AFRICA'S TRIPLE TRANSITION

Sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed the end of foreign colonial rule, the rise and fall of autocratic political regimes, and the disappearance of statist command economies. The challenges were to turn populations into coherent nations owing allegiance to the state; to democratise the state structures that govern these populations; and to liberalise the rules that regulate economic transactions. An important source to assess these prospects are the views and attitudes of ordinary Africans. This essay reflects on the original data derived from a crossnational research project. Nine African states were surveyed between 1999 and 2000. An attempt is made to gather some propositions from the analysis of the data. Many present serious challenges to common wisdom about African politics. It appears that the process of nationbuilding has created coherent political communities with high levels of national identity; that democratising the state in Africa builds on existing indigenous demands from ordinary Africans; and that economic liberalisation proceeds in the face of a mixed set of values about market and state.     

South Africa's threat environment: a guide for the National Planning Commission

Abstract

The mandate of South Africa's recently appointed National Planning Commission includes addressing ‘defence and security matters’. This article seeks to outline the central elements of the threat environment facing South Africa in the foreseeable future. It is argued that South Africa faces no meaningful existential threat from conventional military forces but that its security forces will need to be prepared to address possible raids and attacks by conventional military forces both on home soil and on vital interests beyond the nation's borders. Other threats highlighted include the threats posed by potential insurgencies, by terrorism, and by crime, social unrest and banditry. Also addressed is the danger of so-called hybrid threats, in which two or more of the single threat types outlined here are combined. Finally, the article challenges the National Planning Commission to rethink South Africa's policy on peace operations in the light of the need to ensure the safety and security of the nation's citizenry.     

‘Fighting for peace’

In Africa, most of the present conflicts are civil, intra-state wars where belligerent groups use guerrilla tactics to achieve various political, economic or ideological objectives. The atrocities and the effect of these on-going wars on innocent civilians, human suffering, poverty and development are beyond comprehension. Not surprisingly, the majority of current peace operations are in Africa, with more than 70 countries contributing forces to these conflict zones. On the continent, South Africa has come to assume a leading role in peace operations and is now a major troop-contributing country to UN and AU missions. In the past 11 years, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has taken part in no fewer than 14 peace missions. This article provides a brief background of the conflicts in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan, the different United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) mandates under which peacekeepers had to operate as well as their objectives, and the extent of South Africa's involvement in the various missions. In the last section, the major challenges, that these operations have posed are highlighted.     

Domestic violence legislation for development,peace and security in Nigeria

Though laws have been enacted in different parts of Nigeria to address some aspects of gender-based violence, domestic violence persists with serious consequences for social and economic development. Nigeria has not enacted specific domestic law that is applicable throughout the federation, despite the United Nations mandate to all countries to adopt and enforce such laws by 2015. This article examines the causes and nature of domestic violence in Nigeria, and the legal reform needed to address the situation. In addition to library sources, the study used focus group discussions and individual interviews (involving the general population, key informants, legislators and traditional rulers) to discover that enacting specific national domestic violence legislation is necessary to address the problem in Nigeria, but enacting laws alone is not a magic bullet.     

空间预警系统建立导弹目标优先级的多属性决策

空间预警系统在多传感器多目标的情况下需要传感器调度,而建立目标优先级是有效进行传感器调度的第一步。由星载传感器所得图像对目标特征进行估计具有很大的不确定性,直接影响到导弹目标优先级的建立。首先通过作战分析确定出导弹目标的主要属性,采用层次分析法评价属性的权重,然后在不确定的条件下对属性求期望值,使用3种多属性决策方法评价导弹目标的威胁程度,最后取期望值作为导弹目标的威胁评价。正交实验结果表明算法具有很强的实时性和实用性。     

不完全权重信息下地空导弹部队阵地评价与排序

给出了地空导弹部队阵地评价指标体系,在已知专家对各指标的打分结果和目标权重范围的局部信息基础下,提出一种先进行局部优化再组合赋权以求得指标的组合权重向量,并根据综合属性值对各方案进行排序的多目标决策方法,避免了获取有关地空导弹部队评价指标偏好信息的困难,最后以实例说明了本方法的应用情况.     

基于模糊MODM的空袭目标威胁评估

针对当前空中来袭目标的主要特点,运用模糊多目标决策(MODM)理论和方法,提出了一种空袭目标威胁评估方法。首先对影响空袭目标威胁程度的因素进行了分析;然后阐述了如何确定影响目标威胁评估的各个指标值;最后依据多目标决策方法,建立了在各指标权重值只有部分已知的情况下,目标威胁评估的数学模型,并通过示例介绍了威胁评估的求解过程。仿真结果表明,该方法有效地解决了目标威胁评估与排序问题,提高了防空作战效能。     

不确定熵证据合成法在防空兵火力配系评估中的应用

防空火力配系是根据任务、敌情、地形和火器的性能,对参战的各种火器作适当的配置和分工所构成的火力系统,防空火力配系是典型的多属性决策问题,而多属性决策问题中存在着属性评价的不确定性问题,而证据理论是典型的多属性融合理论,它的天生缺陷就是不相容证据合成带来的问题,为此引入基于不确定熵证据合成的多属性决策理论,能够很好地克服上述不足,用来对防空火力配系进行优化,可以解决多目标决策中的信息不完全性,效果良好.     

基于熵权的导弹型号论证方案评价模型

针对导弹型号论证决策中的部分属性信息具有模糊性,给出了一种基于熵权的模糊信息多目标决策方案评估方法。该方法在只有模糊判断矩阵而没有专家权重的情况下,通过多指标的模糊评价矩阵的熵权计算,得到各属性信息提供的有用信息量的程度;再通过各方案与理想点的距离,得出了可信度较高的优选方案。     

论公安边防部队基层决策中的公众参与

公安边防部队基层决策中的公众参与,是指凡涉及公众利益而无需保密的重大决策,基层边防部队在决策的各个环节。都要吸收公众有序参与,并使决策充分反映民意。在国际金融危机和国内转型期条件下,基层边防部队要不断优化公众参与决策的环境,实行决策公开,推行决策听证,发挥网络优势,畅通民意反映渠道,并健全完善回应、考评、监督、纠错、问责等保障机制。实现公众参与决策健康持续进行。