ABSTRACT Nigeria's escalating banditry crisis highlights the limitations of its formal security institutions and the resurgence of traditional security systems. Rooted in indigenous norms, these traditional mechanisms comprising rulers, vigilantes, and spiritual institutions have historically maintained social order, especially in rural communities. However, the rise of transnational, technologically enabled threats like banditry has outpaced the perceived effectiveness of these traditional approaches necessitating a paradigm shift in security strategies in Nigeria. Using the northwest region as a case study, this paper explores the evolving interplay between traditional and modern security approaches, assessing the strengths, limitations and potential integration of indigenous systems into national security architecture. The study adopts a historical research methodology comprising the use of primary and secondary sources through a blend of published works and oral interviews. It argues for a hybrid strategy that harmonises cultural legitimacy with modern oversight, training, and coordination. By bridging the gap between local agency and state authority, Nigeria can construct a more inclusive and resilient framework to address contemporary security challenges effectively.

Terrorism is considered an extraordinary crime that poses serious threats to national security, public safety, and human rights. In several cases in Indonesia, acts of terrorism have involved children as perpetrators, creating a complex challenge within the criminal justice system. Children who commit criminal acts cannot be treated in the same manner as adults because they are still in a stage of psychological and social development. Therefore, a more humane and rehabilitative approach is required in addressing children in conflict with the law, including those involved in terrorism-related offenses. One of the approaches that can be applied is restorative justice, which emphasizes the restoration of relationships between offenders, victims, families, and the community rather than focusing solely on punishment. This research aims to analyze the juridical implementation of restorative justice for children involved in terrorism offenses in Indonesia and to examine the challenges encountered in its application. The research employs a normative legal method using statutory and case approaches. The data were obtained through library research involving legislation, legal doctrines, and court decisions related to terrorism cases involving children. The findings indicate that although Law Number 11 of 2012 concerning the Juvenile Criminal Justice System provides opportunities for restorative justice through diversion mechanisms, its implementation in terrorism cases remains limited. In practice, many court decisions still prioritize retributive punishment rather than rehabilitative measures. Therefore, strengthening the understanding of law enforcement officials and improving legal policies are necessary to ensure that restorative justice can be more effectively implemented within Indonesia’s juvenile criminal justice system.

Aim . This work aimed to substantiate a target-based approach to developing a system of national energy security indicators that indicate alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This will allow for comparison of energy security levels across different countries, which ensures conceptual unity in assessing the energy security of national economies and achieving consensus in addressing sustainable development challenges at all levels of the economy. Objectives . The work seeks to systematize national energy security indicators, regulated by authorized international bodies and federal agencies of the Russian Federation, according to the Sustainable Development Goals; to compare indicators proposed by international bodies and federal agencies of the Russian Federation. Methods . The study is based on principles of economic systems theory, security theory, and the concept of sustainable development. The author utilized systems and target approaches, a logical method, comparison, and content, semantic, and normative analysis. Results . The study revealed the absence of a uniform system of energy security indicators for the national economy. A targeted approach to developing a system of indicators for assessing the level of national energy security, based on the concept of sustainable development of national socio-economic systems, is proposed and substantiated. Conclusions . In order to determine the achievement of energy security within the national economy and to ensure cross-country comparability, it is important to develop a unified conceptual approach which can be based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Application of this approach will facilitate harmonization of the sustainable development goals of national social and economic systems and the operational objectives of national energy complexes. The results obtained can serve as the basis for further theoretical research in the field of sustainable development and energy security for mega-, macro-, and meso-level systems.

ABSTRACT Using a cohort of persons of interest categorised as ‘mixed, unclear or unstable’ extremists by New Zealand Police, this paper seeks to contribute clarity to the issue of ‘hybrid’, ‘salad bar’ or idiosyncratic extremism currently generating threats in Five Eyes and other countries. We find that the absence of adherence to a clearly defined ideology does not lower the threat presented by such extremists, and that behaviours, such as participation in a transnational online extremist ecology, are more meaningful markers for determining nascent terrorist threats. This approach is useful because it circumvents any need to expand or change definitions of terrorism to accommodate changes in extremist threatscapes. Instead, the migration of extremism away from traditional, high-impact forms of terrorism towards non-violent, leaderless, but egregious criminal behaviour can be mitigated by national security teams using existing criminal codes against ideologically incoherent extremism.

