Dirty war: chemical weapon use and domestic repression

The utilization of chemical weapons to quash domestic rebellion is a drastic action for a regime facing domestic challengers to take, especially given the reputation costs and risk of international intervention. However, recent developments have illustrated that some regimes have contemplated and implemented extraordinary measures (including the use of chemical munitions) to quash rebellion. This study addresses the question of why some states utilize chemical weapons against domestic challengers while others refrain from this level of state repression. I argue that the utilization of chemical weapons has both domestic and international elements. Specifically, that ethnic cleavages that lead to secessionist challenges and factors associated with inter-state rivalry impact the likelihood that a state utilizes the employment of chemical munitions. I test my argument and other explanations regarding repression with a casestudy approach utilizing captured Iraqi Government documents comparing Iraq’s Al-Anfal campaigns with developments during the recent Syrian Civil War.     

Political dynamics in Kenya’s post-electoral violence: Justice without peace or political compromise?

The political upheavals that erupted in Kenya after the release of the 2007–8 election results resulted in the death of approximately 1 200 people, as well as the loss of livestock and other valuable property. While the Kenyan government tried to seek solutions to the crisis, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants for the arrest of top government officials. For its part, the African Union (AU) accused the ICC of racism by targeting only African leaders, and maintained that such practices undermine the rule of equality before the law set forth in Article 27 of the Rome Statute. The AU is therefore advising African countries, including Kenya, to consider withdrawing from the ICC. Will the ICC's intervention into the situation in Kenya bring justice and peace to the country, or will it add to the existing injuries affecting not just the country but the region as well? Through a critical analysis of contemporary scholarly discourse, this article unravels the dilemma of the ICC's intervention and the likely consequences of this action for the people of Kenya and Africa.     

Rethinking military behavior during the Arab Spring

Why did some Arab militaries remain loyal to authoritarian rulers amid mass uprisings during the Arab Spring while others defected to the opposition? One popular explanation shows this variation with reference to the degree of military institutionalization: institutionalized militaries defected, while patrimonial militaries remained loyal. This article argues that the institutionalization hypothesis does not provide a complete account of the mechanisms through which the degree of military institutionalization leads to either defection or continued loyalty. This shortcoming stems from the fact that scholars have treated military institutionalization as a catch-all concept for three distinct variables: ethnic stacking of the military, patronage distribution, and organizational factionalization. Examining the interaction between these variables highlights the mechanisms through which military defection occurs, and therefore that disaggregating institutionalization into its component parts provides a more complete explanation of military behavior during the Arab Spring.     

Revisiting the rise and fall of the Somali Armed Forces, 1960–2012

The history of the Somali Armed Forces, principally the army, forms an important part of studying the Somali civil war. Two key themes are evident from 1960: the pursuit of an irredentist agenda beyond reasonable limits, which led to the downfall of Siad Barre’s regime, and the clan divisions and agendas that Barre used to shore up his rule in the 1980s and that have bedeviled the rebirth of the Somali Army in the twenty-first century. With the twentieth-century context covered, and in some places reinterpreted, this article then focuses on the uncertain rebirth of the Somali Armed Forces since 2008, using a host of primary and United Nations official sources. Assistance efforts have been focused on Mogadishu, but limited success has been made in forming truly national armed forces. Future prospects are uncertain, but there are some signs of hope.     

军队科研机构推进国防知识产权转化运用

军队科研机构作为国家科技创新体系的重要组成部分,承担了大量科技创新任务,产生了许多具有自主知识产权的高水平科技成果,推动军队科研机构国防知识产权转化运用,是贯彻军民融合发展战略的必要途径。分析了军队科研机构国防知识产权转化的现状及制约转化的现实障碍,并结合实际探讨了推进军队科研机构国防知识产权转化的建议举措。     

一种基于证据间距离和信息熵的证据组合方法?

针对改进的基于证据间距离的组合方法,首先计算证据间距离并求出各个证据的支持度和可信度,选取支持度高的作为较可信证据,其次引入证据信息熵,计算修正系数,对这些证据的可信度进行修正,将可信度作为权重,进行证据的加权平均,再利用Dempster组合规则对所有证据进行融合。算例表明,该方法比现有的方法更加有效。     

一种修正的冲突证据融合方法

对于冲突证据,D-S证据理论无法使用甚至无法得出正确的结果,进而引发了专家学者的研究。针对该问题,提出了一种新的冲突证据融合方法,建立了多传感器综合可信度的计算模型,根据综合可信度得到多传感器的合成结果,采用D-S证据理论对合成结果进行组合,既解决了高冲突问题,又解决了低冲突问题。最后通过仿真验证了该方法的有效性。     

水面舰艇防空作战能力的需求生成方法

为了更好地量化表达水面舰艇所具备的防空作战能力,提出了一种基于元活动的能力需求生成方法。建立了能力需求生成框架,在此框架下进行元活动库的提取,能力指标的分解,元活动-能力指标映射规则的分析得到中近程拦截能力的能力指标并进行了冲突消解,验证了所提方法的有效性。     

基于事故树和贝叶斯的军民航飞行冲突风险研究

为充分了解当前军民航飞行冲突、危险接近事故征候的成因,并对其发生原因进行有重点的预防和对事件发生概率的精确预测,首先建立事故树模型,对其原因进行分析;总结导致其发生的基本事件,计算事故树模型的最小割集和各个基本事件的结构重要度;其次对军民航飞行冲突、危险接近事故征候的发生概率进行合理的取值,得出基本事件的概率重要度,指出基本事件发生概率对顶事件发生概率的影响;最后构建军民航飞行冲突、危险接近事故征候贝叶斯网络模型,计算中间事件的条件概率和顶事件发生概率,并与实际结果进行对比,验证方法可行性。     

新形势下军队军事计量培训建设

随着我军信息化建设的不断发展,军事计量在装备全系统、全寿命、全过程监管中发挥着越来越重要的作用。武器装备信息化程度越高,越需要严苛的计量保障体系,而计量人员是军事计量保障工作的主体,所以,加强我军军事计量人员的培训工作,具有非常重要的意义。本文通过对地方计量人员培训体系进行分析,利用军地融合方式,研究我军军事计量培训工作在新时期新阶段的发展思路。