Gender has recently begun to receive attention as an important factor in the provision of security. Unfortunately, the consideration of gender is often mistakenly understood to mean a consideration of women and women’s issues, when in reality it pertains to the needs and interests of both men and women. Through an idea analysis, this thesis aims to study the ideas about gender expressed in contemporary security sector reform and local ownership debate. The analysis shows that gender specific violence towards civilian men and boys is repeatedly overlooked in security sector reform policy and debate. It further shows that marginalized men are not being valued as local owners of reform processes due to the ideas about men and women that permeate the debate. The theory of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ reveals how the ideas expressed serve to increase men’s vulnerabilities and further exclude them from the process of reform. The thesis concludes that because civilian men are overlooked in the debate, no substantial ownership can be attained. Because security sector reform is highly reliant on local ownership for legitimacy and sustainability, the thesis further suggests that the entire security sector reform project is compromised by the exclusion of men and boys.

Recent years have seen an increasing emphasis on local ownership in UN peacebuilding. Advocates of local ownership assert that it boosts the legitimacy and sustainability of UN peacebuilding by helping to preserve the principles of self- determination and non-imposition of externally-conceived solutions onto post-conflict countries in an activity that can contravene them. However, while the UN perceives local ownership as enabling it to act in accordance with these principles, it also perceives local ownership to imperil the achievement of its operational goals, thus bringing its normative and operational objectives into conflict. This thesis evaluates the UN’s discourse, understandings, and operationalizations of local ownership in peacebuilding. Drawing on examples from the UN peace operation in DR Congo, it shows that despite the UN’s regular invocation of local ownership discourse, it operationalizes ownership in restrictive and selective ways that are intended to protect the achievement of operational goals but that consequently limit self-determination and increase external imposition on the host country. This gap between the rhetoric and reality of ownership suggests that the UN uses local ownership primarily as a discursive tool for legitimation, one intended to reconcile the organization’s normative and operational imperatives. However, because its actions do not match its rhetoric, the UN’s attempts to generate legitimacy through discourse appear to fall flat, particularly in the eyes of local actors. Moreover, because of contradictions in the ways that the UN operationalizes local ownership, it not only deepens the curtailment of self-determination and the degree of external imposition, it also undercuts its ability to realize the very operational goals it is trying to protect. Ultimately, because it is a contradictory and contested concept, local ownership fails to eliminate or ‘fix’ the trade-offs the UN faces in peacebuilding, suggesting that the UN must instead accept them and incorporate them into its goals and expectations.

A growing literature on hybrid peace governance has showed the importance of taking into account the interactive nature of peacebuilding. However, this literature largely remains imprecise about how local-international interactions affect outcomes, and the hybrid turn has not produced much comparative empirical evidence. This study attempts to contribute to filling this research gap by developing a causal explanation for why micro-level local-international interactions produce within-country variations in post-war democratization. Based on scholarship on strategic bargaining, local ownership and legitimacy, it is hypothesized that a higher prevalence of legitimate local-international partnerships leads to higher adherence to good governance principles. The study uses key informant interviews and survey data to conduct a qualitative most-similar case study at the sub-national level. From the analysis of three municipalities in Kosovo, some support for the hypothesis is generated. The results show that with increased capacity from international support and legitimacy derived from closeness to citizens, local non-political actors can put pressure on political actors to reform. However, more studies are needed to refine the theory and test its applicability in other contexts.

<p>This dissertation explores the ‘socio-cultural dilemma’ facing international peacebuilders in war-torn societies through a case study of the post-conflict process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is done with the help of a typological approach of the grid-group Cultural Theory framework, which defines four social solidarities – or ideal type cultures – of individualism, egalitarianism, fatalism and hierarchy. A central argument in the thesis is that international intervention is culturally individualistic and/or egalitarian, thus socio-culturally unviable in war-torn societies, which are usually dominated by hierarchical and fatalist social solidarities.</p><p>This underlying socio-cultural conflict is used to trace the Bosnian post-war process, where the relationship between the managing international institution – the Office of the High Representative of the International Community – and the local nationalist elites repeatedly changed in response to the failure of international policies to produce the desired result, namely broad socio-cultural change in the local politics and society. Four different periods in the process are identified: 1) ’economic conditionality’, 2) ‘Bonn Powers’, 3) ‘the concept of ownership’ and 4) ‘Euro-Atlantic integration’. Each period is defined by different culturally biased policies, supported by corresponding social relations and strategic behaviours.</p><p>The individualistic and egalitarian biased approaches usually resulted in failures, as they were not viable in the local socio-cultural context. After adapting to the local context, new viable approaches produced results in specific policy areas, but at the cost of unwanted side-effects in the form of reinforcement of dominant social solidarities. The result was therefore contrary to the broad goal of the process, which was to transform the local political culture.</p><p>In other words, the defining and re-defining of the OHR’s role in the Bosnian process was a consequence of the dilemma of having to make an unsatisfactory choice: either to adapt to the way the political game is played in the Bosnian socio-cultural context in order to achieve effectiveness in the policy process, or to stay true to the peacebuilders’ own cultural biases and attempt to change the local socio-cultural accordingly. In essence, it is argued, this is the socio-cultural viability dilemma that is inherent in international peacebuilding.</p><p>In unveiling of the socio-cultural viability dilemma, the dissertation explores central problems in the Bosnian post-conflict process. It provides a credible explanation to a number of hitherto unexplained difficulties and paradoxes experienced in Bosnia. It concludes that the international intervention in this particular case was neither a success story nor a failure per se, but one which failed to properly address the dilemma of socio-cultural viability. The key conclusions regarding peacebuilding in general are that there should be a greater under¬¬standing of socio-cultural issues in peacebuilding in order to better manage the socio-cultural viability dilemma. Practically, this means that international peacebuilders need to adapt to local context and strive towards the goal of local ownership of the process. The aim should be to make the intervention as viable as possible, as quickly as possible, to boldly implement policies that promote changes in the local socio-cultural context, and to withdraw only after the necessary conditions for local ownership are in place.</p>

