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Saferworld, the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, Massey University and the Joint Center for International Security Force Assistance hope you will join us for an interactive discussion on May 15, from 3-5pm, at the Stimson Center (1111 19th St. NW, 12th floor, Washington DC) that will merge the policy and the operational viewpoints to examine the starting point and foundations of our thinking on transitional security design. Highlighting new work by Saferworld and PKSOI on conflict and community security approaches, we will examine the nature of conflict compared to its definition in policy, and focus on how to define and include a community security perspective in this work that engages local understanding of security with that of outside implementers. Finally, we will examine the implications for how transitional security should be designed and implemented.
The transition from military-provided stabilization measures to civilian-led safety initiatives (community policing and community security) present one of the most complex challenges faced by operational units and policy designers of overseas stabilization and reconstruction missions. The very definition of these terms--let alone their operational implications--are subject to much debate, and different discussions within the defense, development, diplomatic and policy arenas. However, the goal remains the same: how to affect that transition in conflict-affected areas with a minimum of foreign military involvement.
In these days of non-state actors, social divisions, ethnic divides, sub-national politics and the "360-degree battlespace," managing transition is anything but easy. In order to maximize the chances of lasting peace, interveners and planners must understand and incorporate community engagement, community security perspectives and ways of integrating and prioritizing community perspectives into the design and implementation of transitional assistance operations. As complexity increases, the mechanisms of transition have become ever more, not less, clouded.
Please RSVP here if you plan to attend; a full invitation will be sent out as we approach the date.
This will be the first of three panel discussions.
The second panel, in late June, will build on this important discussion by viewing these challenges within the context of real world case studies from Northern Ireland, Timor Leste, Solomon Islands and others where transition has gone more or less well. This panel will make an in-depth discussion of transitions that have worked, those that haven't, and what made the difference.
The third, in September (date TBD), will focus on the design and conception of policing structure as a core component of transitional security--the principal interface between populations and governments, and the one where positive communication and trust between security providers and communities is the greatest priority, with the ultimate goal being enduring stability and decreased volatility.