Summary How is reconciliation understood? What is its role in peacebuilding? This chapter from the SAGE Handbook of Conflict Resolution surveys the study of reconciliation and analyses the Franco-German and South African cases. While not universally applicable models, these two examples hold lessons for both the scope and limitations of reconciliation. Reconciliation has too many…
Summary How are security problems being addressed in the Americas? What lessons can be learned from these experiences? This book from the University of Pittsburgh Press examines public security and police reform in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico and the United States. Public perception of increased crime and violence has led to public security…
Summary While Kenya has instituted widespread defence, police, judicial and constitutional reforms, the probability of successful security sector reform (SSR) remains highly questionable. This paper, published by the Bonn International Center for Conversion, reviews recent attempts by Kenya to make its security sector more effective and accountable and less corrupt. Notwithstanding reform efforts, Kenya’s SSR…
Private military and security companies are associated with mercenaries. This mistaken labelling undermines the useful work they do, according to research from the Institute for Security Studies. The increased use of private companies in peace operations has become a fact of life. They assist the international community in ending suffering in some of the world’s…
How did Kenya’s intelligence service emerge? What challenges does it face? After the colonial government established a ‘Special Branch’ in the police force to gather intelligence on political matters, Kenya’s intelligence service developed a reputation for oppression. It was only when the National Security Intelligence Service Act was passed in 1998 that it began to…
What are the key issues facing the private security sector in Nigeria? What role do private security companies (PSCs) play and what is their relationship with the public security forces? This report from the Department of International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, examines the private security sector in Nigeria. Nigeria suffers from extreme…
High levels of violence in Brazil’s urban centres, exacerbated by a lack of long-term security policy making, continues to put both citizens and security forces at risk. This report, published by Amnesty International (AI), updates its campaign to focus attention on and generate action to improve Brazil’s response to widespread corruption, organised crime and street…
What are the reasons for the rise and expansion of political Islam in Somalia? What is the nature of Somalia’s Islamist actors? This book chapter examines the origins and status of political and military Islam in Somalia. It argues that fears of the threat posed by radical Islam in Somalia are exaggerated, but not totally…
Conflicts that appear to be self-reinforcing in the short-term can in the long-term produce conditions out of which new political orders emerge. This paper, published by Conflict, Security & Development, uses Somalia to illustrate the dramatic changes that can occur in patterns of armed conflict, criminality and governance in a collapsed state. Among other factors,…
How can the European Union (EU) better support security sector reform (SSR)? This report from Saferworld summarises the findings of a seminar on SSR and the EU’s role in it. The seminar revealed that local ownership, holistic understanding and assessments, approaches tailored to local contexts and access to sufficient funding are all preconditions for effective…
