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452. Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Insecure Environments: Learning from Afghanistan
- Author:
- Mark Sedra, Major Gen (ret.) Andrew Mackay, and Geoff Burt
- Publication Date:
- 10-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Security Sector Management
- Institution:
- Centre for Security Sector Management
- Abstract:
- The uneven impact of security sector reform (SSR) in Afghanistan, despite nearly a decade-long commitment and billions of dollars invested, demonstrates the immense and perhaps insurmountable challenge of effectively implementing the process amidst an active conflict. The SSR model was largely developed for post-conflict and post-authoritarian environments featuring favorable political conditions for reform. In Afghanistan, the SSR project and the Bonn political dispensation has faced progressively greater levels of violence with each passing year, reaching the level of a full-blown war covering large parts of the country by 2008. In the absence of a genuine political settlement with the Taliban and other stakeholders, the SSR process has been conceived of and applied as a means to confront the growing insurgency, rather than as part of a larger state building and democratization project, as it was intended. It is difficult to imagine a more inhospitable environment for SSR than the one that confronted Afghan and international state builders in the wake of the Taliban's ouster in late 2001. Over two decades of intense civil war left little institutional infrastructure and human capacity to build upon; public attitudes toward the state and security sector were marked by mistrust and suspicion; and insecurity, whether caused by insurgent activity, crime or inter-communal violence was widespread.
- Topic:
- Security and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Taliban
453. Resistance and Denial: Zimbabwe's Stalled Reform Agenda
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Transition and reform appear stalemated in Zimbabwe. Profound deficits remain in implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed by Zimbabwe's three main political parties in September 2008. Prospects are remote for engaging core security and law-and-order concerns before elections that are anticipated within twenty months. Nothing significant has changed in the half year since April 2011, when the GPA's Periodic Review Mechanism reported that most outstanding issues were unresolved; that negotiated solutions are followed by interminable delays in execution appears to have become an entrenched pattern. Opportunities to build a foundation for sustainable political and economic recovery are consistently undermined. Violence and repression are pressing concerns; the police appear unwilling or unable to provide effective deterrence or remedy and the expectation of a more proactive engagement by the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) around issues of political violence has yet to bear fruit.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Corruption, Fragile/Failed State, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Zimbabwe
454. Minorities in Postcolonial Transitions: The Ndebele in Zimbabwe
- Author:
- Khanyisela Moyo
- Publication Date:
- 01-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- African Journal of Legal Studies
- Institution:
- The Africa Law Institute
- Abstract:
- This article argues that there is a legal and political basis for attending to concerns of ethnic minorities in postcolonial transitions. If left unattended, this issue may prompt members of minority groups to resort to preservative measures, including violence to the detriment of the security which is a fundamental objective of the transition. This reaction is often generated by an axiomatic fear of assimilation. The case of the Ndebele of Zimbabwe illustrates this. The article's position is confirmed by post-colonial state practice that implements minority rights and accords affected groups a right to self-determination or autonomy in tandem with liberal democratic reforms.
- Topic:
- Security and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Zimbabwe
455. Transformation of the German Armed Forces after the End of the Cold War
- Author:
- Tomás Kucera
- Publication Date:
- 12-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Obrana a strategie (Defence & Strategy)
- Institution:
- University of Defence
- Abstract:
- In July 2011 Germany abandoned conscription. This step is the most significant part of the ongoing reform of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and by no stretch also the greatest change in the entire history of the Bundeswehr. The current reform, however, is only the last one in the long line of attempts to adapt the Bundeswehr to post-Cold-War circumstances and missions. The German Armed Forces have been undergoing an almost uninterrupted process of transformation since the end of the Cold War. In the course of the last two decades the anticipated end-state of the reform has been changing accordingly with respect to the changing perception of strategic assumptions. The strategic reasoning behind the distinct reform attempts is to be analysed in this article.
- Topic:
- Cold War and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Germany
456. Iraq: A Case Study in Building Civil-Military Capacity, 2007–2010
- Author:
- Bradford Baylor, Jeanne Burrington, Bradford Davis, and Russell Goehring
- Publication Date:
- 12-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- Low per capita income is linked to economic instability and state insecurity in postconflict societies. While domestic state capacity is the long-term goal, low-income societies emerging from conflict do not have the luxury to wait. Thus, given the current limitations of state performance, the immediate security solutions for low per capita income countries need to focus on host-government reform policies and alternatives for delivering basic services, rather than long-term state capacity-building. Even with low government capacity, certain economic policies can be put in place to improve per capita income and stimulate employment creation and other public goods. Establishing incentives for practical local economic reform policies, creating an environment that supports private economic investment, and enhancing the delivery of basic social services by the host government contribute to security and stability as they also ultimately contribute to building state capacity.
- Topic:
- Reform
- Political Geography:
- Iraq
457. U.S. European Command and NATO'S Strategic Concept: Post-Afghanistan and Beyond
- Author:
- Harlan Ullman
- Publication Date:
- 07-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- Regardless of how the conflict in Afghanistan (along with NATO's role, presence, and draw down) is resolved, one consequence will be to increase the importance of U.S. European Command (EUCOM) both in Europe and for the entire transatlantic community. Whether Operation Enduring Freedom and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) produce a stunning victory in which Afghanistan emerges as a stable state under the rule of law with a viable government or a rocky withdrawal in the midst of continuing violence with no clear solution in sight, NATO nations will have long tired of that war. Fortunately, the Lisbon Summit with a 2014 end date has eased domestic political pressures over Afghanistan. However, that relief is by no means permanent.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Economics, International Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Europe
458. Increasing Outreach, Public Understanding and Support for NATO across the Transatlantic Community
- Author:
- Kurt Volker
- Publication Date:
- 07-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- Fixing NATO's public support problem requires the personal commitment of allied leaders (from Prime Ministers on down); tough decisions on resources, capabilities, and operations in order to restore NATO's credibility; and identifying how NATO's actions directly improve the lives of citizens in NATO countries. NATO must be seen as addressing the right issues, successfully, in a way that citizens of allied countries would feel proud to say "This is My NATO."
- Topic:
- NATO, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Europe
459. NATO Reform: Key Principles
- Author:
- Kurt Volker and Kevin P. Green
- Publication Date:
- 12-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- The topic of reforming NATO—and in particular cutting costs and improving efficiencies—has been with the Alliance for decades. Throw-away lines such as "Why does NATO have 400 committees?" or "Cut the International Staff by 10 percent" have often been used to signal a rough determination to streamline NATO and make it more efficient.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Europe
460. NATO Agency Reform, Done Right
- Author:
- Marshall Billingslea and Gary Winterberger
- Publication Date:
- 12-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- NATO's forthcoming 2012 Summit in Chicago gives the Alliance's senior decision-makers the opportunity to assess the health of transatlantic relations and to tackle a set of overdue internal issues that have been long postponed due to more pressing operational issues in Afghanistan, Iraq, and then Libya. Chief among these issues is the matter of reforming NATO's own headquarters and its many and varied agencies. A careful reform effort, with a special focus on shared services, restructuring and integration, NATO's human capital, and the procurement and capabilities development structure and process, could pay significant dividends for the Alliance and ensure the more efficient use of already limited resources. While not a panacea, this would go a long way towards preparing the Alliance for future challenges.
- Topic:
- NATO, Diplomacy, Economics, International Cooperation, Science and Technology, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Chicago