New Publication: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence
The CSG has released the second paper from the The Big Idea Brief series, titled The Simple...
Read More About the Series
The Academic Spotlight blog series features recent research findings on security sector reform and security governance published in international relations academic journals. It provides a venue to promote discussion within the academic-policy nexus and develop opportunities to share and exchange on key SSR issues and themes. The blog posts published in this series summarize new research findings and build on recent developments on 2nd generation SSR and doing security & justice differently. They help shape the debates on security sector reform in fragile and conflict-affected countries and are a great way to maximize the impact of academic research and reach a wider policy community.
The Centre for Security Governance has developed partnerships with prominent academic journals, including Conflict, Security & Development, International Peacekeeping, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding and Stability: International Journal of Security & Development. As part of these partnerships, some of these articles are available for six months free and open access exclusively through links provided directly in the blog posts. This is an innovative way to promote and disseminate research findings!
The CSG has released the second paper from the The Big Idea Brief series, titled The Simple...
Read MoreEver since tens of thousands of terrified civilians sought and received shelter at United Nations...
Read MoreOn December 19, 2019 CBC Radio’s long running show, IDEAS, broadcast Douglas...
Read MoreA research paper written by CSG Executive Director Mark Sedra charting the evolution of the...
Read MoreThe CSG is proud to announce the release of a new publication series, The Big Idea Brief. The...
Read MoreOn December 10, 2019 the CSG will convene the fourth Waterloo Symposium on Technology and Society...
Read MoreOn October 18, 2019 CSG Executive Director Mark Sedra gave 10 radio interviews to CBC Radio...
Read MoreThe CSG is proud to announce that it has appointed Benoît Gomis as the new Managing Editor of...
Read MoreOn September 11, 2019 CSG Executive Director Mark Sedra gave 11 radio interviews to CBC Radio...
Read MoreOn June 3, 2019 the CSG held a one-day workshop titled, Security Sector Reform: The State of the...
Read MoreThe second Waterloo Symposium on Technology and Society was held on May 15th, 2019 at the...
Read MoreIn the lead-up to the UN Security Council’s March 2019 debate on the situation in Haiti, the...
Read MoreThe CSG has released a new publication in its CSG Papers Series titled, Exploring the Transition...
Read MoreOn April 16, 2019 the CSG launched the Waterloo Symposium on Technology & Society at the...
Read MoreOn April 11, 2019, CSG Executive Director Mark Sedra was in Washington, DC to attend a day-long...
Read MorePRESS RELEASE Symposium Founding Sponsor: Savvas Chamberlain, EXEL Research Inc. Symposium...
Read MoreThe Centre for Security Governance (CSG) is pleased to announce that Dr. Mark Sedra has been...
Read MoreTo 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.
Read MoreMichael James Warren Senior Fellow Michael James Warren is a practitioner and researcher whose...
Read MoreThe current model for international peacekeeping in Mali is unsustainable and unlikely to solve the many problems facing the country.
Read MoreJennifer Erin Salahub Senior Fellow Jennifer Salahub is an expert in security and development,...
Read MoreHow homegrown organized crime groups in Africa are diversifying, maturing and increasing in sophistication.
Read MoreCSG Senior Fellow Alix Valenti continues her explanation of why Duterte’s war on drugs has proved to be particularly bloody in part two of a special feature on the Philippines.
Read MoreAlthough the Republic of the Philippines is not generally recognised as a violent or fragile state, since ex-Davao mayor Rodrigo Duterte was elected President on 30 June 2016, the country has been regularly making the headlines. CSG Senior Fellow Alix Valenti explains why Duterte’s war on drugs has proved to be particularly bloody.
Read MoreThe CSG is pleased to announce that Geoff Burt has been named Executive Director. Geoff will join the CSG as of April 1, 2017.
Read MoreMark Sedra Senior Fellow The co-founder of the Centre for Security Governance, Mark is currently...
Read MoreMatthew Brubacher Senior Fellow Matthew Brubacher currently works with the United Nations Mission...
Read MoreFew 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.
Read MoreWe are looking for talented academics, practitioners, analysts, and researchers to contribute to our dynamic blog.
Read MoreThe Centre for Security Governance (CSG) is pleased to announce the publication of a new CSG Paper by CSG Senior Fellow Sarah Dewhurst and Lindsey Greising. It is the second of two papers on Timor-Leste and the product of a wider series of papers that has come out of a multi-year research project.
