CIVIL SOCIETY AND VIOLENCE—HOW TO MANAGE IN THE TOWNSHIPS WITHOUT THE ARMY

This article discusses the validity of national security threats in Botswana and whether they justified the creation of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS), which has been controversial since its formation. Since its inception in 2008, the DISS has been accused of many human rights violations and politicisation. Without fully deliberating on the basis for its creation, some discourses have focused on the politicised operations without relation to what the DISS is supposed to be doing. The author works under the assumption that debates should be shaped by whether it was necessary to create the DISS, and, if so, how we can shape and steer debates on its oversight, management, reform and operations. This article argues that despite the politicisation of the DISS, Botswana's national security threats are both real and imagined; and that domestic threats to national security have moved from the conceptual ‘imagined’ category to the ‘real’. However, that in itself did not warrant the design and mandate of the DISS, and the article argues that it was external threats that really warranted the creation of a civilian intelligence agency. The article concludes that Botswana faces a plethora of external security threats – traditional and non-traditional – that warranted the creation and continuance of the DISS.     

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.     

Piracy,state capacity and root causes

By comparing the Somali experience of piracy with the emerging situation in the Gulf of Guinea, I show that increases in the enforcement aspects of state capacity in the Gulf of Guinea states are necessary but not sufficient tools to combat the emergence, growth, and institutionalisation of piracy. Such tools would require state-building measures that would minimise the incentives of individuals to join piracy organisations and they would have to effectively deal with youth unemployment, income inequality, and environmental degradation.     

South Africa's arsenal of terrorism legislation

After only ten years in existence, the African Union (AU) has already made its mark on the landscape of peace and security in Africa. This paper seeks to explore the relationship between the AU's leading collaborative interstate security policy, the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), and sustainable peace in the Horn of Africa. It examines four countries – Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya – and how engaging with the APSA through early warning systems can contribute to developing the elements necessary for sustainable peace, namely regional stability, conflict management, and good governance.     

SAVING THE NPT

For more than forty years, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has provided major security benefits to the international community; however, the treaty is suffering from internal and external pressures, and benign neglect on the part of its members is undermining its authority. To ensure the treaty's continued viability, it is time for member states to start showing the NPT the respect it deserves and to renew their commitments to its fundamental purposes. Achieving this requires remedial action in at least four areas of vulnerability: reinvigorating nuclear disarmament; strengthening nonproliferation; overcoming the NPT's institutional deficit; and fostering a rapprochement between NPT and non-NPT states that does not abandon the goal of treaty universalization. There is still time before the 2010 NPT Review Conference for concerted action to restore the NPT's vitality and for the United States to resume its leadership role on behalf of the treaty and its membership.     

位置随动系统动态性能自动检测研究

通过分析某型位置随动系统的组成和动态技术指标,提出了位置随动系统动态性能自动检测的设计方案和测试方法,利用信号仿真模块和基于DSP的高速数据采集与处理模块,建立了自动检测的硬件电路和软件结构,确定了测试位置随动系统的动态性能指标、测试方法和软件功能,实现了对某型位置随动系统动态性能的自动检测．     

基于雷达对抗侦察仿真的雷达生存能力评估系统研究

为合理有效地评估雷达在战场上的生存能力,选取截获概率作为定量评估指标,分析了侦察截获的判断条件,根据截获条件对雷达对抗侦察系统进行功能仿真,建立了基于HLA的评估系统．通过仿真得到了对应时间的截获概率,并以此作为评估雷达生存能力的定量指标．仿真结果表明,采用这种方法得到的截获概率合理,对提高雷达生存能力有一定参考意义．     

基于时滞分割法的具有leakage项时滞的离散型神经网络状态估计

摘要：研究一类具有leakage时滞的离散型神经网络的状态估计问题．通过构造新的Lyapunov泛函得到保证估计误差全局渐近稳定的充分条件,并通过求解一个线性矩阵不等式（LMI）得到状态估计器的增益矩阵．采用一种新的时滞分割方法将变时滞区间分割为多个子区间,使该结果在获得更小的保守性同时也降低了计算的复杂度．     

基于面向对象技术的柴油机在线状态监测系统设计

将软件设计中的面向对象思想扩展到系统设计中,针对柴油机实车运行在线监测中的变速变载及空间有限等问题,基于CAN总线的可靠性、信息传输的实时性和多主工作方式,设计分布式智能监测节点和上位机监控中心．分布式监测节点同步采集柴油机运行数据并进行降噪和简单特征提取后,将实时采样数据和在线监测结果上传至基于嵌入式PCI04的上位机监控中心,进行二次特征提取和智能模式识别,从而实现柴油机在线状态监测与故障预警和诊断．