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141. West Africa: Governance and Security in a Changing Region

Author:
Abdel-Fatau Musah
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
This paper addresses the challenges to human and regional security in the territory covered by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It examines causal factors and their effects, profiles the actors shaping the security environment, and describes the nature and impacts of their interventions. Finally, it projects possible future scenarios based on the current security dynamics. The paper examines the geopolitical environment of West Africa, with emphasis on the strategic importance of the region and the vulnerabilities emanating from its location. Within this context, it discusses the roles of local, regional, and international actors in the evolving regional security architecture, sifting through their actions, motivations, and interventions. It analyzes the attempts by national, regional, and international institutions to transform the security environment, highlighting their roles, strengths, and weaknesses; and it projects various security scenarios, proposing policy options to meet the challenges that these scenarios present.
Topic:
Security, Development, Government, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Africa

142. The Production of Insecurity by African Security Forces: Insights from Liberia and the Central African Republic

Author:
Andreas Mehler
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Little attention has been paid to the factual effect of the state's security forces on the security of African citizens. Reports about security forces' contribution to widespread insecurity are frequent: the protectors become violators and their appearance causes fear, not security. In many African crisis countries the realization of better security forces appears to be an elusive goal, either because violent conflicts are not definitively settled and therefore do not allow for decent reform or because a lack of capacity as a result of material constraints is not easy to remedy. The self‐help mechanisms used to compensate for the lack of state‐sponsored security need more attention. However, it has to be acknowledged that the ideal of a neutral and effective force loyal to the state is shared by a great majority of the population. This contribution compares the experiences of Liberia and the Central African Republic, two extreme cases of strong and weak international involvement, respectively, in post‐conflict security‐sector reform.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Africa and Liberia

143. Report of the Conference "Addressing the Resurgence of Sea Piracy: Legal, Political and Security Aspects"

Author:
Emiliano Alessandri
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The resurgence of sea piracy has made headlines in recent months, becoming the object of intense debate, also among scholars and practitioners. Attention has concentrated particularly on piracy off the Horn of Africa (especially in the Gulf of Aden), where the phenomenon has reached critical levels. Reports speak of over a hundred attacks in 2008 alone and rising figures in 2009. Some 18 merchant ships are currently detained by Somali pirates together with a growing number of hostages. Ransoms paid in 2008 are estimated to be in the range of over a hundred million US dollars.
Topic:
Security and Maritime Commerce
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

144. Changing intelligence dynamics in Africa

Author:
Sandy Africa
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
A common public perception about modern day intelligence services in Africa is that they are mere extensions of the too-often authoritarian leaders under whom they operate. In some cases, the intelligence services appear to tolerate this perception – some would suggest even fuel it – because of the apparent power, access and influence intelligence provides. As despised or ridiculed as intelligence services might be, they often hold a trump card in domestic and international relations, and are quite aware of this relative advantage.
Topic:
Security and Intelligence
Political Geography:
Africa

145. What is the case for a security and justice focus in development assistance programming? An assessment of existing literature and evidence

Author:
Dylan Hendrickson and Olawake Ismail
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
This literature review on security and justice was commissioned by DFID and is intended to support the preparation of the new DFID White Paper on 'Securing our Common Future'. The purpose of the literature review is to find evidence to support the 'case for security and justice'. The key question it asks is why DFID (and other development agencies) should see security and justice as core business?
Topic:
Security, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Law
Political Geography:
Africa

146. Security Sector Reform Provisions in Peace Agreements

Author:
Eboe Hutchful
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
The experience of the United Nations in mediating peace agreements has demonstrated the importance of addressing security issues at the outset. Early arrangements, for example with regard to composition and roles of security forces, can have significant impact on peace implementation. Failure to address the requirements of effective and accountable security can sow the seeds for future conflict, as earlier peace processes in Sierra Leone demonstrated, or lead to large, economically unsustainable forces, as Uganda has addressed. Failure to take into account the security needs of marginalized and socially excluded groups, such as women and children, can create new security problems, as alarmingly high rates of sexual violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo demonstrate.
Topic:
Security and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, Latin America, and Sierra Leone

