From stopping to preventing atrocities

The Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) provides for the right of the continental body to intervene in the face of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. According to its formulation, Article 4(h) intervention entails military force, which is triggered when a target state fails to discharge its duty to protect its population from mass atrocities. Although Article 4(h) is an ambitious statutory commitment to intervene in a member state by the AU, the Libyan crisis in 2011 showed the ambivalence of the continental institution to act in a decisive and timely manner. The AU's failure to invoke Article 4(h) exposed the need for building the capacity and political will to intervene and to interpret Article 4(h). Therefore, the primary focus of this article is on how Article 4(h) should be interpreted. Flowing from the Pretoria Principles, which seek to provide clarity on the implementation of the AU's right of intervention, Article 4(h) should be viewed as a duty rather than a right to prevent or stop mass atrocities. The duty dimension of Article 4(h) derives from the international instruments that AU member states have ratified to prevent mass atrocities. Rather than being a paper tiger, Article 4(h) should be used in a proactive and timely manner as a military option available to the AU to persuade member states to prevent or halt atrocities. As a last resort, military force pursuant to Article 4(h) should aim at protecting the population at risk and pursuing the perpetrators in order to avoid contravening Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations (UN). Although military intervention can save lives in the short term, it cannot necessarily address the underlying, structural causes of atrocities, such as ethnic rivalries, economic inequalities and scramble for natural resources, among others. Therefore, the prevention of mass atrocities should not be equated with, or be seen through the prism of, Article 4(h) intervention alone. The focus should instead be on the entire spectrum of preventive strategies at the disposal of the AU in the face of mass atrocities, including the African human rights system and the African Peer Review Mechanism.     

CONTRIBUTORS

Russia holds the largest stocks of civilian highly enriched uranium (HEU) of any country, operating more than fifty research reactors, pulsed reactors, and critical assemblies using HEU, as well as nine HEU-fueled icebreakers. Russia's participation in international efforts to phase out civilian HEU is crucial if international HEU minimization efforts are to succeed. Individual Russian institutes and organizations participate in international programs to replace HEU with low-enriched uranium in Soviet-supplied research reactors, develop alternative fuels, and repatriate fresh and spent HEU fuel from third countries. However, an overarching national policy on HEU phase-out has yet to be adopted. There are many obstacles to obtaining such a commitment from Moscow. At the same time, the ongoing reform of the Russian nuclear industry and plans for expansion of domestic nuclear power generation and for increased nuclear exports create opportunities for securing such a commitment.     

THE ACRS EXPERIENCE AND ITS RELEVANCE TO THE WMDFZ CONFERENCE

This article examines the arms control logic that was applied to the only regional arms control talks that have taken place in the Middle East to date: the Arms Control and Regional Security (ACRS) working group that was part of the multilateral track of the Madrid peace process in the early 1990s. It highlights both the successes and major constraints of the ACRS talks in an effort to assess what might be relevant to the weapons of mass destruction-free zone conference proposed for later this year. In addition to the basic arms control dilemmas that will continue to challenge this conference—as they did ACRS—the article suggests that current conditions in the Middle East are even less conducive to regional dialogue than they were in the earlier period, due to the internal upheavals in several key Arab states, and the specific challenge of Iran's move to develop a military nuclear capability.     

THE MIDDLE EAST WMD-FREE ZONE CONFERENCE

This article reviews the origins and evolution of the Middle East weapons of mass destruction-free zone (WMDFZ) concept and the proposal for a 2012 conference on the subject, and explores new challenges and opportunities for regional arms control in the current regional environment. It suggests that new models may be necessary to revitalize regional arms control efforts. The establishment of a broad regional security forum could include, but should not be limited to, curtailing weapons of mass destruction through the zone approach. Even if the 2012 conference fails to materialize, or is limited to a one-time event, the proposal for such a conference has provided an important opportunity to rethink future options for a regional arms control and security process.     

A Bioterrorism Prevention Initiative

ABSTRACT

The threat of terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction remains a daunting concern. Governments have undertaken several initiatives at the national and international level to prevent such illicit use, yet challenges remain. Notable is the absence of a single collaborative international forum of experts dedicated solely to bioterrorism prevention. The establishment of a Bioterrorism Prevention Initiative could be a possible solution to address this gap. This article explores possibilities for such an initiative and the ways in which it could strengthen the existing bio-nonproliferation regime.     

一种反压自适应恒流喷嘴工作原理及实验研究

应水反应金属燃料发动机启动过程对水流量的苛刻要求,提出一种新型反压自适应恒流喷嘴。理论分析此喷嘴的流量自适应保持原理,通过流量特性实验验证此喷嘴能够自动调节流阻,实现流量恒定。     

弹载控制系统电磁干扰模拟注入试验方法研究

提出了导弹武器控制系统电磁干扰模拟注入的一种试验方法,通过系统试验,验证了控制系统容错机制和设计方案的正确性以及模拟试验方法的有效性,为抗电磁干扰控制系统的研制开发提供技术保障。     

新疆乡镇群众体育多元化服务体系的构建研究

本文通过对新疆乡镇群众体育服务体系的发展状况入手,分析新时期建立新疆乡镇群众体育多元化服务体系的意义.对如何构建新疆乡镇群众体育多元化服务体系的思路和框架进行探讨,以期望更好地为新疆的群众体育服务提供借鉴。     

化学键合胶凝材料抗硫酸盐侵蚀性能

采用浸-烘循环的方法模拟干湿循环交替环境进行新型化学键合胶凝材料抗硫酸盐加速侵蚀试验.侵蚀溶液为质量浓度为5％的硫酸钠溶液,一组试验采用全浸-烘循环,另一组试验采用半浸-烘循环.在经受30×N(N=1,2,3,4,5)次循环后,测定试件的强度耐蚀系数和质量损失率,以此评价化学键合胶凝材料抗硫酸盐侵蚀性能.试验结果表明:半浸-烘循环的侵蚀比全浸-烘循环的侵蚀严重;在经受150次侵蚀循环后,试件外观无严重破损,质量不减反增,强度也不降低,说明化学键合胶凝材料具有优良的抗硫酸盐侵蚀性能.     

储存喷气燃料中特征真菌的鉴定与生长特性

使用沙保氏平板培养基对储存喷气燃料进行真菌培养,并在沙保氏液体培养基中纯化特征真菌,观察特征真菌菌落及孢子形态,进行形态学初步鉴定。对特征真菌进行18S rDNA测序,将得到的DNA序列在美国国立生物技术信息中心网站上进行比对,最终鉴定储存喷气燃料中的特征真菌为芽枝霉属Amorphotheca resinae真菌。建立起燃料-水-菌落体系,在不同水质量分数、氧气体积分数和温度条件,研究Amorphotheca resinae真菌在燃料中的生长特性,并用颗粒计数器检测不同代谢速度下燃料颗粒污染度的变化。结果表明,较低的水质量分数、氧气体积分数和温度均能抑制Amorphotheca resinae真菌生长,从而抑制由真菌代谢引起的喷气燃料颗粒污染度变化,提高燃料洁净度。