Fused in combat: Gender relations and armed conflict

Do gender relations change through conflict? How might conflict itself be fuelled by aspects of gender identity? A recently completed research project that combined oral testimony with more conventional research methods concluded that conflict has undoubtedly given women greater responsibilities, and with them the possibility of exerting greater leverage in decision making and increasing their political participation. The research sheds light on the role of ordinary citizens as 'actors' responding to crisis, and describes how gender identities are woven into a complex web of cause and effect in which war can be seen as a 'conflict of patriarchies'.     

Breaking the cycle of violence: doing development in situations of conflict

During the 1980s, armed conflict devastated an increasing number of the world's poorest countries. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) engaged in relief and development were hard-pressed to determine their most effective response to situations where normal development became meaningless, and yet short-term relief programmes failed to deal with ‘permanent emergencies?s. This article describes the nature of these conflicts, their impact on the poor, and the evolution of NGO programmes in response. It explains why some NGOs have attempted to do development in the face of on-going violence, sometimes employing risky strategies and desperate measures. It argues the need for NGOs to play a part in building a civil society which can help to break the cycle of violence.     

Evolving norms of protection: China,Libya and the problem of intervention in armed conflict

This article examines the influence of civilian protection norms on China’s response to the 2011 crisis in Libya. It argues that Responsibility to Protect—an emerging norm commonly associated with the Libyan case—did not play a major role in China’s abstention on Resolution 1973 (2011) authorizing international intervention in Libya. For China, Responsibility to Protect is merely a concept and could not serve as the basis for intervention. Instead, Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, as a normative foundation for civilian protection endorsed by China, offers a more appropriate lens for understanding China’s vote. Protection of Civilians, however, does not accommodate China’s unprecedented evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya. This operation proceeded from a third logic of Protection of Nationals Abroad, which poses dilemmas for China’s strict adherence to the principles of sovereignty and non-interference and brings to bear domestic interests and notions of protection.     

Rethinking small arms control in Africa: it is time to set an armed violence reduction agenda

Policy-makers and practitioners concerned with small arms control have traditionally focused narrowly on ‘supply-side’ forms of regulation and containment. Concerned that excessive arms availability might destabilise fragile and post-war countries, they typically advance a host of activities such as weapons embargoes, export and import controls, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes and weapons collection schemes. These initiatives often achieve fewer dividends than expected. This article argues for a broader conceptualisation of ‘availability’ that accounts for both supply and demand dimensions. Availability would thus extend from arms production and diverse forms of weapons circulation to the manifold factors shaping acquisition and the multiple ways arms are used and misused. A broad spectrum treatment directly acknowledges the many faces of armed violence and allows for more sophisticated diagnosis, treatment and cure. This article considers how a host of ‘second generation’ armed violence prevention and reduction activities might enhance efforts to promote security in the aftermath of Africa's wars.     

Children,war and world disorder in the 21st century: a review of the theories and the literature on children's contributions to armed violence

Young populations, and particularly young males, have been attributed a proclivity to aggression and unrest that puts societies at risk. Theories about the dangers of a demographic ‘youth bulge’ inform public and policy debates about the predictors of violent conflict, as evidenced most recently in the World Bank's World Development Report for 2007. This paper assesses the validity and utility of claims linking youth bulges to civil conflicts by reviewing different literatures concerning naturalist ideas of young humans' innate aggression and cognitive incompetence as well as environmentalist ideas of environmental stimuli, processes of socialisation, and the dialectical relationship of structural conditions and human agency. This review finds that the moral panic propagated by youth bulge theorists is too often based on only one form of influence on human development and action, whether an aspect of environment, personal experience, or individual traits. A more cogent analysis must integrate the highly complex and dynamic processes involved in cognition and behaviour and aim to develop theories that take account of the social power, ideational and structural forms, and emotional and cognitive processes that young people experience and draw on in times of war.     

Dealing with the dilemmas posed by power asymmetry in intergroup conflict

Some methods of unofficial intervention in protracted intercommunal conflict fail to consider the impact of power asymmetry on the dynamics of conflict and the predictably divergent goals that lower- and higher-power groups seek in unofficial meetings. As a result, third parties face the dilemma of trying to satisfy seemingly irreconcilable goals of the conflicting parties. This article examines asymmetry of goals and the further dilemmas it creates in choosing the level of discourse in unofficial meetings, and in recruiting participants. The authors propose a more proactive research focus on the dynamics of power asymmetry and advance a three-phase strategy for practitioners to deal with the dilemmas of intervening in asymmetrical conflict.He is also an Associate of the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University where he co-chairs the Seminar on International Conflict and Analysis.She is completing her dissertation (on manifestations of power asymmetry in the group identities of communities in protracted conflict) for a Ph.D. in Social Psychology at Harvard.     

