1. No Such Thing as a Perfect Partner: The Challenges of “By, With, and Through”
- Author:
- Emily Knowles
- Publication Date:
- 06-2020
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- Taking a peacebuilding approach to working with local militaries and armed groups means using assistance to fragmented security sectors to increase cooperation between various formal and informal elites in a weak state. This approach places less emphasis on developing conventional military power and more emphasis on facilitating and improving relations between the different factions within the security sector and between the security sector and the civilian population. If international providers help local partners perform better at military tasks without ensuring that the forces have local legitimacy and strong accountability, progress is likely to be fleeting and could actually exacerbate civilian harm and the underlying drivers of violent conflict.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Military Strategy, Peacekeeping, Conflict, and Local
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus