Gender and Security Sector Reform: Gendering Differently?

Recent efforts to implement gender mainstreaming in the field of security sector reform have resulted in an international policy discourse on gender and security sector reform (GSSR). Critics have challenged GSSR for its focus on 'adding women' and its failure to be transformative. This article contests this assessment, demonstrating that GSSR is not only about 'adding women', but also, importantly, about 'gendering men differently' and has important albeit problematic transformative implications. Drawing on poststructuralist and postcolonial feminist theory, I propose a critical reading of GSSR policy discourse in order to analyse its built-in logics, tensions and implications. I argue that this discourse establishes a powerful 'grid of intelligibility' that draws on gendered and racialized dualisms to normalize certain forms of subjectivity while rendering invisible and marginalizing others, and contributing to reproduce certain forms of normativity and hierarchy. Revealing such processes of discursive in/exclusion and marginalized subjectivities can serve as a starting point to challenge and transform GSSR practice and identify sites of contestation.

Military crisis management in the next decade (2020-2030) : inducing consent or relying on compliance?

The most outstanding conceptual challenge of modern crisis management is the principle of consent. It is not a problem only at the operational level - it challenges the entire decision-making structures of crisis management operations. In post-cold war times and especially in the 21st century, there has been a transition from peacekeeping with limited size and scope towards large and complex peace operations. This shift has presented peace operations with a dilemma. How to balance between maintaining consent for peace operations, whilst being able to use military force to coerce those attempting to wreck peace processes? To address such a dilemma, this research aims to promote understanding, on what can be achieved by military crisis management operations (peace support operations) in the next decade. The research concentrates on the focal research question: Should military components induce consent or rely on the compliance of conflicting parties in crisis management operations of the next decade (2020 – 2030)? The focus is on military – political strategic level considerations, and especially on the time before political decisions to commit to a crisis management operation. This study does not focus on which actor or organisation should intervene. The framework of this thesis derives from the so called ‘peacebuilding space’, the scope of peace operations and spoiler theory. Feasibility of both peace enforcement and peacekeeping in countering future risk conditions are analysed in this framework. This future-orientated qualitative research uses the Delphi-method with a panel of national and international experts. Citation analysis supports identification of relevant reference material, which consists of contemporary literature, the Delphi-questionnaires and interviews. The research process followed three main stages. In the first stage, plausible future scenarios and risk conditions were identified with the Delphi-panel. In the second stage, operating environments for peace support operations were described and consequent hypotheses formulated. In the third stage, these hypotheses were tested on the Delphi-panel. The Delphi-panel is sufficiently wide and diverse to produce plausible yet different insights. The research design utilised specifically military crisis management and peace operations theories. This produced various and relevant normative considerations. Therefore, one may argue that this research; which is based on accepted contemporary theory, hypotheses derived thereof and utilising an expert panel, contributes to the realm of peace support operations. This research finds that some degree of peace enforcement will be feasible and necessary in at least the following risk conditions: failed governance; potential spillover of ethnic, religious, ideological conflict; vulnerability of strategic chokepoints and infrastructures in ungoverned spaces; as well as in territorial and extra-territorial border disputes. In addition, some form of peace enforcement is probably necessary in risk conditions pertaining to: extremism of marginalised groups; potential disputes over previously uninhabited and resource-rich territories; and interstate rivalry. Furthermore, this research finds that peacekeeping measures will be feasible and necessary in at least risk conditions pertaining to: potential spillover of ethnic, religious, ideological conflict; uncontrolled migration; consequences from environmental catastrophes or changes; territorial and extra-territorial border disputes; and potential disputes over previously uninhabited and resource-rich territories. These findings are all subject to both generic and case specific preconditions that must exist for a peace support operation. Some deductions could be derived from the research findings. Although some risk conditions may appear illogical, understanding the underlying logic of a conflict is fundamental to understanding transition in crisis management. Practitioners of crisis management should possess cognizance of such transition. They must understand how transition should occur from threat to safety, from conflict to stability – and so forth. Understanding transition is imperative for managing the dynamic evolution of preconditions, which begins at the outset of a peace support operation. Furthermore, it is pertinent that spoilers are defined from a peace process point of view. If spoilers are defined otherwise, it changes the nature of an operation towards war, where the logic is breaking the will of an enemy - and surrender. In peace support operations, the logic is different: actions towards spoilers are intended to cause transition towards consent - not defeat. Notwithstanding future developments, history continues to provide strategic education. However, the distinction is that the risk conditions occur in novel futures. Hence, lessons learned from the past should be fitted to the case at hand. This research shows compelling evidence that swaying between intervention optimism and pessimism is not substantiated. Both peace enforcement and peacekeeping are sine qua non for successful military crisis management in the next decade.

