浅谈新时期下公安边防部队管理教育工作与正规化建设

在新时期下,边防部队管理教育工作出现了许多新问题、新情况,如何保持边防部队高度稳定和集中统一,如何抵制腐朽思想文化的侵蚀,如何不断提高边防管理教育工作水平,推进部队正规化建设,需要我们积极探索,深入研究,及时采取应对措施,解决管理教育中出现的问题,使部队管理教育工作更好地适应不断发展变化的新形势。     

农村社区养老问题探析

农村社区养老是解决农村养老问题最直接、最有效的方式之一,在整个社会发展中具有重要的现实意义。但我国农村社区养老的理论与实践仍处于初级发展阶段,存在诸多问题,因此,应该以转变农村养老观念和方式为前提,以政府财政投入和提高农民收入为支撑,以引进社会力量参与农村社区养老为重点,以完善的社会养老保障制度为保障,逐步解决农村社区养老问题。     

儿童兵规范的演变:国内武装冲突局势下的儿童保护

冷战结束后,在国内武装冲突中,儿童沦为国家武装部队与武装组织招募的对象。儿童兵的出现在某种程度上使得儿童从武装冲突的受害者转变为施暴者,导致国内武装冲突更加血腥、更难结束。为说服武装冲突各方放弃招募和使用儿童兵、打破"冲突—招募—冲突"的恶性循环,联合国及其相关机构采取了诸多举措,积极致力于倡导和传播儿童兵规范,把武装冲突局势中的儿童保护问题提升至国际与国内的和平与安全议程。从理论层面而言,儿童兵规范兴起与传播的动力和逻辑值得关注。第一,联合国及其相关机构作为规范倡导者,在儿童兵规范的兴起、发展与扩散阶段发挥了重要作用。第二,儿童兵规范的传播对象突破了国家行为体的范畴,日益重视对武装组织等非国家行为体的教化。第三,儿童兵的议题特征也有助于其规范的广泛传播。第四,时代背景也为儿童兵规范的兴起和传播创造了有力的政治条件。     

《亚洲打击海盗及武装抢劫船只的地区合作协定》评价

2006年9月4日,正式生效的《亚洲打击海盗及武装抢劫船只的地区合作协定》(以下简称《协定》)将对该地区的国际关系和打击海盗与武装抢劫船舶活动造成重要影响。对于同样是该地区有重要影响的中国来说,国内学界未对《协定》进行专门分析与论述。本文就《协定》产生的背景、《协定》与《联合国海洋法公约》中关于“海盗行为”与“武装抢劫船舶”定义之异同、缔约国在《协定》中享受的权利与义务、《协定》的意义与特点进行了分析与论述。     

Do Religious Factors Impact Armed Conflict? Empirical Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa

Theoretically, the “mobilization hypothesis” establishes a link between religion and conflict by arguing that particular religious structures are prone to mobilization; once politicized, escalation to violent conflict becomes more likely. Yet, despite the religious diversity in sub-Saharan Africa and the religious overtones in a number of African conflicts, this assumption has not yet been backed by systematic empirical research on the religion–conflict nexus in the region. The following questions thus remain: Do religious factors significantly impact the onset of (religious) armed conflict? If so, do they follow the logic of the mobilization hypothesis and, if so, in which way? To answer these questions, this article draws on a unique data inventory of all sub-Saharan countries for the period 1990–2008, particularly including data on mobilization-prone religious structures (e.g., demographic changes, parallel ethno-religious identities) as well as religious factors indicating actual politicization of religion (e.g., inter-religious tensions, religious discrimination, incitement by religious leaders). Logit regressions suggest that religion indeed plays a significant role in African armed conflicts. These findings are compatible with the mobilization hypothesis, and stress the impact of conflict-prone religious structures, and particularly, the fact that overlaps of religious and ethnic identities are conflict-prone. Future research should investigate the religion-ethnicity-nexus in more detail.     

Engaging environmental turbulence: drivers of organizational flexibility in the armed forces

Since the transformation was set in motion to change Western armed forces from large-scale mechanized defensive organizations into smaller agile expeditionary crisis response forces, the call for organizational flexibility has rocketed. Yet, actual research into the key organizational drivers of flexibility has hardly been done. To bridge this gap, the present study has analyzed to what extent modular organizing and organizational sensing have contributed to flexible military crisis response performance. The study uses the Netherlands’ armed forces as a representative example of a contemporary Western crisis response organization and empirically draws upon its recent operational experiences. It has uncovered that within most mission contexts, modular organizing acts as a facilitator for the organizational sensing process. Yet, within highly turbulent crisis response missions, organizational sensing becomes the predominant driver, stimulating ad hoc solutions that challenge existing structures, available technology, and standard procedures.     

The power of arms: rethinking armed parties and democratization through the Palestinian elections

This article examines the role of armed parties in democratization. Usually considered volatile and thus excluded from the democratic process, we argue instead that in certain circumstances, armed parties can have a productive role in elections aimed at democratization – most notably by contributing to the balance of power between incumbents and opposition, both before, during and after elections. An in-depth analysis of the 2006 Palestinian elections, placed in comparative context, shows how arms affect the calculus of voters, opposition elites, and incumbents to make elections more competitive and democracy more likely. The article then directly addresses the objection that postponing disarmament fosters civil war, arguing rather that postponing disarmament may actually help promote peaceful, democratic outcomes of states emerging from civil war. It concludes by discussing the implication of the analysis for the study of democratization and for policies aimed at democracy promotion.     

KURDISTAN’S REFERENDUM: THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE KURDISH FORCES IN KIRKUK

Less than a month after the Kurdistan independence referendum, the Iraqi Army and units of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) attacked the disputed province of Kirkuk on October, 16, 2017. Unlike most national defence forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga is divided along partisan lines between the two largest parties in Iraqi Kurdistan. This particular area was largely under the control of units affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which decided to make a strategic withdrawal in the face of superior numbers and firepower. The city was then retaken in short order by forces loyal to Baghdad, as were all other disputed territories previously under Kurdish control. Subsequently, the allegation that the PUK had retreated too easily has been described by the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and others as a betrayal of the Kurdish people by the PUK. This has created two competing post-event perspectives: first, that the Peshmerga forces should have defended Kirkuk to the last man and should not have left their front line trenches; second that the withdrawal of the Peshmerga was a deliberate and rational military reaction to overwhelming opposition. This article critically assesses both perspectives and finds that partisan divisions in the Peshmerga critically undermined the ability of Kurdish forces to defend the disputed areas that they controlled. Instead of serving as motivation of create a unified fighting force, the loss of Kirkuk has only served to deepen those divisions.     

International Law and the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict: Actual Problems and Challenges

Cultural property may be under serious threat in the event of armed conflict. In the twentieth century, there were clear developments in international law aimed at preventing and punishing war crimes against cultural property. Despite this, the destruction of cultural property during armed conflict has continued. This article questions whether the existing international law standards with regard to the protection of cultural property during armed conflict are satisfactory, and whether or not a new instrument could be valuable. Although considerable shortcomings remain, instead of pleading for a new instrument, this article advocates raising ratification rates, the enhancement of the implementation of existing instruments, and monitoring and sanctioning mechanisms.