Routledge Studies in Conflict, Security and Development – serie

This book examines and compares the diverging security approaches of the UK, China and India in peacebuilding settings, with a specific focus on the case of Nepal.Rising powers such as China and India dissent from traditional templates of peacebuilding and apply their own methods to respond to security issues. This book fills a gap in the literature by examining how emerging actors (China and India) engage with security and development and how their approaches differ from those of a traditional actor (the UK). In the light of democratic peace and regional security complex theories, the book interprets interview data to compare and contrast the engagement of these three actors with post-war Nepal, and the implications for security sector governance and peacebuilding. It contends that the UK helped to peacefully manage transition but that the institutional changes were merely ceremonial. China and India, by contrast, were more effective in advancing mutual security agendas through elite-level interactions. However, the ‘hardware’ of security, for example material and infrastructure support, gained more consideration than the ‘software’ of security, such as meritocratic governance and institution building. This book will be of much interest to students of peacebuilding, development studies, Asian politics, security studies and International Relations in general.

This book examines the motivations of military interventions in civil wars, with a focus on the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the arms trade.The book assumes a state-centric view of international relations, whereby states remain the dominant actors on the world stage. It breaks away from the conventional wisdom that military interventions for economic interests are a product of domestic corporate lobbying and instead argues that states intervene to protect (but not advance) existing corporate investments for national strategic interests. The work introduces new concepts of military interventions – proxy interventions and indirect interventions – which are determined by arms trade relationships between the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and recipient countries, and utilizes insights from principal-agent theory, whereby the permanent members of the UNSC delegate military interventions in civil wars to other countries. The book concludes by examining the transformative effect of FDI on the willingness of a state to intervene militarily in a civil war, focusing on the case of China in Sub-Saharan Africa. Provided that the current positive trends in FDI and arms trade persist, we are likely to see more and not fewer military interventions in the future.This book will be of much interest to students of civil wars, military interventions, security studies and International Relations.

This book examines the motivations of military interventions in civil wars, with a focus on the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the arms trade.The book assumes a state-centric view of international relations, whereby states remain the dominant actors on the world stage. It breaks away from the conventional wisdom that military interventions for economic interests are a product of domestic corporate lobbying and instead argues that states intervene to protect (but not advance) existing corporate investments for national strategic interests. The work introduces new concepts of military interventions – proxy interventions and indirect interventions – which are determined by arms trade relationships between the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and recipient countries, and utilizes insights from principal-agent theory, whereby the permanent members of the UNSC delegate military interventions in civil wars to other countries. The book concludes by examining the transformative effect of FDI on the willingness of a state to intervene militarily in a civil war, focusing on the case of China in Sub-Saharan Africa. Provided that the current positive trends in FDI and arms trade persist, we are likely to see more and not fewer military interventions in the future.This book will be of much interest to students of civil wars, military interventions, security studies and International Relations.

This volume provides a holistic overview of the long peace process in Nepal following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2006.The date of 21 November 2021 marked the 15th anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which concluded the decade-long civil war that had ravaged Nepal. Despite avoiding a resurgence of statewide conflict, Nepal’s post-conflict era has been far from perfect. This era has witnessed ethnic violence, rampant corruption, the politicisation of key public institutions and a failure to fully implement the provisions of the CPA. The resulting lack of socio-economic progress has led to large-scale dissatisfaction within the country and even given rise to elements within Nepal who reject the framework of the CPA and the 2015 constitution.With a focus on the years following the 2015 constitution, this book offers an analysis of post-conflict Nepal and explores issues relating to ex-combatants, transitional justice, women, socio-economic affairs, and federal governance. The contributors are all scholar-practitioners, some of whom had direct involvement in the peace process, and are therefore able to offer unique insights into the processes and challenges of Nepal’s long journey to addressing past grievances and promoting future peace in the country.This book will be of interest to students of peace studies, Asian politics, security studies and International Relations.

This volume provides a holistic overview of the long peace process in Nepal following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2006.The date of 21 November 2021 marked the 15th anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which concluded the decade-long civil war that had ravaged Nepal. Despite avoiding a resurgence of statewide conflict, Nepal’s post-conflict era has been far from perfect. This era has witnessed ethnic violence, rampant corruption, the politicisation of key public institutions and a failure to fully implement the provisions of the CPA. The resulting lack of socio-economic progress has led to large-scale dissatisfaction within the country and even given rise to elements within Nepal who reject the framework of the CPA and the 2015 constitution.With a focus on the years following the 2015 constitution, this book offers an analysis of post-conflict Nepal and explores issues relating to ex-combatants, transitional justice, women, socio-economic affairs, and federal governance. The contributors are all scholar-practitioners, some of whom had direct involvement in the peace process, and are therefore able to offer unique insights into the processes and challenges of Nepal’s long journey to addressing past grievances and promoting future peace in the country.This book will be of interest to students of peace studies, Asian politics, security studies and International Relations.