Read MoreThe CSG is pleased to announce the publication of a new CSG Paper by CSG Fellow Ibrahim Bangura. It is the second of two papers on Sierra Leone and the product of a wider series of papers that has come out of a multi-year research project.
Read More“Security Sector Reform in Conflict-Affected Countries: The Evolution of a Model” by Mark Sedra is now available through Routledge.
Read MoreAlix Valenti Senior Fellow Alix Valenti is an independent consultant and a freelance journalist...
Read MoreThe CSG is pleased to announce the publication of a new CSG Paper by CSG Fellow Gaëlle Rivard Piché. It is the second of two papers on El Salvador and the product of a wider series of papers that has come out of a multi-year research project.
Read More“Integrating Security Sector Reform and Small Arms Light Weapons Programming” by CSG Executive Director Mark Sedra and Senior Fellow Geoff Burt.
Read MoreThe 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
Read MoreThis 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.
Read MoreThis article delves into the ever-evolving field of gender security sector reform, in order to uncover its shortcomings and subsequently provide novel to the discipline. It argues that practices within the field of gender sensitive police reform display radical alternatives to overcome SSR’s issues, specifically through its focus on ‘gender-mainstreaming’ as a transformative approach to reform.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MorePart three of three on the CSG’s Special Series from Senior Fellow David Law which provides a security sector perspective on the ongoing crisis in Mali and focuses on stabilization and security sector reform challenges to address in this context.
Read MorePart two of three on the CSG’s Special Series from Senior Fellow David Law which provides a security sector perspective on the ongoing crisis in Mali and focuses on stabilization and security sector reform challenges to address in this context.
Read MorePart one of three on the CSG’s Special Series from Senior Fellow David Law which provides a security sector perspective on the ongoing crisis in Mali and focuses on stabilization and security sector reform challenges to address in this context.
Read MoreThe Centre for Security Governance (CSG) is pleased to present a new three-part blog contribution from CSG Senior Fellow David Law which provides a security sector perspective on the ongoing crisis in Mali and focuses on stabilization and security sector reform challenges to address in this context.
Read MoreThis article analyzes the impact on democracy and governance of the protests and the state of emergency in Ethiopia declared by the government. The author argues that, although messy, and perhaps disruptive to Ethiopia’s economic progress, what is needed is genuine democratic dialogue to solve this crisis.
Read MoreDirector Mark Sedra presented “The Future of Canadian Engagement in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States: Asserting a Thought Leadership Role” at a conference organized by CIC.
Read MoreCSG Senior Fellow David Law discusses new initiatives and ongoing efforts by the Canadian government as part of its overall strategy of re-engagement with peace operations.
Read MorePoverty 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.
Read MoreUsing evidence from Afrobarometer surveys, the authors analyze public perceptions of security in Nigeria and Kenya and the implications this has on countering violent extremism. They focus on issues of public trust in security forces, corruption and the success and failure of security-led approaches vs development-oriented approaches to violence and violent extremism.
Read MoreThe first four reports are available from the multi-year research project “Exploring the Transition from First to Second Generation SSR in Conflict-Affected Societies.”
Read MoreCSG’s Antoine Vandemoortele interviews Sr. Fellow 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 1 discusses Biddle’s role as Strategic Police Advisor as well as the context and key challenges of police reform in Anbar province.
Read MoreThe highly-contested character of Haiti’s national elections in 2015 and the larger governance crisis that endures today, have sharpened debates about the role of the Haitian National Police and its development in recent years. The authors offer a careful, nuanced assessment of uneven HNP progress in five areas.
Read MoreA 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).
Read MoreThis 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.
Read MoreThis article analyzes the context of a potential Canadian contribution in the Central African Republic as part of our four-entry series on a Canadian return to peacekeeping.
Read MoreThis 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.
Read MoreThis article analyzes the context of a potential Canadian contribution in Mali as part of our four-entry series on a Canadian return to peacekeeping.
Read MoreCSG’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.
Read MoreThe CSG has published a new paper by Senior Associate Robert M. Perito that considers how Libya could provide a test bed for security sector reform in a post-Arab Spring security environment.
Read MoreIn this blog post originally published on the IPI Global Observatory, Geoff Burt, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Security Governance, analyzes the political challenges Haiti faces in its attempt to address key security governance issues, including paramilitary action, gang violence and the reinstatement of the Haitian armed forces.
