Author: CSG Blog

CSG Executive Director in Washington, DC to Discuss SSR at the United States Institute of Peace

Apr 12, 2019 | News |

On April 11, 2019, CSG Executive Director Mark Sedra was in Washington, DC to attend a day-long...

Mark Sedra Reappointed as CSG Executive Director

Jan 1, 2019 | News |

The Centre for Security Governance (CSG) is pleased to announce that Dr. Mark Sedra has been...

New Approaches Urgently Needed to Crisis in South Sudan

Mar 13, 2018 | Commentary

To date sanctions already imposed on a handful of South Sudanese officials by the USA, Canada, EU and UN have had little effect on the conflict.

Michael James Warren

Jan 27, 2018 | Uncategorized

Michael James Warren Senior Fellow Michael James Warren is a practitioner and researcher whose...

UN Peacekeeping with no Peace: Disorientation, Demoralization and Scarcity in Mali

Sep 15, 2017 | Commentary

The current model for international peacekeeping in Mali is unsustainable and unlikely to solve the many problems facing the country.

A New Leader in International Support to Security Sector Reform: Exploring the Experience and Potential Role of Japan

Feb 23, 2017 | Commentary

Few countries have undergone security sector reform more profoundly than Japan after World War II, yet Japan has not been a leading voice in this field, despite a foreign policy centered on human security and institution building. A new international SSR assistance platform would enable Japan to support enhanced governance, oversight, and professionalism of the security sectors of fragile states while further raising its profile in UN peacekeeping and the sustaining peace agenda.

Publication Announcement

Jan 13, 2017 | Publications

The CSG is pleased to announce the publication of a new CSG Paper by CSG Fellow Branka Marijan. It is the second of two papers on Bosnia-Herzegovina and the product of a wider series of papers that has come out of a multi-year research project

Crimes of the Powerful in Conflict-Affected Environments: False Positives, Transitional Justice and the Prospects for Peace in Colombia

Jan 10, 2017 | Commentary

This post examines the recent false positives scandal in Colombia, which involved the arbitrary execution of thousands of poor, marginalised civilians, by Army personnel. It is argued that peacebuilding efforts will be unsuccessful without addressing impunity, deficiencies in the security sector, and socio-economic inequalities which led to these crimes.

Police Reform in Kosovo and Bosnia: The power of local legitimacy unpacked

Nov 23, 2016 | SSR Initiative

The power of legitimacy is increasingly invoked by scholars, practitioners, and donors as a crucial prerequisite for any international peacebuilding project. This short article disenchants the almost magical powers accorded to legitimacy via three research findings: First, it shows the causal mechanism behind legitimacy’s impact; second, legitimacy works only in certain contexts and situations; third, it is the only direct power international peacebuilding operations wield.

Poverty, Crime & Conflict: Socio-Economic Inequalities & Prospects for Peace in Colombia

Oct 21, 2016 | SSR Initiative

Poverty and socio-economic inequalities are inextricably linked with crime and conflict in Colombia. Unless they are addressed the current peace process will be unsuccessful and crime and insecurity will continue to afflict Colombia and its people, particularly the more vulnerable and marginalized.

Canada, Peace Operations & SSR

Sep 9, 2016 | Uncategorized

A new blog series which explores the security sector reform (SSR) dimension of Canada’s planned re-engagement with peacekeeping and peace operations in Africa. This four-part series focuses on the main options being speculated upon for troop deployment: Mali, the Central African Republic (CAR), South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Canada’s Options for a Peace & Stabilization Mission in South Sudan

Sep 9, 2016 | Uncategorized

This article analyzes the context of a potential Canadian contribution in South Sudan as part of our four-entry series on a Canadian return to peacekeeping.

Canada’s Options for a Peace & Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Sep 2, 2016 | Uncategorized

This article analyzes the context of a potential Canadian contribution in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of our four-entry series on a Canadian return to peacekeeping.

