Louis-Alexandre Berg - Governing Security After War: The Politics of Institutional Change in the Security Sector

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Louis-Alexandre Berg 2022

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Berg, Louis-Alexandre, author.

Title: Governing security after war : the politics of institutional change

in the security sector / Louis-Alexandre Berg.

Description: New York, NY : Louis-Alexandre Berg 2022. |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021049851 (print) | LCCN 2021049852 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780197572382 (hardback) | ISBN 9780197572405 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Security sectorPolitical aspects. |

Peace-buildingPolitical aspects. | Nation-building. | Internal security.

Classification: LCC HV6419 .B47 2022 (print) | LCC HV6419 (ebook) |

DDC 363.2dc23/eng/20211109

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021049851

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021049852

DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197572382.001.0001

This book is about how the interaction of local and international actors shape institutions. I am extremely grateful for the many interactions I had in researching and writing it, and to the people whose insights, wisdom, and support made this book possible. The questions that motivate the book took shape while I was working on programs focused on governance, justice, and security, first at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and later at the World Bank. I had the opportunity to examine the inner workings of security and justice systems in several countries affected by violent armed conflict, and to witness efforts by courageous officials and activists to overcome long-standing abuses. The longer I worked on international programs, however, the more I wondered whether or how they helped. Programs that were logically conceived often stalled in the face of opposition. There was little solid evidence on program effectiveness on which to base decisions. Scholarly literature on foreign aid laid out numerous reasons for failuresuch as overly technical approaches or poor coordinationbut did not explain why some efforts succeeded. As I engaged in negotiations over the details of programs and procedures, I came to recognize how the outcomes of these negotiations reflected a broader set of interactions among officials, politicians, constituents, and donors, each with their own interests, pressures, and constraints. The more I understood the tremendous pressures these individuals faced, the more I puzzled over how their interactions could lead to institutional changes. I wondered how these interactions and the pressures that shape them might explain the success or failure of international programs, their effects on public safety and wellbeing, and, ultimately, prospects for peace.

Exploring these questions took me on a long intellectual journey that led me from working in government to field research in four countries, coding and analyzing quantitative data, and eventually to writing this book. Along the way, numerous peopleacademics, policymakers, and practitionersshared their experience and wisdom. This book aims to distill some of their insights, while providing a theoretical framework for understanding the challenges of postwar security governance, how these challenges vary across countries, and their implications for postwar peacebuilding.

I began to work on this project in earnest as a PhD student at Georgetown University. My brilliant advisers, Andrew Bennett, Lise Morj Howard, Daniel Nexon, and Desha Girod, inspired and encouraged me to pursue this research using multiple research methods. I benefited tremendously from their combination of pioneering research methods, innovative theoretical ideas, extensive field research, and keen analysis.