147. Liberia: Uneven Progress in Security Sector Reform

Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Since independence and for fourteen years of war, Liberia's army, police and other security agencies have mostly been sources of insecurity and misery for a destitute people. The internationally driven attempt to radically reform the security sector since the war's end in 2003 is a major chance to put this right and prevent new destabilisation. Security sector reform (SSR) programs have been unprecedented in ambition but with mixed results. Army reform, entailing complete disbanding of existing forces, has made significant progress despite lack of proper oversight of private military companies (PMCs) and of consensus on strategic objectives. But police and other security reforms are much less satisfactory. The bold approach to army reform was possible due to strong national consensus and the presence of a large, liberally mandated UN presence. Government and donors must sustain their support to maintain hard-won momentum in army reform and, once clear benchmarks are set, give a floundering police force more resources. The drawdown of the UN force, begun in the second half of 2008, underlines the urgency.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, Government, and War
Political Geography:
Africa, United Nations, and Liberia

148. Pirates off the port side! Old problem - new topicality

Author:
Bjørn Møller
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Piracy is an old problem which is now again attracting attention, mainly because of the surge of pirate attacks off the coasts of Somalia. Closer analysis shows the problem to be of quite modest proportions. The international naval protection of merchant shipping holds out some prospects of containing the problem, but it is most likely to solve itself. If international shipping opts for the route south of Africa, piracy will die out for a lack of targets. Maritime terrorism is, likewise, a problem of very limited proportions. It is often conflated with piracy, but there are significant differences between the two phenomena, the latter being undertaken for selfish reasons, the former for the sake of some higher cause. Whereas it is conceivable that maritime terrorists will gradually transform themselves into pirates, a transformation in the opposite direction is well Nigh inconceivable. Besides the analysis of these two phenomena, the overlap between them and certain naval strategies are also briefly touched upon.
Topic:
Security, Crime, International Law, and International Security
Political Geography:
Africa and Somalia

149. Breaking the “Insecurity Trap”? How Violence and Counter-violence are Perpetuated in Elite Power Struggles.

Author:
Andreas Mehler
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Half a century after independence, African elites, at least those in conflict ridden countries, often live in constant fear for their life. Real or invented coup attempts, political assassinations, beatings of opposition leaders, the distribution of death lists, etc. have a profoundly traumatizing and self perpetuating effect. Purges, not least in the security apparatus, are not uncommon, particularly after changes in government, be they peaceful or violent. These purges come at a cost: the excluded elites are frequently tempted to use violence to come back into the “dining room”­and the excluding government tries to prevent reentry by all means.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention and Security
Political Geography:
Africa, Liberia, Central African Republic, and Ivory Coast

150. Salafism and Radical Politics in Postconflict Algeria

Author:
Amel Boubekeur
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Despite the repression of radical Islamist movements since 1992 and the promulgation of a National Reconciliation law in 1999 aimed at encouraging the repentance of jihadi fighters, Algeria is still subject to regular terrorist attacks. Rather than follow the 1990s model of Islamist parties that believed in politics, expressed themselves within the system, discussed the concept of democracy, and had the goal of building an Islamic State, the radical anti-state rhetoric in Algeria today finds its expression in movements that do not believe in working within the political system. These movements are Salafist in nature and include Jihadi Salafism, personified by the recently formed al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI), and Da'wa Salafism, inspired by Saudi Wahhabism. These apolitical or anti-political Salafi trends are the result of the marginaliza-tion of political Salafists, mainly during the 1990s. They reveal the failure of participationist strategies among the moderate Islamist parties and their difficulties in mobilizing their base, a growing depoliticization among the new young Islamist generation, and the urgent need to reinvent pluralistic politics in a post-conflict Algeria.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Government, Islam, Politics, and Religion
Political Geography:
Africa and Algeria

151. North Africa: New Challenges, Old Regimes, and Regional Security

Author:
Claire Spencer
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
North Africa is often loosely defined, but for the purposes of this paper, it encompasses the states of the Arab Maghreb Union (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia) together with Egypt.1 With the exception of Mauritania, this group of states lies on the northern littoral of the African continent, between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Sahara to the south. This contiguity, however, has not automatically made for a cohesive region; differences between political and economic trajectories have overridden the social solidarities that still unite the peoples of North Africa.
Topic:
Security, Islam, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa, Libya, Algeria, North Africa, and Egypt