利用转基因植物生产口蹄疫可饲疫苗的研究进展与前景

从口蹄疫可饲疫苗的研究概况、生产技术要点、优缺点及需要改进的问题几方面阐述了利用植物反应器生产口蹄疫可饲疫苗的研究前景。综述了口蹄疫可饲疫苗的研究进展,介绍了利用植物反应器生产口蹄疫可饲疫苗的技术要点,包括在口蹄疫病毒遗传转化质粒载体系统中最常用的农杆菌介导法,提出了生产口蹄疫可饲疫苗需要改进的技术问题。     

应用ELISA检测猪瘟免疫抗体

猪瘟是危害养猪业的主要疫病之一。 1985年以前 ,该病在青海省流行比较严重 ,曾造成较大的经济损失。从 1987年起青海省采取每年春秋两季给猪全面预防注射猪瘟疫苗 ,并随时补针的免疫措施 ,使西宁、互助等地猪瘟的致死率由 1987年的 9.14 %下降到现在的 0 .2 0 %以下 ,基本上控制了猪瘟的发生和流行。但是 ,青海省断乳仔猪以及由外地引入仔猪的猪瘟病例时有发生。为了掌握青海省猪瘟免疫状况 ,笔者于 2 0 0 1年应用ＥＬＩＳＡ方法在省内 6个县 (市 )进行了猪瘟免疫血清抗体检测。1　材料和方法1.1　诊断试剂　猪瘟强毒、弱毒单克隆抗体纯化…     

用3AB-ELISA鉴别猪口蹄疫病毒感染与疫苗免疫猪的研究

采用大肠埃希氏菌表达的口蹄疫病毒(FMDV)非结构蛋白3AB(FMDV 3AB)多肽为抗原,A G蛋白 辣根过氧化物酶为酶结合物,过氧化氢 四甲基联苯胺为底物溶液,建立了一种可鉴别FMD感染与灭活疫苗免疫猪血清抗体的间接酶联免疫吸附试验(I ELISA),即3AB ELISA。通过对1779份健康猪、免疫猪及人工感染猪血清的检测,确定了该I ELISA的阳性 阴性判定临界值。该检测方法比VIAA AGID法检出率高,尤其是采用A G蛋白酶结合物后操作更简便。     

美俄入叙军事打击“伊斯兰国”——法律依据差异及其背后的话语权之争

伊斯兰国的崛起对国际和平与安全构成重大威胁,同时也威胁着美国及俄罗斯等国的利益。2014年8月,以美国为首的联盟开始对伊拉克境内的伊斯兰国展开军事打击,同年9月底又把军事打击范围扩展到叙利亚境内。一年后,俄罗斯也派军队进入叙利亚打击伊斯兰国。美国为其入叙打击伊斯兰国所给出的法律依据是:保卫伊拉克的集体自卫行动的延伸;叙利亚政府无意愿或无能力有效打击伊斯兰国。俄罗斯为其入叙打击伊斯兰国所给出的法律依据是:受到叙利亚政府的邀请;打击目标仅限于恐怖组织。同为入叙打击伊斯兰国,美俄却选择了不同法律依据,其重要原因是两国围绕叙利亚巴沙尔·阿萨德政府是否是合法政府而进行着国际话语权之争。这种话语权之争从根本上讲是何谓合法政府这一国际规范层面问题之争的外在表现,其事关中国战略利益,值得中国密切关注。     

口蹄疫病毒3D蛋白对DNA疫苗免疫效果的影响

将携带O型FMDVChina 99株P1 2A、部分 2B及 3C蛋白酶编码基因的真核表达质粒与在毕赤酵母中表达的纯化FMDVChina 99株 3D蛋白同时经肌肉注射方法接种豚鼠。以MTT法检测豚鼠脾淋巴细胞经植物血凝素 (PHA)刺激后的增殖活性 ,以间接ELISA方法检测血清FMDV特异抗体变化 ,并以微量中和试验检测中和抗体水平。结果表明 ,FMDDNA疫苗与 3D蛋白共同免疫豚鼠后 ,抗体水平没有明显提高 ,攻毒后的保护率为 2 5 %。