Regional Security Research Articles

Footprint of soil erosion effects on pedodiversity at different hierarchical levels: A study across China's water erosion-prone areas.

Pedodiversity conservation is critical for the sustainable use of soil resources and the regulation of ecological security. To explore the relationship between pedodiversity and soil erosion over a prolonged history. In this paper, the response of the regional measurement factor for erosion (RMFE) to pedodiversity at different hierarchical levels was investigated using the optimal window method and structural equation modeling on the basis of water erosion-prone zones. The results suggest that variations in the factors used for soil classification at different hierarchical levels was the main cause of spatial heterogeneity in pedodiversity. Significant impacts of the RMFE on pedodiversity occurred mainly in the Middle reaches of Yangtze River low mountains, hills, plains and basins sub-region (IIC), the Southern China low mountains, hills and plains sub-region (IID) and the Southwestern Yunnan middle and high mountains sub-region (VE) at the Group, Subgroup and Genus levels. Notably, at the Subgroup and Genus levels, the impacts of soil erosion begin to be significant in the Wanda Mt and Sanjiang Plain low mountains and hills sub-region (IA), the Zhejiang and Fujian middle and low mountains, hills and valleys sub-region (IIA), and Taiwan plains and mountains of sub-region (IIE). The regional distribution revealed that pedodiversity in the southeast was more sensitive and positively correlated with the RMFE, with parent material, temperature and anthropogenic activities being the main influences. However, the negatively correlated effects of RMFE on pedodiversity were concentrated in the northeast, where the roles of parent material and vegetation were more critical. The findings of this study are of great practical value and scientific importance for the protection of soil ecological functions and the improvement of regional ecosystem quality and stability.

ChatGPT: Technology Frontiers and Cybersecurity Challenges

This paper examines the evolution and application of OpenAI's advanced conversational AI, ChatGPT, particularly within the domain of cybersecurity. With an architecture built on the Transformer model, ChatGPT demonstrates significant capabilities in language understanding and generation. It leverages vast datasets, ranging from social media posts to technical documents, ensuring the model adapts to diverse fields and maintains compliance with privacy and security regulations. The paper explores ChatGPT's role in network security, highlighting its proficiency in threat detection, vulnerability assessment, and incident response, essential as regulations like GDPR and CCPA become more stringent. Furthermore, the study addresses potential security risks associated with AI, such as phishing and misinformation, and discusses mitigation strategies through advanced training techniques like adversarial training and multi-task learning. A novel variational autoencoder (VAE)-based method, T-VAE, is introduced, offering enhanced generalization capabilities across different tasks and scenarios. The findings suggest that while ChatGPT has made significant strides in cybersecurity applications, continuous improvements in model robustness and adaptability are necessary to mitigate emerging threats and adapt to evolving digital landscapes.

A Study on the Impact of Water Resource Tax on Urban Water Ecological Resilience

Urban water ecology has important ecological functions, such as urban ecological security, pollution purification and rain-flood regulation. Enhancing urban water ecological resilience (UWER) is a key approach to advancing urban water ecological governance, and a water resource tax (WRT) is an important measure for protecting the water ecological environment. On the basis of data from 264 prefecture-level cities and above from 2009 to 2021, this paper constructs an indicator to measure UWER and analyzes the impact of a WRT on UWER via the time-varying DID model. The study reveals that the implementation of a WRT significantly enhances UWER, but the effect shows diminishing marginal returns and insignificant long-term effects. However, spatial analysis indicates that a WRT has a positive spatial spillover effect on urban water ecology, enhancing the UWER of surrounding cities. Additionally, the heterogeneity analysis of different cities indicates that a WRT has a notably stronger impact on cities located on provincial borders, resource-based cities and small- to medium-sized cities. This study provides a new perspective on improving UWER and offers important references for further improving WRT policies.