Read MoreSSR has become a key component of international donors’ efforts to improve security in conflict-affected and developing states. Its success, however, has been limited because program designers rarely fully comprehend, how developing countries’ security sectors actually function. How then can we better understand the impact of neo-patrimonial practiceson developing countries’ security sector?
Read MoreIn July 2015, the Security Governance Group began a study entitled “Deportation, Circular Migration and Organized Crime,” with case studies in Honduras and Jamaica. The research examines the impact of criminal deportation on organized crime in Canada and the selected case study countries. The project is funded by Public Safety Canada.
Read MoreThis 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.
Read MoreMany 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?
Read MoreHate speech and proffering war online using social media, particularly Facebook has contributed to South Sudan’s return to conflict. As Juba burns, the role of social media, online hate speech and rumor is becoming clear.
Read MorePrevailing 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.
Read MoreHow a forgotten model for refugee camp security forces can provide an alternative to criminalizing refugee supporters for terrorist and non-state armed groups.
Read MoreSenior Fellow Nina Wilén talks about key findings in her new book ‘Justifying Interventions in Africa: (de)stabilizing sovereignty in Liberia, Burundi, and the Congo’.
Read MoreMigrants 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.
Read MorePublication 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).
Read MoreHow 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreUncategorized The Centre for Security Governance held a workshop on May 5-6 on Non-State Security...
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreThe Centre for Security Governance published a new CSG Paper examining the case of Western Equatoria’s Arrow Boys as part of research project on Non-State Security Providers and Political Formation in Conflict-Affected States.
Read MoreIs 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
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreCorruption poses a major threat to the effective functioning of a country’s justice sector. This article builds on a recent cast-study published by the International Crisis Group that takes a closer look at the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala and its role in justice sector reform, particularly in the fight against corruption.
Read MoreThe Overseas Development Insitute (ODI) hosted a series of seminars to discuss key conceptual and practical issues related to security and justice programming. The series was held in 2014 and 2015 and hosted international experts on several security related issues. The events promoted debates and knowledge sharing that aim to increase the practice and the programming in the security sector.
Read MoreCrime and law enforcement are often entwined in a co-evolutionary process by which the actions of one prompt behavioral changes by the other that demand new strategies from the initial actor. While this dynamic is often recognized and anticipated by both law enforcement and criminal groups, it frequently yields perverse effects – unintended (and generally unforeseen) outcomes that exacerbate the very issue they were deployed to remedy (or create new problems). The evolution of the Central American youth gangs known as the maras provides a highly informative example of this phenomenon.
Read MoreFor almost ten years, the small West African country of Guinea-Bissau has been subject to security sector reform as part of international peacebuilding interventions. Since gaining independence in 1973-74, the former Portuguese colony has been characterized by political instability, coups d’état, military overthrow attempts, and the interference of military factions within politics.
Read MoreThe Centre for Security Governance is pleased to announce it has acquired Stability: International Journal of Security & Development, a leading open-access journal focusing on security and development challenges in fragile, failed and conflict-affected states.
Read MoreIf the ability to hold credible, peaceful elections is a key litmus test of a country’s progress towards democratic consolidation, the latest evidence from Haiti is far from encouraging. The electoral cycle that began in August 2015 – following months of delays and governance by presidential decree – was meant to renew Haiti’s democratic institutions, but has instead plunged the country back into political crisis.
Read MoreSaferworld’s new report, “Matching needs with resources: National Police Reserve and community security in Kenya’s frontiers,” provides a useful overview of the significance of local security provision in fragile and conflict-affected countries while highlighting key challenges to effective security governance. This report provides lessons learned and good practices that are not only useful for Kenya, but can be used to design and implement better local security and justice initiatives elsewhere.
Read MoreThe purpose of this blog is to identify and analyze the dynamics of corruption at its systemic roots that has led to forms of state capture, low pay resulting in petty forms of corruption and issues with training within the Afghan judicial sector. The paper relies on 70 semi-structured interviews conducted predominantly in Kabul with judicial reform and human rights organizations, rights-based and gender empowerment non-governmental organizations and civil society watchdogs.
Read MoreA one-week Defence Resource Management Course funded by the Directorate of Military Training and Cooperation (Canada’s Department of National Defence) was developed for the Ukraine National Defence University in Kiev. First taught in February 2015 by an experienced team of senior Canadian military officers, and again in November, the course is organized around four inter-related themes illustrating the integrated and corporate nature of defence management at the strategic level.