This book examines transnational civil society-based democracy-promoting resistance activities in Asia in a global era, focusing on the cases of Myanmar and Palestine.The work contributes to our understanding of the nexus between globalization, power and democracy by examining: (i) the ways in which globalization/global governance are influencing various resistance practices of the civil societies in Myanmar and Palestine, and what this means for local democracy promotion; and (ii) the ways in which these two civil societies influence and have a democracy-promoting impact on their respective communities. It is guided by the overarching question of how civil society-based resistance contributes to local democracy in Myanmar and Palestine. The book is structured as follows: both civil resistance cases begin with an overview of each country’s non-violent resistance history, and the findings are then presented for the two cases, i.e., the pro-democracy movements in the Saffron uprising in Myanmar and the Bil’in village struggle against the Israeli Security Barrier plans to build through their farmlands. Then follows a presentation of the life-story interview made with two members from the respective campaigns. A concluding chapter proposes some new theoretical insights for how civil resistance can impact on democracy. The book empirically and theoretically contributes to our understanding of how civil society-based resistance and democracy interrelate in a global era.This book will be of much interest to students of civil resistance, democracy, Asian studies, Middle Eastern studies and international relations in general.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This book examines transnational civil society-based democracy-promoting resistance activities in Asia in a global era, focusing on the cases of Myanmar and Palestine.The work contributes to our understanding of the nexus between globalization, power and democracy by examining: (i) the ways in which globalization/global governance are influencing various resistance practices of the civil societies in Myanmar and Palestine, and what this means for local democracy promotion; and (ii) the ways in which these two civil societies influence and have a democracy-promoting impact on their respective communities. It is guided by the overarching question of how civil society-based resistance contributes to local democracy in Myanmar and Palestine. The book is structured as follows: both civil resistance cases begin with an overview of each country’s non-violent resistance history, and the findings are then presented for the two cases, i.e., the pro-democracy movements in the Saffron uprising in Myanmar and the Bil’in village struggle against the Israeli Security Barrier plans to build through their farmlands. Then follows a presentation of the life-story interview made with two members from the respective campaigns. A concluding chapter proposes some new theoretical insights for how civil resistance can impact on democracy. The book empirically and theoretically contributes to our understanding of how civil society-based resistance and democracy interrelate in a global era.This book will be of much interest to students of civil resistance, democracy, Asian studies, Middle Eastern studies and international relations in general.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This book analyses the deradicalisation and peacebuilding programme undertaken in north-east Nigeria, following the Boko Haram insurgency in the region.The intensity of the insurgents’ violence necessitated measures to combat fundamentalism, including military operations, amnesty, deradicalisation and other strategies. Focusing on the counter-insurgency operations and the various government responses, this work highlights the successes and failures of the approaches adopted by the government in the north-east of Nigeria. The strategies and programmes examined include both military and non-military approaches, but especially non-kinetic measures such as deradicalisation, rehabilitation, reintegration and peace-building programmes. In contrast to previous works, this book addresses neglected areas of inquiry such as the typologies of deradicalisation interventions (of which there are about five), and especially the intellectual response of the Ulama in countering Boko Haram extremism and peacebuilding. The study broadens the horizon of inquiry on insurgency, deradicalisation and peacebuilding in Nigeria, in Africa and globally, by delving deeper into the subject matter using a methodological approach that draws on primary sources from key actors and stakeholders. In addition, the book introduces a new theoretical approach, entitled the ‘Multiple Front Reaction Model’, and will challenge future works to consolidate or synthesise its assumptions.This book will be of interest to students of deradicalisation, political violence, African politics and security studies.

This book analyses the deradicalisation and peacebuilding programme undertaken in north-east Nigeria, following the Boko Haram insurgency in the region.The intensity of the insurgents’ violence necessitated measures to combat fundamentalism, including military operations, amnesty, deradicalisation and other strategies. Focusing on the counter-insurgency operations and the various government responses, this work highlights the successes and failures of the approaches adopted by the government in the north-east of Nigeria. The strategies and programmes examined include both military and non-military approaches, but especially non-kinetic measures such as deradicalisation, rehabilitation, reintegration and peace-building programmes. In contrast to previous works, this book addresses neglected areas of inquiry such as the typologies of deradicalisation interventions (of which there are about five), and especially the intellectual response of the Ulama in countering Boko Haram extremism and peacebuilding. The study broadens the horizon of inquiry on insurgency, deradicalisation and peacebuilding in Nigeria, in Africa and globally, by delving deeper into the subject matter using a methodological approach that draws on primary sources from key actors and stakeholders. In addition, the book introduces a new theoretical approach, entitled the ‘Multiple Front Reaction Model’, and will challenge future works to consolidate or synthesise its assumptions.This book will be of interest to students of deradicalisation, political violence, African politics and security studies.

