By Cornelius Friesendorf

For post-conflict stabilisation and peacebuilding efforts to have a chance of success, security gaps need to be closed. Domestic law enforcement agencies tend to be too weak or unreliable after war to enforce the law and fight serious crime. As a consequence, operations against organised crime, the arrest of suspected war criminals and the protection of minorities depend on international intervention forces. Much attention has been paid to domestic police reform and the problems of deploying international civilian police. This book examines the under-explored role of international military missions in post-conflict law enforcement, with a focus on serious crime. The military is under pressure to fill security gaps. Yet military involvement in crime-fighting is problematic practically (soldiers are generally not trained and equipped for it), politically (crime-fighting is seen as military mission creep) and normatively (it undermines the delineation of military and policing functions). Military support of law enforcement poses a major dilemma in peace operations. Decision-makers continue to struggle with this dilemma in an ad-hoc fashion, while scholars have so far provided few empirical accounts. This book focuses on post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) and Kosovo. It argues that the pros of military involvement in law enforcement outweigh the cons, given the continuing lack of strong police forces, the criminalised nature of contemporary wars and the negative influence of spoilers onstabilisation and peacebuilding efforts. Military support of the fight against serious crime is not sufficient for these efforts to succeed, but it is necessary. This book has three objectives. It describes the role of NATO and EU military missions in law enforcement in BiH and Kosovo from the 1990s through early 2009, thus filling an empirical knowledge gap. By formulating a strategy for military involvement in law enforcement, the book also makes a normative contribution to the debate on peace operations. Drawing on, among other sources, interviews in these two ‘international protectorates’, the book shows that military support of the fight against serious crime has lacked effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy, examples of success notwithstanding. Third, the book adds conceptual value to the debate on peace operations, by drawing on security governance, Security Sector Reform and Security Sector Governance. These concepts help to understand the military role in post-conflict law enforcement and to guide improved efforts.

Geneva: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) , 2010. 207p.

By William Maloney, Raul Morales Lema, and Marcela Meléndez Arjona

The Latin America and Caribbean region faces a very different outlook from what was foreseen six months ago. Despite continued progress on reducing inflation, LAC continues to grow more slowly than any other region of the world and increasing its dynamism and job creation potential faces new and daunting challenges. First, higher and more persistent inflation than anticipated in the advanced countries has slowed global interest rate declines which constrains regional monetary authorities’ ability to loosen monetary policy. Second, higher interest payments on debt consume an increasing share of government revenue impeding progress on reducing deficits and creating fiscal space for necessary public investment. Third, rising tariffs have driven up uncertainty around the nature of the global trade order, threaten market access for exports, and call into question the nearshoring project. Fourth, increased return migration will, in some cases, stress local labor markets and dampen remittances. Fifth, organized crime, and the violence that accompanies it continues to expand, reducing the quality of life of citizens, dampening economic growth, and undermining the integrity of public institutions. Progress on the fiscal front, as well as continued productivity related reforms to make the region more able to negotiate a changing environment are needed.

Washington, DC: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, 2025. 92p.