Read MoreAfter decades of preoccupation with internal stability, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is shifting its focus to external defense as a response to the developing situation in the South Chine Sea. This backgrounder offers a brief history of professionalization in the Philippines and discusses its importance in the AFP’s shift to external defense.
Read MoreBased on research published in Stability: International Journal of Security & Development, this blog contribution analyzes the tension that can exist between the principles of local ownership and gender equality that guide Security Sector Reform (SSR) programmes when gender discrimination and patriarchal values characterize the local environment.
Read MoreThe outcomes of programs for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) are affected by the way in which they are implemented. More participatory approaches, where ex-combatants feel they have had more say and greater ownership, lead to better results. This is important for how DDR can contribute to the wider peace process and to peacebuilding itself. Establishing trust during DDR is significant for political reconstruction.
Read MoreWith the notable exception of Afghanistan, the region of Central Asia has historically been underrepresented by the security sector reform (SSR) field. The record of SSR in Central Asia shows that reforms in limited parliamentary democracies face a different set of challenges and opportunities than SSR programs in fragile and conflict-affected states. The experiences of restrained reform in the region are nonetheless instructive.
Read MoreThe National Defence University of Ukraine (NDU) is contributing to change in defence within Ukraine. One noteworthy initiative is the Building Integrity Training and Education Centre (BITEC) established within the structure of the university in September 2014. BITEC personnel receive training outside Ukraine through Transparency International and in coordination with national Western military organizations, as well as NATO.
Read MoreMultiple potholes dot Ukraine’s road to a more accountable and liberal political regime: its 12% decline in GDP this year; the military stalemate in the east and the de facto loss of Crimea; and, of course, entrenched political malaise and corruption. It is within this challenging environment that crucial political and security reforms are taking place, which rely to a large degree on internal reformers and external assistance.
Read MoreSecurity in fragile and conflict-affected contexts is provided by a multitude of actors, with varying relationships to the state (plural security provision). An October 2015 knowledge event offered academics, practitioners and policymakers a platform to present and dialogue around empirical cases of plural security provision at city level, focusing on how state and international development actors can engage with plural actors in ways that contribute to strengthening citizen security.
Read MoreThis blog identifies the underlying conditions of the Afghan state from the outset of the late 2001 Bonn political arrangement that has resulted in deep-rooted corrupt clientelistic networks within the Afghan government. This has trickled to the majority of the ministries including the Interior Ministry. Corruption is systemic and hard to combat despite police reform. This is due to the nature of four interrelated explanations of corruption that are subsequently covered.
Read MoreBy voicing concern, Russia and Angola delayed a further round of targeted sanctions against South Sudanese leaders proposed by the UN Security Council. Many have explained this action as part of the growing geopolitical competition between Russia and the West. And while such may be the case, the timing of these sanctions is dangerous for peace and has an inherently problematic dynamic.
Read MoreThe fight against Boko-Haram, is transforming the identity of Cameroon’s army as well as the way it is perceived by its citizens. Cameroonians are mobilizing like never before around their army. The transformation is giving rise to an emerging ‘social contract’, with likely profound impact for security and the exercise of legitimate civilian control by the executive over the military.
Read MorePaul Biddle served as a UK secondee to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Luhansk (Lugansk) field office from April 2014-March 2015. He was over various times security, military and police focal point, operations officer, patrol leader and patrol hub leader. In this blog post, he shares his analysis and experience of the situation in Ukraine.
Read MoreIn this contribution, Annie Mageka analyzes the police reform process in Kenya and discusses recommendations to improve the state of policing in Kenya with local stakeholders. This article provide an excellent summary of over a decade of police reform in Kenya, it also provides on-the-ground reporting, empirical evidence and key insights on the future of the Kenya Police.
Read MoreThe concept of organised crime often evokes images of mafia-like figures and secret societies involved in acts like drug trafficking and murder. In reality, however, the organised criminal economy is mostly sustained by unsophisticated and ad hoc criminal networks, along with corrupt relationships. Sophisticated and structured criminal groups do exist, but these are not the only form of organised criminality.
Read MoreLocal ownership has always been central to the theory of security sector reform (SSR) in post-conflict contexts – practically every policy concept in circulation among bilateral donors or multilateral institutions makes local ownership of the reform agenda a sine qua non for external support to SSR. But these calls for local ownership echo hollow against the underwhelming results and unintended consequences of external support to SSR across a growing universe of cases.
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