further look at the specific role of armed conflict and armed violence as captured by the homicide rate. Armed conflict, which is positively associated with resource dependence, negatively affects ANS per capita according to both our OLS and instrumental variables (IV) estimates. Similarly, armed violence has a detrimental effect on sustainable development. Our IV estimate suggests that a one-point increase in the homicide rate decreases ANS per capita by $60. Since education expenditures are a critical ANS component, we further examine the impact of resource dependence and violence on human capital. Consistent with previous findings, resource-dependent countries underinvest in education but armed conflict and violence do not affect the instantaneous share of education expenditures, hinting at a detrimental effect working through physical and social capital rather than education.     

基于AHP-PCR5的多传感器目标识别

目标识别系统中所获得的信息常常是高度冲突和不确定的。基于DSmT理论的多传感器目标识别,可以解决证据高度冲突情况下的信息融合问题。然而由于DSmT理论融合结果分类精细而不利于判决,需要将某些分类结果进行重新分配。层次分析法(AHP)包含不确定知识矩阵,生成基本信度分配函数。基于此提出AHP-PCR5方法进行证据高度冲突情况下多传感器综合目标识别,不仅提高识别精度,降低识别过程的不确定因素,同时引入折扣系数灵活处理识别过程中具有不同可信度的多传感器融合问题。     

联合作战条件下灭火救援战斗编成研究

多个单位联合作战是灭火救援行动的主要形式。但在联合作战的整体协同行动中,组织冲突实际是存在着的,在一定程度上影响着各战斗单元间、人装间的有效整合和战斗力的充分发挥。在有效解决联合作战中组织冲突的基础上,通过科学制定战斗编成模式,增强战斗编成组织适应性,是提高灭火救援战斗力水平的有效途径之一。     

面向SDR应用的向量存储器的设计与优化

针对面向SDR应用的SIMD数字信号处理器高带宽数据访存需求,提出并实现了一种新型的向量存储结构.该向量存储器由16路向量存储块构成,每路采用两组多体低位地址交叉编址存储结构,减少了访存体冲突,充分利用多存储体带宽,以较小的功耗代价实现并行访问多个向量数据.在此基础上,还设计了一种向量访存重整理单元,使向量存储器可灵活支持多路SIMD结构向量处理单元的非对齐访问,实现了其对向量存储器的共享.测试结果表明,该向量存储器能有效减少或消除向量处理单元之间的数据混洗操作,加速相关应用算法.     

多属性融合的坦克分队作战效能评估

现代条件下战场情况复杂,影响作战效能的因素众多且具有不确定性,为了获得对作战效能更为准确,可靠的评价,构建了一种新的基于多属性融合的坦克分队作战效能评估模型。结合已有的证据理论改进算法,给出了一种新的解决冲突证据的组合规则,并提出了一种新的组合策略,将其应用于评估模型中定性指标的融合;通过线性与非线性综合加权的方法求得评价的综合分值,得出了最终的评估结果。通过实例表明,该模型符合评估实际,对多属性模型的评估具有一定的借鉴意义。     

基于灰色关联和D-S证据理论的导弹系统安全性评估

针对导弹系统安全性评价的不确定性问题,提出了将灰色关联和D-S证据理论相结合的方法,从人员安全性、设备安全性和环境安全性建立了综合评估指标体系,用灰色关联分析处理了指标之间的关联性。在传统证据合成公式的基础上,考虑证据集非关键因素的权重,给出了修正的证据合成公式。并以打靶选弹为例进行了计算分析,得出了导弹安全性优先级排序,并将改进算法与传统计算方法的结果进行了比较,验证了评价模型的可行性与实用性,为导弹系统的管理工作提供了有益的参考。     

A model of dynamic conflict in ethnocracies

We model an infinitely repeated Tullock contest, over the sharing of some given resource, between two ethnic groups. The resource is allocated by a composite state institution according to relative ethnic control; hence the ethnic groups contest the extent of institutional ethnic bias. The contest yields the per-period relative influence over institutions, which partly spills over into the next period, by affecting relative conflict efficiency. Our model generates non-monotone evolution of both conflict and distribution. Results suggest that external interventions, when effective in reducing current conflict and protecting weaker groups, may end up sowing the seeds of greater future conflict.