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82. Police and Gendarmerie Reform in Belgium: from Force to Service
- Author:
- Denis Bergmans
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- It is for me, as a representative of the Gendar merie, the Belgian federal police, a great honour to be invited as a speaker for this seminar.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, and Education
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Belgium
83. Convergence of European Security Systems
- Author:
- Willem van Eekelen
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The decision of the European Council to start negotiations in 2005 for the entry of Turkey into the European Union constituted an important landmark in a long-term process, ongoing since 1963. This decision concerned full membership and not some lesser special relationship and made clear that Turkey would not be treated differently from other candidates for EU membership. Both sides recognised that the negotiations will take considerable time during which attention will be given to a monitoring process.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Turkey
84. The Catalysts, Directions and Focus on Turkey Agenda for Security Sector Reform in the 21st Century
- Author:
- Ümit Cizre
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- This paper addresses three questions regarding Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Turkey: First, under what objectives of the SSR concept does the discussion of the Security Sector Reform in Turkey fall, or, put differently, what is the relevance of the post-Cold War SSR agenda-–coming as a response to Western reorientation of security priorities–for the reform of the guiding principles, structures, and operations of security institutions in Turkey? The second query concerns the nature of SSR in Turkey, problems contained therein, and its impact on the system, if not on the country's chances for accession to the EU, and on the civil-military equilibrium in the new millennium. The final question explores the lessons to be learned from the objectives and trajectories of Turkey's SSR agenda. These questions, and corresponding answers, will be organized in the following five sections.
- Topic:
- Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Cold War, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Eastern Europe
85. Strengthening International Arms Control/Disarmament Regimes and the Democratic Oversight and Reform of the Security Sector
- Author:
- Philipp H. Fluri
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The effort to universally promote and apply multilateral disarmament and arms control treaties requires public understanding of the contribution of such treaties to international security. All too often specialized knowledge of disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation treaties remains concentrated with the executive and a few specialized departments of the Ministries of Defense or Foreign Affairs: whilst parliamentarians and the public remain largely ignorant about them. However, without either comprehensively informed and committed parliamentary oversight and guidance, or scrutiny by an empowered civil society, arms control and disarmament treaties will neither be sufficiently understood nor successfully implemented.
- Topic:
- Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Civil Society, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe
86. Challenges of Security Sector Governance in Kuwait
- Author:
- Ghanim Al-Najjar
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The security apparatus in Kuwait is divided into three main institutions, namely the Army, the Police, and the National Guard. The division of labour amongst the three institutions is clear. While the army is re sponsible for external defence duties (since offensive war is prohibited by the Constitution), the police are responsible for internal security, and the National Guard is responsible for providing emergency and supporting duties. According to the Constitution, the army is headed by the Amir (the Head of State) being the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, while in reality the army is headed by the Minister of De fence who is currently Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Alsabah, and operationally headed by the Chief-of-Staff Fahad Alamir. Although the military side of the army is run on a daily basis by the military staff, the Ministry of Defence that is basically civilian in its composition has a major impact on any work and decision-making that affects army affairs. The police on the other hand are completely administered through the Ministry of the Interior; the current Minister of the Interior is Sheikh Nawwaf Alahmad Alsabah. The currently Under-Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior is Nasser Alothman and he is assisted by seven Assistant Under-Secretary's for administering the daily operations of the police. Six out of the seven Under-Secretaries are police officers. Almost 90% of the top management of the Ministry of the Interior is made up of police officers, and this situation differs greatly from the state of affairs that is to be found in the Ministry of Defence. The National Guard is an independent institution of the Armed Forces, which reports directly to the Supreme Council of Defence, which is headed by a senior sheikh (currently Sheikh Salim Alali Alsabah and his deputy Sheikh Mishal Alahmad Alsabah).
