Taking the bait: Maoists and the democratic lure in Nepal

After leading a tumultuous revolutionary people's war for a decade, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has slithered into a peace process and is being egged on to put the revolution to the vote. Maoists themselves are sending mixed signals about whether or not they are going to take the democratic bait to save the “beautiful” democratic, peace process from the “beastly” people's war, urban insurrection and revolution. My contention is that unless the lie of the liberal political process is identified in its most democratic, free and fair forms and not just in its secret, conspiratorial underside, the Maoists might be lured into an unbalanced democratic game. The article argues that the Maoists were not just pushed into this political process by force of circumstance, as the best possible option, “given the international and national situation,” but it seems to follow from their flawed understanding that the present political process constitutes a progressive phase in the path to a New Democratic society. The Maoists are, of course, not abandoning the revolution as such but they are possibly metamorphosing from revolution-embodied to speaking in the name of the revolution – perhaps with the added risk of transforming the revolution itself to just a name.     

Towards a military doctrine for humanistic intervention in African conflicts

Abstract

The article is presented against the background of the need for African military forces to deal with the complexities that come with leading and participating in multinational military operations in Africa. The research problem that guided this research is: What should the doctrine of military forces in Africa be to enable them to work together as part of the multinational forces while serving African interests? The aim is to investigate the possibility of a military doctrine that would serve African interests in the context of the reality of a multinational approach to military intervention. This aim has been achieved by offering theoretical assumptions on military doctrine, multinational military intervention and humanistic values in Africa to form a theoretical framework for deploying the argument. An in-depth discussion of African military practice prior to colonialism, the multinational and humanistic nature of military operations since the end of the previous century, as well critical reflections on the quest for a military doctrine that reflect the humanistic values of Africa resulted in some important findings. The main finding is that the people of Africa have accumulated a wealth of military knowledge over many centuries that is sufficient to develop an endogenous (home grown) military doctrine that can serve the African people. An endogenous military doctrine would be based on the principles of people-centredness; flexibility; collectiveness; affordability and institutionalisation to place African humanistic values and continental policies at the forefront in strategic decision-making and implementation. Taking into consideration the above-mentioned principles some practical measures are recommended.     

Beyond the fallacy of coup-ism: conceptualizing civilian control of the military in emerging democracies

It is consensus in the democratization literature that civilian control of the military is a necessary ingredient for democracy and democratic consolidation. However, there is considerable disagreement on what civilian control of the military exactly entails and there is a lack of solid theoretical arguments for how weak or absent civilian control affects democratic governance. Furthermore, a considerable portion of the research literature is captured by the fallacy of coup-ism, ignoring the many other forms in which military officers can constrain the authority of democratically elected political leaders to make political decisions and get them implemented. This article addresses these lacunae by providing a new conceptual framework for the analysis of civil–military relations in emerging democracies. From democracy theory it derives a definition of civilian control as a certain distribution of decision-making power between civilian leaders and military officers. Based on this definition, the authors develop a five-dimensional concept of civilian control, discuss the effects of weakly institutionalized civilian control on the quality of democracy and address the chances for democratic consolidation.     

山区农村恶势力违法犯罪特点、趋势及对策

山区农村地处边远 ,由于经济、文化、人文因素的影响 ,一些恶势力逐步滋生蔓延 ,成为严重影响贫困地区扶贫开发、稳定脱贫的重要因素。只有坚持打防并举 ,标本兼治 ,强化综合治理措施 ,才能有效地遏制恶势力。     

关于基层公安机关警力不足的若干思考

当前，公安工作任务繁重、警力不足问题较为突出。在现有条件下，内部以合理配置警力为前提，以教育培训、科学管理为两大抓手，着重于挖掘现有警力资源；外部以借助民力、挖掘社会资源为努力方向。内外结合，共同促进警力无增长改善，以期缓解基层公安机关警力不足的压力。     

我国公共安全管理中政府与社会互动机制研究

我国公共安全管理模式主体上是以政府为主要应对力量,社会力量的参与度不高。政府与社会之间未形成良性的互动机制,客观原因在于政府对社会力量的管理能力不够,主观原因在于政府与社会力量的互动意愿不强,以及社会力量本身的发育程度不充沛。我们需要从政府与社会力量互动角度重新思考转型期的公共安全管理制度,结合我国当前的现实情况,可以通过建立健全公共安全管理法规体系等方式建构起一套适应现实需要的应对潜在和显在威胁的公共安全管理体系。     

节能降耗,必须行政和市场两手都要硬

节能降耗既要靠行政手段,也要靠市场手段。行政手段明确导向,市场手段因势利导,应将两者有机结合起来,双管齐下,把强化政府责任作为实现节能降耗和污染减排目标的关键环节,把完善市场调节机制作为基本手段,以建立长效机制,取得根本性的突破。     

企业管理必须重视以人为本

在工业经济向知识经济快速转变的今天,坚持以人为本的管理对于企业发展十分重要。因为以人为本的管理是提高企业知识生产力的重要条件,是适应企业国际化经营的基本管理方式,也是建立企业中人与其他要素良好关系的必要条件,更是企业持续发展的基石。     

生产力跨越式发展何以可能

生产力发展的历史逻辑与技术逻辑决定了中国不可能实现大工业的传统现代化,只能通过生产力的跨越式发展实现新型现代化。其途径就是在全球化浪潮与第三次科技革命的浪潮中,充分发挥后发优势,最终实现生产力的跨越式发展。     

当前铜仁地区农村恶势力的特点、存在的原因及治理对策

横行乡里的农村恶势力，给当地的社会治安稳定和农民的正常生产、生活秩序带来了极大的影响。若任由这些恶势力蔓延、发展，则可能衍变为黑社会组织。因此，掌握农村恶势力的特点，研究治理对策，已成为摆在公安机关面前的重要课题。