Accurate Paddy Rice Mapping Based on Phenology-Based Features and Object-Based Classification

Highly accurate rice cultivation distribution and area extraction are essential to food security. Moreover, Inner Mongolia, whose slogan is “from scientific rice to world rice”, is an essential national rice production base. However, high-quality rice mapping products at high resolutions are still scarce around the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. This condition is not conducive to rational planning of farmland resources, maintaining food security, and promoting sustainable growth of the local agricultural economy. In this study, the rice backscattering intensity difference index from the vertically polarized backscatter intensity of Sentinel-1 and the phenology differential index from the spectral indices of two critical rice phenological phases of Sentinel-2 images were constructed. Other spectral features, including spectral indices, tasseled cap, and texture features, were computed using simple non-iterative clustering (SNIC) to achieve image segmentation. These variables served as input features for the random forest (RF) algorithm. Results reveal that employing the RF with the SNIC segmentation algorithm and combining it with optical and synthetic aperture radar data is an effective way to extract data on rice in mid-latitude regions. The overall accuracy and kappa coefficient are 0.98 and 0.967, correspondingly. The accuracy for rice is 0.99, as proven by empirical data. These results meet the requirements of regional rice cultivation assessment and area monitoring. Furthermore, owing to its resilience against longitude-associated influences, the model discerns rice across diverse regions and multiple years, achieving an R2 of 0.99. This capability significantly bolsters efforts to improve regional food security and the pursuit of sustainable development.

A rating system to evaluate non-GAAP exclusion quality

AbstractWe develop a rating system to evaluate the quality of individual non-GAAP exclusions. Our perspective is that high-quality exclusions reflect nonrecurring economic transactions, are transitory accounting adjustments, or have little usefulness in forecasting cash flows. We use four approaches to rate exclusions. We evaluate the serial correlation of the exclusion, survey accounting academics’ views, obtain practitioner ratings from the CFA Institute, and identify the exclusions approved by the Chinese securities regulator. A firm’s exclusion quality score is the weighted average rating of its individual exclusions. For our sample of S&P 500 firms, we document that exclusion quality varies by industry, captures trends in non-GAAP reporting, and is reasonably stable at the firm level. To validate the rating, we show that firms with lower exclusion quality scores receive more SEC comment letters, incur more Regulation G violations, exhibit greater analyst forecast dispersion, and have slower price discovery following earnings announcements.

Migration Securitisation and National Security in the Regional Security Complex of Nigeria–Niger Borders

Previous studies have argued that the more-than-a-year border closure has failed to curb criminal activities across Nigeria–Niger Republic borders. This stems from the intractability of criminal activities across the borders of Nigeria and the Republic of Niger. As a result, the Nigerian government securities entry and exit of foreigners from the Republic of Niger to justify its land border closure policy of 2019. The government of Nigeria claimed that border closure would address myriads of security challenges emanating from its borders with the Republic of Niger. In contention, the study raised pertinent questions such as: Is securitisation the only framework to control migration? What role could the regional security complex theory play to diagnose, comprehend and proffer solutions to cross-border security problems between Nigeria and Niger? Is migration the real security problem that the Nigerian state needs to combat? How sustainable is border security through the securitisation of migration? With the aid of a secondary source of data, the study argues that dreadful human security implications of banditry, kidnapping and pastoral conflicts across the borders are the product of amity and enmity conditions of security interdependence between Nigeria and the Niger Republic as postulated by the regional security complex theory.

Unraveling the root causes and challenges of organized crime at South Africa’s border posts

South Africa’s border posts are increasingly becoming crucial hubs for organized crime posing serious national and regional security implications with far-reaching consequences. The country’s national security, economic stability, and community safety are significantly jeopardised by organised criminal enterprises at border posts. As a result, the porous borders of South Africa have fostered an environment that is conducive to a variety of unlawful activities, such as the smuggling of drugs into the country and human trafficking. This paper seeks to identify political, economic, and social factors that lead to organised crime, corruption, and weak border management systems. The paper employed a secondary data analysis of existing scholarly articles, government reports as well as relevant case studies. The study found that local communities are most affected by illegal activities at the ports of entry. The findings further emphasize the importance of inclusive approaches in responding to security challenges that address cross-border flow regulation, fight corruption in service delivery, and promote community resilience. The paper concludes with recommendations for strengthening border controls towards enhancing cooperation between countries and curbing transnational crime networks.