152. Police Corruption, Crime and Crime Reporting: A Simultaneous Equations Approach

Author:
Omar Azfar and Tugrul Gurgur
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
We study the causal relationship between police corruption, crime and crime reporting, using data from the International Crime Victimization Survey. Using a simultaneous equations approach we find a number of intuitive relationships, which are statistically significant. The clearest of these is that crime reporting reduces police corruption.
Topic:
Security, Crime, Economics, and Sociology
Political Geography:
Africa

153. Governance and Security Sector Reform

Author:
Emmanuel B. Osho Coker
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
The working paper series on Sierra Leone is part of the research programme 'Security System Transformation in Sierra Leone, 1997-2007'. These working papers present perspectives from both Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom regarding the implementation of activities broadly defined as security sector reform (SSR) in the period towards the end of and following the Sierra Leone war.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Governance
Political Geography:
Africa and Sierra Leone

154. The Security and Development Nexus: A Case Study of Sierra Leone, 2004-2006

Author:
Mark White
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
In my observations below, I will not focus on the individual successes within the Sierra Leonean security sector itself over the duration of the security sector reform (SSR) process. Instead, I will focus on the interconnections and disjuncture between security and development that occurred during my time in Sierra Leone. I will also attempt to demonstrate that whilst significant progress has been made since 1999 in ensuring that security and development are inter-related , there is still some way to go before they are fully integrated into either policy or programmatic practice.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Development
Political Geography:
Africa, United Kingdom, and Sierra Leone

155. Operation Pebu

Author:
Aldo Gaeta
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
This paper documents the history of Operation Pebu (Op PEBU) between April 2003 and March 2006. It is an overview of the progress and development of the project and does not attempt to document every change in contract between the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) and its contractors, nor those relating to contracts let by the United Kingdom (UK) Department for International Development (DfID). The focus of the narrative below is the construction of accommodation for soldiers of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) and their families with which Op PEBU has become synonymous.
Topic:
Security and Development
Political Geography:
Africa, United Kingdom, and Sierra Leone

156. Formulating Sierra Leone's Defence White Paper

Author:
Al-Hassan Kharamoh Kondeh
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
This paper outlines the process of producing Sierra Leone's 2002 Defence White Paper. Unique to this process was the document's explicit aim of explaining to the general public both the progress and shortcomings of security sector reform (SSR) in Sierra Leone's defence system. The White Paper was produced on the assumption that without making this information publicly available, opportunities to engage ordinary people in future reform initiatives would be limited.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and Sierra Leone

157. Aiming for Holistic Approaches to Justice Sector Development

Author:
Anthony C. Howlett-Bolton
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
Whilst it might be said that one forgets one's heritage at one's peril, it must also be understood that the past does not necessarily dictate the future. The purpose of this paper is twofold: To serve as a basis for ongoing discussion of the need to ensure holistic development approaches for both justice and security sectors and to document justice and security sector progress in Sierra Leone from 1999 to 2007.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Africa, United Kingdom, and Sierra Leone

158. Reforming and Building Capacity of the Sierra Leone Police, 1997-2007

Author:
Kadi Fakondo
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
By 1999, it became obvious by every standard that the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) needed immediate reforming in order to regain both public confidence and international credibility. At the time, the SLP was considered a spent force, with little or no logistical support to enhance its capability. Its methods of policing were very unprofessional and displayed blatant disregard for human rights; corruption was the order of the day. Morale and motivation among police personnel were very low.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Africa, United Kingdom, and Sierra Leone

159. Security Sector Reform in Sierra Leone and the Role of the Office of National Security

Author:
Kellie Hassan Conteh
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
The working paper series on Sierra Leone is part of the research programme 'Security System Transformation in Sierra Leone, 1997-2007'. These working papers present perspectives from both Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom regarding the implementation of activities broadly defined as security sector reform (SSR) in the period towards the end of and following the Sierra Leone war.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and Sierra Leone

160. National Security and Intelligence Reform in Sierra Leone, 2000-2003

Author:
Robert Ashington-Pickett
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
The working paper series on Sierra Leone is part of the research programme 'Security System Transformation in Sierra Leone, 1997-2007'. These working papers present perspectives from both Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom regarding the implementation of activities broadly defined as security sector reform (SSR) in the period towards the end of and following the Sierra Leone war.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Intelligence
Political Geography:
Africa and Sierra Leone