Governing Security after Civil War: The Politics of Institutional Change in the Security Sector
Oxford University Press, 2022
Military and police forces are central to the onset of civil war, and to the sustainability of post-conflict peace. Security assistance is one of the largest components of international stabilization and peacebuilding efforts. Yet we know little about why efforts to restructure security forces succeed or fail. My book examines decisions to politicize or professionalize security forces in the aftermath of civil war, focusing on elites’ political calculations as they seek to build and maintain their authority. I show how the constraints that stem from their political networks and revenue sources affect key decisions that shape the composition of the security forces, their relationship to civilian authority, and their adherence to the rule of law. The book draws upon in-depth field research in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and East Timor, an original quantitative dataset of postwar civil-military relations around the world, and mini-case studies of Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and South Sudan.
In related work, I explore the effects of civil-military relations on the risk of renewed civil war; the interaction of security assistance and domestic politics on civil-military relations in postwar Sierra Leone and Liberia; the effects of security assistance on civil-military relations; the effects of UN Peacekeeping on security sector reform, and the impact of foreign aid on state effectiveness after civil war.
In related work, I explore the effects of civil-military relations on the risk of renewed civil war; the interaction of security assistance and domestic politics on civil-military relations in postwar Sierra Leone and Liberia; the effects of security assistance on civil-military relations; the effects of UN Peacekeeping on security sector reform, and the impact of foreign aid on state effectiveness after civil war.
Ongoing Research Programs
Civil-Military Relations, Security Assistance, and the Politics of Influence in an Uncertain Global Order
Armed forces are central to domestic and international order. Research on comparative civil-military relations has shown how the role of armed forces in societies, and the institutions that shape them, are pivotal to internal security, human rights, and the risk of armed conflict. Armed forces are also central to global order both in responding to external threats and in serving as an interface with outside powers. Interactions between armed forces – through military training and equipment programs, military-to-military engagements, arms sales, and other forms of security cooperation and assistance – have been viewed as central to maintaining alliances and achieving national security goals. Yet recent research and experience has questioned core assumptions underlying these interactions – that security assistance and cooperation can enable influence over other countries’ behavior, and that they contribute to the durability of alliances.
This research examines how civil-military institutions within countries shape interactions between them – and how changes to civil-military relations are interacting with changes in global order. It seeks to explain success and failures of international security assistance, as well as the durability of alliances, by examining how relations between armed forces and civilian authority affect policy priorities, leverage relative to international partners, and choices of alliance partners. This project draws on cross-national quantitative analysis of recently complied data on international security assistance, and the creation of a new quantitative dataset on defense oversight institutions around the world. Case studies of international security assistance programs will provide a window into why and how these programs contribute to influence – and when they do not.
This research examines how civil-military institutions within countries shape interactions between them – and how changes to civil-military relations are interacting with changes in global order. It seeks to explain success and failures of international security assistance, as well as the durability of alliances, by examining how relations between armed forces and civilian authority affect policy priorities, leverage relative to international partners, and choices of alliance partners. This project draws on cross-national quantitative analysis of recently complied data on international security assistance, and the creation of a new quantitative dataset on defense oversight institutions around the world. Case studies of international security assistance programs will provide a window into why and how these programs contribute to influence – and when they do not.
Measuring Oversight: A Global Dataset of Defense Oversight Institutions
This project will create a global, cross-country dataset that measures the professionalism and politicization of defense institutions. Research on civil-military relations has highlighted the central role of defense institutions in shaping the capability and behavior of armed forces, with consequences for battlefield effectiveness as well as the risk of civil war, coups d’etat, and human rights abuse. Defense oversight institutions may also shape the interactions between states, through the effectiveness of international security assistance and cooperation, arms sales, and military-to-military engagements. Yet there are few cross-national measures of these institutions. This project will draw on open-source government and non-governmental sources and recent advances in natural language processing and machine learning to create a global, quantitative dataset of defense oversight institutions. The data will enable research on the evolution of defense oversight institutions, on the effects of defense institutions on peace and security, and on the effectiveness of security cooperation, among other topics.
