Exploring the military mindset: Phenomenological insights for security sector reform in Turkey

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 97-133
Author(s):  
Çağkan Sayın
Keyword(s):  
Historical Background ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Reform Era ◽  
Normative Structure ◽  
Post Graduate ◽  
Dominant Meaning ◽  
The Military

AbstractThis study focuses on the mindset of a group of post-graduate cadets and academic cadres of the Turkish Military Academy and attempts to reveal, explore, and interpret this mindset regarding the normative structure of security sector reform, as well as the cultural and historical background of the Turkish context. While formal structures can be changed rather rapidly, changes in the underlying interpretive frameworks require more time and have no guarantee of institutionalization. Such changes entail the transformation of prevailing norms, perceptions, conceptions, and patterns of thought that underpin the role(s) of the military. If security sector reform aims to transform military culture and the civilian-military relationships in specific contexts, the traditional military mindset also must undergo a substantial transformation. How can we understand such a transformation? To answer this question, the methodological background of the study derives from linguistic-oriented phenomenology as a means for revealing and interpreting the mindset of post-graduate cadets and military academic cadres. The results of the research indicate that there are three dominant meaning clusters in the mindset of the sampled group, involving the parameters of paternalism, old security understanding, suspicion towards the civilian realm, and an understanding of state-society relationships that mark the pre-security sector reform era. The prevalence of these understandings might pose serious challenges to the internalization of the normative aspects of security sector reform and to the compliance to reforms.

Security Sector Reform and Transitional Justice after the Arab-Majority Uprisings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Ashour ◽  
Sherif Mohyeldeen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
The Government ◽  
Fact Finding ◽  
The Military

In Chapter 12, Omar Ashour and Sherif Mohyelden examine the linked demands for transitional justice and security sector reform during and after the uprisings in Egypt. They trace the targeting of security and intelligence forces during the uprising, as perpetrators of particular abuses, and the demands in the post-Mubarak period for transitional justice and specific measures of security sector reform. These were initiated in limited ways, such as through fact-finding committees, but further steps were not taken, and following the coup in 2013, the military authorities did not support reform of the sector or transitional justice. Although human rights and transitional justice bodies were established by the government, few substantive steps were taken and the prospects for reform are slim.

Sudan’s military may prove a powerful political force

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Considerable Influence ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Force ◽  
The Military

Subject The role of the military in Sudan's transition. Significance Sudan now has a nominally civilian-led transitional government, but the military forces that ousted former President Omar al-Bashir remain highly placed within those structures. In particular, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Lieutenant-General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Himedti’ of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have transitioned smoothly from being the head and deputy head, respectively, of the Transitional Military Council to the same roles in the new Sovereign Council, and look likely to wield considerable influence over Sudan’s transition. Impacts Economic and political reform challenges, rather than security sector reform, will preoccupy the cabinet’s attention. Public dissatisfaction about lack of improvements will be directed mainly at the cabinet. While there will be some frictions and rivalries between SAF and the RSF, they are unlikely to turn against each other for now.

Policing and the Legacies of Wartime State Predation: Evidence from a Survey and Field Experiment in Liberia

2021 ◽  
pp. 002200272110130
Author(s):  
Robert A. Blair ◽  
Benjamin S. Morse
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
State Security ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Conflict Period

How does violence during civil war shape citizens’ willingness to trust and rely on state security providers in the post-conflict period? Can post-conflict security sector reform restore perceptions of state security forces among victims of wartime state predation? Using a survey and field experiment in Liberia, we show that rebel-perpetrated violence is strongly positively correlated with trust and reliance on the police after conflict is over, while state-perpetrated violence is not. Victims of wartime state predation are, however, more likely to update their priors about the police in response to positive interactions with newly reformed police officers. We also show that abuses committed by police officers in the post-conflict period are negatively correlated with citizens’ perceptions of the police, potentially counteracting the positive effects of security sector reform. We corroborate our quantitative findings with detailed qualitative observations of interactions between civilians and police officers in the field.

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