Enhancing human security through crisis management : opportunities and challenges for learning

Inhimilliseen turvallisuuteen kriisinhallinnan kautta – oppimisen mahdollisuuksia ja haasteita Kylmän sodan jälkeen aseelliset konfliktit ovat yleensä alkaneet niin sanotuissa hauraissa valtioissa ja köyhissä maissa, ne ovat olleet valtioiden sisäisiä ja niihin on osallistunut ei-valtiollisia aseellisia ryhmittymiä. Usein ne johtavat konfliktikierteeseen, jossa sota ja vakaammat olot vaihtelevat. Koska kuolleisuus konflikteissa voi jäädä alle kansainvälisen määritelmän (1000 kuollutta vuodessa), kutsun tällaisia konflikteja ”uusiksi konflikteiksi”. Kansainvälinen yhteisö on pyrkinyt kehittämään kriisinhallinnan ja rauhanrakentamisen malleja, jotta pysyvä rauhantila saataisiin aikaiseksi. Inhimillinen turvallisuus perustuu näkemykseen, jossa kunnioitetaan jokaisen yksilön ihmisoikeuksia ja jolla on vaikutusta myös kriisinhallinnan ja rauhanrakentamisen toteuttamiseen. Tutkimukseen kuuluu kaksi empiiristä osaa: Delfoi tulevaisuuspaneeliprosessin sekä kriisinhallintahenkilöstön haastattelut. Viisitoista eri alojen kriisinhallinta-asiantuntijaa osallistui paneeliin, joka toteutettiin vuonna 2008. Paneelin tulosten mukaan tulevat konfliktit usein ovat uusien konfliktien kaltaisia. Lisäksi kriisinhallintahenkilöstöltä edellytetään vuorovaikutus- ja kommunikaatiokykyä ja luonnollisesti myös varsinaisia ammatillisia valmiuksia. Tulevaisuuspaneeli korosti vuorovaikutus- ja kommunikaatiotaitoja erityisesti siviilikriisinhallintahenkilöstön kompetensseissa, mutta samat taidot painottuivat sotilaallisen kriisinhallinnan henkilöstön kompetensseissakin. Kriisinhallinnassa tarvitaan myös selvää työnjakoa eri toimijoiden kesken. Kosovossa työskennelleen henkilöstön haastatteluaineisto koostui yhteensä 27 teemahaastattelusta. Haastateltavista 9 oli ammattiupseeria, 10 reservistä rekrytoitua rauhanturvaajaa ja 8 siviilikriisinhallinnassa työskennellyttä henkilöä. Haastattelut toteutettiin helmi- ja kesäkuun välisenä aikana vuonna 2008. Haastattelutuloksissa korostui vuorovaikutus- ja kommunikaatiotaitojen merkitys, sillä monissa käytännön tilanteissa haastateltavat olivat ratkoneet ongelmia yhteistyössä muun kriisinhallintahenkilöstön tai paikallisten asukkaiden kanssa. Kriisinhallinnassa toteutui oppimisprosesseja, jotka usein olivat luonteeltaan myönteisiä ja informaalisia. Tällaisten onnistumisten vaikutus yksilön minäkuvaan oli myönteinen. Tällaisia prosesseja voidaan kuvata ”itseä koskeviksi oivalluksiksi”. Kriisinhallintatehtävissä oppimisella on erityinen merkitys, jos halutaan kehittää toimintoja inhimillisen turvallisuuden edistämiseksi. Siksi on tärkeää, että kriisinhallintakoulutusta ja kriisinhallintatyössä oppimista kehitetään ottamaan huomioon oppimisen eri tasot ja ulottuvuudet sekä niiden merkitys. Informaaliset oppimisen muodot olisi otettava paremmin huomioon kriisinhallintakoulutusta ja kriisinhallintatehtävissä oppimista kehitettäessä. Palautejärjestelmää olisi kehitettävä eri tavoin. Koko kriisinhallintaoperaation on saatava tarvittaessa myös kriittistä palautetta onnistumisista ja epäonnistumisista. Monet kriisinhallinnassa työskennelleet kaipaavat kunnollista palautetta työrupeamastaan. Liian rutiininomaiseksi koettu palaute ei edistä yksilön oppimista. Spontaanisti monet haastatellut pitivät tärkeänä, että kriisinhallinnassa työskennelleillä olisi mahdollisuus debriefing- tyyppiseen kotiinpaluukeskusteluun. Pelkkä tällainen mahdollisuus ilmeisesti voisi olla monelle myönteinen uutinen, vaikka tilaisuutta ei hyödynnettäisikään. Paluu kriisinhallintatehtävistä Suomeen on monelle haasteellisempaa kuin näissä tehtävissä työskentelyn aloittaminen ulkomailla. Tutkimuksen tulokset kannustavat tutkimaan kriisinhallintaa oppimisen näkökulmasta. On myös olennaista, että kriisinhallinnan palautejärjestelmiä kehitetään mahdollisimman hyvin edistämään sekä yksilöllistä että organisatorista oppimista kriisinhallinnassa. Kriisinhallintaoperaatio on oppimisympäristö. Kriisinhallintahenkilöstön kommunikaatio- ja vuorovaikutustaitojen kehittäminen on olennaista tavoiteltaessa kestävää rauhanprosessia, jossa konfliktialueen asukkaatkin ovat mukana.

