Myth 2: Military spending is driven by security concerns
The decisions to build, sell or buy weapons systems often have little to do with defending the nation. Other factors
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Myth 1: Higher military spending equals increased security
‘If you want peace prepare for war’. The world spends a lot on preparing for war, $1686 billion at the
Read morePeace and the Security Sector in Sudan 2002 – 2011
The most succinct document of Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is Chapter VI,11. This paper is based on existing literature and the personal experience of the author, who was involved in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) negotiations as an informal advisor and an external advocate (through the organisation Justice Africa), and in the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) talks and the post-referendum talks as a member of the African Union (AU) mediation teams. For a compendium of the relevant documents, see World Peace Foundation, ‘Sudan Peace Archive’.‘Security Arrangements’. Republic of Sudan and SPLM/A, ‘Comprehensive Peace Agreement’. Signed in Naivasha, Kenya, on 25 September 2003, it runs to a little more than three pages – by far the shortest of the protocols and annexures that comprise the CPA. Nowhere is security sector reform (SSR) mentioned by name. For the Government of Sudan (GoS), the central issue is resolved in Paragraph 7(a), which states: ‘No armed group allied to either party shall be allowed to operate outside the two forces’. Ibid., Paragraph 7(a).
Read moreAMISOM: Charting a new course for African Union peace missions
Lasting peace in Somalia remains elusive. Since the collapse of the Siyad Barre government in 1991, Somalia has been the site of both failed interventions and policies of neglect. In 2007, the entry of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) promised a new opportunity to: 1) reduce the threats posed by al-Shabaab; and 2) create an enabling environment in which to consolidate state institutions and promote dialogue and reconciliation among the protagonists. However, the profound obstacles that have bogged down every previous mission remain – AMISOM operates in a fluid political landscape marked by the absence of stable political agreement amongst the main parties to the conflict. The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) is still new and fragile, and disputes within the Somali polity continue to vex state-building and stabilisation efforts. At the same time, terrorist and insurgent groups including (but not limited to) al-Shabaab have proved pernicious, resolute, and adaptable in their efforts to undermine any progress toward the FGS’s consolidation.
Read morePeace Missions and the Security Sector in Africa
The current issue of African Security Review includes several papers that developed out of research from the World Peace Foundation’s
Read moreThe foreign policy debate I’d like to see
Security: the unmentionable debate While there are genuine points of disagreement between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump, the centrality of
Read moreErroding State Monopoly on Violence?
By Bridget Conley-Zilkic & Lauren Spink While the precise details last night’s shooting of a young black man, Vonderrit Myers
Read moreSwagger and recklessness
The New York Times this morning has an article that begs attention–not only for what it says about the mercenary
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