Police Reform in Iraq: Challenges and Lessons Learned (Part 2)

Aug 26, 2016 | Commentary

CSG’s Antoine Vandemoortele continues the interview with Paul Biddle, Strategic Police Advisor to the UK Embassy in Baghdad, the Coalition Joint Task Force Operation “Inherent Resolve” and the Governor of Anbar in Iraq between February and May 2016. Part II addresses issues of lessons learned and future areas of work to create a sustainable policing model in Anbar province.

Is a homegrown security sector reform possible?

Aug 1, 2016 | SSR Initiative

This article seeks to examine the determinants of security sector reform outcomes in post-conflict countries and assess the potential of the ‘infrastructures for peace’ framework in restructuring the security sector. It argues that security restructuring is less viable merely with informal architectures and that creating multi-layered infrastructures is essential.

Does SSR improve security in developing countries?

Jul 26, 2016 | Commentary

Many millions have been spent trying to reform the security sector in developing countries. But have these investments paid off? Are security actors more accountable, responsive and able to deliver for their communities? Perhaps most importantly, are people safer as a result?

Security Sector Reform & Hybrid Security Governance In Africa

Jun 29, 2016 | SSR Initiative

Prevailing approaches to security sector reform (SSR) have tended to stress Westphalian notions of the state characterized by legal-rational norms and institutions. Thus, SSR processes concentrated on the formal arrangements of the state and its security and justice institutions. Yet, such approaches are fundamentally at variance with the underlying realities of the African context, where many political and social transactions take place in the context of informal norms and systems.

Deportations are helping make Honduras one of the world’s most violent countries

Jun 22, 2016 | Commentary

Migrants to Canada are routinely prosecuted for relatively minor offences and circulated back into a society torn apart by organized crime. This article summarizes findings from a research project entitled “Deportation, Circular Migration and Organized Crime” with case studies in Honduras and Jamaica.

Recycling Rebels? Demobilization in the Congo

Jun 16, 2016 | Publications

Publication summary on a new report by Christoph Vogel and Josaphat Usamba on the Rift Valley Institute. The report offers a useful overview of past and current demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration (DDR) programs initiated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Measuring Security: Homicide as an Indicator of State Capacity In Oil-Producing States

Jun 7, 2016 | Commentary

How do you measure security? Measuring security is a challenging concept due to a variety of factors such as a lack of good data, difficulty in operationalizing complicated social issues, and the specific aspects to focus on are just a few examples. In an effort to unravel and test some of the available sources that may (or may not) lead to better insights into police and, more broadly, state governance performance, a colleague and I began an initial examination of the validity of homicide rates as an indicator of state security. Africa, with its range of states, allows for a deeper exploration within each national context.

The Political Dynamics of Security in Fragile States

May 16, 2016 | Commentary

In many fragile societies state security organizations serve the interest of ruling elites in maintaining political power or their own institutional interests. What they often provide little of is security for ordinary people. This depressing situation is the result of a complex mix of factors including legacies of violence, underdeveloped institutions, personalized rule, profit-making opportunities in settings of low growth, and high inequality, as well as high levels of political factionalism.

Women’s Participation in Communal Justice in Rural Bangladesh

May 2, 2016 | Publications

In many developing countries women continue to be marginalized and discriminated, which has propelled the issue of women empowerment into a key component of development policy interventions. However, there exists a lack of analysis on the issue of women’s leadership, particularly on whether women have any influence once in a position of leadership.

Prospects for Peace & Security in Myanmar

Apr 11, 2016 | Commentary

Is DDR the appropriate tool, program, policy and/or approach for durable conflict mediation and peacebuilding in Myanmar? This article builds on a previous article by Helena Gronberg on the DDR dilemma facing Myanmar

Is the time ripe for DDR in Myanmar?

Mar 31, 2016 | Commentary

In late 2015 a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) was signed between the government of Myanmar and eight of the 15 rebel groups active in the country. Although seven armed groups (including the largest insurgent forces) refused to sign the NCA, the ceasefire was a welcomed step in the current peace process. The process was launched by the civilian government that came to power in 2011 following decades of military rule, and is the first, since 1963, to invite all armed groups to participate.