The politics of security sector reform in ‘fragile’ or ‘post-conflict’ settings: a critical review of the experience in Timor-Leste

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1056-1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selver B. Sahin ◽  
Donald Feaver
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Conflict Settings ◽  
Timor Leste

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.

Security Sector Reform in authoritarian regimes: The OSCE experience of police assistance programming in Central Asia

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Fragile States ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Police Reform ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Post Conflict

AbstractSecurity sector reform — including police reform — has been an important element in international programmes in many post-conflict and so-called 'fragile' states. In Central Asian states — mostly ruled by authoritarian regimes — the OSCE has been engaged in a variety of programmes to help reform the police, which have often been accused of abuses of human rights. There has been a significant police assistance programme in Kyrgyzstan, and smaller initiatives and activities have been implemented in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Most of these initiatives have failed to achieve their objectives; in certain cases they may have had a negative impact on the OSCE's credibility in the region as an organization that promotes a comprehensive view of security, including attention to human rights and civil liberties. The article suggests that external assistance to the security sector in authoritarian political systems poses particularly difficult challenges, if there is no parallel process of political democratisation. In addition, a complex relationship between state security forces and organised crime poses additional challenges to police reform programmes. The article suggests that the OSCE might usefully review its policies to improve its effectiveness in this area and to ensure that its approach remains consistent with its basic principles.

Reforming Masculinity? The SSR-Induced Change of Violence-Centred Masculinities in the Liberian Security Sector

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1-2020) ◽  
pp. 39-54
Author(s):  
Hendrik Quest
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Mission Success ◽  
National Police

When it comes to understanding how peacebuilding affects violence-centred masculinities that emerge during civil wars, the literature on gender and post-conflict reconstruction reveals large gaps. To address this shortcoming, the article analyses the way in which security sector reform (SSR) in Liberia has changed institutional practices of masculinity within the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and the Liberian National Police (LNP). Based on interviews conducted during field research in Monrovia in 2017 and the analysis of policy documents, the author shows that, indeed, SSR has contributed to a change of violence-centred masculinities in both institutions. Women are now, to some extent, accepted as part of both organisations. Sometimes they are even regarded as crucial for mission success. Institutionally, citizen orientation has replaced the practice to abuse civilians and, in the case of the AFL, there are now procedures in place that allow for a prosecution of sexual violence. The Liberian case shows that for changes to occur, especially disarmament and demobilisation, vetting, and the development and reinforcement of new institutional cultures via training and legislation are essential.

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