SECURITY

“Absolute security for one power means absolute insecurity of all others.”
– Henry Kissinger

INTRODUCTION

Security is the most important political good that a government can provide its citizens. Without security, post-conflict Reconstruction and the building of stable state institutions cannot happen. Security as a concept addresses all aspects of public safety, particularly the establishment of a safe and secure environment and the development of legitimate and stable security institutions. Security encompasses the provision of collective and individual security to the citizenry and to the assistors. In the most pressing sense, it concerns securing the lives of citizens from immediate and large-scale violence and restoring the state’s ability to maintain territorial integrity. These security tasks may be grouped into the following clusters: control of belligerents; territorial security; protection of the populace; protection of key individuals, infrastructure, and institutions; reform of indigenous security institutions; and regional security.

OBJECTIVES

1. Identify the role the international community plays in assisting in Post-Conflict Reconstruction.
2. Identify both opportunities and obstacles to assisting the host nation with developing their security apparatus. .
3. Identify approaches that the international community can use to bring about security quickly in nations that have experienced conflict (especially in terms of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration).

ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION

1. What are the benefits, both regional and national, to the establishment of a sound security apparatus? How can the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of combatants be better utilized to help provide better security?
2. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs have had varied successes across global areas of conflict. What are some of the lessons that can be learned from failures?

REQUIRED READING

Colletta, Nat J. et al. “Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration: Lessons and Liabilities in Reconstruction.” When States Fail: Causes and Consequences. ed. Robert I. Rotberg. Princeton University Press. 2004. p. 170-181.

Robert Muggah, “No Magic Bullet: A Critical Perspective on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) and Weapons Reduction in Post-conflict Contexts,” The Round Table, April 2005 (On Blackboard)

“A Framework for Lasting Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of Former Combatants in Crisis Situations,” International Peace Academy-UNDP Joint Workshop, December 2002 (On Blackboard)

SUPPLEMENTAL READING

William O’Neil, “Police Reform in Post-Conflict Societies: What We Know and What We Still Need to Know, International Peace Academy, April 2005 (On Blackboard)