A Question of ‘Government’ Control: Afghanistan DDR Programs Since 2001

Since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA), the United States, the United Nations, and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have funded and led three different Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs. Despite a significant investment in time and treasure, all of them have failed to significantly reduce the number of insurgents or arbaki (militia). This article explores why these programs failed despite incorporating ideas from the prominent DDR schools of thought. Utilizing Stathis Kalyvas’ theory of The Logic of Violence in Civil War as a lens, this article argues that GIRoA and ISAF did not have sufficient control of territory to entice insurgents or arbaki to reconcile and/or reintegrate with the government. Further, in areas GIRoA nominally controlled in northern and western Afghanistan, regional powerbrokers who controlled these areas balked at these programs.     

A Good Ally - Norway and International Statebuilding in Afghanistan, 2001-2014

The article examines the findings of the Commission of Inquiry established by the Norwegian government in 2014 to evaluate all aspects of Norway’s civilian and military contribution to the international operation in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Concerned with the wider implications of the Commission’s findings, it focuses on two issues in particular: (1) Norway’s relations with the US, a close and long-standing strategic ally whose resources, capabilities and dominance of decision-making dwarfed that of all other coalition partners in Afghanistan; and (2) Norway’s record in the province of Faryab, where, from 2005 to 2012, a Norwegian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team was charged with bringing security, good governance and development to the province. How Norway prioritised and managed relations with the US highlights and helps to problematise the challenges – political, practical and moral – facing small and medium-sized powers operating in a coalition alongside the US. Norwegian efforts in Faryab are revealing of the dilemmas and contradictions that plagued and, ultimately, fatally undermined the international intervention as a whole. As such, Norway’s experience provides a microcosm through which the inherent limitations of the attempt to transfer the structures of modern statehood and Western democracy to Afghanistan can be better understood.     

Casualty Rates of US Military Personnel During the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Abstract

In Operation Iraqi Freedom, which ended in August 2010, nearly 3500 hostile deaths occurred among US military personnel and 32,000 more were wounded in action (WIA). More than 1800 hostile deaths occurred during Operation Enduring Freedom (in and around Afghanistan) through 2014 and about 20,000 were WIA. A larger proportion of wounded personnel survived in Iraq and Afghanistan than during the Vietnam War, but the increased survival rates were not as high as some studies have asserted. The survival rates were 90.2% in Iraq and 91.6% in Afghanistan, compared with 86.5% in Vietnam. The casualty rates varied between the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and before, during, and after the respective surges. Amputation rates are difficult to measure consistently, but I estimate that 2.6% of all WIA and 9.0% of medically evacuated WIA from the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters combined resulted in the major loss of a limb. Elevated non-hostile death rates (including deaths due to accidents, illnesses, homicides, or suicides) resulted in about 220 more deaths in Iraq and about 200 more deaths in Afghanistan than would have been expected in peacetime among populations of the size deployed to those two conflicts.     

变质心再入飞行器的质心移动方式研究

变质心控制是一种利用质量块的主动移动来改变飞行器质量特性的控制方式,该控制方式对于克服各种高速飞行器执行机构的气动烧蚀问题有着重要的意义.通过建立变质心再入飞行器的线性化方程,研究了质量块在飞行器内部不同方向上移动与可建立配平攻角之间的关系,并通过仿真计算可知再入飞行器再入的不同阶段质量块沿不同方向移动时的控制效率是有所差别的.研究结论对于提高变质心再入飞行器的控制效率有着重要的意义.     

当前城市社区消防安全现状及对策

城市的社区建设受到资金和观念的限制,火灾隐患存在严重,并且整改难度大。具体分析了城市社区存在的火灾隐患的集中表现及其产生原因,并提出做好社区消防安全管理工作应采取的具体措施。     

新疆高校新闻专业人才培养现状、问题与对策

作为区域内新闻专业人才培养的主要阵地,新疆高校在新闻专业人才培养上起步较晚。但随着新疆区域内新闻专业人才需求的逐步扩大以及国家政策的扶持,这种状况在上世纪八十年代后得以改观。上世纪九十年代末以来,新疆部分高校相继开办了新闻专业,使新闻专业人才培养阵地迅速扩张。短期内的迅速扩张,随之也带来了诸多问题。客观理性分析产生这些问题的原因并及时寻找解决问题的对策,对提高新疆高校新闻专业人才培养质量,为区域经济发展提供人才支撑有重要意义。     

汉乐府名篇教学探析

乐府是汉代文学的重要部分,对五言诗歌的成熟起了极为重要的作用。在古代文学的教学过程中,将汉乐府和先秦时期的诗经、楚辞进行比较,从思想内容、叙事艺术、人物形象等方面解读汉乐府中的名篇,可以让学生更好地理解掌握汉代文学的特点。     

新疆高校毕业生留疆就业对新疆稳定和发展中的作用

改革开放二十多年来,新疆在各方面取得了长足的进步,但总体上还远远落后于东部发达地区,究其原因,人才匮乏是其中重要的影响性因素之一。地处西北边疆地区的新疆,要解决人才匮乏问题,除制定优惠政策引进内地高水平人才以外,还要鼓励新疆高校培养的内地毕业生留疆就业。新疆高校内地生源留疆就业,对新疆的稳定与发展都具有重要意义。     

一类非正态误差下的AR模型定阶研究

对一类非正态误差的AR模型,在待定阶数P的情况下,给出误差项中未知实函数依概率有界的定理,可把非正态误差转化为正态情况。最后运用正态误差下AR模型的方法确定阶数和参数,并给出一个算例。     

Analytic solution for the nucleolus of a three‐player cooperative game

The nucleolus solution for cooperative games in characteristic function form is usually computed numerically by solving a sequence of linear programing (LP) problems, or by solving a single, but very large‐scale, LP problem. This article proposes an algebraic method to compute the nucleolus solution analytically (i.e., in closed‐form) for a three‐player cooperative game in characteristic function form. We first consider cooperative games with empty core and derive a formula to compute the nucleolus solution. Next, we examine cooperative games with nonempty core and calculate the nucleolus solution analytically for five possible cases arising from the relationship among the value functions of different coalitions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010