This dissertation explores the ‘socio-cultural dilemma’ facing international peacebuilders in war-torn societies through a case study of the post-conflict process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is done with the help of a typological approach of the grid-group Cultural Theory framework, which defines four social solidarities – or ideal type cultures – of individualism, egalitarianism, fatalism and hierarchy. A central argument in the thesis is that international intervention is culturally individualistic and/or egalitarian, thus socio-culturally unviable in war-torn societies, which are usually dominated by hierarchical and fatalist social solidarities. This underlying socio-cultural conflict is used to trace the Bosnian post-war process, where the relationship between the managing international institution – the Office of the High Representative of the International Community – and the local nationalist elites repeatedly changed in response to the failure of international policies to produce the desired result, namely broad socio-cultural change in the local politics and society. Four different periods in the process are identified: 1) ’economic conditionality’, 2) ‘Bonn Powers’, 3) ‘the concept of ownership’ and 4) ‘Euro-Atlantic integration’. Each period is defined by different culturally biased policies, supported by corresponding social relations and strategic behaviours. The individualistic and egalitarian biased approaches usually resulted in failures, as they were not viable in the local socio-cultural context. After adapting to the local context, new viable approaches produced results in specific policy areas, but at the cost of unwanted side-effects in the form of reinforcement of dominant social solidarities. The result was therefore contrary to the broad goal of the process, which was to transform the local political culture. In other words, the defining and re-defining of the OHR’s role in the Bosnian process was a consequence of the dilemma of having to make an unsatisfactory choice: either to adapt to the way the political game is played in the Bosnian socio-cultural context in order to achieve effectiveness in the policy process, or to stay true to the peacebuilders’ own cultural biases and attempt to change the local socio-cultural accordingly. In essence, it is argued, this is the socio-cultural viability dilemma that is inherent in international peacebuilding. In unveiling of the socio-cultural viability dilemma, the dissertation explores central problems in the Bosnian post-conflict process. It provides a credible explanation to a number of hitherto unexplained difficulties and paradoxes experienced in Bosnia. It concludes that the international intervention in this particular case was neither a success story nor a failure per se, but one which failed to properly address the dilemma of socio-cultural viability. The key conclusions regarding peacebuilding in general are that there should be a greater under¬¬standing of socio-cultural issues in peacebuilding in order to better manage the socio-cultural viability dilemma. Practically, this means that international peacebuilders need to adapt to local context and strive towards the goal of local ownership of the process. The aim should be to make the intervention as viable as possible, as quickly as possible, to boldly implement policies that promote changes in the local socio-cultural context, and to withdraw only after the necessary conditions for local ownership are in place.

Uganda, like several developing countries, is a recipient of development assistance. This assistance, which is provided by rich developed countries, supports among others human rights programmes in these countries. Development partners that provide this assistance wield considerable influence arising from the assistance they provide. This study seeks to determine what role development assistance plays in the promotion and protection of human rights in Uganda. The study establishes that, similar to several African countries such as Malawi, Zambia, Kenya and Ghana, Uganda is aid-dependent. Although Uganda is committed to reducing this dependence, it is concluded that without this vital lifeline of development assistance, Uganda would not be able to fully fund and run its human rights programmes or development budget. The study further establishes that international cooperation and the provision of development assistance are embodied in international human rights treaties and declarations. However, while there is an obligation to provide development assistance, stipulated in international human rights treaties, the study establishes that some development partners do not recognise this obligation. A model convention providing for the obligation to provide development assistance is elaborated in this study. The study arrives at the conclusion that development partners through the provision of development assistance have advanced the human rights agenda in Uganda, though sometimes impedding the development of an authentic domestic human rights culture. The study recommends that there is a need to reverse this situation. The study concludes with several recommendations aimed at making Uganda own its human rights agenda. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

