#SecuritySectorReformandGovernance

Jul 6, 2018

NATO Defence Spending in Perspective

(A link to this article was provided in the Newsletter of the Canadian Association of Defence Organizations on 6 July: www.cdainstitute.ca) President Trump’s letter to a number of NATO Allies in the lead-up to the Alliance Summit on 11-12 July, warning them that America is running out of patience as regards their failure to jack up their defence spending is a cheap shot, but a shot nonetheless. It needs to be taken seriously. NATO defence spending is about more than one-digit

Nov 11, 2016

The Malian Crisis: thinking more broadly about the security sector agenda

For the UN, the Mali deployment has been politically one of its most important to date, one of its largest in terms of numbers of deployed personnel, and one of its most deadly in terms of personnel losses. At the time of writing, MINUSMA also appears to have been one of the least successful. Overall, implementation of the peace agreement has been slow, uneven and flawed. The ongoing violence has made it difficult for armed groups to withdraw from certain areas, let alone dis

Nov 11, 2016

The Malian Crisis: chaos in the making

Background In the 1990s, Mali was often put forward as a model of African democracy. It is not hard to understand why. Following an extended period of authoritarian rule after becoming independent in 1960, Mali held three elections as of 1992 in which power passed to the winner. An anomaly among the Sahelian states during that decade, it remains so in several other corners of the African continent two decades on. But in fact, Mali has more in common with its fellow Sahelian s

Nov 11, 2016

The Malian Crisis: a security sector perspective

This is a three-part blog contribution providing a security sector perspective on the ongoing crisis in Mali and focusing on stabilization and security sector reform challenges that need to be addressed in this context. Introduction In late 2011, Mali was plunged into a severe political and security crisis when the situation in the country, already seriously unstable, was rendered that much more so by the impact of the Arab Spring, and in particular the events in Libya. Five

Oct 28, 2016

Canada in Africa: integrating SSR into peace and stabilization strategies

The Government of Canada recently unveiled its approach for supporting peace operations in Africa under the name Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (PSOPs) There is plenty that is good about this initiative. First, it has the potential to carry forward the excellent work that was carried out by the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START), a similar programme that was initiated by a Liberal Government in 2005 and subsequently maintained by successive Conser

Oct 8, 2016

Canada in CAR ?

This blog originally appeared under the title of “Towards a Canadian Return to Peacekeeping: Part 3 – Exploring Canada’s options for a peace and stabilization mission in the Central African Republic (CAR)." The Central African Republic is one of the four countries that are presently being considered for a Canadian peacekeeping mission. The others are Mali, whereas in the case of CAR there is currently no Canadian presence, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and S

Jun 2, 2015

The Information Exchange on the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, a Key

The Information Exchange on the OSCE Code of Conduct: A Key Tool for Implementation of The Information Exchange on the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico- Military Aspects of Security: an overview of reporting results for 2011–2013 This is Chapter III in 20 Years of the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, a Commemorative Study on the History, Development, Achievements and Outreach of the OSCE’s Key Document for Politico-Military Norms and Principles o

Oct 23, 2014

Security Sector Reform in the Central African Republic

http://secgovcentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SSR-2.0-Brief-1-Teodora-and-Law.pdf This brief looks into the implementation of SSR in CAR, the deficiencies of its design, and the missteps made in its implementation. Its central finding is that the failure of the peacebuilding process in CAR was predestined, stemming from the earliest stages of SSR implementation in the country. This SSR 2.0 Brief can be accessed here #Africa #SecuritySectorReformandGovernance

Jan 10, 2014

South Sudan: Going South?

This blog was first published on the website of the Centre for Security Governance on 10 January 2014 Is South Sudan going south? Not necessarily, but the world’s youngest state is clearly in big trouble. In the fall of 2008 I was briefly posted in Juba, what was then the future capital of South Sudan. My assignment was to train the future trainers of the South Sudan Army for their role in supporting the transition from an army of national liberation to an army under democrat

Dec 28, 2013

The Best Thing (so far) about the Winter Olympics in Sochi – the release of Khodorkovsky and what it

Mikhail Khodorkovsky at his first press conference after his release from prison. Who knows what the Games may yet bring, but for now the highlight of the 2014 Winter Olympics is unquestionably the liberation of Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The former Russian oligarch’s release by virtue of a pardon by the Russian President after a decade of imprisonment is designed first and foremost to put Russia in a more favourable light as the Olympics approach. The Games are

Dec 12, 2013

SSR and the Crisis in CAR

The Central African Republic (CAR) has been much in the news recently as the security situation has collapsed and gone from bad to worse. It was not supposed to be so. In 2008, several key international development players decided to launch a major effort to reform CAR’s security sector. This was billed as the most comprehensive and integrated reform effort ever carried out in the national security environment.The reforms were acutely necessary. Since 1960, when it became ind

David M Law

The Way I See it

David M Law

The Way I See it