SSR, Statebuilding and Why the Two Go Together in Haiti

Statebuilding is an endogenous political process where a nation-state looks to strengthen its capacity to provide security and justice, to improve its management of political affairs, and to better promote social and economic development. To do this, a state needs to focus on developing the state institutions necessary for it to effectively govern and protect …

Exploring the DDR and SSR Nexus in State Building

In order to promote post-conflict peace through disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) in war afflicted countries, there has to be security. Primarily, affected countries have to guarantee minimum assurances of security in order for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the very premise of which DDR efforts are built off of, to be upheld – let …

In Haiti, Statebuilding in the Wake of DDR and SSR

I had no way of knowing that my beloved Haiti ushered in the second generation of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processes worldwide prior to taking Professor Dean Piedmont’s course on this subject. I did however always wonder why MINUSTAH - the UN’s peacekeeping force - has been in Haiti for so long. Upon learning …

No Development, No Post-War Peace (as evidenced by South Sudan state)

Sudan’s second civil war, lasting from 1983 – 2004 and the longest in history of the modern-day African continent, was fundamentally caused by a lack of national development. In reality, this conflict was also caused by a failure to effectively reintegrate a particular armed group after the end of the first civil war. The unresolved …