Violations of children's rights in armed conflicts : international treaties, observations by peacekeepers and crisis management training in Finland

Ninety-nine Finnish peacekeepers, who had been serving in 15 different operations around the world, participated in the study (8 women, 27-52 years old, m = 37.4, SD = 8.9; and 91 men, 21-69 years old, m = 41.4, SD = 10.2). Three military crisis management trainers from the Finnish Defence Forces International Centre also participated in the study. The data was collected with two webbased questionnaires. In addition two interviews were made with specialists of civilian crisis management in Finland. The study also provides an overview of international treaties concerning children’s rights in armed conflict. The results show that 48.7 % of dangers for children in conflicts reported by the peacekeepers were related to physical injury (e.g. landmines and traffic), and 27.4 % were related to social problems (e.g. poverty, child soldiers, and trafficking). 24.1 % of the peacekeepers had made observations of children’s rights violations either often or very often during peacekeeping operations. 49.6 % of the observations were related to social problems (e.g. child labour or being forced to beg), and 33.0 % were related to physical injury (e.g. assault). Frequency of observation of children’s rights violations was not associated with either sex or military degree of the peacekeepers; instead it was significantly correlated with the peacekeepers’ degree of knowledge of EU’s child protection guidelines. On the basis of the results, it is recommended that knowledge about children’s rights and protection should be included in the training of Finnish crisis management personnel to a much higher degree than at the present.

Papel de la Organización de Naciones Unidas ONU (MINUGUA) en el proceso de reconstrucción posconflicto guatemalteco en materia de justicia transicional (1994-2004). Un estado del arte

Estado del arte que recopila pronunciamientos de diversos autores sobre el papel de la Organización de Naciones Unidas, específicamente la Misión MINUGUA, en el proceso de reconstrucción posconflicto en Guatemala comprendido entre el año 1994 y 2004. Se basa en algunas dimensiones de la democratización como son el Estado de Derecho, la democracia representativa, la preeminencia del poder civil, y el fortalecimiento de la cultura democrática. Así mismo, tiene en cuenta los elementos de la justicia transicional, a saber: verdad, justicia y reparación.

The United Nations and the African Union: Assessing a partnership for peace in Darfur

In Resolution 1556, the Security Council, with the conflict in Darfur clearly in mind, determined that the ‘situation in Sudan constitutes a threat to international peace and security and to stability in the region’. This article focuses on the response by the United Nations, in particular the Security Council, and the African Union to the Darfur conflict. It begins by exploring the role of peacekeeping operations and regional arrangements or agencies in the overarching architecture of international peace and security. Having laid this frame of reference, it then looks at the modalities of peacekeeping in Darfur. These operations began with the African Union acting in isolation but have transitioned to an increasingly important role being played by the United Nations and a hybrid peacekeeping presence. Finally, this article asks whether, assuming that a legally dispositive conclusion can be drawn that genocide has taken place in Darfur since the outbreak of hostilities there in 2003, there exists a legal justification, or even obligation, for non-compliance by states with the sanctions regime established by Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1591. This regime of sanctions has played an important part in the Security Council's approach to Darfur but has been, unfortunately, left largely unexamined from the standpoint of international legality.

Statebuilding and governance: the conundrums of legitimacy and local ownership

The chapter explores the role of legitimacy in statebuilding. It first explores the concept of legitimacy and why it matters for successful statebuilding; it surveys how international statebilding efforts have tried to strengthen the legitimacy of post-conflict states; and examines the practices of local ownership in statebuilding, and how they relate to legitimation efforts.

Do fracasso à reforma das operações de paz das Nações Unidas (2000-2010)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Building Peace and/or Gender Equality. Changing Attitudes around Peace, Development and Security in International Cooperation in Rwanda.