This book provides a critical analysis of the political and conflict impacts of “good governance” public finance reforms, showing how unintended distributional outcomes can undermine broader state‑building goals.The international community expends enormous resources trying to build “good governance” institutions in countries emerging from war. By ensuring efficiency, increasing transparency, and enhancing public accountability in the use of public resources, the adoption of “good governance” institutions is assumed to support stability, peace, and sustainable economic growth. Such assumptions, however, have a limited empirical basis and obscure a more complex reality. Drawing from political science and institutional economics, and evidence from major state‑building interventions in Afghanistan, Timor‑Leste, and Solomon Islands, this book explores the impacts of technocratic “good governance” reforms in fragile environments. Through the lens of public finance reform, it illustrates how efforts to achieve efficiency and accountability, while often bringing important benefits, can also undercut the patronage channels that draw together powerful elites, thereby increasing conflict pressures and eroding prospects for sustainable peace. This book makes the case for a reconsideration of the “good governance” agenda and the appropriateness of its application in developing countries experiencing or at risk of war.This book will be of interest to students of state‑building, global governance, political economy, development studies, and International Relations.

This book critically examines the security-development nexus through an analysis of organised crime responses in post-conflict states.As the trend has evolved, the security-development nexus has received significant attention from policymakers as a new means to address security threats. Integrating the traditionally separate areas of security and development, the nexus has been promoted as a new strategy to achieve a comprehensive, people-centred approach. Despite the enthusiasm behind the security-development nexus, it has received significant criticism. This book investigates four tensions that influence the integration of security and development to understand why it has failed to live up to expectations. The book compares two case studies of internationally driven initiatives to address organised crime as part of post-conflict reconstruction in Sierra Leone and Bosnia. Examination of the tensions reveals that actors addressing organised crime have attempted to move away from a security approach, resulting in incipient integration between security and development, but barriers remain. Rather than discarding the nexus, this book explores its unfulfilled potential.This book will be of much interest to students of war and conflict studies, development studies, criminology, security studies and IR in general.

This book examines and compares the diverging security approaches of the UK, China and India in peacebuilding settings, with a specific focus on the case of Nepal.Rising powers such as China and India dissent from traditional templates of peacebuilding and apply their own methods to respond to security issues. This book fills a gap in the literature by examining how emerging actors (China and India) engage with security and development and how their approaches differ from those of a traditional actor (the UK). In the light of democratic peace and regional security complex theories, the book interprets interview data to compare and contrast the engagement of these three actors with post-war Nepal, and the implications for security sector governance and peacebuilding. It contends that the UK helped to peacefully manage transition but that the institutional changes were merely ceremonial. China and India, by contrast, were more effective in advancing mutual security agendas through elite-level interactions. However, the ‘hardware’ of security, for example material and infrastructure support, gained more consideration than the ‘software’ of security, such as meritocratic governance and institution building. This book will be of much interest to students of peacebuilding, development studies, Asian politics, security studies and International Relations in general.

This book examines the evolution, impact, and future prospects of the Security Sector Reform (SSR) model in conflict-affected countries in the context of the wider debate over the liberal peace project. Since its emergence as a concept in the late 1990s, SSR has represented a paradigm shift in security assistance, from the realist, regime-centric, train-and-equip approach of the Cold War to a new liberal, holistic and people-centred model. The rapid rise of this model, however, belied its rather meagre impact on the ground. This book critically examines the concept and its record of achievement over the past two decades, putting it into the broader context of peace-building and state-building theory and practice. It focuses attention on the most common, celebrated and complex setting for SSR, conflict-affected environments, and comparatively examines the application and impacts of donor-supported SSR programing in a series of conflict-affected countries over the past two decades, including Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The broader aim of the book is to better understand how the contemporary SSR model has coalesced over the past two decades and become mainstreamed in international development and security policy and practice. This provides a solid foundation to investigate the reasons for the poor performance of the model and to assess its prospects for the future. This book will be of much interest to students of international security, peacebuilding, statebuilding, development studies and IR in general.