Legal basis of regulation of cyber security

Legal basis of regulation of cyber security

Quinolone-mediated metabolic cross-feeding develops aluminium tolerance in soil microbial consortia

Aluminium (Al)-tolerant beneficial bacteria confer resistance to Al toxicity to crops in widely distributed acidic soils. However, the mechanism by which microbial consortia maintain Al tolerance under acid and Al toxicity stress remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that a soil bacterial consortium composed of Rhodococcus erythropolis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibit greater Al tolerance than either bacterium alone. P. aeruginosa releases the quorum sensing molecule 2-heptyl-1H-quinolin-4-one (HHQ), which is efficiently degraded by R. erythropolis. This degradation reduces population density limitations and further enhances the metabolic activity of P. aeruginosa under Al stress. Moreover, R. erythropolis converts HHQ into tryptophan, promoting the synthesis of peptidoglycan, a key component for cell wall stability, thereby improving the Al tolerance of R. erythropolis. This study reveals a metabolic cross-feeding mechanism that maintains microbial Al tolerance, offering insights for designing synthetic microbial consortia to sustain food security and sustainable agriculture in acidic soil regions.

The New Ambitions of Turkey for a Multivector Policy in a Pluralist World

The paper attempts to find an answer to the question of how a successful multivector policy by Turkey would be possible in today’s world of escalating global conflicts. This seems to have been bequeathed by Atatürk, and one could say that RT Erdogan’s mission is to achieve it and pass it on to his successors. This policy helped at the beginning of the Turkish Revolution to defeat foreign troops and establish a secular democratic republic. In the last two decades, it has become possible again in the conditions of the world’s development from a unipolar to a multipolar world. Thanks to this, Turkey can solve its most important national security problems, such as curbing Kurdish intentions for independence and conducting a nationally responsible policy with all its neighbors and especially with the major geopolitical powers. One can say that Turkey’s influence on decisions and actions in the field of security in several regions is testimony to the trend of its transformation from a regional to a great power. Successes in this regard are based on the consistent and uncompromising policy in defense of one’s own national interests, the successful finding of allies in the direction of the “geopolitical wind” and the understanding of the mutual complementarity of various political and economic processes. This analysis has been carried out through the methodology of the theory of regional security complexes.

Importance and Challenges in TPNW Ratification: Regional Analysis of Oceania, the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa

The research focuses on the ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which has become an important global issue in international security. The research aims to analyze the factors that influence countries' decisions to ratify the TPNW, as well as to explore the challenges and concerns that individual countries face regarding this issue. The benefits of the research include a deeper understanding of the political, economic, and security dynamics relating to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Results show that complex political and economic interests influence the decision to ratify the TPNW. In Oceania, countries such as Australia and Fiji demonstrated concerns for strategic alliances and regional security. In contrast, smaller countries such as Kiribati and the Marshall Islands prioritized domestic issues and political considerations. In the Americas, the United States rejects TPNWs as contrary to its national security policy, while NATO commitments often bind countries in Europe. In Asia, resistance from nuclear-armed states such as China and India reflects broader geopolitical strategies, while in Africa, many states do not prioritize the issue due to domestic instability. Identified in-depth understanding of how individual states respond to TPNWs in specific contexts. Comparative analysis across regions provides a new perspective in understanding the interaction between foreign policy and non-proliferation issues. The importance of international dialog and a more holistic approach in addressing non-proliferation challenges. Countries' decisions on ratification of the TPNW are highly dependent on their localities and challenges, which include both domestic and foreign policy issues. The TPNW is not only a non-proliferation issue but also reflects the complexity of international relations and national security policies in different parts of the world.