The times following international or civil conflicts but also violent revolutions often come with unequal share of the peace dividend for men and women. Delusions for women who gained freedom of movement and of roles during conflict but had to step back during reconstruction and peace have been recorded in all regions of the world. The emergence of peacebuilding as a modality for the international community to ensure peace and security has slowly incorporated gender sensitivity at the level of legal and policy instruments. Focusing on Rwanda, a country that has obtained significant gender advancement in the years after the genocide while also obtaining to not relapse into conflict, this research explores to what extent the international community has contributed to this transformation. From a review of evaluations, findings are that many of the interventions did not purse gender equality, and overall the majority understood gender and designed actions is a quite superficial way which would hardly account for the significative advancement in combating gender discrimination that the Government, for its inner political will, is conducting. Then, after a critique from a feminist standpoint to the concept of human security, departing from the assumption (sustained by the Governemnt of Rwanda as well) that domestic violence is a variable influencing level of security relevant at the national level, a review of available secondary data on GBV is conducted an trends over the years analysed. The emerging trends signal a steep increase in prevalence of GBV and in domestic violence in particular. Although no conclusive interpretation can be formulated on these data, there are elements suggesting the increase might be due to augmented reporting. The research concludes outlining possible further research pathways to better understand the link in Rwanda between the changing gender norms and the GBV.

Local experiences of liberal peace : marketization and emergent conflict dynamics in Sierra Leone

Peer reviewed

Role Expectations and State Socialization: Germany's Rediscovery of the Use of Force 1990-1995

This dissertation engages the question of why German political elites accepted the use of force during the 1990s and started to commit the country's armed forces to multilateral peacekeeping missions. Previous governments of the Federal Republic had opposed foreign deployment of the military and Germany was characterized by a unique strategic culture in which the efficacy of military force was widely regarded as negative. The rediscovery of the use of force constituted a significant reorientation of German security policy with potentially profound implications for international relations. I use social role theory to explain Germany's security policy reorientation. I argue that political elites shared a national role conception of their country as a dependable and reliable ally. Role expectations of the international security environment changed as a result of a general shift to multilateral intervention as means to address emerging security problems after the Cold War. Germany's resistance to the use of force was viewed as inappropriate conduct for a power possessing the economic and military wherewithal of the Federal Republic. Elites from allied countries exerted social pressure to have Germany contribute commensurate with capabilities. German political elites adapted role behavior in response to external expectations in an effort to preserve the national role conception of a dependable and reliable ally. Security policy reorientation to maintain Germany's national role conception was pursued by conservative elites who acted as 'role entrepreneurs'. CDU/CSU politicians initiated a process of role adaptation to include the use of force for non-defensive missions. They persuaded Social Democrats and Alliance 90/Green party politicians that the maintenance of the country's role conception necessitated a reorientation in security policy to accommodate the changes in the security environment.

Invisible Suffering: Practitioner Reflections on Peacebuilding Programs with Youth Exposed to Traumatic Stressors in Intergroup Conflict

For decades, the international community has recognized that youth are some of the most vulnerable to mental and emotional distress within the intractable and cyclical nature of identity-based violent conflict. Exposure to traumatic stressors within these intergroup conflicts poses unique risks not only to the neurological and social development of youth, but also to the capacities of youth to fully participate in peacebuilding interventions. The peacebuilding field has yet to strongly consider how traumatic stress affects dynamics within programs for youth and how these programs may need to modify expectations of youth’s cognitive, social, and emotional functioning to account for the traumatic dimensions of political and social violence. Through a qualitative analysis of practitioner reflections gathered from an online survey distributed worldwide, this study explores how practitioners conceptualize and approach issues of traumatic stress in peacebuilding programs focused on youth in conflict-affected contexts. The objective is to identify the working assumptions undergirding practitioner conceptualizations and approaches to traumatic stress and gaps in trauma interventions in peacebuilding programs for youth. The implications of these findings will support efforts to enhance trauma-sensitive peacebuilding practice by revisiting and reconsidering preexisting norms.

United Nations peacekeeping efforts : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, second session, June 9, 1992.

Shipping list no.: 93-0235-P.

Alternatives to peace keeping in Korea: the role of non-state actors and face-to-face encounters

Korea is one of the world's most volatile areas, not least because traditional UN mediation and peacekeeping missions are impossible. Having intervened in the Korean War on behalf of the southern side, the UN is a party to the conflict, rather than a neutral arbiter. The situation is particularly problematic because political interactions are characterized by a high degree of state-control over security policy. In both parts of the peninsula the state has, at least until recently, exercised the exclusive right to deal with the opponent on the other side of the hermetically divided peninsula. Given these domestic and international constrains, alternative approaches to conflict resolution are urgently needed. The recently proliferating literature on human security offers possible solutions, for it urges policy makers to view security beyond the conventional military-based defence of the state and its territory. Using such a conceptual framework, the essay assesses the potential significance non-state interactions between North and South, particularly those that promote communication, information exchange and face-to-face encounters. Even though these interactions remain limited, they are of crucial importance, for they provide an opportunity to reduce the stereotypical threat images that continue to fuel conflict on the peninsula.