The literature on security sector actors in transitional societies emerging from war and/or authoritarianism has evolved by critiquing local perspectives recently. While the existing literature has extensively analysed transitional societies in Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe, the thesis adds a new geographical perspective by providing a case study of security sector change processes in the Republic of Georgia, 1985 - 2008. More specifically, the thesis examines the local processes and drivers of security sector change in Georgia, and their interrelationships with donor supported programmes including SSR. The thesis employs a political economy analysis to examine indigenous security sector actors and their characteristics. Based on the approach, the thesis particularly examines processes of change and reform of policing institutions. The paramilitary is identified and examined as a key focus for analysis. The research shows that political dynamics among a few political elites determined the course of security sector change in Georgia. Despite ample external assistance, domestic political dynamics remained the main driving factor in the SSR agenda-setting process. In the politically-driven security sector change efforts, the restoration and maintenance of regime security remained a priority under both the Shevardnadze and Saakashvili regimes. Overall, the security sector actors played significant role in the political developments. Consequently, the process of changing these actors was a largely domestically driven political process. The role of paramilitaries in relation to regime security and the security sector change agenda-setting process in Georgia requires the security sector research to treat paramilitary as a distinguished unit for consideration. / Akino Yutaka Eurasia Fund and the United Nations University Akino Memorial Research Fellowship.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze different forms of North-South development assistance with regard to its widespread critique and to examine whether the field of international research capacity building holds alternative development cooperation strategies that have the potential to reconcile some of the criticisms. The focus is on the International Science Programme (ISP) and the empirical research carried out in Bangladesh and Sweden on the ISP-Bangladesh collaboration in the form of semi-structured interviews constitutes the core case study evidence. Three theoretical perspectives – realism, interdependence liberalism and constructivism – provide the framework of the case study and serve as guiding tools to understand the ISP’s role and motivations as an actor in international relations. The main goal is to investigate whether the ISP can be best perceived as an instance of self-interest, interconnectedness or social empowerment.

No description available.

Depuis les années 2000, la Réforme du secteur de la sécurité fait partie des politiques publiques internationales préconisées par la Communauté internationale pour permettre la gestion de crise de l’Etat et la transition de la guerre à la paix. Faisant suite à l’échec de l’aide au développement, qui a insisté sur l’absence d’appropriation locale comme la cause fondamentale, la communauté internationale fait appel à une véritable appropriation locale de la réforme du secteur de la sécurité. L’étude se propose d’analyser l’opérationnalisation de cette notion d’appropriation locale dans le contexte de la Réforme du secteur de la sécurité au Burundi. Cette thèse se pose la question de savoir pourquoi les acteurs internationaux en sont arrivés à poser l’appropriation locale comme une condition de la réforme du secteur de la sécurité. L’analyse est basée sur trois indicateurs :la conviction des acteurs locaux, la formulation et la mise en œuvre des réformes, et la coordination des acteurs et des activités de réforme ;et se focalise sur les données empiriques recueillies au sujet du processus de la réforme de la police nationale du Burundi. L’étude montre que l’appropriation locale est une stratégie mobilisée par les acteurs internationaux pour banaliser leurs interventions et transférer leurs modèles de réforme en s’appuyant sur les intentionnalités de responsabilité et de souveraineté des acteurs locaux que véhicule cette notion. Cette étude conclut que dans le contexte de la crise de l’Etat, la notion d’appropriation locale est un discours qui affermit l’interventionnisme international en donnant l’illusion d’accorder plus de place aux acteurs locaux dans la conduite des réformes. <p>//<p>Since the 2000s, Security Sector Reform is one of the international public policies advocated by the International community in order to deal with the state crisis and the transition from war to peace. Due to the failure of development aid which emphasized the lack of local ownership as its root cause, the International community calls for a genuine local ownership of the Security Sector Reform. This study analyses the operationalization of the concept of local ownership in the context of the Security sector reform in Burundi. This thesis raises the question of why international actors have come to consider local ownership as a condition of Security sector reform. The analysis is based on three indicators: the conviction of local actors, the formulation and implementation of reforms, and the coordination of actors and reform activities, and is focused on empirical data about the Burundi National police reform process. The study shows that local ownership is a strategy mobilized by international actors to both trivialize their interventions and transfer their reform models while the genuine intentionality of the notion is one of responsibility and sovereignty of local actors. This study concludes that in the context of the crisis of the state, local ownership notion is a discourse that strengthens the international interventionism in giving the illusion of more space given to local actors in the implementation of reforms.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished