Clash of counterterrorism-assistance-seeking states and their super power sponsors: Implications on the war against Boko Haram

ABSTRACT

Decade-long security cooperation and counterterrorism engagements in Nigeria have failed to bring down Boko Haram or at least weaken its terrorist structures and transnational spread. I argue that disconnects between counterterrorism-assistance seeking states and their superpower sponsors are implicated in the intractability of Boko Haram's insurgency in Nigeria. Why is the U.S. counterterrorism intervention to individual MNJTF countries (i.e. troop contribution, military funding and intelligence support) ‘lopsided’, ‘fragmented’ and ‘unevenly distributed;’ and how are these implicated in the fight against Boko Haram terrorism? This has impacted negatively on MNJTF countries – lack of cooperation, divisiveness and individualism in coordinating and forging offensives against Boko Haram. These concerns interface several blind spots in the picture of external influences on military’s approach to Boko Haram. I elicit primary data from top military officers. I conclude by predicting the implications and consequences of these counterterrorism complexities, and their potency to defeat or encourage Boko Haram terror.     

HARNESSING GLOBAL TRADE DATA FOR BIOLOGICAL ARMS CONTROL

Unlike treaties dealing with nuclear and chemical weapons, the Biological Weapons Convention still lacks formal verification measures, 31 years after entering into force. Here we propose a global export-import monitoring system of biological dual-use items as an additional measure for a web of biological arms controls that could complement traditional export controls. We suggest that such a measure may help to guide consultation or verification processes in the biological area.     

“GOOD COP/BAD COP” AS A MODEL FOR NONPROLIFERATION DIPLOMACY TOWARD NORTH KOREA AND IRAN

Scholarly and popular literature in the recent past has framed nonproliferation diplomacy toward both Iran and North Korea as an example of “good cop/bad cop,” a social-psychological strategy borrowed from law enforcement to describe a process for forcing a confession by subjecting a target to stressful emotional contrast. This article examines those two cases, roughly covering the period since 2003, when the most recent attempts to deal with the Iranian and North Korean proliferation threats began, in light of criteria for employment of the good cop/bad cop strategy. There is some evidence that within the framework of the six-party talks with North Korea and within the framework of the EU-3-U.S. diplomacy toward Iran, the players seeking nonproliferation have adopted good cop/bad cop roles to that end. The article concludes, however, that while there are similarities to the interrogation room technique, the complexity of the international political environment as compared to the interrogation room has prevented the states involved from successfully adopting or effectively exploiting good and bad cop roles. Substantial and exploitable differences of interest among them, and the availability of alternative “escape routes” for the target state, raise serious questions about the applicability of the good cop/bad cop strategy to these two nonproliferation cases, and even about its applicability in future nonproliferation challenges.     

A PANEL DATA ANALYSIS OF THE NEXUS BETWEEN DEFENCE SPENDING AND GROWTH IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: A COMMENT

Abstract

This paper explains and assesses the UK experience with determining prices and profitability for non-competitive defence contracts. Three periods are considered, namely pre-1968, the 1968 Profit Formula Agreement and the changes introduced in 2014. Two cases of ‘excessive’ profits were major determinants of the 1968 Profit Formula Agreement; but continued dissatisfaction with the 1968 Agreement led to changes in 2014. The historical overview of UK experience provides a basis for understanding current UK policy and offers insights for other countries facing similar policy challenges. A critique is presented of UK policy on single source pricing and profitability.     

Defence spending and economic growth in South Africa: A supply and demand model*

This paper provides a contribution to the growing corpus of knowledge and understanding of the interaction between economic growth and defence spending in South Africa by specifying a Keynesian simultaneous equation model and estimating the system for the period 1961 to 1997. The model contains a growth equation, a savings equation, a trade balance equation and a military burden equation and when estimated by single equation and systems estimation methods is relatively well specified. There is evidence of an overall negative effect of military spending on the economy over this period, though the significance of individual coefficients is low. There is certainly no evidence of any positive impact, suggesting that cuts in military spending do present an opportunity for improved macroeconomic performance.     

How Different Terrorist Attacks Affect Stock Markets

Terrorist attacks adversely affect the Pakistani stock market. However, such effect is short-lived: the market recovers from terrorist shocks in one day. The impact of attack depends on the locations and types of attack. The more severe the attack (i.e. more people killed), the more negative is the KSE-100 index return. Most interestingly, stock market contains information about future attacks. In sum, different tactics of terrorists have varied effects on financial markets, which in turn can predict terrorist attacks.     

瞄准线稳定精度的影响因素仿真

瞄准线稳定精度是直升机载稳瞄系统的关键技术指标之一,它影响着系统的其他关键性指标如照射精度、跟踪精度、作用距离等。因此提高瞄准线稳定精度是设计和研制机载稳瞄系统至关重要的一项任务。论文分析和研究了影响瞄准线稳定精度的因素,并采用Simulink建立数学模型,对瞄准线稳定精度的影响因素进行仿真分析,得到各因素对稳定精度的影响趋势,为机载稳瞄系统的设计工作提供了理论基础。     

一种面向虚拟维修训练的拆装序列描述方法

通过分析机电产品的维修特点、虚拟维修训练的需求以及产品维护规程的结构特点,提出了一种采用树型和有向图混合结构来统一描述产品维护规程和拆卸安装序列的方法,并以Visual C++/MFC为工具,开发了维护规程控件,解决了虚拟维修训练中产品维护规程和拆卸安装序列的同步直观显示、约束关系解算、规程文件存取等问题,并为维护规程的可视化编辑提供了工具。实践表明,该方法满足虚拟维修训练对维护规程和拆装序列的描述要求。     

多无人机梯次攻击航路规划

为了解决多无人机协同攻击航路规划问题,基于一种雷达威胁等效方法,以及无人机在不同姿态下雷达散射截面RCS(Radar Cross-Section)值随之改变的特性,结合多机作战战术思想,提出了一种多无人机梯次协同攻击同一目标的方法,并利用Dijkstra算法进行多无人机航路规划.仿真结果表明,该方法具有更高的应用价值.     

基于3DS的ISAR二维散射点模型仿真

当前,对ISAR成像和目标识别的研究很多,但用于ISAR成像和目标识别的目标模型大都相对简单.建立一种新的ISAR二维散射点模型,生成目标各种姿态的二维散射点数据库.首先选用3DS为散射点生成模型,以此为基础完成模型简化和信息抽取.然后根据目标姿态变化,计算转换坐标,并以F16战斗机为例生成二维散射点图像.最后采用步进频雷达信号对目标散射点模型进行ISAR成像.所建立的目标二维散射点模型可以用于ISAR成像和目标识别研究.