Baixa do Cassang: Ending the abuse of Portuguese Africans

On 4 January 1961 in Baixa do Cassange, in the north of Angola, the blacks who worked in the cotton fields began a strike. The army with air support was called to quell the rebellion, and the article emphasizes the importance of air support tethered to the ground forces, particularly in a remote and vast area of operations in the tropical rainy season. In this case, the support originally came in the form a squadron of Lockheed PV-2 Harpoons from Luanda, some 300 kilometers away. These open-ocean reconnaissance aircraft and their crews were ill-suited for the task. When this became apparent, four small Auster D5/160s were relocated from Negage to Malange, among the ground forces. The Austers flew reconnaissance missions over the troubled zones, dropped provisions and messages to the advancing ground forces, and served as a backup communications link. When the strike ceased after three weeks, the Austers assumed a humanitarian role in support of the starving population. The conclusion is that air support to ground forces is indispensable, must be properly tailored to the job, and must operate as an integral part of the ground forces.     

Why did Sudan Lose a small war in Southern Sudan?

ABSTRACT

When on the wrong end of an asymmetry in the projection of hard power, weaker sides countenance the grim arithmetic of avoiding direct and massed confrontations. Invariably, insurgents have over the ages tended to employ indirect tactical methods to render their stronger opponents ineffective. Ultimately – interest asymmetry, regime type, asymmetries of strategy, and external intervention – combine in a complex interplay and pattern, to militate against a strong side. In Sudan, these factors interacted throughout the civil wars to produce regional autonomy and finally an independent South Sudan in 2011. Similar strategic logic had confronted many large African states battling insurgencies in Ethiopia, Angola, Nigeria, Zaire, and apartheid-era South Africa. Oftentimes, weakening public resolve has caused these governments to accommodate, capitulate or withdraw even if they try not to blink. Notwithstanding the regime type, it can be concluded that the majority of strong actors are prone to fail in a protracted, asymmetric conflict. Hence, the notion of linking victory in counterinsurgency to the degree of openness (democratic polyarchies); or closeness (totalitarianism) – is still valid but highly contestable in the case of Africa’s large dysfunctional states.     

美国空军研究实验室组织管理与科研规划分析

美国空军研究实验室是一个在空中、太空和网络空间领域处于全球领先地位的科研机构,承担着美国空军国防高技术项目的规划、管理和实施工作,是美国空军保持技术优势的重要研究力量。本文剖析了美国空军实验室的使命任务、组织管理和科研规划,总结了实验室在人才培养和科研任务制定方面的经验和方法。     

浅谈武警部队财务信息化建设

结合笔者工作实践,对武警部队实施财务信息化管理的现状和问题进行了简要归纳和总结,并着重对武警部队如何顺利推进财务管理信息化提出了建议和意见。     

新疆边境地区反恐情报保障问题研究

反恐情报保障是反恐行动的重要组成部分和决策依据。针对新疆边境地区情报力量建设较弱、情报保障手段单一、与有关部门缺乏有效的交流机制等问题,公安边防部门应采取加强情报力量建设、完善情报保障机制、充分利用各种情报手段和加强情报交流与合作等有效措施,不断提高反恐情报保障能力,掌握反恐怖斗争的主动权。     

2005～2009年《武警学院学报》文献计量分析

通过对2005～2009年《武警学院学报》5年间的载文、作者及引文情况进行统计分析,研究其载文量、栏目设置以及著者、发文地区和著者系统分布,并统计出合作度、合作类型、引文量、篇均引文数、引文语种及引文类型等,以期描述学报在改为月刊后的出版状况,从中发现一些带有规律性的问题,并客观评价其办刊特色,为刊物的进一步发展及相关学科动向提供理论依据。     

《人民武装警察法》中“协助”之分析

在最新颁布实施的《中华人民共和国人民武装警察法》中,共有3条6处规定了武警部队在执行国内安全保卫任务时对其他机关的“协助”,但是这些协助性任务的性质并不是很明确。本文通过对行政协助构成关键点的剖析,探究该法律中的“协助”是否是真正意义上的行政协助。     

以教学内容优化更新为主线 推进任职教育新一轮改革创新发展

在新形势下,学院要按照第十五次全军院校会议和武警总部党委的指示精神,扎实推进任职教育取得新成绩,就要认真总结学院任职教育的经验,找出存在的不足,通过准确把握任职教育的本质,深化对任职教育的研究,增强使命意识,真抓实干,加快学院任职教育教学改革步伐,推进任职教育创新发展。     

‘Responsibility to protect’ and the African Union: Assessing the AU’s capacity to respond to regional complex humanitarian and political emergencies

Despite its many institutional and political weaknesses and limitations, the African Union (AU) has been developing a variety of tools and mechanisms to respond effectively to complex disasters and emergencies (both natural and manmade) by building up a comprehensive regional security architecture. Furthermore, it has become the first and only regional or international organisation to enshrine the principle of ‘responsibility to protect’ (R2P) in its Constitutive Act. This regional approach to and formal endorsement of the R2P principle allowed it to assume a particular place in the promotion of peace and security in its area. This article aims to critically assess the effectiveness of the AU on the African continent by exploring its real capacity in preventing and responding to emergencies and violent conflicts, and therefore in rendering the principle of R2P operational. The article argues that the formalisation of principles does not necessarily mean their effective implementation. The organisation's use of the R2P principle is also greatly conditioned by internal and external factors.     

Smart Power and Military Force: An Introduction

Abstract

Smart power is comprised of two elements: the quest for building society among states and between states and non-state actors; as well as the desire for cleaner forms of power projection. This special issue explores how states continue to fumble over achieving the optimum mix of hard and soft power across several country cases and themed articles. This set of contributions suggests that smart power is not unlike a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ analogy: multifunctional and challenging to choose the right combination of ideational and material tools.