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2. Arab armies: agents of change? Before and after 2011
- Author:
- Florence Gaub
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- In the wake of the Arab Spring, this Chaillot Paper examines the role played by the different national armies in the Arab world, and their long history of involvement in matters beyond the military realm. As this study shows, the Arab Spring has marked a watershed in how Arab military forces are perceived: one way or the other, they have once again become the political actors they were prior to the 1970s.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Politics, Military Affairs, and Arab Countries
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
3. The EU and Libya and the Art of the Possible
- Author:
- Florence Gaub
- Publication Date:
- 09-2014
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The International Spectator
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- In spite of geographic proximity and a number of shared interests, the European Union and Libya have a history of strained relations. The war of 2011 provided an opportunity for a fresh start, but so far neither side has been able to reap benefits from an entirely new political situation. Instead, Libya's difficult internal situation has not only slowed down the process of rapprochement, but also increased EU concern. At a time when cooperation becomes a necessity rather than a choice, Libya is now down-spiralling into implosion at the levels of security, bureaucracy and economy, to the point where it cannot absorb the offers being made.
- Political Geography:
- Libya
4. After the Spring: Reforming Arab Armies
- Author:
- Florence Gaub
- Publication Date:
- 09-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- The Arab Spring had a military dimension in both its targets—regimes with a military background—and its outcomes. Where the armed forces in their entirety or partially sided with the protesters regime change succeeded; where they did not, it failed.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Democratization, and Development
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Arabia
5. Reforming Arab security sectors
- Author:
- Florence Gaub
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- In 2011, Arab security forces, long suspected to be inextricably linked to their respective regimes, once again became decisive political agents in their own right: agents of change, agents of repression and, in some cases, both. Their facilitation or suppression of democratic transitions has sparked a long-overdue debate on security sector reform in the Arab world. What are the main features of security sectors in the region? What are the main obstacles to reform? And why is this debate taking place only now?
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Democratization, and Regime Change
- Political Geography:
- Arabia
6. Civil wars: a very short introduction
- Author:
- Florence Gaub
- Publication Date:
- 10-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- The civil war in Syria is not the first of its kind to be extraordinarily complex, violent and difficult to settle. Lasting ten times longer than international wars (on average 7 years), civil wars are the longest, and tragically, the bloodiest of all forms of human conflict. Although 2% of countries in the world are undergoing some form of civil war at any given time, the phenomenon is less studied than international wars – in part because it is so much more complex to understand, prevent and bring to an end, as the Syrian example shows.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Arms Control and Proliferation, Human Welfare, Peace Studies, War, Political Theory, Armed Struggle, and Counterinsurgency
- Political Geography:
- Syria
7. Libya: the struggle for security
- Author:
- Florence Gaub
- Publication Date:
- 06-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- Nearly two years have passed since the end of Colonel Qaddafi's dictatorship, but all is not well in Libya. What began as a popular uprising - that later gained international support through UN Security Council Resolution 1973 - has now turned into a potentially toxic security vacuum, culminating in the resignation of Chief of Staff Youssef al-Mangoush on 10 June and repeated clashes between civilians and a legalised militia in Benghazi which have left at least 35 people dead.
- Topic:
- Security, Political Violence, Crime, Islam, Regime Change, and Fragile/Failed State
- Political Geography:
- Libya, Arabia, and North Africa
8. Building a new military? The NATO Training Mission-Iraq
- Author:
- Florence Gaub
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- The military is the cradle of the state - simply because security precedes any social or economic development. In the 1990s, this consideration led to the advent of Security Sector Reform, essentially the consequence of the perception that building up strong and viable security institutions under civilian control is a precondition of state consolidation. The multiple defense reforms NATO assisted in many former Warsaw Pact member states, and the NATO Training Cooperation Initiative launched in 2006, are part of the consequent logic of military development aid, which is not entirely altruistic. Security is an intertwined construct, and the Alliance relies on stability and security in other states in order to ensure its own. In this context, NATO's Training Mission-Iraq (NTM-I) is just a logical step - although surprising to some, given that it was Iraq that caused the Alliance a "near-death experience." Four years later it was followed by a sister mission in Afghanistan, indicating a trend in security force assistance that is likely to grow.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, and Middle East
9. NATO: peacekeeping in the Holy Land? A feasibility study
- Author:
- Florence Gaub
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- In 2000, President Clinton suggested the presence of an international force to oversee security following an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. This could be a NATO force, according to Thomas Friedman. His idea was revived in 2008 by President Obama's National Security Advisor James Jones. The suggestion of a NATO presence in the Middle East sparked a debate that up to now has revolved around a multitude of aspects: the pros and cons, the timing, the actors of such a NATO involvement, the possible preconditions and consequences, and has also triggered a debate in Germany on whether the conduct of patrols in the civility of Israel would be reconcilable with Germany's past.
- Topic:
- NATO, International Cooperation, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Germany