ABSTRACT This article explores how technical “requirements” in nuclear weapons policy are constructed, politicized and mobilized to serve institutional interests, focusing on the US government’s 2015 decision to increase the tritium requirement for its nuclear arsenal. Assumed to be a response to technical and strategic needs, the requirement is better understood as a vehicle for reviving a troubled uranium enrichment program – the AC100 centrifuge. The US Energy Department leveraged the opaque and authoritative language of technical necessity to secure funding for the centrifuge and protect institutional prerogatives. This case illustrates how nuclear policy is shaped by bureaucratic and economic interests and the politics of technical expertise. It challenges the assumption that nuclear force structure is determined primarily by security needs. Instead, it argues that national security “requirements” are often contingent, constructed and subject to institutional manipulation.

Abstract. Introduction. The article highlights the problem of forming a stable value and normative framework among citizens in a globalizing world, a virtualized information space, and a transforming social structure. Pedagogy, as a system of methods and means of internalizing state-patriotic values that ensure national security, social stability and unity, plays an important role in the process of educating young people, which determines the relevance of this study. The purpose of the article is to comprehensively analyze state patriotism as a subject of pedagogical research. The methodological foundations of the study include subjective-personal, axiological and comparative-pedagogical approaches, which allow us to reveal the essential characteristics of state patriotism and its differences from other forms of patriotism. Research results. Within the framework of the stated goal, the article presents a detailed analysis of the content and conceptual foundations of state patriotism, identifies its structural components and functional aspects, and proposes strategic directions and practical recommendations for the formation of state-patriotic values in the younger generation. In conclusion, it is concluded that it is necessary to take into account global trends and transformations that affect state patriotism, since in the context of globalization and transformation of the political landscape, it is important to understand how this phenomenon adapts to new challenges and what factors contribute to its strengthening or weakening.

This study focused on the menace of Fulani herdsmen in South East Nigeria: a threat to National security. The work was carried out to determine the extent Fulani herdsmen have hindered economic development. Three research objectives, three research questions and three research hypotheses guided the study. The population of this study is 1,335,500 and the sample size is 400. Survey research design was used and questionnaire was employed to collect data. This study adopted social conflict theory and frustration-aggression theory to analyze the study. But this work was anchored on social conflict theory. The data collected in this study were analyzed using simple percentage, mean statistics, and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient. The result indicated that there is significant effect of Fulani-herdsmen on destruction of farm crops in south east Nigeria, and Fulani-herdsmen has significant impact on kidnapping in south east Nigeria. The study concludes that finding a lasting solution for this conflict will help develop destroying agricultural projects/farmers which breed scarcity and high cost of living in Nigerian. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the government should effectively prosecute people who engage in kidnapping so that others will learn and avoid such negative venture.

Against the backdrop of the continuous growth of global energy demand, heavy oil, as an important unconventional resource, and its efficient exploitation are of great significance for ensuring national energy security. Electric field-enhanced oil recovery technology has broad prospects for development in the green exploitation of heavy oil. However, at present, few studies have comprehensively considered these mechanisms and established a microscopic numerical simulation model for electric field-assisted hot water flooding for oil recovery from heavy oil reservoirs. This paper considered the mechanism of direct current electric field in reducing crude oil viscosity, interfacial tension, wetting angle, and electroosmotic flow. A fully coupled mathematical model of flow field–temperature field–direct current electric field was established. The model was solved by the finite element method and verified through previous experiments. Using this model, the effects of the potential difference at both ends of the porous medium, the direction of the electric field, the wetting angle, and the interfacial tension on the degree of heavy oil recovery were studied. Finally, the hot water flooding and the direct current (DC) electric field-assisted hot water flooding technology for enhanced oil recovery were compared. The research results show that as the potential difference between the two ends of the porous medium increases, it will inhibit the premature breakthrough of water and prolong the water breakthrough time. As a result, the water will be displaced along the smaller pore throat, thereby playing a role in expanding the volume of water displacement waves. The degree of recovery is the greatest when the direction of the electric field is consistent with the displacement direction. The smaller the wetting angle and interfacial tension, the greater the degree of heavy oil recovery. Compared with hot water flooding, the direct current electric field-assisted hot water flooding can significantly increase the recovery degree of heavy oil.

