US–Latin America’s security: moving through an inflection point?

Recent elections in Latin America, such as those of Mauricio Macri in Argentina, Horacio Cartes in Paraguay, and the impeachment process of Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, point to a new direction in Latin American politics and away from the “hard left;” they also point to a new momentum in the security relationship between the US and Latin American countries. Former US President Obama’s 2016 trip to Cuba and Argentina was a clear demonstration of this new security paradigm and also a clear indication that there is a new momentum brewing in the US towards a rethinking and reshaping of security strategies and mindsets. This article will explore the multidimensional security relationship between the US and Latin American countries in light of recent changes in the US’ posture toward the region.     

The underlying causes of military outsourcing in the USA and UK: bridging the persistent gap between ends,ways and means since the beginning of the Cold War

This article reappraises the two most-studied country cases of military outsourcing: the USA and the UK. It argues that the contemporary wave of military contracting stretches back to the beginning of the cold war and not only to the demobilisation of armies in the 1990s or the neoliberal reforms introduced since the 1980s. It traces the political, technological and ideational developments that laid the groundwork for these reforms and practices since the early cold war and account for its endurance today. Importantly, it argues that a persistent gap between strategic objectives and resources, i.e. the challenge to reconcile ends and means, is an underlying driver of military contracting in both countries. Contemporary contracting is thus most closely tied to military support functions in support of wider foreign and defence political objectives. Security services in either state may not have been outsourced so swiftly, if at all, without decades of experience in outsourcing military logistics functions and the resultant vehicles, processes and familiarities with public-private partnerships. The article thus provides a wider and deeper understanding of the drivers of contractualisation, thereby improving our understanding of both its historical trajectory and the determinants of its present and potential futures.     

Between vigilantism and ethnocultural preservation: An investigation into the legitimacy of the non-state policing activities of the Ombatse group among the Eggon people of Nassarawa State,Nigeria

Postmodern contradictions in postcolonial Nigeria have led to the fetishisation of alternative local security measures often labelled as vigilante activities. The profiling of these groups as ethnic militia often undermines their essential bid to provide security while delimiting security needs to the physical. The fallouts of such profiling are frictions between federal security agents and ethnic-based security groups, often resulting in violence, as exemplified by the 7 May 2013 incident between the Nigerian federal security agents and the Ombatse. This study focuses on the emergence and activities of the Ombatse as an alternative security apparatus of the Eggon. It presents three years of field research which entailed the use of ethnography, key informant interviews and observation. The findings reveal that the Ombatse emerged to assert historical legitimacy for both the physical and spiritual securitisation of the Eggon through a return to the ancestral ways of social engineering. The study considers the security challenges in Nigeria, and also situates the Eggon historical context within political, religious, sociocultural and economic intersections of securitisation. It concludes that the Ombatse situates its legitimacy within the Eggon past and retains its relevance through the holistic focus of providing both physical and spiritual security.     

韩日签订《军事情报保护协定》的影响分析

在美国大力推动下,韩日政府于2016年11月签署《军事情报保护协定》。本文对韩日签署《军事情报保护协定》的背景和过程进行了梳理,指出了韩日政府关于该协定所存在的主要分歧,分析了该协定签署对东北亚乃至亚太地缘政治安全形势产生的深远影响。     

中国空间安全形势

随着中国在太空领域的不断崛起,太空地位不断提升的同时,也面临着各种各样的挑战,这些挑战既有源自传统政治领域的大国阻挠,也有来自外太空的人类共同威胁。为了应对这些威胁和挑战,保护中国的太空利益和国家利益,我们需要从多方面着手,多管齐下,以维护日益重要的中国国家太空利益。     

基于0-1分辨矩阵的集群探测盲区判定

针对航空集群协同反隐身探测盲区的识别判定问题,在多种编队构型下的集群协同探测仿真结果的基础上,运用属性的0-1分辨矩阵方法进行识别,对于连通的区域,建立相关模型,求得允许目标通过的最小宽度,将建立的模型应用到模拟作战中,仿真结果验证模型的正确性和合理性。结论表明,航空集群协同横向探测盲区可视为探测区下的保护区;纵向探测盲区则视为连通区域;斜探测盲区的判定,则依据通道倾斜角、通道长度和宽度的比值而定。     

武器装备体系演化研究

体系动态演化是武器装备体系建设发展、体系作战能力和体系对抗效能评估优化的基本认识前提。鉴于当前武器装备体系概念理论基于多问题思维视角现状,研究层次、问题形式和技术方法手段复杂多样,以体系演化为切入点,围绕装备体系动态演化的涵义,从体系结构优化设计、体系协同作战过程优化和体系作战效能评估优化3个层次综述了装备体系演化研究进展。在此基础上,讨论了基于大数据、超网络、认知粒计算的装备体系多学科研究需求,对可能性的技术思路给出可供借鉴建议。     

网络安全与防火墙技术

介绍了防火墙技术的概念、几种防大墙实现技术的原理、防火墙的配置及安全措施．     

C3I系统体系结构的演化开发过程

体系结构的建立是C3I系统工程的重要组成部分,它是保障所开发的C3I系统满足军事需求的机制.提出了C3I系统体系结构的演化开发过程,它是体系结构开发在需求汇集、体系结构设计、建立可执行模型、体系结构评价等四个主要任务区域中循环迭代、逐步求精的过程.确定和论述了演化开发过程中各任务区域的主要活动.     

飞机近距发射空空导弹时安全性评估方法

以概率方法确定了飞机近距发射空空导弹时的安全性评估指标,分析了载机、导弹和目标三者初始状态,飞机轨迹等诸多因素对载机安全性的影响,同时给出了评估飞机运用空空导弹攻击目标时的安全性评估指标的原理框架。运用此模型可以解决新型飞机的安全性设计问题以及通过对现有飞机的安全性评估来改进飞机的安全性等级。