The Politics of Policing, Organized Crime, and Conflict
Transnational organized crime has become a growing threat to human livelihoods and economies. In many settings, organized crime and conflict overlap and interact to fuel violence. Criminal and insurgent groups often play political roles, in mobilizing voters or protecting citizens as they seek public legitimacy to control territory and markets. These interactions lead to distinct forms and levels of violence. They also affect state responses, as well as citizen interaction with police and other state authorities. This research program examines how local and transnational politics shape these interconnected forms of organized violence and state responses through policing. In an article with anthropologist Marlon Carranza, we examine varying homicide rates across neighborhoods in three cities in northern Honduras. Based on ethnographic research and comparisons across neighborhoods, we explore how community ties affect the level of violence by mediating the effects of competition between criminal groups and interactions with state officials. In follow-on research, I explore how interactions between criminal groups and politicians fuel violence around elections.
Through ongoing research in Colombia, I am examining how public attitudes toward the police reflect the interaction of local politics, armed group presence, and organized crime in a context of evolving insecurity, and how these dynamics contribute to violence at the local level.
Through ongoing research in Colombia, I am examining how public attitudes toward the police reflect the interaction of local politics, armed group presence, and organized crime in a context of evolving insecurity, and how these dynamics contribute to violence at the local level.
Justice and Security in Conflict-Affected Settings
International development programs aimed at promoting justice, security, and the rule of law have struggled to achieve sustained impact. By examining justice and security as political outcomes rather than technical systems, my research explores the political pressures that have shaped judicial, law enforcement and security systems in developing countries, and that subvert the effects of international development programs. In several articles and policy reports, I trace how leaders’ political calculations affect their priorities for security and justice and the impact of donor-funded reform efforts. In a series of articles with Deborah Isser and Doug Porter at the World Bank, we explore alternatives for development practitioners to take these dynamics into account in their work.
Publications
Refereed Publications
- “U.S. Security Force Assistance and Civil-Military Relations,” Security Studies (2025).
- “Security Sector Reform and Civil-Military Relations in Africa,” in Moses Khisa and Christopher Day (eds), Rethinking Civil-Military Relations in Africa: Beyond the Coup d’Etat (Lynne Rienner, 2022)
- “Organized Crime and Political Mobilization along Honduras’ Drug Routes” in Carlos Ricart and Carlos Solar (eds), Crime, Violence, and Justice in Latin America: Themes and Trends. (Routledge, 2022)
- "Civil–Military Relations and Civil War Recurrence: Security Forces in Postwar Politics," Journal of Conflict Resolution (2020)
- "When Aid Builds States: Party Dominance and the Effects of Foreign Aid on Tax Collection after Civil War," (with Naomi Levy) International Interactions (2020)
- "Elite Bargains and External Influence: Security Assistance and Civil-Military Relations in Post-War Liberia and Sierra Leone," Civil Wars (2020)
- “Liberal Peacebuilding: Bringing Politics Back In” in Chip Carey (ed.) Peacebuilding Paradigms (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
- "Organized Criminal Violence and Territorial Control: Evidence from Northern Honduras,” (with Marlon Carranza) Journal of Peace Research 55(5): 566-581 (2018).
- “Bilateral vs. Multilateral Peacebuilding in Africa,” (with Carrie Manning) in John W. Harbeson and Donald Rothchild (eds), Africa in World Politics, 6th Ed., Westview Press (2017).
- “Young but not Alone: Youth Organizations and the Local Politics of Security,” in Helene Maria Kyed and Peter Albrecht (eds), Policing and the Politics of Ordermaking, Routledge Press, 160-177 (2015).
- “From Weakness to Strength: The Political Roots of Security Sector Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” International Peacekeeping 21(2): 149-164 (2014).
- “Beyond Deficit and Dysfunction: Three Questions toward Just Development in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings,” (with Deborah Isser and Doug Porter) in David Marshall (ed), The International Rule of Law Movement: A Crisis of Legitimacy and the Way Forward. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (2014)
- “All Judicial Politics are Local: The Political Trajectory of Judicial Reform in Haiti,” Miami Inter-American Law Review 45(1): 1-31 (2013).
- “The Justice-Security-Development Nexus: Theory and Practice in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States” (with Douglas Porter & Deborah Isser) The Hague Journal of Rule of Law 5(2): 310-328 (2013).
