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.     

战时装备调配保障决策模型构建研究

分析了战时装备调配保障决策的特点,运用模糊聚类分析法对装备调配保障对象进行了分组和优先级排序,以此为基础,运用目标规划法构建了战时装备调配保障决策模型,最后,通过实例验证了模型的可行性和有效性．     

单小批量武器装备保障的质量屋模型研究

摘要：针对单小批量武器装备保障的特殊需求,对传统的质量屋模型进行了改进,建立了基于装备保障需求与保障规则的质量屋模型,利用整数规划技术进行求解,使得单小批量武器的装备保障规则按照实际保障需求重新排列优先次序,并通过对某型火炮保障方案的筛选验证了模型的正确性．新的质量屋模型发展完善了质量屋的理论与方法,有助于提高单小批量武器的装备保障能力．     

Identifying the spoilers in the security sector reform – disarmament demobilisation and reintegration process in the Congo

The Congolese security sector reform – disarmament demobilisation and reintegration (SSR-DDR) process has suffered from setbacks in its military sector during the last 10 years, such as insufficient funding, lack of coordination and domestic reluctance to major changes, with as a result, a very fragile and disjointed Army. These problems have deepened as officers have defected from the Army and caused new instability in the East of the Congo. This article aims to analyse the recent mutinies and the reaction by the Congolese government by applying a capabilities-based approach in combination with a typology of spoilers. The objective is to identify and classify the spoilers and answer the questions of why they emerge now and how they are dealt with on a national level. From the analysis, the author suggests that there are several spoilers involved in the current situation – the most powerful being the Congolese and the Rwandan governments, prompting the question of whether an international involvement is necessary to solve the problem.     

弹丸初速对磁阻型线圈发射器发射性能的影响分析

通过设置弹丸初速并研究其对单级磁阻型线圈发射器发射性能的影响,模拟分析前一级线圈弹丸出口速度对后一级线圈发射性能影响的规律;利用Ansoft有限元仿真软件进行了动态仿真,得到弹丸初速对单级磁阻型线圈发射器驱动电流、驱动线圈感应电压、电磁力、弹丸出VI速度、弹丸位移及能量转换效率等影响的规律．研究表明：弹丸初速越大,经过单级线圈加速后弹丸出口速度也越大,但弹丸出口速度增量减小;随着弹丸初速增大,能量转换效率呈现先增大后减小的趋势．     

潜艇规避主动声纳浮标自主决策算法研究

主动声纳浮标可以实现对潜艇的精确定位,但易被潜艇感知采取机动规避措施,为了有效减少被主动声纳浮标发现的概率和暴露时间,提出了潜艇自主规避的决策算法,并针对一型主动声纳浮标阵探测进行仿真,分析探测概率变化规律,由此验证算法的有效性。     

基于ANSYS的舰船武器装备基准变化分析方法

舰船武器装备基准在外界环境作用下产生变化,从而影响武器系统的打击精度。应用ANSYS平台建立舰船有限元模型,利用三维波浪载荷的计算方法模拟航行条件下的波浪力,研究了舰船甲板面武器装备基准在两种极限海况下的变化情况,发现针对此类舰船横摇使武器装备基准产生较大的变化,并且靠近尾部和两舷位置处装备的基准变化较为显著。仿真结果表明：当舰船在风浪中航行使用武器系统时,应尽量采取顶浪航行,减少舰船横摇对武器系统基准的影响。     

Greek Armour at the Tower

In the following short notice, the authors tell the story of the appearance of Classical armour in the Tower Armouries in the early and mid-nineteenth century. In the first part, Malcolm Mercer describes the interest surrounding armour from Cumae and the circumstances of its purchase by the Ordnance Office; while in the second Thom Richardson presents a specialist analysis of this group.