Volume 20 Number 4
By the late 1990s the concept of ‘security sector reform’ had become a key term in the aid lexicon, especially in influential policy circles such as the United Nations, European Union, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and World Bank. The prospects for a more peaceful coexistence after the Cold War led to a belief that the political future would be a democratic one and that within that political system there would be a ‘normalisation’ of the role of security agencies such as state-based police agencies. These expectations led to the export to transitional and post-conflict jurisdictions of particular philosophies (such as community-oriented policing) and principles (human rights, democratic oversight and civilian accountability, minimum force) closely associated with a Western tradition of consensual policing.
In part because of the climate created by 9/11, in developing regions of the world such as in Africa, the police and policing followed a different trajectory. Despite the initial expectations of peaceable democracies, post-conflict realities soon confirmed that the future of the state in Africa and its police remained fundamentally different, more uncertain and fragmented than originally anticipated. Before long, structural conditions punctured the euphoria that had been induced by the dismantling of the Berlin Wall.
By the new millennium the initial optimism for security sector transformation in sup- port of the rule of law has given way to much more measured realism. Post-conflict re- construction of the state (and its armed wings) turned out to be complicated. Violence and conflict proved more tenacious and the prospects for lasting peace much less certain than originally anticipated. This new realism is reflected in the World Development Report 2011: conflict, security and development. Contrary to initial expectations of a more peaceful world at the end of the Cold War, conflict and violence remain key features of developing regions in the 21st century. At many national and regional levels, the records attest to the ways in which conflict and violence evolve and mutate in the post-conflict era. Different forms of violence – political and criminal – have become closely interlinked. As cyclical patterns of violence erode the prospects for democracy and economic development, aid agencies, the report advises, must attend to issues of political and criminal violence as part and parcel of developmental strategies.
In line with recent re-analysis of the security function in conflict states, this issue of the African Security Review offers reflections on diverse aspects of policing in contexts characterised by political, ethnic and criminal violence. The studies highlighted below are concerned with aspects of police-building in weak or unstable states where the efforts of transnational, regional and national authorities combine in sometimes perverse ways. The emphasis here is on ‘conflict policing’ and draws on examples from Africa.
Romi Sigsworth (Editor)
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