TY - JOUR
T1 - Bridging the ‘Conceptual–Contextual’ Divide: Security Sector Reform in Liberia and UNMIL Transition
AU - Podder, Sukanya
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - This article discusses the tensions in security sector reform that stem from a conceptual–contextual divide in statebuilding practice. It uses the case of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) drawdown to understand how tensions between international policy and local practice manifest and impact on reform of internal security capacity in real time. The theme of hybridity links the analytical framework with the reality of SSR performance and explains the fallacies of liberal-institutionalist reform choices. Research findings offer important lessons that point towards the need for developing local institutions and capacities in place of externally driven social engineering projects that enhance dependency. This focus on empowering the local complements, and is commensurate with, the ultimate goal of SSR, namely, the reconstruction of legitimate and people-centred security institutions.
AB - This article discusses the tensions in security sector reform that stem from a conceptual–contextual divide in statebuilding practice. It uses the case of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) drawdown to understand how tensions between international policy and local practice manifest and impact on reform of internal security capacity in real time. The theme of hybridity links the analytical framework with the reality of SSR performance and explains the fallacies of liberal-institutionalist reform choices. Research findings offer important lessons that point towards the need for developing local institutions and capacities in place of externally driven social engineering projects that enhance dependency. This focus on empowering the local complements, and is commensurate with, the ultimate goal of SSR, namely, the reconstruction of legitimate and people-centred security institutions.
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2013.770242
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2013.770242
M3 - Article
VL - 7
SP - 353
JO - The Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding
JF - The Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding
IS - 3
ER -