Integrated Transcriptome and sRNAome Analysis Reveals the Molecular Mechanisms of Piriformospora indica-Mediated Resistance to Fusarium Wilt in Banana.

Bananas (Musa spp.) are among the most important fruit and staple food crops globally, holding a significant strategic position in food security in tropical and subtropical regions. However, the industry is grappling with a significant threat from Fusarium wilt, a disease incited by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc). In this study, we explored the potential of Piriformospora indica (Pi), a mycorrhizal fungus renowned for bolstering plant resilience and nutrient assimilation, to fortify bananas against this devastating disease. Through a meticulous comparative analysis of mRNA and miRNA expression in control, Foc-inoculated, Pi-colonized, and Pi-colonized followed by Foc-inoculated plants via transcriptome and sRNAome, we uncovered a significant enrichment of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and DE miRNAs in pathways associated with plant growth and development, glutathione metabolism, and stress response. Our findings suggest that P. indica plays a pivotal role in bolstering banana resistance to Foc. We propose that P. indica modulates the expression of key genes, such as glutathione S-transferase (GST), and transcription factors (TFs), including TCP, through miRNAs, thus augmenting the plant's defensive capabilities. This study offers novel perspectives on harnessing P. indica for the management of banana wilt disease.

Utilising Reclaimed Water for Papaya (Carica papaya L.) Cultivation in Cape Verde: A Detailed Case Study

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is essential for food security, providing economic benefits in tropical and subtropical regions. However, its high water requirements pose challenges, especially in water-scarce areas like Cape Verde. This study hypothesises that reclaimed water (RW) irrigation can promote papaya production and investigates how water can be managed to ensure sustainability and increase agricultural productivity. An experiment was conducted using Carica papaya L. var Solo-nº8, focusing on subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) with RW. Three irrigation treatments were compared, namely, T1: RW with SDI; T2: RW with drip irrigation (DI); and T3: conventional water (CW) with SDI. The study evaluated crop yields and water use efficiency (WUE) over 13 months, monitoring soil and water quality and papaya growth and yields. Despite quality concerns, RW maintained soil fertility and ensured sustainable reuse. Papaya demonstrated high adaptability and productivity under experimental conditions. T1 significantly increased the cumulative fruit yield (69 t/ha) compared to T2 (65 t/ha) and T3 (62.7 t/ha). T1 also had the highest WUE (5.97 kg/m3), demonstrating the effectiveness of RW and SDI in optimising water use. The results indicate that RW can be a viable alternative to conventional water sources, providing new insights into sustainable agricultural practices and improving food security in arid and semi-arid regions.

Foreign experience of state regulation of food security

The world food problem is an economic fact that can lead to significant political consequences. Many experts believe that a spike in food prices is at the root of world revolutions and catastrophes. For example, in the Middle East and Africa, the poor spend about 50 per cent of their income on food, which means that rising prices of basic foodstuffs guarantee an incredibly high impact on household expenditure. At the heart of the global food problem, recurrent food crises, is the advancement of research results in the agro-industrial sector, which prevents the reduction of food prices, even when technical advances make it possible to increase yields in these countries. The current food problem in the development of mankind is that due to irrational and over-intensive use of natural resources, increasing demand for livestock products, increasing per capita food consumption, as well as other factors, there is a steady increase in food prices, which contributes to the emergence of threats to food security in developing countries, including the poorest populations of developed and developing countries. In addition to the above, the problem of adulterated products, the growing trend of popularisation of ‘harmful’ products, the increasing rate of sales of products made with the use of GMOs, and in these conditions, ensuring the safety of food and food raw materials becomes the primary task of the state, as these factors affect the life and health of the population, the preservation of the gene pool of the nation.