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Defense Policy, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Kuwait
87. Security Sector Transformation in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Mark Sedra
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The U.S.-led Coalition's swift victory over the Taliban regime in October 2001 created a security vacuum across Afghanistan that the international community was unprepared to fill. Winning the peace in Afghanistan has proven to be a much more complex, costly, and protracted endeavour than winning the war, an imposing burden that has severely tested the resolve of the international donor community. With only 11,000-13,000 Coalition troops mandated to eradicate the last remnants of al-Qaeda an the Taliban in the south and a limited NATO presence of 6,000 troops deployed in the capital to insulate the fledgling political process, the onus for maintaining security in the country fell on the Afghan government and its fledgling security forces. After 23 years of civil war the country's security sector was in a state of disarray, its infrastructure destroyed, resources limited, and facing a shortage of human capacity. To bolster Afghanistan's beleaguered security institutions and ensure they conform to international standards, the major donors engaged in the country launched a security sector reform (SSR) process. Security sector transformation rather than reform seems more appropriate to describe the task of creating efficient, effective, and democratically accountable security forces in Afghanistan, for the bulk of the country's formal security apparatus ceased to function over a decade ago. In spite of the massive challenges that face program, it has been portrayed as the primary means to redress Afghanistan's immediate security woes. What by its very nature is a gradual, long-term process has been thrust into the position as short-term panacea.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and NATO
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Middle East, and Taliban
88. Challenges to Security Sector Governance in the Middle East: the Libyan Case
- Author:
- Hanspeter Mattes
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The U.S.-led Coalition's swift victory over the Taliban regime in October 2001 created a security vacuum across Afghanistan that the international community was unprepared to fill. Winning the peace in Afghanistan has proven to be a much more complex, costly, and protracted endeavour than winning the war, an imposing burden that has severely tested the resolve of the international donor community. With only 11,000-13,000 Coalition troops mandated to eradicate the last remnants of al-Qaeda an the Taliban in the south and a limited NATO presence of 6,000 troops deployed in the capital to insulate the fledgling political process, the onus for maintaining security in the country fell on the Afghan government and its fledgling security forces. After 23 years of civil war the country's security sector was in a state of disarray, its infrastructure destroyed, resources limited, and facing a shortage of human capacity. To bolster Afghanistan's beleaguered security institutions and ensure they conform to international standards, the major donors engaged in the country launched a security sector reform (SSR) process. Security sector transformation rather than reform seems more appropriate to describe the task of creating efficient, effective, and democratically accountable security forces in Afghanistan, for the bulk of the country's formal security apparatus ceased to function over a decade ago. In spite of the massive challenges that face program, it has been portrayed as the primary means to redress Afghanistan's immediate security woes. What by its very nature is a gradual, long-term process has been thrust into the position as short-term panacea.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Politics, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Libya
89. The Saudi Security Apparatus: Military and Security Services - Challenges and Developments
- Author:
- Anthony H. Cordesman and Nawaf Obaid
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Both Saudi Arabia's security situation, and the Saudi security apparatus, are undergoing major changes. Saudi Arabia no longer faces a major threat from Iraq, but must deal with the growing risk that Iran will become a nuclear power. This confronts Saudi Arabia with hard strategic choices as to whether to ignore Iran's efforts to proliferate, seek US military assistance in deterring Iran and possibly in some form of missile defense, or to acquire more modern missiles and its own weapons of mass destruction.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Development, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Iran, Middle East, and Arabia
90. Iran's Security Sector: An Overview
- Author:
- Wilfried Buchta
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The intention of this paper is to give an overview of the internal structure of the security sector of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), one of the few states in the Islamic world in which in general the security sector is submitted to the control of the civilian leadership. This paper will not deal with the issues of WMD, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran's open and covert support for militant Islamic groups abroad, the system's fight against exiled militant opposition groups or Tehran's policy towards Iraq prior to and after the US invasion, although some aspects of the security sectors' tasks are connected to these issues. Instead the paper will focus on the relationship between civilian leadership and the influential heads of the different branches of the security sector, a relationship which is extremely complex and often defies explanation. Therefore it is vital to offer some explanatory remarks on the overall political structure of the system and its main features.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Islam, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Iran, Middle East, and Israel