NATO BENEFITS,BURDENS AND BORDERS: COMMENT

This note refutes criticism raised by Solomon about past tests used to ascertain the concordance between NATO benefits and burdens. In so doing, a case is made for keeping the benefit proxy based on exposed borders. Moreover, a truer sensitivity analysis than that offered by Solomon is suggested.     

Peace as an international public good: An application to Southern Africa

This paper reviews the basic economic concepts relevant to international public goods production and applies them to the case of security and peace in southern Africa. To this end, it extracts from the literature a set of fundamental features that help determine the likelihood of success of any collective action and applies these features to the current southern African context.     

PLAYING GOD WITH HIV

It is generally understood that conflict can contribute to the spread of disease. This paper explains the reverse: how disease, as an accelerating factor, can result in serious conflict. While not a cause of war itself, HIV/AIDS exacerbates existing tensions: social, ethnic and political. Political constituencies concerned about HIV/AIDS will become frustrated if the state's leadership does not meet their demands. The demand for medical treatment of the disease is certain to exceed supply in all Southern African states. Projects to treat the disease are small and access is limited. The criteria for access, both real and perceived, will play a critical role in determining the level of conflict and disruption that HIV/AIDS will cause.     

The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region

In April 2012 a number of former rebels who had been integrated into the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) mutinied and formed the Movement of March 23, better know as the M23 rebel group. The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) has been mediating between Kinshasa and the M23 rebel group since 2012, without much success. In August 2013, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) issued a communiqué after its 33rd Summit of Heads of State and Government, stating that while it commends the ICGLR efforts, the talks have become protracted and a deadline needs to be set. The summit also called for an urgent joint ICGLR–SADC summit to address the crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In addition to this development, the chair of the ICGLR is to be rotated in December 2013, when President José Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola replaces President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. To date, the mediation has been headed by Uganda and this has raised concerns over the credibility of the ICGLR-led process, since Uganda has been accused of supporting the M23 rebellion in a report released in November 2012 by the United Nations Group of Experts on the DRC. One could question whether the Angolan leadership will bring anything new that could have an impact on the crisis. Many expect that the perceived neutrality that Dos Santos could bring to the negotiations may be a positive step towards reviving the talks that have all but stalled at this point. Another issue of interest is whether the joint ICGLR–SADC summit could instil new life into the mediation process.     

IF YOU WANT IT DONE RIGHT,DO IT YOURSELF

Some have argued that the transatlantic rancor over the Iraq war made cooperation, especially on nonproliferation, unlikely. In contrast, this article, documents post-invasion instances of nonproliferation cooperation, with particular emphasis on the Proliferation Security Initiative and the EU-3 Initiative—the British, French, and German negotiations with Iran over its suspected nuclear activities. In addition to documenting French and British participation in these initiatives, the article analyzes why they have chosen to participate and argues that France and Britain have participated in both efforts because they are committed to avoiding future Iraq-like preventive wars.     

THE NPT

This article assesses the successes and failures of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) since its creation in 1968 by developing and applying a set of “metrics” to each of the NPT's substantive articles as well as to its withdrawal provisions. In light of this analysis, the article also puts forward some specific proposals for strengthening the NPT and its implementation, with a view to the debate and decisions at the upcoming 2010 NPT Review Conference. A concluding section turns explicitly to the 2010 NPT Review Conference and proposes pursuit of agreement on three NPT Action Plans: one for nonproliferation, one for peaceful uses, and one for nuclear disarmament. Combining vision and practicable steps, these Action Plans would set out a roadmap for action between the 2010 and the 2015 NPT Review Conferences. They could provide a foundation for substantive exchanges—in this case, on progress toward their implementation—during the preparations for the 2015 conference.     

公安边防机动部队实施跨区增援行动的思考

公安边防机动部队成建制、成规模实施跨区增援行动是遂行边境维稳任务的重要行动样式,也是当前公安边防机动部队实战能力建设的重大课题。分析了公安边防机动部队实施跨区增援的影响和制约因素,从战备工作、指挥协调、通信联络、装备建设、综合保障等方面对做好跨区增援行动进行了初步思考和研究,提出了若干建议,以期有助于当前公安边防机动部队的建设。     

火灾公众责任保险与消防治理问题研究

阐述了火灾公众责任保险的涵义,分析了火灾公众责任保险在消防治理中的作用,梳理了火灾公众责任保险的发展现状问题,进而提出消防治理视阈下火灾公众责任保险的发展思路。     

公安现役部队危机传播中的人本思想研究

科学的危机传播包括危机预警传播、危机应急传播和危机善后传播.公安现役部队危机预警传播应以人为本,常态化传播危机预警信息;危机应急传播应体现人文关怀;危机善后传播应进行社会心理疏导,发掘并弘扬人性的善与美.     

基于统计回归模型的突发事件网络舆情研究

突发事件网络舆情传播速度快,在较短的时间内能够引起社会大众的广泛关注,产生较大的影响.通过利用突发事件网络舆情传播规律和酶促反应相似的机理,构建统计回归模型来研究分析突发事件网络舆情的规律,并通过实例进行论证,以期为政府应对突发事件网络舆情提供参考.