A spatiotemporal analysis framework of the ecological security pattern based on the ecological “source–surface–corridor” and its implications

A reasonable ecological security pattern can improve landscape connectivity, promote biological circulation, maintain ecological processes, and improve regional ecosystem service functions and human well-being. Accordingly, systematically and scientifically analyzing the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the regional ecological security pattern has essential theoretical and practical significance. This research proposed that the analysis framework of the ecological security pattern should include a complete system composed of ecological sources, resistance surfaces, and corridors. Thus, this research uses the ecological network method to systematically analyze the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the ecological security pattern in the Qinba–Dabie intersection zone in China, a complete natural ecological unit across administrative regions, from 2000 to 2020. Results revealed the following: (1) The distribution change law of the ecological sources in the study area was consistent with the distribution change law of their centrality. (2) In the northeast of the study area, the disappearance of the small ecological sources, which play a stepping stone role, led to a longer length and a weaker centrality of ecological corridors. (3) The resistance surface in the study area showed an overall growth trend, while the ecological corridor network showed an overall deterioration trend. Based on the results, this research suggests that the systematic analysis and targeted protection of ecological sources are the basis for maintaining the ecological security pattern, and targeted improvement of ecological resistance surface is the key to improving the ecological security pattern. Therefore, measures such as the protection of core ecological sources, the rational layout of ecological sources as stepping stones, and the improvement of resistance values at ecological key points should be paid attention to in the future.

Identification of Land Use Conflict Based on Multi-Scenario Simulation—Taking the Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration as an Example

Land use conflict is an inevitable and objective phenomenon during regional development, with significant impacts on both regional economic growth and ecological security. Scientifically assessing the spatiotemporal evolution of these conflicts is essential to optimize land use structures and promote sustainable resource utilization. This study employs multi-period land use/land cover remote sensing data from China to develop a model for the measurement of land use conflict from the perspective of the landscape ecological risk. By applying the optimal landscape scale method to determine the most appropriate analysis scale, this research investigates the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of land use conflicts in the Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration from 2000 to 2020. Furthermore, by integrating the Patch-Generating Land Use Simulation (PLUS) model with the Multi-Objective Programming (MOP) algorithm, this study simulates the spatial patterns of land use conflict in 2030 under four scenarios: Natural Development (ID), Economic Development (ED), Ecological Conservation (PD), and Sustainable Development (SD). The findings reveal that, from 2000 to 2020, the proportion of areas with strong and moderately strong conflict levels in the Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration increased by 2.19%, while the proportion of areas with weak and moderately weak conflict levels decreased by 1.45%, underscoring the growing severity of land use conflict. The predictions for 2030 suggest that the spatial pattern of conflict under various scenarios will largely reflect the trends observed in 2020. Under the ID scenario, areas with weak and moderately weak conflict levels constitute 57.5% of the region; this increases by 0.85% under the SD scenario. Conversely, areas experiencing strong and moderately strong conflict levels, which stand at 33.02% under the ID scenario, decrease by 1.04% under the SD scenario. These projections indicate that the SD scenario, which aims to balance ecological conservation with economic development, effectively mitigates land use conflict, making it the most viable strategy for future regional development.

Study on the Spatial–Temporal Variation of Groundwater Depth and Its Impact on Vegetation Coverage in Ejina Oasis

Ejina, a representative inland river basin situated in the arid region of northwest China, exhibits a delicate ecological environment and its vegetation coverage is intrinsically linked to regional ecological security. Based on MOD13Q1-NDVI data from 2018 to 2023 and groundwater depth monitoring data during the same period, this study analyzed the spatial–temporal variation characteristics of vegetation coverage and its relationship with groundwater depth in Ejina. It is found that the vegetation coverage in Ejina is generally low and mainly distributed along the riverbanks in the form of strips. During the study period, the overall trend of vegetation coverage showed a fluctuating pattern of first increasing and then decreasing, revealing the fragility of the regional ecology. The groundwater depth shows the characteristic of being higher in the east river than the west, and the trend of groundwater depth along the river flow is first increasing and then decreasing. The spatial groundwater depth indicates that the east river is higher than that of the west river, and the groundwater depth along the river flow first increases and then decreases. In terms of inter-annual changes, the groundwater depth experiences a process of first decreasing and then stabilizing. Further analysis indicates that vegetation growth and coverage in Ejina are significantly affected by water conditions, and areas with high Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values are mainly distributed along the riverbanks. In addition, there is a certain degree of correlation between groundwater depth and NDVI. When the depth of groundwater is too deep or too shallow, the positive correlation between NDVI and groundwater depth increases slightly and the negative correlation decreases slightly. The findings of this study are of great significance for understanding and predicting the response of vegetation coverage to groundwater changes in arid areas, and provide a scientific basis for water resources management and ecological protection in Ejina.