The US healthcare system is characterized by a persistent deadlock, where high costs, low efficiency, and inequity resist fundamental reform. This stalemate is rooted in deep ideological divides, political polarization, a fragmented fiscal structure, and the power of entrenched interest groups. This article analyzes how recent trade protectionist policies, specifically tariffs on pharmaceuticals and their inputs, intersect with this domestic gridlock. It posits a central paradox: a political system incapable of enacting major domestic health reform can simultaneously deploy assertive trade interventions in the same sector. The article argues that these tariffs should not be misconstrued as flawed instruments of healthcare reform. Instead, they represent the application of a distinct sovereigntist and protectionist logic, driven by national security concerns. The consequence is not a failed attempt at a solution, but a collision of policy agendas that actively exacerbates the healthcare system's core dysfunctions. By increasing costs, destabilizing supply chains, and creating new arenas for interest group conflict, tariffs intensify partisan strife and further entrench the reform deadlock. This process, marked by the "securitization" of the pharmaceutical industry, signals a critical shift in global health governance, where geopolitical strategy now overrides and complicates the pursuit of domestic public health goals.

Coupling geophysical, geological, geochemical and mineralogical assessments to examine preferential contaminant transport pathways in interbedded fractured bedrock.

Wheat production in Pakistan faces unprecedented challenges from climate change-induced abiotic stresses, including rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and widespread soil salinity, which collectively threaten national food security. Genomic selection has emerged as a transformative breeding approach that utilizes genome-wide markers to predict breeding values and accelerate genetic gain for complex polygenic traits. This review synthesizes current advancements in genomic selection methodologies and evaluates their applicability within Pakistan's diverse agro-ecological zones. We examine the physiological responses of wheat to drought, heat, and salinity stress, highlighting the polygenic architecture of tolerance mechanisms that make them ideally suited for genomic prediction approaches. Studies demonstrate that genomic selection can achieve prediction accuracies of 0.5–0.6 for grain yield under stressed environments, with multi-trait models incorporating high-throughput phenotyping data improving accuracy by up to 67% compared to univariate approaches. The integration of environmental covariates and genotype-by-environment interactions further enhances predictive ability across variable climatic conditions. Despite promising results, successful implementation in Pakistan requires addressing critical barriers, including limited phenotyping capacity, high genotyping costs, insufficient training population sizes, and the need for robust statistical models adapted to local germplasm. Strategic investments in infrastructure, capacity building, and collaborative networks between national and international research institutions are essential to harness the full potential of genomic selection for developing climate-resilient wheat varieties tailored to Pakistan's vulnerable production systems.

