The South African Denuclearization Exemplar

ABSTRACT

South Africa's nuclear disarmament is a unique historical case, notable in part for the dramatic shift from deception to cooperation. The unprecedented transparency it demonstrated in order to convince the international community of the veracity of their disarmament is heralded as an exemplar for verifiable denuclearization. Less known is how this case affords insights into how a nuclear weapon program can be clandestinely hidden by the ambiguity provided by an otherwise completely legitimate, peaceful, nuclear energy program. Using a variety of open sources, including newly declassified internal South African and US government reports, it can be shown that South Africa employed a variety of deceptive tactics before it disarmed, and even for nearly two years after becoming a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This article reviews that information to derive instructive lessons on the lengths that a nuclear proliferant state might go to conceal its true capabilities and intentions, and to thwart international discovery of the existence and full extent of an existing—or, in this case, a former—nuclear weapon program.     

Russian military reform: institutional,political and security implications

This critical comment examines the incentives, major priorities, difficulties and first results of the Russian military reform that is being implemented since 2008. The authors conclude that despite numerous drawbacks and barriers to the reformist efforts certain successes can be identified. Particularly, there is a clear shift from the old-fashioned, Soviet-type army to a more compact, mobile, better equipped and combat-ready armed forces that are capable to cope with today's challenges to Russian national security.     

Transforming Mexico’s energy field: the intended consequences of a drug war

ABSTRACT

By utilizing the theory of Strategic Action Fields (SAFs), the present article explains how a new meso-level social order seems to have emerged in Mexico as a result of the paramilitarization of organized crime, militarization of security, and the opening of Mexico’s energy sector to private investment. This work describes the transformation of Mexico’s energy field after a process of major constitutional and economic changes that were the consequence of a security crisis and an agenda of energy reform for which the so-called ‘drug war’ was a key underlying foundation.     

Lost through non-translation: bringing Clausewitz's writings on ‘new wars’ back in

While Carl von Clausewitz has generally been respected as one of the most profound philosophers of war, his expertise has been regarded as somewhat limited if not even irrelevant to the so-called ‘new wars’ of the post-Cold War world. Many scholars in international relations have claimed that ‘new wars’ are essentially ‘post-Clausewitzian’ and ‘post-trinitarian’ in nature, meaning that they are no longer fathomable through a Clausewitzian framework. However Clausewitz's earlier writings were nearly exclusively dedicated to guerrilla warfare, or what he called ‘small wars’. These writings have been largely overlooked by many analysts of contemporary conflicts. By drawing on his rare and untranslated writings, the article uncovers a critical part of Clausewitz's expertise in asymmetric warfare and shows that, far from being irrelevant in an age where interstate warfare is increasingly being replaced by conflicts between states and semi-/non-state actors, Clausewitz's philosophical writings actually shed new light into the particular interactive dynamics generated during wars waged under conditions of asymmetry.     

基于倾斜开关曲线的小推力器姿态控制方法分析与准极限环控制方法

研究了利用小推力器进行航天器姿态控制问题。从理论上推导了在给定姿态控制精度、小推力器参数以及倾斜开关曲线参数的前提下,能够形成理想极限环控制效果的充分必要条件。对相关文献中倾斜开关曲线设计方法不能形成理想极限环的情况进行了理论分析,提出了一种新的基于倾斜开关曲线的准极限环控制方法,并推导了其控制精度。研究对于航天器应用小推力器实现高精度姿态控制具有较大的工程应用价值。     

War as a System: A Three-Stage Model for the Development of Clausewitz’s Thinking on Military Conflict and Its Constraints

This article presents a new model for the development of Carl von Clausewitz’s thinking on the factors that constrain warfare. The model posits three stages in his thinking that are determined by two system theoretic dimensions. The three stages are friction as a constraint on the effectiveness of the execution of military plans on paper, suspension as a constraint on the intensity of military action and political objectives as a constraint on military objectives. The two dimensions consist of an interactive perspective in the form of causal feedback loops and a holistic perspective in the form of a political system that forms the context of the military subsystem.     

科学发展观指导大学生思想政治教育质量提升研究

科学发展观不仅为大学生思想政治教育提出了新的理论指导,同时也为其提出了新的更高要求和新的思想方法。加强和改进大学生思想政治教育是事关中华民族前途命运的根本问题,要提升大学生的思想政治教育质量,必须坚持以科学发展观为指导,用科学发展观统领高校思想政治教育,理清工作思路,创新工作模式,促进大学生思想政治素质、科学文化素质和身体素质的全面发展。     

20世纪唐宋词选述论

20世纪是词学研究的繁荣阶段 ,而作为普及与传播唐宋词的词作选本历来相对较少。 2 0世纪编纂的唐宋词选大致有三类 :独具时代特征的选本、偏重学术研究的选本和旨在普及的欣赏性选本。词选是词学批评的独特形式。不同时期词学观念和审美情趣均在词选中有所体现。词选的研究无论对于词学研究还是对于古典文学的普及研究都具有重要意义     

现代教育技术与高教改革探析

介绍了现代教育技术的发展过程,比较了传统的电化教学与现代教育技术的差别,分析了现代教育技术对推进高等教育改革的作用,提出了加强教育改革的几点建议。