Peace missions and security sector reform

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Christopher Daase

The stabilization of conflict and post-conflict regions is a central challenge for international security policy. In response to the shift from interstate to intrastate war, complex peace operations have partially replaced traditional peacekeeping. An increasingly important component of peace operations is security sector reform (SSR). The aim of SSR is to create an effective, efficient and democratically controlled security sector. The reform of the military, police, intelligence services and other institutions is intended to protect the security of both the state and its citizens. A deficient security sector is a source of insecurity especially during and after internal violent conflicts.
This project examined the problems of SSR in peace operations. The results of SSR are uncertain due to various conditions. For example, social tensions, poverty, organized crime, corruption and a poor security situation undermine attempts to support and reform the state and society even after the end of the war. There are also cooperation and coordination problems due to the large number of external and internal actors influencing stabilization efforts. Another problem is adapting SSR norms with global validity to local conditions. International actors also have difficulties doing what they expect domestic actors to do. The project examined these problems paradigmatically in the case of military-police gray areas. It was shown that in many cases, unsystematic law enforcement and gaps in public security undermine the security of citizens and the legitimacy of international actors and national institutions. The military and police must therefore work closely together. However, close cooperation is not only difficult in practical terms. It also often leads to the violation of important SSR principles. These include the separation of military and police tasks and the development of civilian police structures as a prerequisite for democratic control. By comparing SSR norms and security policy actions, especially in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Afghanistan, it was possible to uncover areas of tension in SSR and thus make important contributions to the conceptualization and theorization of SSR.

In this way, a deeper understanding between the demands and the reality could be developed: It is true that international donors are attempting through a variety of initiatives to reform the security sector of fragile states and through the reforms to create a security sector that provides security for the state and for citizens effectively, efficiently and in a democratic manner. However, due to cooperation problems of international actors, the search for short-term security gains, the aftermath of war and social disintegration in post-conflict states and other obstacles, these reform efforts are often undermined and risk negative unintended consequences of international intervention. By examining the role of international actors in the Balkans and Afghanistan, this project also contributed to a generalized understanding of the possibilities and limitations of SSR in weak states.

The habilitation thesis begun as part of the project was subsequently continued in follow-up projects. The resulting monograph has been published as: Friesendorf, Cornelius (2018): How Western Soldiers Fight. Organizational Routines in Multinational Missions Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The project’s most important publications also include:
*Friesendorf, Cornelius (2011): “Paramilitarization and Security Sector Reform: The Afghan National Police”, International Peacekeeping 18(1) (February 2011), 79-95.
Friesendorf, Cornelius/Krempel, Jörg (2011): “Militarized Versus Civilian Policing: Problems of Reforming the Afghan National Police”, PRIF Report No. 102(Frankfurt/M.: Peace Research Institute Frankfurt)
*Friesendorf, Cornelius (2011): Problems of Crime-Fighting by ‘Internationals’ in Kosovo, in: James Cockayne and Adam Lupel (eds.), Peace Operations and Organized Crime: Enemies or Allies?, London: Routledge, 47-67;
*Friesendorf, Cornelius (2010): “The Military and the Fight Against Serious Crime: Lessons from the Balkans”, in: Connections: The Quarterly Journal 9(3) (Summer 2010), 45-61
*Daase, Christopher/Friesendorf, Cornelius (eds.) (2010): Rethinking Security Governance: The Problem of Unintended Consequences, London/New York: Routledge.