Security sector reform (SSR) is a core element in the transition from internal war to peace. First, various violent actors are demobilised, then accountable and legitimate institutions are to emerge by reforming the police, the army, and possibly also the judiciary. This is the focus of international support. For SSR to contribute to peacebuilding, these reforms should also involve local actors and be embedded in constructive state–society relations. Above all, women and minorities must be involved and key individual and collective human rights protected. In this GIGA Talk, we present a feminist and intersectoral conceptualisation of SSR as well as quantitative and qualitative findings from a research project (German Research Foundation, DFG) from 42 post-conflict societies as well as from Afghanistan and Colombia.
Speakers:Dr. Nadine Ansorg is Reader in International Conflict Analysis at the University of Kent and an Associate at the GIGA.
Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach is a Lead Research Fellow at the GIGA and Honorary Professor at the Center for Conflict Studies, Philipps University of Marburg.
Discussant:
Tobias Grothe is Head of Section "Enable & Enhance, Equipment Assistance, Security Sector Reform" at the German Federal Foreign Office.
Moderator:Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest is a Lead Research Fellow at the GIGA and Head of the Research Programme "Peace and Security".
The authors of Mobilizing Force draw on case studies from around the world to systematically examine critical questions of the use of military force by democratic goverments, exploring the interrelationships among security threats, the militarization of security policy, and democratic accountability.
Providing a conceptual framework in which different ideas of peace can be highlighted and their differences analysed in order to be able to formulate concrete proposals for peacebuilding is at the heart of this project. The concept is based on three elements whose meaning crosses historical and cultural boundaries: physical integrity, individual and collective human rights, and constructive conflict transformation. FES, 2021-2023
The Peace and Security Research Programme uses state-of-the-art methods to study the causes of violent conflict and the conditions that foster sustainable peace. In addition, it investigates sanctions and interventions as key tools in international security policy amid rising geopolitical tensions.
In Latin America, most violence is considered “criminal.” But a clear-cut distinction between political and criminal violence does not exist. Policies to reduce violence meander between repression and dialogue but lack comprehensiveness, and a focus on prevention, the rule of law, and human rights.
Dealing with NSAAs is complicated and complex shifting between repression and dialogue. NSAAs are highly flexibkle and able to adapt to changing local and global contexts. Policies must be comprehensive and include local communities as well as structural drivers of violence.
With the takeover of power by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the possibilities and limits of international peace operations are being newly discussed. Experiences from Central America and Colombia show that not only the return of the past but also the lack of structural reforms threaten peace. An analysis.
COVID-19 paved the way for a left-wing government winning in Colombia’s recent elections. The pandemic has deepened structural inequalities, promoting an unprecedented wave of protest against the right-wing incumbent. Answering with high levels of violence only further increased the call for change.
In the face of the failed Bundeswehr engagement in Afghanistan, peace missions are in need of re-evaluation. Experts from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg and from the GIGA discussed the future of German deployments abroad.
The authors of Mobilizing Force draw on case studies from around the world to systematically examine critical questions of the use of military force by democratic goverments, exploring the interrelationships among security threats, the militarization of security policy, and democratic accountability.
Providing a conceptual framework in which different ideas of peace can be highlighted and their differences analysed in order to be able to formulate concrete proposals for peacebuilding is at the heart of this project. The concept is based on three elements whose meaning crosses historical and cultural boundaries: physical integrity, individual and collective human rights, and constructive conflict transformation. FES, 2021-2023
The Peace and Security Research Programme uses state-of-the-art methods to study the causes of violent conflict and the conditions that foster sustainable peace. In addition, it investigates sanctions and interventions as key tools in international security policy amid rising geopolitical tensions.
In Latin America, most violence is considered “criminal.” But a clear-cut distinction between political and criminal violence does not exist. Policies to reduce violence meander between repression and dialogue but lack comprehensiveness, and a focus on prevention, the rule of law, and human rights.
Dealing with NSAAs is complicated and complex shifting between repression and dialogue. NSAAs are highly flexibkle and able to adapt to changing local and global contexts. Policies must be comprehensive and include local communities as well as structural drivers of violence.
With the takeover of power by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the possibilities and limits of international peace operations are being newly discussed. Experiences from Central America and Colombia show that not only the return of the past but also the lack of structural reforms threaten peace. An analysis.
COVID-19 paved the way for a left-wing government winning in Colombia’s recent elections. The pandemic has deepened structural inequalities, promoting an unprecedented wave of protest against the right-wing incumbent. Answering with high levels of violence only further increased the call for change.
In the face of the failed Bundeswehr engagement in Afghanistan, peace missions are in need of re-evaluation. Experts from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg and from the GIGA discussed the future of German deployments abroad.
The authors of Mobilizing Force draw on case studies from around the world to systematically examine critical questions of the use of military force by democratic goverments, exploring the interrelationships among security threats, the militarization of security policy, and democratic accountability.
Providing a conceptual framework in which different ideas of peace can be highlighted and their differences analysed in order to be able to formulate concrete proposals for peacebuilding is at the heart of this project. The concept is based on three elements whose meaning crosses historical and cultural boundaries: physical integrity, individual and collective human rights, and constructive conflict transformation. FES, 2021-2023
The Peace and Security Research Programme uses state-of-the-art methods to study the causes of violent conflict and the conditions that foster sustainable peace. In addition, it investigates sanctions and interventions as key tools in international security policy amid rising geopolitical tensions.
