Being reformed: Subjectification and security sector reform in the Congolese armed forces

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Eriksson Baaz ◽  
Maria Stern

Significance This is the first time that an opposition party has won a multi-party election in Nigeria. Popular support has never before trumped the advantages of incumbency which have historically been used to rig or win elections. The impartiality of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the clear margin of victory give a strong and legitimate mandate to the incoming government. Impacts After pulling off a credible election in difficult circumstances, Nigeria may seek to re-assume its moral regional leadership role. The government and armed forces will be given renewed confidence to tackle Boko Haram, possibly with more international support. Policy focus will have similarities (eg electricity and agriculture) but also differences (eg youth employment and security sector reform). Without being hampered by corruption and low public support, the APC should be better placed to deliver.


Author(s):  
Hendrik Quest

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.


Author(s):  
Paul D. Williams

This chapter analyses how AMISOM tried to cooperate and coordinate with the existing Somali security forces in order to fight an effective war against al-Shabaab and simultaneously help build a new set of ‘national’ security forces that could make the AU mission redundant. After explaining the key challenges involved in security sector reform, it starts with a brief overview of how Somalia’s armed forces evolved since independence, focusing on the period since 2008 when the basis of today’s Somali National Army (SNA) was formed. Throughout the twenty-first century, the Somali armed forces remained fragmented and their institutions and structures largely dysfunctional. The second section then examines seven major challenges that made AMISOM’s mandate to enhance the SNA particularly difficult. The final section reflects on some of the principal lessons that can be identified from AMISOM’s experience.


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.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (71) ◽  
pp. 71-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sead Turčalo ◽  
Damir Kapidžić

Abstract The NATO integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is closely tied to a strong surge in externally led state building following the conflict of the 1990s Informed by the ideals of liberal peace, one of the key components of state building was security sector reform and a restructuring of the armed forces. A shifting approach by the international community, varying between imposing decisions and insisting on local ownership, managed to establish the joint BiH Armed Forces, but allowed for the appropriation of the NATO integration process by local ethnic party elites. As a result, NATO integration in BiH regressed into an exercise in institutional reform, pursued in disarray and primarily addressing technical issues. Even if successfully brought to fruition, NATO integration will have failed to achieve the objectives of fostering substantive peace in BiH.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 055-069
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Kompan ◽  
Michal Hrnčiar

The article discusses the importance of security sector reform. The aim of the article is to present the potential of the concept of security sector reform as a NATO tool for prevention and resolution of internal conflicts on the real example of the deployed military advisory team of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic to the ISAF operation in Afghanistan. The authors focus on the orientation in the topic and correlation and causal anchoring of the topic in the introduction and the first part of the article. The second part presents the initial situation of the deployment of the Slovak advisory team in the ISAF operation. The third part and the discussion summarize lessons identified from the deployment of the advisory teams of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic. It also illustrates the conceptual framework, conditions and axioms for optimal and effective security force assistance within the efforts of the security sector reform as an important part of the stabilization and reconstruction concept.


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