This article aims to assess Indonesia’s readiness to face security threats related to Fourth-Generation Warfare (4GW). The idea of 4GW refers to conflicts that involve non-state actors, blend political and military goals, and blur the line between soldiers and civilians. These types of conflicts often appear in rebellions, terrorism, and separatist movements that exploit a country’s internal weaknesses. In Indonesia, 4GW threats can be seen in separatist movements, terrorist networks, and anti-Pancasila groups that have challenged national stability since the early years of independence. This study finds that Indonesia’s long experience in dealing with rebellions, together with its “total defense” system, known as the Universal People’s Security and Defense System (Sishankamrata), gives the country a strong foundation to respond to asymmetric threats. The security structure, which integrates the military, police, and civilian participation, also strengthens Indonesia’s ability to manage internal conflict. These findings show that Indonesia’s hybrid defense model remains relevant for responding to the nature of 4GW threats today.Keywords: Fourth-Generation Warfare, Indonesia’s National Security, Separatist Movement, Sishankamrata, Terrorism Artikel ini bertujuan untuk menilai kesiapan Indonesia dalam menghadapi ancaman keamanan Perang Generasi Keempat (4GW). Konsep 4GW mengacu pada berbagai konflik yang melibatkan aktor non-negara, menggabungkan tujuan politik dan militer, serta menampilkan ketidakjelasan batas antara tentara dan warga sipil. Konflik semacam ini sering muncul dalam bentuk pemberontakan, terorisme, dan gerakan separatis yang mengeksploitasi kelemahan internal suatu negara. Di Indonesia, ancaman 4GW dapat dilihat dalam gerakan separatis, jaringan teroris, dan kelompok anti-Pancasila yang telah mengganggu stabilitas nasional sejak awal kemerdekaan. Studi ini menemukan bahwa pengalaman panjang Indonesia dalam menghadapi pemberontakan, bersama dengan sistem "pertahanan semesta" yang dikenal sebagai Sistem Pertahanan dan Keamanan Rakyat Semesta (Sishankamrata), memberikan landasan yang kuat bagi negara untuk merespons ancaman-ancaman yang berasal dari kekuatan yang bersifat asimetris. Struktur keamanan yang mengintegrasikan partisipasi militer, kepolisian, dan masyarakat sipil juga memperkuat kemampuan Indonesia dalam mengelola konflik internal. Temuan ini menunjukkan bahwa model pertahanan hibrida Indonesia tetap relevan untuk merespons sifat ancaman yang berasal dari 4GW saat ini. Kata-kata Kunci: Perang Generasi Keempat, Keamanan Nasional Indonesia, Gerakan Separatis, Sishankamrata, Terorisme

As a pivotal hub for the northward advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative and a strategic outpost for national security, the spatial patterns of towns in the border regions of northern Inner Mongolia exert a direct impact on the region’s sustainable development and long-term prosperity. This study focuses on 141 border towns situated along the Inner Mongolia stretch of China’s northern border. By leveraging analytical tools including kernel density analysis, standard deviation ellipse method, and nearest neighbor index analysis, it explores the distinctive characteristics of their spatial distribution. Furthermore, this study applies the Geodetector method to quantify the explanatory power of key influencing factors on the spatial differentiation of these border towns. The findings can be summarized as follows: (1) The border towns along the Inner Mongolia stretch of the northern border displayed a distinct heterogeneous distribution gradient characterized by prominent regional agglomeration and formed a three-tier spatial hierarchy. Specifically, the Bayannur–Hetao Plain Town Cluster served as the primary agglomeration core, supplemented by two secondary clusters, namely the Xing’an League–Southern Greater Khingan Range Town Cluster and the Hulunbuir–Border Port Town Cluster. In contrast, the Alxa League constituted a low-density peripheral belt with sparse town distribution. (2) Factor analysis via Geodetector revealed that the spatial distribution pattern of these border towns was primarily driven by the core mechanism of port-led urbanization. This core driver was synergistically reinforced by secondary factors such as mineral resource endowments, jointly shaping a complex spatial layout that partially transcended natural geographical constraints—a stark contrast to coastal ports, where development is dominated by innate natural geographic advantages.

Gogo rice is a strategic crop for national food security, particularly in dryland areas with limited water availability. This study evaluated the effect of a new Liquid Organic Fertiliser (LOF) formula on the growth and yield of gogo rice under dryland conditions. The experiment was arranged in a Randomised Block Design with seven treatments: A0 (control), A1 (250 mL), A2 (500 mL), A3 (700 mL), A4 (1000 mL), A5 (2000 mL), and A6 (2500 mL), each with three replications. The results showed that the new LOF significantly affected all observed parameters. Treatment A6 produced the highest values for plant height (110.66 cm), number of leaves (16), leaf length (59.71 cm), number of tillers (17), panicle length (29.15 cm), grain weight per panicle (5.36 g), per clump (33.96 g), and per plot (580.33 g), while A0 showed the lowest values. The superior performance of the LOF is attributed to its complete macro and micronutrient content, which enhances vegetative growth, flowering, and grain development. These findings demonstrate that the new LOF formula has strong potential as an effective biofertiliser to improve gogo rice productivity in dryland systems and support sustainable food security.

