Security Sector Reform In Timor Leste

In 1999, the people of East Timor voted, overwhelmingly, against a proposal that would make their island an autonomous province of the Republic of Indonesia. Though it appeared that all of the factors for a successful transition from conflict to peace and stability were present and it was expected that establishing a new state would be fairly straightforward, surprisingly, to the International Community, this was not the case. This paper examines the United Nation's (UN) efforts in Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor) as an important case for the study of SSR and postconflict stabilization and reconstruction. The authors argue that, despite presumed favorable conditions especially when contrasted against other contemporary peace support operations, the SSR program has failed. The paper begins with a brief history of the UN's efforts at SSR in Timor-Leste and then presents an analytical framework to assess these efforts based on the Guiding principles for stabilization and reconstruction, co-authored by the U.S. Institute of Peace and U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute. Using this framework, the paper highlights several critical junctures where the international community could have better leveraged and empowered the host-nation to improve reform outcomes.

Introduction -- Background to the DDR/SSR process -- Gender roles in Timor-Leste -- Violence, insecurity and gender -- FALINTIL-Forc??as de Defesa de Timor-Leste (F-FDTL) -- Polici??a Nacional de Timor-Leste (PNTL) -- The 2006 crisis -- Overview of post-2006 SSR developments -- Analysis and policy recommendations -- Appendix 1: Timeline of key events from 1974-2009 -- Appendix 2: Overview of UN missions in Timor-Leste 1999-2009.

Effective peacebuilding in the aftermath of civil war usually requires the deep reform of security institutions, a process frequently known as security sector reform. Nearly every major donor, as well as a growing number of international organizations, supports the reform of security organizations in countries emerging from conflict and suffering high levels of violence. But how are reform strategies implemented? This collection of nine case studies examines the strategies, methods, and practices of the policy makers and practitioners engaged in security sector reform, uncovering the profound conceptual and practical challenges encountered in transforming policy aspiration into practice. This book was previously published as a special issue of Civil Wars.

Despite Timor-Leste’s high expectations when it became independent from Indonesia in 2002, the country is ranked among the least developed countries in the world. It has found itself at the centre of international attention in the last decade, with one of the biggest interventions in UN history, as well as receiving amongst the highest per capita rates of bilateral assistance in the Asia-Pacific region. This book draws together the perspectives of practitioners, policy-makers and academics on the international efforts to rebuild one of the world’s newest nations. The contributors consider issues of peace-building, security and justice sector reform as well as human security in Timor-Leste, locating these in the broader context of building nation, stability and development. The book includes two demographic studies that can be used to critically examine the nation’s possible future. Engaging in deliberate consideration of both practical and theoretical complexities of international interventions, this book will be of interest to academics and students in the fields of Development, Security and Southeast Asian Studies.

Prioritizing Security Sector Reform: A New U.S. Approach argues that security sector reform should be at the core of a new U.S. policy to strengthen the security sector capacity of countries where U.S. interests are at stake. Today's fragile environments feature a host of postconflict and postauthoritarian states and transitioning and new democracies that have at least one critical thing in common: Their security sectors are dysfunctional. Why these states cannot fulfill their most basic function-the protection of the population and their government-varies widely, but the underlying reason is the same. The security sector does not function because security sector institutions and forces are absent, ineffective, predatory, or illegitimate. In place of large, boots-on-the-ground interventions relying on expensive train and equip programs with only fleeting impact, Washington needs a new approach for engaging in fragile environments and a policy for prioritizing where it engages and for what purpose. The volume offers case studies to exemplify the context in which a new U.S. approach might be warranted, discusses other countries' experiences with security sector reform policies and examines how the United States should design and implement a security sector reform policy. Book jacket.

There has now been more than a decade of conceptual work, policy development, and operational activity in the field of security sector reform (SSR). To what extent has its original aim, to support and facilitate development, been met? The various contributions to this book address this question, offering a range of insights on the theoretical and practical relevance of the security-development nexus in SSR. They examine claims of how and whether SSR effectively contributes to achieving both security and development objectives. In particular, the analyses presented in the book provide a salutary lesson that development and security communities need to take each other's concerns into account when planning, implementing, and evaluating their activities. The book offers academics, policy-makers, and practitioners within the development and security communities relevant lessons, suggestions, and practical advice for approaching SSR as an instrument that serves both security and development objectives. (Series: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces [DCAF])

This volume provides a framework for analyzing security sector reform under international tutelage.Following violent conflict and military interventions, international organizations or coalitions of countries increasingly engage in post-conflict reconstruction. Part of the international post-conflict agenda is thereconstruction orreform of th

Successful reform of the security sector has been regarded as pivotal for a successful transition from authoritarianism to democracy by Western donors. A global cast of contributors examines SSR in a variety of policy fields in Southeast Asia, paying specific attention to the adaption of 'Western' reform concepts by local actors.