From Civil-Military Relations Towards Security Sector Governance

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Security Sector ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Military Relations

The Control-Effectiveness Framework of Civil–Military Relations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florina Cristiana Matei ◽  
Carolyn Halladay
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Civilian Control ◽  
Century Model ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Control Effectiveness ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Law Enforcement Officials ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military

Civil–military relations—particularly the principles and practices of civilian control of the security sector—have changed significantly since the 1990s as more and more states around the world seek to consolidate democracy. The scholarly focus and the policy that it informs remain stuck in a mid-20th-century model, however. While civilian control remains central, this civilian oversight must, itself, uphold the requirements of democratic governance, ensuring that the uniformed forces are well integrated into the democracy that they are sworn to protect. Moreover, this democratic civilian control also must ensure the effectiveness of the security sector in the sense that soldiers, law enforcement officials, and intelligence agencies can fulfill the range of their missions. Thus, democratic civilian control requires ongoing attention from both the civilian and the military sides.

Plus Ça Change? The Dynamics of Security Sector Reform in Zimbabwe, 2009–2013

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Noyes
Keyword(s):  
Political Influence ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
National Union ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
Opposition Parties

This chapter discusses the elements that influenced and constrained Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Zimbabwe during the country’s 2009 to 2013 power-sharing government period. The chapter argues that the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front’s (ZANU-PF) historically rooted symbiotic links with the security sector and the regional solidarity politics of ZANU-PF’s ruling fellow African liberation struggle parties, greatly undermined SSR in Zimbabwe. Thabo Mbeki, of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), an ostensibly ‘neutral’ mediator between ZANU-PF and opposition parties in the power-sharing talks, negotiated an agreement that lacked precise detail on the nature of SSR and how its implementation would be enforced. Coupled with ZANU-PF’s obstruction of attempts to delink the party from the security sector, and opposition parties’ lack of expertise in SSR issues and diplomacy, SSR faltered. The chapter further argues that in the absence of SSR, ZANU-PF was able to use the security sector to out-manoeuvre opposition parties in the power-sharing government and win the 2013 elections decisively. The failure of SSR in the power-sharing phase has had powerful consequences for civil–military relations after 2013. The security sector’s influence on politics mounted, culminating in the military staging a coup against president Robert Mugabe in 2017, which heightened the military’s political influence.

Military Politics

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-94
Author(s):  
Zoltan Barany
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Analysis ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Political Opposition ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Military Politics ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
Structural Aspects ◽  
Intra Family

This chapter is concerned with military politics. It views the kingdoms as family states and weighs the domestic threats they face from conflicts pertaining to succession and intra-family divisions. The downsides of one of the structural aspects of these states—for example, the immense power of a few individuals to make weighty decisions—is critically examined. Attention is also devoted to the weakness of domestic political opposition, threats from abroad, and the methods GCC states have employed to repress them. In the last section, the focus shifts to civil-military relations as the methods Gulf monarchies have developed to keep their armies loyal are assessed such as the creation of privileged units and forces, the fostering of institutional rivalries between various elements, and the exclusion of certain sectarian communities from security sector employment. In short, this chapter is devoted to institutional analysis and explores how political and structural factors impede the Gulf armies’ effectiveness.

scholarly journals A kingdom with many internal facets: power, politics and instability in a post-colonial state. Ramifications for public stability

2021 ◽  
pp. 79-90
Author(s):  
Daniel N. Mlambo
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Military Relations

Lesotho offers an exciting case study for the analysis of the interface between power, politics and instability. Since gaining its independence from Britain in 1966, Lesotho has over the last five decades been plagued by persistent political instability that has paved way for the breakdown of the rule of law, gross human rights violations, underdevelopment and insecurity where at times the security sector like the Lesotho Defence Force has taken over several key institutions in the country. Political instability in the tiny kingdom has been a daunting agenda for all concerned actors, including political parties, civil society, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other continental stakeholders. While the security sector of any state is of importance, it becomes problematic if it becomes involved in a state’s political affairs. The repercussions of such trajectories of governance have been quite profound for democratic stability and security. Using a qualitative methodology, supplemented by secondary data, this article seeks to unearth Lesotho’s political instability, the role of its security forces and continental actors in its continuous internal governance crisis post the colonial era. The article rightfully shows that The power, possessed by both the military and police, has made them have a robust role in state affairs rather than institutions, mandated to safeguard Lesotho’s citizens. The legitimacy of the security sector underpins restructuring, transparent and accessible security sectors enhance healthy civil-military relations. Restructuring a state’s security and political dynamic reforms is not an easy task, it requires a state managerial and dedication prowess and assistance from different role players and therefore an ample amount of time and effort is invested in the coordination of this process.

In Between Military and Militia: The Dynamics of the Security Forces in the Communal Conflict in Ambon

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Najib Azca
Keyword(s):  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Communal Conflict ◽  
Military Relations

AbstractThis article presents and discusses the role of the security forces in the communal conflict in Ambon, Indonesia. Though it shares the view articulated by many scholars and social obervers that the security forces played partisan roles in prolonging the Ambon conflict, it criticizes the tendency to overstate their role and see them as a single homogenous actor. Based on extensive research and fieldwork, this paper argues that the dynamics of the role of the security forces in the conflict in Ambon evolved in concert with the dynamics of the conflict itself and was influenced by both local and national factors and their respective actors. It also examines the issue in the context of civil-military relations in the aftermath of the collapse of the authoritarian regime, with particular attention paid to its impact on security sector reform.

scholarly journals State capture, hybrid regimes, and security sector reform

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-126
Author(s):  
Sonja Stojanović-Gajić ◽  
Dušan Pavlović
Keyword(s):  
Political Competition ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Hybrid Regimes ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
State Capture ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Military Relations

In this introduction into the special issue on state capture and security sector governance, we argue that state capture is a relevant concept that helps us understand the current autocratisation and the rise of hybrid regimes. We argue that the extraction of public resources via party patronage, privatization of public administration, judiciary, security institutions, and media are vital for influencing political competition. In the second part of the article, we argue that the concept of state capture brings added value to the understanding of security governance and transformations. We show why the parts or whole of security and justice institutions are the inevitable targets of state capture and what it means to understand the success of security sector reform (SSR). Finally, we examine a range of possible positions of the security sector within the captors and what it means for both the literature on state capture and civil-military relations.

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