Abstract Optoelectronic devices for national defense and security, environmental monitoring, and biomedical diagnostics demand greater mid-infrared nonlinear optical (MIR NLO) performance. However, conventional MIR NLO crystals suffer from bottlenecks like narrow transmittance range, low laser damage threshold, or stringent phase matching, failing to meet high-end device requirements. Here we propose a cluster-assembly strategy that delivers record-level NLO performance by pairing superalkali (NM 4 , M = Li, Na, and K) with superhalogen (MgF 3 ) clusters. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the resulting dimers are thermodynamically robust and exhibit exceptional NLO properties. The first hyperpolarizability ( β 0 ) of NK4-MgF3 reaches 35127 a.u. (approximately 1.13×10 -50 C 3 m 3 J -2 ), far exceeding that of most donor-acceptor (D-A) systems. The excellent nonlinear optical performance is attributed to a strong electron transfer process between the building blocks and the low transition energy of the crucial excited states. The transparent window is determined by the combination of infrared and electronic absorption spectroscopy. Notably, the NK 4 -MgF 3 dimer can stably anchor on single-layer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), and its second-order NLO coefficient is an order of magnitude higher than that of single-layer h-BN and most traditional MIR NLO crystals. This underscores the great potential of the cluster assembly strategy for preparing high-performance two-dimensional NLO materials.

Abstract Climate change poses unprecedented challenges to agricultural sustainability, with profound implications for environmental quality and crop productivity. However, integrated assessments quantifying the specific contributions of climatic drivers versus management practices to agricultural ammonia (NH 3 ) emissions and crop yields remain limited in China, constraining precision air pollution control and threatening national food security. This study employed the DNDC model to simulate fertilizer-related NH 3 emissions and crop yields of China’s three major crops (rice, maize, and wheat) under current and three representative SSP-RCP scenarios (SSP1-1.9, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5) for 2030, 2050, and 2060, while explicitly partitioning the relative importance of climate change versus nitrogen management variations to agricultural outcomes. Results indicate that fertilizer-related NH 3 emissions totaled 3.00 Tg N yr -1 in 2019, with a combined crop yield of 618.76 Tg. By 2060, fertilizer-related NH 3 emissions were projected to increase by 2.0%, 12.0%, and 84.3% under SSP1-1.9, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5, respectively, while crop yields would decrease by 16.7%, 16.1%, and 5.8%. Under SSP1-1.9, the relative importance of climate change for fertilizer-related NH 3 emissions (RI e ) maintained approximately 50% throughout 2030–2060, suggesting balanced offsetting effects between climate change and the projected nitrogen fertilizer reduction. Conversely, the relative importance of climate change for crop yields (RI y ) reached 91% by 2060, demonstrating that crop yield losses were predominantly driven by climatic stresses rather than the fertilizer input adjustment. Under SSP5-8.5, substantial increases in nitrogen fertilization reduced the relative importance of climate change, with RI e and RI y values dropping to 17% and 59% in 2060, respectively. This pattern demonstrates that enhanced fertilization could not fully offset crop yields losses, while 84% of fertilizer-related NH 3 emissions increases resulted from intensified fertilizer use. This study provides critical insights for precision emission reduction in agricultural-atmospheric systems and supports China’s dual goals of food security and carbon neutrality.

