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1862. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Chapter: Central Asia
- Author:
- Philipp Fluri
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Unlike in many other developing countries on the way to democracy, the military plays a more limited role than other security providers, notably the Ministry of the Interior whose forces are much more powerful than the military and have their own armed units. They pose the greater potential threat to security and stability, and thus form a graver potential impediment to economic and political reform than the military. Whereas the economic, social and even some of the defence systems in the post-Soviet republics have gone through reforms, the forces and institutional structures of the Ministries of the Interior have remained more or less the same; change has occurred only in their size which again does not imply larger or more transparent budgets.
- Topic:
- Security, Government, and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia
1863. Former Soviet Union: Security Sector Reform in the Southern Caucasus
- Author:
- Philipp Fluri
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The countries of the Southern Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) experienced seventy years of one-party centralized management of the security sector – a heritage they share with all other former Soviet Republics (though precise time spans vary). Independent state-building can be expected to be slow, and it has further been vexed by armed conflicts which are far from being permanently settled and which have led to considerable numbers of IDPs and refugees in Georgia and Azerbaijan. This specific situation has naturally slowed the build-up of security sectors much different from the local post-Soviet replica of the once union-wide complex of security services.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia
1864. Control and Oversight of Security Intelligence in Romania
- Author:
- Larry Watts
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- According to March 2002 poll, 60% of the Romanian population believe that their intelligence services – in particular the SRI (Serviciul roman de informatii – domestic security intelligence) and the SIE (Serviciul de informatii externe – foreign intelligence) – have been “transformed into democratic institutions on the western model.” 52% believe that the services are serving national interests in a politically-neutral fashion as opposed to partisan aims of the sitting government (32%), and 55% had a generally “good opinion” concerning their performance. 73% of the population believes that the services do not have too much power, and half of those believe they have too little power, while 74% believe that intelligence specialists remaining from before 1989 – about 15% of the SRI and 18% of the SIE – should be retained. Periodic polling by other agencies regularly rank the SRI just behind the church and the army, and ahead of the government and police, in terms of public trust.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Romania
1865. New Constitutional Position of the Army
- Author:
- Miroslav Hadzic
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Unwilling to establish the principles of future relations in the joint state, the heads of the Federal, Serbian, and Montenegrin authorities, after being pressured by the European Union (EU), finally signed the Belgrade Agreement. Afterwards, they began to draft the Constitutional Charter of the joint state of Serbia and Montenegro. The entire project is based upon the supposition that this supra-national creation will only have delegated powers agreed to by member states. This infers that the Union will not have original sovereignty; rather Serbia and Montenegro will have it. The implementation of this solution will sever all ties with the federal organization of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and its predecessors, only simplifying matters, as Montenegro has already unilaterally excluded itself from the authority of federal bodies, and in that way, has practically abolished this state.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Serbia and Montenegro
1866. Practical Confidence-Building Measures: Does Good Governance of the Security Sector Matter?
- Author:
- Heiner Hänggi
- Publication Date:
- 01-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Good governance of the security sector, when considered from a disarmament perspective, indicates linkages between two principal issue-areas in contemporary international politics, i.e. those of 'security' and 'governance'. These two issue-areas are closely intertwined, contributing to evolving definitions of the terms themselves. During the bipolar period, security was generally defined in 'hard' military terms. Following the end of the Cold War, the concept was broadened to include 'soft' and human security concerns. This was paralleled by a broadening of the concept of confidence-building measures to include, inter alia, the role of security forces in the society. The fundamental principles of good governance include transparency and accountability of the exercise of state power. The implementation of good governance of the security sector (including military, paramilitary, internal security forces, police, border guards, and intelligence services) is a long and often difficult process, and whether this can be achieved is dependent on the capability and willingness of the individual countries.
- Topic:
- Security, Civil Society, Government, and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1867. Democratic and Parliamentary Accountability of Intelligence Services after September 11th.
- Author:
- Peter Gill
- Publication Date:
- 01-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- In the past thirty years throughout Europe, the Americas and more sporadically elsewhere the issue of how to institute some democratic control over security intelligence agencies has steadily permeated the political agenda. There have been two main reasons for this change. In what might be described as the 'old' democracies (North America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand) the main impetus for change was scandal involving abuses of power and rights by the agencies. Typically, these gave rise to legislative or judicial enquiries that resulted in new legal and oversight structures for the agencies, some of these achieved by statutes, others by executive orders. The best known examples of these are the U.S. congressional enquiries during 1975-76 (chaired by Senator Church and Representative Pike), Justice McDonald's enquiry into the RCMP Security Service in Canada (1977-81) and Justice Hope's into the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Democratization, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Australia, North America, New Zealand, and Western Europe
1868. Security Sector Reform in Bulgaria
- Author:
- Velizar Shalamanov
- Publication Date:
- 01-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Security Sector Reform (SSR) is an essential part of transformation of the totalitarian states to democratic ones. Security was motive, tool and excuse for the Communist Parties to control totally the state, economy and society at all. As a result security sector - named Armed Forces was extremely large, powerful, secret (un-transparent), under communist party control and separated from society even using all the resources of the society, including young men for 2-3 years.
- Topic:
- Security, Democratization, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Bulgaria
1869. A Casual View into the Future: Reform of Military Education in the Czech Republic
- Author:
- Marie Vlachová and Ladislav Halberštát
- Publication Date:
- 01-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- There is no doubt that the security situation in Europe changed dramatically during the last decade. Whilst total war has disappeared from the inventory of security threats, regional wars with devastating consequences for affected countries, are still topical. With ethnic hostility, organised crime and the world-wide terrorism list of non-military threats has become much wider. A widening gap between rich Western countries and their poor neighbours in Eastern and South Eastern Europe represents another serious danger, as well as do uncontrollable corruption in politically and economically weak regimes, the inability of states to protect their borders efficiently against trafficking, smuggling, illegal immigration and weapons proliferation, including weapons of mass destruction. Information warfare which results in serious damage being caused by attacks on the information systems of developed countries represents another relatively new security threat. Expertise in security political decision-making has become very important, and thus in the future, a shortage of competent specialists in governmental and parliamentary structures could affect states' ability to anticipate threats and make an adequate decision.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Government, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Czech Republic
1870. Hidden Costs of War
- Author:
- William D. Hartung
- Publication Date:
- 03-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Fourth Freedom Forum
- Abstract:
- The Bush administration's war on terrorism and its proposed military intervention in Iraq have sparked the steepest increases in military and security spending in two decades. Since September 11, 2001, the federal government has approved over $110 billion in increased military spending and military aid. Spending on national defense is slated to reach $399 billion in the Fiscal Year 2004 budget, and to rise to over $500 billion annually by the end of this decade. These vast sums do not include the costs of the ongoing war in Afghanistan or a war with Iraq. Steven Kosiak of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments estimates that only 5 to 10 percent of the Fiscal Year 2003 Pentagon budget is being set aside for anti-terror activities and homeland security.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, Government, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Middle East