- “Guns, Laws and Politics: The Domestic Foundations of Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform” The Hague Journal of Rule of Law 4(1): 4-30 (2013).
Selected Work in Progress (please contact for latest drafts)
“Protest Policing After Civil War: Evidence from a Survey Experiment” (with Miguel García-Sánchez, Juan Camilo Plata Caviedes and Carlos Arturo Ávila García)
“Security Assistance, Civil-Military Relations, and Human Rights” (with Patricia Sullivan)
“From Security Sector Reform to Security Assistance: Oversight Institutions and International Order”
“Measuring Oversight: A Global Dataset of Defense Oversight Institutions”
“Electoral Competition and Criminal Violence: Coercion, Cooperation, and Political Mobilization in Honduras”
“UN Peacekeeping and Security Sector Reform: External Actors and the Politics of Institutional Change”
“Wartime Militias, Local Politics, and Postwar Violence: How the Legacies of Armed Conflict Affect Criminal Violence in Post-Civil War Colombia”
“Security Assistance, Civil-Military Relations, and Human Rights Abuse”
“Security Assistance, Civil-Military Relations, and Human Rights” (with Patricia Sullivan)
“From Security Sector Reform to Security Assistance: Oversight Institutions and International Order”
“Measuring Oversight: A Global Dataset of Defense Oversight Institutions”
“Electoral Competition and Criminal Violence: Coercion, Cooperation, and Political Mobilization in Honduras”
“UN Peacekeeping and Security Sector Reform: External Actors and the Politics of Institutional Change”
“Wartime Militias, Local Politics, and Postwar Violence: How the Legacies of Armed Conflict Affect Criminal Violence in Post-Civil War Colombia”
“Security Assistance, Civil-Military Relations, and Human Rights Abuse”
Blog Posts, Policy Reports and Analyses
- “Addressing Security Actors’ Involvement in Serious and Organized Crime,” Royal United Services Institute, London (2025)
- “Elite Capture and Corruption of the Security Sector,” U.S. Institute of Peace, Washington (2023)
- “Citizen Security Dialogues in Colombia: Evaluation Report,” U.S. Institute of Peace, Washington DC (2023)
- “External Evaluation: Police Innovations for Stabilization in Colombia,” with Miguel García-Sánchez, International Organization for Migration, Bogota, Colombia (2022)
- “Ukraine updated its defense institutions – and is defying expectations” (with Andrew Radin). Washington Post: The Monkey Cage, March 29, 2022
- “Navigating the Politics of Security Governance,” Geneva Center for Democratic Control of the Armed Forces (DCAF), May 6, 2022
- “Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration and Security Sector Reform Planning in Libya,” Strategic Capacity Group, Washington, DC (2020)
- “Transformacion de Conflictos Sociales y Paz Territorial en Colombia: Assessment of Results and Project Accomplishments,” Alianza para la Paz and the Centro de Investigacion y Educacion Popular, Bogota (2019)
- The Political Economy of Justice in Somalia” with Joakim Gundel and Yahya Ibrahim. Washington, DC: The World Bank (2016)
- “Crime, Violence and Community-Based Prevention in Honduran Cities” with Marlon Carranza. Washington, DC: The World Bank (2015)
- “Rule of Law and Development: Integrating Rule of Law in the Post-2015 Development Framework” with Deval Desai. New York: United Nations Development Program (2013)
- “The European Union’s Experience with Security Sector Governance” Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace (2010)
- “Crime, Politics and Violence in Post-Earthquake Haiti.” Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace (2010)
- “Nepal Rule of Law Assessment” with James Michel, Barry Walsh and Mihir Thakur. Washington, DC: U.S. Agency for International Development (2009)
- “Pakistan Rule of Law Assessment” with Richard Blue and Richard Hoffman. Washington, DC: U.S. Agency for International Development (2008)
- “Jordan Rule of Law Assessment and Evaluation of Judicial Interventions” with Glenn E. Robinson, Mary Noel Pepys, and Sewar Masa’deh. Washington, DC: U.S. Agency for International Development (2008)
- “Haiti Conflict Assessment” with Katie Hamlin, Sharon Bean, Charles Weden and Yves Francois Pierre. Washington, DC: U.S. Agency for International Development (2006).