High-precision inversion of shallow-water depth is crucial to marine resource development, ecological protection, and national defense security. Traditional acoustic detection, LiDAR, and empirical models are limited by high cost, low efficiency, or water quality dependence, struggling to meet people’s growing demand for shallow-water depth. With the rapid development of theories and technologies such as remote sensing information, computer science, and artificial intelligence, bathymetric inversion based on remote sensing images and deep learning models has become a research hotspot. In this study, journal articles and conference papers were searched in the Web of Science (WOS) and Google Scholar databases using keywords such as “remote sensing image”, “bathymetry”, and “deep learning model”. The publication time of the papers ranges from January 2021 to September 2025. A total of 309 relevant studies were retrieved and, after screening and quality control, 132 core studies were finally selected as the research objects for this review. These studies were classified according to deep learning models, including CNN, U-Net, MLP, and RNN. The study analyzed and summarized the characteristics of different deep learning models in bathymetric inversion, as well as their data source selection, inversion accuracy, and limitations. Additionally, the future development trends were discussed in combination with the latest research results.

The article examines the process of adapting Ukraine’s customs legislation to the standards of the European Union in the context of the country’s European integration course. It provides an analysis of the legal and regulatory framework in the customs sphere, including the provisions of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, the Customs Code of Ukraine, and other legal acts aimed at implementing the EU Customs Code norms. Particular attention is paid to the theoretical approaches of domestic legal and economic scholars regarding the harmonization of customs legislation, as well as the assessment of the practical implementation of European customs standards. The article identifies the key problems of adapting Ukrainian customs legislation, including insufficient institutional and personnel capacity of customs authorities, fragmented legal regulation, incomplete digitalization of customs procedures, limited integration of national information systems with EU customs systems, and the presence of corruption risks. It emphasizes that the formal transfer of EU customs law norms without proper organizational and technical support does not ensure their effective practical implementation. The impact of the martial law situation on the functioning of Ukraine’s customs system is also analyzed, particularly the increased workload of customs authorities due to the movement of humanitarian and critical goods, destruction of infrastructure, and limited financial resources. The need to balance the simplification of customs procedures with an adequate level of customs and national security under conditions of war and post-war recovery is substantiated. Based on the analysis of scientific sources and current legislation, proposals are formulated for improving the adaptation of Ukraine’s customs legislation to EU standards, including adopting a new Customs Code of Ukraine based on EU law, strengthening the institutional capacity of customs authorities, accelerating the digitalization of customs procedures, and enhancing anti-corruption mechanisms. It is argued that the implementation of these measures will contribute to increasing the efficiency of the customs system, strengthening the country’s economic security, and successfully integrating Ukraine into the European Union’s customs space.

Contemporary shifts in global and national security frameworks underscore the pressing need to reevaluate legal mechanisms governing perimeter security. Despite the integration of intelligent surveillance technologies in the Republic of Kazakhstan, a unified and systematic legal framework remains absent. This gap manifests in terminological ambiguity, regulatory fragmentation, overlapping institutional responsibilities, and underdeveloped evidentiary mechanisms. The objective of this research is to conduct a comprehensive legal assessment of Kazakhstan's perimeter security legislation and to propose a reform-oriented legal model grounded in risk-based categorization, drawing on international best practices. The study employs a multidisciplinary methodology that includes formal legal analysis, comparative legal research, statistical evaluation, and content analysis. The empirical base consists of official law enforcement statistics, judicial rulings, regulatory acts, and data from pilot security projects. The findings reveal that perimeter security has not yet been conceptualized as an independent legal institution within the national framework. Technical surveillance tools lack recognized evidentiary status, and there is no structured legal stratification based on threat levels. The study thus advocates for the development of a multi-tiered legal model, the formal recognition of technological evidence, and the delineation of institutional competences. These conclusions offer theoretically grounded, practically relevant recommendations to modernize national legislation, enhance law enforcement institutions' procedural capacity, and foster the integration of advanced security technologies into the legal domain.

The 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam constitutes a political event of strategic significance, defining the national development vision for 2030 and 2045 within a volatile international landscape. Grounded in nearly 40 years of Doi Moi (Renewal), the Congress reaffirms the Party's central role in formulating long-term development strategies, prioritizing rapid and sustainable growth, strategic autonomy, and the reinforcement of national internal strength. Significantly, foreign affairs and international integration are designated as "crucial and regular" tasks, equivalent in stature to national defense and security. Vietnam steadfastly maintains a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, and diversification, asserting its role as a reliable partner and a responsible member of the international community.