Reintegrating Armed Groups After Conflict: Politics, Violence, and Transition (Routledge Studies in Intervention and Statebuilding) [Hardcover]

Mats Berdal (Editor), David H. Ucko (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 4, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0415476658 | ISBN-13: 978-0415476652 | Edition: 1

This book looks at the political reintegration of armed groups after civil wars and the challenges of transforming ‘rebel’, ‘insurgent’ or other non-state armed groups into viable political entities.

Drawing on eight case studies, the definition of ‘armed groups’ here ranges from militias, paramilitary forces, police units of various kinds to intelligence outfits. Likewise, the definition of ‘political integration’ or ‘re-integration’ has not been restricted to the formation of political parties, but is understood broadly as active participation in politics, policy-making or public debate through parties, newspapers, social organisations, think-tanks, NGOs or public service.

The book seeks to locate or contextualise individual cases within their distinctive social, cultural and historical settings. As such it differs from much of the donor-driven literature that has tended to abstract the challenge of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) from their political and historical context, focusing instead on technical or bureaucratic issues raised by the DDR process. Among the issues covered by the volume as a whole, three stand out: first, the role of political settlements in creating legitimate opportunities for erstwhile leaders of armed factions; second, the ability of reintegration programmes to create genuine socio-economic opportunities that can absorb former fighters as functional members of their communities; and third, the processes involved in transforming an entire rebel movement into a viable political party, movement or, more generally, allowing it to participate in political life.

This book will be of great interest to students of security and development, peace and conflict studies, and IR in general, as well as practitioners and policymakers.

Mats Berdal is Professor of Security and Development in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. From 2000 to 2003 he was Director of Studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London. Mats Berdal is a Visiting Professor at the National Defence and Command College, Oslo.

David Ucko is the Programme Coordinator & Research Fellow for the Conflict, Security & Development Research Group, King's College London.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'This is an important book that should be at the top of the reading lists of practitioners and policymakers involved in peacekeeping, counter-insurgency, post-conflict stability and DDR efforts.'
H.R. McMaster, Survival

 

'The book is particularly recommended to students and scholars
researching post-conflict reconstruction, peace-building and structural
conflict prevention as well as to practitioners active in these fields.' Florian Otto, Journal of Strategic Studies

About the Author

Mats Berdal is Professor of Security and Development in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. From 2000 to 2003 he was Director of Studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London. Mats Berdal is a Visiting Professor at the National Defence and Command College, Oslo.

David Ucko is the Programme Coordinator and Research Fellow for the Conflict, Security and Development Research Group, King's College London, and a Transatlantic Fellow at the RAND Corporation, Washington, DC.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (June 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415476658
• ISBN-13: 978-0415476652
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,946,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David H. Ucko, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the College of International Security Affairs at the National Defense University in Washington DC. He teaches courses on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency, and is conducting research on war-to-peace transition, civil wars and military intervention. He is currently in the process of completing a book on the British military and counterinsurgency.

Dr Ucko is also an adjunct fellow at the Department of War Studies, King's College London, where he supports a Norwegian government-sponsored programme on conflict, development and security. The research programme examines the use of force in peace operations; the role of international organisations in war-to-peace transitions; and the political reintegration of armed groups following war.

Dr Ucko has held visiting fellowships at a series of thinktanks and research institutions. From 2008 to 2010, he was a Transatlantic Post-Doctoral (TAPIR) Fellow at the RAND Corporation in Washington DC and at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) in Berlin. During this fellowship, his main areas of research included counterinsurgency, reintegration of armed combatants, and the future of NATO.

Previously, Dr Ucko worked as a visiting fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies-US. In 2001-2003, he worked as a Deputy Defense Analyst at the IISS in London, where he helped create and develop the Armed Conflict Database, an online and interactive repository of information on conflict worldwide.

Dr Ucko obtained his Ph.D. at the Department of War Studies in 2007, with a thesis examining the US military's institutional adaptation vis-à-vis counterinsurgency and stability operations in the 2001-07 period. In 2001, he was awarded a First Class BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and, in 2004 a MRes at the Department of War Studies.