Security sector stabilisation in counterinsurgency operations: the case of Afghanistan

This article argues that the debate on security sector reform (SSR) needs to be taken further by taking into consideration the fact that, even though the SSR concept was not originally developed as an element in stabilising states undergoing an insurgency, it is very much being used for exactly that. When conducting counterinsurgency with a focus on the creation of stability, the baseline will ultimately have to be security sector stabilisation (SSS) as a precondition for complete SSR implementation. However, the two must be connected to avoid them undermining each other. This is important if a comprehensive approach to programme implementation and especially sustainability is to guide the programme, and not just isolated ‘train and equip’ stand-alone projects that do not solve either the initial need for stabilisation or the long-term need for accountable security forces. Currently, in Afghanistan the surge for security by the international military is in danger of overtaking the other elements of the SSR, thereby undermining the primary end state and thus risking laying the wrong foundation for the long-term process of SSR.     

一种简单有效的处理冲突证据的D-S改进方法*

D-S证据理论在决策级信息融合领域有着广泛的应用,但其在合成冲突证据时会出现与直观结论不符的现象。通过深入分析D-S证据理论合成冲突证据时的失效原因,提出了一种简单有效的改进方法。通过主观权重和客观权重的综合得到不同证据的信任度,以此确定冲突证据及对应的折扣度并对其进行折扣度修正,使合成结果快速向正确类型收敛。仿真结果表明,同已有方法相比,本文方法特别适合具有少数冲突证据的情况,其合成结果更加符合直观判断。     

基于AHP-PCR5的多传感器目标识别

目标识别系统中所获得的信息常常是高度冲突和不确定的。基于DSmT理论的多传感器目标识别,可以解决证据高度冲突情况下的信息融合问题。然而由于DSmT理论融合结果分类精细而不利于判决,需要将某些分类结果进行重新分配。层次分析法(AHP)包含不确定知识矩阵,生成基本信度分配函数。基于此提出AHP-PCR5方法进行证据高度冲突情况下多传感器综合目标识别,不仅提高识别精度,降低识别过程的不确定因素,同时引入折扣系数灵活处理识别过程中具有不同可信度的多传感器融合问题。     

Resource rents,institutions, and violent civil conflicts

Natural resources have been blamed for inducing slow growth and sparking civil conflicts and violence. This paper first develops a model to account for the hazard of armed civil conflicts as a manifestation of the natural resource curse, which is mediated by the quality of both economic and political institutions. We then use recently published data on institutional quality and natural resource rents to measure the potential impact of the resource curse on violent civil conflicts using a panel of data for over 100 countries in the period 1970–2010. Our model explicitly accounts for the role of good economic and political institutions in deterring the recourse to violence as well as the extent to which they might weaken the resource rents effect.     

Resource Dependence and Armed Violence: Impact on Sustainability in Developing Countries

The dependence on oil, gas, and mineral exports arguably has a negative impact on economic growth in resource-rich, developing countries. This article looks at the impact of resource dependence on adjusted net savings (ANS) as an indicator of weak sustainability. Our results, based on a panel of 104 developing countries during the recent commodity price boom, confirm a negative relationship between resource extraction and sustainable development as measured by ANS. We further look at the specific role of armed conflict and armed violence as captured by the homicide rate. Armed conflict, which is positively associated with resource dependence, negatively affects ANS per capita according to both our OLS and instrumental variables (IV) estimates. Similarly, armed violence has a detrimental effect on sustainable development. Our IV estimate suggests that a one-point increase in the homicide rate decreases ANS per capita by $60. Since education expenditures are a critical ANS component, we further examine the impact of resource dependence and violence on human capital. Consistent with previous findings, resource-dependent countries underinvest in education but armed conflict and violence do not affect the instantaneous share of education expenditures, hinting at a detrimental effect working through physical and social capital rather than education.     

联合作战条件下灭火救援战斗编成研究

多个单位联合作战是灭火救援行动的主要形式。但在联合作战的整体协同行动中,组织冲突实际是存在着的,在一定程度上影响着各战斗单元间、人装间的有效整合和战斗力的充分发挥。在有效解决联合作战中组织冲突的基础上,通过科学制定战斗编成模式,增强战斗编成组织适应性,是提高灭火救援战斗力水平的有效途径之一。     

Proportional use of force in asymmetric military operation

This paper studies a strategic conflict between a state and a non-state military organization. The non-state military organization decides whether to attack or not to attack the state, while the state decides on its counter-measure. If the state uses a high level of violence against the non-state organization, it may be accused by the international community of ‘non-proportional’ use of force, and both sides of the conflict take this possibility into account. The model predicts that it may be rational for the non-state organization to attack the state, even if as a reaction the state will militarily destroy this organization, due to a positive probability the state will be punished by the international community for non-proportional use of violence.     

A critique of Paul Collier's ‘greed and grievance’ thesis of civil war

Paul Collier has produced a well-written and apparently plausible thesis on ‘greed and grievance’, evidenced in several published texts, which concludes unambiguously that greed, not grievance, is overwhelmingly the cause of conflict. However, Collier has based these findings upon narrowly defined quantitative measures–three defined indices of greed and four indices of grievance. Collier consciously omitted indices which he found difficult to measure, such as suppliers of armaments and opportunities for bureaucratic corruption. However, he appears to have unwittingly omitted some further factors, including governance, management mechanisms for natural resources and the influence that charismatic leadership can have on rebel groups. These omissions can be viewed as a major flaw in Collier's work. They also explain why Collier has diagnosed that civil wars are more likely to occur in some countries in the developing world without offering adequate explanation of why this may be so.     

基于协商的Agent资源冲突消解算法研究

针对分布式规划系统中Agent计划的资源冲突问题,研究了资源冲突的分类;基于Agent协商理论,从资源最优配置的角度,论证了最优的协商策略,提出了可重复利用的不可分享型资源的冲突消解算法,较好地解决了Agent分布式规划中出现的一类资源冲突问题。算例表明,给出的冲突消解算法是有效的。     

多源目标识别中冲突证据的融合策略研究

随着防空反导作战环境的日益复杂,快速准确地进行真假目标识别显得尤为重要。针对多源目标决策级识别中冲突证据融合问题,在综合分析现有改进证据理论方法的基础上,引入新的冲突度量系数,提出了一种通过在融合流程中增加智能判断环节,以冲突系数为判断依据,对具有不同冲突系数证据选择不同组合规则进行证据组合的融合方法,并给出了策略的流程图。最后进行了实例验证,结果表明新策略能对不同未知信度和不同识别框架冲突证据进行快速有效的融合。