The Impact of China's Coast Guard on Indo‐Pacific Security from the Perspective of a Maritime Power

In 2024, the China Coast Guard (CCG) invoked China Coast Guard Regulation No. 3 to detain Taiwanese fishing boats twice in disputed waters. The positive actions of the CCG can be looked back to 2019. The CCG entered the waters of the Diaoyu islands in Japan twelve times and carried out cruises on the Diaoyu islands. It is necessary to study the follow-up actions of the CCG and their impact on Indo-Pacific security. This study examines the effect of the CCG's maritime rights protection on the security of the Indo-Pacific region when the People's Republic of China (China) becomes a maritime power. It was changed to the Maritime Police Corps of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force to integrate the business of marine surveillance, fishery administration, customs, border defense, and other units. The reason for the gradual expansion of powers and the impact of its strong protection of maritime rights and interests on neighboring countries. The research results can help us understand the current situation of the CCG and further evaluate China's ability to achieve maritime power. This paper finds that China intends to implement regular patrols in disputed waters by increasing the tonnage of coast guard ships, strengthening rights protection, and militarizing organizations to demonstrate maritime power. On the other hand, this move triggered a maritime police competition among neighboring countries, and even a naval and air force arms race, intensified disputes between China and neighboring countries, especially the East China Sea and South China Sea issues, and made the security of the Indo-Pacific region more turbulent and complicated.

The Belt and Road Initiative: Geopolitical Implications for South Asia

Abstract: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been initiated in China in 2013 as a transformative global infrastructure and development endeavor involving more than 70 nations. Aside from its economic and financial implications, however, the BRI is often also perceived as Chinas expansionist strategy in increasing soft power. With South Asia playing a pivotal role due to its strategic position and growing economic potential, this paper examines the geopolitical implications of the BRI and Chinese influence in the region. The study explores BRI projects with case studies, revealing how the initiative both offers prospects for economic growth and highlights challenges around sovereignty, debt dependency, and regional security, especially in a region marked by historical rivalries and political complexities. Particular attention is given to the effects of the BRI on the power balance between China, India, and other South Asian nations, as well as its broader impact on strategic partnerships and regional dynamics. Through an analysis of key BRI projects in South Asia and its implications, this paper assesses both the opportunities and challenges the initiative presents, offering insights into the enduring geopolitical consequences for the region.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Policy Under MBS: Transition from Defensive Realism to Offensive Realism (2016-2023)

This study seeks to elucidate the underlying factors driving Saudi Arabia’s shift from defense realism to offensive realism, focusing on MBS’s authoritarian rule and structural reforms aimed at minimizing bureaucratic hurdles in security and defense decision-making. The research examines the kingdom’s transition from conservative foreign policies to a more activist stance, illustrated by its support for Palestine and its adoption of non-conventional approaches to address emerging challenges. Adopting the John Scott document analysis model and utilizing secondary data, this study delves into the nuances of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy shift under MBS’s leadership. It examines how his leadership style, combined with Vision 2030 goals and objectives, reflects a post-ideologically motivated transition that seeks to assert power and influence in the Middle East. The research explores the potential implications of this shift on regional security, including the Yemen civil war, balance of power realignment, and Saudi Arabia’s relationships with Western partners.